[v12]

The VIN number / Registration Book should tell you whether the car is a 1.4 or a 1.6.

[promit]

Originally Posted by sonic_boom

When I saw that the car had wheelcovers instead of alloys, I got suspicious as I know the 1.6 SX CRDi comes with OEM alloys. The 1.4 does not. Upon enquiry the dealer said that the 1.6 came both with and without alloys so I wanted to check with experts/1.6 diesel owners here.

Is there a reliable way to check if this car is indeed a 1.6 and not a 1.4 and if not how to avoid this type of malpractise in general?

Yes thats true. In the 1.6, the model below SX which has a single driver airbag, it came with wheel caps. You should examine the vehicle's RC. Or decode the VIN.

One good giveaway is the 1.6 would have climate control and the base 1.4 sans alloys would have regular rotary knobs. You could also look for a white sticker on the left rear quarter glass, it usually says pdi ok and specifies the model as 1.4 GL/1.6 GLS etc.

[sonic_boom]

Originally Posted by promit

Yes thats true. In the 1.6, the model below SX which has a single driver airbag, it came with wheel caps. You should examine the vehicle's RC. Or decode the VIN.

Verna Fluidic 1.4 CRDi CX had climate control too. So if retro-fitted OEM alloys, buyers could be fooled.

As per my research so far, the Verna Fluidic 1.6 CRDi SX can only be uniquely identified by the presence of 2 airbags, one driver and one passenger and OEM alloys.

The SX Opt has 6 airbags (easy to identify).

The 1.6 CRDi and 1.6 CRDi EX have one airbag each and no alloys. My guess is that the car is likely one of these two.

[Altocumulus]

The 1.6 SX definitely had alloys. It may also be possible the dealer swapped the alloys for steel rims and gave them with another car. Or maybe the car had a bad crash and a couple of the alloys were damaged so didn't bother to buy anymore. Whatever the reason, have a doubt ? Stay away from the car when its a used vehicle.

[sonic_boom]

I just received full rear clicks for the car. It says 1.6 on the rear left side and just Verna on the right. I'm almost sure now that it's the 1.6 CRDi lowest model and not the SX.

[sonic_boom]

Originally Posted by drunk.monkey

it was done up... body kits, air filter, race headers...

You broke the first rule of second hand car buying my friend, "Never buy a souped up ride!"

As far as possible, always look out for a car that's selling with the accessories it got out of the showroom with.

[creative420]

A friend of mine is looking to buy a used car up to 4 lakhs (Verna, SX4, Cedia). He has visited multiple used car dealers in Bangalore and what caught his attention is that now most of these dealers are giving warranties on used cars which of course blows up the price by 10-15k. I thought only Maruti True Value and Mahindra First Choice offered extended warranty on the used cars (on the cars of their brand only) with some 100+ checks.

I also know that Cartrade is offering a free warranty for 3 months via their "dogs" advert. But a simple google search reveals Carwale and Cardekho offer it as well. In fact, Carwale has a product called Absure which offers the extended warranty with roadside assistance as well. And they have some Silver and Gold plan to cover your car.

Think it would be wise to lap up a warranty from these autoportals? Considering that there's a chance of ending up buying a lemon of a car from some dealers.

Has anyone bought a used car with such warranties? If yes, please share your experience.

[swangdi]

Hi Kalyan and Evillife

As I was revisiting the posts, I noticed how my decisions were being shaped up thank you both very much for your advice. I decided against the city. If I was in Pune, the city was a very good deal, but here in Hyderabad, the road tax and registrations would increase the coats and add more hassle.

I have booked a polo comfort line now, and am pretty satisfied with my decision. It was what I had wanted, was trying to make sure whether it was the rightbcall for me. What I realized now is that market is so competitive, there really isn't much you can go wrong, what important is what clicks with you. Elite does come with a lot of blings, and a strong service center. Infact it was the maintenance aspect to it which was a bit worrisome to me. But then again, I live in Hyderabad, the service centers are good here. Perhaps this would not have been true had I been residing in a smaller town. I love the class and the style that polo provides, its subtle and timeless. The make is strong. I don't need the fancy bluetooth and displays nor the other features.

My first car was our 1998 zen which I bought from my dad. We drove it for 17 years, and it had a character of itself. I feel the polo would be the same. Ofcourse in an ideal world, a jeep patriot or a range rover would have been perfect, but for now, Polo us what I am going with.

Thank you again for all your suggestions, this forum was definitely a very reliable reference point.

[ramzsys]

So why isn't the 22057 km accounted?

The owner says 1,21,000 and the ODO says 1,43,057 km. Nevertheless, a diesel put to good use for all the 4 years.

[Prithwitheraj]

Yesterday I stumbled upon a site called http://www.truebil.com and tried out their android app as well. I was amazed by the amount of information each of the car listing had and since this info is curated I expect them to be at least 80% true.

Check out one the the listing here
http://truebil.com/listings/index/1034

Apart from the curated information - they also claim to arrange finance/transfer the registration documents in the buyers name. So basically means select a car and everything is their headache.

Now I was wondering
1. How many of you guy's in This forum have availed their services and how are they exactly

2. What effect is this gonna bring to the used car market?
for example effects that I can think of
a) Freedom from dealers
b) Higher resale value for well maintained cars
c) headache free ownership transfer
d) Pre owned car market sees a huge boost
(All the above assuming the curation is proper and is not biased).

I being one who desperately searched for a good pre owned car and having bad experience of buying one froma individual dealer can definitely see the usefulness of this site and app.

[hserus]

A lot of car portals seem to be doing this - cartrade has been doing it for years in the US and now in India as well. So - more portals doing that is always a good thing.

The curation needs to stay at a high standard if we have to believe the portal more than we usually believe a random used car dealership salesman though.

At least, the critieria these are rated on are out there for everyone to see and they can compare the car based on those criteria.

The key differentiator will be if they are able to look for signs of tampering (eg: odo being monkeyed with to show lower mileage, decals and badges of higher version stuck onto lower end cars) and weed those out of their listings.

[Prithwitheraj]

Originally Posted by hserus

A lot of car portals seem to be doing this - cartrade has been doing it for years in the US and now in India as well. So - more portals doing that is always a good thing.

Agreed, What i found unique that they takes responsibility to transfer ownership also. This would mean saving bribes and in-numerous trips to RTO office.

Originally Posted by hserus

The curation needs to stay at a high standard if we have to believe the portal more than we usually believe a random used car dealership salesman though.

-Agreed Else this doesn't work. How's the experience of buying a used car from cartrade or other sites ?

Originally Posted by hserus

The key differentiator will be if they are able to look for signs of tampering (eg: odo being monkeyed with to show lower mileage, decals and badges of higher version stuck onto lower end cars) and weed those out of their listings.

Question is do they do that ?

[hserus]

Originally Posted by Prithwitheraj

-Agreed Else this doesn't work. How's the experience of buying a used car from cartrade or other sites ?

Cartrade - I have heard good things - but the cost seems rather more expensive than if you were to buy directly. Many of the sellers on cartrade (and also on olx etc) seem to be small dealers themselves, posing as individual owners. So they have their profit margin and then cartrade adds on some more margin for themselves.

But that is the same situation with almost every such portal - house sale / rental ads mostly inserted by brokers, etc.

I guess the way to go is to do some more due diligence and only contact the person once you verify he / she actually owns the vehicle.

[crisscross]

I noticed an ad for an i10 1.2 AT Sports Kappa 2 2013 with 18,000 km for 3.75 lakhs. The price seemed low compared to other ads for similar vehicles? Anything I need to watch out for when I inspect the vehicle?

[hserus]

Originally Posted by crisscross

I noticed an ad for an i10 1.2 AT Sports Kappa 2 2013 with 18,000 km for 3.75 lakhs. The price seemed low compared to other ads for similar vehicles? Anything I need to watch out for when I inspect the vehicle?

Restored accident vehicle perhaps. Or some major issue in the car that was patched up. Or one that has been driven rough - such as riding the clutch, off road in a small town where it couldn't stand the abuse.

Any 2nd hand car at all - have it inspected by a trusted mechanic before you reach a decision. No matter if it is certified by one of the portals out there.