[Researcher]

Originally Posted by MaNishi

Request people who have bought a pre-owned car and gone for insurance to share their experience and guidance.

I have purchased two pre-owned vehicles till now, one being a two-wheeler and other being a four-wheeler. Let me share my two cents:
1. Premium does not change with number of owners. However, as a new owner, you may not be eligible for a no-claim bonus which the previous owner may be having in his last/current quote. This varies from the range of 20-65% as per my knowledge and only affects the own-damage premium.
2. The third-party coverage is dependent on the engine size of your vehicle. However I am not sure about the penalty for expired third-party insurance, since both my vehicles had valid insurance.
3. I believe as per latest laws, one cannot transfer ownership without valid insurance (third-party only as legally mandated). So I guess, in your case, making the insurance valid is the current owner's headache although the quoted price of the vehicle may be increased by him/her with this process. Again, just to get the ownership transferred, you may ask existing owner to do only a third-party coverage with any applicable penalties if you are really sure about the vehicle.
For such a new vehicle, zero-depreciation+comprehensive coverage is the suggested way to go as you rightly have decided. Good luck with your purchase and keep us posted.

[YakubKC]

Can someone help me decide on which car to purchase. I'm looking to buy a pre-owned automatic hatch which will be a second car and used purely for city runarounds. Primary requirements are reliability, low maintenance and mileage.

I have a budget of around 3L (extendable to 3.5L), which gives me the option of choosing a fairly recent model of the Alto K10 AMT or the Nano AMT. But considering the woes reported with the AMT, I'm confused if going in for a 7 year old A-Star would be better. Any pointers would be very helpful! Please let me know if I should be considering any other cars.

[Researcher]

Originally Posted by YakubKC

Can someone help me decide on which car to purchase. I'm looking to buy a pre-owned automatic hatch which will be a second car and used purely for city runarounds. Primary requirements are reliability, low maintenance and mileage.

I would suggest you to stick to an A-Star or Ritz if available because they both had 4-Speed torque converters (probably the exact gearbox is still in use in Maruti today in Brezza, Ertiga and Ciaz) which are smoother than AMTs in traffic and they had ABS as standard in automatic versions (optional in manual VXi, no airbags either way). Brakes in automatic vehicles usually do a bit harder work than manual and ABS will be a boon here, especially in the city (We have a Baleno CVT so the brakes feel like a bit more bite would have been nicer). As with Marutis, you can get spares from their authorised outlets even years after the models were discontinued (even the engines with the gearbox are probably still in use today). The gearbox if same, is adequate for city usage when I drove a pre-owned automatic SX4 a year back, to replace my manual SX4.
If you want something a bit more premium, you can go for the Brio unless you need good room in the rear and don't want to be restricted to authorised service centres. But do keep in mind that no matter how well a car is maintained, a 7-8 year old car will have a higher chance of an occasional replacement of any part, compared to a recent car but in your budget I would still stick to the older car as long as its safer. I would suggest to avoid a higher segment car if you strictly have no necessity and don't want to spend higher on maintaining the car, no matter how tempting the deal on offer is.

[shubhamAT]

Hi All,

I am transferring to Bangalore and considering a Used BMW X3. Would you advice purchasing from a different City and have the car shipped to Bangalore ? How to deal with registration etc. ? I don't see too many used X3s with BMW dealers in Chennai or Bangalore and am considering dealers in the North or West. My worry with driving myself is safety (fatigue + law/order) and the 3 or so days i need to do so. With shipping I am not sure, how well do transporters take care of vehicles and I dont want it to be stuck at some checkpoint for weeks. I am sure things have improved since 2013 but I can't be too sure.

Feel free to chime in. And point me to an owner who wants to sell their G01 X3.

[hserus]

There is a several page long thread around on moving a car between states and all the RTO formalities including paying a nice fat cheque to the RTO to re-register your car in Karnataka after paying tax @ 17% of the car's pro rata value based on age.

Shipping the car and for a performance / luxury car, making sure that the shipper doesn't take it off for joyrides or lounge about in it blasting the music and AC is another big headache by itself.

Buy a car in Bangalore.

Originally Posted by shubhamAT

Hi All,

I am transferring to Bangalore and considering a Used BMW X3. Would you advice purchasing from a different City and have the car shipped to Bangalore ? How to deal with registration etc. ? I don't see too many used X3s with BMW dealers in Chennai or Bangalore and am considering dealers in the North or West. My worry with driving myself is safety (fatigue + law/order) and the 3 or so days i need to do so. With shipping I am not sure, how well do transporters take care of vehicles and I dont want it to be stuck at some checkpoint for weeks. I am sure things have improved since 2013 but I can't be too sure.

Feel free to chime in. And point me to an owner who wants to sell their G01 X3.

[Fuldagap]

I'm getting a pre worshipped Jetta at a good price. A normal search on vahan site of govt reveals that it's registered as a Euro 3. It's a 2016 vehicle. I'm confused as to why and how is it Euro 3.Could anyone please explain. Thanks in advance

[hserus]

Originally Posted by Fuldagap

I'm getting a pre worshipped Jetta at a good price. A normal search on vahan site of govt reveals that it's registered as a Euro 3. It's a 2016 vehicle. I'm confused as to why and how is it Euro 3.Could anyone please explain. Thanks in advance

My i10 beater is registered as a model that has a sunroof. No such thing on it of course, Hyundai deleted the feature on their top end i10 a few years before the model I bought I guess, but the RTO database just didn't get the message.

[SKC-auto]

I told my wife we will go to Ladakh in 2024, when we can leave our kids at native. In preparation for the trip also to get a better car I am looking for a Tata Nexon or Honda wrv or ford ecosport.

The requirement is not so urgent I still have 4 years, but who ever knows me on this forum can relate me being an EV enthusiast. So whatever I buy now will be my last ICE car. I also want to go the Used car route.

Saw this ad about Tata Nexon, if you see the photos it's a XZ+. Do you think it's a genuine ad, the price I feel is too low. What is the fair price for Tata Nexon XM, XZ. How to check fraud ads.


http://www.quikr.com/vap/Cars/SH0QQAdIdZ338456429

Blue 2018 Tata Nexon - 11,400 kms driven

[Bumblebee]

Is it a good idea to buy a "test drive" car?
Would the price of such a car be in line with the used cars out in the market? Or lesser?
What additional things should one take care or be aware of when buying a test drive car?

[sv97]

Originally Posted by Bumblebee

Is it a good idea to buy a "test drive" car?
Would the price of such a car be in line with the used cars out in the market? Or lesser?
What additional things should one take care or be aware of when buying a test drive car?

It would be in-line or higher than used cars in the market but avoid them as mostly test-drive cars are abused by high revving, improper gearshifts, driving through bad roads etc so its not a good idea.

But if you are competent enough to check for these issues and the deal looks great then you can go for it.

But in most cases the test drive cars are not good.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...s-es-300h.html (Driven: Lexus ES 300h)

Have a look at bhpian Dhruv29's posts in this thread. Even with a vehicle like Lexus he has faced many issues.

[Bumblebee]

Originally Posted by sv97

It would be in-line or higher than used cars in the market but avoid them as mostly test-drive cars are abused by high revving, improper gearshifts, driving through bad roads etc so its not a good idea.

But if you are competent enough to check for these issues and the deal looks great then you can go for it.

But in most cases the test drive cars are not good.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...s-es-300h.html (Driven: Lexus ES 300h)

Have a look at bhpian Dhruv29's posts in this thread. Even with a vehicle like Lexus he has faced many issues.

Thanks sv97 !
The offer that got me intrigued about test drive cars is the one i came across on OLX. ₹ 7,50,000 for a 2018, 15k km driven Nexon XZA+ Petrol.
Deal seems to be very good, but staying away.

[Bumblebee]

How can we identify test drive cars?
Will they be always registered in dealership's name?

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Bumblebee

Is it a good idea to buy a "test drive" car?
Would the price of such a car be in line with the used cars out in the market? Or lesser?
What additional things should one take care or be aware of when buying a test drive car?

If it is a mainstream car, stay away, the cars are used for three years and are totally knackered and uncared for. Some dealers maintain their fleets but best to observe. I would avoid

If it is a high end manufacturer, the cars are normally used for 6 - 9 months and are usually well cared and maintained. A friend of mine bought an Audi and BMW and has had no problem ever.

Originally Posted by Bumblebee

How can we identify test drive cars?
Will they be always registered in dealership's name?

If registered, the owner will be the holding company. Otherwise, if the manufacturing date and date you are planning to buy are over 6 months and the car has some km on it. It has been a test drive car

[Bumblebee]

Originally Posted by ajmat

If registered, the owner will be the holding company. Otherwise, if the manufacturing date and date you are planning to buy are over 6 months and the car has some km on it. It has been a test drive car

My bad for not being clear.
How do we identify a test drive car in the used car market?

[self_driven]

Originally Posted by Bumblebee

My bad for not being clear.
How do we identify a test drive car in the used car market?

Apart from going through the documents, I don't think there's any fool proof way of identifying a test drive car.

Here are some TD-car-specific attributes specific that I could think of:

• They are mostly top end variants.
  
• Test drive cars do not cover a lot of kms. The highest odo reading I've seen till date on a test drive car is ~25k kms.
  
• Apart from test drive vehicle stickers, these cars are kept in stock condition. You won't find basic aftermarket accessories such as floor mats, steering cover or even a dashboard idol on test drive cars.
  
• Test drive cars are put on sale soon after the company rolls out an updated model. Also, these cars are from early batch of production. As an example, Hyundai dealers will try to sell current-gen i20 test drive vehicles later this year when the next-gen is launched. However, these cars will be 2017 manufactured.

If you are considering a car with multiple owners, the only way you can ascertain if it was used as a test drive vehicle in the past is by looking at the original (first) RC.