[Gansan]

Hundreds, if not thousands of cars immersed in Chennai floods. Most of these will hit the used car market after cursory repairs. Better to stay away from the used car market for at least a year.

Considering how many new car showrooms and stock yards were flooded as well, choose even a new car with manufacturing date later than December'15.

[AWD]

Im in the market for a second hand Thar. Came across quite a few examples. Will quote the highlights of a few:

1) Thar 2013 model shod with Maxis Bighorn 305 size. There's some noise from underneath while making full cuts. The vehicle would actually be 3rd hand, now there's a little problem here. Present owner has all the papers(affidavit, etc) in his name from the 1st buyer but hasn't transferred the vehicle on his name. Now if i purchase this vehicle, the second owner who hasn't gotten it transferred on his name, what all documents do i need from him to get the vehicle transferred on my name(3rd owner)?

2) Thar 2014 model. Shod with Maxis 31" on stock rims. There are a few catches in this one. The odo shows 12k kms driven. I checked with the service centre, they say last 3rd service was done last month & odo reading recorded was 15kms. After that its certain that the vehicle must have done ~5k in this month. Now what boggles me is that why would someone tamper with the meter to rewind just a few thousand kms. What all could be the possible reasons, am I missing something here!

Then the coolant bottle was empty, the service centre also said that the vehicle came with a complaint of low coolant level once. What all could be wrong here ?

Also the owner says that the vehicle is in his friends name & he will get all the papers signed from friend. I searched the owner on google & came to know that he runs finance business also. So could this be a confiscated vehicle ? I mean what all do I need to check in here?

[aashishnb]

Originally Posted by pedrolourenco

I'm sure a lot of you have bought second hand cars or sold cars and received payment for the same. My question is regarding the mode of payment you used. Why? Because whether you are buying or selling, it's your hard earned money and you don't want to loose it. So let use examine the pros and cons of the various transaction methods. Please note I am not discussing paper work related to transfer of the vehicle and checking the vehicle etc. This has been discussed in detail in other threads.

1. Cash:
Pros
- One of the simplest methods. One party has the cash, the other has the car. You meet at a specified place (usually the sellers residence or office), buyer hands over the cash and seller hands over the car.

Cons
- Your CA may not approve of such a transaction.
- Carrying large amounts of cash to an unknown location is risky.
- Possibility of fake notes (if you are the seller).

2. Cheque / Demand Draft / NEFT:
Pros
- Your CA will love it.
- No risk of carrying large amounts of cash.
- You have a record of the transaction in case you need to make a police complaint for whatever reason.

Cons
- Possibility of Cheque bouncing or fake Demand Draft.
- Seller will not hand over the car until the cheque / DD is realised or the NEFT is complete. Now what if he decides not to give you the car or he just disappears. Money down the drain. Yes you can file a Police complaint etc. but then that takes time and there is no guarantee you'll get your money back.

3. Exchange:
Pros
- Safe as it is done at a dealer (New/Used). Just hand over your old car and adjust the difference in the new car price.

Cons
- Exchange deals mean that you usually don't get the best price. The deal may look good but you are usually better selling off the old car separately.
- Possibility of cheating by some dealers, specially the used car dealers.
- Limited choice.

Please give your views on the above and feel free to add more modes of payment and pros and cons to the above.

I am planning to buy a second hand luxury car (obviously influenced by a VERY popular thread here) and I'm worried about the payments as it will be a significant amount of money.

Hi,
You are always better off by paying in cheque than cash.
Also, in your case, you can fix a price and make staggered payments based on milestones : upfront on signing papers, possession of the vehicle, transfer in the RC, transfer of Insurance, etc.
Ideally, since its a lux car, therefore estimated to be a high value, you can make a separate agreement to sell on a 100 Rs. Stamp paper with all the terms, etc. and get it notarized.

[hserus]

Don't touch either vehicle.

#1 - Not in the holder's name but in the first buyer's name

#2 - in a "friend's" name - who happens to own a "finance company" (loan sharking business?)

That's entirely besides the grossly ill advised tyre upsize in the first one (maxxis bighorn 305 is 305/70R16 - thar is 230x75R16. 257.61 mm circumference difference = over 10%. And the coolant leak issue, tampered odo etc in the second one.

Originally Posted by AWD

Im in the market for a second hand Thar. Came across quite a few examples. Will quote the highlights of a few:

1) Thar 2013 model shod with Maxis Bighorn 305 size.Present owner has all the papers(affidavit, etc) in his name from the 1st buyer but hasn't transferred the vehicle on his name.

2) Thar 2014 model. Shod with Maxis 31" on stock rims. 15kms. After that its certain that the vehicle must have done ~5k in this month.

Also the owner says that the vehicle is in his friends name

[AWD]

Originally Posted by hserus

Don't touch either vehicle.

#1 - Not in the holder's name but in the first buyer's name

#2 - in a "friend's" name - who happens to own a "finance company" (loan sharking business?)

That's entirely besides the grossly ill advised tyre upsize in the first one (maxxis bighorn 305 is 305/70R16 - thar is 230x75R16. 257.61 mm circumference difference = over 10%. And the coolant leak issue, tampered odo etc in the second one.

For #2 - The owner says that the vehicle is in his friends name. Owner runs a finance company. So it might be that the owner has confiscated from the so called friend.

Yes the tyre size is grossly oversize. Regarding the coolant leak, I want to know more on this, causes, etx. Yes moreover I don't really see the motive in tampering the odo, I mean run it back for mere few thousand kms!!

[hserus]

If a 2014 vehicle, especially a jeep, does 5k a month there is zero chance that it has done a mere 15k in two years. Odo tampering may be systematic over a period of time (to prevent your verifying service records etc - it is a very lucky thing some service rep remembered the reading on that thar's odo)

My bet is that it has run lets say even 3k a month for 2 years that is 72k km. Certainly not 15k which suggests a near new vehicle that is only used for city commutes. If you told me 2014 vehicle and 15k, if this was an alto / figo type vehicle, driven by a retiree, or used as a family's second car for his wife's local shopping, school drops etc, then I'd not suspect tampering. Else ..

In any case, as the documentation is dodgy for both vehicles, they are automatically ruled out even if they are in mint condition and everything else says it is a wonderful buy.

[AWD]

Originally Posted by hserus

In any case, as the documentation is dodgy for both vehicles, they are automatically ruled out even if they are in mint condition and everything else says it is a wonderful buy.

I think I wasn't able to explain clearly, the service centre said that the vehicle came for 1st service @9k kms, 2nd service @12k kms, 3rd which was in Nov 2015 @ 15k kms. SO my guess was that in the month of Dec 2015, it could have done another 5k kms at the most. S o the total tally would have been ~20k kms. But the odo reads 12k kms now, what I was wondering was that why would someone tamper to reduce just a couple of thousand kms! Maybe there's something im unable to read in here.

Present owners who are selling, their son says he drives to college which is in nearby town ~40kms(total to & fro).

I had shortlisted these two as they were direct finds with no dealer inbetween. Seems will have to sweat out again to find some more examples.

For the 1st Thar, on asking why the vehicle is on friends name, I got a reply "this was suggested by someone. Could be some taxation issue ? But they will provide papers signed by the person on whose name the vehicle is on. Could be that they have the same papers signed in their name from the same person & now they will get them for the new buyer? In such case again there could be a problem as how can one person sell to 2 different parties!

[hserus]

The RTO doing paperwork transfer will ask to see a sale receipt (and in some states a copy of a cheque / dd) in the name of the person the vehicle is licensed to.

Besides - the contract is invalid if consideration is provided to y for a transaction between y and z, but the contract of sale is between x and z. X can always come at some later date and claim the vehicle was stolen, y had no right to sell it and forged his signature on whatever authorization letter / power of attorney etc.

Avoid both vehicles, safer. As i said, with "papers in the name of a friend" I don't care if it is a ferrari in mint condition driven by schumi and then sold by some guy who says he bought it off schumi, if the RC book is in schumi's name you have no leg to stand upon if you buy the vehicle from some x and then find that you've been cheated.

If you have a Mahindra First Choice (their inhouse pre owned car trading division) in your city use that, if you don't find thars elsewhere with clean papers. http://mahindrafirstchoice.com/

[AWD]

Originally Posted by hserus

contract is invalid if consideration is provided to y for a transaction between y and z, but the contract of sale is between x and z. X can always come at some later date and claim the vehicle was stolen, y had no right to sell it and forged his signature on whatever authorization letter / power of attorney etc.

Avoid both vehicles, safer. As i said, with "papers in the name of a friend" I don't care if it is a ferrari in mint condition driven by schumi and then sold by some guy who says he bought it off schumi, if the RC book is in schumi's name you have no leg to stand upon if you buy the vehicle from some x and then find that you've been cheated.

Oopsie! Ok will look for other alternatives. MMFirstchoice in my City doesnt have much choice.

Yes thats what I was worried about, that the present holder may be possessing the papers already & it can be a cause of conflict later.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by AWD

Oopsie! Ok will look for other alternatives. MMFirstchoice in my City doesnt have much choice.

Yes thats what I was worried about, that the present holder may be possessing the papers already & it can be a cause of conflict later.

First Choice can source vehicles for you from nearby cities as well. You simply need to ask them about it. As long as the vehicle is registered in the same state there shouldn't be any RTO headaches.

[sairamboko]

I own a nano and it's just 3 months old. I am thinking of upgrading it to a swift or a celerio. Nano is serving my purposes well but the car is very much under powered and I was in a bad financial state. So had to resort to nano. Any suggestions on how to proceed with this? Has anyone sold their in less than 1 year for an upgrade ?

P.s : my nano is under loan. Approx 2.5 lakha outstanding

[hserus]

In three short months you are in a position to afford a bigger car??

If you have spare cash then prepay the nano loan first, car loans are expensive debt and they aren't worth to claim tax deductions etc like a house loan is.

[sairamboko]

Originally Posted by hserus

In three short months you are in a position to afford a bigger car??

If you have spare cash then prepay the nano loan first, car loans are expensive debt and they aren't worth to claim tax deductions etc like a house loan is.

Yep thanks to my hard work at office. I got some bonus and promotion Yes I will try to close my loan also. I haven't made any decisions now. The thing is when I bought nano, I shifted to Bangalore. My savings took a huge hit and now I am in a better position.

[hserus]

You bought the nano before or after you shifted?

If it is an out of state especially tn registered vehicle the Karnataka RTO will hound you to reregister the vehicle and pay life tax again after a month

In such a case it may actually work out cheaper to sell the car in chennai itself and buy a vehicle locally. I would urge you to stick to nano, you need a tiny vehicle for efficient driving and parking in Blr traffic

[sairamboko]

Originally Posted by hserus

You bought the nano before or after you shifted?

If it is an out of state especially tn registered vehicle the Karnataka RTO will hound you to reregister the vehicle and pay life tax again after a month

In such a case it may actually work out cheaper to sell the car in chennai itself and buy a vehicle locally. I would urge you to stick to nano, you need a tiny vehicle for efficient driving and parking in Blr traffic

It's a Bangalore registered nano I work in shifts and hence traffic is not an issue for now. I am just exploring options and haven't decided anything solid.