[wildsdi5530]

Originally Posted by chaosengine

Where do we stop? For example, today I can afford an Ignis, in another 12 months a bigger and better Nexon, and in 2 years time a Honda City, and in another 5, maybe an Octavia.

Actually the idea is to buy a more expensive car TODAY. Not after a period of time. In 5 years, the Octavia could be touching 1 Cr. Honda city will probably be 50 L.
If you can buy an Ignis today, but can stretch to a B segment hatch that additional cost would be offset by keeping the car for longer.

[shrionsong]

Hi

This thread is exceptional. And timely.

I need advice. I am at the end of my alto k10 cycle. 10 years owned.

usage - 50-100 per month. 150 km every 2 months drive.

Want to use it mainly for emergencies and family trips to the temple. age 45+ so worried about hill climb. also hence preferring automatic.

Choices are altroz and Hyundai i20. I wanted to go for Tiago or i10 but seeing this thread made me realize that I need to follow my heart.

The two cars we shortlisted were altroz and i20. Altroz pros - looks, reviews, comfort, premium feel, safety rating, driving ease, Indian car. cons 1. a decent variant was 9 lakhs, 2. wanted automatic. but altroz automatic is unproven (launched in March) 3. has after-sales service issues. so leaning towards the i20 asta automatic. pros - looks, reviews, after-sales service, automatic CVT is settled, great resale value. cons - a higher budget (i can live with that), safety rating. I will be driving mainly in Chennai and bhopal. So Hyundai is fine. did not go for Maruti as the good ones are out of my budget (ciaz) and preferred automatic. any suggestions or criticism of the above?

another question - given my limited usage - am I better off going with a Tiago or i10 now and later buying bigger car if needed?

[AJ56]

Originally Posted by shrionsong

I need advice. I am at the end of my alto k10 cycle. 10 years owned.

usage - 50-100 per month. 150 km every 2 months drive.

Want to use it mainly for emergencies and family trips to the temple. age 45+ so worried about hill climb. also hence preferring automatic.

Choices are altroz and Hyundai i20. I wanted to go for Tiago or i10 but seeing this thread made me realize that I need to follow my heart.

Couple of options, get a pre owned i20 Elite/your hatch of choice now for half the budget and drive it for a few years and upgrade to a larger/nicer vehicle as budget allows.

Use the full 12-14L for a nicer used car now and enjoy it for many years to come.

The reason I’d suggest against a new Altroz/i20 is they feel overpriced for what they offer and are underpowered (specially on hills) and are not as high on safety as larger, more powerful vehicles (due to inherent mass differences). We spend hard earned money on a car, to my mind it should feel like a proper upgrade and these two don’t. Cheers.

[ajayc123]

Here's my thinking about this matter.

it's not as simple a decision, based on the premise that a more expensive car would be defacto a better choice. A few variables that come to my mind:

Driving style

If somebody is a sedate driver, the car is expected to be in better condition after 5 or 6 years. Then it's safer to keep it longer.

On the contrary, if one is an enthusiastic driver, the car may become a liability after the expiry of the extended warranty period, because of higher maintenance costs especially from European manufacturers. I would be more comfortable in keeping Japanese, Indian cars in such cases, due to lower priced spares and service.

Techological State

At present, we are possibly standing at the entry of Electric Vehicle revolution, I would really think hard before putting big money on an ICE today that I would like to keep for 10 plus yrs. This may not apply to many bhpians who just love the combustion engines. Even I do.

Government Regulation
How are the NCR folks feeling that they cannot keep their gem diesels after 10 years.

Designed with planned obsolescence
Of late, manufacturers are designing products to last shorter, what if you splurge 2x, and the product can't last 10 years.

Hindsight is genius. Past data is not an predictor of future.

[Lobogris]

Even though the general idea is good, things might not always work out in the manner envisioned due to simple human nature. Let's say a person is thinking of buying a Swift but decides to buy a vehicle like the Honda City instead. Now the City becomes the baseline or what is normal. After a year or two, the person would start lusting after higher end vehicles like a 3 series or A4. If the person had directly jumped to the 3 series from a Swift by following the logic of this thread then now he or she would be wanting a 5 series as a natural desire to upgrade. So this would work if the person has a very tight budget or a habit of never changing the vehicle for a decade. Otherwise the normal human tendency to want something better will take over

[Car Fan]

I bought my Mitsubishi Cedia in 2009 and sold it in 2021 after 12 years only because a discounted EV became available during the second COVID wave. Otherwise would have gone all the way to 15 years with it.

Loved the car, it ran beautifully and gave me no trouble for 12 years. My driver had bought a Maruti the year before otherwise he would have bought it off me without hesitation.

[ganzee]

Great thread. And I am of the same opinion that getting a great car and holding it for atleast 10 years is so worth it. I got an i10 Sportz automatic in 2011 (as against everyone around me recommending manual for better mileage. The manual effort saved over time was well worth it). And it is still going strong in terms of ride quality and minimal maintenance needed.
And the only reason I need to upgrade is the family getting bigger that the i10 isn't spacious enough. And hence, waiting for the Creta SX O IVT to arrive.

[CosmicGeneral]

This article is actually what made me upgrade from Sonet/Venue range to something better which would last me atleast 7-10 years & has everything one could need. Stuck to Kia Seltos vs Creta IVT. Hopefully its a good choice over the time horizon.

I do have a bit of apprehensions about the longer term outlook for combustion engines considering the rise of EV, but the lack of infrastructure wont make it viable for atleast few years.

Tech reflects moore's law. Never know what regulations or enhancements come across in a few years.

[vivekgk]

Just love the quality of the articles and genuine advise threads on this forum.

I followed this rule when I last bought a new car, in 2016. I was planning on buying a small hatch like the Renault Pulse diesel (Micra clone), but eventually decided to get a Ford Ecosport. I had an excellent ownership experience of 6 years and 40K kms, and if it hadn't been for my bad knee necessitating an upgrade to an automatic car, I'd have kept it for at least 4 more years. When the time came to sell it, that extra investment paid off and I was able to get a good resale for the car.

Now I am in the same situation again, and I want to choose wisely. However, the changes in the automotive scenario make the choices a bit harder, and IMO, some speculation has come into play.

While a more expensive car would indeed hold its value better, and be more pleasurable over time, which would be a better choice?

Do I go Electric? It's supposedly the future, but one worry is whether the batteries would give up before the rest of the car or even the car loan is finished, and cause a huge mid-life expense. What if the battery of the 20 lac car you bought today costs the same 20 lacs 7 or 8 years down the line?

Do I go with Petrol? The emissions norms have assured that the only fun to drive petrols are the turbo petrols, which could cause similar big ticket replacements and repair bills as the mileage and years pile on.

Do I go with diesel? Despite the DPF issue, a nicely tuned diesel is still fun to drive, like the Kia/Hyundai TCs, Multijet, mHawk etc. However, the emissions laws historically target diesel cars, and the car's life would be at the mercy and whims of overzealous bureaucrats and politicians with limited actual knowledge. What if, 10 years down the line, I have to scrap a perfectly working, well maintained car for little to no scrappage value?

The situation right now is that it is a gamble to invest in an expensive car, especially if you're borrowing the money for it. Considering the situation, what route would/should you take? Buy and enjoy the best IC engines as long as you can, or wait it out with a smaller, more reasonable, sensible, practical, frugal buy right now, till the dust settles and a long term winner is declared?

[veedub89]

I can finally (and with complete conviction) say that the advise on this thread is pure gold.

We own a 2014 model Mercedes B Class which has now done 72k kms.
Despite the car being nearly 9 years old, my dad who uses the car exclusively, is in no mood to replace it.
I drove the B-class after a really long time recently and I am quite surprised with how well it has held up over the years.

I still remember when we were in the process of buying a car in 2014 and we were clearly over-stretching our budget when we finalised on the B.
It has definitely paid off in the long run.

Sure, the car has a few bruises here and there, but mechanically it is still sound.
The interiors have also borne the test of time fairly well.

I would recommend this to anyone buying a new car today - Stretch a bit for the car that is superior. It will be cheaper in the long run without question.

[Jaisalmeriya]

Had not got to this thread when upgrading from my humble Hyundai Eon after 11 years in Sep-2022. But in retrospect, I saved myself the agony of choosing a sub-4 meter SUV and see all the benefits listed by GTO in the first post as I skipped almost 4 segments to bring home a Tata Harrier XZA+ Dark Edition. The beast has been trouble free (touchwood) for the 7,500 Kms so far and I intend to keep it that way for the next decade.

We, in our family have kept our cars 10+ years without fail - I have been strongly advising my Dad to replace his 12+ year old Santro Xing (not with a Grand i10) but an Ertiga (which will fit better with a 6-people family) in the hometown.

In a nutshell - The advice on this thread is Pure Gold, as already established

[pedrolourenco]

So here's what I did:
- First car was a Fiat Uno. Spent the extra 1 L it cost me over the Maruti 800. Ended up using the Uno for almost 8 years.
- Sold the Uno and bought a 2nd hand Siena 1.6. Held on to that for around 6 years.
- While I was using the Siena, my wife needed a 2nd car so picked up a new Alto. Troublesome car so ended selling it in 2 years and bought an i10.
- Sold the Siena and lived with only the i10 for a year.
- Used the i10 for 2 years and decided that we needed a more fuel efficient car so sold the i10 and picked up a Rapid 1.6 TDI.
- After a while realised that we actually needed a small car too. So picked up a Celerio AMT (the Blue car in the Official Review). Used the same for almost 8 years.
- After 4 years sold the Rapid (in the family) and picked up and X1. It has just completed 6 years and is still with me.
- About 2 years ago saw a neat A3 TDI with a used car dealer so picked it up with the intention of doing some mods. The mods I always wanted to do on the Rapid.
- A couple of months after buying the A3, the same dealer told me he had a Mini Cooper S convertible. A car that my wife always wanted and something I had told that dealer to look out for. Gave him the A3 and the Celerio and picked up the Mini.
- Last year we realised that we also needed an everyday runabout car. I was deciding between the Altroz and Figo. But then decided to do something different. So went and picked up a Nexon EV.

As can be seen from the above, for some cars I followed what is given in the thread and for some the exact opposite.

What I should have done / What I would do if I could rewind to 1996:
- Uno & Siena: No change. I think I did the right thing.
- Alto, i10 & Celerio: I should have just bought a Santro Xing Automatic instead.
- Rapid: I should have retained it and done some mods instead of buying the A3.
- X1, Mini & Nexon EV: I still own these vehicles, so nothing different here. I'll just try to keep them for as long as possible.

[jetsetgo08]

I would say this thread is more about relying on decisions that the heart makes and not the head. If someone really likes a car like a love at first sight, they should be purchasing that and they would most likely hold on to it forever.

[Unavowed_X9]

How did I miss this thread all these years?
Great thread initiation, and let me vouch for this logic full on! I bought a Pajero GLX even after it had 1.5 lakh km on the odo. It has done 3+ lakh km till date, and the pleasure of owning the vehicle, its performance and the supreme reliability of the machine justifies my not choosing to even think of changing my ride.

[Fiero]

Couldn't agree more. We've kept all our cars for 10+ years so far. Currently have a 9.5 year old Polo TDI and a 1 year old Tiguan TSI here in Mumbai. Have a 10 year old Verna petrol in Gurgaon which my mother uses. The Polo will be replaced with a city friendly EV; might end up keeping the Verna the full 15 years. Hope to keep the Tiguan for long too, but times are a bit uncertain with petrols now - with the ethanol blending and what not. So let's see.

For those ready to buy an EV, a more expensive EV could turn out to be the same/cheaper than buying a ICE car over its lifetime depending on your running. For example, the TCE of an an Ioniq5@48 lacs on-lacs could very well turn out to be roughly the same as the TCE of my Tiguan@38 lacs on-road over 10 years/1,00,000kms (the higher EMI and loss of ROI on the differential EMI component is largely offset by significantly lower running and maintenance costs). However, I wasn't and am still not ready for an EV as my primary driver - not until our highways are littered with 100kwh+ fast chargers.