[SideView]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

My Indica is the absolute proof of this. It has cost me typically 30K a year in repairs. I must have paid the 1L I saved on a swift D several times over by now!
My 5 year old civic just needs a $35 = 2.5k INR Oil change to keep on moving! pity i have to sell it next year

Curious why you will sell the civic and not the indica? (Parking constraints?)

[iTNerd]

This is so true in my case with my two cars!

My Civic completed exactly 10 years a month ago and it has been a keeper with very minimal maintenance required. No sign of ageing and high revving, absolute fun to drive! Don't think I will ever let it go.



My Yeti elegance 4x4, the car that I bought before the soft roader crazy revolution even began, with every imaginable features, is in 7th year of ownership and easily outclass any comparable cars of todays - be it fun to drive, features, electronics, build quality, reliability etc.



In a nutshell, I don't see myself buying any cars in the next 10 years.

[Rahul Rao]

I have always needed 4 cars, and 1 a year was the norm, as I had to sell one car before time, due to structure stretch, In 2005 I purchased 2 cars. One Innova and one Indica.
I used the Indica in city and around and then handed it over to my sales staff. Both cars ran on and on, and in 2009 I sold the Innova which was just above 9 Lakh on road in 05 for 7.5 Lakhs with 1.92 lakh on the ODO. Replacement was another Innova bought a few months earlier in mid 2008. The Indica was sold in 2012 with 3.24 Lakh on the ODO.
None of the cars after that lasted well. Some time back I saw a very well kept type 2 Innova Cab in Chennai which was nearing 9 Lakh km in 8 years. I still feel If I had retained the Innova it would have run some 5-6 lakh km and still remained pristine.



Rahul

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by pseudo_coder

Agree. I am currently without a car. My dilemma is -

1. Get a medium size car which is acceptable in both city driving and on highway. Duster AMT is my shortlist.

2. Buy horses for the courses. A big fat Hexa for the highway, and a tiny, cheap, decently safe automatic for the city (does it exist?).

My feet hurts at the moment because I drove my friend's duster yesterday for a while , clutch takes a toll on the left foot, while AMT fixes that bit I hope it shifts as good as what you can with that super slick 6 speed, you will miss it.

Why not try an XTA hexa and see if the size is okay in the city, XTA is the only variant that suits all good things you hear about Hexa. It's easy to drive and probably the best automatics in its price range.

[fhdowntheline]

My past sins- (Cars owned in India)-
2003 Santro GLS
2008- Dzire VDI
2011- Linea T-Jet
2012- Nano
2013- Micra CVT
2015 Duster 110 RXZ
2017 Polo GT TSi (currently owned)
2018- Honda City ZX (currently owned)
Confessions done duly. And this article only increase the pangs of regret. Hopefully that itch will subside with age, but, who knows?
Maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs must be modified to include automotive ownership!

[advenk999]

Lovely thread GTO! This really opens up one's eyes to know how money is wasted upon constant updates!

My first car was a Pearl white Swift Vxi, which I picked up in 2012. Kept the car for seven years, driving it for 79,000 kms with loads of fabulous memories!
Parted ways with him just a couple of months back, when the need for an automatic arose after suffering a left knee injury during a run.
Despite the age, a car bought for 6L on road in 2012, was able to fetch 3.75L after 7 years which is almost 60%. This shows that a well maintained car can go a long way!

Last month, I treated myself to yet another Swift, this time in it's Automatic avatar and she keeps me tell happy with no regrets!
With the exchange value, I picked up a top end ZXi+ AMT using the old car as my down payment and the balance payment was way lesser than the cost of the Lxi on road in Bangalore.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by SideView

Curious why you will sell the civic and not the indica? (Parking constraints?)

not my call. my US stay is going to be involuntarily terminated!

[deemash]

I made similar mistakes as mentioned in the thread during my first car purchase during 2009.

I was totally unaware of cars and had minimal access to the internet unlike these days.

Funding was little less and all I could afford was Maruti Ritz/Swift. Swift had waiting periods of 8 months and hence went to buy Ritz with half mind though design was not good.


Listened to neighbors, relatives..etc. Everybody was telling to buy Maruti when had cars like Figo (new entrant), Punto, i20 and Fiesta...all diesels.

I shortlisted the above cars though budget was less. I could have waited to make more money and bought Punto/i20. But hurried and bought Ritz.

By 2011 - 2012 my family started growing and trips to native was difficult due to lack of boot space and rear leg room added with a bumpy ride. Finally sold after using for 8 years (2018 sold off with 1.3L on the ODO) and bought Creta D. But felt kinda bad when parted with Ritz. Now happy with my ride meets most (90%) of my needs. Hope to keep this car as loooong as possible.

[pseudo_coder]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

My feet hurts at the moment because I drove my friend's duster yesterday for a while , clutch takes a toll on the left foot, while AMT fixes that bit I hope it shifts as good as what you can with that super slick 6 speed, you will miss it.

Why not try an XTA hexa and see if the size is okay in the city, XTA is the only variant that suits all good things you hear about Hexa. It's easy to drive and probably the best automatics in its price range.

Yes, Duster has a heavy clutch. The AMT being AMT, is definitely not as smooth as a TC, but not bad.

If I get Hexa, it will be XTA only. Why not when 2 year olds are available for less than 13 lakh. Incredible value. About it in the city, it's not a problem if I stayed in Noida, with almost every road being 6 lane. In Pune, we frequently need to take narrow roads. Hexa has large turning radius. Also, pickip from standstill isn't great, given its weight.

[rajshenoy]

Couldn't agree for more !!
Especially after changing cars after 7 years usage, i can definitely say that each of my cars could easily last 10+ years.

I bought Swift in 2007 by using the same logic and skipping the Santro/WagonR and it surely kept me happy and did fetch very good resale too.

My second car Ertiga too was chosen over the likes of Dzire/Amaze/Etios(and even EcoSport etc.) and it did help me enjoy the ride for a lakh km. I only sold it because my need for a 7 seater reduced greatly.

One more point to add here is buying a Pre-worshiped expensive cars(over similar priced new cars one/two segments below) which are trouble-free and reliable.

I picked up a used Corolla altis thinking it will keep me happy for next couple of years before I buy the latest and greatest BS-VI car. However after driving it for 4-5K kms, now I feel the car will definitely last 5-10 years.
By doing this
1. You buy a higher segment car for similar(or even less) price
2. Previous owner would have already taken all the depreciation hit
3. Being better put-together, this car should also last as long as a brand new car. Example being - used Corolla altis vs Brand new Verna/Ciaz/City OR used City vs new Dzire/amaze OR used Baleno/Jazz over new i10, celerio, wagonR. I can give example in pretty much every segment.
4. Being next segment, one can control the itch to upgrade.

[shankar.balan]

This is such a supremely sensible article. It is absolutely true too.
When one buys a more expensive higher category or even a higher/ highest variant and hence higher priced model of any car marque, then at the outset itself one gets a lot more by way of International Standards, Safety, Features, Technology etc.
Hence such a car is likely to stay relevant for a much longer time.
It is also likely to 'wear' better provided one looks after it properly, drives it well and performs all the requisite checks and maintenance in a timely manner.
And it is absolutely true that such cars last much longer and can be enjoyed much more over the perfectly reasonable life period of 8-10 years.
It is only then that need states may change, financial status may dictate an upgrade and one may start suffering from 'user fatigue'. It is better for sure therefore to not succumb to this madness of replacement every three years or five years which many people are inclined to do.
I will (again) take the case of my Yeti which is now approx 8 years old.
It still feels absolutely as good as
New.
The features and comforts it has are on par with all these new cars (barring the highly electronic gizmos).
The functionality is fantastic.
It has worn very well with zero rattling and so on.
It will last easily another 7-8 years or as long as its fitness certificate permits, which is indeed another 7 years, if I were to keep it, because I ve only done 47600 kms in it and it has the capacity to go on for a much longer time.
Sadly, I now am going to part with it reasonably soon - ONLY because I am wanting a small luxury automatic hatchback car to reduce the stress of driving in traffic on my daily commute...since I am the primary user 95% of the time and we are only the two of us as a family and hence can be very happy with a small hatch.
No other reason at all to sell the Yeti.

And now, if selling, better for me to seriously go and buy a nice used car of a higher category (a luxe import) by paying full cash, from someone like myself or even a dealer, who has looked after his car properly. No further worries about EMI and Tax and this and that.

To be EMI free is a great pleasure in itself.
And frees one up to enjoy life and live well by focussing fearlessly on all the hobbies and interests that one has.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

My past sins- (Cars owned in India)-
2003 Santro GLS
2008- Dzire VDI
2011- Linea T-Jet
2012- Nano
2013- Micra CVT
2015 Duster 110 RXZ
2017 Polo GT TSi (currently owned)
2018- Honda City ZX (currently owned)

You remind me of my car purchases
2007 - Swift D
2008 - Karizma R
2009 - Sumo Grande
2010 - Karizma ZMR
2012 - Safari Dicor
2012 - Chevy Beat D
2013 - Pulsar 200NS
2014 - Sumo Gold
2015 - Ciaz
2016 - Celerio
2016 - Kwid
2016 - CBR 250 R (pre-owned)
2017 - Duke 390 (pre-owned)
2018 - Storme V400
2018 - RC390

The thing is all about perspective. The popular perspective in this thread is to buy the best car that you can afford, and use it for 7+ years. There is another perspective to it, which my dad has. He buys cars that are not expensive, so that he can replace them sooner with newer cars in 3 years. Some people like buying new vehicles often, and don't care much about the positioning or features or brand

TeamBHP has changed my perspective and this made me hold my Dicor for 6 years and Ciaz still with me after completing 4 years, without any intention of selling away. You can notice this in my bike purchases too. I had a mental barrier of 1 lakh max for motorcycle purchase and hence settled for new Pulsar 200NS(did not even ride it), then a pre owned CBR250R ( sold after 1 year) and a pre owned Duke 390 (Sold after 6 months) before making up my mind that I will buy something nice and brand new even if it is expensive, settled with a new RC390 (2.7 lakhs otr ) and retain it long term (completes 2 years next month).

My point here is there is nothing to regret. I won't call my dad's perspective wrong. It is what he liked. I like having better cars and don't mind using them for 6 years, and hence my perspective differs from his.

[Carpainter]

I totally agree with your views on this. If one is financially not too much concerned then he should go out and buy a better car that he can afford albeit stretching his budget a little bit and hold on to it longer rather than buying something that's cheaper today but he will lose interest in it within a year or so. But this theory applies mostly to us bhpians and car lovers. A normal man who doesn't have any interest in cars will buy a wagonR and keep it for 15 years or as long as he can, even if he can afford to buy a 20lakh car, as it's just a mode of transport to him and no strings attached to his heart.

Originally Posted by GTO

Each additional year that you drive your current car, you are saving big bucks & increasing the available funds for your next car. Wait for 2 years or 3 if you have to, save up and increase your budget, but buy a GREAT car!

Here I have a doubt. If you see the current trend in the market, someone who has a budget of say 7 lakh today but wants to buy a car that costs 10 lakh, if he postpones his purchase for say 2 years to save additional 3 lakh, he'll find that the car now costs 12 lakh. That is how ridiculous the market has become.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Carpainter

today but wants to buy a car that costs 10 lakh, if he postpones his purchase for say 2 years to save additional 3 lakh, he'll find that the car now costs 12 lakh. That is how ridiculous the market has become.

It is indeed true that new car prices have gone quite mad.

But then, so has the relative value of the rupee declined.

Considering that say in 2005-2006 one could buy a Maruti Swift ZXi at approx 6.5 lacs on road Bangalore the same model now in 2019, costs 11odd lacs on road.

Now this is slightly off topic but I thought it pertinent - If our country is today one of the most 'youthful', greatest 'consumer markets' and 'high growth' economies in the world, with so much going for it by way of first class industry, efficient and cost effective yet skilled manufacturing and production output and demand etc, I cannot somehow fathom how the UK for example, where there is no manufacturing to speak off, and which is a more or less stagnant economy with low consumption and an ageing population, is still able to hold the value of the Pound relative to the Rupee at ~ 1:90.

This bit I just cannot understand.

By rights, given all of the above, the UK should be amongst the fastest 'sinking' economies of the world!

And our Indian currency ought to be much more valuable than it is!

[Hayek]

Great perspective GTO. If someone actually keeps a more expensive car for a longer period, he or she would come out ahead. But the key to that is keeping the car for a longer period, which is easier said than done.

Look at my own example. I had my Zen from 1998 to 2005, City from 2004 to 2010, Getz from 2005 to 2012, and Superb from 2010 to 2017. Each car stayed with me for between 6.25 and 7 years. When I bought the Superb, I actually skipped a segment - till mid 2009, I planned to buy a Civic or Corolla instead of the City - but was influenced by what peers were buying and picked a Superb instead. But I ended keeping it for roughly the same time I kept the City - 6 years 8 months vs 6 years 3 months. The 5 extra months didn’t pay for the extra cost. And that’s the challenge. Despite one’s pious intentions when one buys a car, one gets used to it - and tends to replace cars at roughly the same time. Further, you may be happy replacing a Civic with a Superb, but will almost certainly buy an X3 when you replace the Superb. Hence for most people, buying a car one notch below what one can afford is probably the right decision.