[neofromcapone]

Diesel Figo, or Beat (this is a small and 90% city drive Car), is the best bet IMHO. Roads in GJ are good and you should have a good car, that will not run out of breath on GJ's excellent Highways.


Also, GJ has a good # of CNG and LPG fueling stations, maybe add a kit to one of your sedans.

Hope this helps.



PS.
Punto and Liva too are a good option in diesel.

[SwiftSD]

I would probably consider the following two options:

Option 1:
Intend to come back to Delhi after 3 years
Keep the car which is in better condition and take it to the new city so that you don’t end up spending time and $ for repairs.

+ve
Vitamin M saved
Time saved (Buying a new car)

-ve
End of 3 years, you would have a car which is either 13/10 yrs old and would fetch a little less.
Since both cars are old, you might have to spend some time and $ on repairs


Option 2:
Intend to stay there for more that 3 years
Sell off both the cars (4L) and add around 1L to it and get a petrol hatch e.g. Brio or the diesel Beat.

+ve
Better Mileage
New car so no hassles
Would have a hatchback in your garage

-ve
Would need to spend some time to sell off both the cars and get a new one


SD

[girishglg]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

1. Toyota Altis, 2011
2. Nissan Sunny, 2012
3. Toyota Innova, 2006
4. Honda City, 2005
5. Mitsubishi Lancer, 2003

Sell of both the cars and go for a hatchback. This can be a diesel or a petrol although I prefer diesel. Petrol hatch can also be considered since all other cars in my garage are diesel and secondly FE for hatches would be better so the break-even period would be more than 5 years probably with a running of 1000kms. This option also gives me a new car, add a hatch to my garage which can be later used for city runs and would also prove easier to drive in Vadodra. The hatches I was considering were the Ritz, Figo, Brio etc.

So what do you guys suggest? Which of the above makes most sense?

It could be the last option mentioned by you of selling both the petrol sedans and buying a diesel hatch.

• Come to think of it keeping either of the old vehicles just increases your maintenance costs plus fuel and selling one of them will not get you much.
• The other good thing about buying a diesel hatch would be that not only it would be highly fuel efficient, but also you could so some GJ - Del runs if required or for the heck of it since the roads are great throughout and it would still not burn your pocket out

And for the diesel hatch you could seriously consider the Beat to beat out the cost and miles! Happy deciding!

[Coolman]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Hi BHPians,


I am planning to sell off both the Honda City and the Mitsubishi Lancer. The City should fetch me around 2.5-3L and the Lancer around 1.3-1.5L ( prices are just approximate ideas). That leaves me with a purse of around 4L. Now I am moving to Vadodra, Gujarat for 3 years for my higher studies and need a car there. So I have 2 options:

1. Sell only the Lancer and take the city with me to Vadodra.

2. Same as above but I hold on to both the cars since the Lancer has anyway hit rock-bottom price and is in otherwise good shape.

3. Sell the City and take the Lancer with me.

4. Sell of both the cars and go for a hatchback. This can be a diesel or a petrol although I prefer diesel. Petrol hatch can also be considered since all other cars in my garage are diesel and secondly FE for hatches would be better so the break-even period would be more than 5 years probably with a running of 1000kms. This option also gives me a new car, add a hatch to my garage which can be later used for city runs and would also prove easier to drive in Vadodra. The hatches I was considering were the Ritz, Figo, Brio etc.

So what do you guys suggest? Which of the above makes most sense?

See if "Option 4" works out like this:

• Sell the City and the Lancer, and that fetches around 4 L (earned budget) - assumption as you mentioned above

• Buy a decent second hand car - locally (Gujarat) registered. By decent, I mean, a car that is not more than 3-4 years old, privately owned (single owner) and used, maintained well (check service history), with not more than 40 K kms on the Odo, so that it can last for another 3 years neatly.

• If you are 5'8'' or taller and are particular about good room (leg & head) inside the car, usable boot space I would recommend a Ritz Diesel (might be little difficult to find one, as Ritz is not 3 years old yet). A Vista Diesel (second hand) might be available for a good price too.

• If you are not space conscious, go for the Swift Diesel (second hand)

• If you are not for a second hand car, then buy it new.

• Buy a diesel if you intend to use it for 1200-1400 kms a month (i.e 15-16 K kms / year), that way, you break-even in 3 years at the most, and then you take it back with you to where you belong and use it for another couple of years (with break-even already achieved, you stand to gain) or sell it off (in this case, your buying a diesel might not be completely justified). If the above equation does not stand, then buy one from the respective Petrol cars mentioned above.

• If you are not bothered about space, then Chevy Beat is also a good option, but you will not get a second hand Beat.

• And for a second hand car, all this should be possible with the earned budget (4 L) + a small top-up as necessary.

Thanks,
C_

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Well my friends in Gujarat have been driving outstation cars and have never faced any problem. Also I asked a senior member from Vadodara and he also told me not to worry about the cops at all.

A diesel surely makes more sense but there is hardly any diesel car in that 5L bracket. The Ritz does look ugly, the Figo looks kind of oldish ( just my views). I have to check out the Beat diesel.

The other more premium hatches would cost me close to 7L rupees or more.

Your friend is quite correct on the fact that outside state cars in Baroda are not that troubled - its mostly in Ahmedabad when the cops decide to make a quick buck, they start targeting the non-GJ cars.

Having said that, I must correct you on your view about the traffic in Baroda and bike traffic. Compared to what you live with in Delhi (or for that matter, any metro city of India), the traffic strength in Baroda is far far lesser. Yes, if you plan to visit the old city area, the streets are more narrow, and you might have to handle the two/three wheeler traffic with caution in those areas. Do note : you are talking to a born & brought up Baroda-ite

Coming back to your query, I'll like to suggest you a fifth option. As right mentioned above by another user above, Gujarat, and for that matter, Baroda has a lot of CNG gas stations. And there are a lot of agencies that help setup CNG kits in older cars. Honda City is quite a popular car that works fine for after-market CNG kits. Overall the cost to you might be under 40k at max.

I'd recommend this option over the other you have listed. If still you are planning to go for a new car, then opt for a company-fit CNG car (e.g. Wagon R) than a diesel option. Unless you are planning to do a lot of highway travel to multiple states.

Do tell if you need any additional inputs on Baroda.

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

4. Honda City, 2005
The city would be a little cumbersome to drive around in Baroda where traffic is dominated by bikes. At the end of 3 years the city will sell only for around 1L I guess so I will lose around 1.5L there. It has already done 60K kms and might prove a little costly to maintain from here on.

Singing a different tune with respect to the rest of the flow on the thread. I would suggest to keep the City and if at all needed sell the Lancer. A 2005 City with 60K on the odometer is nothing for a Honda. My Suzuki Baleno is about the same age and similar mileage and it does not feel dated when driving (Honda is only better than Suzuki).

There would not be any major costs involved in a Honda (Depending on how it has been driven in the past), but worst case scenario you might need suspension work. The money from Lancer can be used to fix whatever is needed to be fixed on the City and i can see you having a trouble free ownership for another 40K Kms at the minimum.

[yogeshnagpal]

Hi Mohit,

May I suggest something ? Probably many may not agree. Don't sell either the City or Lancer.

Take the City with you to GJ. Get it converted to CNG. CNG is readily available in GJ and DL. CNG kit will cost you around 30k. The initial 30k investment will get recovered in 1 - 1.5 yrs depending on your running.

Also, you wouldn't burden yourself with high fuel costs. CNG running turns out to be cheaper compared to Diesel IMO.

Also, since you are attached to the Lancer, you wouldn't have to sell it.

From what I know, City is pretty adaptable to CNG and returns a decent FE of around 18 km/kg of CNG.

Again, just a suggestion


Cheers,
Yogesh.

[HorsPwr]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

I would suggest to keep the City and if at all needed sell the Lancer.

That is exactly what I had opined in my previous post. Selling a 2005 City and expecting around 1L simply does'nt match up. City is definitely worth more and 60k on the odo is not really a reason for it to be sold.

I guess drmohitg has a soft corner for the Lancer and somewhere deep down inside wants to retain the Lancer. As stated, if one has to go among them, Lancer is the strong contender to be sold, of course unless you love it and want to hang on to it.

Originally Posted by fiestarry

Old cars can be parked in any place, can be left unwashed, can be driven with freedom in crowded conditions, can be even 'neglected' if I may say something as blasphemous in this forum.

I beg to differ here my friend.

You cannot park any car anywhere you want, be it old or new. Parking at the right place is one basic traffic mannerism, negligence of which can be troublesome both for others as well as the owner of the car alike, and we, being a part of such a distinguished and highly regarded community, should not be voicing out such advise and suggestions (humble request) . As far as keeping your ride untidy and neglecting is concerned, all I can say is NO COMMENTS.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team: Please use the "edit" button if posting within 30 minutes of the first post, instead of creating another back-to-back post.

Also use "Multi Quote" option for quoting Multiple posts.

[rameshnanda]

If you were to go with option 4, Swift Diesel may be your best bet. The reason is, even if you intend to sell the car after 3 years when you move out of GJ, it will fetch you good resale value. It is more sensible option too.

[AdiSinghV12]

I feel the option no. 4 is the best of the lot. Get the Swift/Ritz if you want a diesel, or the Brio if you want a petrol hatch. Its one of the best petrol hatches we have in our market after the Polo 1.6.

[drmohitg]

Guys some clarifications from my side:

1. The 1L for the 2005 city is the price I expect after 3 years and another 20-30k kms making the Odo stand close to 1L. Now I am not sure about the prices in other cities but in Delhi the used car market has the lowest rates. Currently the best quotes I am getting for my city are all in 2.2-2.5L range which means if I sell it to some individual rather than the dealer ( which I intend to do) then it should fetch me close to 3L.

2. I like the Lancer even today although the car has aged now and the FE really kills all the fun. But even today it looks awesome, the ride is great and so on. But then I am not sure if I want to hold on to it now since its not being used much. On the other hand selling it for 1L approx does not make sense to me either since the car is in good condition otherwise. But if parked for most of the week than it will only deteriorate and hence I was thinking of selling it off.

3. If I buy a hatch it will be new ONLY. The car would be bought in Delhi and I will keep it for a good 5-6 years / 6o-70k kms. So I intend to take it to GJ and then get it back to Delhi later.

4. I am not very keen on getting CNG kit in my car. The long queues are a strict No-No at the CNG pumps. Also I kind of like my car stock. So I am going to stick to Petrol and Diesel only whichever I choose in the end.

5. Amongst the hatchbacks I am not considering the Premium ones like the swift, Polo etc. I would buy only the top end/ the variant with safety kit and for most of these hatches the price then reaches close to 8L OTR for Diesel variants. This I feel is totally Non-VFM. So the hatches I am thinking about are:
Diesel: Ritz > Figo > Beat
Petrol: Brio > Ritz > Jazz > I10

[rameshnanda]

drmohitg, going by your track record of owning only Japanese cars, I think you will end up buying Ritz if Diesel or Brio if Petrol . Ritz Diesel may be more sensible choice than Brio in my opinion.

[shivasuma]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

If you were to go with option 4, Swift Diesel may be your best bet. The reason is, even if you intend to sell the car after 3 years when you move out of GJ, it will fetch you good resale value. It is more sensible option too.

He might still be waiting for his new swift after 3 years . Just kidding. You could not go wrong with either the ritz or the Figo. If you want a FTD hatch, its definitely the Figo(over the ritz).

[Altocumulus]

Sell the Lancer and take the City with you. A Honda city, be it old or new would always get you more attention than any hatchback. At 60k kms, the life of Honda engine has just started. With the money you get from the Lancer, get a thorough check up done on the car and the suspension especially. Am sure you will be good to go.

[bluevolt]

I suggest you to sell both your sedans and get a new diesel hatchback. Since you will be out of station for three years City/Lancer will be unused for this period. Get a hatchback from Delhi and then take it to Gujarat and then bring it back along with you.