[Master530i]

I am relatively new to this board and really enjoy reading the forum. I have been thinking about buying a car for my father and would like to know how do you get to used car values. I currently live in US and here I have several sources for used car pricing. But how do we do get an idea about it in India.
I plan to come in late Nov and would like to buy an used Esteem/Baleno or maybe City. Looking for few years old with relatively low miles. How to get to the optimum pricing for these cars? How fare is maruti-true-value thing

Also I thought I could buy some car with auto trans but I see that Except WagonR, no auto trans for Marutis? Is auto trans not good in India? I thought I had seen some esteem or balenos with it- could be wrong.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Recommend any maruti dealer in north delhi/Ghaziabad.

[naveendhyani]

u can visit www.marutitruevalue.com & search there.

[BMW]

plus http://www.automartindia.com/ might also be of some help to you.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by Master530i

But how do we do get an idea about it in India.
I plan to come in late Nov and would like to buy an used Esteem/Baleno or maybe City. Looking for few years old with relatively low miles. How to get to the optimum pricing for these cars? How fare is maruti-true-value thing
Also I thought I could buy some car with auto trans but I see that Except WagonR, no auto trans for Marutis? Is auto trans not good in India? I thought I had seen some esteem or balenos with it- could be wrong.

Check out the following link on info on buying used cars. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-b...car-india.html

TrueValue pricing would be higher than buying direct, but comes with free services, a full checked-up car and even a warranty.
Auto-Trans cars are costlier than their MT counterparts and also supposed to be less fuel efficient. Hence the lack of popularity in India. You could get Honda Citys in auto-trans.

[Master530i]

While haggling on the used car pricing, what % percent should we deducted from the asking price - just to give some kind of start.
Thanks for your responses.

[sriny_blr]

Also checkout
www.carwale.com
in here mostly owners selling cars directly

good luck

[supremeBaleno]

Hey Master530i, just posting on this thread what I had posted about your query on another Esteem/Baleno thread.

Originally Posted by Master530i

This car is going to be for my father but he thinks a small car would be desirable for Delhi's congested road and I can NOT agree with small cars. My mind is set on used Baleno Vxi (after getting a comprehensive check on this used car).

I feel that your Dad has a point there. There is a saying that goes "Bigger the city, smaller your car should be", in which I was a firm believer for years. I deviated from this when I bought the Baleno 1.5 years ago and believe me a 3-box car is a pain in the cities, especially if the user does not need/use the boot.

Parking is a pain in the sorry areas that we call parking lots in our cities. Making sense of the rear view becomes tough with boot-ed cars compared to hatches. Ofcourse I am not going into the extra expenditure on fuel, tax, insurance, spares, maintenance etc. I would say you get him a good small car. Looking at the purchase from his point of view would help.

And, for the dough that you shell out for a used car (or a little more), you could have a spanking new hatch. Hope this helps.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by Master530i

Also I thought I could buy some car with auto trans but I see that Except WagonR, no auto trans for Marutis? Is auto trans not good in India? I thought I had seen some esteem or balenos with it- could be wrong.

the esteem is available in AT, i am yet to see a baleno with AT, but i am sure it is available. AT is not popular here simply because of the mileage. Also Indians aren't know to be lazy drivers. though the new cars with AT are expensive, the resale value is very bad, hence the AT cars in the used cars market are comparable cheaper than its manual counterparts.

[Master530i]

Hey SupremeBaleno, What car would you recommend....Wagon R or Swift. though WagonR could be had in AT. thanks

[rahul_intlad]

First about automatic transmission:

In India we usually do not have the modern automatic gearboxes[now only has the concept caught up but remember there is a premium for these and you will have to buy cars of higher segments like the NHC CVT].
Even the authorised dealers itself are not experts on these gearboxes so repairs and maintainance is a big problem in India.Another thing is that there is much lower resale value for the automatics.
Also the lower segment automatics are gas guzzlers and are not exactly what you would call fun to drive,so keep away from the wagonr/santro/esteem/zen automatics if an automatic is not absolutely needed.

Now this link from team-bhp market place is a good pointer for second hand cars rates[updated]:
http://www.jmdcars.com/marketpriceforallusedcars.asp

The swift and wagonr are from two different segments with the swift giving you a higher segment experience.Comparisons cant be made between the two but if its only about money then go for the wagonr,else the best gift for your dad would be the swift.



Ps: Are you going in for a used wagon/swift or a brand new one.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by rahul_intlad

gearboxes seldom fail in modern cars. there will be no necessity to open a gearbox until at least the car has done 2.5 to 5 lakh kms, by which time it would be time to retire the car itself.

Originally Posted by rahul_intlad

Now this link from team-bhp market place is a good pointer for second hand cars rates[updated]:
http://www.jmdcars.com/marketpriceforallusedcars.asp

the site above gives pretty decent values for all cars, but these rates are only for mumbai & will vary a little in delhi.

if you are buying a new car, then the swift is a far better buy than the WagonR, specially in its new avatar.

[kinmist]

This is what I have tried:
1. Get the reg no. and date of purchase of the car you are interested in.
2. Go to http://www.marutitruevalue.com/MyCarDetails.asp, fill in the details and you will get the price given to the seller of the car.
3. Add another 5% or about 10k-20k to the price. This is usually the price the truevalue dealer would be willing to negotiate down to very easily.
4. Works with all maruti cars that I have seen with truevalue dealers.

[Master530i]

Thanks Kinmist..good info and this is exactly what I looking for. In essence about 5% of the truevalue that can be discounted. As you all know that used cars are a goldmine to the dealers and they love naive/ignorant buyers..specially dealers in US. It is shame that even after having a wealth of info on used cars values here, buyers still buy cars at ridiculous prices.

Rahul, Yes I might look into a used swift too...don't know if that would be good price !! I would like to go to the top of line ZXi then.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by Master530i

Hey SupremeBaleno, What car would you recommend. Wagon R or Swift. though WagonR could be had in AT. thanks

Personally, of the two I prefer the WagonR - a nice compact for the cities, with easy ingress due to its higher stance. And in your case, it will be better suited due to having an AT option.

The Swift is wider, longer, taller and heavier and a stable option for the highways. But inspite of its bigger size, I keep reading that the rear seat space is not very comfy for 3. Infact some guys have mentioned that it is only as spacious as a WagonR.

Swift again has better safety features (ABS, airbags etc - but only in top end model). I am not sure whether WagonR has these (atleast as options). I would suggest you test drive both and come to a decision.

[kinmist]

Originally Posted by Master530i

Thanks Kinmist..good info and this is exactly what I looking for. In essence about 5% of the truevalue that can be discounted.

Well thats assuming that the quoted price has a 10% mark-up. Since the profits from the sale go to the dealer, they tend to have a higher markup initially to test the market before dropping the prices a little.
Again all this is just indicative. It'll just give you an idea where true prices might lie.