[satnan]

So, our beloved Linea was about to complete 9 years. It had served us really well and was still doing a good job. The age was showing at times though and an itch for new car was growing as well. We finally decided that its time for a replacement and set a budget of approx. 15 lakhs.

I wanted to explore pre-worshipped cars but, convincing the family was not an easy task. So while this discussion of pre-loved vs New car was ongoing at home, MG Astor Initial Drive report was published on team BHP. We went for a test drive and all of us liked the car (1.3 Turbo AT). I did book the car on 21st of Oct, though I wasn't fully certain yet (booked 1.5 Savvy CVT as Turbo was even higher than my already stretched budget, though a test drive of the 1.5 NA car was still pending). Before booking, I also made a deal with the family that if I can get a like-new pre-loved car before the Astor is ready for delivery, they will be open to consider it.

I put an ad for our Linea on olx and also started looking for a car meeting below requirements:

• Budget approx. 15 lakhs (bit stretchable for a good car)
• Must be automatic
• Should not feel a downgrade from current ride (Linea)
• 1-2 Year old cars that are Like-New and not more than 25k on ODO
• OK with Petrol or Diesel (I stay very close to office and drive less these days and purely from economic perspective paying more for a diesel did not make any sense though, but I needed to be flexible in the used car market)
• Preferred cars - SUV/Crossovers (Creta / Seltos) or Sedans (Verna / City) from C2 segment. Nothing like it if I can get a good Jeep Compass Automatic

Our primary source was olx, but as our search continued, the economic advantages of buying a used car was not so visible in the Bengaluru used car market.

• Almost all the used cars end up with used car dealers with jacked up prices and you have to really struggle to find ads posted by owners themselves.
• As per the “Almost-New" used cars! The logic & beauty of buying 1 - 3 year old pre-worshipped cars” thread, a new car depreciates as much as 29% in one year.
• As per my experience, this did not seem true for Bangalore used car market and the asking price for even 2 year old Seltos seemed to be in the 80-85% of the new car OTR
• Rather than paying so much for a used Seltos, I could pay 1-2 lakhs more and just get my brand-new Astor Savvy itself (that too most likely a 2022 make with price protection as MG was not able to keep up with production and my delivery was getting delayed).

In parallel to olx, I also explored Spinny and Cars24. From Spinny, I did test drive a couple of cars and though I liked the overall experience and quality of the cars, I did not find anything which is meeting all my requirements.

This is when I found a Oct 2020 mfd, Nov 2020 reg Honda city ZX CVT with less than 11000 kms listed in Cars 24, with a clean inspection report. From my last two months of experience searching in the Bangalore used car market, found the price to be very good and booked the same immediately and scheduled a home test drive for next day.

The car came for test drive as scheduled. Everything looked good with respect to the car during the test drive. There was no sign of the Astor delivery, and though my family was initially reluctant with the idea of a used car, I was able to convince them on the advantages of getting a used car during this time period. The City looked almost a brand new car and my family happily agreed to take it the moment they sat inside the car.

I requested for an inspection to be done at Honda which cars24 agreed without any fuss. Took an appointment with Honda service for the next day. The cars24 executives came promptly and Honda guys also gave a thumps up after inspection.

• Specifically asked to check for any signs of accidents or chassis damage and the body shop guy gave me a green signal
• Car was lifted up and no under chassis damage
• Absolutely no findings from Honda engineers apart from slightly overfilled engine oil (cars24 seems to have a policy to top up oils etc as part of their inspections and must be the reason) which they promptly drained out.
• OBD scan did not reveal any issues
• All service records in order
• 5 years extended warranty purchased by previous owner and its transferable (which means I have 4 years warranty left on the car)
• Comprehensive insurance renewed for next year by previous owner (another 11 months validity), with no claims in previous year and with add on covers Zero Dep, and RTI.

Felt everything good with the car and decided to go ahead. As an additional check, managed to get the previous owner's number and talked to him to understand if there was any issue with the car / reason for sale etc. and did not see any reason to be concerned about.

Overall Delivery Experience was smooth. We went straight from Honda ASS to Cars24 yard and while I completed the payment formalities, they took the car for a quick wash and prepared it for delivery (You can make payments in multiple batches. I paid partly through my credit card, partly through netbanking and debit card payments from different accounts).


Only small hiccup in the whole delivery experience was that the second key was not available with the executive. He promised to give it in next couple of days and after some follow-up, I collected the key after 3-4 days (also signed RTO transfer papers on that day).

Cars 24 started the document transfer process exactly on 8th day (after the 7 day return period) and sent me the soft copy of Form-29/Form-30 that they submitted to the RTO. Currently transfer is yet to be completed and Vaahan portal still shows the previous owner name.

Overall, I had a pleasant experience with Cars24 while buying this car. Few points which I would like to highlight about their procedure are (many of them are very similar to Spinny, though I am not sure if all the cars24 cars meet the Spinny standard):

• Fixed Price (same as Spinny). I kind of find the fixed price approach more user friendly. With the dealers (or owners themselves), you don’t know the actual price they are really looking for and end up wasting a lot of time with people having unreasonable expectations.
• Book the car paying a token amount, which is fully refundable if you don’t like the car (Rs. 3000/- in Cars24 and Rs. 10,000/- in Spinny). Note: In Spinny, you can also test drive cars without paying token advance, but car wont be reserved for you in that case.
• After booking, the car is reserved for you for 5 days (its 3 days in Spinny). You can take test drive, make up your mind and make full payment within this time. If you don’t, the amount is fully refunded (as per their policy, not sure how smooth the refund procedure is)
• No additional charge for RC transfer and taken care by Cars24 (Insurance transfer needs to be done by yourself)
• For cars with list price more than 10 lakhs, the price is inclusive of TCS (can confirm for cars24. I expect the same for Spinny as well, but would be good to re-confirm as I have no personal experience). So the actual price of car you pay is slightly lower than the list price as TCS is adjusted against your tax outgo.
• They also have a return policy after you purchase the car. If you don’t like the car, you can return (of course in same condition as you bought it) it within 7days / 500kms (its 5 days / 300kms for Spinny).

Till now, I have done more than 1000 kms and everything looks good, except for the two minor issues below:

• The brakes are squeaking some times when I start from standstill (feels this happens after parking for long and moves first in reverse gear). Need to get this checked with Honda ASS.
• The front windshield is not getting cleaned properly and visibility during rains and at night is not to my liking. There is also some noise from the windshield while wiper is operating. Need to see if wipers need replacement.

Also couple of smaller updates:

• I found a buyer for my Linea (2011 mfd, 2012 registered Emotion Pack Diesel). I did not go through the dealer route and found a direct buyer through olx and the RC transfer has been completed (had sold the Linea about a month before I got my City and I was without a car for this short period).
• Cancelled my Astor booking couple of days ago and waiting for refund (In any case, there was no communication from MG after Nov last week when they promised that I will get my car in 1-2 weeks).

I would also like to add a few additional points:

• I am not very clear how cars24 decide to list a car for individual purchase vs for their dealer partners. I was told by cars24 executives that they keep good cars with them to sell to individuals. However I am not sure if dealer rejects also gets listed and you end up with a bad car. Please do thorough due diligence while buying (I hope I have done my homework, but you never know)
• By no means, I am trying to say cars24 offers better value across their range. I have seen overprized cars across Spinny / Cars24 / Individuals and local dealers. So keep all your options open if you are looking for a used car.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[adisan]

Originally Posted by satnan

In parallel to olx, I also explored Spinny and Cars24.

You seem to have done a lot of research on Spinny and Cars24. Thanks for sharing your findings, as well as your experience with Cars24.

Did you have to pay any additional amount for the ownership transfer to Cars24?

[satnan]

Originally Posted by adisan

You seem to have done a lot of research on Spinny and Cars24. Thanks for sharing your findings, as well as your experience with Cars24.

Thank you!

Did you have to pay any additional amount for the ownership transfer to Cars24?

Nope. Cars24 takes care of the RC transfer without any additional cost. The buyer needs to take care of the insurance transfer though.

[BHPjunkie]

I would like to add to this thread. We bought a used car for the 1st time, a Tata Hexa, and it was through CARS24. We had good as well as a bitter experience.

Good
- Prompt response for test drive. Plus they got the car to me and I did not have to go to them.
- Hassle free transfer and handover of vehicle.
- The battery went kaput on the 3rd day after I bought the vehicle. Raised a request on their app and they reimbursed the same within a week.
- 7 day return policy is a boon. As soon as I got the car took it on a long spin and to a trusty mechanic to get it checked. NOTE: They have a cap of 500 kms in those 7 days.

Bad
- Firstly there is no negotiation at all. The price quoted is the final price.
- The delivery experience is no where near buying a new car or even a used from a dealer. They sent the car at my residence.
- When we test drove the car, it was filled with litter. I had specifically requested them to clean the same and vacuum the interior. However the car was delivered in the same state as the test drive.
- We got the car in Sept 2021 and the RC is not transferred yet. I am not sure if it takes this much time to transfer the name on the RC.

All said and done we are very happy with the purchase of the Hexa and love the vehicle to bits.

[NavtejS]

Originally Posted by adisan

Did you have to pay any additional amount for the ownership transfer to Cars24?

Hi.. even I had purchased wagonr from cars24. The process was smooth but they asked for around ₹3k for RC transfer in 2019. May be it's not the case now.

Also they had taken ₹1500 as refundable amount which they will return once the ownership transfer is done. The clause was it should be done within 30 days . This wasn't informed during the purchasing process.

Even after many follow ups they didn't return the amount saying the time frame was not adhered to .

Was thinking of going to consumer court
But not for amount only for ensuring they don't do the same to others.

Irrespective of that the car was in very good condition. Might not have been able to find the same on my own.

[adisan]

Originally Posted by NavtejS

Also they had taken ₹1500 as refundable amount which they will return once the ownership transfer is done. The clause was it should be done within 30 days

Cars24 took Rs 3k for the ownership transfer, but imposed a penalty on you (by not refunding) because the transfer was delayed? Did you have to initiate the process for the ownership transfer or did Cars24 handle it? Satnam had written that it was handled by Cars24.

Nice that you are happy with your car.

[NavtejS]

Originally Posted by adisan

Cars24 took Rs 3k for the ownership transfer, but imposed a penalty on you (by not refunding) because the transfer was delayed? Did you have to initiate the process for the ownership transfer or did Cars24 handle it? Satnam had written that it was handled by Cars24.

Nice that you are happy with your car.

Hi adisan! Actually I didn't avail their service since it costed me ₹520 for documentation.

But I feel the dealer who dealt could have been more transparent. Many follow ups and months later , the customer care informed the timeline for refund is over. Amount is not big. But the way they handled left me with a sour taste which otherwise was good.

[RijuC]

I got evaluated my car by cars24 yesterday. They have quoted Rs. 6500/- as their service charges apart from the car cost.

Is it correct? Their quotation is 4.08 lakhs minus the service charges of Rs. 6500/-. I have to handover the car, somebody will collect all keys and papers and RC and the car. Later they would send me the payment online. They are now asking for pan card, aadhaar card, cancelled cheque etc.

Is it a correct procedure? Location is Gurgaon.

[anandtheleo]

Originally Posted by RijuC

I got evaluated my car by cars24 yesterday. They have quoted Rs. 6500/- as their service charges apart from the car cost.

Is it correct? Their quotation is 4.08 lakhs minus the service charges of Rs. 6500/-. I have to handover the car, somebody will collect all keys and papers and RC and the car. Later they would send me the payment online. They are now asking for pan card, aadhaar card, cancelled cheque etc.

Is it a correct procedure? Location is Gurgaon.

My advice, don't handover the car and documents before getting full money in the bank. That is exactly what I did when I sold my previous car to them.

[sreerknair]

Originally Posted by satnan

Till now, I have done more than 1000 kms and everything looks good, except for the two minor issues below:

• The brakes are squeaking some times when I start from standstill (feels this happens after parking for long and moves first in reverse gear). Need to get this checked with Honda ASS.
• The front windshield is not getting cleaned properly and visibility during rains and at night is not to my liking. There is also some noise from the windshield while wiper is operating. Need to see if wipers need replacement.

Congratulation on your new car. I too have a City and sold my old car to Cars24 while purchasing City. The experience was pleasant and the RC got transferred in a months time. Regarding the two issues you mentioned -

1) That squeaking noise is present in almost all City CVTs. I too have it, and applying some silicone grease to the caliper will reduce the issue a bit. But not completely. The Service center can do this.

2) Most likely the wax or detailing solution got spilled on to the windshield. Clean the windshield with a car shampoo, and then use a 70% to 50% concentrated Isopropyl alcohol solution to clean the windshield. This will remove the wax and the visibility will be crystal clear. Be careful to not spill the Isopropyl alcohol on the painted areas.

[MahiDesai]

CARS24 --- DEATH by 1000 CALLS

I am repenting why I even tried to enroll on their portal for selling my car and then trying to buy a pre-owned one.

After enrolling, I started receiving calls from at least 4 to 5 folks per day and even some of their Finance companies referring to my Buy request placed with CARS24 even when I never enrolled for any finance options as "required".

Also, their "Buy" department does not talk to "Sell" department and you have to deal with 2 separate folks.

Overall my experience with CARS24 was 3 / 10 !!!

[skarthiksr]

Originally Posted by satnan

MG Astor Initial Drive report was published on team BHP. We went for a test drive and all of us liked the car (1.3 Turbo AT). I did book the car on 21st of Oct, though I wasn't fully certain yet (booked 1.5 Savvy CVT as Turbo was even higher than my already stretched budget, though a test drive of the 1.5 NA car was still pending). Before booking, I also made a deal with the family that if I can get a like-new pre-loved car before the Astor is ready for delivery, they will be open to consider it.

Congrats on your car purchase. Off-topic question: The Astor variant you had booked is ADAS variant. Was it not a deal-breaker feature for you since you have gone ahead with City?

[satishchugh]

I have some very interesting conversations with them this last year. Let me share-
Selling car - I tried selling my Chevy Beat and actually got a price that I would have sold at but couldn’t sell due to other reason. However it helped me understand their model. They post the car on their app. Which is like auction and all the used car dealers put a quote and highest bidder gets the car. After that it’s a bit of negotiation with that dealer, of course through cars 24 purchase guy. So far so fair.

Buying a car - this is where thing get tricky. They have changed their model and now they buy the cars and sell you at almost fixed price. Now in Feb 2020 I went and saw a S-cross alpha Sept 2017 which was at 8.5. I liked the car absolute pristine condition. I asked them for getting it tested at Maruti and they politely told me I can’t take it out of their parking lot but can bring in my mechanic. While I was planning that (and rethinking because my budget was 8 lakh) they hiked the price to 9 lakh. I told them that at this price you can get a new zeta so it’s insane but then nobody in the system could change that. I was told that after initial posting the rate is revised basis interest and it’s an algorithm that they have no control over. So even though I loved the car I didn’t buy because the fixed price was atleast 70K - 1 lakh or 10% more than justified. This wasn’t fair!
What I guess happened here is somebody in the system was acting extra smart and inflated the price so nobody could buy. I think after sometime he would have shown no interest and would has either resold it to his preferred person or used car dealer.
Also in Delhi they have rented 3-4 malls which are not popular and so their parking is empty and is used to store these cars. I visited one such location and saw almost 200 cars. And I had a feeling they don’t post all on their site. They keep the stock and release it as per demand and May be some other market factors.

[satnan]

Originally Posted by BHPjunkie

- The delivery experience is no where near buying a new car or even a used from a dealer. They sent the car at my residence.
- When we test drove the car, it was filled with litter. I had specifically requested them to clean the same and vacuum the interior. However the car was delivered in the same state as the test drive.

All said and done we are very happy with the purchase of the Hexa and love the vehicle to bits.

Good to hear about your experience and happy to know that you got a great car. I do agree with you that the delivery experience is not like buying a new car, but in my case, I would not rate the wash quality as pathetic. Though it was not stellar, it was kind of acceptable and, the interiors were vacuumed well.

Originally Posted by RijuC

I got evaluated my car by cars24 yesterday. They have quoted Rs. 6500/- as their service charges apart from the car cost.

I dont have experience selling my car to cars24 and not sure about this. There is a separate thread for selling to cars24 and the same question there may get you more relevant answers

Originally Posted by sreerknair

1) That squeaking noise is present in almost all City CVTs. I too have it, and applying some silicone grease to the caliper will reduce the issue a bit. But not completely. The Service center can do this.

2) Most likely the wax or detailing solution got spilled on to the windshield. Clean the windshield with a car shampoo, and then use a 70% to 50% concentrated Isopropyl alcohol solution to clean the windshield. This will remove the wax and the visibility will be crystal clear. Be careful to not spill the Isopropyl alcohol on the painted areas.

Thank you very much for your suggestions. I will try these.

Originally Posted by skarthiksr

Congrats on your car purchase. Off-topic question: The Astor variant you had booked is ADAS variant. Was it not a deal-breaker feature for you since you have gone ahead with City?

Yes, I had booked an Astor with ADAS option, but it was only a good to have feature for me. In fact, it was really difficult to decide for me between SHARP and SAVVY, but finally went with Savvy as the price diff was only about 70k and just gives me the option if I find it useful later. To sum it up, ADAS was not really a must-have for me and wasn't a deal-breaker.