[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Guys, you have all missed the Standard 2000---the first sleek looking car that was released when the Indian junta were only used to Ambys, Fiats, Heralds and Gazelles.
It was damn sleek to look at---the reason why it failed was its mileage--around 4 kmpl, I am told.

vnabhi, The Standard2000 failed not just because of mileage, but due to local politics as well.
(I know this is off-topic for this thread, but wanted to reply anyway)

[agbenny]

I saw a Ford Escort almost in a garbarge at a street in Chennai. Once its life is over, the owners have left it abandoned and orphaned. :-(

[fx45]

there are many escorts.. astras... cielo's and even ikons getting scrapped near cst road in kalina mumbai.

seems they are worth more in parts than the whole vehicle itself. .

will try snappin em soon and postin em here.

[ronline]

I think Opel Vectra was a bigger flop than Ford Mondeo. Both of them almost looked like enlarged Astra & Ikon respectively.

[fx45]

dude.. i dont agree 2 ur above comment..

opel vectra was wayyyyy ahead and different thn the astra sold in india

and i think ford mondeo was more like looking like enlarged focus ..

[abhinavj01]

Hi,

I would like to have your opinion on buying a 2nd hand Peugeot 309 for 85k in bangalore.
Its done 120k kms and single owned.

I am worried about the engine, sales and service aspects.

Your opinions are truly appreciated.

Regards,
Abhinav

[BUSA]

The car has done wayyyy to much, and will need a overhaul soon, i say stay away.

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by abhinavj01

Hi,

I would like to have your opinion on buying a 2nd hand Peugeot 309 for 85k in bangalore.
Its done 120k kms and single owned.

I am worried about the engine, sales and service aspects.

Your opinions are truly appreciated.

Regards,
Abhinav

I wouldnt even take it for free.

[narayan]

Originally Posted by abhinavj01

Hi,

I would like to have your opinion on buying a 2nd hand Peugeot 309 for 85k in bangalore.
Its done 120k kms and single owned.

I am worried about the engine, sales and service aspects.

Your opinions are truly appreciated.

Regards,
Abhinav

why ?why ? why ? why would u even want to think of buying this car ??

[ram_hyundai]

we had 2 cielos some time back.the first one was a not the top end version it was the GLE.that met with an accident and the vehicle was totalled.collided head long with a KSRTC BUS at almost 85 kmph and i am still typing this just because of that car.fell in love with the brand and went for a second one ,this time a glx.i would say this a supirior car than the accent even now.i am still having that car with me ,my dad is using it.this one delivers lesser power than the old one but mileage is something between 12-14 on high ways.
ram

[Elito11]

My neigbour has a Astra 1.6 up for sale. It s decently maintained and first hand. Its lying in the parking gathering dust since he bought a City Zx about 6 months ago.

I guess last i heard he was asking 90K

Elito

[v12]

In these times too, theres someone who has managed to maintain / refurbish a Ford Escort. Seen this immaculate Ford Escort 1.6 which had all the original parts and clean bodywork and interiors. Not a scratch or a dent. It maybe a refurbished car, but you may never know. The Alpha was one of the Limited Edition models launched by Ford.

[fx45]

recently a guy has bought a blue ford escort in my area.. which to me looks absolute well mantained example.. everything looks like as if its 2-3 years old which it isnt..

will try to get a snap of it.. even the wheel covers are orignal.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by narayan

why ?why ? why ? why would u even want to think of buying this car ??

Why do dozens of our friends on this forum, routinely buy (or want to possess) tired old, discontinued cars?

Why do they spend months of precious time and a couple of lakhs of good rupees, traveling a couple hundred km to pick up collections of old spare parts?

Why do they commit a couple hundred square-feet of their property stocking those old greasy parts for months on end?

Why do they spend their energy, aiming to restore back to shape, cars which might essentially have been worth very little when brand new?

Why?

That's a question, old car buffs in Team-BHP, need never give a good answer for. It's a twisted deviation: as they say, that we're all guilty of.

It's about automotive imagination
Doesn't take much artistic imagination to buy a ready made new car from a dealer;
But to fancy an old heap and put energy, time and money into restoring it to splendor, as one would wish, is what fun is about.

If one never had this childhood affinity for old iron, rain smelling interiors and a faint whiff of petrol-burned exhaust, it's too late in life already.

Comments?

[shankar.balan]

I ve always wondered where all those cars went too. (Shades of that old song "Where have all the cowboys gone??!!")

However these last few years, Ive seen stacks and stacks of these older "high end" vehicles like Astra's, Escort's and others trickling down into the semi-urban, semi-rural, rural, secondary and tertiary markets - many many such vehicles hanging around in the smaller B and C Towns of India.

I think the Urban consumer upgrades very quickly to new technology, new status symbols and new emission standards etc or maybe because urban consumers probably have more than one vehicle, they tend to sort of "trade" a bit.

Many of these "used' vehicles end up in the hands of the value seeking customer in the smaller towns and cities - its a good deal for them, the vehicle is probably well maintained and he/ she gets what was considered a luxury vehicle at practically a throwaway price!

Of course the vehicle also is "older generation" but since the emission norms etc are less stringent and probably less enforced in those parts some of these cars survive there for ages. After all in India, we dont generally "use and throw", we tend to re-cycle a lot more than others.

I think it might also have something to do with our "conditioning" in all those "protected economy" years. We are generally quite reluctant to consign things to the "great scrap heap in the sky" and prefer to use it till it falls to bits!