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Old 6th November 2019, 23:45   #91
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Re: How a more expensive car can work out cheaper (if you hold onto it for longer)

Interesting thread, but to be the devil's advocate, I own a 2004 Maruthi Alto and a 2008 Honda City ZX. I've changed other cars but retained these 2 one for the sheer convenience it offers and the other for the luxury and feel good factor.
The Honda City when new used to cost about 2K-4K per service. Now every service is about 30-50K. Reasons given are wear and tear requiring replacement and shortage of parts due to absence of dies. Any part replacement requires me to wait for 4-6 weeks.
Also the lack of technical expertise, good example being the remote locking in my car. It has been kaput for past 3 years and 3 different service centers have not been able to diagnose the problem. Even on this forum, no one has been able to advice. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...t-working.html (Remote locking system - Key fobs not working)
Another problem is the worsening quality of parts. My original clutch lasted 75k kms, the 2nd one replaced at 35k kms and 15 k kms later 3rd one is due for replacement. Brake pads which used to last for 40-50k kms need to be changed at 15k kms.
Every time I visit the service center, the ASS looks like a hungry wolf.
Of course the problem is probably selection. I did buy one of the most popular cars at the time.
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Old 6th November 2019, 23:52   #92
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Re: How a more expensive car can work out cheaper (if you hold onto it for longer)

Agreed totally. I sold my Dad's Esteem VX (that I inherited) after 20 years of use. For a 200000+ km driven car bought for 5 lakh rupees, I had offers of Rs.50000/-. My own first car fits this threads rationale perfectly.
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Old 7th November 2019, 00:31   #93
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Re: How a more expensive car can work out cheaper (if you hold onto it for longer)

Quote:
Originally Posted by SS-Traveller View Post
Conspiracy theory alert: The government, in collusion with automobile manufacturers, wants you to buy new cars frequently, to profit from the taxes and the sales. The powers-that-be don't want you to hold on to your car for too long!
The net effect of this policy structure is people not buying cars at all.
Looking from the financial perspective, its a tremendous loss if one cannot drive his car 50-80K kilometers a year. This is more true for owners of durable and heavy duty SUVs like Scorpio, XUV, Safari etc. Very few car owners can clock that kind of mileage on private use.

I am quite sure that the ill effects of this policy drive will soon trickle down to the used vehicle market as well. It makes little sense to buy a 5 year old car now, even at a great discount. This in turn will reinforce the depreciation logic stated by GTO in the opening logic.
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Old 7th November 2019, 02:49   #94
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Re: How a more expensive car can work out cheaper (if you hold onto it for longer)

Absolutely agree with the points made here. Both my cars are in the 14th year of their life now and in no way put to my mind the want of a new car. Though, this majorly is because of the excellent reliability of both the cars, but the hugely plummeted value that either of them holds within the used car market also has a role to play. The money that I would by selling my mint '05 V6 Accord would not be enough to even buy a middle variant of a Santro. And what to say of the resale of a V8 Lexus LS430!
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Old 7th November 2019, 03:37   #95
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Originally Posted by wildsdi5530 View Post
Interesting thread, but to be the devil's advocate
I would agree with you on this. Older and more expensive cars may give the owners a trouble free service for a decade but there comes a time when the effort required to keep them running outweighs their utility.

Parts become scarce, knowledgeable mechanics are hard to find and some things are just no longer available. Even if you wanted to you just keep it in the pristine order you would like to.

Small parts especially are very tough to source sometimes impossible to find.

In my experience whatever you buy at whatever cost it has a life span, it varies between a few years to perhaps more than a decade but ultimately it becomes unviable.

After purchasing 10 cars over the last 20 years I would think that nothing is built for life. Heck even humans have a life and with age certain things you just can't fix evenn in humans. Just my two cents.
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Old 7th November 2019, 05:37   #96
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Re: How a more expensive car can work out cheaper (if you hold onto it for longer)

When I was purchasing my vehicle in 2004, I had shortlisted the Hyundai Santro & Honda City (Dolphin shape).
I had to up my loan amount from 2 to 5 Lakhs and for that I was getting a much better and bigger vehicle.
The vehicle is now 15 years old, fitness certification done and regularly serviced at the local Honda service center.

It has been a peaceful ownership.
The car has exceptional back seat space and a very large boot.
If I trade it today, I will not even get Rs 25,000 and for Rs 25,000 I am never going to find another car like this.
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Old 7th November 2019, 08:34   #97
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Re: How a more expensive car can work out cheaper (if you hold onto it for longer)

This was a major concern affecting my buying process when I bought Figo 1.5D(6.17L, on-road) in 2016. I had initially decided to buy Nano XE for 2L(on-road). My Dad gave me a golden advice that it is better to buy a car which I will be upgrading to in three years now itself and avoid the heartache of depreciation. Nano's sales numbers too aided the thought.

It had been a great decision. I hardly feel envious of another car on road now. Knowing the specs of 99% of the cars on our roads helps a lot in being like that. With a sub-10 0-100 time and a habit of sticking to 80kmph on toll-ways, I have adequate power all the time. I will be sure that the other bloke had spent a bomb on a slower car most of the time.

I have decided to learn about upgrading/rebuilding my car by the time it becomes unavoidable and continue using it. With the components having import duty of 25%, I have started dreaming about having a Type R or Cummins R2.8 in my car in the near future. A v8 wont hurt either.

I am eagerly awaiting a full blown engine upgrade thread in future.

Last edited by Aditya : 7th November 2019 at 17:12. Reason: As requested
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Old 7th November 2019, 09:04   #98
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Re: How a more expensive car can work out cheaper (if you hold onto it for longer)

Isn't this true for most things in life IF certain good practices are followed?


Be it clothes, shoes, accessories, mobiles phones, house, computers, pens, watches etc. it's better to invest in good quality, feature-rich, future-proof items that provide higher value over a long period of time. Of course, one has to have the money in the first place and then resist any temptation to impulsively replace them sooner
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Old 7th November 2019, 09:09   #99
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Re: How a more expensive car can work out cheaper (if you hold onto it for longer)

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Originally Posted by kiku007 View Post
Isn't this true for most things in life IF certain good practices are followed?
it's better to invest in good quality, feature-rich, future-proof items that provide higher value over a long period of time.
This reminds me of a quote our Hindi teacher in school would say - Mehenga roye ek baar, Sasta roye baar baar.

Translated - Buy the best & cry once rather than buy a cheaper alternative & cry everyday.
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Old 7th November 2019, 10:35   #100
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Re: How a more expensive car can work out cheaper (if you hold onto it for longer)

If the more expensive car is from a segment a couple of notches higher, let's not forget the added expenditure in maintaining it for similar kinds of running. This may end up bringing down the gap in cost of ownership across the two scenarios.
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Old 7th November 2019, 11:06   #101
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Originally Posted by benbsb29 View Post
If the more expensive car is from a segment a couple of notches higher, let's not forget the added expenditure in maintaining it for similar kinds of running. This may end up bringing down the gap in cost of ownership across the two scenarios.
Yes. Also, let's not ignore the opportunity cost of the extra amount used to buy the more expensive car.
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Old 7th November 2019, 11:20   #102
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Re: How a more expensive car can work out cheaper (if you hold onto it for longer)

Bigger is better is what I had learned, when it comes to cars. So expensive vehicles in this discussion are bigger , so it fits the argument.

This is not so simple I feel, it's the utility of a vehicle that decides how long you hold on to it rather than how expensive it is or large it is. This argument from my side won't fit the scenario towards the bottom of this post. Read on.

If it wears well, has good support system, spacious even if your family expands and overall usable for city as well as highways. This kind of vehicle tends to stick on for a while in my experience. The need for upgrade is less here.

Between Swift and Ciaz no prizes for guessing which you would hold on to for longer.

The other side :

Beginner drivers should stick to what makes them feel confident in our crowded roads for the first few years and then upgrade. Cars are a thing of passion and expenses, so get used to it. There are plenty of potential drivers in our homes who simply did not get a vehicle of suitable size to learn the ropes. My Mom, Aunt, Sister etc. The vehicles in the household felt too cumbersome for them, they wanted a Nano/ Alto sized car instead. Their loss is significant, mobility is freedom and it was denied for them.

I think there is no one size fits all deal here at all folks.
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Old 7th November 2019, 12:29   #103
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Re: How a more expensive car can work out cheaper (if you hold onto it for longer)

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Originally Posted by SideView View Post
One catch here is that people shouldnt buy bigger vehicle and expect maintenance of smaller vehicle.(unless its a toyota?)
Let me tell you that maintenance costs for a larger Toyota (the D1 Corolla Altis, Innova and higher) are reasonable. And when I say maintenance it means the annual service and replacement of most consumables and some wear & tear items.

However, accident repairs on D1+ Toyota models can get expensive to very expensive. So even a minor smash up will cost you quite a bit of money depending on the part that requires replacement. Better have a good insurance policy to cover this expense. For e.g a HID headlamp assembly on my car costs about 65K + GST + labour. Ditto with the latest models. Gearbox lube replacement, required in case of tranny repair, is about 8K for a refill, a spare key is approx 10K, while I was told airbags are 30K-50K a piece.

In a nutshell - a larger and better built car may cost less you over time but that comes with 2 caveats i.e. accident jobs are excluded and though some marques like Toyotas or Hondas can take heck of a lot of punishment, all these cars requires regular maintenance to keep long term costs down.
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Old 7th November 2019, 13:18   #104
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Originally Posted by Kosfactor View Post
Bigger is better is what I had learned, when it comes to cars. So expensive vehicles in this discussion are bigger , so it fits the argument.

This is not so simple I feel, it's the utility of a vehicle that decides how long you hold on to it rather than how expensive it is or large it is

....

I think there is no one size fits all deal here at all folks.
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?).

Last edited by pseudo_coder : 7th November 2019 at 13:19.
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Old 7th November 2019, 14:10   #105
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Re: How a more expensive car can work out cheaper (if you hold onto it for longer)

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Originally Posted by pseudo_coder View Post
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?).
Option 1: Buy a Vento/Rapid TDI DSG and call it a day
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