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-   -   So, why won't you buy a used car? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/217737-so-why-wont-you-buy-used-car.html)

As some of you know, I'm a BIG FAN of pre-owned cars. In fact, I have even lovingly named them pre-worshipped machines :D. There are some interesting articles on Team-BHP discussing the pros of used cars, and how to go about the process:

The not-so-obvious advantages

Beauty of lateral upgrades

New car vs Used car

How to buy a used car in India

However, a majority of BHPians still clearly prefer new cars. Curious to know why? The monetary savings are undeniably massive, while tech has made it possible to completely minimise the risk of buying used. Heck, of the last 10 cars I've bought, the pre-owned experiences were better than new! Long 7 year warranties ensure that the manufacturer has got your back too (Honda will give you 10 years). What's stopping you? The risk? Effort? Social stigma? Or do you just "like brand new" cars, that fresh cabin smell, the scratch-free paint and the simpler buying experience?

Please vote on the multiple-choice poll. This is a topic dear to my heart.

For me, it is a combination of the risk of being cheated (because I am not very skilled at used car evaluation & resulting in a higher/repair maintenance cost) and the effort needed to find a used car that keeps me away from used vehicles.

Edit: Another point - I generally prefer buying popular make and models and these typically have good resale values. So the monetary benefit in buying such used cars is significantly less.

I bought my first car used (Honda Brio) and the second one New (Nexon).
I got Brio when I was single and paid in cash. Quite happy with the car and after nearly 4 years of ownership I sold for 2L (had got is for 3L)

When we were replacing Brio, I wanted to buy XUV500 used or Hexa used.. tried convincing my wife for a month and she put her foot down that she wants only new.
Finally ended by buying Nexon new. If it were for me I would have bought a XUV500 used top end by paying couple of lakhs extra

Used cars don't work in most cities in India except for Mumbai and Delhi. Mumbai and Delhi market is larger, people buy and change cars often there vs other cities and resale prices in Delhi and Mumbai are ridiculously lower than other cities.

In cities like Bangalore it is almost foolish to look at used cars as the prices are plain silly.

I was looking for a used X1 but most X1 prices were above 35L for 2-3 year old cars with less than 30K kms on it. That was not even 10L lower than a new one.

I tried looking for a used X3 and even those were well above 40L for 20d forget 30d.

Same goes for used Camry which was 30+ for the Hybrid.

On top of that Bangalore doesn't even have so many options. When I thought of Kodiaq, used car options were nil. Even if I found a Kodiaq the price would be 35+ I am sure.

Fellow moderator Ajmat got a used Polo 1.6. Great car and very rare. He paid 3L for it. People in Mumbai and Delhi will laugh at this price but that's how it is in Bangalore. Ofcourse there was no other better option for 3L in new car market.

Cities like Bangalore you can buy used provided those cars are not available new (reverse of the poll option). Example Ajmat's Polo 1.6, Jaggu's Grand Vitara he got used, Khan_sultan's Grand Vitara.

Voted for:
-The risk (being cheated, reliability, accident / flood damage etc.)
-Too much effort to find a car, TD it, get it checked...
-Try convincing my spouse / family!!!
...and
-Other (please specify in your post)

Longer warranties are usually not transferable and hence become useless as soon as the car is bought used.

Only a handful of manufacturers provide retrospective warranties on older models which.

2-4 Lac is the max I would spend on a used car and it would be a model which has a reputation of being reliable and cheap to maintain.

The main reason for me is the maintenance cost. I like to enjoy a stress free 3-4 years of initial ownership and sell it off when I have clocked some decent miles (when the service starts to get expensive).

Used car prices of some popular cars are mad here as well. For example, I bought the Swift for 5.5L and sold it off for 5L after 4 years. Before getting the Swift, I almost bought the OHC but the asking price was ridiculous. I wouldn't mind getting a pre-owner car as my secondary ride as long as it's something desirable (something which I almost did - Zeroed in a Ford Ikon 1.6 petrol for my wife but was too much for her as he just got her license :D)

I don't have the patience, and as mentioned in earlier post finding a good car at reasonable price here in Karnataka is next to impossible. Even for a flop car, prices quoted are sky high. 80% or more of the market is controlled by dealers and finding a direct seller is a tough job. Lastly I like my car squeaky clean, finding one can take ages here. Since my birth, we had only one used car- A maruti Esteem way back in 97-98, though we had good experience, automobile scene has changed quite a lot ever since.

I will always buy a segment A/B car (read cheaper cars) new. There is not much savings on popular models like the Wagon-R, Swift etc even if bought pre-owned since these have typically very good resale value. And moreover, we keep the car mostly for long; this long time frame really helps to extract value for the money I spend on a new car.

Related thread: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...to-longer.html

On the other hand, Segment C/D cars, if bought pre-owned are real value for money since they typically depreciate in terms of money quickly. Though not an expert, but I consider myself having fair idea in evaluating the condition of cars, more on the technical grounds than cosmetically I concede. This gives me the confidence to buy them used.

Also, though I do not wish to derail this thread into Euro vs. Japanese debate, but reliability of brands like Honda, Toyota, Suzuki do play a vital role in my mind while looking out for pre-owned cars.

Regards,
Saket

For me it is a combination of 3 points.

The car that entices me at the moment is MG Hector and Tata Harrier. Hard to find these in the used car market at a good price. If I were to overlook this point, I am put off with the amount of work needed to find a good example, test drive it and examine the worthiness.
I feel there is a risk of being a bit short changed as well. Despite all the effort there is a possibility that I may still end up with an abused car whose history was probably wiped clean. I think it is so much of a hassle to dig deep in the history and look for all clues etc. that I may rather buy a new car itself.

Edit: Forgot to mention the warranties as well that accompany new cars. Moreover if I were to buy the Europeans, I would rather buy a new car than put up with the horrors of having to maintain a 5 year old one.

Though the two cars we have were bought new, I love pre-worshipped cars, they are far more VFM than buying new. You avoid the depreciation disaster and can easily get better cars for your buck.
Key to finding a good pre-owned car is patience and endless scouring of classifieds, you will find good gems there provided one is not under any deadline or open to compromising on colour.
Last year I got an used A-star automatic for my wife to get her accustomed to driving. When she exchanged it for her first new car, made a small profit even after using it for 6 months and for over 5000 Kms.
I got my brother a used Corolla Altis for around 4L and sold it for 3.4L after using it for 2 years and clocking more than 28000Kms. His current ride is again a pre-owned Honda City Diesel which had clocked 40000Kms, got it at a very good price and confident of not losing much whenever he plans to exchange or sell it.

To put simply, the reasons for me not being interested in used cars is-

1. The new car smell! :)

2. Potential of costly repairs in future. While in most cases, even after such repairs, a buyer would still be saving a decent amount of money, but it takes a lot of effort and time of a person and is mentally draining as well. This is easier though if you have multiple cars at your disposal and have a driver at home who can manage the 'time and effort' part of the ownership.

3. Continuing from the above point, the 'peace of mind' which one gets after buying a new car is unparalleled. Especially, in today's time when most products can be had with at least 5 years warranty.

4. Last but not the least- 'social stigma'. Well, I don't care much about it, but yes, some I do, i.e., I would assign this factor the lowest priority, maybe even 1% of let's say a total of 100, it still remains a factor, though I am pretty sure that practically speaking, this factor will never come into play. I have already had my share of social stigma when I told people that I went for the Figo Diesel over the Baleno. :D

To conclude, I would say that I plan to be dynamic and if and when the opportunity comes, I would not simply shun a deal for the fact that the car in question is a used one.

Is that Bat Mobile yours? I had seen it during multiple super car events in Mumbai and recently at Valley Run.

On the topic, I personally prefer buying a new car and keeping it for as long as possible. The advantages of buying a pre owned car is a lot more with primary being one can get 2 or 3 segment higher cars at half the cost. But then there will always be some kind of doubt about how the car must have been treated, any insurance works for major damages (I know these things can be checked but have no confidence in our process) In our country a lot of fake passports are made so hiding insurance claims won't be that difficult.

Moreover, if you plan to keep the car for long then a new one makes more sense. It would be revered from day one and you can have a log of each day spent with her :D

Our experience with used cars have been a mixed bag. One had few lingering issues while the second one (still with me) turned out to be a good deal. However we appreciate the fact that the investment upfront is very low and the depreciation loss during resale is less too.

The first two cars we owned were bought used. Both were about 2 years old and the owners were known to us. We simply believed that the owners would have taken good care of their cars (mistake).

M800: 2 yr/39k run piece
My father needed a car, his first one, urgently. Back in the late 90s, the M800 had waiting periods. He got to know of one '98 M800 DX on sale. The owner was a reputed businessman and wanted to upgrade. My father's mistake, he never checked out the car. He told me to take a glance when I was passing through that area. I was small kid waiting for our first car. I saw it and simply said "YES" and the car was bought the very next day. Turned out the car had been in an accident. Due to this, later during our ownership(11 years and 43k kms), we had lingering tyre alignment issues apart from some paint mismatch and panel alignment. Fair to say that though it didn't leave a bad taste, it wasn't the happiest too.

WagonR VXi 1.0: 2 yr/14k run
After selling off the M800, we were a car-less happy family for good three years. One fine day, my father got to know of his colleague exchanging his WagonR for a Renault Scala. When he heard the exchange price, he simply said to handover the car to him and he will pay the same price. That's it!
Turned out this car had also been involved in accidents, though minor ones. Apart from cosmetic issues (paint and panel mismatch), we haven't faced anything bad in the past 6 yrs/72k kms it has spent with us.

Now, when I was in market looking for an upgrade for the WagonR, the following reasons went against me getting a used car:

1. Effort involved in looking up good used car deals: We as a family have stumbled upon used cars for sale. We have never even tried to check its condition before the purchase (I know we were at fault). I am lazy!

2. Convincing family members: Wife secretly wanted that we get a new car this time. Even my father was reluctant unless we get a car from a known owner like in the past.

3. Hidden issues in used car: Lingering thought in the mind that what if the car has some issues which I can't find during my TD.


That said, I have helped three of my friends to scout and purchase 3 used cars - a Jazz, an i10 and an Octavia. All of them are happy as I had told them what they are getting into and what could be potential hidden costs and efforts.

Simply put, I don't back myself to evaluate these cars technically and the risk of being conned is high in the current market. I can't comment on all of India, but Delhi is notorious in this regard. With NGT ruling, the market has suddenly grown for second hand cars and the boisterous examples of conned deals are common. At this juncture in life, I have other priorities which demand attention rather than me fretting out on the maintenance expenses of a bad deal. I will happily pay the premium of a new car and keep it for a decade.
However, I do keep an eye on such deals if they happen to come from friends circle. Paying 10 percent extra for a good car with authentic information is fine with me.
I hope that someday in the not so far future, the market will mature to help fair and neat deals to materialize. All I wish for is authentic information about the car without the fear of being conned.