[Jessierider]

This year we had decided on adding an Innova Crysta AT to our family as my dad's daily drive to his office in the outskirts of Bangalore. He currently uses our immaculately well maintained '09 Dzire Petrol which has been fairly trouble-free with just the routine maintenance, and occasional change of parts due to wear and tear with over 1.5lac Km on the odo.

The pressing need for an up-gradation was merely due to the below reasons,
1. Lack of any safety features on the Dzire- Most Important.
2. The possibility of my marriage this year which fortunately for me seems bleak now.
3. The desire to own a new car and go up a few segments.

All these apart from safety is negligible hence the delay by a year or more.

[B103]

Postponing/no plans to upgrade.

Cars, airline travel, tourism, many construction activities are items which are discretionary. During financially difficult times, none of these sell. Industries related to food, shaving kit, pet food, medicines etc will not get impacted, as people cannot postpone these.

I read a Whatsapp post recently as:
"World is only buying what it needs and hence the global economy is entering a recession now. Economic growth happens when people buy things that they don't need with the money that they don't have"

[AnInternetUser]

Voted for other.

While we weren't planning on upgrading our '09 City (it's serving us quite well so far), we were thinking of getting a beater + doing some upgrades on the City so it feels fresher.

But as someone who is in the stock markets, this is the time to invest and generate returns instead of spending it on avoidable expenses IMO. We've delayed other big (but avoidable) purchases by a bit because of the same reason.

To be honest, if your car upgrade decision isn't essential and you can wait for a bit, please invest the funds and use your current vehicle instead. If my memory serves me right, t-bhp has a finance thread so you could read up on some investments over there, consult your financial advisor or figure it out by yourself. But please invest. It might just help you get a car that's one or two segments higher!

A lot of people made incredible returns after the 2008 crisis (real estate particularly) which enabled them to buy better cars. That's what I'm eyeing right now!

[confused.geek]

A few weeks back, I wrote about my ageing Maruti Alto Lxi that has 14 years and 1.2Lakh kilometres of driving on it and while that usage might not be a lot in the larger scheme of car usage, my need for a larger car has definitely come up owing to a toddler who refuses to sit in anyone's lap and a golden retriever who insists on sitting in someone's lap.

Unfortunately, despite getting indications that my job will be stable, I can't hedge my bets at this time, so once the lockdown is done, the Alto will receive some TLC and run for another year.

[chennai-indian]

I have a 2014 Honda City SV Auto and a 2018 Tiago XZA and have no plans to replace these for the foreseeable future. Hope India can ride out this pandemic and economy revives soon

[chennai-indian]

Originally Posted by professor.march

I only have a scooter. So I was planning to buy a car this year. My plan is still on but it's pushed back by a few months. Maybe the festival season. If finances are comfortable, then Altroz etc, if not, Tiago. I stay in the outskirts of Chennai and it's really not safe to travel in my area after dark on a 2 wheeler.

Im sure there will be lots of deals in the next few months. I have a Tiago XZA and is very happy with the car

[vigneshkumar31]

Going ahead with a small beater car purchase.

I was planning to upgrade my 7+yr old storme to the Ford's 3.2 in 2019, when the Ford Mahindra JV and Bs6 uncertainties, 2.0 litre etc. rattled my decision. Was looking to bring home the sweet Kodiaq L&K instead. When I was scheming thus dreamily, I was transferred out to the islands. Considering that there's not much service support and spares availability in Port blair (nil for Skoda) I shelved that plan until I can return to mainland a couple of years down the line.

Within a month of moving here, the covid hit and looking at the way things are going topsy turvy, I'm glad I didn't plonk 4 million on a depreciating asset. The relocation to the isles has been godsent in preventing a financial debacle and also more importantly have also been much better insulated against covid than the rest of the country.

The safari is truly in it's elements in the island with a nice mix of hilly up and downs and rut ridden trails leading to welcoming beaches. The age and 'well driven in' nature of the SUV helps because I don't have to be too careful with a nick or prick here and there and drive it like its meant to be. I wouldve been sweating if I had to load a sophisticated VAG on a
inter island ferry boat. The Andaman Police run the white storme as the primary Parakram vehicle so spares are sorted with the local TASS. I will use this time on the island as a forced hiatus and see what the world offers on coming back to mainland.

However on the flip side, there's no Uber ola or the like here and the 8 month long rainy season makes waiting for autos uncomfortable for the wife and kid. With the fomite scene, I would also like to avoid any shared transport for the family as much as possible and accord the missus some self reliance to venture around. So i was looking for a budget AMT for the school run and beater. Planning to keep the car as designated beater for long so preloved route was shunned.

The wife loves the SPresso's looks (she's the 50% who love it) and I love the engine and practicality. Tall and narrow is perfect for what we're looking for and gives me generous headroom for it's size. The Spresso was shortlisted because it simply ticks all the right boxes. We shortlisted it before the lockdown and I Intend to seal the deal post lockdown. Let's see if the market slump gets some deals in the mix.

[SnS_12]

Voted for “Postponing our decision”. Although we have a Honda Brio, was looking at adding a sedan to the garage. But, keeping the financial angle aside buying a car now makes absolute no sense as there is no clarity on when and how long will it take for things to normalise and I hardly see adding any substantial Kms in the coming months.

But, if you desperately need a car in the family then the pre owned route will be the best option. With all the news of job losses and cut in salaries a lot of stress sales are gonna happen as people try to maintain liquidity. Also, the dealers dealing in pre owned cars will be desperate to clear off their inventories and you can strike a good deal.

[ramki.grandhi]

Trying to stick "original" plan, which has been postponed many times so far. Currently driving 2009 Fabia petrol, ran only 40k and its in pristine condition.

I'm curiously waiting for Nissan Kicks pricing. As of now i've shortlisted Nexon XZ+S petrol manual, Seltos HTK petrol, creta ex petrol(not a great choice, i may change my mind after a td)

Come on Nissan, dont screw up pricing for XV turbo manual, pretty please !

[tejas08]

Driving a 6 Year Old Honda City. I was thinking about upgrading to the Octavia 1.8 TSI and probably went to Skoda showroom at least 3 times to inquire on the price check for discounts. But the way Skoda handled me during the visit just put me off. Absolutely Cold Shoulder approach almost every time. No follow-up call, nothing. This is one reason I decided against it.

The second was of course the financial reason, but anyhow it was before the Covid-19 episode. I didn't want to create another loan on my head and decided to focus on closing down the ongoing home loan instead of adding a new loan.

So now, I am going to hold on to my Honda City till I get Zero Dep Insurance or reach 1 Lac Kms on the ODO, whichever reaches first.

[KMT]

The potential 15 year scrappage policy is stopping me from buying a used 4x4 workhorse.

For me this has added another unknown into the already unsteady environment.

[anshu1101]

Voted for "postponing your decision". Had plans to upgrade to an SUV this year. Had it not been for the pandemic, it would be been most likely done by now. But given these uncertain times and the evolving situation, I would rather have cash on my hands than doling out EMIs. Will not take the plunge until I'm convinced that its financially sound, given the highly discretionary nature of the purchase.

[advenk999]

Voted for postponing the decision. With times like these and uncertainties, it doesn't make sense to sink liquidity into a heart based decision, yet depreciating asset.

Building up on liquidity is key at this time and cars are always there to stay. Postponing by a year will probably get you a better updated car of your dream. Also be aware that test drives and showroom walk ins at this time can be dicey, even with all the precautionary measures at dealership levels.

Most of us are currently working at compromised salaries, a blessing in disguise as we aren't out of a job. Talk to those unfortunate souls and we should definitely be counting our stars. Considering the travel time and costs cut down drastically, we can make use of our paychecks to keep our health and safety intact.

Surplus funds can always be used for investments or simple fixed/recurring deposits and the same can be reallocated for your car purchase for the postponed period. In this sense, you could have more cash in hand and plan out a strategical purchase.

Take care and be safe!

[Axe77]

I am fortunately well placed on the vehicle front. My garage is <2 yr i10 AT which is good for drivers as well as personal runabout close by and a 4.5 yr old 3 GT which I was anyway planning to hold for 8 -10 years. Later this year if things are not looking absolutely dismal I might do a remap but purchases are out of the Q for at least a few years, nor are they needed fortunately.

On the bike front again, I have my all purpose ADV in the Tiger which is not even 18 months old.

I was seriously toying with the idea of a cheap project bike as an add on for a custom mod project but I think I will defer that decision to at least post March 2021 - its a pure heart project for me and uncalled for in these uncertain times.

In late Jan / early Feb, I almost bit the bullet on flipping my 2015 GT for a used 2017 LR Discovery Sport HSE Lux. I am so thankful I did not go down that route. Would have been a needless drain on valuable cash in bank.

[Sheel]

Voted for the first option Going ahead with the original plan. But, I was not looking forward to buy a car, my 2 year young Swift ZXi+ and 5 years young Scorpio S10 4WD are in top shape and I do not plan to replace them.

It is my 2017 Yamaha FZ-25 which I am looking to replace and I am unsure what would I end up buying. But, I am buying something by this year end hopefully. I am waiting as I would prefer to test ride the shortlisted bikes prior to signing the dotted line, hopefully without a loan.