[Dr.Abhi]

I thought of starting a new thread where we can discuss the Short car ownerships, the reason for which the car was sold at such a short notice and if possible how much deprecatory loss was incurred during the process.

From my side,
My dad once bought a Maruti van in 1997 (his fourth van) but sold it within 6 months for no obvious reason (may be he had too much of vans) and bought a Zen after it. During the process (purchase and sale of van) he incurred a loss of about Rs.45000 (which I consider is too much for that time and class of the vehicle).

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Scene. Thanks for sharing!

We usually keep cars for 8 - 10 years minimum. The shortest car ownership period since the 2000s:

1. Mercedes C180 - under 3 years. Plagued with issues. We fought with Mercedes & eventually the car was replaced with a C220 (we got a full refund for the C180 and paid the price difference for the C220).

2. Tata Indigo. We owned it for just 5 years or so. Reason = horrible construction & quality. By the time we sold it, the Indigo was creaky, full of problems, had suffered innumerable breakdowns and no one in the family was willing to travel in it. The Sunny replaced it; 8 years up and the Sunny has held up twice as well as that wretched Indigo. Tata destroyed its own brand name by building such low quality cars.

[The Rationalist]

My first car was bought as a used Zen, a white one through Maruti used car section. It was a bad one with lot of issues, the sales guy cheated us. I was 23 and didn’t know anything at all about how to look for signs of abuse. Was sold off in 5 months. Got another used Zen, a Riviera Red, which was 6 months old and used it for 14 years.

We had Maruti 800 for 13 years, Figo running at 11th year, Aspire about to enter 6th year. So except for that one off Zen, we never change cars often. Being a middle class family, even though we love cars, I’m extremely rational in spending money on cars.

[ast.ggn]

My shortest ownership was of Ford Ikon 1.6 Zxi. I had it with me for 1 year approx. from 2008 to 2009.

Reason - The car was a driver's delight but suffered from frequent breakdowns post 70k kms. In that short period, I faced coolant tank leakage, clutch replacement, fuel pump failure and the parts were expensive. I bought it pre-owned at quite low price but realized that it was not that reliable. I was not as well informed back then as I am now or perhaps wouldn't have purchased it. Sold it off at same price as purchase price.

[vibbs]

Shorted ownership has been around 5 years.
It was our first Car a Premier Padmini (bought Second hand in mid 90s) sold it after around 5 years.

Second one - A Maruti Swift 1.3 Petrol was home for 6 years and sold (with 70K Kms on the Odo) when we all relocated from Delhi.

Our third car is a Fiat Punto 1.3 MJD bought in 2013 and still around after running close to 100K Kms. The usage has reduced as I have relocated to Singapore, but did not have the heart to sell it off.

Fourth car is the one we bought at hometown, a Maruti Wagon R for use at Home town. This was bought in 2015 and is still in use with around 20K on the Odo.

[Traveler]

Tata Safari Ex 4x4, bought in 2010 and sold in 2011, less than 10k on the odometer. It had too many niggles, steering noises, water leaking, unreliable (Fuel filter went kaput, Power Windows were iffy) . Door alignment could never be adjusted perfectly. The driver door just does not sit flush with the body. I noticed the same in other cars too and it was a design issue. It was my first SUV and I sold it off within one year. Lost almost 2L on it at that time. I think it was a half finished product. Never considered any Tata Vehicle since.

Replaced it with Pajero SFX that I kept for 9 years and ZERO issues. I think it was the most reliable vehicle I ever owned.

[Storm2.0]

I borrowed an old 16 year old Daewoo Matiz from a family friend, so that I could get good enough driving experience before moving to a better car.
That car was a good contender for "Rust in peace" thread. Thanks to local mechanic, he got the car restored to a decent running condition for 12-15k and I used it for 6 months before getting my Hyundai Eon.

[fhdowntheline]

My shortest period is Tata Nano: 1 year, from Nov-2012 to Nov-2013. It was a charming product when we got it, but started to get fed up of the NVH, iffy part quality, particularly the headlamps getting opaque, and the relative lack of comfort over trips exceeding 10-15km. Got it for 1.05 lac, sold it for 90K. So not a huge loss per se, but an interesting experience nevertheless.

[S.MJet]

My shortest car ownership was 13 months. It was my first car, 18 months old Maruti 800, bought it from a colleague in 2004 and sold it to True Value in 2005.

No issues with the car, had to sell due to job transfer. It was easiest and quickest sell (was sold within a day I contacted True value) plus negligible financial loss (Rs 4k).

[KiloAlpha]

My shortest time I have owned a car has been 9 months. It was a '97 model jellybean Zen that I bought used in February 2003.
I spent a a lot of money (or what was, at that time for me, a lot of money) on all manner of upgrades - high mounted stop lamp, internally adjustable mirrors from the Esteem, dash clock, music system, tyres, suspension work.

In November 2003, I crashed it and wrote it off.

[sv97]

My Hyundai Creta I sold it off in less than an year as I had to move to Mumbai for my MBA and back at home there was no need of the car in my absence.

[sumeethaldankar]

6 months brand new 2018 Hyundai Verna. Bought on 10 Sep 2018, sold 10 Feb 2019 exact 6 months. Did ~5k kms. Primary reason was it was my first diesel car and the smoke caused me headaches. There were other reasons too which acted as the driving force to sell it off as it let me down and I hated it. Needless to say it was a depreciation disaster.

[aniyo]

Shortest Bike owned: RE Thunderbird 350: About a year. I never wanted to buy it since my elder brother was moving to USA he sold off the Brio and RE as a package to me. Hated the bike to the bits, drove a grand 3000Km in one year and sold at the same price I got it.

Shortest Car: Have owned only 2 cars, Brio was with me for 4 years. Sold it off in 2019. Nexon bought last year hope to keep it for another 5-6 years.

Longest bike: Pulasr 150 round headlight. Drove it from 2003 to 2015 before it started giving serious issues. It's been rusting in peace ever since.

[neoonwheels]

Bought a pre-owned Jetta MT in May 2017, sold it in Jun 2018

Reason - The heavy clutch and Pune traffic made it dificult for me to continue using it. I tried changing work timings but could not continue coz of random meetings and all. So finally, sold it off.

[dr.aviansh]

My Dad has changed 14 cars since his first SS80 DX in 1989. Since, the initial ones were pre worshipped, I’m not taking them in count because they stayed with us for a couple of years only and dad upgraded.
His running is about 40k KMS in city traffic, so he takes the juice out of his rides.

One such was the ACCENT VIVA CRDi (2005-2011). We bought it brand new in 2005. I just LOVED the acceleration. Put her into second gear and she was literally flying! The AC was a chiller even at +50 degrees Celsius. I think the suspension was stiffer than its sedan counterpart and I used to drool over the Sportback like silhouette.

But, the VM Motori sourced 3-pot CRDi was a menace in itself. Finally, when she was out of the warranty time period, the engine gave up at 160k kms. On my insisting, we got it rebuilt from Deep Hyundai for Rs. 80k in 2010.

Just 12 months down the line, the timing belt came out when I was redlining it around Dhaula Kuan at ~2Lac KMS. The ASC advised us to let go off it which we did despite the door trims, power windows, electricals etc. all being in perfect shape. Coming from Maruti Suzuki cars that was a blessing.

I still remember how Dad being 40 in 2015, used to drive it like a teenager who got first sports car.
And I’m literally in nostalgia while typing this!