[madhav14]

Hello all,

I've been looking for a used luxury car in Hyderabad and in that process, I observed a very strange trend in the Hyderabad's Luxury used car Market.

Almost all the dealers started getting these luxury cars (BMWs, Audis, Mercedes) with Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana, West Bengal registrations mostly and selling them here, partly hiding that fact in the initial discussions, and later revealing that it's another state car, and giving us an option to change the state registration by paying extra life tax or use the car like that. Also they are stating they can change the state registration at half the actual price if we give them that job.

I didn't understand what's going on and completely amused by this strange trend that started off-late.
Also, everyone started quoting exorbitant prices (5-10 lacs more than market price) for all the luxury cars and started behaving very stringent in negotiations. May be due to small market, they have been behaving like a consortium or something?

Can we believe them and buy those cars from these other states? Or do anyone smell anything fishy in this whole scene? Any experts, please throw some light on this.

Thanks in advance.

[ssjr0498]

Cars in general do not hold value in the second hand market in the mentioned states. The dealers know this and they buy the cars for dirt cheap and sell it in places like Bangalore, Hyderabad where folks are willing to pay good money and generally the car prices hold up even in the second hand market. Nothing fishy I feel!

[Heart_Revs]

Yes. There is nothing fishy. Used car with low kms are available at perhaps most reasonable price in West bengal. Comparing to cost of transport, there is substantial saving in buying from Bengal. Just check on olx.

[Entsurgeon]

Take any of your friends cars to them and make them quote a price for selling. See if they purchase locally registered cars at a higher rate or not. Repeat at multiple dealers. See the gap between buying and selling and you would know if its a fleece practice or not.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by madhav14

Almost all the dealers started getting these luxury cars (BMWs, Audis, Mercedes) with Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana, West Bengal registrations mostly and selling them here

Jharkhand has very low road tax. West Bengal has the option to avail road tax for a 5 year / 10 year / 15 year or life time period. I don't know how and where Bihar fits in as taxes are high in comparison to Jharkhand or West Bengal [for tenure].

Similar to few getting their rides registered in Puducherry [PY] or Daman [DN].

[ramnaresh_2000]

I visited almost all second hand dealers in Ayyappa Society area when I was looking for a used luxury car for my friend 6 months back. I noticed below

1) Most luxury car dealers are using park and pay model. Owner has to pay a small rent each month to dealer until the vehicle is sold.
2) Owners who are not using park and pay model, will have to send their vehicle to dealer whenever they find a potential customer. Here the dealer charges 2% from seller and 2% from buyer on the total resale value.
3) Most of the readily available luxury cars are from states where road tax is less, and hence resale value is less compared to TS. Open YouTube and you will find cheapest luxury car deals in Delhi and surrounding states. Jharkhand has 6% road tax on ex-showroom price before GST. Shocking right?
4) Dealers are cheaky, really really cheaky buggers (most of them). Once you fall in love with a vehicle, they don't nudge. They observe your body language and can grasp if you are genuine customer or just time passer.
5) They add almost 6-10 lakhs buffer on each vehicle. Even after hefty negotiations we can hardly get 1-2 lakhs discount.
6) Once your details are shared with any 1 dealer, you number is shared on their whatsapp group. No matter which dealer you visit, they would already have learned about your requirements and budget. They will hardly negotiate because of this prior knowledge about you.
7) Used luxury dealers in any city operate just like a mafia. You can check the thread on Bangalore's used car dealers mafia.
8) They will exploit every loop hole in the book. They do meter tampering. Yes, no matter how sophisticated your car is, meter tampering is still possible. Some of the dealers sell flood affected or accidental cars.
9) Finally they knew that a premium customer willing to shed a fortune on used luxury cars will not negotiate hard.
10) Lastly there has been a growing trend in Hyderabad, where people buy luxury cars and use them for 6-8 months and then sell them off to same dealer. This model is a money maker for dealers. They get double commission from loan providers, insurance providers, sellers, buyers for the same car.

Better buy a used car yourself in a different state than relying on dealers. Even better option is to buy directly from seller in OLX.

Best of luck.

[arjab]

There are around three to four so called "top used luxury car dealers" in Kolkata who have strong connects with Hyderabad by dint of their other business tie-up's and, strange as it may sound, through matrimonial alliances!
Used luxury cars depreciate like a bomb in Kolkata and if you buy direct from a owner, say, for example a clean , single owner, 5 year old 320d with 30-35,000 Kms (max) on the odometer can be yours for around Rs 11-12.5 lakhs. The same car will easily sell in South India, (that is either Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Visakhapatnam) for anything between Rs 17-20 lakhs. Even accounting for dealer holding costs and transportation costs from East to South, a dealer in South can easily make upwards of Rs 4 lakhs per car, if not more.
Also most of the HNI's who buy these cars in Kolkata pay the 5-year road tax and after the 4th year they start looking at buying something new to add to their garage. Hence the existing road tax for 5 years is not renewed; the "dealer" tells the owner that the car has "road tax fail" and offers an even lower price and makes even more money by re-selling it in South, after having changed the registration, (for which he charges the new owner anyways).

Going slightly off-topic; actually this trend has been there for quite a while. In the late 90's till the mid 2000's, a lot of low mileage Esteem's used to get sold off in Southern cities.
Now the same thing is being witnessed in Hindustan Ambassador's. In fact in Hyderabad, Bangalore and to a lesser extent in Chennai, cartels operate between Kolkata and these cities shipping derelict Amby's for restoration or even restored Amby's for re-sale in South. And the average prices are pretty over the top with amounts ranging from Rs1.5 lakhs to Rs 3lakhs for Amby's, depending on the state of (dis)repair.

Thus, do check the paperwork thoroughly when buying these vehicles. For the luxuries whether there are any legal taxes & financing outstanding and for Amby's, apart from the paperwork, whether they are genuine cars or "ringed" one's.

[anjan_c2007]

For that matter many brand new luxury cars in cities in Maharashtra are registered with JH, PY, WB registrations to save taxes. The new car dealers have connections in these states. The buyer has to have a residential address in the respective city, which the dealer manages for them.

After perusing the teambhp classifieds for used luxury cars, you will be able to conclude that these depreciate very fast. It will give an idea of the reasonable price range applicable. You can also select one of your choice here, contact the owner and negotiate the price if need be. The car can be transported to your place but you need to have a good connect with the RTO/agent to effect the transfer.

[no_fear]

This is nothing new. It has been going on in Kolkata and Delhi for the past 5 years. For Kolkata, it used to be localized, and the cars would end up going to Delhi. A prominent vlogger bought a used yellow BMW with WB plates and was flaunting it a lot. South dealers have caught on to this fact now and utilizing it to their gain.

However, I would caution against buying directly from the owners in these states without visually inspecting the cars in person. A lot of the cars are not well maintained, have issues and owners do not represent the facts correctly.

[jetsetgo08]

Better buy approved luxury cars from used car wing of dealers like KUN BMW or Mahavir Auto. As they also operate the authorized service centres for most luxury cars.

[lemedico]

Would one observe slightly ethical business at outlets such as the dealership's pre-owned wing itself? Or even the good ol' Big Boys Toys?

It is high time we are introduced to a one nation one road tax rationale. It became so convenient once inter-state cellular roaming charges vanished for good!

[Foxbat]

When I moved to Hyderabad from Mumbai in 2017 I was looking to buy a used BMW 320d E90. There were hardly any options and the prices were completely insane compared to Mumbai that too for horribly maintained cars

I don't know why I was quoted these prices (I thought because maybe I was not a local?). The cars history was often faked even though you can look it up on the RTO website for TS registration. A used car dealer who sells Lamborghinis tried to sell a two owner car with lakhs of repairs due as a flawless one owner car despite me showing him the registration history on the RTO website.

After a few experiences like this I dropped the idea of buying a used car in Hyderabad.

[ank.nsit]

Originally Posted by madhav14

Hello all,

I've been looking for a used luxury car in Hyderabad and in that process, I observed a very strange trend in the Hyderabad's Luxury used car Market.

Almost all the dealers started getting these luxury cars (BMWs, Audis, Mercedes) with Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana, West Bengal registrations mostly and selling them here, partly hiding that fact in the initial discussions, and later revealing that it's another state car, and giving us an option to change the state registration by paying extra life tax or use the car like that.
...

How can you use the car 'like that' without getting it transferred in your name?
And to transfer the car in your name you will need the local address proof for the RTO where the transfer has to be done.

[jithin23]

Originally Posted by ank.nsit

How can you use the car 'like that' without getting it transferred in your name?
And to transfer the car in your name you will need the local address proof for the RTO where the transfer has to be done.

People in Bangalore use other state registered used vehicles for years without transferring it to their name. I wonder who will be held responsible in case of a mishap.

This trend is very common and rampant and even individuals selling in Bangalore do such antics. I was about to be scammed while going for a used Suzuki access. The owner(2nd owner actually but on paper shows as 1st owner) was reluctant to share the RC and insurance and then my intuition was right, this dude was blatantly lying over the phone and in person, the vehicle had a few dings.

Another example is one of my relative bought a used grand i10 AT for 5.xL through an individual. The shock came when I told them that there's a loan pending on the car and the owner did not tell this fact at all to them.

Rather than saving 20-30k by going for a used vehicle with questionable paper work, I decent ahead with a new vehicle itself for Peace of mind. No amount of money will keep you peaceful if you're stuck with a vehicle with questionable paper work.

Even if you're going for a used vehicle, please check the details of the vehicle in any RTO app(or vahan) by checking vehicle history. Vahan shows finance details too if you enter the chassis number.

[m8002?]

Atleast in the cities, the vehicles have number plates. When travelling through villages and small towns ( mainly seen in the Mettur to Sathy route), you can see so many two wheelers with no number plates even. I often wonder how they are sold and used.

Buying a used vehicle is a very risky proposition in India. We need to do a lot of due diligence in terms of RTO, Police, Insurance, Service, Pending loans, etc. If going the used car route, the best option is to buy from a known person ( relative, friend, neighbor, coworkers,etc )