[Jaya Kumar Satr]

I bought a 2019 December Mahindra Marazzo M8 in 2021 December from Cars24. The mileage on the odo was 13k kms plus.
When I test drove the car, it drove well. I drove it for nearly 60 kms which includes, kaccha roads, Highway roads and internal colony roads. I found it to be good. Looks wise too it was good.
The only problem I noticed was that that the rear door was repainted. Could make out from the difference in shade with the rest of the body, but the cars24 guy did not accept it. Actually it was a very minor thing for me so did not concentrate much on that.
I got the service history from Mahindra authorized Service center. Apart from regular servicing, the only big work carried out was change of clutch which was done under warranty after the owner complained of burning smell from the Engine.
I also got it checked by Mahindra Service personnel for a faults. They gave a clean chit.
After that I went ahead and purchased the car.

Till now enjoying the car. With Dieseltronic device from Racedynamics, the acceleration is good too.
Driven it for 9K Kms and no problems till now. I got it serviced at 20K at Mahindra Authorized service station and they said all is well.
I changed the battery at 19K kms after I encountered a late Engine start
Recently I noticed some sound coming when the car goes on a pothole only with steering fully rotated to left. I will have to take it to the Mahindra Service center.

Overall I have a very happy experience with Used Mahindra Marazzo bought from Cars24. I was searching for a good used car from July 2021 and got a beautiful one in Dec 2021. I have test driven almost 15 cars, mostly MUVs and a few Sedans as well and finally ended up with Marazzo. The only other good piece (good by my standards)I had encountered in these six months was a 2017 Model Tata Hexa again from Cars24, which I let go due to the heaviness feeling. Marazzo was very light in manouvering and a delight to drive in Bengaluru.

[indianexplorer]

When talking about buying used cars the first thing that comes to my mind is the mystery of the missing techie who went to sell his car to a prospective buyer he contacted on OLX. I believe everyone should know about it. It's a mystery that should shake up quite a few beliefs we have.

On December 18, 2017, this techie named Ajithabh Kumar went to sell his car to the prospective buyer in Bangalore near Whitefield. He has been missing since and there is no sign of his car either. The police didn't take the case seriously I guess and by the time it was handed over to the CBI, it must have been too late.

[vijaysrk]

I've only purchased new cars till now, but now that I'm older and wiser :-) and having gained a substantial amount of financial literacy in the past few years, I started looking for a pre-owned automatic diesel SUV to replace my ageing XUV 500.

I finally settled on a 3 year old Tata Hexa XMA with 42k on the odo this February from a used car dealer here in Bangalore (I had received several very positive references from friends and acquaintances about him).

Incidentally, I had actually contacted the original owner who had put the car up for sale on OLX a month before, but couldn't meet him and close the deal in time. I contacted him again nonetheless to get the true picture of the car, accident history etc., now that he had no incentive to hide the facts, since he had already received the payment from the dealer.

The car was clean except for a bonnet replacement owing to a Tata Ace hitting it at parking speeds. A service history check through TASS corroborated the same.

I paid almost 70k more than the original owner got for it, but it was a great deal nonetheless.
At a 40% saving over the new car price three years ago, no run-in period to nurse the car through, no fear of scratching my "brand new" car, the freedom to modify it as I see fit and the freedom to avoid the abominable TASS since the car is out of warranty, I can honestly say that I am enjoying this car ownership experience more than any of the new cars that I have previously bought!

I have customized the Hexa with a ton of accessories including, but not limited to:
1. VKOOL sun-film all around, including windshield(>85% VLT)
2. Magnetic sun shades all around
3. Wolfbox mirror dashcam - front and rear recording, with live camera feed IRVM in lieu of the regular mirror IRVM. (great low light visibility, eliminates glare from high beams)
4. Android tablet mounted on dash with magnets for navigation, YouTube etc.
5. Dash mounted Amazon Echo dot
6. 4G Modem router with small router UPS for uninterrupted internet for all devices in the car.
7. Ventilated driver seat add-on (12V DC)
8. Impact wrench (for tightening/loosening wheel nuts, and also for raising/lowering the vehicle on jack- lifesaver!)
9. 55W LEDs for High/Low beam and Fog lamps
10. Hella Chrome horns - more effective than stock, and much less intrusive into the cabin
11. Internal TPMS with head unit
12. Rain-visors all around
13. Dieseltronics piggyback ECU(Makes engine response very linear, great for city driving)

I'm big into DIY so this is will likely be work in progress, and I can say that there's nothing better than a 2-3 old car to buy that checks so many boxes!

It's easier said than done though. Finding a car with a genuine history is difficult unless you know what you're doing, and the good examples get sold very quickly. I only got my Hexa because I closed the deal within a day of it coming on sale. There were apparently two other people who wanted it, but couldn't close the deal in time.

[sauravpat]

Originally Posted by donabrh

Mods, I remember there are some threads about 'How to buy a *USED* Car in India' and "Odometer tampering is ridiculously easy". If you find my post is relevant and could be part of that thread also. Please do include / link the same. Could not figure out how to link. Thank you.

Can someone please elucidate the list of car manufacturers whose odometers are regularly tampered with in India by dealers and conmen?

Are all cars similarly susceptible to this? Does the ex showroom price of the car play any part of this? Are the odometers of more expensive cars any better? Would be valuable information for everyone. I am very curious.

[Nilesh5417]

Originally Posted by Jaya Kumar Satr

Till now enjoying the car. With Dieseltronic device from Racedynamics, the acceleration is good too.
.

Can you also let me know how it has impacted the mileage? I have the M8 variant as well and while it gives great FE, with full load (passengers + luggage) it struggles to pull esp on ghats. The 1.5 turbo diesel is best for sedate driving. Has the RD box had any positive effect on driveability?

[Jaya Kumar Satr]

I have installed the DieselTronic device on the third day of the purchase. So, I do not have the mileage details before the device installation.

The highest mileage I have got till now is 19.5 kmpl on highway with full load (6 adults, 2 kids and with Thule roof carrier) measured over a 350 kms of highway drive with an average speed of 100kmph.




The lowest mileage I have got till now is 14.5 kmpl.

In my experience with the Marazzo M8 + DieselTronic, my observation is that the mileage is 16.5 kmpl on an average.

With the RD box, I am enjoying the driving a lot, no dearth of power as as long as you keep the car engine at 1000 rpm. Even for sudden bursts of acceleration it is awesome. I have installed dual channel Dieseltronic device. I have driven in ghats as well and I am satisfied. Keeping the engine above 1000 rpm is required.

[shankar.balan]

Appreciate your points made below.

I have also only recently become financially literate in the matter of buying used cars. And this is only because one of my classmates who worked for years in Finance has literally beaten this wisdom into my head. It’s very sensible to buy used from a good source or through a trusted private sale. Because owner number 1 has taken the entire depreciation hit.

It makes good sense buying a well driven car but not an over driven or under driven one. I would put the optimal annual usage at anywhere 5000-12000 kms. Of course the servicing history and records are very important too.

I love your choice of Champagne Metallic Gold Hexa. That car is just such a pleasure to drive and to sit in. My colleague has one and I ve always felt it to be our Indian R Class Mercedes just like the first Tata Estate was rather like a Mercedes E Class.

Originally Posted by vijaysrk

I've only purchased new cars till now, but now that I'm older and wiser :-) and having gained a substantial amount of financial literacy in the past few years, I started looking for a pre-owned automatic diesel SUV to replace my ageing XUV 500.
I finally settled on a 3 year old Tata Hexa XMA with 42k on the odo this February from a used car dealer here in Bangalore (I had received several very positive references from friends and acquaintances about him).
Finding a car with a genuine history is difficult unless you know what you're doing, and the good examples get sold very quickly. I only got my Hexa because I closed the deal within a day of it coming on sale. There were apparently two other people who wanted it, but couldn't close the deal in time.

[Rambler]

Do you mind sharing the contact details of the dealer. I am also a big fan of buying pre-owned cars and have never bought a new car. All my previous rides have been bought second hand from private sellers. I am currently in the market for a used vehicle and would like to explore reliable and trustworthy dealers

[HTC]

Couple of years back, My neighbor was exchanging his Wagon-R for a new Baleno. He wanted to avail benefits of exchange offer going on at that time. He took his for car evaluation by True Value. True Value person inspected the car thoroughly and said that the car has met with an accident and has been repaired. They quoted less for the car with that reason.

My neighbor confirmed to them that there was no accident under his ownership of his pre owned car. For that, the True Value guy said that accident might have happened with previous owners and it was covered up by the used car dealer who sold him the car. Now to the surprise of True Value guy, my neighbour confronted him saying that he bought his car from True Value itself and he has a report from them stating it was non accidental when sold to him. Hearing that, the True Value guy didn't had any more questions and gave a good exchange price

[vijaysrk]

Originally Posted by Rambler

Do you mind sharing the contact details of the dealer. I am also a big fan of buying pre-owned cars and have never bought a new car. All my previous rides have been bought second hand from private sellers. I am currently in the market for a used vehicle and would like to explore reliable and trustworthy dealers

Sure. I got it from JustCars365 in Kasturi Nagar.
You can contact Raghav at 9620967618

[Newtown]

Since most posts on this thread are from a buyers perspective, indulge me while I add something from a sellers perspective.

I have a car listed for sale on a few online portals. I have received numerous calls (50+) expressing interest reason being the car has very little mileage on it. To my disappointment, all calls have been from dealers. From one dealer to the other, the price on offer varies up-to 25%!

My views:

1. My own car listing on the portal is so hard to find unless you select multiple filters. These portals at some point had a field to indicate if the seller was a private party or a dealer. Of course this has been removed and there is no way to find out unless specifically mentioned.
   
2. Is it that potential buyers cannot source an owner listed car or is it that false sense of security that dealers provide them by using terms like certified, 5 day buy back and the like?
   
3. I would pay a portal a fixed fee if they are instrumental in getting my car sold to a private party directly through their portal.

[stormcatcher83]

I agree with most of the funny yet alarming stories discussed on this thread.

Till now, I have been a used car guy and both my cars have been used till now, but the catch is that both these cars I had bought directly from the owners and needless to say they have turned out to be worth every penny.

Now, I am again in the market for a second hand car - most preferring a second hand diesel Creta / Brezza, but the thing is that almost all cars are now dealer or aggregator based cars. As very common, there are certain challenges which I am facing like Highly overpriced cars 8L + for a 5 yr old Creta E+ Diesel & 7L + for a 5 yr old Brezza ZDI. Also buying from dealers/aggregators there are high chances of tampering/wrong information/damaged car.

I am really at my wits end that what should I do because, I really like both the above mentioned cars. However, I don't want to spend so much on new ones and believe in getting the benefit of first hand used cars.

I request esteemed forum members to suggest or guide what should I do in my scenario and what would be the most prudent thing to do. I am willing to pay the extra buck only if the car is genuine and I get a good deal, but how am I to know that?

Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

[theabstractmind]

I have had a bizarre experience when selling. The same dealer (a reputed one backedvby manufacturer) from whom I had purchased the car showed disinterest when I tried to sell the car back. Despite the car being in a better shape. Finally sold it to another manufacturer branded used car dealer.

While buying, I came across very badly maintained cars:
1. Car with denting work done on doors but the dealer doesn't acknowledge - with the power window button popping out.
2. Cars with exhaust gas escaping from the oil inlet but the dealers saying it is normal.
3. Cars with wobbly steering and strange noises from suspension.

In each of these cases the car has been in a condition the dealer would negotiate a fortune if he's buying - but sells also at a fortune. Relatively,

[sathya_g_m]

Came across this listing in Carwale. Same car with 2 different ODO reading. Wanted to check further details, but looks like it is sold out. Probably meter tampering is so rampant where there are many cars which has 90K mark on them regardless of the age.

[tunedv8]

I have had some very interesting experiences -

1. A friend was looking for a diesel sedan. We found a 2007 Verna diesel for a decent price. We went to look at the car in person. The first thing that jumped out was how clean and bright the headlights were! The chrome was so bright that it almost looked like a cheap toy car! There was something unnatural about the white paint too - it was too cool a white (in terms of colour tone) for a Verna. Hesitantly, we took a drive and immediately noticed how hard the clutch was. When we asked the salesman, he said that diesel cars have to "driven differently". We concluded the drive, wished the salesman good luck and left.

2. Before I bought the Kushaq, I was looking at used sedans and my wife expressed interest in the Creta. I find the Creta to be a dull driving experience. Rather reluctantly, we went to Car Dekho AB sure certified dealer and after seeing us, a salesman there recommended we go with an automatic so "madam can drive also". My wife swore to never buy from there.

3. One of the sedans on my radar was VW Vento of course and there was quite a unique example I came across. I'll let the pictures speak for itself -





Yes! some wood craftmanship like in a Morgan!

Peace!