[sameer_vwagner]

Was there any specific reason you bought the manual version of your car?

There are a lot of charges involved in forclosure of loans so please check and get it as a document from the bank (signed and sealed). Since your the car is sitting idle, i think it might be a great idea to sell it off and buy something that suits your family better.

I have seen a few suggestions around chauffeurs but to be honest am not too sure if a good chauffeur can be found quickly. My uncle had to try 3 different people over a year to find a good one in Pune. And that gentleman charges my uncle 19,000/- a month. So please keep this in mind.

If you are not completely sure about which car to buy, I'd highly recommend you try self drive options for a few days (Revv is good in Mumbai, so assuming they will be decent in Bengaluru too). That will give you a fair bit of idea and should help you take a decision about which car to buy as these companies have a wide range of cars in their inventory.

All the best!

PS: You might want to look at a few pre-owned cars too. A lot of car manufacturers have their pre-owned divisions that can offer you a great deal with some warranty.

[inwester]

IMHO no point in regretting over past decisions since you cannot change it now. Sell the car, perhaps you can work out a deal from the same dealer for an AT car, even a downgrade to a smaller car like Creta AT.

You can get a driver, but that doesn't solve the issue that your spouse can't use it.

While at it, maybe get the car your spouse really wants and make them happy as well.

[callmeneo]

Hey .. Why not sell it to the same Hyundai Dealer and exchange with an Auto version. He might be able to give you a better price and sell it faster considering he might have customers willing to pick up your hardly run car to beat the waiting period .

[LOL_FWD]

Originally Posted by callmeneo

Hey .. Why not sell it to the same Hyundai Dealer and exchange with an Auto version. He might be able to give you a better price and sell it faster considering he might have customers willing to pick up your hardly run car to beat the waiting period .

I second this. OP will get the exchange benefits too and can move it quickly.

[dust-n-bones]

How about weaning your wife over to the 'pleasures' of a stick shift? Take the car out to some twisties out of town (try Yercaud) and see how much fun it can be - fun that automatics will find hard to match. And take it to city commutes. Yes, manuals are a pain in the you-know-where in our gridlocked cities, but give the car a fair chance to win its adopted family over.

I think you are fussing too much about the daily grind and not exploring the joys of your big-ticket purchase enough. Of course, you should list the car on used car portals right away to give yourself the option.

I am assuming the sudden dis-interest in a manual is not due to health/knee problems etc.

[VikramCS]

Hello Friend, going through your post made me feel sad - typically, good amount of effort goes into a purchase decision. Combine this with anticipation and excitement of getting a brand-new car...it's a great feeling and memorable too.

Unfortunately, in your case, the decision has not worked-out. Relax! it's fine. Some decisions may not be favorable, but once you start getting the feeling of selling the car, i'd strongly say 'Do So' at the earliest.

Yes, there's going to be financial implications and hassles involved - but, it's better to suffer a little now than repent every day.

You still love to drive, you still want those road trips, you still want to have the comfort and convenience of owning a car, Plus, a justified need for daily usage as well. So, sell it off, cut-your losses and move on....but, this time take a more researched and well-informed decision. Our esteemed members on the TBHP generally provide very good advice if the requirements are clearly articulated.

Market is definitely moving towards automatics. Couple of options:
* Since the car is only 6-months old, please check with Dealers (assume you'd have purchased from Advaith or Trident). You may be able to exchange this with a good auto-box from Hyundai
* Look for a well-maintained, certified used-car. A good budget can get you very good examples, but, again prices in used-car market, especially in Bangalore is inflated. You'll have to research well and negotiate hard
* Buy a good CSUV/Sedan with competent AT gearbox (not sure about all your requirements though)

All the Best!

[Asish_VK]

Difficult situation. Few options I can think of :

1. Try to exchange to the dealer himself, coupled with the year end offers and loyalty, you may get a good deal to offset some loss on depreciation and continue with the same loan may be?
2. Retain the car, if you like it very much and difficult to part with. Get a small preworshipped & cheap automatic hatchback for your wife (If no parking constraints) and use the Alcazar for highway trips in luxury. The depreciation loss +interest paid till now can cover the investment on the beater car.
3. Last option will be to sell off the Alcazar to individuals / dealers, but the negative is the hassle of ownership transfers, bargains , paperworks etc.

List out all the options that you gathered and have a details analysis including your wife's inputs and take a decision. Also let us know the final decision too. All the best!

[DheerajNK]

I'd suggest you to have your wife give it a try to drive the manual transmission. She can start driving around less crowded localities near your residence, so that she gets comfortable with the clutch and then drive in highways as well to understand fun of of driving manuals. If the one way drive is not more than 45 mins in Bangalore traffic, driving manual shouldn't be such a discomfort. After a couple of years, you can plan and sell off the car if this is still inconvenient.

[Stribog]

I have a contrary view.

A car is a medium to long horizon purchase, I would assume you will hold onto it for at 3-5 years and 7-10 at a stretch.

Given this, a lot can change. You might move cities, get a new job, the wfh policy might change, you might have a family, get a dog, maybe old parents come and stay with you etc etc.

Given you have paid 6 months of EMI, conservatively assuming an EMI of 25k, that's almost pure interest, so that's 1.5l down + foreclosure fees on a loan of 15lakhs is around 6%, that's 90k (or more, i assume a loan of 15l here) + processing fees of around 25k that's already some 2.65l down.

Depending on the variant, you might take a hit of 4-6 l on depreciation.

Net net you lose 6.6l to 9l total.

Just not worth it!

You can pick up a nice second hand celerio or some reliable auto for 3-4 l and still come out on top.

But if you assume NOTHING WILL change and you 100% don't need a larger car for the next 5 years? Eat that loss, sell it.

Edit - this might be rubbing salt in raw wound but what posses you to buy this car with so little planning?

[prashant316]

Originally Posted by dars.han

I own a 7 seater Hyundai Alcazar purchased in the month of April 2022. I have learnt the hard way that this upgrade from Brezza ZDI was one of the worst decisions. I am the sole driver of this car, I do not frequent office due to WFH scenes and my wife cannot drive a manual transmission ( she works from office daily). Hence, the car sits idly in my parking at least 25 days a month with me paying whopping EMIs only to keep it still.

Though the car is new, Iam considering selling the same and buy an automatic transmission which both me and my wife can drive. Potentially reduce EMIs and get a good worth of the car. Is this a good move?

I am a strong believer in getting yourself an asset of use even if it a certain financial hit as opposed to keeping an asset that feels like a liability.
If your finances allow, that would be my suggestion.

But keeping the depreciation in mind, here are other options that come to my mind:
1. Hire a chauffer. I know they may be expensive, but for the short term it may be cost effective.
2. It's still a new car, see if you can get a direct buyer to give you your acceptable price for it.
3. Somehow i do not subscribe to things like auto clutch. But you may look into it if you really want to get some utility out of the car.
4. Keep it. Hire a driver on a day pay basis when your wife needs to use it. Apps like DriveU are helpful in this.
5. Wife willing to learn to drive a manual?

The suggestions above are assuming you do not have any grief with the product itself. It's just the manual transmission that is an issue i gather.

[SmartCat]

1) Sell Hyundai Alcazar MT via Spinny or Cars24. Let's say you get Rs. 15L cash
2) Buy a compact SUV AT (say Hyundai Venue or Kia Sonet) for Rs. 15L. This way, there is no extra cash outflow.
3) Put up a post-it note on your refrigerator reminding you NOT to sell your compact SUV for another 10 years. Use it as a second or city car later on.

If you do end up holding this car for a long time, you will "virtually recover" the depreciation hit you will take right now. It will also remind you not to take hasty decisions when it comes to purchasing cars.

[techcoze]

Originally Posted by Hayek

But given this car probably cost upwards of ₹20 l OTR, and depreciation when you sell it would be at east RS 25% or ₹ 5 lakhs

I believe depreciation will be less than 25%. It's just 6-8 months old car, and assuming < 10k on ODO.

Recently I sold my 1 year old Seltos for 15 lakh whereas initial on road cost for me was around 16 lakh. Used car market has high premium now a days for clean and well maintained cars, and it was sold mere within 3 days after posting ad.

I was also in similar situation, regretting purchase of manual car over automatic. Wanted to casually check how much I will get in used car market, but when I received good offer, I finalized decision to sell it off and switch to automatic variant.

[Newtown]

Originally Posted by dars.han

Though the car is new, Iam considering selling the same and buy an automatic transmission which both me and my wife can drive.

Your situation is a point in time and will in all likelihood change. Are there people still working from home? Why? Just go into office and make use of the car and enjoy it.

The fact that your spouse does not drive a stick was known even before you bought the car. You would have baselined some very strong use cases to buy a 7-seater car to begin with. Go execute those.

You have a car that has one of the best ride comforts on our roads today. I read today on the 'I booked my car' thread today that a car I bought 13 months back is now dearer by close to 2 lakhs! They aren't getting cheaper either.

Use the car well, go into work, save a little every month and use that to start prepaying your EMI. The feeling of prepayment is like no other - It gets you so much ore attached to your car. Enjoy a little, will you!

[bordeaux]

Get some driving lessons for your wife to learn manual transmission driving. It not only saves you from significant losses in the current car, it also becomes a great skill investment for your wife. Being able to drive all types of transmissions (especially manual in India) is a good skill to have.

When my wife initially needed a car for her commute, we hired a driver. Then she was like why don't we get a cheap automatic and I'll drive it myself. I was strictly against it. My condition for her was that she can choose to own whatever car she wants but she must learn the manual transmission first. She did, we hired a driver to teach her (took about 3 weeks). And now she doesn't even like driving the automatic transmission.

[octane_100]

I have a contrarian view:

It's a fairly spacious car and given it's a Hyundai, it will be reasonably reliable over the long term. I would just grin and bear the thought of it being idle for the time being. Like few others suggested, you never know what future holds in terms of your traveling to work. Since it is a nice car, keep it for 10 years minimum and buy a slightly used smaller AT for your wife's daily commute. Instead of taking a significant hit on the Alcazar, use the low mileage to your advantage by increasing its ownership period.