Buying a Second Hand Car - Learn from my mistakes!!!

mithun · 26th December 2006, 06:27

What are the important things to be taken care of before buying a 2nd hand diesel car like Indica ?

PS : I'm a big zero when it comes to diesel cars...

esteem_lover · 26th December 2006, 13:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhinavj01

7. Original IND number plates from RTO

Whats that ???

1998 Uno Diesel = 1L Max, 80K good price

autozealot · 26th December 2006, 22:46

Great! Uno D gets a much better resale in south India it seems.
In Mumbai, its about half of what is mentioned here.
A very sturdy & fuel efficient vehicle though.

az

bblost · 1st August 2007, 12:29

Car: Wagon R Vxi
Model: 2004 Nov
Milage: 14569

Date of Purchase: 11/Sept/2006
Prev Owners: 1
From: Maurti True Value, RKS Saboo Motors, Somajiguda, Hyderabad.
Paid: 3.23

Expenses:
Insurance about 10k in November.
ICE came at 6.5k
two totally free services.
third service at 21k cost me 700 bucks.

Experiance so far: FANTASTIC.

odo reads something like 23k right now.
If I buy a petrol, it will only be Maruti or Maruti or Maruti....

ramzsys · 1st August 2007, 17:12

Fiat uno's parts still available, and the only grudge quoted here is the price. We sold the 1.7D FL recently for 1.27L. It was a 2000 model, done 90k kms.
I suspect a meter tamper here, as all uno's i find have minimum 80k. Yours being 98 model, check it somewhere..
anyway they run minimum 1.5L kms unopened..

By the way, bhpians,the best and shortest way to check the car is from the glasses..just walk around the car, and carefully note down the manufacturer logo on all the glass panes...used car dealers never replace with a original glass....

never believe the odometer, both the digital and analog ones...check with the service centre (a 100 rupee will do) for the last service done..

And i admit, i was cheated twice in both the aspects..The fiat uno had a replaced windshield- and later on the radiator was bent, which was not apparently visible earlier..

The ford ikon D which i bought recently had a 65k on odo. After finishing papers, when we took to service centre, the last service record showed 1.10L service done a month earlier...

ravibhat · 2nd August 2007, 21:43

You are right ramzsys about ODO, When I searched for used Innova I had met one guy his Innova had clocked 26k in ODO but after we suspect that based on re painted doors, bad tyres I sent my guy to check service records we found his car had clocked more than 40k already.

I heard similar many stories. People will do anything to get rid of items they want to sell.

Regards,

Ravi.

kuttapan · 5th August 2007, 21:58

Fiat UNO D...Stay away ! Parts get flicked off your car and then you have to run around to get a replacement..Sometimes very difficult to get - Which was why it was flicked in the first place.

rahul_intlad · 15th August 2007, 19:57

I don't know if this happens all the time but when I was on the lookout for a Toyota qualis a dealer tried to pass on a retrofitted AC model as a higher variant[one which comes with company AC].

He kept on arguing with me that the AC was not retrofitted and this qualis came with ac from the company only.He literally invented a new variant name.Little did he know who he was talking to ,I made sure I gave him more than a piece of my mind.

musicmanaman · 16th August 2007, 00:28

I feel a little ripped of buying a second hand carb zen, this was my first car purchase and have learnt a lot since then. some of the points I have learnt are.

1. Never trust a dealer, even if he's a close reference (this is from my experience, the dealer was my friends uncle)
2. Almost all speedometers are tampered, when buying from a dealer (I know this as my car was purchased at 45k and when the meter reached 49999 it would not go to 50k, went to a sppedometer specilist who said the meter was jammed, and the meter was also tampered with.
3. Always check the body line is day light (I used to never get the time to go in day time, and the car looked good at night)
4. Take the car for a very long drive and drive on all sorts or terrian (I only drove the car, the day I took delivery)
5. Check the A/C on a hot afternoon, not in the evening as it may seem OK in the evening, but day time cooling is a different ball game altogether.
6. Check the door rubber beeding very well.
7. Check if there is any pending tax (I had to pay Rs 3200, when the car went for name transfer, as there was some tax pending for ICE)
8. The door of the car, can say a lot about the car, if it has never seen an accident, then the door edges will be sealed.

These were my views from my experiences.

esteem_lover · 16th August 2007, 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by musicmanaman

Check if there is any pending tax (I had to pay Rs 3200, when the car went for name transfer, as there was some tax pending for ICE)

musicman, what was the tax on ICE ?? can't get that. are you talking about insuring your ICE ?

reignofchaos · 16th August 2007, 10:30

^^In Kolkata the road tax is higher if your car has a music system. Talk about regressive policies :(. My dad nearly threw up at the RTO when he heard of this rule after he shifted from Bombay to Kolkata.

madan80 · 16th August 2007, 11:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

^^In Kolkata the road tax is higher if your car has a music system. Talk about regressive policies :(. My dad nearly threw up at the RTO when he heard of this rule after he shifted from Bombay to Kolkata.

You've Got to be Kidding me... Tax is higher for a music system?

is that why all WB reg cars have all their horns blaring ... a way to bring "music" to the ears!

(kiddin!)

But yeah this IS regressive Policies!

musicmanaman · 16th August 2007, 12:42

With reference to Esteem Lover's query

The amount of Rs3200 was paid for having a normal music system in the car, the one which cam from Maruti, the tax on the same was pending for a couple of years, and this came to light during name transfer.

In Kolkata, you have to pay tax to listen to the radio, can you believe that, I don't know how it's in other states.

blorebuddy · 16th August 2007, 13:57

I had spent lot of time to buy a second hand car then stopped the project and bought a new car.
My 2 cents
1. Have a dealer to examine your car. Even if you do not know any one, take it to a workshop closer to you (preferrably away from your car dealer ) and get it examined. You can pay 50/100Rs as a charge. Even sometimes they do not even expect that (Happened in my case in BTM Layout bangalore, the workshop guy did it free for me)
2. Look carefuly around for wear, scratches, dents, quality fo seats, pedals etc. You can make out how good or badly it is maintained

vivekgk · 9th September 2007, 02:30

Great thread, with very useful info. I'm in the market for a used Scorpio myself, and the information was very useful. I still don't get why esteemlover prefers old, scratched windshields, but different strokes for different folks, I guess. I think that it's the typical obsession for everything original (The guy I went with to look over cars with insisted on passing up a car with original, delicious looking 17" OZ alloys and Michelin 235 tyres, because the 'standard factory wheels' were 'always' better!) I passed up on that car because the asking price was outrageous, but still...

I am fortunate that a Service Engineer stays nearby, who I can take along to assess the cars. He even gives me a rough on the spot estimate of the money I'd need to spend on the car, Bless him.

26th December 2006, 06:27	#106
mithun BANNED Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Cochin Posts: 2,195 Thanked: 268 Times	What are the important things to be taken care of before buying a 2nd hand diesel car like Indica ? PS : I'm a big zero when it comes to diesel cars...
	() Thanks

26th December 2006, 22:46	#108
autozealot BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 204 Thanked: 12 Times	Great! Uno D gets a much better resale in south India it seems. In Mumbai, its about half of what is mentioned here. A very sturdy & fuel efficient vehicle though. az
	() Thanks

1st August 2007, 12:29	#109
bblost Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 11,005 Thanked: 15,313 Times View My Garage	Car: Wagon R Vxi Model: 2004 Nov Milage: 14569 Date of Purchase: 11/Sept/2006 Prev Owners: 1 From: Maurti True Value, RKS Saboo Motors, Somajiguda, Hyderabad. Paid: 3.23 Expenses: Insurance about 10k in November. ICE came at 6.5k two totally free services. third service at 21k cost me 700 bucks. Experiance so far: *FANTASTIC*. odo reads something like 23k right now. If I buy a petrol, it will only be Maruti or Maruti or Maruti....
	() Thanks

1st August 2007, 17:12	#110
ramzsys Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: NH209 Posts: 1,775 Thanked: 1,462 Times	Fiat uno's parts still available, and the only grudge quoted here is the price. We sold the 1.7D FL recently for 1.27L. It was a 2000 model, done 90k kms. I suspect a meter tamper here, as all uno's i find have minimum 80k. Yours being 98 model, check it somewhere.. anyway they run minimum 1.5L kms unopened.. By the way, bhpians,the best and shortest way to check the car is from the glasses..just walk around the car, and carefully note down the manufacturer logo on all the glass panes...used car dealers never replace with a original glass.... never believe the odometer, both the digital and analog ones...check with the service centre (a 100 rupee will do) for the last service done.. And i admit, i was cheated twice in both the aspects..The fiat uno had a replaced windshield- and later on the radiator was bent, which was not apparently visible earlier.. The ford ikon D which i bought recently had a 65k on odo. After finishing papers, when we took to service centre, the last service record showed 1.10L service done a month earlier... Last edited by ramzsys : 1st August 2007 at 17:24. Reason: furthur details..
	() Thanks

2nd August 2007, 21:43	#111
ravibhat Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2,256 Thanked: 37 Times View My Garage	You are right ramzsys about ODO, When I searched for used Innova I had met one guy his Innova had clocked 26k in ODO but after we suspect that based on re painted doors, bad tyres I sent my guy to check service records we found his car had clocked more than 40k already. I heard similar many stories. People will do anything to get rid of items they want to sell. Regards, Ravi.
	() Thanks

5th August 2007, 21:58	#112
kuttapan Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,155 Thanked: 22 Times View My Garage	Fiat UNO D...Stay away ! Parts get flicked off your car and then you have to run around to get a replacement..Sometimes very difficult to get - Which was why it was flicked in the first place.
	() Thanks

15th August 2007, 19:57	#113
rahul_intlad Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Pune Posts: 1,579 Thanked: 4 Times	I don't know if this happens all the time but when I was on the lookout for a Toyota qualis a dealer tried to pass on a retrofitted AC model as a higher variant[one which comes with company AC]. He kept on arguing with me that the AC was not retrofitted and this qualis came with ac from the company only.He literally invented a new variant name.Little did he know who he was talking to ,I made sure I gave him more than a piece of my mind. Last edited by rahul_intlad : 15th August 2007 at 19:59.
	() Thanks

16th August 2007, 00:28	#114
musicmanaman BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: kolkata Posts: 927 Thanked: 25 Times	I feel a little ripped of buying a second hand carb zen, this was my first car purchase and have learnt a lot since then. some of the points I have learnt are. 1. Never trust a dealer, even if he's a close reference (this is from my experience, the dealer was my friends uncle) 2. Almost all speedometers are tampered, when buying from a dealer (I know this as my car was purchased at 45k and when the meter reached 49999 it would not go to 50k, went to a sppedometer specilist who said the meter was jammed, and the meter was also tampered with. 3. Always check the body line is day light (I used to never get the time to go in day time, and the car looked good at night) 4. Take the car for a very long drive and drive on all sorts or terrian (I only drove the car, the day I took delivery) 5. Check the A/C on a hot afternoon, not in the evening as it may seem OK in the evening, but day time cooling is a different ball game altogether. 6. Check the door rubber beeding very well. 7. Check if there is any pending tax (I had to pay Rs 3200, when the car went for name transfer, as there was some tax pending for ICE) 8. The door of the car, can say a lot about the car, if it has never seen an accident, then the door edges will be sealed. These were my views from my experiences.
	() Thanks

16th August 2007, 10:30	#116
reignofchaos Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2,542 Thanked: 2,450 Times View My Garage	^^In Kolkata the road tax is higher if your car has a music system. Talk about regressive policies :(. My dad nearly threw up at the RTO when he heard of this rule after he shifted from Bombay to Kolkata.
	() Thanks

16th August 2007, 12:42	#118
musicmanaman BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: kolkata Posts: 927 Thanked: 25 Times	With reference to Esteem Lover's query The amount of Rs3200 was paid for having a normal music system in the car, the one which cam from Maruti, the tax on the same was pending for a couple of years, and this came to light during name transfer. In Kolkata, you have to pay tax to listen to the radio, can you believe that, I don't know how it's in other states.
	() Thanks

16th August 2007, 13:57	#119
blorebuddy BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 594 Thanked: 257 Times	I had spent lot of time to buy a second hand car then stopped the project and bought a new car. My 2 cents 1. Have a dealer to examine your car. Even if you do not know any one, take it to a workshop closer to you (preferrably away from your car dealer ) and get it examined. You can pay 50/100Rs as a charge. Even sometimes they do not even expect that (Happened in my case in BTM Layout bangalore, the workshop guy did it free for me) 2. Look carefuly around for wear, scratches, dents, quality fo seats, pedals etc. You can make out how good or badly it is maintained
	() Thanks

9th September 2007, 02:30	#120
vivekgk BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Trivandrum Posts: 984 Thanked: 1,986 Times View My Garage	Great thread, with very useful info. I'm in the market for a used Scorpio myself, and the information was very useful. I still don't get why esteemlover prefers old, scratched windshields, but different strokes for different folks, I guess. I think that it's the typical obsession for everything original (The guy I went with to look over cars with insisted on passing up a car with original, delicious looking 17" OZ alloys and Michelin 235 tyres, because the 'standard factory wheels' were 'always' better!) I passed up on that car because the asking price was outrageous, but still... I am fortunate that a Service Engineer stays nearby, who I can take along to assess the cars. He even gives me a rough on the spot estimate of the money I'd need to spend on the car, Bless him.
	() Thanks