[Shreyfiesta]

Here comes my answer.

The long-forgotten Hyundai Sonata, a.k.a the i45. Seriously, it was a lot of car for the money back then. Despite being a decent car, this particular generation went underappreciated/undervalued for some reasons. It was neither outdated nor overpriced. Maybe because it came at a time when the Germans were ruling the roost. I'd say it was best-suited for a chauffeur-driven person. These cars are available for peanuts in the used market nowadays. Well-maintained examples available for as little as ₹ 6 lakh.

Overall design seemed inspired more by four door coupes like the Mercedes CLS than by the characteristics of regular sedans. The AT variant was loaded with features like cruise control, paddle shifters, ventilated seats, driver seat memory setting, etc. back in 2012. No car in this segment was truly fun-to-drive, same was the case with Sonata too. Then again, Hyundai gave India the best engine option that was available for the sedan abroad, a 2.4-litre GDI petrol.

[century]

Originally Posted by ToThePoint

It's actually the BS4 to BS6 jump that shot the prices through the roof be it bikes or cars.

Pandemic was just an excuse to ride the demand wave.

I feel it the manufacturers who planted the seed towards the end of second wave that the pandemic scenario is the new normal and that it's prudent to travel individually and safely going forward rather than in congested public transport or similar media which resulted in spurt in demand which they milked further.

BS4 to BS6 jump is the main reason that drive the prices up up and up!

Apart from cars DGsets (generators) use diesel engines and their prices are gone through the roof. I have purchased one 125 kVA genset 1 year back for about 9 Lakh. It has 6 cylinders and is a BS4 one. Recently through the dealer from whom I purchased told me now the same kVA generator with 4 cylinders with BS6 specifications comes at measly 14 Lakh . As government banned BS4 engines (read: less tech issues), I can sell my 6 cylinder Dgset for much more than what I paid just 1 year back .

Car companies face much more outrage as they deal with general customers but while comparing other streams using diesel engines like generators, car prices have not increased that much. As my chemistry teacher always told that exceptions are always there. And Fortuner is an exception and due to other reasons.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by NiInJa

- Awesome 1.3 diesel engine with Variable Geometry Turbo (all other MJDs used by Marutis/Tatas had Fixed geometry turbo), delivered peak torque throughout the useful RPM range, that made it super fun to drive despite low power figures, sure it would feel out of breath after 90 kmph, but never felt it lacked the 'pull' needed for overtakes (as long as the rpms were above 2000-2200)

The Linea is one car that qualifies the statement: 'they don't make such cars anymore'

You are right about the car of course. One of the few non-German timeless beauties that came to our shores (together with its hotter hatch sibling Punto).

But - Manza, VistaD90, Zest, Ciaz, Ertiga - All got the 90PS VGT version of the 1.3MJD.

[VwRabbit]

Baleno RS, the normal diesel version mostly made it go unnoticed when it was new because it was priced too close to the top end alpha diesel but in the used car market it’s a steal mainly due to the less fuel economy figures when compared to the 1.2 K series and ddis but the booster jet engine is an absolute gem with superb drivability, nice sporty thrum and all four disk brakes overall my favourite after the 1.0 TSI in the 1 litre turbocharged triple cylinder engines lineup not to mention it was only available in the alpha trim hence more bells and whistles and cheaper than a similar year model diesel in the used market.

[SS80]

Most Chevrolet cars would fit this category. My current car is a Spark and has everything a small car should have, except for the mileage & safety.



Back in 2011, this car already had

• Cable shift gearbox
• 13 inch wheels
• 4-cylinder butter smooth engine, that can teach lessons to some car makers today about how smooth a car can be
• 60 odd horses and impressive speed masking ability
• Weighs close to 860kgs (kerb)

Although it lacks all safety features, some things are hard to digest even for new car owners.

• Spark/ Beat at 80kmph is more settled than a WagonR, Santro, Alto, etc.
• Its engine is smoother than a 2023 Nexon & most new 3-cylinder cars!
• The steering is HPS and not super light like most cars today - Hyundai and Kia.

Unfortunately, there was one issue, they never thought of - Mileage.
In the city, a single digit is the norm, and on highways 14-15 max.

In general, I feel that cars that have polarising designs/ higher maintenance / low mileage/ too ahead of their time are usually undervalued & fail. Some examples to quote would be
1. Tata Manza - Big car & Tata Service centers killed it
2. Chevrolet - Small cars that drove like big cars (settled drive, slightly higher curb weight, etc) - low mileage killed it
3. Honda CRV - It was too early to market, it was the Diesel market back then and an SUV with big wheels and petrol only did not make sense. Compare it to a KIA Seltos/ Kiger/ XUV 3OO and suddenly it sounds so relevant today.

[Schnellby]

Have had a friends ‘Mighty’ Scorpio Micro-Hybrid VLX with me for a while. This car sure surprised me with the sheer amount of features on offer, way back in 2011! The Micro Hybrid tag and the special livery it came with was awe-inspiring back in the day when it came out.

This car came with Auto Start/Stop, Auto Lights, Rain sensing wipers, TPMS, Cruise Control and more. The car also speaks! Instead of regular beeps for warnings, the car plays a voice over for any warnings related to not wearing seatbelt’s, if a door is ajar and even when it reaches reserve fuel level. Some of these features have stopped working on this particular car as it’s not the best example in terms of how it’s maintained but even with the abuse it’s faultless in its performance. Speaking of power, it’s a rocket on the road with that mHawk engine and really loves to fly on clear straight roads. This one’s racked up 2.2 lakh kms. It’s also brilliant how a 7 seater (5 plus two side facing seats) SUV can be nimble in traffic as it’s not that long to manoeuver around. Quite easy to drive especially with the height at which you sit with a clear view of where the bonnet ends.

It feels like a mini Land Cruiser. Looks even cooler with that Hood Scoop. Once you get used to it there’s no going back.

Never really knew this car was that feature loaded! Really underrated!

[tjsi]

Frankly speaking, Current Indian car market is pretty much screwed with SUV's taking over and poor materials, craftsmanship and A.S.S quality. One simply can't have anything good in a price driven market since indian customers want everything but don't want to pay up for it, also we've got insane taxes.

Most undervalued cars in the country are definitely older models from the big 3 Japs- Toyota, Suzuki, Honda.

Toyota:
1st gen fortuner
Camry
corolla.
They'll do multiple trips to the moon and back.

Honda
CRV
City
Accord
Civic

Both Toyota and Honda are on a suicide mission in Indian market with their current ways.

Suzuki
Kizashi is something that should be kept in a museum
Grand vitara (older one)
S Cross as almost everyone pointed out

Ford exited, I've never driven a ford before, never cared enough for them, but I think they did make some pretty solid cars that you can now get for a steal price. Eco sport, fiesta and endeavour

Rest undervalued cars from current gen I'd say Force Gurkha comes to mind for some reason. I feel it has a lot of tuning potential.

Jimny with current discounts is bang for buck for what it is and what you can make it, id still pick one up if I feel like I'm gonna get into off roading.
With some states giving subsidies on Hybrid cars like Hyryder and GV and some more discounts if you can score them, they really have great power trains. They're the kind of cars everyone starts to appreciate once they get discontinued, just like the S Cross.

[SmartCat]

Thesis: Base variants of most cars are undervalued!

Based on what we've seen on the roads and listings on classifieds, majority of buyers opt for mid-variants. Since Team-BHP has car enthusiasts, majority of us buy top variants (based on a poll we did last year). However, when I was looking at on road Bangalore prices of a few cars, I noticed that base variants of new cars are extremely well priced. Meanwhile for top end variants, car manufacturers keep hefty margins for themsevles & the dealers. For eg Brezza:



The LXi variant is just Rs. 10 Lakhs on road. It has all the safety features (including ESP). If you can live with little less gadgets, these are hugely underpriced cars. All you need to do you after purchasing is buying Touchscreen HU & reversing camera, which is quite inexpensive these days. From the manufacturer's point of view, the job of base variant is advertising & marketing (prices start from Rs. XXX) and also to bring in the footfalls.



For some reason, AT usually doesn't come with base models for most cars. But the price gap between mid & top variant is quite significant. By the way, we have been using Venue DCT base model (Rs. 12L on road Bangalore) for a couple of years now. In this base AT variant, we get manual AC controls, no auto folding side view mirrors feature, no sunroof, no alloys, no connected car tech etc.



But it is not as bad as one imagines. We tend to notice the lack of gadgets and alloys for 2 or 3 months max. Beyond that, we tend to forget that this is not the top-end model with time. And as mentioned before, tyres/wheels & head unit can always be added later:

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

I noticed that base variants of new cars are extremely well priced.

This is what I have come to notice as well of late. It has been a long time since my family has required a new car and now when I look at it, the base variants seem to offer plenty of value given that they all come with safety features and reverse sensors as standard. Although I do detest the protruding provisions they give for aftermarket screens to sit atop the dash in some cars like Marutis. The MG Astor 1.5 MT base variant seems to pose the most value IMO since it even throws in the same display as the top end variant and LED headlamps. At this point if you don’t need the alloy wheels, sunroof, artificial leather (I’d honestly rather have fabric than synthetic leather), these base variants make a really strong case for themselves. The only big miss is ventilated seats which I am convinced is the best feature to come in mass market cars this past decade (airbags and esp be dammed )

[Buffetfan]

Originally Posted by Shreyfiesta

Here comes my answer.

The long-forgotten Hyundai Sonata, a.k.a the i45. Seriously, it was a lot of car for the money back then. Despite being a decent car, this particular generation went underappreciated/undervalued for some reasons. It was neither outdated nor overpriced. Maybe because it came at a time when the Germans were ruling the roost. I'd say it was best-suited for a chauffeur-driven person. These cars are available for peanuts in the used market nowadays. Well-maintained examples available for as little as ₹ 6 lakh.

Overall design seemed inspired more by four door coupes like the Mercedes CLS than by the characteristics of regular sedans. The AT variant was loaded with features like cruise control, paddle shifters, ventilated seats, driver seat memory setting, etc. back in 2012. No car in this segment was truly fun-to-drive, same was the case with Sonata too. Then again, Hyundai gave India the best engine option that was available for the sedan abroad, a 2.4-litre GDI petrol.

I own the AT variant. Nice car with a lot of high speed stability. The glass area is a bit small compared to the accord and short drivers find the high dashboard cumbersome. Still a head turner and one of the few that came with twin exhaust giving some character to the cute rear end.
runs well and came pretty loaded including cooled /heated seats as well so no plan to sell it for now.