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Old 23rd March 2011, 20:44   #46
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Spitfire View Post
Change your job or start looking for one with more salary.

It isn't paying you enough to maintain a small car anyways....
Lol man.. I'm waiting to see what my hike will be for this year.. prolly pathetic..

Quote:
Originally Posted by amit_purohit20 View Post
1)
4)Change your job if you get any,near to your house and which will pay you higher.

All the best.Learning-Never buy a car on loan. Buy a car only when you can afford it really. I too face the same problem to a small extent but luckily my office is nearby.
There is almost no IT near my house :( and I like my present job. Well, my company pays 80% of the interest paid for the loan so it ain't too bad to take a loan.

As one of my friend said, it is very easy to buy a car these days, maintaining it is horrible..

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Originally Posted by musicmanaman View Post

Buttom line is, you are not alone my friend, there are millions of mortals like me and you who are in the same fix, hence the above suggesstion by Spitfire really caught by attention, and the bottom line is, he is right.
Sad, but good to know I have company.

Dude milecruncher, marvane ka hain kya? No shaadi yet man..
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Old 23rd March 2011, 20:45   #47
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

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Originally Posted by MileCruncher View Post
May be you should get married. It will solve a lot of your existing problems, but may open up a few new ones
+1 to that. Get paired (married or live-in, choice is yours) with someone (woman or man, again choice is yours) who works close to your place of work. Benefit? Your monthly petrol bill of Rs 5000 will be divided by 2. Suddenly, Rs 2500 per head doesn't seem so bad after all. What an idea, sirji!
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Old 23rd March 2011, 21:19   #48
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

Hellmet, your situation is real and it needs a real life-changing decision. Sell your car, get the EMI load off your shoulder, tolerate the summer somehow and enjoy the income whatever you have. There is nothing as frustrating than earning something and not enjoying life in its full.
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Old 23rd March 2011, 22:26   #49
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

Approach Chevrolet and swap your car for a Spark LPG. Depends on availability of LPG. I wouldn't recommend that though. Or how about car pooling? Pick you colleagues up and share fuel costs.
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Old 23rd March 2011, 22:27   #50
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

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Originally Posted by amitoj View Post
Aren't we all in the same boat (or petrol car, metaphorically speaking)?

I have a 24 km commute one way that cuts across Bangalore city. I call it M2M (Meenakshi Temple to Manyata) My 11 year old car barely manages to give 10-11 kmpl in that traffic. The company does provide transport but it does not suit me for various reasons.

So, what i do is that 2 or 3 days of the week, i work from home. Not only do i end up saving on petrol, but also save my sanity from the Bangalore madness.

By the way, shouldn't this thread be in the Indian Car Scene or something like that?
oi! i travel in the opposite direction!

earlier i used to work out of the Bagmane Tech Park and used to stay in a rented apartment in Thippasandra. office was barely 2.5km away! the best thing was that my wife use to work out of the same campus! both of us used to go to office and come back pretty much together!

fast forward to August last year - we moved into our new flat in Banaswadi. however, in April last year itself the IT wing had been moved out of Bagmane Tech Park office and shifted to EC! to make things worse (travelwise), wifey moved into a different division and was relocated to GRTP!!

wifey got company transport for her commute, but it didn't work out for me; the timings and pickup locations were not favourable. now my commute to EC from Banaswadi is around 30km one side. at first i used my bike, but then started using the car in tandem (for comfort or when i felt lazy to suit up).

anyhoo, bike or car; petrol was being burnt. in one of my 1-on-1 with my manager i told him about this and we reached a compromise ! i can now work now work two days of the week from home and three days i gotta show my face at office!

ta da! something is better than nothing!
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Old 23rd March 2011, 22:55   #51
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

Cars are expensive to run and maintain. Am sure you thought this through when upgrading from the bike. You cannot compare the running costs of a car with a 2 wheeler just as you cannot compare the comfort and safety levels for these either.

My suggestion is: car pool with 2-3 more folks who work and live close to you. Apart from the obvious cost savings, it will make your daily commute more bearable. If that's not an option, use company-provided or public transport. Use the car as a weekend vehicle: lots of people do!
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Old 24th March 2011, 10:04   #52
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

This is exactly the segment of the market that the Reva targets. Instead of incurring such high expenses to commute to the office, pick up a Reva. The savings itself will pay-up a good part of the EMI. No more visits to the fuel bunk, nor the high maintenance costs. Running costs equal that of a motorcycle and the comforts equals to that of a car.

You can use the Beat and the ZMA for the weekends or fun rides.

Prajwal

Last edited by prajwalkashyap : 24th March 2011 at 10:08.
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Old 24th March 2011, 10:45   #53
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

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Originally Posted by prajwalkashyap View Post
This is exactly the segment of the market that the Reva targets. Instead of incurring such high expenses to commute to the office, pick up a Reva. The savings itself will pay-up a good part of the EMI. No more visits to the fuel bunk, nor the high maintenance costs. Running costs equal that of a motorcycle and the comforts equals to that of a car.

You can use the Beat and the ZMA for the weekends or fun rides.

Prajwal
I'm sorry.
what?
I sat in one on the expressway, once(which was enough), and noticed a few things:
1. I was hot, cos the owner didnt buy a Air-conned one as an AC meant an extra 50-60k.
2.I was scared, cos although its rated at max speed 80 kmph, it wheezed at anything past 40.and everything, even in a jam, was shooting past!
3. I wanted to get out and take a bus
4. I wanted to throttle my colleague, cos he kept cribbing about how he didnt charge it fully, and about what would happen if he ran out on the E-way, how'll he charge(as compared to what would happen if he ran out anywhere else?)


hellmet: i know most options wont work for you.
CNG/LPG-try and fish around if somehow warranty can be retained, else weight out the savings vs. potential costs of repairs/service if paid out of pocket.

how i used to make 500 rs worth of petrol last 1 week when in college was to use the car on Mon/wed/friday, and bike on tue/thurs.

dont sell off the car until its a last resort kinda of thing, and you cant even afford to have it parked(this ones my take...)
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Old 24th March 2011, 11:54   #54
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

Imagine my condition as I use to pay 15K EMI for my oil burner along with 2K per month parking fee(my co charges as they don't want individual to travel in car or bike and force them to use co transport which is not at all suitable for me(going green)), approx 2K for diesel and another 2K for my weekends rides as my bike hardly gives mileage of 10-12 kmpl, now i am enjoying EMI free time and the pinch came down drastically.Try to manage till you closes the emi and then enjoy your drive as during summer specially Hydrabad summer is not at all advisable to go for two wheeler.
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Old 24th March 2011, 12:07   #55
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

@helmet,

I also own a Beat and it returns average FE of 14-15 on mixed conditions, so its not a viable transportation when compared to other small cars. My previous rides were able to return slightly better FE say like 17-18 but I must say that none of those never returned the comfort what am feeling now. So I don't repent on my choice. If you are alone or with family a car is a must for nowadays, as no one can predict what will happen next moment especially with elder people/kids. So don't sell of your latest acquisition just because of the fuel prices.

I own a house which is 25kms away from my work and its not practical to move closer to my work place. I consider bike as my primary transport as it gives me more Kms per rupee in layman's terms. If I am not alone or weather condition is bad I will consider the car. I save the money and freak out on weekends with my family. I can't forget my responsibilities to my family so I feel this is more balanced for me. I dont've much options for pooling as the timings are entirely different with my work.

So what I can say is, Do not sell your new car and am sure that you haven't used/enjoyed it properly by this time. Do not waste your hard earned money by selling off or deliberately using the car all the times. Use the car judiciously, use it only at extreme weather conditions. In the mean time you can always think of a good bike which will return a good FE and I don't think it will be a waste of money at any point of time as the savings by using a bike can easily compensate for the EMI of a bike.
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Old 24th March 2011, 13:09   #56
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

contrary to what everyone here advices. I suggest you leave late in the morning. IN fact I leave home at around 11:45 AM.
Distance to office is 12.5 kms. I have a great drive on relaxed roads. Not many pedestrians and very few bikers.

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Old 24th March 2011, 14:11   #57
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

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Originally Posted by hellmet View Post
I stay 21km away from work which is 42km round trip commute daily, in the most dense urban traffic (Hyderabad, Tarnaka->Madhapur). A few months ago, I went ahead and bought a new BEAT, petrol prices hovering around 57 (?). In the winter, I was juggling between bike and car to keep a check on expenses.

But now, summer is full on (AC always on), and petrol at 65.18/- it's going to become extremely expensive to feed my car. At an average of 12kmpl which is optimistic for the kind of traffic I drive in, I will be spending this summer, close to 5000 per month just for commute. The fact is, I've this car on EMI for the next few years at about 7100 pm. All this is adding close to 12K per month, which is unbearable.

I can ride my bike and survive my commute with about Rs1100 per month, but it is highly inconvenient in the summer heat and seems to be getting increasingly dangerous riding one in this city

Maybe I shouldn't have hurried to get the car, maybe I should sell it away (for a huge huge loss due to depreciation). Maybe I should buy a better/safer bike (with disc brakes). Maybe I should have bought a diesel.

What would you do in my situation? I'm starting to consider selling the car away and buying a decent bike. What use is paying EMIs for a car you can't afford to drive?
I have a feeling you have over extended your financial capabilities irrespective of petrol price.

ok doing the math on the beat, your daily running to office is 42 kms
so per month you will be doing 42x 22 days (excluding sat/sun) =924 kms
petrol used for office commute is 924/ 11 kmpl (with A/c) = 84 ltrs

Fuel cost per month to work when petrol is at Rs 57 = Rs 4788
Fuel cost per month to work when petrol is at Rs 65 = Rs 5460
Difference = Rs 672/ month

So my point is with a small difference due to the fuel price hike i dont think the higher cost of fuel is the reason for you struggling.

Ok lets say for a second you had bought a more fuel efficient car, lets say an alto k10, whose average with a/c is probably 15kmpl in traffic (being very generous here)

your fuel expense would have been as follows:

924 kms per month for office commute divide by 15 = 61.6 lts

total fuel bill for Alto k10 61.6 x Rs65/ltr =4004

Diff between fuel price of beat and alto k10 @ Rs 65/ltr = Rs 1,400

So with the Beat your cost of ownership with petrol price at Rs 65 is Rs 12,000 pm.

and so if the petrol price was still at 57 the cost of ownership would still be a high Rs 11,000 p.m (7,000 emi + Rs 4800 petrol).

Even if you had bought an alto k 10 your running cost would be about Rs 8,500 p.m (4500 emi + 4000 petrol).

So what i am trying to say here is that i think maybe you were not in a position to buy a car costing over 4.5 lakhs. If you had bought a smaller car, you would have saved Rs 1,400 pm in fuel bill but more importantly you would have saved a massive 2,500 pm on emi and i think it is the emi that is causing you problems.

so what to do? well if i were u i would use my bike as often as i can to save money and use that saved money to pay off the auto loan ASAP! Only use your car on weekends for recreation. If you manage to pay off your loan early then that is an automatic saving of 7,000 pm, and your running cost will be reduced to 5,500 p.m (excluding servicing, taxes, insurance), which i think is more than acceptable for u.

selling the beat or selling it to get a smaller car is not a financially sound option as you will lose lakhs in the transition and its just not worth it. So hang in there for a few years, try to pay off your 3 year car loan in 2 yrs and then enjoy your beat after that. You are already a few months into your emi's so not long to go .

Last edited by amrisharm : 24th March 2011 at 14:20.
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Old 24th March 2011, 16:13   #58
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

Amrish's done some nice numbers.

hellmet, please remember that others can do the same math. So you will lose badly in your depreciation etc.

Do a full math for 3-4 years like amrish has done & then calculate how much you can save & how your short term cash position looks like!
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Old 24th March 2011, 19:09   #59
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

Now that is a serious problem, the petrol burden is hitting every indian, i daily commute 30 kms in total for my work place on my diesel vehicle ( Innova kijang, averaging between 10-11 kmpl) and still i feel a need to reduce that too,here are my few suggestions:

1. Sell off the car and buy an affordable vehicle, probably i recommend a ford figo diesel since you are paying the emi it surely would be more but the ride and daily commute would be lot cheaper.
2. No fun of puting a gas kit on a new vehicle, sheer wastage of money and power, not to mention wasting the cars warranty and fgeel altogether.
3 Buy a 2nd hand M800i having gas kit around 70k- 1lac, it would be better.
4.Big no to bikes, they are very dangerous no matter which one and no ac, plus the rains, summer, winters all are unavoidable.
5. Do carpooling if possible but i feel its a headache at times(personal experience).
6. Find someone else who goes by car & put your contribution, saves fuel and depreciation.

Best of luck.
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Old 24th March 2011, 20:05   #60
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Re: Car highly expensive to run!

If you have a shifting-gears kind of mailing list in your company, send out a query about anyone interested in car-pooling. If you have even 1 colleague who stays in your area and is willing to either share petrol cost or use his car on alternate days, your fuel bill is halved. Also both get to travel in safety. Maybe there are others with the same dilemna.

Check with HR/Admin if they can arrange transportation (subsidised or otherwise). This would ofcourse require that there are others interested in taking this up + having colleagues in the whereabouts of your residence.

Try public transportation. There should be some option, even if a little roundabout.

I commute 40kms daily for 18days a month, which at my car's FE is 60litres petrol monthly. While affordability is not an issue, I do feel guilty of using up so much petrol just for 1 person to commute.
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