Team-BHP - New member with a new Baleno

Hi Fellas,

I've been hanging around this forum for a couple of weeks. You have loads of useful information. You guys rock!!!

I'm an IT pro returned to India recently after spending 6 years in US. Working for a US based MNC in Hyd. Owned a Sentra and also drove Focus, Ventura, City, Elantra, Lancer, Malibu etc. Eversince I returned, I was researching buying a reliable mid-size sedan. I stumbled upon this forum on the internet. My b-i-l owned a Baleno VXI and I found it very comfortable inside. Driving comfort, space, ASS and FE were top on my priority list. After a lot of research, I narrowed down my selection to Accent CRDI, Honda City and Baleno.

Talked to ICICI, SBH and HDFC on auto loans. HDFC rates and terms seemed reasonable. Lined up a pre-approval for a loan of 7 lakhs at 6.5% interest through them. Visited Hyundai and Maruti Showrooms in town. Test drove Baleno. Instantly liked it. I was quoted 5.97L on-road for LXI. Requested Hyundai to provide a vehicle for a test drive. I was told that none is available for the next 6 weeks! Financier says in spite of this waiting, it sells like a hot Mirchi Bajji on a rainy evening.

Debated a lot if I should go for NHC despite its looks. Finally convinced its not worth shelling out 8L on this ugly beast. Got a follow-up call from Maruti with a hint to reduce the price. Got in touch with Buffetfan through this forum and took his advice. He suggested that for my driving needs (of 40-50 Km per day), I didn't need a Diesel car at a 1.7L premium. After some bargaining and setting one dealer against the other, got an offer that I could not refuse. Varun agreed to give an LXI version of Baleno for 5.75L on-road! Finalized the deal and brought home the baby on Monday in the down pour.

Regarding accessories, I bought Nippon security system and Aura alloy wheels from the dealer for 18.7K. Yet to buy audio and a few other stuff. The car runs very smooth.

Thanks guys for all the gyan and special thanks to Buffetfan for providing a personalized advice.

-Trident

Welcome Trident.

Glad you could be a part of the Baleno Club inside Team Bhp.

Rock on!

Quote:

If I am not mistaken, in the last six months I have been on this forum, the most purchased new car by the members has been Baleno! And that list includes me.

That list includes me too. Actually it's thanks to this forum that there is an awarness how good the Baleno is. Many times i have seen people just don't consider it when making a purchase decision.

I had made the same mistake thought of going for a NHC or a Viva Crdi. Both were at the higher end of my budget. I was on the brink of purchasing the NHC and was scouting for a deal.

Then one day I took my swift to the Maruti Service center. There the Salesman starting singing the virtues of the Baleno- and the discount Maruti was offering.

Came home..did a Search on Baleno in Team Bhp and to my surprise- So many threads.. Spend some hours voraciously reading them..

A few queries later and lo! I have my spanking new black beauty!

In fact both my Swift and Baleno have been purchased based on the info here..

Veyron if ure reading this - thanks for helping with the swift mate!

Quote:

Originally Posted by cream

hey trident...welcome to the forum.

and congrats on getting yourself a new set of amazing wheels - as is obvious, the baleno is a well respected car here.

don't forget to post some pics of those alloys and tyres soon...

i wonder though - isn't 40-50kms a day reason enough to buy a diesel car...or maybe your company is paying for the fuel??? ;)

Hi,
You can go for indica / Indigo and save money upfront...but thats not the basis for my analysis.

We will take cars of similar size, equipment, and comparable quality / comfort levels here...so only contender is Accent Crdi (which BTW is again 2 cms less wide...and less powerful too...but this is the only comparable model available..so we will go with this one).

You save around Rs 1.4 / km....in a comparable diesel vehicle... (assumptions Baleno 12.4 kmpl => 3.7 Rs/km...Accent Crdi=> 14.5 kmpl :=> 2.3 Rs/km...

all mileage and other figures are from ACI..and mileage is taken as average of city and highway....(City+highway)/2

@40 km per day => save Rs 1.4 *40 = Rs 56 / day and Rs 20440 per annum..

Assume you incur Rs 2 K more per annum in diesel service...and the savings are Rs 18400 per annum....add another Rs 5000 per annum more for insuring the more expensive crdi car.....and the savings are Rs 13400 per annum.

considering the price differential between an Accent Crdi and an Baleno... => Rs 8 lacs (guess) and Baleno (Rs 5.75 lakhs is what trident paid) = Rs 2.25 lakhs....

Assumking you had only Rs 5.75 lakhs with you .....If you took a loan of extra Rs 2.25 lakh @ 9% to buy the Crdi.(remember most of the personal loans are @11% or above...we are being conservative here by assuming 9%)..you will NEVER repay the loan with the savings you incur....and mind you..you may not want to keep the Crdi that long...!!

To put things in perspective, you require savings of Rs 50000 per annum to square off this Rs 2.25 lakh loan in 6 years

Resale is another question altogether....and was not considered in the above analysis...however, in my view... you will not get Rs 2.56 lakh more compared to a Baleno when you sell the Accent Crdi after 4 years. (the 2.25 lakh rs loan will have increased to Rs 2.56 lakh only as the rs 13400 per annum you save is patently insufficient to fulfil the EMI of Rs 2.25 lakh loan)...so you need to get a min of Rs 2.56 lakh more in resale after 4 years compared to the Baleno in the resale...for your purchase to make economic sense in the short term...

So even with resale considered....it tilts the scale towards Baleno....

finally..you may say that you will use your own money and not borrow...I would say that if it does not make sense to buy @ a loan of 9% only ...then....it does not make sense to buy at all since you can also put your own money in investments that earn more than 9% Pa...(most of the mutual funds are giving 20% pa + returns over 5 years) so there is an opportunity cost you wil incur anyway...

If you like performance..while CRDi is good...Baleno is better in a drag and top whack (0-100 11.1 sec versus 13.7 for crdi) (Top speed 185 kmph versus 165 kmph)..

Please also remember that a diesel service is more expensive...so are the parts and the CRDi does make a racket in the morning start....though it smoothens down once warmed up

If you buy the Baleno, you get performance, low capital investments, overall savings over years and a very SILENT drive...as opposed to incessant diesel clatter in Crdi that you will want to avoid if you are the type who sometimes likes to drive with his windows rolled down...

Of course it is a different story altogether if you are doing 120 km per day....then the accent crdi may start making sense....!!!!

Quote:

Hi,
You can go for indica / Indigo and save money upfront...but thats not the basis for my analysis.

We will take cars of similar size, equipment, and comparable quality / comfort levels here...so only contender is Accent Crdi (which BTW is again 2 cms less wide...and less powerful too...but this is the only comparable model available..so we will go with this one).

You save around Rs 1.4 / km....in a comparable diesel vehicle... (assumptions Baleno 12.4 kmpl => 3.7 Rs/km...Accent Crdi=> 14.5 kmpl :=> 2.3 Rs/km...

all mileage and other figures are from ACI..and mileage is taken as average of city and highway....(City+highway)/2

@40 km per day => save Rs 1.4 *40 = Rs 56 / day and Rs 20440 per annum..

Assume you incur Rs 2 K more per annum in diesel service...and the savings are Rs 18400 per annum....add another Rs 5000 per annum more for insuring the more expensive crdi car.....and the savings are Rs 13400 per annum.

considering the price differential between an Accent Crdi and an Baleno... => Rs 8 lacs (guess) and Baleno (Rs 5.75 lakhs is what trident paid) = Rs 2.25 lakhs....

Assumking you had only Rs 5.75 lakhs with you .....If you took a loan of extra Rs 2.25 lakh @ 9% to buy the Crdi.(remember most of the personal loans are @11% or above...we are being conservative here by assuming 9%)..you will NEVER repay the loan with the savings you incur....and mind you..you may not want to keep the Crdi that long...!!

To put things in perspective, you require savings of Rs 50000 per annum to square off this Rs 2.25 lakh loan in 6 years

Resale is another question altogether....and was not considered in the above analysis...however, in my view... you will not get Rs 2.56 lakh more compared to a Baleno when you sell the Accent Crdi after 4 years. (the 2.25 lakh rs loan will have increased to Rs 2.56 lakh only as the rs 13400 per annum you save is patently insufficient to fulfil the EMI of Rs 2.25 lakh loan)...so you need to get a min of Rs 2.56 lakh more in resale after 4 years compared to the Baleno in the resale...for your purchase to make economic sense in the short term...

So even with resale considered....it tilts the scale towards Baleno....

finally..you may say that you will use your own money and not borrow...I would say that if it does not make sense to buy @ a loan of 9% only ...then....it does not make sense to buy at all since you can also put your own money in investments that earn more than 9% Pa...(most of the mutual funds are giving 20% pa + returns over 5 years) so there is an opportunity cost you wil incur anyway...

If you like performance..while CRDi is good...Baleno is better in a drag and top whack (0-100 11.1 sec versus 13.7 for crdi) (Top speed 185 kmph versus 165 kmph)..

Please also remember that a diesel service is more expensive...so are the parts and the CRDi does make a racket in the morning start....though it smoothens down once warmed up

If you buy the Baleno, you get performance, low capital investments, overall savings over years and a very SILENT drive...as opposed to incessant diesel clatter in Crdi that you will want to avoid if you are the type who sometimes likes to drive with his windows rolled down...

Of course it is a different story altogether if you are doing 120 km per day....then the accent crdi may start making sense....!!!!

Excellent Analysis Buffetfan!!

A Similar thing was what i did when i had to narrow my choice b/w Accent Crdi and Baleno..Ruled out the Crdi immediately.

The Decision between the NHC and the baleno was tougher with the price difference in the Range of 1.25Lakh and the NHC being 1.5 Km more fuel efficient.
However the winner again was Baleno.

As far as VFM goes Baleno is unbeatable.