[vikramvicky1984]

Patna has lots of German cars. Would suggest you to get in touch with the existing owners. Easy way would be to get introduced through dealers (Ranchi, Patna and Lucknow) who sold and service their cars.

I am sure there would be independents for emergency need as well. Jamshedpur (with way lesser exotics than Patna) has few. There are many used Germans in Bihar which have come from Kolkata and NCR (especially post NGT)

A word of caution- Ranchi BMW guy has bad reputation. We have a thread on them. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/stree...age-truck.html (Ranchi: Angry BMW X1 owner uses car as a garbage truck)

200 kms is a good excuse for a nice highway drive- where the 330 would shine.

Edit: fellow member adisinghv12 is your best bet to start with. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/members/adisinghv12.html

[kryogesh]

Buddy, don’t think too much. Go for the 330i. You will enjoy every bit of it. Especially if you are going to use it only for fun drives, the fun factor will never die!
I’ve owned many brands over the years and my Beamer was the best I’ve ever owned, surpassed even the lovely Jag XE.
You already said it in your post, you are enjoying your swift. There is no reason why you’ll stop having fun with your next!

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by NirDiwakar

...I hardly drive 2-4 thousand kilometers a year.

While I don't have any info to comment on your specific questions, this line caught my attention. Would it not be a shame to buy a car like the 330i and then drive only 2-4k km a year? Unless of course, you plan to ramp up your drives once you get the 330i.

You don't want to buy it and then mostly leave it standing.

[NirDiwakar]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

While I don't have any info to comment on your specific questions, this line caught my attention. Would it not be a shame to buy a car like the 330i and then drive only 2-4k km a year? Unless of course, you plan to ramp up your drives once you get the 330i.

You don't want to buy it and then mostly leave it standing.

I am sure I'd be driving more. Still do not expect to drive more than 10k Kms/yr.

[pandabear]

Every time I drive on Tier 2 city roads, I am thankful that I am not driving a luxury car :-)

This is the one thing that always deters me from even looking towards luxury cars, look at the roads in your city, if you cannot exceed 20 kms per hour in bumpy pot hole ridden roads in bumper to bumper traffic, what's the use of spending big money.

It hurts me everytime I drive over a huge pot hole.

[thehacker]

Originally Posted by NirDiwakar

I have now closed off the loans on my Creta and in the market for a BMW 330i. I am not considering any other car.
I have been working from my hometown, Patna for the last few months and would likely continue this even after normalcy is restored.
A couple of concerns which is dissuading me from going ahead with the purchase are:

• Maintaining the car, since the closest service center is 200Kms+. I intend to keep this car for at least 10 years.
• Does owning a fun to drive car brought any quality of life change?
• Does the initial euphoria of owning a luxury car die down due to lack of good roads, safe parking spots or other reasons which you didn't fathom until you bought one?

I am exactly in the same boat as you, I have also moved to Patna and will continue to stay here for the foreseeable future, the only difference is that I have a Fiat Abarth Punto instead of a BMW. Trust me, it is now tougher to maintain the Abarth than a BMW.

I also like fun to drive cars, so sold my other car and took the leap of faith and bought Abarth in Dec 2018. My intention was also to keep it for as long as it runs. It is one heck of a fun to drive car as you might be knowing. When I moved to Patna last year, the only service center for it, had shut down. There are many FNGs servicing Fiats, but they don't service Abarth as it is probably the only Abarth in entire Patna and nearby cities! The nearest authorized service center is in Ranchi which is 200kms+. I called up the Ranchi center only to know that they can service Abarth but ideally they do only Fiats and Jeeps and don't have Abarth specific parts if required. So, the nearest Abarth specialized service center for me is Delhi/Gurgaon. Realizing this, I have been in dilemma ever since. Should I keep the car or sell it? I tried selling it a couple of times by putting up ads on classifieds, but then the itch to retain such an awesome car kicked in and I pulled down the ads for the car. However, I have fair share of complaints with the car - the seating is not comfortable for long drives, suspension is hard, parts availability is a concern. So, the dilemma to hold on to it or let it go continues.

To answer your questions:

• Maintaining the car, since the closest service center is 200Kms+. I intend to keep this car for at least 10 years.
  Getting it serviced periodically is the easier thing, but if the car is known for small niggles and parts replacements, that becomes a major challenge when the service center is 200kms away, that too for a car like BMW.
• Does owning a fun to drive car brought any quality of life change?
  No. I still prefer comfortable and easy to drive cars for daily usages and long drives. Fun to drive cars are good for me for short highway sprints only. It is better to have a balance between fun and comfort if you want to have only one car in your garage.
• Does the initial euphoria of owning a luxury car die down due to lack of good roads, safe parking spots or other reasons which you didn't fathom until you bought one?
  I haven't owned any luxury cars but for fun to drive cars like Abarth - yes, the euphoria ends. That initial wow feeling will fade out eventually. What will matter then is - how comfortable the car is to drive and maintain in the given situation. Reliability and ground clearance also becomes important when you use it frequently for long highway drives with isolated stretches.

So, I would advise against having this as the only car with you. If you have a second beater car, you should be good depending on your usages. If you frequently go on long trips, keep Creta or buy something like Innova Crysta AT as the second car. I see a lot of luxury cars in Patna nowadays, so try to get into touch with them on other forums/FB groups to get their feedback, before buying.

I hope it helps!

[Straight6_N54]

Originally Posted by NirDiwakar

Contacted multiple dealers in Delhi and the dealer in Ranchi. Got quite discouraging response with none of them having stocks on Sport and the stocks which they have or will have on MSport in on an allocation basis. Therefore, I can't have exterior/interior colour preference.
In addition to this the offers received from dealers in Delhi was at most 2.5L discount on the MSport. The dealer in Ranchi is offering free insurance and BSI for 3 years for a total of about 2L.
Is this normal? I remember when my brother was to buy a car in the entry level premium segment about 3 years ago, discounts were in the range of 4-6L. Should I wait for the festive season? Please advise.

Hi, This is an issue that would prevail for the next 2-3 months until production capacity is back to normal. With massive production restraints many luxury manufacturers are facing issues with base variant of most of the models. Utilising this situation they could convince the customer for the higher variant too. Especially BMW's Sport and luxury line models. Mercedes is already downscaling base variants and offering only full spec'd variants.,

I would suggest wait for 1-2 months until lockdown eases. Still discounts upwards of 3 lakhs in current scenario is very unlikely, as due to stock shortage nobody has a target sale to close.

[no_fear]

For your 330i search, have you considered looking into neighboring West Bengal dealers.

I know its a bit of a trek, but you can try your luck there. I heard that the Kolkata dealer's sales volumes are down (especially with the state elections / covid) so maybe you can check with them.

In terms of ownership experience, I do not own any luxury cars but with regards to my motorbikes, the euphoria doesn't end. The everyday issues of bad roads, poor infrastructure, sky high petrol prices will affect you every day, but you will find workaround solutions.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by thehacker

The nearest authorized service center is in Ranchi which is 200kms+.

It is 300 kms + I think.

Originally Posted by thehacker

If you frequently go on long trips, keep Creta or buy something like Innova Crysta AT as the second car. I see a lot of luxury cars in Patna nowadays, so try to get into touch with them on other forums/FB groups to get their feedback, before buying.

And Ranchi or Jamshedpur service centers or even Calcutta dealers are not much good in my opinion. Calcutta's Mercedes dealer is better among them is what I have heard. Close friends at Purnea have few SUV's from Audi / Range-Rover / Volvo and most of them flat-bed it to NCR or if its a normal consumable service change, it goes to Calcutta. You can't even think of having a German as the only car in this part of the world. I don't come to Patna often [though may come for a day within 10 days] but regularly spot the Germans / Volvos etc and most common car among them was a 3 series.

[AKSarkar1]

Originally Posted by NirDiwakar

I hardly drive 2-4 thousand kilometres a year.

• Maintaining the car, since the closest service center is 200Kms+. I intend to keep this car for at least 10 years.
• Does owning a fun to drive car brought any quality of life change?
• Does the initial euphoria of owning a luxury car die down due to lack of good roads, safe parking spots or other reasons which you didn't fathom until you bought one?

I could go on and on on this thread but will restrict myself to the particular questions you have in mind to make it more relevant for you:

1) German cars require maintenance 1 or 2 times (maximum) annually. So routine visits maybe once a year shouldn't be too tiresome. While I insist on maintaining my car with authorized workshops, many friends of mine maintain their cars with trusted local garages even here in Mumbai where there is no shortage of authorized workshops. I would suggest you to look for some nice local garages who are known to do service higher-end cars.

2) Fun-to-drive cars have definitely brought me out of my automotive rut. My daily office runs were getting frustrating and Mumbai traffic meant that I wanted to give up on driving completely. After I got a C Class and VW a couple of years ago, that initial driving spark was re-ignited within me. So in terms of quality of life, the driving experience is more pleasurable and something I look forward to every day. Driving such cars is also a destresser for me on certain days.

3) I feel on the contrary. If you are not daily driving your car or driving it very less e.g. 2-4K kms a year as you mentioned, such cars feel even more special. Yes, I agree with you that the infrastructure is near dilapidated in some places but over the years I have learned to "go-with-the-flow".

The above answers are from me personal experience, hope they helped you somehow. All the best!

[ArshThakur]

Hi,
I am fellow Bengalurian from Patna. And I feel you should go ahead with the purchase of Beemer in Patna. I know atleast half a dozen people personally who own a BMW in Patna and two of them are my uncle and cousin. As already stated by Sanidhya, it should not be much of a trouble to own one in Patna anymore as service centre is in Ranchi and Kolkata which isn't far away. As much as I remember one of the fellow BHPian owns a Mini in Patna. Looking forward to see your thread on new BMW
All the best

[astrodex]

Originally Posted by NirDiwakar

A couple of concerns which is dissuading me from going ahead with the purchase are:

• Maintaining the car, since the closest service center is 200Kms+. I intend to keep this car for at least 10 years.
• Does owning a fun to drive car brought any quality of life change?
• Does the initial euphoria of owning a luxury car die down due to lack of good roads, safe parking spots or other reasons which you didn't fathom until you bought one?

Hope to get some clarity from the personal experience of fellow BHPians. Thanks.

I did this quite recently, moved from a Honda City to a 330i in a Tier 2 city, except that I do have a dealer here in Goa. But a good friend of mine has brought a Jaguar and the closest dealership he has is Mangalore, which is about 400 kms away! And I think he is getting better service than me, the dealer sends a mechanic and parts every year for annual service of all the sum total of a dozen odd Jags in Goa.

Regarding ownership, it depends on what you are looking for. The quality and drive, you get used to after a while. But if you are interested in exclusivity, that stays for a much longer time. We have an X1 in the extended family that is a couple of years old but we still get the joy of driving and ownership that isn't there in other cars. Now, if you are looking for VFM, it is additional drain to keep a luxury car in a smaller city.

I haven't faced any issues or worried about roads and parking. 330i is actually pretty good on pot holes, at least compared to others like the old Octy or Jetta. Parking in small spaces is a problem and you should definitely have a beater car.

Originally Posted by NirDiwakar

Contacted multiple dealers in Delhi and the dealer in Ranchi. Got quite discouraging response with none of them having stocks on Sport and the stocks which they have or will have on MSport in on an allocation basis.

Now, this is something I also faced. They don't have many 330i in stock, I had to get one pulled from Pune, there was no other anywhere in this area. And getting the color of your liking etc would be difficult. If you go the ordering route, your chances for discounts also goes down.

Originally Posted by NirDiwakar

I am sure I'd be driving more. Still do not expect to drive more than 10k Kms/yr.

My driving kms went down after the new car. Earlier it was the same car for commute and weekend trips. Now even for commute, I would only take the beamer out when it is sunny and nice

[13thpsycho]

Love to see fellow enthusiasts from Patna as I am sure you are aware they are very scarce in this city.

Originally Posted by NirDiwakar

• Maintaining the car, since the closest service center is 200Kms+. I intend to keep this car for at least 10 years.
  
• Does owning a fun to drive car brought any quality of life change?
  
• Does the initial euphoria of owning a luxury car die down due to lack of good roads, safe parking spots or other reasons which you didn't fathom until you bought one?
  

I initially wanted to get a used sports car like the Audi TT, Porsche Cayman, etc. Cannot do so since it will be too flashy for the city I live in. I am in the same boat as you are

1. It shouldnt be a problem even if you fly someone in from Delhi once an year. Bmw arranges service camps in Patna. Yes if there is a total breakdown it might cost you but this doesnt happen everyday, does it?
2. Yes. If you are an enthusiast you will itch to get in the drivers seat of your baby. Even though Superb was not a sports car by any means but every time I drove it I felt above all and it commanded respect on the roads.
3. Lack of good roads is a thing of the past in Patna. You have bailey road, atal path, aiims elevated road, bihta-sarmera and nh-31 now. Ganga marine drive new six lane expressways, patna chapra road etc all coming up in the next 2-3 years. You will not regret driving a luxury car on the jam packed roads when you have creature comforts to keep you aloof from the traffic. Dont buy if you dont have a safe parking space at your home or office.

Let me tell you this very clearly, the mechanics here dont have the expertise to work on your expensive technical machine. Period! You are LUCKY that you dont have to get your car serviced here but soon this problem will also be resolved with a multi brand workshop coming up.

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

Problem No. 1 -

-Problem No.4
-Premium fuel-

This is very very important to ensure. You will have to see that if high octane petrol is available at nearby pumps or not. Also, this will limit the cars highway usability as it could get difficult to find pumps with power/speed on the highway.

We get 100 octane fuel in Patna (XP 100) @160 rs/ltr

I sold my superb last year after 9 years and 1 lakh kms, when I was buying this I wanted to get a 2nd hand bmw 650i instead. It was a head over heart decision. I just got a Thar and I intend to buy a used sleeper V8 over the next year or so to enjoy myself. So go for it buddy stop thinking just do it you never know what time has in store for you. Enjoy while you can!

[NirDiwakar]

Originally Posted by thehacker

So, I would advise against having this as the only car with you. If you have a second beater car, you should be good depending on your usages. If you frequently go on long trips, keep Creta or buy something like Innova Crysta AT as the second car. I see a lot of luxury cars in Patna nowadays, so try to get into touch with them on other forums/FB groups to get their feedback, before buying.

I hope it helps!

Thanks, I don't intend to sell my Creta. I was getting low offers of 8-8.5l when I tried selling it last year. It works well and is a boon to have an automatic crossover in Patna traffic.

Originally Posted by Straight6_N54

I would suggest wait for 1-2 months until lockdown eases. Still discounts upwards of 3 lakhs in current scenario is very unlikely, as due to stock shortage nobody has a target sale to close.

I really want to be sensible and wait for production snags to clear. What concerns me is the constant price increase in BMW cars. 330i MSport costed 47L when it was launched 2 years ago. It's 50L now and we aren't even getting discounts.
With German manufacturers moving to a on order basis procurement, with discounts dictated from the manufacturer. I am not sure if waiting will be a good decision.

Originally Posted by no_fear

For your 330i search, have you considered looking into neighboring West Bengal dealers.

I know its a bit of a trek, but you can try your luck there. I heard that the Kolkata dealer's sales volumes are down (especially with the state elections / covid) so maybe you can check with them.

Kolkata dealer offered the least discount of 1L and didn't seem to be in a rush for selling the stock they have. They are the only ones who have 330i MSport in 3 colour choices.

Originally Posted by Sheel

You can't even think of having a German as the only car in this part of the world. I don't come to Patna often [though may come for a day within 10 days] but regularly spot the Germans / Volvos etc and most common car among them was a 3 series.

I don't intend to keep this as the only car. Hope I don't have to use a flat bed ever.

Originally Posted by AKSarkar1

I could go on and on on this thread but will restrict myself to the particular questions you have in mind to make it more relevant for you:

1) German cars require maintenance 1 or 2 times (maximum) annually. So routine visits maybe once a year shouldn't be too tiresome. While I insist on maintaining my car with authorized workshops, many friends of mine maintain their cars with trusted local garages even here in Mumbai where there is no shortage of authorized workshops. I would suggest you to look for some nice local garages who are known to do service higher-end cars.

2) Fun-to-drive cars have definitely brought me out of my automotive rut. My daily office runs were getting frustrating and Mumbai traffic meant that I wanted to give up on driving completely. After I got a C Class and VW a couple of years ago, that initial driving spark was re-ignited within me. So in terms of quality of life, the driving experience is more pleasurable and something I look forward to every day. Driving such cars is also a destresser for me on certain days.

3) I feel on the contrary. If you are not daily driving your car or driving it very less e.g. 2-4K kms a year as you mentioned, such cars feel even more special. Yes, I agree with you that the infrastructure is near dilapidated in some places but over the years I have learned to "go-with-the-flow".

The above answers are from me personal experience, hope they helped you somehow. All the best!

Your reply reinforced my decision to go for the purchase.

Originally Posted by ArshThakur

Hi,
As much as I remember one of the fellow BHPian owns a Mini in Patna. Looking forward to see your thread on new BMW
All the best

I remember a close friend's relative getting a Mini few years ago. They have other cars like the Jaguar XF, Range Rover Evoque, etc. Haven't asked him on how they maintain it. From what I know they have many drivers.
I wish to get the 330i soon and post an ownership thread. Thanks.

Originally Posted by astrodex

Now, this is something I also faced. They don't have many 330i in stock, I had to get one pulled from Pune, there was no other anywhere in this area. And getting the color of your liking etc would be difficult. If you go the ordering route, your chances for discounts also goes down.




My driving kms went down after the new car. Earlier it was the same car for commute and weekend trips. Now even for commute, I would only take the beamer out when it is sunny and nice

I hope that doesn't happen to me. Going lower than 2-4k kms would mean just taking the car for routine service to Delhi every year.

Originally Posted by 13thpsycho

3. Lack of good roads is a thing of the past in Patna. You have bailey road, atal path, aiims elevated road, bihta-sarmera and nh-31 now. Ganga marine drive new six lane expressways, patna chapra road etc all coming up in the next 2-3 years. You will not regret driving a luxury car on the jam packed roads when you have creature comforts to keep you aloof from the traffic. Dont buy if you dont have a safe parking space at your home or office.

Let me tell you this very clearly, the mechanics here dont have the expertise to work on your expensive technical machine. Period! You are LUCKY that you dont have to get your car serviced here but soon this problem will also be resolved with a multi brand workshop coming up.



We get 100 octane fuel in Patna (XP 100) @160 rs/ltr

I sold my superb last year after 9 years and 1 lakh kms, when I was buying this I wanted to get a 2nd hand bmw 650i instead. It was a head over heart decision. I just got a Thar and I intend to buy a used sleeper V8 over the next year or so to enjoy myself. So go for it buddy stop thinking just do it you never know what time has in store for you. Enjoy while you can!

New roads are truly nice. I guess even RON 95 is good enough for 330i?
I so wanted to go for a used convertible/coupe. Not doing it because it will be way too flashy here. You're lucky you got the Thar. I saw at a Mahindra dealer there is a 8 month wait for new bookings.


The best offer I got comes to 53.8L OTR. I know a sales manager at BMW India, he confirmed that Sport will be back in production starting July end.
Is this a good offer? Should I wait for the production snags to be over. Since, it's a 2 year old model now. I was expecting better discounts.

[astrodex]

Originally Posted by NirDiwakar

The best offer I got comes to 53.8L OTR. I know a sales manager at BMW India, he confirmed that Sport will be back in production starting July end.
Is this a good offer? Should I wait for the production snags to be over. Since, it's a 2 year old model now. I was expecting better discounts.

I think that is a little on the higher side but are you getting the color of your choice? Also, if not discounts on car, try to see it you can get reductions on insurance or have them throw in the maintenance package. The accessories list can also be trimmed since there are a lot of things there that you won't use, like the car cover. All of those easily add up to 1 lakh+ in savings