Team-BHP - The BS6 predicament: Should I buy a two-wheeler now or wait till April 2020?
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-   -   The BS6 predicament: Should I buy a two-wheeler now or wait till April 2020? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/213748-bs6-predicament-should-i-buy-two-wheeler-now-wait-till-april-2020-a.html)

I live in a small town which was hitherto peaceful and relatively free in terms of traffic. Of late, with the rise in number of vehicles and increase in congestion, specially during weekends, getting a space to park my car is almost impossible.

Besides, many places that I have to visit on a daily basis - my kid's school being a prime example - are located in the old part of the town which are connected only by narrow roads and busy bylanes. It is very difficult to navigate these areas by car.

The said car - a nine year old Zen Estilo - has been sitting unmoved for want of a critical part that has been on back order for more than a fortnight. Very unwillingly, I have borrowed a friend's bike for daily commute.

This two wheeled journey has been a sort of revelation for me. I can literally go places now! So, I have been thinking of purchasing a gearless scooter that could share daily travel duties and which I could share with my better half too.

Moreover, there is this tiny bit of environmental consciousness / conscience too - 15kmpl vs 45kmpl.

With these thoughts in mind, I have zeroed in on Suzuki Access 125 and TVS Jupiter. An electric offering from Hero - Optima ER too is on the fringes of possibility.

I have test ridden the first two scoots and am happy with both. The third is yet to be seen or experienced.

With parts availability for my car proving to be a problem, I can assume that it will not always be accessible to me. At those times and others, I will need a two wheeler.

Now the problem:

1. Should I purchase a BS4 scooter now spending 75k - 85k or wait for a few more months and pick up a BS6 iteration?

2. What would be the likely problems for a BS4 scooter in the BS6 era, specially with stricter environmental norms?

3. Would a Hero Electric scooter (no Ather / Okinawa here) at around 70k be a worthy long term investment?

4. Should I forget all new two wheelers and settle for a pre owned one? Decent ones retail upwards of 35k.

Would appreciate your views, perspectives and suggestions.

Thanks a lot!

We have a TVS Jupiter ostensibly purchased for my better half but I sort of use it more than her, i would recommend Jupiter based on your stated needs and no need to wait till April 2020. I am a tall person and love the way that Jupiter has been designed to ride comfortably.

There could be benefits to waiting till April 2020 if you want a scooter that is not yet Bs-6 compliant:

i) If you buy a BS-6 model, its resale value would be better should you decide to sell it off after a few years.
ii) If you plan to use the vehicle for its lifetime and have no intentions of resale, then a BS-4 model should do just fine but if you wait just up until April, you could get a good deal on a BS-4 model in a possible clearance sale. :)

But if you need a scooter right now, you can buy the new Honda Activa 125 which is already BS-6 compliant.

I would say - if you require one, go ahead and buy. 15 years will be sufficiently long usage. BS-4 vehicles will definitely be valid even after BS-VI comes in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dailydriver (Post 4668221)
Now the problem:

1. Should I purchase a BS4 scooter now spending 75k - 85k or wait for a few more months and pick up a BS6 iteration?

2. What would be the likely problems for a BS4 scooter in the BS6 era, specially with stricter environmental norms?

3. Would a Hero Electric scooter (no Ather / Okinawa here) at around 70k be a worthy long term investment?

4. Should I forget all new two wheelers and settle for a pre owned one? Decent ones retail upwards of 35k.

Would appreciate your views, perspectives and suggestions.

Thanks a lot!

1. If you're contemplating a new vehicle, now is the time. Probably wait till December for more discounts to be offered. All automotive dealers are facing the crunch now, it's a buyer's market.

2. There will be millions of BS 4 scooters on Indian roads post April 2020 - nothing to worry about.

3. I would never put my money on the first batches of any automobile hitting the market.

4. New vs Used is always a personal preference. If budget is not a constraint, why not a new scooter?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mazda4life (Post 4668294)
We have a TVS Jupiter

Jupiter is indeed good. Better city ride among all gearless scooters; not far behind in handling too. But a tad lazier than Access. Nevertheless, an excellent all around package.

Quote:

Originally Posted by itisravi (Post 4668355)
There could be benefits to waiting till April 2020 if you want a scooter that is not yet Bs-6 compliant.

Yup.

I remember the insane discounts that preceded the BS3 deadline. Even our forum experienced its highest traffic during that time!

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 4668393)
I would say - if you require one, go ahead and buy. 15 years will be sufficiently long usage. BS-4 vehicles will definitely be valid even after BS-VI comes in.

Will the BS4 model have a legal 15 year shelf life is a question that begs to be answered. NGT, Supreme Court, Central Government, the flip flops on electric vehicles. Too many uncertainties.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe (Post 4668395)
1. If you're contemplating a new vehicle, now is the time. Probably wait till December for more discounts to be offered. All automotive dealers are facing the crunch now, it's a buyer's market.

I too was under the same impression; until I stepped into the showrooms. It could be a local thing, but there are very few discounts or benefits being offered. As a matter of fact, the TVS dealer insists on charging ₹2,100/- as handling charges and ₹1,650 towards standard accessories. The Suzuki salesman offered to shave off a princely sum of ₹100 from the quoted handling charge of a thousand bucks.

I am sure there must be offers galore in bigger city showrooms. However, this being a two wheeler (riding down after purchase) and the need for visiting local authorised service centres at least during the warranty period is preventing me from exploring those options.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dailydriver (Post 4668428)
I remember the insane discounts that preceded the BS3 deadline. Even our forum experienced its highest traffic during that time!

Will the BS4 model have a legal 15 year shelf life is a question that begs to be answered. NGT, Supreme Court, Central Government, the flip flops on electric vehicles. Too many uncertainties.

Even in Delhi with the crazy pollution and NGT order, only diesel vehicles have come under the 10 year rule, and that is being challenged in court. All others are still valid for 15 years. Given that you will either buy a petrol or electric scooter, you don't have to worry for at least 15 years.

You will probably get a decent deal as BS6 approaches because manufacturers need to clear BS4 stock by then. There is no overlap period like there was for BS3/BS4.

Pick up a scooter from your local dealer, especially in a small town. You don't want to go through the stress of dealing with an unhappy dealer for every service. A little more spent now, saves you time, money and stress over the years.

In the shortlisted choices I would opt for TVS Jupiter. I feel TVS vehicles are better speced/engineered as compared to the likes of Honda/Suzuki.

BS4 vs BS6 is something which I guess many have mis-understood. From owners perspective there is no change except for the bragging rights and more expense upfront. Even if there is a BS6 scooter launched today filling BS4 fuel may end up damaging the catcon which would lead to higher emissions and the whole purpose being wasted.

The scrapping/resale would be based on the age of vehicle rather than the emission norms. It's only the mis-coneceptiom that is driving the market.

Hero electric scooters are not particularly well built and their performance cannot be compared to the IC engine counterparts. So electric is still not attractive from user perspective.

Used scooters would be heavier on maintenance compared to a new one. Factor in changes such as batteries, tyres, belts in the overall cost and see if it still makes sense.

Would also like to caution you that Hero electric is NOT part of the original Hero motorcycles group and they have nothing at all to do with each other. So don't use your expectations from the bigger Hero group to fuel your perspectives of electric.

Get the Jupiter and maybe wait for the bs4-6 transition to net a good deal.

Do remember because of the small wheels, longer distances on these scooters will ultimately result in back issues for you. So use them carefully.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dailydriver (Post 4668221)
Would appreciate your views, perspectives and suggestions.

Please do check out the Wego too. It has the same power/torque figures as Jupiter, comes with an all metal body, and is cheaper by a few thousands.

Cheers,
Vikram

No money ever spent on any vehicle, or consumer durable, is an investment. It will depreciate 25% the moment it is brought out of the showroom.

If I were to buy a two wheeler at this point in time, I would buy the Ather 450, unless I want some performance Motorbike. Electric is the way to go in future.

In the same boat. Need to buy one scooter asap for better half. I want to wait till BS VI but time constraints force me to look into options now. Honda Activa BS VI is close to 92-94K on road. Current ride is a 16 year old Activa. Fed up of it to ever consider it again. My choices are also pretty much the same, plus a Maestro. Still trying to convine my wife to wait it out for 3-4 months and go for a BS VI and use Auto/Uber till that time.

:OT
I believe there will not be a repeat of discount drama that happened with BS III couple of year back. At that time industry were hoping to get some lenience from Government but did not get so. They are better prepared this time to avoid such issues. Low selling scooters/bikes might still have some steep discounts from Feb 2020 I guess.

I strongly believe we are going for a huge paradigm shift in terms of technology from BS IV to BS VI and with next emission norms coming in 2023/24, I guess government will be forced(NGT Dummy experts) to do something drastic like scrapping BSIII or BSIV vehicles even before its full term. Those who can wait for few months, please wait it out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaghuVis (Post 4668680)
I guess government will be forced(NGT Dummy experts) to do something drastic like scrapping BSIII or BSIV vehicles even before its full term. Those who can wait for few months, please wait it out.

If they bring such a scrap rule forward, they will just lose the next elections, period.

I would assume that 95% of the rural economy runs on older pre BS 4 two wheelers.

Nothing like this will ever happen in our country, and even if it does it will be done in a way to incentivise people to scrap their very old vehicles in exchange for a newer one in the future. I think the ruling party has learnt from its Demo debacle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dailydriver (Post 4668221)

1. Should I purchase a BS4 scooter now spending 75k - 85k or wait for a few more months and pick up a BS6 iteration?

2. What would be the likely problems for a BS4 scooter in the BS6 era, specially with stricter environmental norms?

3. Would a Hero Electric scooter (no Ather / Okinawa here) at around 70k be a worthy long term investment?

4. Should I forget all new two wheelers and settle for a pre owned one? Decent ones retail upwards of 35k.

Most riders (Aam Admi) in India are naive users(Or common man) of the vehicles and hence, I would like to reply from such an user perspective.

1. and 2. For me, BS4,5,6 or 7 only means that it is additional hole to the pocket. Other than this, there is absolutely no meaning to these numbers. Secondly, even If I wait for BS6 and purchase, within next 1 year, BS7 will come with some additional hike attributed to BS7 and inflated cost. And it is not that earlier version is scrapped the moment new version comes in.

So, what is the fun in waiting for new number?

My View, BS 4,5,6 or 7 is a don't care condition for me.

3. I would not invest on a scooter that is not time tested in India. There are many new launches (Same model) where Indian companies use Customers for testing the vehicles and bug fixing. Only after at least 1-2 years, we can believe vehicles to be proven based on the feedback. Given that Electric scooters are rare species with technological mutation, it is highly risk is my opinion

Also, :OT As a common man, I will not worry too much if the vehicle that I buy is too common on road. How does it matter. Just to ensure that I or my vehicle should be rare species on the road, I cannot become a Tiger on the road :)

4. Depends on how comfortable and psychologically strong are you.
Most people, after used vehicles purchase, get into Post Purchase anxiety(PPA). This state of mind always thinks, the purchase that I made is NOT good since it is second hand. If you do NOT fall into this category, you can go ahead and purchase.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dailydriver (Post 4668428)
Jupiter is indeed good. Better city ride among all gearless scooters; not far behind in handling too. But a tad lazier than Access. Nevertheless, an excellent all around package.

My wife rides a Jupiter since last one year. Before that she used a Wego. Both of us felt that Wego was a much sharper handling one. The Body Balance Tech really works. Comparatively Jupiter is a boat. The only reason my new scooter was not a Wego again was the lack of disc brake. Else Wego trumps.


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