Introduction:
This is a short review of my pre worshipped S cross 1.6
My garage consists of three cars
1. 2017 Hyundai Elite i20 1.4 CRDI Asta [O] - 80000 km - workhorse
2. 2017 Maruti Gypsy 4WD- 22000 km - weekend fun vehicle
3. 2010 Maruti Ritz pre VTVT 1.2 K series -107000- beater car
I love driving and I drive a lot.
If I am tired after a day's work - I go for a short drive and it rejuvenates me
If I am happy or excited about something- I go for long drives and it amplifies my happiness/excitement
If I am depressed or feeling low - A solo road trip will recharge my battery and make me feel better
Honestly speaking, I always look for options so that I can find a reason to drive. (for example recently there was an emergency meeting at Calicut which is roughly 250 kilometre from my hospital. CEO of our hospital asked many doctors to attend the meeting and everybody politely refused since it was on short notice. I jumped at the opportunity for the simple reason that I can drive 500 km in one day). There is a guy in every group/friendship circle who always takes the wheel while going out. Dear friends, I am that guy.
The hospital where I work is 65km away from home. So I drive to work 5 days a week [130 km/day]. For most of the people reading this, it seems like a crazy things to do and rightly so. But I am a crazy guy in that sense who cherishes every moment of my 130 km-3 hr/day commute. Since I live in a rural area, traffic is not very bad and I can average 35-40 Km/hr during this everyday commute to work and road are in good condition also
I bought my Elite i20 CRDi Asta [O] in March 2017. It has been my work horse for last 3 years. It is a nice practical car and I never had issues with the car. Apart from regular service at 10000 km interval, not a single penny has been spend on the car till date. Not even a single rattle after driving hard for 80000 kilometres. There was no reason to change the car but circumstances led me to look out for another car without selling my i20
My wife's daily commute to hospital is only 15-20 km and she has been using Ritz since 2016. Ritz is a reliable car but it has started to show its age. Being a base model car -LXi [ no ABS,airbags - heck no power windows also] it was lacking basic safety features and feel good factor. My wife love to drive our i20 because of its light steering, good interiors and long list of features compared to spartan Maruti Ritz. So rather than buying a new car for wifey, I was more than willing to give her my i20 so that I can buy another car to satisfy the “driving enthusiast” inside me. The hunt for new car started in November 2019
Requirements:
It must be a Pre-worshipped car- I don’t think it makes sense to buy a new car considering the price we pay and value we get. I can buy great cars at wonderful prices if go via pre owned route.Obviously I am influenced by GTO’s threads and I felt it is time to hunt for that elusive Pre worshipped car
1.
Good driver’s car - I am spending close to 3 hours every day driving my car. So it must be good [if not great] to drive
2.
Diesel : Since it is going to driven for at least 30-35000 km/year only diesel makes sense. I like the torquey diesels more than lame petrol available in sub 15 lakh segment
3.
Reliability : I do not expect toyota like reliability but still it should not be a troublesome car
4.
Manual transmission : I love driving manual transmission cars and feel that I have at least 10 years in front of me before I switch to automatic [even though I have a soft spot for DSG].
5.
Space : Our family is big [Me, wife and 4 kids]. Since my kids are small [three of them below the age of 5], it is okay to accommodate them all in relatively big car for the time being. (I know I have to look out for used Kia Karnival 5 years down the line)
6.
Age : Car should not be more than 5 year old and preferably below 50000 km on ODO
Budget :
Since our house renovation was going on at the same time, I do not want to spend too much money on buying a car. Also I do not believe in car loan/EMI as it is pointless to buy a depreciating asset on credit. I like spend what I have and my criteria for affordability in general is a simple rule "
If I have 2x money to splurge on discretionary consumption, I will spend x amount and keep the rest for a rainy day"
Budget: 15 lakhs [Maximum]
Options considered
1.
Volkswagen Jetta TDI highline: first choice
I have driven the car many times [ two of my colleagues own it] and loved it everytime !!! What a car- manual version is the best manual diesel car I have driven so far. Solid build, fantastic engine/gearbox combination and safety aspects- it was a no-brainer choice and I was hopeful that I could find one in good condition
2. Skoda Octavia TDI: second choice
Same points as that of Jetta except that somehow I always felt that Jetta is a better car
3. Maruti Suzuki S Cross 1.6 : third choice
To be honest I hate the design of S Cross. The simple reason I did not consider S Cross in 2017 while searching for a new car was its plain boring looks. But having experienced the 1.6 beast quite a few times - I was half heartedly willing to sacrifice in the looks department if everything else is okay
After searching for above mentioned cars for two months, these are the problems I encountered
1. 90% Jetta's I have seen were of 2012-2013 vintage and most of them have mileage north of 70-80000 kilometers. Since Jetta was a slow seller in 2015-2016 very few cars were up for sale [ In fact I came across only 2-3 2015 cars]. I was not ready to search beyond Kochi/trivandrum [ 100-150 km radius from my home/workplace] and that limited my options. I was prepared to pay 10-12 lakh for a 2016 Jetta but I could not find any good manual transmission car during my search [ most of the manuals were comfortline variant and in poor condition]
2. I have come across 2 Octavia's - both with dealers at Kochi. They quoted exorbitant prices and I walked away. Also both cars were not in great shape - rattles [ surprisingly in a german/czech car], suspension noise, A/C was not working in a car, fuel lid was not opening in another etc etc
Two wild card entries during search A. An immaculately maintained [ to the best of my knowledge]
volkswagen Passat highline DSG - 2015 model, genuine 79000 km, full service history, fancy number, knows the owner through a friend, white colour
asking price - 10 lakh only [ that too without any negotiation !!!]
I knew that these cars have poor resale but still such a huge depreciation hit after just 4-5 years is unimaginable
drove the car during that weekend and everything felt perfect. I wanted a manual car but still I was tempted to go for it
My colleague had a Passat which he sold off last month [He bought a Jeep Trailhawk recently

] and called him up for advice. He told me to stay away- Passat is high maintenance and will make a hole in pocket. Accepted his advice and walked away from what seemed liked a lucrative deal
B. Abarth Punto :
Always wanted one since I test drove one in 2016-17. I was offered an Abarth Punto (2017/black/45000) for 7 lakhs. Even Though I did not sleep for 2 days thinking about whether to go for it or not - finally decided that it was not for me at this time. Being petrol also did not make sense because of my heavy use
Crazy Idea: Mercedes Benz W124
Dream car [ W123/124]. Why not buy one by spending 3-5 lakh and keep it forever. Buy a diesel Polo GT with the rest of the money
In fact I saw and test drove two W124's, one was a total piece of crap - a 1997 250D. the second one was a great looking car 1994 model [import], golden colour, second owner, automatic transmission diesel [250D not 300D], cosmetically perfect. test drove the car - ABS not working [ABS light was always on], suspension needed overhauling, dreaded wiring harness problem was in the back of my mind
asking price: 5 lakhs [ not negotiable]
Wifey told - not this car. your time will come to own a W123/W124. Agreed and moved on