[suhaas307]

^^ We intend to keep the Santro for a few more years. My younger sister just got her licence and we'd prefer it if she gets the hang of driving on an older car rather than a new one.

[lobojames9]

Hi,

It's been at least 5 months that I have been in this dillemma. The question is whether i should sell my 10 year old Maruti 800 or keep it for a few more years.

I use the 800 only on weekends and when it rains. I prefer riding my bike to office, as I reach a whole half an hour faster through all the traffic. Otherwise, the car acts as a second vehicle for the family for when my dad's car is at the garage or when my dad is away with his car and my Mum needs to go somewhere.

Anyway, the reason why this question arose is the condition of the car. After I got the car handed down to me from my sister. I have at least spent around Rs 20,000 on different repairs. And still have a list of things pending to do on my car. I do not know if i have been fleeced or whether repairs have been genuine, but this puts a major dent in my (still a fresher) pocket.

The car still needs a suspension overhaul and brakes have to be checked and most probably changed. Those are the immediate things that i have to do in the near future.

Taking this into account, I have been going back on forth on whether we should sell the car or keep it. The major reason to keep the car would be that we would always have a second vehicle, which comes in handy many times. I cannot afford to buy a new or pre-used car anytime soon.

The reason to sell the car would be that the bills are slowly creeping upto be more than the car's worth in the second hand market. As we have to park out in the sun, the car is gradually loosing it's paint, which will only dent the car's price going forward.

So now, the questions to fellow t-bhpians is, well, what should I do?

[kmadhok]

Since you are not looking to replace the car with another it makes things much easier. You already have the pros and cons listed out so it's just a matter of seeing which side is heavier. IMO, If you can manage your activities without the car consider selling it. You have time on your side, list the car on the classifieds and don't budge from what you value the car at. May take you longer to sell but patience is the key. You can also try exhcanging it for a new Eon or Alto now and try to get a better price for the vehicle in exchange.
Summing up, valuate your car an sell if you get the asking price. HTH

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by lobojames9

I have at least spent around Rs 20,000 on different repairs. And still have a list of things pending to do on my car. I do not know if i have been fleeced or whether repairs have been genuine, but this puts a major dent in my (still a fresher) pocket.

The car still needs a suspension overhaul and brakes have to be checked and most probably changed. Those are the immediate things that i have to do in the near future.

You can retain this car.

Suspension + brakes is expense of 9k in worst case. What is the condition of engine and tires?

With all these fixed, car will run fine for 3 - 4 more years with max expense of 10k per year on maintenance.

And that would be around the same expense you will have to do on just on insurance for the new car. New car will also cost you 3 - 5 lakhs.

[MetalBuff]

Originally Posted by aabidansari

Advice well taken BlueVolt. That is what I have decided to do now. 3 more years on the road. But with a small change. I am going in for a redo, that includes some 3M treatment outside and inside, etc. Shall try to post fotos with the new look.

Hello Sir,

In the same boat as you are. Will be looking forward to the new shots after the 3M treatment and accordingly, would follow the same path. Will you please be kind enough to quote me, if you do upload those anytime soon?

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by aabidansari

Hey all,

The Duster - because it is simply amazing to drive and its the new kid on the block,
I am holding on doggedly, even thinking of getting some 3M treatment. But I know that I am fighting a losing battle.

Help me fellow tbhpians. Give me reasons why I should give up on her (I mean the Esteem, of course!), cause I can't think of any.

And which SUV should replace her?

.....Perplexed!

I would say eyes shut go for the Duster top spec which has the essential stuff like safety kit and ABS etc. It is streets above the other two choices, in my book.
And yes, I agree with your wife that the Esteem is now rather long in the tooth and hence, needs to wobble off into the sunset...

[Ohh!Oxygen]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

I need suggestions from everyone. I am in a dilemma for some time now.
==============
So, what would you suggest guys?

Vasanth
I would say keep the robo-car.
Your major concern is safety. All modern safety options may not play a big role in your daily commute (around 60 kmph). If you are not much of a weekend driver, a new sedan won't make a lot of sense.
If there are no major niggles from Zen, keep it as long as you can. Check with MASS about the brakes. I don't see any reason why a 2005 Zen's breaking should not be as good as the new age cars.

[aabidansari]

Originally Posted by MetalBuff

Hello Sir,

In the same boat as you are. Will be looking forward to the new shots after the 3M treatment and accordingly, would follow the same path. Will you please be kind enough to quote me, if you do upload those anytime soon?

Will do MetalBuff. Come New Year I shall sport some snazzy shine on the hood. Pics shall follow.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I would say eyes shut go for the Duster top spec which has the essential stuff like safety kit and ABS etc. It is streets above the other two choices, in my book.
And yes, I agree with your wife that the Esteem is now rather long in the tooth and hence, needs to wobble off into the sunset...

Point taken. But the Duster wait period is too long...over 2months in Chennai.
On the flip side though, there are very few mid size sedans to compare with the Esteem. I don't wanna throw a good thing outta the window jus cos its old, if you know what I mean.

[VishnuNarayanan]

I have been following this thread for a while and now I feel like getting advice on which one to swap !
We currently own a pre-owned Swift ZXi 1.3(2005) which has clocked 34500kms and a Maruti 800 AC(2012) with 6000kms on the ODO. We bought this M800 in 2012 as an exchange for our Alto LX(2002) which had clocked 107000kms.
Now we are planning to buy a new car (probably the new Ford Ecosport if the prices seem to be VFM) within 6 months or so. We bought the Swift in 2012 from a person within our family who is an NRI( the car was kept in the garage unused for 6 months every year from 2005).We clocked around 12k after we got it in our hands and the clutch was replaced now(hardly 500kms in the new clutch) and everything seems to be in order except a horn pad which can only be replaced if we could spend around 30k; the whole airbag component has to be replaced since horn pad is attached to the driver airbags) . But the MASS people have made it workable and seem to be perfect for the past 6 months. As we are planning for a new diesel car the second car would be hardly running 6000+kms within the city. The petrolhead in me tempts me to keep the Swift and swap the M800 in exchange for the new car. While considering the safety of the passengers inside I feel M800 to be inadequate for the present roads. Fellow BHPians please shed light on how the cost of ownership is going to be in the future 2 years if I keep the Swift! Please advice on which one to swap ?
Thanks in advance !

[bluevolt]

^^^

If it's all about the petrol engine fun then you can sell Swift and buy other rev friendly second hand car like Honda City Vtec.

In your case my suggestion will be to sell the Swift and keep the M800. M800 is new and will be lighter on pocket and hassle free to maintain.

And Safety comes from safe driving habits and not from safe cars.

[aabidansari]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

^^^

And Safety comes from safe driving habits and not from safe cars.

That's profound wisdom.

No matter how many safety devices fitted in the vehicle, it's the man behind the wheel who is responsible for safety. It is far too common to see accidents involving new fangled, sleek cars fitted with a lot of thingamajigs. Because of too much of reliance on the safety devices common sense and good driving skills take a back seat.

[krishnaraja]

Originally Posted by GTO

.....
Thus, if you upgrade from a C-segment sedan to a C+ segmenter, you will spend a total of Rs. 11,55,000 over the next 5 years. OR 2,31,000 per year.

But that’s not the entire picture, is it? What we have not calculated yet is the opportunity cost of the Rs. 20,000 per month that you are blowing away toward the new car’s EMI. If you don’t upgrade, that money can instead be invested. Even if reasonably invested, the saved Rs. 20,000 per month will become a whopping 15 lakh rupees at the end of 2013!

Net net, retaining your current 5 year old sedan (over a 12.5 lakh sedan upgrade) will make you richer by 22.5 lakh rupees over the next 5 years! That’s an earning of Rs. 4,50,000 per year. OR Rs. 37,500 a month.

Was going through this thread for quite sometime [going through pages] and I am now trying to make up my mind to either "go" or not to go for Vento. Not that I dont like Vento, but just that I happen to read this thread about not selling any car less than 5 years.

In fact, I wanted to go for XUV and I had been following the XUV thread for over 9 months, decided to go for that 10 days ago, made the booking, but cancelled it due to sudden financial requirement at home.

Anyway, back to the point, I have 4 years old Verna, reading exact 82k on the ODO. The problem is, I find the clutch too hard and the steering lacking the smoothness. My dad bought a i20 2 months ago and I have carjacked it from him from Bangalore. The clutch and steering in i20 is butter smooth when I compare it with my dear verna. I checked with Hyundai folks and they say since the car has done 82k in about 4 years, even if I change the clutch (costing Rs.30k), in a year or year-and-half it will go back to what it is now. Though financially for 30k for a year is not matter, what is making me think of moving to another car is the resale cost I would get for my dear Verna now vs one year down the line. Also, if financially I would take Rs.x as loan, I would have to go for Rs.x+y next year due to a) resale value of my car going down and b) cost of the new car higher than this year - typical case is XUV, increase several lakhs in 1.5 years of launch (I quote this as I am following this since launch)

I TDed the Vento recently and found the clutch and steering to be less butter than i20, but much better than my Verna.

My question is, whether I should go for new car at all or not and if I should go, is Vento better choice than others (Sunny, Rapid)?

Few things I had in mind for going in for new car:

a. My dear Verna does not have Airbags (I have CRDi SX ABS model)
b. Clutch is very hard. Finding it difficult in b-2-b city traffic, my left foot is aching
c. Steering is hard - turns are not smooth
d. Audio controls are not there in steering (I am spoilt by my carjacked i20)
e. No Auto lock, which the i20 has - at 20+kms
f. Resale cost this year vs next year and my loan value this year vs next year going to be higher
g. I have to give the i20 back to father, not just because he wanted, but since I live in Chennai, he lives in Bangalore and the i20 is Karnataka registered one. Cannot live with it in Chennai for a long time
h. Had to replace the rack/pinion set
i. Had to replace the windshield as it was throwing oncoming light in all direction inside the cabin
j. Good amount of scratches all around the car. Cant service it, just because of the fear of loosing resale value as the paint and etc. will not be original, the guy buying will not know if the dent was too bad that I put on this or mild ones

Not going for new car, retain the dear Verna:

a. Has given my family great owning experience
b. Mileage is 12 in city and 16 in highway - guess it is not bad, or should I say it is good for a 82k kms vehicle?
c. Going into further debt, new loan, pay money to the bank for lending me - in short, cost of ownership
d. I will save on this money that I am giving to the bank - in short, opportunity cost as you have said


For me now it is the question of asking my left foot vs listening to the mind. I need help in decide this, especially because I have gone through this thread. Otherwise, I had already listened to my left foot...

[GTO]

Originally Posted by krishnaraja

Anyway, back to the point, I have 4 years old Verna, reading exact 82k on the ODO. The problem is, I find the clutch too hard and the steering lacking the smoothness. My dad bought a i20 2 months ago and I have carjacked it from him from Bangalore. The clutch and steering in i20 is butter smooth when I compare it with my dear verna.

Getting rid of your car because of a worn out clutch & steering is like selling your house because of a water leakage

Please take your car to a competent shop (look up the Team-BHP Directory) and ask them to restore your clutch / steering to like when the car was new. My Jeep has covered 200,000 kms and drives just as nicely as it did in its first 3 years of ownership. The task is far simpler with a modern car like the Verna (where all parts are merely plug and play).

[krishnaraja]

Originally Posted by GTO

Please take your car to a competent shop (look up the Team-BHP Directory) and ask them to restore your clutch / steering to like when the car was new.

Thanks a lot for this, I have done exactly that now and the car is in the service station (Hyundai Motor Plaza Chennai) getting new clutch. The SA will call me if it requires complete change or only few parts of the entire assembly.

I have decided that even if it is not butter smooth like my i20, it is still fine for another two years at the least. Probably another round of change in case needed. So, not selling it off.

[krishnaraja]

Originally Posted by GTO

....
Please take your car to a competent shop (look up the Team-BHP Directory) and ask them to restore your clutch / steering to like when the car was new. .....

The clutch system is butter smooth now and I am enjoying it. However, what I have seen now is, after the delivery, the slotting of first gear from neutral is a bit notchy. It takes extra push to slot into first. Slotting into others is not a problem.

Is it because of the new clutch system (entire system until flywheel were replaced)? I did not face this problem when I purchased the vehicle new.