[ethanhunt123]

Originally Posted by Ajith-s

Finally took the TD of the petrol fluence. Have to say this - the dealer (Trident) is going out of thier way to help. They brought the car to my office at the time I had given them, and the SP was very helpful.

I loved the car!.
The AT works beautifully. AT the expence of scandalizing the DG fans, I would say that this CVT comes 80% close to the Jetta DSG.
The interiors are good, really good. No signs of going cheap like the new Jetta.

Discount of over 80k seems possible on the petrol. Most VFM AT in the segment IMHO.

In my mind, now the petrol Fluence is in same consideration set as the Altis, Laura and new Civic.

Confused.

May end up waiting for petrol Jetta in 2012.

I wouldnt wait for Petrol Jetta. Look at how Skoda is offering bucket loads of discounts on the TSi, i wonder whats the point for VW to bring in a Petrol engined Jetta when its not going to move. Especially a new motor such as 1.4TFSI with added homologation costs etc. Plus they have already burnt their fingers with huge inventory of Petrol Vento's. I think they are going the Chevy way by just offering Diesels in C+ segment onwards; point in focus is Passat which also doesnt have a petrol motor (they could have planted the 1.8TSi like Superb).

[mayankjha1806]

Yesterday the Honda guy called and spoke about some discount on Civic. I was in a meeting hence did not attend, but later when i called him back here are the details he gave.

Civic S MT (This does not have leather seats or the Video music system), Red colour with a massive discount at 14L OTR (Which is full 1.4L cheaper then the Altis). I asked about the Video/Audio system and he said that he will fix it for 30-40K.

There are no colour options (looks like) as he said its only available in Red (Maybe the last and only piece). Is it safe to buy these last unit (I am quiet sure it is not the test drive car that he is pushing as Honda are not known for such low practice)?

[Mustang.101]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Yesterday the Honda guy called and spoke about some discount on Civic. I was in a meeting hence did not attend, but later when i called him back here are the details he gave.

Civic S MT (This does not have leather seats or the Video music system), Red colour with a massive discount at 14L OTR (Which is full 1.4L cheaper then the Altis). I asked about the Video/Audio system and he said that he will fix it for 30-40K.

There are no colour options (looks like) as he said its only available in Red (Maybe the last and only piece). Is it safe to buy these last unit (I am quiet sure it is not the test drive car that he is pushing as Honda are not known for such low practice)?

Could be a unit that has undergone an accident and was then repaired since he is very adamant on color. Open the bonnet, check for bends in the metal structure which have then been painted, also check for red color on plastic parts inside the bonnet. This maybe because of the overspray done at the time of repair.

Next open the boot, lift the carpet, take out the spare and look a the boot floor, if it looks like metal which was straightened out after it was crumpled, then stay away.

Think of it this way, what you are looking out for are:

1. Over sprays of paint
2. Straightened out steel parts. Think o it this way, if you crumple a tin sheet and then apply force to straighten it out, do you get the exact smoothness as it was before? No, so you have to look out for this kind of stuff.

[sgiitk]

Yes, follow Mustang's advice. To me it sounds more like a left over unit which he wants to shift. Check out the date of manufacture. There is a thread by wildon on this.

[mayankjha1806]

I believe this is just a left over car and as the new ones aren't coming and no one is buying this one (Not sure why? maybe because its red in colour) hence heavy discounts thrown in. There is also a possibility that this might be manufactured much earlier and its just sitting in their stockyard.

What would be a problem in buying a older car sitting in the stockyard (Other then the tyre)? Assuming their stockyard is covered and the car is generally protected from heavy exposure to Sun and Rains?

[suman]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Civic S MT (This does not have leather seats or the Video music system), Red colour with a massive discount at 14L OTR (Which is full 1.4L cheaper then the Altis). I asked about the Video/Audio system and he said that he will fix it for 30-40K.

Mayank, I know that Bangalore OTR prices are higher than Gurgaon but this doesn't look like a really exceptional deal to me. Also, I would be wary of the "last/only piece" scenario.

When I was doing my search (prior to taking the insane plunge with the X1 ), my friendly neighbourhood Honda dealer had matched the price of the top-end Civic VMT (with sunroof), with that of the Cruze LTZ MT (which was also discounted by a good 30k or so over the then prices). So your dealer should be able to do better with the S.

If you're keen on the Civic, look around with a few other Honda dealers as well. They're really keen on getting the current ones out of the way, I recently received a follow up call telling me that there were some "good" discounts going.

[shankar.balan]

if you're not absolutely sold on a sedan type car then you might want to consider the Active version of the Skoda Yeti - 110PS power and 2WD (FWD).
it is priced nicely from all accounts and should fit your budget more or less.
cheers

[mayankjha1806]

Thanks for the suggestion, We are not considering Yeti for now for primarily two reasons. Its lack of space and being a Skoda. We sat in one and the space is only slightly more then Laura and did not find it comfortable for us to spend extra on a car that is offering almost the same amount of space. Although driving it is much better.

On the Civic we decided to give it a pass as its a last one and we were not 100% sure if it was not a display unit. Wife was not in favor of Civic anyway as she is worried about low GC.

[suhaas307]

You are quite a picky fella, aren't you! And you have all the right to be! Spending 15 lakhs on a car is a big deal, and you better get what you expect!

Have you tried the Kizashi? I know, it's a little over your budget, but it's worth considering!

If not, the only other car I'd suggest is the Laura petrol. The Fluence is a good car too, but the lack of equipment is a put-off. Are you up for a used car? A pre-owned car will open up your options.

If I were you, I'd buy the Cruze. But again, the GC is an issue.

[mayankjha1806]

Laura petrol is in the list but we both think it will be far more expensive to own a skoda then lets say a Toyota or a Honda, and we not being rich would like to avoid such an expense, probably another reason to be picky

The next car would be one to be driven mostly on highways and Baleno will serve city errands. Hence Renault, VW, and Nissan arent considered.

I see myself buying either a honda or toyota petrol sedan or a Fortuner which we both like. Hoping to book sometime at the end of december after new Fortuner launch.

PS : we tried Kizashi and GV. Test drive promised, still waiting.

[Ajith-s]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Yesterday the Honda guy called and spoke about some discount on Civic. I was in a meeting hence did not attend, but later when i called him back here are the details he gave.

Civic S MT (This does not have leather seats or the Video music system), Red colour with a massive discount at 14L OTR (Which is full 1.4L cheaper then the Altis). I asked about the Video/Audio system and he said that he will fix it for 30-40K.

There are no colour options (looks like) as he said its only available in Red (Maybe the last and only piece). Is it safe to buy these last unit (I am quiet sure it is not the test drive car that he is pushing as Honda are not known for such low pratice)?

I checked with Whitefiled Honda today.

The are offering the based variant (S MT) at 14.25. This is after the Rs. 1 lakh discount announced in thier ads.
They have only 2 colors. Red and While.
They are also offering a similar Rs 1 lakh discount on the higher variant also. Again only 2 colours. Silver and White.

Explanation of lack of color choices "No new shipments due to Thailand floods"

14.2 looks like a good option, however lack of colors is a bummer. For me also Civic has come into the consideration list.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

PS : we tried Kizashi and GV. Test drive promised, still waiting.

If you are doing the GV and Kizashi TDs, and want some company, let me now - will join :-)

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

If you are doing the GV and Kizashi TDs, and want some company, let me now - will join :-)

Sure, will call you once the TD is confirmed, PM'd you my number. The trouble is i went to the showroom 2 weeks ago and last week the guy called to ask for a suitable time for TD. We agreed that he would arrange a TD on weekend but till today there is no call whatsoever. Hopefully it will happen before i decide to put my money down.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Laura petrol is in the list but we both think it will be far more expensive to own a skoda then lets say a Toyota or a Honda, and we not being rich would like to avoid such an expense, probably another reason to be picky

The next car would be one to be driven mostly on highways and Baleno will serve city errands

Exactly the same situation I was in. And I chose the Honda. The Baleno runs smaller errands since, and overall I have peace of mind.

Get the Civic/Altis/Fortuner and stay happy

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Are you up for a used car? A pre-owned car will open up your options.

Na, no used cars for us for now. Maybe in future when there is more professionalism in buying and selling used cars. Looked at used Fortuner, in a couple of places and i could see the car was used roughly (Seat cover torn, things were loose, broken) and the odometer just said 30K approx, i was surprised.

I see some decent progress in used car market, like the bmw selling pre-owned cars. So maybe in future i might look for one.