Team-BHP - Does it make any sense to buy a used Tata Aria?

I recently sold my 6 year old Ritz and have been on the lookout for a 7 seater. I saw a few deals for the Aria on Olx. One owner quoted 6 lakhs for a 2012 model(Pure) that has clocked around 60k on the odo.

Now that the car has been discontinued, should I pick up a used Aria? Will spares availability be an issue?

My recommendation: Avoid at any cost.

If you buy a discontinued car, it shall at least be a very popular car of its times. It shall have enough numbers on the road.

With Aria, you may get frustrated while getting spares and service. And re-sale is out of question.

Try an Ertiga instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat (Post 4282604)

Try an Ertiga instead.

Having owned a Maruti for 6 years, I am not keen on going there again. No complaints about the ASS or the quality of the product.My Ritz served me marvellously. I just happen to be looking for a change :)

Morever, the Ertiga cannot seat 6 or more adults comfortably.I intend to use the car primarily for highway runs and the Ertiga is a tad underpowered.

Quote:

Originally Posted by satishv1987 (Post 4282620)

I understand. In that case, you can look for a used Innova. It shall be available at 7 - 8 lakhs.

Or a Scorpio.

Quote:

Originally Posted by satishv1987 (Post 4282591)

Stay away from a discontinued, unsuccessful car. If you want 7 seaters, check out Mobilio. They are going at pretty good prices in the market, though, finding one may not be easy. You can also look for petrol versions as your running is roughly 1000 km/month

A friend sold his 2012 XUV top end for about 8L in Bangalore. So you may want to look for XUVs too. Agreed it's more expensive but will fetch you both the peace of mind as well as better service, better acceptance in the family too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by satishv1987 (Post 4282591)

I, personally would've taken the Aria. Don't worry about the fact that it's discontinued as more than 70% of the parts are the same as that of the Hexa and my workshop manager had acknowledged to this during my last visit to the workshop.

Secondly, going by your other post, seems like you need a good 7-seater which can seat all the 7 people of the vehicle in comfort but here the Aria doesn't fit your bill since the third row isn't that great (check the official review and GTO sir could only bear for 10min in the third row). If this is your main requirement, then I would personally recommend you to get a used Innova instead.

All the best for your future purchase,
Varun_HexaGuy

Quote:

Originally Posted by satishv1987 (Post 4282591)

I believe Aria would be the most VFM product in the used car market now. You get a heavily depreciated MUV which was a very good product. Its cons were its high price and some niggles from electronics (Pure variant has very less of these).

Regarding spares, while the engine components continue to do duty on the Storme and the Hexa, most of the body components would be same as Hexa. I don't think you would face any problem with spares. In fact people still own the 1st gen Safari and Sumo happily and don't face issue with spares.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Varun_HexaGuy (Post 4282644)

Secondly, going by your other post, seems like you need a good 7-seater which can seat all the 7 people of the vehicle in comfort but here the Aria doesn't fit your bill since the third row isn't that great (check the official review and GTO sir could only bare for 10min in the third row). If this is your main requirement, then I would personally recommend you to get a used Innova instead.

All the best for your future purchase,
Varun_HexaGuy

How could GTO set the benchmark here? I would advice to visit the car and evaluate the third row personally instead of going by online facts.

Don't see any issue in going for the Aria. Mechanical issues were sorted out by 2012 when the moved to a single mass flywheel. That engine, along with most other components of the drivetrain are shared with the Hexa and Storme. All three use the same platform. There aren't too many fancy electronics in the Pure model anyway, so that's added peace of mind. Aria is a no-nonsense UV that is very capable, comfortable and good to drive. Gauge the roominess of the third row yourself.

Some tips:

1) Look for single owner Aria. A car that has changed hands has higher probability of being unreliable. Conversely, if an owner has stuck with Aria for 4 or 5 years, it could mean the car is pretty reliable.

2) Look for low mileage Aria, but not too low either. A 10,000 to 12,000 km/year Aria would be ideal. If the kms on the clock is too low, it could mean the owner did not use it much - probably because of reliability.

3) Go for 4x2 variants. Reading ownership reviews of Tata Aria on Team-BHP, it looks like only 4x4 variant owners have troubles. The handful of 4x2 owners seem to be quite happy with reliability.

4) Take a look at used XUV 500s too, and see how it compares with Aria. There is no bootspace, yes, but I think the last row splits 50:50. So you can store some luggage there.

Contrary to the sales chart performance, the Aria was a capable vehicle and it was reliable as well.
There are many TBHPians who have covered serious mileage on the Aria.

If you can get the full service history verified, then go for it.
Try for a slightly lesser price than you have been quoted.

FIRST check out the forum for reports of Aria's with problems. Loads of owners faced catastrophic issues with their cars especially from the initial batches. Obviously Tata would have worked on ironing out all the faults but it is better to be aware. Try to find patterns as to what you could expect to go wrong or fail, get the VIN number, go to your Tata service center, check to see if there have been any recalls on the car and whether everything has been worked upon, check the maintenance schedule; cars that are between 60-80K typically have a lot of parts to be replaced and many owners try to sell them off in that period to avoid paying a huge bill, don't be fooled by a car that has been wiped clean inside out and expect it to be immaculately maintained.

Apart from that, look for used Innovas and XUV500s as well. :thumbs up

One thing to do is to check the service history, and that will give you information about parts replaced. Tally that against the recommended replacement interval as listed in the owner's manual. Check if anything was replaced too early and more often that recommended intervals.

One person I know, did pick up a used Aria and is happy with it. Another vehicle in the family is a Safari Dicor.

Yes, but only if you get one cheap (i.e. much cheaper than the alternatives). And buy a late model car; the early Arias were white elephants in terms of maintenance. Bargain hard as there's no one really actively looking for an Aria in the used market :). Lowball away to glory.

My personal recommendation though would be the XUV500 (again, late model). And unlike the Innova, it's not overpriced in the used market. The XUV500 is one fantastic SUV.