[condor]

Originally Posted by shrinz.vivek

Mathematically, if we compare buying a car for 1lakh vs an additional expense of 10k/car/year will lead to an ROI of 5 years.

A couple of transporters had offered to lend me their goods vehicles without drivers on sundays.

1. Please factor in the wear and tear on a family vehicle being used for this work.

2. The one point that comes to mind in using borrowed vehicles is the responsibility part if something goes wrong with the vehicle when you are using it. They may have drivers for their work, but your co-utilization wont be in same category.
(case in point- the person I had mentioned above: his driver screwed up one truck on one trip. He cant fire the driver, but cant put the onus of repairs on that mini truck on the driver. He is bearing the expense himself, which is adding up big).

[Voodooblaster]

Great work. Kudos to you

I am of the opinion that you should continue to use the TUV. It can handle the abuse fairly. Try spreading the load evenly over the vehicle if possible. Ie not all heavy items concentrated at one place (though it'll be painful during loadimg / unloading from the middle row)

To prevent the seats getting dirty, drape old bedsheets.

Commercial / Pvt Vehicles upto 7500kg GVW ( GVW Includes weight of cargo, crew and vehicle) can be driven with a normal LMV license (the normal car license). Most variants of TATA 407, All variants of TATA Ace and 207, Ashok Leyland DOST, Mahindra Bolero pickups come under this. Most of the older trucks and pickups don't have powersteering and maintenance is often sub par. I would be wary of driving them. Better to pay a nominal charge to your trucker friends and hire it with driver if the volumes are high

Buying a yellow board goods vehicle for weekly use is not advised. Current annual insurance rate is approx 20k. Fitness tests to be cleared frequently and road tax are other expenses.

Omni and Sumo still command a premium in the used markets in the rural areas.

If you really want another vehicle, try to get a used TATA Magic (a passenger carrier built on the ACE platform). Mahindra Maximo passenger carrier is another option (but maintenance cost is higher than ace magic). Do ensure that they can be registered as pvt cars through concerned RTO

[zulfi hansi]

Advice of GTO of getting another or others to take a little load off from you both is the first option IMHO. If you can't;
I had seen some old police Mahindra jeeps put up for auction where my friend was looking for in low budget and get it in shape later, even his budget was around yours (this was 10 years ago and his budget was 35-40k). I don't have much info personally but you can look up on the police department websites. These cars are stored at the Karnataka Police parade ground in chamrajpet area on Mysore road, I suggest you do a visit to that place. Good luck.

[landcruiser123]

Great noble cause, @Vivek. Please let us know how we can donate for the cause.

Based on your requirement and constraints, I'd suggest sticking to your TUV:
1. An old beat up car will need more upkeep to do 400 kms every weekend. Plus, reliability will be poor
2. Your TUV (and most cars) is built with a factor of safety in mind - all components are over engineered on purpose
3. Try a drive to get more volunteers to distribute the load

Good luck and god bless you for the noble work you are doing.

[Turbanator]

Isuzu D-Max will be my pick. You can explore options of collecting the funds online. If you want to keep to yourself and this will be on a higher budget, look for an old Evalia or a similar from Leyland. It can come very cheap, carry a lot of load and is easy to drive.

We have a spare one at Gurgaon, if you can manage RTO things, we can just transfer to your name without a charge after whatever repairs it needs, if that helps in anyway.

[SS80]

Hats off to your noble deeds. I feel answering the below questions will help you to decide better.

1. How long do you intend to supply these food kits
2. In the long run, is it better to find jobs for these people, so that they can manage their earning instead of waiting for kits?
3. Hire a driver on rent(as and when required) from DriveU or similar app, then have 1 omni, omni can easily take a ton, dirt cheap to maintain, has resale value too, so when you wish to sell it off, it will still work out.
4. It's not just suspension that is taking a beating on your SUV, frequent overloading will cause the tolerances to increase between parts, even steering tends to get some play in it after sometime.
5. Last point is, if you can spend 2 - 2.5L max, a 10yr old tempo traveller will be available (buying + major service = 2-2.5L),
This can do more than what 2 SUV will carry in one trip. Also you can rest when the vehicle is travelling.

Thanks

Anand

[shrinz.vivek]

Thank you everyone for the replies
After much discussion we have shortlisted Omni as our charity car. It will replace the TUV only for trips which have more than 15 kits so as to minimize travelling in a unsafe vehicle.
I agree with most of your comments that we can continue using the TUV. But an added advantage with the Omni is that it will be apt for some of the tiny villages. We will not have to carry the sacks on our backs. Also the sliding door will not occupy the narrow gullies.
We decided to drop all other UVs like Bolero, Sumo etc because of its size and short lifespan. Eeco is above our budget and also does not have a flat floor like the Omni. The third row sits higher than the middle.
Also thanks to all those who offered to contribute. I will be very helpful if someone can sell their used Omni for a discount. Preferably a KA registration.

[shrinz.vivek]

Originally Posted by SS80

Hats off to your noble deeds. I feel answering the below questions will help you to decide better.

1. How long do you intend to supply these food kits
2. In the long run, is it better to find jobs for these people, so that they can manage their earning instead of waiting for kits?

Thank you for the kind words. Answering to the above questions,
1. If our beneficiaries are old couples without children or disabled people, we supply as long as they are alive.
2. If they are single women with kids, we supply till the kids complete education and get a job.
3. If its a complete family with an ex-earning member who has lost his/her job due to various reason like accident, covid etc..., we supply till they get their job back.

That's why we visit them every month and see their situation and then decide to stop or continue.

[ambarkhan]

Great job you guys are doing
I would recommend a used xenon 3.0l (not Yoddha). Having owned it for a short period few comments from my side.
it's a good vehicle for highway trips, and even the 2wd version can tackle dry offroad easily. The Interior is very spacious. Ride Quality and driving dynamics are good

[shrinz.vivek]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

We have a spare one at Gurgaon, if you can manage RTO things, we can just transfer to your name without a charge after whatever repairs it needs, if that helps in anyway.

Woah . Thank you so much. Will first try to estimate the RTO costs involved and the cost of hiring a falt bed truck for transport. I have always been a fan of the NV200 more for its utility than looks. But it somehow did not not find acceptance in India as much as other countries. A diesel Evalia will be much better than an Omni. Thank you !

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by shrinz.vivek

Will first try to estimate the RTO costs

Yes, that's important. Flatbed is not required. We can send you on Car-carrier on paid basis, without a charge. Don't worry about the repairs either, we will take care. Let me send you a PM.

[condor]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

We have a spare one at Gurgaon, if you can manage RTO things, we can just transfer to your name without a charge after whatever repairs it needs, if that helps in anyway.

Originally Posted by shrinz.vivek

Will first try to estimate the RTO costs involved !

Vivek, pls check PM. I am sharing number of a person who can help you with RTO stuff.

[lamborghini]

We picked up a Triber for this very purpose for one of our charities, where the vehicle is used to ferry people + medical equipment to smaller villages.
The manager is very happy with the car and the pricing was brilliant as well.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by shrinz.vivek

As of now we are doing a total of 7 runs in a month.

It will be impossible to consolidate all 7 runs into a single trip for the below reasons
a. Donations come on multiple days. We have lower middle class donors who wait for salary day to donate
b. We have already started delivering on a particular day. So if we have to alter the date, we ll need to compensate part quantity one time for all families which will again be a logistics nightmare. Once i delivered one day late, and the lady was in tears because she had exhausted the last grain of rice the previous night.
c. With our current practice, expenditure is being spread out across the month and into small amounts. So its easy to find donors.

And thanks for the donation offer. But sorry; I would not like to use TeamBHP for asking any donations. Your advice and tips are much more valuable

I believe you need to solve your cash flow problem first. Sooner or later, you will burn out. Any shift in your's or your friend's personal or professional front can easily disrupt things. And you yourself have mentioned that even a day's delay is unacceptable. Why don't you use the budget for the vehicle to build up a corpus for 2-3 months of supply? If you reduce the 7 trips to 1 or 2 a month, you will be saving on fuel as well, which could be further used to improve your cash position or help more people.

I also find it is sad that you are not comfortable accepting help from fellow members. But that is entirely your call.

Originally Posted by shrinz.vivek

1. If our beneficiaries are old couples without children or disabled people, we supply as long as they are alive.
2. If they are single women with kids, we supply till the kids complete education and get a job.

Are these people getting any govt aid as well? If not, helping them get their dues would also go a long way.

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

We have a spare one at Gurgaon, if you can manage RTO things, we can just transfer to your name without a charge after whatever repairs it needs, if that helps in anyway.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Flatbed is not required. We can send you on Car-carrier on paid basis, without a charge. Don't worry about the repairs either, we will take care. Let me send you a PM.

This is INCREDIBLE.