[sedanlover2021]

I believe I am in a funny situation hence seeking advice from the Pundits here at Team BHP.

Current Garage
1) 2021 July - Honda City VX Automatic (Petrol) done about 7500 KMs
2) Dec 2017 - Ford Ecosport -Titanium Petrol done about 45000 KMs


Lets first understand my usage:

1) Work from home is almost gone. I am visiting office at-least 2-3 days a week.(45-50 Kms return journey)
2) The missus is joining a new job and they are working from office. She will be commuting at-least 2-3 times a week. (60 Kms return journey)

For the next 10-11 months not expecting too many long drives as we are on the family way. Long road trips are a no no till the child is 3-5 months old at-least.

What's up with the Honda?
I stay in a far flung part of Bluru, the roads are non existent for 10-11 Kms of the journey each side with pot holes that make moon craters want to drink a red-bull. The speed breakers are car breakers and the honda does touch at-least once on every ride. But we love the car otherwise and are not in a mood to part ways for the next 10-11 years. However for the next few months the missus wants to avoid travelling in this due to pregnancy and how the car deals with the roads on extremely low speeds.

What's up with the Ford:
I have the following issues with the ford:
1) The car is still registered in Haryana and I am in no mood to pay 1.5 Lacs to get it transferred to a KA number.
2) The car has been unreliable with niggling issues from 1st month of ownership. In last 12 months the car has had 5 service center visits.
3) There are way too many noises to count especially from the boot and nearby areas which I dread every time I drive the car and now since it is nearing 50K mark it will demand work/ replacement of shockers and brake pads et al. I am assuming a 50-60 K for mechanical parts plus another 30 K for getting a new boot door (mechanics have advised this multiple time when I complain about the noise).

Why I need a new car ?
The major reason is this:
1)Family expansion

With the new born coming in if we all of us ever want to go out these are the people we will need to sit in the car:
3 family members + young one + 1 golden retriever + 1 help.

That takes us in to 6/7 seater category. So what did I do?
I booked a XUV 700 AX L AWD (diesel)
When will it get delivered ? Nov/Dec 2023 (yes you read it right 3 not 2 )

Why Cant I just hold on to the Ford (logical thing to do ?)
1) Not interested in putting in 2-2.5 Lacs (including 50K maintenance + RTO tax) in 4+ year old car.
2) Not very confident of ford anymore. Where are they? Who to hold accountable?
3) Even If I were to get the car serviced to the Tee and shell out 50-70 K , I am not willing to venture into main Bangalore without a KA registration.

What am I thinking now?
1) Pickup a second hand SUV which the missus can use for her commute to office till the XUV comes in.
2) See if she agrees to use the Honda, I pickup a new i10/20 for my office commutes. (Not too enthusiastic about used cars honestly)!Sell this when XUV arrives.
3) Ditch the XUV 700 and pickup a safari or an Innova instead now itself? Not sure if I will be very happy compromising on the feature list though.
4) Let it be! Lets just cough up 2.5 Lacs and wait till the XUV comes in?

Too much for my puny mind to handle!

Pray Throw some suggestions on what to do?

P.S. I have looked at a few used cars on Spinny Bangalore (primarily SUV/C-SUVs) and I believe in a budget of 10-13 Lacs I can get a 2-3 years old under 30K KM ride.

[@og_adi]

Personally, I think it's logical to get a new vehicle (option 2 in your list) as there is no guarantee the used car market may offer a reliable solution. 13 lakhs is decent budget to get good new cars like the S-Cross, i20 or Altroz. The only drawback I can foresee here is the depreciation hit you would be taking but as long as you're fine with it, get a new car!

I'm assuming that you're Ecosport is mechanically in a very poor condition here. If all the problems being faced can all be fixed within 2.5 or even 3 lakhs, strictly talking money, this seems to be the most VFM solution. Many might cancel bookings of the XUV going ahead and I'd be optimistic about the revised delivery timelines. This is purely your call as there is no specific mention of the issues being faced with the car now.

All the best!

[sedanlover2021]

Originally Posted by @og_adi

I'm assuming that you're Ecosport is mechanically in a very poor condition here.

The ecosport is not in a very poor condition but highly unreliable. Hence the situation of that car changes every other month from "Great Ride to When am I saying Bye Bye?"

For example - When the car was 26-27 days old the car developed issues with powertrain. That problem keep recurring every now and then. Ford was never able to solve for it.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by sedanlover2021

1) Pickup a second hand SUV which the missus can use for her commute to office till the XUV comes in.

- Keep the City, better to drive it around than getting a new i20, IMO.
- Get rid of the Ecosport.
- Get something new like a Brezza, S-Cross, Nexon, XUV300 and all should have their top-1 model at least within 13 lakhs on road Bangalore.

Why not used ? Mainly because you said that you weren't comfortable with it. In your situation the reliability factor would be paramount. Check if any BHPian is selling, that should be a good option if available.

[MotoBlip]

1. Keep the City, if the gc is bothering you too much, get spacers installed temporarily. 10-15mm increase in gc should be more than enough to get you through those bad roads.

2. Sell the Ford, and get a cheap used AMT/MT hatchback(Alto, Celerio etc). Sell it once the XUV arrives. When it comes to resale value, there is an indomitable rule, the more you invest, the more you lose. It's a simple demand vs supply game, cheap cars are always in demand, AND they are cheaper to fix AND they lose very little in depreciation.

Would also suggest you put your apprehensions aside and give used cars a shot. If you look hard enough, you will most likely find a gem.

[Sushil Pingua]

Originally Posted by sedanlover2021

With the new born coming in if we all of us ever want to go out these are the people we will need to sit in the car:
3 family members + young one + 1 golden retriever + 1 help.

Visit the MG stable. Hector provides a proven diesel motor, the interiors are very spacious, the suspension is very good. The best part is that it has decent waiting period.

Peace of mind matters and if suspicion of reliability creeps in then it's better to sell out the Ford even if at a loss.

Retaining the City will depend upon your personal choice of finance and parking space.

I took out my baby on her first driving vacation of 2000 kms (14days around Darjeeling/Sikkim in March21 from Jharkhand) when she was 5 months old, my car is Honda BRV - a very comfortable and spacious family mover, if it were on sale in India I would have certainly recommended you the BRV.

Of other cross-overs on sale below 20 lakhs, none offers comfort for a pregnant lady or even a new-born baby over potholes.

Take the decision which makes you content and happy for your family.

Kindly do not go for used vehicles, they might be worse than your Ford. My last suggestion if you can digest would be to make a visit to the Force Motors for a test drive of Gurkha.

Regards.

[condor]

Considering the type of area you live in:

1. Sell the Ford, get a new/used car that you will keep. (smaller than the XUV)
2. Once the XUV comes, sell the Honda City.

If you can wait for the XUV to fill the requirements for the growing family, then you can have a garage that can tackle those roads, and a variation in the line-up too. One more reason for #1 is that it is quite possible that the XUV700 delivery may be further out.

[Sandy Damodaran]

Originally Posted by sedanlover2021

IThe car has been unreliable with niggling issues from 1st month of ownership. In last 12 months the car has had 5 service center visits.
3) There are way too many noises to count especially from the boot and nearby areas which I dread every time I drive the car and now since it is nearing 50K mark it will demand work/ replacement of shockers and brake pads et.

Just my 2 cents, given that a relatively more reliable company, compared to Mahindra is making you consider getting rid of the vehicle, I'd say steer clear of all Tata and Mahindra products and get the Toyota.

With a kid and a dog, the last thing you'd want is to be stranded on a trip, albeit in a vehicle with loads of features.

A remapped crysta is a hoot to drive as well!

[buzzy_boy]

Originally Posted by sedanlover2021

Pray Throw some suggestions on what to do?

I'm in the same situation. I don't think you should drop the XUV 700 after going through the shortlisting process. Also, your Honda is as good as new. You'll take an unreasonable depreciation hit if you sell it.

Have you considered

1. Subscribing/leasing a car.
2. Offsetting the cost by selling the Ford? You can literally pay for the subscription using the 2.5 L you save by not investing in the Ford. The petrol engine is mediocre at best anyway.

You might end up paying a little more than what you would with your proposed plan of buying a new car, and then selling it. However, it's much less of a hassle.

[zaid qazi]

I would suggest you to sell your ecosport and cancel the current booking of the XUV700, as you have already mentioned that ecosport hasn't been reliable to you in the past 4-5 years I don't think you should expect much from the XUV either when it comes to reliability atleast. Their have been a lot of issues which have been shared on the forum and with those extra features and complex electronics it wouldn't be a reliable machine is what I feel.
So my advice to you would be to sell your ford and cancel the booking of the XUV700 and get yourself a reliable machine, you already own a Japanese car which is often considered as a reliable car , why not buy another Japanese car the innova crysta .
It has decent features,can handle rough terrains is the most reliable for long term usage and will extract a good resale value if you plan to sell it in next 5 years.

[deep_bang]

My thoughts very different from others here:
Buy a used XUV for around 10L. You will get a 5 year old car with about 40k kms run vehicle. Make sure to look for a car with good service records.

Will be ideal to sell than once your xuv700 is available.

[sedanlover2021]

Originally Posted by Sushil Pingua

Visit the MG stable. Hector provides a proven diesel motor, the interiors are very spacious, the suspension is very good. The best part is that it has decent waiting period.

Peace of mind matters and if suspicion of reliability creeps in then it's better to sell out the Ford even if at a loss.

Retaining the City will depend upon your personal choice of finance and parking space.

I took out my baby on her first driving vacation of 2000 kms (14days around Darjeeling/Sikkim in March21 from Jharkhand) when she was 5 months old, my car is Honda BRV - a very comfortable and spacious family mover, if it were on sale in India I would have certainly recommended you the BRV.

Of other cross-overs on sale below 20 lakhs, none offers comfort for a pregnant lady or even a new-born baby over potholes.

Take the decision which makes you content and happy for your family.

Kindly do not go for used vehicles, they might be worse than your Ford. My last suggestion if you can digest would be to make a visit to the Force Motors for a test drive of Gurkha.

Regards.

Thanks for bringing this up. It was per chance that I recently had a 30 minute test drive in a brand new hector that a neighbor has picked up. Honestly I was not impressed. I did not get the SOLID car feeling from my ride in the back neither was the drive anything extra-ordinary (no offense to MG owners, just a matter of taste. Even if I were to overlook this, there is no Diesel AT on offer on the Hector Plus which can be the only trim I may be interested in. Alas.

Originally Posted by Sandy Damodaran

Just my 2 cents, given that a relatively more reliable company, compared to Mahindra is making you consider getting rid of the vehicle, I'd say steer clear of all Tata and Mahindra products and get the Toyota.

With a kid and a dog, the last thing you'd want is to be stranded on a trip, albeit in a vehicle with loads of features.

A remapped crysta is a hoot to drive as well!

Thanks for bringing this up. I did a test drive of Innova last weekend and came out Mighty impressed. While the ZX auto diesel is out of budget, the mrs. and me are seriously considering cancelling the XUV 700 and booking the Innova GX Auto and get some cosmetic upgrades there. The ford should be sold within a week hopefully, no point giving loan interest for this machine anymore.

[Kumaran93R]

I have a 2011 Figo which has done 1.9L kms and going strong. I also have a 2000 M800 and 2001 Alto both of which are still going strong. I daily a 2009 Fiesta 1.6S.

50k kms is too young for you to write off the car because of niggles. I'm sure pps ford or a competent fng will be able to fix your car. Don't expect it to be in perfect condition if you're spending peanuts on the repairs and maintenance. I recently spent more than 50k on the 800. New tryes, battery and a front member change due to Chennai weather rusting issues. But the car drives like new and is extremely reliable till date.

I also drive a TN registered car in Bangalore all the time. It's not too much of a hassle actually. If you don't have tints and all the paperwork are proper, cops usually don't harass you beyond a regular check occassionally.

My advise is for you to repair the ecosport and continue with the current registration. Sell it off once you get the XUV 700.

Second option is to sell the ecosport and get a ka registered slightly used hatch / pseudo SUV.

[sedanlover2021]

Thread Update:

Appreciate Mods for highlighting the post.

Developments since I posted this on the forum:

1) My ecosport is HR registered and I am in KA right now as mentioned. I showed the car to OLA, OLX Auto and Cars24 and got low-balled for quotes but thinking of biting the bullet and take notional loss. Hopefully the ride should be out of my garage within the week.

2) I test drove the Innova Crysta and came out mighty mighty impressed. I think a 8 seater Innova GX Auto (Diesel) can be a perfect car. It has the space and more than everything else the reliability. While I will miss Auto AC and also the 7 Airbags, I am still confident as the car is 5 star rated.

I bought the Honda City Gen 5 because it had Honda's niggle free ownership history behind it and the VX comes with 6 airbags. Compared to the Hyundai's/KIA's of the world the City does not have enough features but I can live with that honestly.

In the long run, safety+reliability pip over features for me personally.

The ford ecosport Titanium had literally all creature comforts sans a wireless charger, but, the unreliable experience has left me with a sour taste.

Reading reviews from the forum I am leaning heavily towards the Toyota and away from the XUV700. I don't want another car that visits the service station 5 times a year but has all the bling.

Ravindu Toyota is offering a decent deal and delivery within March for the GX Automatic.

Would love to capture everyone's views again!

[poloman]

Originally Posted by sedanlover2021

Thanks for bringing this up. I did a test drive of Innova last weekend and came out Mighty impressed. While the ZX auto diesel is out of budget, the mrs. and me are seriously considering cancelling the XUV 700 and booking the Innova GX Auto and get some cosmetic upgrades there. The ford should be sold within a week hopefully, no point giving loan interest for this machine anymore.

If you can live with the van like shape and taxi image of Innova, no car is as VFM as the GX AT. No other car in 20-40L can match the space and comfort of the car. I have gone through the same decision making process. But it is a boring car.
Buying and selling cars is a highly depreciating business. So do it as much less as possible. I won't advice buying a third car at any cost.