[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by rajeshchand

I believe profit requirements have already overtaken the priorities with 'First Choice'. I was shocked with the price they offered and was very curt in asking them why they are trying to pull down the resale value of their own vehicles for profitability for which they did not have an answer.

I agree with you on that. ANY pre owned car dealer, organised, branded or otherwise, at least in India, has NO ethics and do all they can to maximise profits.

The only difference between a branded and an unbranded dealer is that the cars stocked and sold by the branded dealer are in a slightly better condition since they are sold at a much higher premium.

[ancer]

Mumbai Strikes again, due to a free parking space that my society was eyeing , i need a budget car to be placed there. have opted for a 2004/5 glx turbo diesel. Can some one please advice, if i wanted to change the bumpers to the new design (mhawk or slx) will they fit? and who would be the best person , was also thinking about adding a bonnet vent like in the new models ! drove the car for the 1st time today ,have to say its a fun drive. my previous car was the v6 skoda superb

[drsingh]

My cousin will soon start his second year in college after exams and has asked me to look for a "SUV kind of" vehicle for him in a strict budget of 5 lakhs. the idea is to have a vehicle in which 7-8 guys can squeeze into and head out on weekends.

In college among friends we had a tata sumo and a tata sierra for the purpose!

I have zeroed on used bolero or a scorpio - easy to customise,cheap to maintain.

my first choice would be a brand new sumo,but that is out of budget.

I looked at a local dealer on sunday and he had a 2003 scorpio in cosmetically bad condition but engine sounded okay. 2.1 lakh

2005 bolero DI -fair condition- 2.5 lakh.


I will be looking around more as i have 3-4 months to deliver the car.

but is it a good idea to buy a 2003 scorpio and have it refubished?

reading scorpio threads ,I have surmised that i should preferably go for a 2008 model CRDE. but the classifieds suggest 6-6.5 lakh for such cars.


what breed of scorpio makes sense in my budget today. I am looking at cars in Chandigarh/Punjab/NCR.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by drsingh

what breed of scorpio makes sense in my budget today. I am looking at cars in Chandigarh/Punjab/NCR.

Since you have a decent budget, I would recommend you look for single owner, CRDe Scorpios post 2005 done around 70k kms with a clean history.

With a bit of luck and patience you should be able to find one. I also know a few good pre owned car dealers in Delhi and can put you to them in case you need it.

Let me know.

Example: http://www.carwale.com/used/cars-in-...22006-D441324/

[drsingh]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Since you have a decent budget, I would recommend you look for single owner, CRDe Scorpios post 2005 done around 70k kms with a clean history.]

Thanks for the quick reply.I'll be looking at Ludhiana and Chandigarh tricity in the next couple of weekends.

I am skeptical of buying from dealers as invariably there's odo tampering..

Will update on any new development.

[TheARUN]

A lot of things have changed with the SCORPIO. It used to come with leaf springs and NA engine in the beginning, then came the CRDe, later the suspension was upgraded to coil springs. Try and go in for the CRDe version with coil springs, a little bit of research should tell you which model year those things appeared on the SCORPIO

Having said that, SCORPIOs are a dime-a-dozen in the second-hand market, it should not be a problem finding a good example

[Dry Ice]

While just casually looking for a used 4x4, came across the following listings.

Both are for top of the line VLX, about 4 years old. How does the prices look? I have no idea/experience with the used prices of Scorpio. The second one looks 'well used' plus is Bihar registered.

http://www.carwale.com/used/cars-in-...orpio-D444562/
http://www.carwale.com/used/cars-in-...orpio-D444463/

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

While just casually looking for a used 4x4, came across the following listings.

Both are for top of the line VLX, about 4 years old. How does the prices look? I have no idea/experience with the used prices of Scorpio. The second one looks 'well used' plus is Bihar registered.

http://www.carwale.com/used/cars-in-...orpio-D444562/
http://www.carwale.com/used/cars-in-...orpio-D444463/

If these are 2008 -2009 models with the 2.2 Mhawk engine VLX Crde 4WD, then the prices are pretty fair indeed. Perhaps you can knock them down by another 50 grand at the most. These vehicles, if they are indeed of the variant suggested above, would have been priced somewhat north of Rs 12 lacs on road when brand new,

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

These vehicles, if they are indeed of the variant suggested above, would have been priced somewhat north of Rs 12 lacs on road when brand new,

That puts them at about 50% of the initial price. Being a dealer vehicle odo reading is always a question mark. Will seek more help from the Scorpio experts like you when I finally get down to shortlisting one.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

That puts them at about 50% of the initial price. Being a dealer vehicle odo reading is always a question mark. Will seek more help from the Scorpio experts like you when I finally get down to shortlisting one.

Yup. The likely depreciated rate after 5 years will bottom out at approx. 50% of the original on road price. The highest depreciation is usually in the first three- four years as a rule of thumb.
From the 5th year onwards, the further depreciation takes place at a much slower rate...perhaps another 7% per annum at the max...
Carwale valuation is usually a good benchmark, plus or minus 50,000 in the case of Scorpio level vehicles.

[wanderer4x4]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

If these are 2008 -2009 models with the 2.2 Mhawk engine VLX Crde 4WD, then the prices are pretty fair indeed ................

Hi Shankar,

Did the 2008 model come with the Mhawk engine? I was under the impression that Mhawk was introduced from the 2009 Refresh models onwards.

[shankar.balan]

The Mhawk engine 2.2 Crde was already introduced in 2008 - I forget which month exactly but it could have been as early as Feb-March itself.

It was at the time, available in only 1 variant, the VLX which came with Airbags and ABS and millions of electronic fiddles. Subsequently, for a short while, they introduced a variant called VLS, which had only ABS (if I remember correctly).

In 2008 when I wanted to upgrade from my Bolero, I went and bought the base level LX because it was mechanical, simple, solid and inexpensive.

I did not like the external cladding, some other aspects of styling and several other electronic features which came on the other two variants of the 2.6 Crde, the SLE and SLX.

I did not really trust M&M and Electronics at that time and the last thing I wanted was those silly Tyre Tronics to start beeping when I hit a bump or pothole on the ghastly Bangalore roads. (Frankly I still continue to view M&M and Electronics with a somewhat cold and jaundiced eye...)

My only regret was that they would not give us an LX with Airbags and ABS and 4WD and at that time, there were no plans to make such a variant. Now I believe they are making LX variants with 4WD but still no ABS and Airbags etc.

Originally Posted by wanderer4x4

Hi Shankar,

Did the 2008 model come with the Mhawk engine? I was under the impression that Mhawk was introduced from the 2009 Refresh models onwards.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by wanderer4x4

Hi Shankar,

Did the 2008 model come with the Mhawk engine? I was under the impression that Mhawk was introduced from the 2009 Refresh models onwards.

AFAIK Mhawk was introduced in VLX trim in late 2008,followed by across the range in 2009,with the face lifted version in last quarter of 2009.

[wanderer4x4]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The Mhawk engine 2.2 Crde was already introduced in 2008 - I forget which month exactly but it could have been as early as Feb-March itself......

So, it means one can go for the VLX model from 2008 batch as well, if one wants the Mhawk engine. Is that correct? Asking 'cause I'm myself searching for one and was trying hard to find a VLX from 2009+ thinking that Mhawk was available only then.

So, was there any other mechanical/ technological changes in the 2009 Refresh or they simply extended Mhawk to the other variants along with the slight cosmetic modifications?

On another note, these electronics horror stories make me worried as well, but then the existing owner must have already broken his head over this and vehicle should be "stabilized" after around 3 years. This is my twisted logic behind trying for a used Scorpio or a Safari (yes I'm not averse to one.)

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by wanderer4x4

So, it means one can go for the VLX model from 2008 batch as well, if one wants the Mhawk engine. Is that correct? Asking 'cause I'm myself searching for one and was trying hard to find a VLX from 2009+ thinking that Mhawk was available only then.

So, was there any other mechanical/ technological changes in the 2009 Refresh or they simply extended Mhawk to the other variants along with the slight cosmetic modifications?

On another note, these electronics horror stories make me worried as well, but then the existing owner must have already broken his head over this and vehicle should be "stabilized" after around 3 years. This is my twisted logic behind trying for a used Scorpio or a Safari (yes I'm not averse to one.)

Yes, you can get an early model 2.2 Mhawk. I am sure you will find one of the same vintage I talked about. I checked with my friend, whose uncle had bought a VLX MHawk 2.2 Crde around the time I bought my normal 2.6 Crde Lx. He sold it in a year or so because he found it tedious to drive in the city.
I cannot remember any tech changes to the 2009 MHawk - I think that the changes were more in the form of variants and cosmetics. For example they introduced a VLS or VLE version sometime, which was just one level below a VLX and came with a 'little less' than the VLX. M&M and Tata keep making many many variants with a little of this and a little of that like the proverbial 'khichdi' in an attempt to appeal to the widest possible audience. I guess, this is what is required in India, like the variants and options shown to the consumer in a silk sari shop!

With ref to the electronics, the Scorpio and Safari are very well settled and 'bedded in' now so I don't think you need to worry on that score. And yes also to the fact that these vehicles are the only ones that you can get with this level of solidity, reliability, functionality, toughness, features etc at the VFM price point that has been their greatest strength. Only, do try and buy one that has been used with care by an 'individual' 'company executive' type bloke. There are zillions of Scorps and Safaris out there, just hang on till you find the right one for you.