[JLN]

Guys, My search for a pre-owned hardly used car finally came to an end. The process was long (4 months) and was much more painful than I had initially expected. I will be posting a detailed report of the search experience shortly. But for now, have posted a few pics. I really owe T-BHP and T-BHPians for the wealth of knowledge they have shared in making the research process so much better and easier. Thanks a ton.

[live2drive]

'Gratz! Enjoy the torque.

Mind sharing more details about your puchase? Price/Year/Model/Mileage?

[JLN]

Originally Posted by live2drive

'Gratz! Enjoy the torque.

Mind sharing more details about your puchase? Price/Year/Model/Mileage?

Nov 2008, Verna CRDi SX ABS. Just 3,462 kms (no typo here), Real Earth colour, Mint condition Single owner. Price paid: 7.85 lakhs (I know it is too much - more details on this in the later post) - New car onroad price in Bangalore today 10.3 lakhs.

Accessories that came with the car: Lenso Samurai 15" alloys & Bridgestone Potenza GIII tyres (including spare wheel), Voyager Roof mounted LCD screen, Premium fabric seat covers, Auto cop with power window auto close option, Filmpro mirror finish sun film.

Others: Fancy Number, Model comes with front and rear disc brakes.

Accessories I added: Pioneer DVD HU, Infinity Reference components in the front, Infinity Reference Co-ax in the rear.

[kpzen]

Congratulations. Looks like you got a clean car..

Originally Posted by JLN

Nov 2008, Verna CRDi SX ABS. Just 3,462 kms (no typo here), Real Earth colour, Mint condition Single owner. Price paid: 7.85 lakhs (I know it is too much - more details on this in the later post) - New car onroad price in Bangalore today 10.3 lakhs.

Unbelievable !!

What is the reason for that ?

[sdp1975]

That's almost a new car. Good that you bought the ABS variant.

It's got a monster of an engine - I've driven my friend's Verna , and it's pretty spacious as well.

[MutantX]

excellent buy. 7.85L is really worth the price. It has been driven very less. Wish you clock atleast 10x times more

[MileCruncher]

Awesome buy especially the old all disc ABS variant !

May you have a fast and happy journey with this one

[predatorwheelz]

Congratulations, and welcome to the Verna CRDI owners' club. The owner spent so much on his car and then only drove it for 3.5K kms! What a waste.

Finding the front-rear disc combo is really good. If you do highway trips, that combo will save your life more than once.

[sachinj12]

That's one awesome deal you got there mate. The engine is still a virgin and you got a nymph of a car!! Enjoy.

[JLN]

I was expecting guys to blast me for the high price I paid for the car. But I feel better now with the encouragement I am getting. I am typing a really detailed buying experience report - not for this Verna, but on the whole process of buying a good used car in Bangalore. Should post this tonight.

The owner is a rich man with multiple cars. This car was bought for his wife and he is replacing this Verna with a VW Beetle for his wife.

The milage is genuine and the car has no insurance claims/accidents - checked it with both Advaith Hyundai and Trident Hyundai and the insurance company. It definitely drives like a new car.

[poloman]

JLN, Sorry for taking a little contrarian view, The deal looks too expensive. Hopefully you have not purchased this from a used car dealer. These guys are now a days coming up with more and more innovative and believable stories. Rich man buying a Verna CRDI for wife, dressing up with alloys and all sort of accesories (all symptoms point to a car enthusiast) but still found no time to drive the car. Such people if they exist won't be too much particular on price. But this guy was demanding a bomb. i am really confused.

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by poloman

JLN, Sorry for taking a little contrarian view, The deal looks too expensive. Hopefully you have not purchased this from a used car dealer. These guys are now a days coming up with more and more innovative and believable stories. Rich man buying a Verna CRDI for wife, dressing up with alloys and all sort of accesories (all symptoms point to a car enthusiast) but still found no time to drive the car. Such people if they exist won't be too much particular on price. But this guy was demanding a bomb. i am really confused.

Exactly. I too feel the same. But since JLN has cross checked the service records, this should be a clean car.

[JLN]

Originally Posted by poloman

JLN, Sorry for taking a little contrarian view, The deal looks too expensive. Hopefully you have not purchased this from a used car dealer. These guys are now a days coming up with more and more innovative and believable stories. Rich man buying a Verna CRDI for wife, dressing up with alloys and all sort of accesories (all symptoms point to a car enthusiast) but still found no time to drive the car. Such people if they exist won't be too much particular on price. But this guy was demanding a bomb. i am really confused.

I did buy this through a broker - used car dealer. The good thing was that I spoke to the owner directly - verified that the guy I spoke with was the actual owner (by checking the number dialed with the number available with the Hyundai service centre for the car). I spoke with the service manager at Advaith Hyundai in Mission road (where the car has been serviced according to the owner) and after some pushing he confirmed that the car was a good one and the milage was genuine. I still had my doubts. So I actually took the car to the Trident Hyundai service place in Jakkasandra I knew well (I have been servicing my Santro AT here for over 2 years now). I realized that they had a service available for my need - a through check-up for about 300 bucks. I readily agreed and had the car thoroughly checked and the guy also showed me the service history on a comp system they have. The check was exhaustive - more details to follow.
All this coupled with the new car smell, exceptionally clean and new interiors and the way the car drove made me quite confident that the car was genuine.
Even I felt that the price was a little higher than what I would liked - but reasoned that in a 3-5 year timeframe the 20-30K would'nt matter much, as long as I got a genuinely good car.

[JLN]

After being an entrepreneur for over 2 years and living on a shoe string budget I finally got funding for one of my new companies – which meant that I would be able to take a salary now. This didn’t mean I could splurge, but I could now afford to upgrade my ride from a 4.5 year old, 85,000 kms run Tata Indica Turbo. I really needed to change my car, since the Indica had been heavily used for my catering and restaurant business (yes – all the procurement for my restaurant and delivery of food for about 100 people everyday was done in my humble Indica with the rear seats double folded). Getting the car to a good shape (especially the interiors), would have meant a 20-30K investment. This coupled with the no-so-great long term reliability of the Tata engines made my decision to upgrade easy.
A note on the Indica Turbo: Tata cars generally get a lot of flak, but having owned the Indica Turbo for 4.5 years and having driven 88,512 kms in it, I am in awe of the car. The car never failed me and was very frugal. I used to service the car almost every 3-4 months and at around 7500 kms (recommended service interval was 6 months, 10000 kms). I think the more frequent oil changes and preventive checks helped avoid any issues. Plus, I managed to build a great rapport with the service guys at Concorde and that greatly helped. There were some niggles and irritants (e.g. Power window switch not working), but nothing significant. I will update my LTO report on the Indica with all the details for those interested. In summary, the Indica served me very well and I would have no hesitation buying another Indica/Tata car or recommending an Indica to anyone looking for a true value for money product made for Indian conditions.

[JLN]

I began my quest for the upgrade – with my new business, my monthly run would be well under 1000 kms and so a petrol will work for me. I crunched the numbers and came up with a budget between 5 and 8 lakhs – lower the better. I also wanted to see if I could unlock value from a 2-3 year old pre-owned well maintained low milage (below 20000 kms) car, rather than buying a new one. GTO’s pre-worshipped Civic happened around this time and this validated my thought process.
Ideal Car (Wish list): Top end model variant with ABS & Airbags, premium music system, mint condition, still under warranty (atleast for 4-6 more months), complete service history, no insurance claims or accidents. I made a list of cars in the used car market in my budget (wifey was particular that the car needs to be a sedan – so no arguments/reasoning around this) – Ford Fiesta Petrol, Hyundai Verna Petrol, Corolla, ANHC.
So the search began – browsed www.carwale.com, www.sulekha.com, www.click.in, www.craigslist.org, www.quikr.com, www.gaadi.com. Checked Automart India, stopped by a few dealers when I had time and were in my driving path. Quickly realized that getting a great used car deal in Bangalore will be tough. The cars I checked out were either not maintained to my expectations or the price expected was exorbitant (according to me) – e.g. Mar 2009, ANHC, 12000 kms, more than normal scratches in the body, insurance claimed once for bumper damage, OK interiors - 8.5 lakhs (new car then was 10 Lakhs onroad).