Dear All,
here is my story of going from petrol to diesel!
i have been driving a palio stile 1.1 SLX for 3 years now. wanted to buy a diesel in the firs place, but palio MJD wasnt available in 2007 oct. so opted for 1.1. some one might ask y 1.1 why not 1.6. its Mileage kitna deta hai thing!
i was very sure that i dont want to buy a maruti/ TATA. was thinking about chevy Uva, and fiat palio. there was no interest shown by the chevy dealer to offer a test drive! also in the amount which i was to pay for Uva low end would get me a high end palio visited couple of dealers, and the sales people were happy to show the car. saw the car in black and fell in love instantly!
so went with the palio stile 1.1 SLX carbon black! good space, awesome looks, amazinf handling, cool AC, it was just a wonderful car except for the power. but most driving was to happen in Bangalore city, it was fine. felt need of power on the highways some time, but was happy overall service was never a concern, in 3 years only the speedo concked off and was replaced during service under warrenty.
few vehicles took liking to my black beauty and kissed it on left and right sides, but i was never inclined to get the dents fixed as they wernt that big and also i was not happy o leave the car behind in the garage for a week! but yes, if the scratches were too visible, i tried to hide them using the com spray paint. exact match and i was happy with the results.
in the mean time, my car usage started increasing from only weekend usage. changed job, and now the office is 40 KM one way! if u miss the company bus, u loose almost half a day, so had to take the car out some times. this started showing its effects on my wallet, my monthly expenses also started increasing steadly.
thats when i started to look out for a second hand diesel. wanted to go for punto, but it was going out of budget.chanced up on a black SDX done 28k on one Saturday, wanted to checkout loan availability on Monday. when i open the PUG mails i see the car already been picked by another PUGger karthik. (he's selling it as he's getting his brand new MJD)
at the same time came across another SDX, M.grey, 35k on the odo. spoke to the person selling it and he quoted 4.2L!!!
he demanded that price as he's maintained the car very well, has got alloy wheel with stock tyres, rear spoiler, sun film, Panasonic music system with 4 speakers and he never let a niggle stay on in the car. i was definetly not in mood to pay 4.2L for that car which had 35K on the odo.
so for few days, my search stopped, but after almost a month, the guy who quoed called back again and said now he's quoting
3.8L. so went n checked out the car, like it and negotiated the price to 3.65L finally. considering karthik is also selling his car 29k done SDX for 3.65L i feel its fair price. some how things fell in place and i even got a loan.
but now i had to sell my black beauty at the earliest as i couldnt afford paying 2 EMI's every month.
put up an ad and received responses with in 4 hours of posting the ad. few people saw the car and they were happy with the running and over all condition of the car.
one gentleman, came saw the car and offered 2L (i had quoted 2.55 nego). when i declined the offer. couple of others also saw the car and they even went to the extent of quoting as low was 1.75L that includes the toyota used car guys!
another gentleman, came with his friend and did the test drive. after a lengthy discussion, they quoted 2L, when i said it does not work out, they increased it to 2.05 and then to 2.1L. i just said not possible and said i might relent on 2.3L. in the mean time the first gentleman, who had also quoted 2L, called and said ok i'l but it for 2.3 L. he promised to transfer some token amount the next day, the next day he texted me to ask my account no. but there was no confirmation of him doing any money transfer to me. tried reaching him, no answer! i had not shown the car to other thinking he will anyways pick it. next day he mailed to say he cant pay more than 2L.
went to sleep with little apprehension about what was happening with my car's sale. the second gentleman called and said il increase my offer, u reduce a bit, but i said 2.3L take it or leave it and we struck a deal. he gave a token advance and in the next couple of days transfered amount to close my car loan. in turn i promised him to get the car serviced and try n fix the dents in insurance.he will take the car on 9th as he's in his native for the Diwali.
in the mean time, i got my loan amount and paid the complete amount to the guy selling his SDX. got the car yesterday morning! so right now i have 2 palio's parked in my garage and i am so very happy to have them both! but any given day i would go with the black color on my palio!
first impression: its a pocket rocket! coming after driving 1.1 for 3 years this car definitely feels fast. the mileage has been claimed as 20KMPL in Bangalore city, but i estimate it to be around 16-17KMPL in Bangalore. and more then 21KMPL on the highways.
cheers
vasanth
PS: In the mean time, i had managed to convince my brother-in-law to go for a palio MJD and he's happy driving around in his SD for past couple of years.and says he will only stick to fiat
