[gauravdgr8]

I also see 2 Volvo's on the list

The reasons could be as follows:

1. These are cars which are driven inside the company premises and then are sold as new. The company premises driven cars are driven for a max 2k kms and sold with new tyres and new speedo. There are middleman involved in this. I know this as one of my relatives in Chennai, drives a Verna of the same kind. He got Top End 1.6 at 5.5L, though as second owner. In the 5.5 L price, 1.5 L was kept by the middleman.

2. All the Honda cars maybe the Thailand flood stricken ones.

Stay away.

[Cooltronics]

It is also a possibility that these cars might have been washed off or submerged in floods. Common situation faced in many parts of the country especially Mumbai. The car might look decent and may drive well initially but the damage is already done. Kindly think ten times before falling for it.

[kutts]

No warranty and guarantee for the cars - That single item should be taken a a big bold red signal. If you jump the signal - then it depends. Either you land safe across or get swiped by a huge truck. Choice is yours.

[Akshay1234]

Here is my opinion on it.

2l is a lot to save. Had it been anything but a Jap car I too would have advised you to run away, but this is a Jap car, and Jap cars are relatively reliable.

Don't blindly pick it up, take some effort and be sure that the car is fine if you really do want to buy it. Go and inspect the cars thoroughly inside and out, if there has been any major accident I'm sure you should be able to spot some welding done or some panel bent from the inside. Take a short test drive over some rough roads, listen for any weird noises. Even a 5 minute test drive will let you see this.

Remember do go to the showroom and take one of their cars for a test drive, so that you do know what a normal City behaves like.

Now if all this is fine, somehow or the other get some Honda mechanic or take the car to the nearest Honda Service Centre and get it inspected. It won't cost much and will take half a day max.

After this go ahead and pick it up. I think this much effort is fine for a 2l saving.

[mac187]

It does sound like a good deal but 8lakhs is a lot of money to gamble. I would suggest
- Draw up a list of check points.
- Hire a Mech for half day
- Do the necessary checks physically.

Walk away if any of the major checks fail. These kind of things depend on ones choice really.

[carwatcher]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Here is my opinion on it.
2l is a lot to save. Had it been anything but a Jap car I too would have advised you to run away, but this is a Jap car, and Jap cars are relatively reliable.

This is the single most factor for this much effort.
Spoke to one of the Main person on phone, he told they are "Flood affected" cars, don't know what exactly that means. Earlier they were tellng water got nside due to window left open.
The person also told that the cars are moving reasonably fast (I didn't believe much) and he will check thoroughly before delivery and give it in showroom condition, allow us to test drive and check the car in whichever way we want. Also ready to further reduce the price depending upon the no. of car to be picked.
All in all its just like seconds sale of any other items, clothes, electronic gadgets, etc. where also No guarantee, warranty, replacement is given.
Now my queries to the fellow T-BHPians is that what can go wrong in Flood Effected cars and how much will it cost to replace? I am more worried about Electronics and on-board computer. Would like to know how to check them before purchasing. Next vulnerable thing may be Carpets and flooring. Please reply. F-I-L Planning to go either tomorrow or Saturday or Monday (as time permits). Car will be registered on or after 1 Jan only.

Also spoke to various dealers for new car. Now the final options are:

2012 Facelift City V-MT (10.08 Lac) OR pre-facelift V-AT (10 Lac) OR pre-facelift V-AT Exclusive with Leather seats, etc (10.54 Lac) OR 2012 facelift V-AT without Leather and sun-roof (10.90 Lac).

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Here is my opinion on it.

2l is a lot to save. Had it been anything but a Jap car I too would have advised you to run away, but this is a Jap car, and Jap cars are relatively reliable.

Don't blindly pick it up, take some effort and be sure that the car is fine if you really do want to buy it. Go and inspect the cars thoroughly inside and out, if there has been any major accident I'm sure you should be able to spot some welding done or some panel bent from the inside. Take a short test drive over some rough roads, listen for any weird noises. Even a 5 minute test drive will let you see this.

Remember do go to the showroom and take one of their cars for a test drive, so that you do know what a normal City behaves like.

Now if all this is fine, somehow or the other get some Honda mechanic or take the car to the nearest Honda Service Centre and get it inspected. It won't cost much and will take half a day max.

After this go ahead and pick it up. I think this much effort is fine for a 2l saving.

Yeah, Honda showroom is going to inspect and say, "yes, this is the car to buy.". If they think like that, why would they have washed their hands off in the first place, please do not give wrong and damaging advice, sir. And what if it was a German car or an Italian car ? What is the funda in this advice ?

Originally Posted by carwatcher

he told they are "Flood affected" cars, don't know what exactly that means. Earlier they were tellng water got nside due to window left open.
The person also told that the cars are moving reasonably fast (I didn't believe much) and he will check thoroughly before delivery and give it in showroom condition, allow us to test drive and check the car in whichever way we want. Also ready to further reduce the price depending upon the no. of car to be picked.
All in all its just like seconds sale of any other items, clothes, electronic gadgets, etc. where also No guarantee, warranty, replacement is given.
Now my queries to the fellow T-BHPians is that what can go wrong in Flood Effected cars and how much will it cost to replace? I am more worried about Electronics and on-board computer. Would like to know how to check them before purchasing. Next vulnerable thing may be Carpets and flooring. Please reply. F-I-L Planning to go either tomorrow or Saturday or Monday (as time permits). Car will be registered on or after 1 Jan only.

Whatever you are tellling about them and their price cuts sounds too fishy and funny, please do not even touch them with a barge pole.

[k2max6]

I would say "stay away'
Primarily because
1.Flood Affected Car - Water may have caused damage which might not be visible now but come up after you use it for sometime.
2.No warranty - Just incase if the ECU of your car goes kaput or any other major failure.2L you saved would pinch you so hard.You are losing on a 2year standard warranty.
3.If they were in good condition why would HONDA give away these cars at a considerable loss.This means they are not satisfying the preliminary quality checks.This means the cars are so unreliable that they may cause trouble and may cause loss to their reputation which is more valuable than loosing such an amount.

[vina]

Originally Posted by carwatcher

....
Spoke to one of the Main person on phone, he told they are "Flood affected" cars, don't know what exactly that means. Earlier they were tellng water got nside due to window left open....


Now my queries to the fellow T-BHPians is that what can go wrong in Flood Effected cars and how much will it cost to replace? I am more worried about Electronics and on-board computer. Would like to know how to check them before purchasing....

Flood damaged means - just stay away.

A LOT can go wrong, and a LOT must have gone wrong. In Insurance parlance this is a total loss. Engine may have rusted out, electronics would be dead (may be replaced, but then who knows - stuff is known to fail after months of usage), fungus would settle in (and never leave) ....

There is no fixing it, just stay away.

[carwatcher]

I just remember that much has been written about Mumbai floods in 2005 and very large no. of cars damaged in those floods and the manufacturers simply failed to handle such large voulmes and some cars are still lying unrepared or were simply written off by their owners due to lack of support.
If someone share first-hand experience it would be of great help as to what exactly was damaged, amount incurred in repairs and car's performance after repairs. I will also start searching T-BHP forum on those specific incidents and experiences. Also would like to know the insurer's role in insuring such kind of "no-warranty" cars.

PS: Any suggestion on variants of New Models or pre facelift models if we go for new car.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by carwatcher

This is the single most factor for this much effort.
Spoke to one of the Main person on phone, he told they are "Flood affected" cars, don't know what exactly that means.

2012 Facelift City V-MT (10.08 Lac) OR pre-facelift V-AT (10 Lac) OR pre-facelift V-AT Exclusive with Leather seats, etc (10.54 Lac) OR 2012 facelift V-AT without Leather and sun-roof (10.90 Lac).

That just changes the equation. Now I too would say avoid. With flood damage you never know what electronics the water would have got into. And they might prematurely fail anytime. In this case now I would say get the pre facelift with leather seats, try and bargain it down more. That is unless you like the facelift looks better.

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Yeah, Honda showroom is going to inspect and say, "yes, this is the car to buy.". If they think like that, why would they have washed their hands off in the first place, please do not give wrong and damaging advice, sir. And what if it was a German car or an Italian car ? What is the funda in this advice ?

Actually yeah, you can take a car to them and pay a small fee for inspection where their engineers have a look at the car and connect it to the diagnostic machine. They can also advice if any part is worn out or needs replacement. Many people do this for used cars, incase you haven't read or heard about this earlier.

European cars are much more sensitive in general and if not looked after with a lot of care throw many many problems, and also the parts are relatively more expensive. That way Japanese cars can take more abuse and are known to be more reliable with less electronics. Also repairs, if any for many parts are cheaper.

I really don't think my advice was damaging or wrong in any sense.

[carwatcher]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

In this case now I would say get the pre facelift with leather seats, try and bargain it down more. That is unless you like the facelift looks better.

I really don't think my advice was damaging or wrong in any sense.

We are not very keen on leather. That is why 3 options out of 4 are of without leather. Why Leather has come into picture is that the pre-facelift Leather AT (Exclusive) is fully loaded and yet around 40K cheaper than non-leather 2012 AT.

No your advice is certainly not damaging or wrong considering the facts presented before you. And now as new facts are known to all of us, the opinion has changed accordingly.
For eg. if you go to surplus sale of garments, if you get a slightly soiled garment, you can buy if thinking you can get it dry-cleaned, but if you get a slightly torn garment you won't take it even if they offer it for free.

[vina]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

That just changes the equation. Now I too would say avoid. With flood damage you never know what electronics the water would have got into. And they might prematurely fail anytime. In this case now I would say get the pre facelift with leather seats, try and bargain it down more. That is unless you like the facelift looks better.


...

I really don't think my advice was damaging or wrong in any sense.

Your earlier advice made sense and so does this one.

By the way, electronics is the least of your troubles (though still pretty big trouble - enough to recommend a walk-away on its own merits), flood damage invariably hurts mechanical systems and hygiene also in ways that may not be obvious or even easily testable early on.

Reversing the damage may sometimes actually be more expensive than the car itself ! For example how do you reliably get rid of moisture once it is everywhere in the car? Do you propose to open every single bearing, drain it and re-grease it?

[S_U_N]

@OP: Although I do not have any first hand experience with flood affected vehicles, here is a nice article Flooded cars to hit the market - car-buying tips - MSN Money

Going through the document attached by ninja, it appears to me:
1. The manufacturing dates of the Honda vehicles should be very close to each other (looking at the number series of chassis/ engine numbers).
2. Floods in Thailand were from 31 July 2011 and that overlaps with the 'July manufactured' input that you have got from the company.
BTW: Is this company's email address a Gmail address? Why is that so?

3. There are lot of Hyundai vehicles as well on the list. Were they also affected by floods? Which Hyundai factory got affected by floods?
You could use this list to figure out which areas were flood affected: 2011 Southeast Asian floods - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It is equally possible that the Hyundai cars were manufactured somewhere else and then got flood affected.

Are the Volvo cars also flood affected?

Too many questions in my mind. I would be OK at risking 2.5 lacs on a Santro (after personal inspection), but I don't have a risk appetite of 8 lacs.

All the best!

[DonnieDarko]

Well, as a general rule of thumb, one should always be extremely cautious when you are getting any kind of "discounts" on any merchandise which does not usually sell at such discounted rates.

I don't want to repeat the obvious which has been stated by many others but there is a very good reason why flood affected vehicles are just written off. No matter what you do, you just can't restore them to 'new-like' condition by just replacing the damaged parts.