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Old 19th February 2013, 18:50   #31
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Re: Buy a Car or Use the Bus? Weekly 500 kms Intercity Drive

@sudipta, see if you can negotiate with a private Volvo for the "best" and a confirmed seat in bus every weekend (so you are assured of your commute and no holiday special hassle). And secondly, some good arrangement (with a regular cabbie? ) for you to get to bus stop to office / home at Blr / Hyd.

Bus is a better option on regular basis. Jams or anything will simply mean more time to sleep, whereas your car would keep you awake.. This apart, so many hours of driving every week would bring some sort of trouble, no matter how good the car is! (As we arent cabbies! ).

Bus may not let you sleep when you begin with.. after couple of weeks, you would know to time your sleep (and may even miss the highway breaks ).

Last edited by babu.sundaram : 19th February 2013 at 18:59.
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Old 19th February 2013, 18:50   #32
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Re: Buy a Car or Use the Bus? Weekly 500 kms Intercity Drive

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Originally Posted by 2500cc View Post
With Scorpio in hand, if I were to be you, I wouldn't be looking for second car at 20L range. Would choose to commute in Volvo and sometimes in Scorpio for change.

However, if I have that 20L money to throw on depreciating asset, I would choose, Laura or used BMW 320d.
I completely agree here. While the Scorpio is not the best vehicle on the planet, it certainly is a relaxed highway mile muncher. Need a live example? I did BLR-DEL in 32hrs with my wife last fortnight and none of us were worn out/exhausted etc when we reached Delhi. I do the BLR-DEL trip at least thrice every year and can vouch for the Scorpio.

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Originally Posted by Sheel View Post
140kmph cruising speed is hard to attain & isn't safe.
Spot on Sheel. Irrespective of the car you own and the condition of the road, anything beyond 120kmph on a public road/highway/expressway in India is risky.
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I am really unsure of the road conditions, but a higher perch I believe is less taxing.
This is what makes the SUVs far more relaxed.


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Originally Posted by sudipta View Post
I would start with a test drive with my Scorpio sometime in March and see how it goes.
Good idea, try it and then decide. A few pointers are:
1. The Scorpio is a good enough vehicle for the running you mentioned, I would not buy anything else just for this journey.
2. Since driving down every weekend will be expensive, I d rather do it in my existing vehicle than spend on a new car and look at the savings in fuel economy. Sounds penny wise pound foolish.
3. On Indian highways, might is always right and here is why an SUV is better than a sedan, not to bully others but to keep bullies away from oneself.
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Old 20th February 2013, 23:01   #33
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Re: Buy a Car or Use the Bus? Weekly 500 kms Intercity Drive

Thanks all for your valuable input. I have decided not to go for any car just because of this weekly drive which I will not any which way. I have almost got myself in a comfortable position with the Volvos as of now and will check the occasional drive in my Scorpio.

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Originally Posted by n.devdath View Post
1. The Scorpio is a good enough vehicle for the running you mentioned, I would not buy anything else just for this journey.
2. Since driving down every weekend will be expensive, I d rather do it in my existing vehicle than spend on a new car and look at the savings in fuel economy. Sounds penny wise pound foolish.
3. On Indian highways, might is always right and here is why an SUV is better than a sedan, not to bully others but to keep bullies away from oneself.

I completely agree with you and my wife will agree even more as she was the reason for getting our Scorpio.
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Old 22nd February 2013, 16:27   #34
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Re: Buy a Car or Use the Bus? Weekly 500 kms Intercity Drive

Sudipta,

I lived the weekly shuttling life for a while myself and my strategy used to be to take public transport on normal weekends and drive only on long weekends and vacations so that the time stress is less and there is more time to recover.
You con consider it the same if it suits you.

By the way how long does it take from Bangalore to Hyderabad on the NH7?
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Old 22nd February 2013, 17:22   #35
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Re: Buy a Car or Use the Bus? Weekly 500 kms Intercity Drive

Mod Note: References to high speed have been cleaned up from this thread. Team-BHP encourages safe driving practices and "cruising" at the speeds mentioned go against this policy.
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Old 23rd February 2013, 07:39   #36
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Re: Buy a Car or Use the Bus? Weekly 500 kms Intercity Drive

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Sudipta,
By the way how long does it take from Bangalore to Hyderabad on the NH7?
The Volvos take around 8 hours with atleast 1 hour stop inbetween. Self drive should be around 6 to 7 hours with a comfortable cruise speed.
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Old 7th March 2013, 00:49   #37
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Re: Buy a Car or Use the Bus? Weekly 500 kms Intercity Drive

If it isn't too late, let me add my take on your situation.

Why not employ a driver cum domestic help?

Pros:
> You can drive whenever you feel like and when you are tired, hand it over to the driver and you can take a back seat.
> He can be a driver on weekends and domestic help on weekdays, assuming you stay alone in Bangalore.

Cons:
> Volvo bus could be safer than Scorpio in case of accidents, god forbid. You may lose peace of mind after handing over the wheel to your driver.
> You will need to provide accomodation to the driver both in Hyd and Bangalore.
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Old 30th June 2013, 11:16   #38
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If not chauffer driven, i will suggest you go by bus, atleast you can sleep well after a weeks hardwork.
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