[biggrin]

I am assuming the following things from your post :

* There is only one user/driver of the cars
* You have had no bad experiences with Micra as well as Vento till now
* You want a fun car to drive, but not at the cost of reliability
* For city usage, you won't be using the boot/rear seat much
* You are satisfied with the driving experience of both cars

I would have sold the Vento, if I were in your place, and used that 6 Lac to earn interest. The interest amount will take care of the Micra's day to day maintenance and the principal 6 Lac will be secure/safe for any future uncertainities. Keeping the Vento for another 3-4 years seems like a good decision now, but will turn out to be a bad one as both cars in your garage are depreciation disasters. The car which gives you a 4+ Lac rupee loss in 3 years will only depreciate more in the next 3-4 years. It would be hard to find buyers in case something goes wrong over these years, and you will have no option but to let it go for peanuts.

You have answered the questions yourself. Quoting some lines from your opening post :

* Average usage of ~12k kms per year
* Do not need both cars in the garage
* Majority of our running is inside the town
* Sedan is really not the need of the hour
* I can live with the lesser options

I do not mean that Micra is the better car of the two. In your circumstances, Micra is the ideal car of the two. NVH and Rear space are the only problems you have with the car, and the former can be corrected. Damp the doors and floor, or get your ride spiced up a bit to keep you happy for the time being. If you can live with lesser options, I am sure you can also live with the NVH and rear space. What you can also do is get the car serviced, as per the manual, from a trusted garage. It will save you quite a bit in annual maintenance cost.

I may sound stupid, but what you can do is get a gearless scooter (for 50-55k) for your city commutes. Trust me, you will save a lot on fuel and maintenance. Micra can be a highway car, and riding your scooter 5 days a week will make it more so.

Selling both the cars and getting a new-er better car would be good enough only when the new car satisfies your requirements completely. And I don't think any particular car does this better, than your exisitng cars, under 7.5 L on-road.

PS. Add a poll, it will be better.

[Prowler]

Your cars have plenty of life left in them. If Micra costs you 14k per year to service, sell that and hold on to vento. Parking shouldn't be a major issue.

I live in Madras and I drive a truck. I drive where I can find a parking space and leave the car there and take an auto to the eventual destination. It is a bit of a hassle but finding a parking space in shopping centers in a major city itself is a hassle.

Any new car will cost a lot more than retaining your Vento. Look for a FNG who services VV cars in your area now itself so that minor services can be done in a FNG.

[benzinblut]

If I were in the market looking for a used car, both your cars are ideal for me. Relatively new, Low on mileage and almost half the price of a new one.

Unfortunately you are set too lose a lot on depreciation on both cars if you sell them now.

Originally Posted by thoma

..... Majority of our running is inside the town with mostly bumper to bumper traffic and then there will be the rare occasional highway trips......

Originally Posted by thoma

.......the family's income is a bit skewed at present and will be for another couple of years.....

Both your above statements make a compelling case for selling one car and keeping the other rather than selling both cars and going for a new one. Have a look at this thread : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/owning...rade-swap.html

If I were you, I'd retain Vento, but based on your post I feel you should retain Micra. The engine is robust and maintenance should be easy on the pocket. Also, you will receive a higher value from the sale of a Vento.

Good Luck for whatever you decide.

[Mr.mitsuvolk]

I feel retaining the Vento and selling off Micra will satisfy your heart as well as mind at the same time. It is pretty evident that Micra will be a car that you will live with while Vento is the car you will love to drive in the coming years.

Suppose the Micra goes for 4Lakhs, you can get yourself a well maintained pre-owned hatchback (alto, WagonR, Spark) and use it for the city runabouts. You have mentioned that you want the car to be diesel but buying a second diesel car for just 1000kms/month of city driving doesn't make much economic sense.

Also, you won't lose much on these hatches when you decide to sell in the future.

This way you will have some money left in your pocket and also a diesel rocket in your garage which means the heart is super happy and so is the mind.

[VW2010]

Vento and service cost will only go up as the years move forward. With no warranty and being a german car expect slightly higher maintenance cost and potential of paying higher premium for spares.

Micra my not be similar but similarly its out of warranty as well.

My advice is sell the micra, keep the money for a rainy day for vento and continue to drive that vento for few more years.

The Vento is past is major depreciation at this point and going forward its going to be incremental and potentially not big. Even after 2-3 years you can get some decent money back on the Vento and can put on a newer car.

[antz.bin]

Selling both cars now and getting a new one will be financial harakiri. Since you only need one car, keep the one you like more and keep it for at least 4 more years. That would be the Vento.

Cons of keeping the Vento are increased future maintenance and finding parking spots. I don't think finding a parking spot is too big a hassle if you are used to the car and know where to look. Maintenance wise, isn't the Micra costing almost exactly the same as the Vento in upkeep? A Swift / Baleno will not be an order of magnitude lower in upkeep, realistically speaking.

Attacking the problem mathematically in descending order of recommendation:
1. Sell the Micra, keep the Vento. You have a more likable and versatile car. You get to keep 4lac in the bank.
2. Sell the Vento keep the Micra. You have a car which is easy to drive and park in town. But in the bargain, you keep the car you don't particularly like. You get to keep 6lac in the bank but you will end up spending some of it to make the Micra more likeable.
3. Sell both, get a new Swift / Baleno / Figo: You get the car more suited to your current situation which will also be likable straight out of the showroom. You probably won't be able to save much more than 1.5-2lac in the process so this will probably be the worst decision you take, financially speaking. Meaning, you will end up with a car from a lower segment and 2-2.5 lac poorer (vis a vis option 1).
4. Bonus crazy option: Sell both and get a pre-owned Polo GT TDI (if you can find one). You get best of both worlds and save on the financial hit.

[Viraat13]

Originally Posted by thoma

So it all boils down to
a) keep the Vento and sell Micra and struggle to find a parking space in the city
b) keep Micra and sell Vento and live with the crappy NVH
c) sell both and buy a new hatch but make an informed buy and have no regrets for another 7-8 years

Why not sell the Micra, keep the Vento. The cash from the sale of the Micra can go into a decent investment (professional or financial) and the returns can be used to feed the Vento.

Do look into finding a good garage that does not cost as much as VW. Source parts cleverly from Kashmeri Gate in Delhi or Opera House in Mumbai. Work smart, not hard!

[ToyotaFan]

I would keep both cars as both do not fetch very good value in the used car market. Crappy nvh shouldn't be much of a concern in the city considering the noise in the city. Micra is still almost as good as the other options available in the market. The rear seat of most hatchbacks have similar space and the mileage of the sciis is great as well. Whenever u need more rear space with better nvh take the vento out. Swift is essentially the same when u bought the Micra. Considering you bought the Micra over the swift you will know that there is not much of a difference to absorb a 4L depreciation hit to upgrade to the swift. Hope this helps.

[jkdas]

Sell Micra and get an automatic for city rides.
Forget maths do what will give you peace of mind.

And, I would suggest that you also look into Petrol. Been testing lot of small cars and what I found is that there is a minimium difference of 90k between petrol and diesel versions. Alto AMT would cost you only what you get out of Micra sale. Hyundai has some nice deals this month and that's another option.

[aviraj]

Vento is a compact sedan, don't sell it just because of the parking issue. It wont really be a problem once you are used to driving it. A well maintained car will bring down your servicing bills. I would say, though the Micra is a more convinient car for the city, go ahead and keep the Vento keeping your future requirements in mind. Life is uncertain, you may not be able to afford a better or bigger car for a few more years, so its better to stay with the Vento rather than the Micra and regret later. The money you get from the Micra can be used in better avenues. I do not suggest selling both cars, just treasure what you have in hand.

[fine69]

I would suggest keeping the Vento and selling the Micra.

Diesel Vento is a decent highway car and anyday better than a Micra/Swift/Figo for the highway runs. When it comes to city driving Vento is compact enough if you can live with the extra boot, which in fact is a boon most of the times.

Selling a perfectly ok running car wouldn't make sense to me if money was already a concern. In fact there isn't much that can go wrong with a 16k run Vento. With your running of 12k per year (or even if it was 15k), you'd really not have to spend much on the Vento before it touches 70-80k, which might be another 4-5 years.

Keep the extra cash from Micra in a safe investment instrument and you might not even have to touch that unless something drastically goes wrong with the Vento, which might happen with a newly bought Figo/Swift too.

[LoneRidder]

I go by your words. You plan to sell due to financial constraints!

Having said that, I believe you should not look further, but your two cars.

Now it would be to sell Micra or Vento. Other then parking and snoozing into narrow roads, you would not have much problems with Vento. Vento is a big car and you would need it, if you are already used to it.

By your post it seems you are not happy with Micra and your only apprehension of Vento is the future service.

I suggest you sell Micra have the money in you bank or invest it wherever you like and when you have good money, sell Vento and buy something new in future.

[Rajeevraj]

As already suggested by others, selling both and getting a new one makes no sense either financially or from an enthusiast point of view. Your budget will be 9-10L Max. I doubt if there is anything in that range that will give you the pleasure of the Vento (Considering you like the torquey diesels and the fact that a 2013 Vento means it is the older more potent 1.6L engine and not the 1.5).

My advice: Assuming you have the extended warranty on the Vento. Sell the Micra, use the Vento for another couple of years-Most of which will be under the Extended Warranty window. After 2 years, have a check point as to how the Vento is treating you and the financial situation and decide next steps.

OR, here is an idea that makes no sense financially, but will satisfy other parameters. Sell both, get the Polo GT TSI. Hatch for ease of parking, competent automatic for that slow city drives,a wonderful turbo petrol to satisfy the enthusiast in you and no compromise on safety, build quality, fit/finish. Would just about fit into budget if you get the expected amounts for both the Micra and Vento.

[W.A.G.7]

Though I myself own the Micra and have found it super reliable, I would still suggest that you sell the Micra and keep the Vento. As someone said, the money from the sale of the Micra could be used for investment or for feeding the Vento. Parking problem for the Vento is really not a problem. You will always find space somewhere to park your car, so that is a minor con considering the pros of keeping the Vento.

Some years down the line, when the finances improve; you can always splurge on the car of your choice. Listen to your gut feeling (In this case, I feel your gut feeling is to sell the Micra and keep the Vento)

[Turbohead]

The last thing I would do is sell both cars and buy a new car. Three years from now, you would be losing a lot of money in the name of depreciation from 3 cars. Therefore that 2.5 lakhs you saved will be lost in no time.
I think the Vento should be sold for 2 reasons
1. You have a Comfortline variant which doesn't have ABS nor airbags.
2. Being a 2013 model, there is a chance that your fuel injectors may belong to the faulty batch. If they fail after extended warranty gets over, it's going to be very painful. If you want to retain the car, check if it's part of the updated batch and get it changed if necessary through warranty. Will be a hassle to get it done though.

Else I would recommend keeping the Vento. Even maintenance costs are similar.