[aadya]

Of course I know the answer in TBHP - Buy a car.

Bear with me for making the short story long.
I have a business loan from the great Bajaj Finserv. The loan was taken in mid 2015, with utmost urgency from this particular company because multiple prepayment and preclosure were allowed without additional charges. But come mid 2016 interest rates have crashed, I have saved enough to close the loan and the company arbitrarily decides to levy a closure charge. Bang. I don't like cheaters and people who change the goal posts to their convenience. I decided I will not pay a penny more to these tricksters and decided to park it in SBI maxgain home loan account.

And then started the itch of an BHPian. To change the car.

I currently have a April 2013 CRDI Hyundai I20, has done 76000km, nothing wrong with the car, can run it for another couple of years. But missing the boot space when travelling with family and slight fear when driving on the highways. I am not a fiery driver, Bangalore-Chennai-Bangalore trips I usually drive around 100-110 kmph, and in empty stretches occasionally crossing 120kmph. But always I have fear of speed in Indian roads with road crossers with suicidal-killer instinct. And also the constant concern about the one or the other thing failing in a Five year old diesel car, though mechanically I have kept the car in fine shape, by regular servicing.

I also own a 2009 I10 kappa2 AT for my day to day use in the infamous Bangalore ORR. This car I bought about an year back when my left leg started becoming sore every couple of days whenever my chauffeur plays hide and seek with me. This would be me day to day city drive about car for the near future or till it works and I have full faith in it. It has run 55000km so far and has been serviced every 4-6 months by the previous owner who was somehow coaxed by the HASS people to change every possible spare with much life to spare without complaints(He has spent a whopping 1.4Lakhs in doing regular servicing of this car.

Now coming to the point I am planning to buy a car with about 15Lakhs budget. What should I buy? The car will be used in Bangalore only on weekends and would be used for occasional outstation trips whenever there is an emergency(and it crops up every few weeks for me)

Requirements :
1.A decent family car.
2.Decent Boot space - atleast 400 litre plus.
3.Automatic.
4.Petrol - as my running is expected to be less than 1000km(800-1000) and diesel is dirty(as per current understanding) and whatever said and done diesels are certainly expensive to maintain.
5.No DSG - I would reach my destination with turtle speed gearbox rather than stranded with a lightning shift gearbox.
6.Safety>Reliability>Space>Comfort>Ease are my priorities. Fun is not my requirement but driveability is.
7.Can really afford Marquee brands if I stretch but in no mood to spend a fortune in a car which would run very little and no use in Bangalore traffic(They may start metro work in ORR bangalore anytime and I drive 90% in this stretch).Anyway I can rent one from voler car or Revv if I feel like driving one and can invest the savings somewhere else.

PS : I actually stretched my budget and pre booked Jeep Compass. But no automatic in near future so dropped it. And moderators I apologise in advance if there are any infractions.

[abhishek46]

Looking at your Hyundai background and your requirements, Creta appears to the the most suitable candidate for you.

Go for the 1.6 Petrol with All the safety features!

[StepUP!]

Do you really need to a car? I don't think so. IMHO, don't invest in a depreciating asset wasting your 15L. For occasional outstation trips there is always a zoom car having wide choices from Innova to Endeavor to Q3.

[pradkumar]

Hi,

Can I provide a contrarian view? 5 years on the i20 is nothing much especially since you keeping it in reasonably good nick. You have another car for city commutes. Why another car?

If boot space is the only requirement, why don't you rent a self-drive car for your weekend needs. The only concern is your need for a weekend car "every few weeks". That would require some planning in advance. If you can manage that, nothing like it!

Thanks,

Pradeep

Originally Posted by aadya

Of course I know the answer in TBHP - Buy a car.


Now coming to the point I am planning to buy a car with about 15Lakhs budget. What should I buy? The car will be used in Bangalore only on weekends and would be used for occasional outstation trips whenever there is an emergency(and it crops up every few weeks for me)

[sridhar-v]

Take a close look at all the documents you signed while taking the loan.

Personally I do not see how you can escape you legal obligation of repaying the loan.
Yes you may not foreclose due to additional charges but you definitely have to pay them back as per schedule.

[VW2010]

Did you really say you cheated a bank of their legal payment for a loan they gave and now you want to use that money to buy a new car?

If not i am sorry but you should explain it better. If it is, i think you should just discuss with the bank and work out a way to repay what they are supposed to get and use any left over for your decision.

[selfdrive]

I think he meant to say he would not pay anything additional in terms of prepayment charges and intends to repay by instalments. Instead of lumpsum prepayment or closure.

A Vento Tsi sounds good for your needs.

[amitpatnaik]

Originally Posted by aadya

Of course I know the answer in TBHP - Buy a car.


I have a business loan from the great Bajaj Finserv. The loan was taken in mid 2015, with utmost urgency from this particular company because multiple prepayment and preclosure were allowed without additional charges. But come mid 2016 interest rates have crashed, I have saved enough to close the loan and the company arbitrarily decides to levy a closure charge. Bang. I don't like cheaters and people who change the goal posts to their convenience. I decided I will not pay a penny more to these tricksters and decided to park it in SBI maxgain home loan account.

IMO the EMI is designed is such a way,in initial EMI instalments the interest component is high and the principal component is less and in later EMIs the interest component is lower and the principal component is higher. So usually it does not make much sense to pre-close the loan. So better keep paying the EMIs as per schedule so that the CIBIL rating does not get affected. We need to repay the whole loan with interest as per the initial schedule while taking the loan.

[harishpr]

There are more than a dozen Petrol sedans that fits your budget (im not proposing <4m length sedans) .
I presume from your previous posts that you are more conservative driver with high importance to self and other's safety.

From the following list, you can do a TD and decide based on your preference.
Vento, Verna, Elantra, Rapid, City, Etios, Tigor, Scala, Sunny, Ciaz.

Stretch a little more, you will get into Octavia, Jetta, Corolla (base models) territory.

[Turbanator]

I have 15L with me what to do with it?

I have a business loan from the great Bajaj Finserv

I decided I will not pay a penny more to these tricksters and decided to park it in SBI maxgain home loan account.

Perhaps I have not understood, if you mean your Loan from Bajaj is still open and you have this amount available but do not want to prepay due to charges, my advice will be to first close this Loan account irrespective of charges or whatever if you have money. Once you get rid of all loans than only you should start saving or investing else this trap of having funds at lower rates and usage of money with higher returns or in this case using money as a car loan is not what I will do. Call me old fashioned or whatever, if you need to buy a new car get a car loan after closing Bajaj loan. I know there can be some losses but believe me, unless you are having too much control on spending and have a great financial discipline this can get complicated in future.

[F150]

Honda City CVT V fits your budget to the T.You can also check Creta Petrol AT.
But it doesnt really make any financial sense to invest 15 lacs on a depreciating asset just to save pre-payment charges. You already own two cars, I think i20 has decent boot space.

[jayantvs]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Perhaps I have not understood, if you mean your Loan from Bajaj is still open and you have this amount available but do not want to prepay due to charges, my advice will be to first close this Loan account irrespective of charges or whatever if you have money.....

Originally Posted by aadya

I have a business loan from the great Bajaj Finserv.........

Even I came to the same conclusion as Turbunator and strongly agree with his suggestion. Since Bajaj Finserv has changed the rules as per their convenience they might come up with a new set of rules in future. If you are not happy with them close the loan and any further relationship with the company.

Also while taking the loan from Bajaj Finserv did they mention anywhere in the documents that preclosure would be allowed without any charges. If yes, they you can argue your case with them and agree upon on a preclosure without charges or at a lower charge.

[landcruiser123]

Doesn't your i20 have rear discs? They're the most important safety features. I feel that the i20 is a decent handling car below <110 kmph. Driving on Indian highways is a risk which is minimized by driving all mass market cars at 100 kmph or lesser.

I don't think it's wise to spend on a car since both your cars are in good condition. The money is better invested at this point.

If you're hell bent on buying a car and requirements allow it, I'd suggest you sell both cars and buy a Creta diesel AT. That way- you can fire your driver (Inhuman, I know) and spend for insurance & maintenance on just one car.

Else, buy the City CVT.

[SmartCat]

1) What is the business loan interest rate and duration?
2) What are the prepayment charges/penalty?
3) What are the current interest rates charged by banks for car loans?

Instead of paying high interest on (unsecured) business loan, prepay it after paying penalty. Then take a car loan on your new car - interest rate is likely to be lower than business loan.

For 15 Lakhs, you have wide variety of cars to choose from - you could look at the new Verna perhaps? Other safe choices are Creta, Ciaz & City.

[govigov]

Originally Posted by aadya

Of course I know the answer in TBHP - Buy a car.

4.Petrol - as my running is expected to be less than 1000km(800-1000) and diesel is dirty(as per current understanding) and whatever said and done diesels are certainly expensive to maintain.

While team-bhp is primarily a community based around automotive enthusiasts , it dishes out sane advice.

Since you already have two very capable cars, I would recommend holding on to them for a longer duration.

For you I feel, the upgrade is more of a mind vs heart decision rather than a need. If your i20 does have abs and airbags, then i would recommend to keep the car. If not, it makes sense to upgrade your car just for safety reasons alone.

Since you have bought a pre-owned i10, I think you are not against pre-owned cars. You can consider some seriously big cars in the used market for 15L.

You also do not specify a body style, so I am guessing you are open to SUV and sedans. In the assumption that you would not be taking a loan - how about a pre-owned fortuner?

Regarding point 4: Diesels being dirty and expensive to maintain is a myth. India already has implement BS4 norms and all the new cars have to comply with this. Maintenance costs are also at par with equivalent petrol models. German cars can be said to have more of an upkeep cost than Japanese/Korean cars. But generalization based on fuel used is incorrect.