2021 Hyundai Venue DCT demo car offered for Rs 8.65 lakh: Worth buying?

I have paid a booking amount of Rs 10,000, and I am open to cancellation if the deal is not good.

BHPian BhaskarG recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I had been looking precisely for a used AT (not AMT) car within 5-6 lakhs for quite some time. However, in my current location of Guwahati, it is very difficult to find a used AT car here. The only examples available are used Honda Citys that are sold exclusively by the used car dealer network with high-profit margins. Considering these, I decided to take a loan and increase my budget to Rs 8 lakh or so, so that I could accommodate a City of decent condition.

Just this month, after some exhausting search for 3-4 months, I found a demo vehicle at one Hyundai dealership that meets my requirements. Details are as follows:

1. Model: Hyundai Venue SX+ Turbo DCT (Last Gen, with the updated steering, paddle shifters)
2. Km done: 7800 km. Looks genuine considering the service history, and overall.
3. Mfd Year: 2021. I could decode the year, but could not decode the month from the VIN. Registered in the name of the dealership on August 2021. Effectively, this is just a year-old car.
4. Price: Rs 8.65 lakh, including insurance till Aug 2023, and 15 years registration already done.
5. Warranty: 1 year from the date of purchase, and not extendable (company policy on demo cars, they said). This is a sour point.

Condition of the car

The car is in relatively good condition when considering it is a demo car. Some paint touch-ups are present at the right rear fender panel, but nothing major. No sign of any major impact anywhere. However, the driver seatbelt was not working and is replaced. Servicing done on schedule. I found the engine to be normal and DCT shifts to be smooth (my point of comparison is a Sonet that I had driven earlier). The only exception is that the shift is not smooth when I forcefully downshift from 2nd to 1st gear using the Paddle Shifters/Manual Mode. Existing T-GDI + DCT owners (Kia/Hyundai), can you clarify whether this is normal behaviour, please? It is absolutely butter smooth when forcibly downshifting/upshifting to/from any other gear. The SA says that this behaviour is normal. It made no sense for me to take a mechanic for inspection because FNGs here are not competent to diagnose DCTs.

Now I need some advice from you guys. Do you guys think that this is a good deal? Note that the warranty is reduced because it is a demo car. Any feedback on the DCT behaviour (normal or not)? I have paid a booking amount of Rs 10,000, and I am open to cancellation if the deal is not good. Thanks in advance.

Here's what BHPian itsmeparvathy9 had to say on the matter:

As the 2022 facelifted Venue is out, the older test drive cars have to go and considering the kilometres clocked are quite low, I guess the car should be OK.

I normally would avoid demo cars as they may have been handled poorly or may have had accidents too.

Here's what BHPian Turbohead had to say on the matter:

Caveat emptor!

DCTs are inherently unreliable and that warranty they're providing is pathetic, to say the least. But considering the price at which it's being offered, not bad.

But since you're stretching your budget to get this example, I would say no. If it fails, it would take a 6-digit figure to replace it.

Any chance you can try hunting for a car in another town for more variety?

Here's what BHPian Eddy had to say on the matter:

• Demo car, so multiple drivers and many of those abusive
• DCT
• High likelihood of odometer tampering
• No extended warranty.

A lot of things go against this deal. IMO, the risk-reward ratio is not very promising. However, if you do go ahead, at least get a dealer warranty if not a Hyundai warranty. Else say thank you and move on.

Here's what BHPian SmartCat had to say on the matter:

2019/2020/2021 SX DCT models have a listed price (actual selling price might be a bit lower) of Rs 11 lakh to Rs 13 lakh. This seems to be a good deal price-wise, especially if you get it close to Rs 8 lakh.

Short-term and long-term reliability is a question mark, but you have a Rs 4 lakh cash buffer.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.