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Got a used Skoda Rapid Monte Carlo for 7.5 lakh as our first family car

26th February 2024, 12:30 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

I'm very impressed with the quality and attention to detail. I am getting a fuel efficiency of 10.8 km/l in city traffic on tank-to-tank calculation.

BHPian TheGodfather recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

First car of my family - a pre-loved Skoda Rapid 1.6 AT Monte Carlo 2019

Background

I'm 29 years old, working as an engineer with a diesel engine manufacturer. The nudge to get the first car of my family came when the 5th gen City was launched in March 2023 and I test-drove it. It is a childhood dream to own a City as it is for a lot of 90s and early 2000s kids. But even with BH registration, ongoing discounts and insurance quote matching, it was getting tough to manage the expense since the final deal was at 14 lakhs. The first car-owning thread on Team-BHP along with some other threads on finances also dissuaded me from getting myself bogged down in loans.

I got to drive an automatic while learning at Maruti Driving School and that sealed the deal that I'll get an automatic for its convenience. Slight diversion from the topic but full marks to Maruti Driving School for their professional and extensive driving course.

So my requirements were:

Petrol - Due to low expected running and sickness due to diesel fumes.
Automatic - for its convenience in the city where the majority of the travel will be.
Hatchback or Sedan: Because my mother can't easily get into taller cars like any of the CSUVs.

The next stop was Spinny and Cars24 but after a lot of patient scrolling for months, the prices were exorbitant for the models being offered. And I didn't want to go for a car older than 5 years/40k kms as suggested in the pre-owned cars ownership thread. This, this option also went into cold storage.

Next, I went to Hyundai for an i20. It was September so the facelift hadn't been declared yet. After aligning everything with the dealership, I booked the i20 Asta(O) iVT at a final cost of 11.2 lakhs but the dealership took me for a toss and delayed the delivery citing one thing or another till the facelift was launched - at a higher cost and lower features making the Asta(O) less VFM. Thus, cancelled the booking since I had explicitly told the dealership after the announcement of the facelift that I'd be expecting a pre-facelift model. The pre-owned cars ownership thread again played a role and I thought of shelving this plan for some time to ponder over.

Team-BHP classifieds and rekindling of desire

One fine Friday I was going through the forum, reading threads and it came to my mind to check the classifieds again. I had checked the classifieds earlier but couldn't find anything that ticked my boxes at the right price point. Suddenly found an ad by BHPian JitendraK78 for his aforementioned Skoda Rapid. Since it was already a couple of weeks old, I thought it must've been closed but gave it a try anyway.

To my surprise, he responded that the car was available. Went for a first inspection the next day. The car was maintained in a very detailed manner with all services done at the service centre. The repaints were also done at the service centre. Did the price discussion and although the final price of 7.5 lakhs was a bit higher than my current ability, thought of giving it a dedicated try.

Took all the details of the car and went to the Skoda service center for the verification of service details. It all aligned well and only the door repaint was something that was done other than the required service replacements. Gaining more confidence, I called one of my contacts who does PDI for a fee in Pune. On Sunday, the inspection was completed with the car passing on all required parameters.

The other expenses to be incurred were:

Zero Dep Insurance - ~28k including the NCB that'll not get transferred to me
4th service - ~23k quite expensive due to scheduled gear oil change and coolant drain on my request
Extended warranty for 5th year - ~15k
Available service package - ~14k for 2 years but limited spare parts coverage (not the comprehensive one - it can only be availed if a comprehensive service package for the first 4 years has been initially taken).

After some thought and financial calculations, I gave it the go-ahead. Called up my bank for a personal loan and after its disbursement, sealed the deal.

So, effectively till Friday, I did not have any plans for a car and by the next Saturday, I took the delivery of a pre-loved Skoda Rapid with 18.3k mileage on the odometer. I'm very impressed with the quality and attention to detail given by Skoda. Getting a mileage of 10.8 kmpl in city traffic on tank-to-tank calculation.

Got a DDPAI Z40 dashcam with a CPL filter and Strontium microSD card for 12.5k. I went through all the threads and saw the problems in the app and support but since I wanted a supercapacitor-based camera due to lack of covered parking and that nexdigitron is located in Pune, I went ahead with it. With all-inclusive, it has cost me 8.5 lakhs. Even though at first sight it might seem to be an expensive deal, I'm hopeful that I'll keep it for more than 7 years and thus it'll hopefully pan out to be a prudent decision.

Sharing my experience and requesting all the esteemed BHPians to give their opinions and suggestions for seamless ownership. Will keep on updating the thread with the updates if and when available.