Looking for a used luxury car under Rs 35 lakh

The new car is intended only for weekend / early-morning drives and vacation drives.

BHPian npal recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Let's get the prelims out of the way. There's no 'need' for a car, this is due to YOLO, mid-life crisis, itchy fingers, fairly stable job, home EMIs done, some combination thereof.

We are a family of 3. Already have 3 cars, with no plans to sell any. I'll continue to use the S-Cross 1.6 as the daily driver, my wife will continue to use EcoSport AT as the daily driver. There's a 17 year old WagonR cooling its heels and being retained for sentimental reasons. The new car is intended only for weekend/early morning drives and vacation drives.

Last December we did a 15-day driving vacation from Bangalore to Mangalore and Goa. This was in the S-Cross, and its boot wasn't quite sufficient for all the cooking utensils and vacation buys, so ended up with stuff in the passenger compartment. That partly started the itch. Now with quite a few car launches done and coming up, obsessive reading of Team-BHP, and a couple of friends upgrading their cars, itch is getting stronger.

Completely subscribe to buying pre-owned 2-3 year old vehicles. Both S-Cross and EcoSport were bought this way.

Requirements:

• 5-star safety
• Good deal of power and torque, better than the S-Cross 1.6. Something like 350Nm would be nice.
• Automatic. Preferably diesel.
• At least a 450-litre boot. Bigger the better. We tend to carry the house with us.
• Seat comfort, if possible with lumbar support. S-Cross is perfect even without lumbar.
• Good ground clearance, say more than 180mm unladen. No firm requirements, but intent is to take it to unseen places.
• Android Auto for maps, or at least built-in navigation. Not a fan of iOS.
• A really good music system.
• Panoramic sunroof. Bangalore still has enough mild days, and the car will see early morning drives.
• Some essentials like front and rear parking sensors and camera, spare wheel, etc. I wouldn't have thought to mention these, but they can't be taken for granted. Looking at you, X3/X1.
• Reliability
• That elusive quality of value.. Middle-class roots!

BTW, space at the back is not a big concern. We’re all on the smaller side, less than 5’6” and not heavy-built either.

Driving dynamics, steering, suspension

I haven't written anything about driving dynamics or steering or suspension in the requirements - simply because I don't have enough knowledge on these. All of us find the supposedly hard suspension of EcoSport fairly comfortable. My previous 2010 i20 felt ok but floaty, and both S-Cross and EcoSport are completely fine. So I guess we prefer a firmer suspension. S-Cross' steering feels a bit loose compared to EcoSport's, and I'd prefer something closer to the EcoSport.. this is not a deal-breaker though.

Driving style

Before buying the S-Cross, I'd have said sedate but not slow. Now that's impossible. I won't get into drag races or be a hooligan, but holding steady at good speeds on straights, or some quick acceleration out of a corner will be nice. I don’t have any interest in high-revving the engine. What I like is the sense of power in reserve and effortless acceleration. S-Cross is great at this.

May appreciate something like the 3-series if I actually drove it, but at this point I simply don't know.

Vehicle type

I've always liked station-wagons. Subaru Forester of the early 2000s in the US was a favorite. So was the Ford Fusion here, and the Fiat Palio Adventure. I actually liked the first-gen X1 better than the current one for its station-wagon shape. That's also one reason I liked the S-Cross.

Ok with crossovers, ok with sedans. Least preference is a sedan, simply for GC. If a sedan, it has to be something special.

Vehicles considered

These are all over the place. My first choice was the Volvo V90 Cross Country. Ticked all the boxes for me - the only true station-wagon, safe, diesel automatic, comfortable cruiser, extensive feature list. Quite like the idea of Adaptive Cruise Control. However, these are unicorns. Saw one at a dealer recently, but it was badly maintained and already run 60k kms. Also, I suspect a good one will cost a deal more than what I can afford - they were 82L on-road in Bangalore when new.

Next obvious choices were the XC60 and XC40. No current-gen XC60s at all in Bangalore, and even if they were, cost is likely to be an issue. Older gen doesn't seem appealing, and the ones I see advertised are all high mileage. There are a couple of XC40s, but the Lava Red trim is going the way of flimsy wool. The other issue with Volvos is warranty - standard warranty is only 2 years, and neither have taken the trouble of additional warranty.

BMWs were next. I'd test driven the X1 petrol, and didn't like the interiors much. Acceleration was good, but not extraordinary compared to the S-Cross. No Android Auto. No cruise control. Not even a proper MID in the instrument console. Didn't feel like I'm getting enough for the money. Not sure if driving the diesel will change my perspective.

Looked at an X3 as well. Same engine, slightly more space at the back. But 20L more for All-wheel drive and adaptive suspension and a few smaller goodies like TPMS? The deal-breaker was the boot seemed smaller than the X1's. On paper, it is 550 litres in X3 vs 505 for the X1, but that's before the space-saver goes in. Am I missing something here?

I really like the looks of the X1, btw. It was my daughter's favourite too. But after the test drive, both of us were kind of disappointed. Maybe another test drive on the diesel?

Next up on my list were the Kodiaq and Tiguan. There's obvious concern about the DSG, but I like the Tiguan's looks and black interiors. Test drove a 2.5 year old one, and was again disappointed. Acceleration wasn't great compared to the S-Cross in normal mode, and sport mode made the engine sound strained. Didn't try the music system, but the other features, space and boot were good. If not for DSG concerns, this would be a strong contender. Recent Allspace DSG issues cropping up on threads here give me pause. Haven't test-driven the Kodiaq yet, but doubt it’d be much different.

BTW, Audis, Jags and Mercs aren't on the list at all. Audi's grills are going the way of Hyundai's, and feedback on dealerships isn't good. Jaguars look great, but reliability concerns keep me away. Mercs may be ok, but don't really like their usual beige interiors. Or their looks in general.

Of the crossovers, what's left is the Tucson. May have to wait for the new gen one next year. Compass is out due to boot space, had looked at it a few years back.

Among sedans, first choice would be BMW 3GT – for the space and slightly higher GC. Older gen, but can live with that. Yet to actually see one though. I sat in the regular 3, but didn’t find the lumbar support good. Also, boot space wasn’t enough.

And then there’s Octavia/Superb, again with DSG concerns. Older gen Octavia came with DQ200, so don’t prefer it. The 2020 Superb IIRC came with the DQ380 gearbox, so this may be in contention. Space, equipment, seat comfort were all good in the brief time I checked it out.

(All images above are from Team-BHP reviews. Love the 3GT in this colour, and the tan interiors! Have gone through @graaja's ownership review and that is a big contributor to the car making it to the shortlist.)

So, to sum up, the realistic choices currently are:

• Volvo XC40, with no warranty
• BMW X1, with some equipment compromises but with warranty
• BMW 3GT, with lesser GC but most equipment in place; lumbar support to be experienced though. Factory warranty is not available on most vehicles I see online.
• Skoda Superb, possibly a new one.
• Hyundai Tucson – current gen or next gen

And these courses of action are open:

• Wait for a few months and watch for good, in-warranty XC40s.
• Stretch and buy a new XC40. Petrol, not as much torque as even the S-Cross, but should be good otherwise.
• Buy one of the other listed cars now, with potential compromises. Regularly see 2019/2020 X1s, a few older 3GTs.
• Wait for upcoming launches – new Tucson, XUV7OO. I guess these will be roughly in budget, so new one instead of pre-owned. Initial niggles is a worry.
• Drop the plan altogether and wait until ready to spend 50L. This seems the diciest. By the time I’m ready to spend 50L, either I’ll be too old or I may only find equivalent/worse choices in the market.

As you can see, I’m thoroughly confused at this point. Recommendations please! And thank you in advance.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Excellent, so in short, a discretionary purchase for fun. I like that. You must have fun in life.

Always the case in the pre-worshipped market and that's the beauty of it.

The BMW 3GT is an acquired taste and since you so clearly love it, that should be your top choice. Very practical, workhorse diesel or fast petrol, one of the best gearboxes in the world, excellent boot + cabin space, comfortable. Best part is BMW's reliability which is much superior to all other luxury brands (sole exception = Lexus). Fun fact = I have yet to meet an unhappy 3GT owner, all of them rave about their cars!

Other options that punch way above their weight = pre-owned Kodiaq 2.0 TDI (a spectacular all-rounder, remap it to 180 BHP as stock tune is strictly adequate), a pre-owned Endeavour 3.2L or a pre-owned current-gen Toyota Camry (trust me, it's a Lexus in disguise).

Test-drive all and pick the one that pulls the strings to your heart. Happy shopping!

Here's what BHPian Dr.AD had to say on the matter:

Wow! I was in almost exactly the same situation three years ago. I did not need a car, but had a bit of mid-life crisis moment where I had to buy the car that I loved for ages. But in my case, there was a specific car model that I was lusting for.

And my budget was exactly that - Rs. 35L, and I was also looking for a pre-owned. My heart was always set on a BMW 3-series, since that is the quintessential driver's sedan that I dream of for ages. So with that, I started searching specifically for 3-series sedans and found myself a lovey Red 320d in top trim, and incidentally I paid exactly that - Rs. 35L (the car was just 1 year old with full warranty and BSI, and remember that Bangalore prices are always a bit higher, especially for almost new used cars). Three years later, I could not have been happier. I love the car and already have had many great drives and tons of memories with the car. Buying that car was one of the best decisions in my life.

Thus I can totally relate to your situation.

I agree with GTO. Looks like a BMW 3GT is perfect for you. Luckily, I see plenty of 3GTs in the used car market in Bangalore, and it should be possible to find a good one in Rs. 35L.

In general BMWs are the most reliable of the luxury brands, which is especially important when one is looking for a used car.

As another option, I would suggest looking for Audi Q3 too. If you find a good Audi Q3 Quattro in your budget, that would be lovely too. It is a beautiful machine. But with a used Audi, you take a gamble on reliability and maintenance cost. However, since you are financially stable, it is not a big deal. I would go ahead and take that risk if I were you and if I find a good Audi Q3.

Further, I would not even rule out 3-series sedans. They are lot easier to find in the used car market compared to 3GT, have great engines (in either petrol/diesel versions), are very reliable by any standards, and above all, just beautiful machines to drive. Check out BHPian megazoid's recent travelogue where he picked a lovely 330i. That car would be my dream car for a used car purchase in the price range we are talking of.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.