Upgrading from a Swift to a pre-owned budget sedan

He currently owns a 2009 registered Swift VXI which is mechanically still in decent condition and the usage is at best about 4K km per year.

BHPian ChandraSekarMN recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

A query from my friend. He currently owns a 2009 registered Swift VXI which is mechanically still in decent condition and the usage is at best about 4K km per year (totally run about 55K Kms in these 12 years). But due to the long ownership, the bug for upgrade had started buzzing.

Current preferences are:

• Automatic (other than AMTs preferred)
• Diesels (not mandatory though) - only for the decent low end torque.
• Sedan (not a hatch again and no liking for CSUVs / crossovers)
• Budget 5 to 7 Lacs including the sale value of swift (only pre owned being considered)
• Reasonable to maintain - generic term for regular ASS or FNG maintenance, sans major or periodic spares replacements
• Cruise Control (again non mandatory and good to have feature)

Usage:

Not a daily commuter, as his place of small business is just about a km and two wheeler serves the purpose. Usage would be for occasional weekend drives to friends / families place and once in two months of highway drives with a family of 3 or 4 max. But since the family contains two 6' adults, very cramped rear seats like AMEO etc to be avoided.

Location: Chennai

Current shortlists include Vento (2015 and later registered), Verna, Skoda Rapids of similar age, Honda City etc. Suggestions required for what are the conditions to be checked and other options available. I know the forum is broadly against used VW/Skoda's, but ticking the above requirements and Budget, these are the options seeming to fit.

Also for dealer purchases, what are the ways to ensure the odo mileage claimed are genuine?

Having said the above, the requirement is not immediate and a wait for good car / good deal can be extended. Request your inputs.

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

For 2 six footers in family, 4th gen City CVT is a good option.

Your friend's usage doesn't warrant a diesel. Out on the highways, a free revving petrol engine in a sedan is a lot of fun.

It's always better to purchase directly from owner. Check service history at the ASS to confirm if the odo reading is genuine. In case of partial service history, there are a few tell-tale signs of high usage such as wear on pedals, tyre manufacturing dates and wear, etc. which you can be mindful of.

Please go through this thread for tips.

Also, not to scare you but this thread has a long list of niggles that the 4th gen City, especially the early models were prone to.

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

Ciaz will tick most of your boxes. Has oodles of space specially for 6 footers, will be fairly easy to maintain and no problems of spares either.

Always try to buy from the actual owner and get the car inspected at the service center for service related details (KMs driven, any major work done and insurance claims if any) and the cars health.

Also, do keep in mind that any car that is >=5 years might need battery replacement (if not already done), tires etc. Please keep these things in mind as well while negotiating.

Happy shopping!

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

I'd recommend the following options for you:

• 2010-11 Toyota Corolla Altis VL AT (the 4 speed AT)
• 2010-13 Honda City V AT ('12 and '13 variants come with cruise control IIRC)
• 2014-15 Maruti Ciaz ZXi/ZXi+ AT
• 2015-16 Honda Amaze AT
• 2014-15 Honda City CVT
• 2012-13 Maruti Sx4 ZXi AT

All these are very easy to maintain and regular spares are available and reasonably priced in the aftermarket. The only issue with the 2010-13 City is the car's low GC. The CVT (no.5 on the list) needs a transmission oil change every 40k kms as per Honda's service recommendations, while the oils in the Maruti and Toyota go on and on. Cruise control need not be a feature for the kind of usage you've mentioned.

The five speed AT option at 2 and 4 is super smooth.

The SX4 is at the bottom simply because of its thirsty engine plus the 1.6L engine pushes your insurance third party component alone to 9.5k territory (almost 3 times the premium for cars with <1.5L engines). I've still kept the Altis at no.1 because the three time premium is a small price to pay for rock solid reliability even for a 1,00,000 km run well maintained car, plus the Altis VL AT comes with cruise control.

Expect a fuel efficiency of 9-10kmpl ballpark in the city and 13-15kmpl on the highway. Chennai was hit by bad floods in Dec-2015 so please be careful when assessing examples.

I always prefer cars direct from individuals, but sadly, olx which used to feature good direct ads from individual sellers now predominantly features dealer ads.

The only ways to check for genuineness of the ODO reading is to verify the service history. I also use the tyres date of manufacture and condition to deduce the odo reading and have caught many a tampered Odo this way. TSM Royapettah should have genuine odo reading and zero flooding examples in their inventory. However, like other dealers, they also do up cars on the outside and sell, so just look out for panels that have been repainted. At TSM, I like the fact that all documents, including spare keys, manual etc. are available for customer viewing upfront.

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