Buying a Pre-owned Sedan: 3 - 3.7 Lac Budget

[sunjay nagaraj]

Hey Guys,

We had almost decided in on the eon which was then ruled out by mom for its inability to carry 5 people. Then came an idea of buying a used sedan. The rest is written below.

We are planning to buy a pre-owned car, sedan class. Budget is a strict 3.5 lac (+/-10%). Petrol will be a good option for us as we do not cross 8-10K kms/yr.

Requirements.

• Sedan.

• 5 Medium Sized Adults on board.

• Comfort-We go about 1.2-1.5K kms tours every 3 months (3-4days)

• 8-10K kms an year expected(May be even less at times).

• Good highway driving pleasure. 70-80% we drive is not in city.

• Good A/C (Shifting from a non a/c 800, you can imagine)

• Though the kms/yr is pretty less descent mileage is expected(Typical Middle-class Brain)

• Cost of ownership

Shortlisted cars
Hyundai Accent-AFAIK it is available in the market which starts from 2.2-3lac for a decent car.
Test drove my friends car which is a 2004 model with 70K kms. was a nice feeling. that was when we decided to buy a sedan.
The clutch was smooth even better than a new Grand i10. Mileage he said was around 14-15km/l on highway non a/c (Shed some light on this). Spare availability?

Honda City ZX-AFAIK it is available in the market which starts from 3.2-4lac for a decent car.
Never actually driven a city though my family members has.
There are 2 engines I-DSI and VTEC which one to choose (Pros and cons Please).
On many online reviews the owners claim 17km/l with ac (How true is it). If it even returns 15 km/l with ac on a highway we would be happy.
Running costs? as no one owns a honda in our family and a sedan too (filled with mpv,hatchback,suvs)

Other options which i might have missed out.

Thanks In Advance
Sanjay Nagaraj

 

[konkantrip]

Re: Buying a pre-owned Sedan 3-3.7lac Budget

You can also try for manza and and swift VXI variants I think you can find good one in this budget. The spare parts of city are costly and sice you will get a used vehicle just confirm the ownership cost a friend of mine few years back had purchased an Old City 2000 model and his regular servicing costs were around 10000 so please check the same

 

[Releesh]

Go for a Honda city Zx GXi.
price range is between 2.5-3.75 for 2006-08 models. These models have IDsi engine and you can expect 15-18 kmpl or more from theis car. It is a very spacious, comfortable family car comes with best in class AC.
Both IDsi and vtech engines has 1500cc. But Idsi has only 75 Bhp and tuned for milage and vtech had around 100 bhp tuned for power. Milage will be less for vtech model compared to IDSi.

Service/maintenance charges will be high if you going to ASS only. To reduce expense you can maintain your car by the help of local workshops.

 

[sunjay nagaraj]

Re: Buying a pre-owned Sedan 3-3.7lac Budget

You can also try for manza and and swift VXI variants I think you can find good one in this budget. The spare parts of city are costly and sice you will get a used vehicle just confirm the ownership cost a friend of mine few years back had purchased an Old City 2000 model and his regular servicing costs were around 10000 so please check the same

Thanks for the reply konkantrip
IMO Tata's and Maruti's there is a lot of cabin noise and rattling which are inevitable.
We also own a Maruti-800 which served and is serving us very well, So thinking of owning other company manufactured vehicle.

I think the old City(1gen) has low mileage and high spares price issues. Correct me if I am wrong.

Go for a Honda city Zx GXi.
price range is between 2.5-3.75 for 2006-08 models. These models have IDsi engine and you can expect 15-18 kmpl or more from theis car. It is a very spacious, comfortable family car comes with best in class AC.
Both IDsi and vtech engines has 1500cc. But Idsi has only 75 Bhp and tuned for milage and vtech had around 100 bhp tuned for power. Milage will be less for vtech model compared to IDSi.

Service/maintenance charges will be high if you going to ASS only. To reduce expense you can maintain your car by the help of local workshops.

Thanks for the reply Releesh
How much mileage can be expected from Vtech Engine?
How much does routine service cost?
Local mechanics here are hopeless people.

 

[Releesh]

City Zx vtech are rare cars i guess. Most of the cars i seen has idsi engines. there is one Vtech in my office. It had 4 disc brakes. Since i doesnt have any experiance on vtech i cant comment. though i heard it has milage around 12kmpl.

My brother owns one 2007 city zx Gxi. There are around 4-5 numbers of these dolphin shape model citys in my circle and i heard all are telling that in any case if vehicle send to ASS for service, invoice will be around Rs.10K. May be this is the case with the only ASS available here earlier and it may be different in your city now.

I don't have much experiance because my BIL owns the Bosch spares & service center here and brother doing all the works there including spares. I am sure my brother's city doesnt visited the service center for the past 3-4 years. The car odo reached 80Kkm now.

 

[furious_driver]

How about an Used Verna(Not the fluidic one). You can easily get 2008-09 model within your budget. Also, how about used SX4. I personally driven SX4 and NVH levels are good, service is typical Maruthi, cheap. Recently a collegue of mine got 2010 SX4 petrol for 3.5L and i did drove for quite some time. It is in perfect condition and it is worth the price.

 

[Akash]

I would say go for a Dolphin City (ZX iDSi). We have a 2006 IDSI still running strong. Its comfortable, good to drive and fuel efficient. But its hard to find a good piece out there in the market. Our general service bill is usually in the range of 2k-3,5k'ish.

 

[bharathbigb]

Sir,eh.. Did you consider the Optra Petrol ?? It is a great Car with a Dirt Cheap Resale Value.Topend 2006-09 Models are sold under 3 Lakhs,here in Chennai.Remember for your Price point,you will get the Tolpend One with ABS,2 Airbags,2 DIN Auto system,Alloys,Sunroof,Electrically Adjustable Mirrors,Leather Seats.etc.My dad owns a 2004 Optra LS 1.6 Till Date and It is ver Reliable.Not even a Single Breakdown.You MAY get the one with the 1.8 Engine for your price point.My Dad spends around Rs.2K in an Year for Maintainence.DO NOT GO FOR A DIESEL SEDAN !! YOUR RUNNING IS TOO LOW !! He has Nitrogen in all his tyres and It gives 14 in the City with A/C On and 17 without A/C (1.6 Engine).The Top speed he has attained was 202 Km/h.Trust Me,It cruises effortlessly in 140Kmh in the Highways.Thank you

 

[TSIVipul]

I personally never recommend a high mileage car and especially the cars those are phased off. Hence, the older Honda City is by default out of my list(Already spares of older City has started becoming an affair - many Honda dealerships really are short of them).
Instead I'd recommend you to go for any petrol car like Swift DZire, Hyundai Accent or Ford Fiesta 1.6(if you are lucky enough to find one).

Adding to it, you can find the cars like SX-4 too at the price. Take the advantage of poor resale value of petrol cars.

And in case you can stretch upto 4.5 lac, then better try to search for a Honda City i-vtec, if you are lucky enough then maybe you can find one.

FE figures as per my experience(100% AC):

Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire:
City: 12-13 kpl
Highway:16-17 kpl

Hyundai Accent:
City: 10-12 kpl
Highway: 15-16 kpl

Ford Fiesta 1.6
City: 10-11 kpl
Highway: 14-16 kpl

Maruti Suzuki SX-4:
City: 10-12 kpl
Highway: 15-16 kpl

Honda City I-DSi
City: 11-12 kpl
Highway: 16-17 kpl

Honda City i-vtec
City: 11-12 kpl
Highway: 16-18 kpl

In terms of maintenance, the DZire will have lowest priced spares while the City will have the priciest spares but it doesn't require much of them which translates into lower maintenance costs. Fiesta is the one with pricey spares and having a bit of maintenance if not kept properly.

 

[pravin1987]

ford fiesta and accent have a costly maintenance. IDSI city is a great car and it come with Honda reliability. you can also try sx4. though it's a not great success for maruthi. it has a solid build quality. it is the only sedan with a good GC.

 

[Releesh]

TSIVIpul@

The cars you suggested also either phased off or will be phased off within the next 12 months.
Spares will not be a problem for Maruti & honda cars as per my experiance. We have 2 cars in my family now. 2006 Esteem & 2007 City Zx GXi Idsi.
As you know Maruti spares available in plenty of shops including MGP stores and Honda doesnt require much.
As per my experiance, Idsi engine will give better milage than Vtech/I-vtech engine in City/highway.

Sunjay Nagaraj@

GC is the one main issue you should take care about Honda city

 

[TSIVipul]

TSIVIpul@

The cars you suggested also either phased off or will be phased off within the next 12 months.

Still, none of them is phased off 4-5 years back, and it really matters.

Spares will not be a problem for Maruti & honda cars as per my experiance. We have 2 cars in my family now. 2006 Esteem & 2007 City Zx GXi Idsi.

No doubt Esteem spares are very easily available but older City is not that case at least.

As you know Maruti spares available in plenty of shops including MGP stores and Honda doesn't require much.

+100, Hondas really don't require much of spares.

As per my experiance, Idsi engine will give better milage than Vtech/I-vtech engine in City/highway.

i-vtec is more fuel efficient, v-tec isn't.

GC is the one main issue you should take care about Honda city

+100

 

[sunjay nagaraj]

How about an Used Verna(Not the fluidic one). You can easily get 2008-09 model within your budget. Also, how about used SX4. I personally driven SX4 and NVH levels are good, service is typical Maruthi, cheap. Recently a collegue of mine got 2010 SX4 petrol for 3.5L and i did drove for quite some time. It is in perfect condition and it is worth the price.

Would be open to this options too. Thanks for the reply.

I would say go for a Dolphin City (ZX iDSi). We have a 2006 IDSI still running strong. Its comfortable, good to drive and fuel efficient. But its hard to find a good piece out there in the market. Our general service bill is usually in the range of 2k-3,5k'ish.

Thanks Akash,
Have read your ownership review. We are seriously considering the City.

Sir,eh.. Did you consider the Optra Petrol ?? It is a great Car with a Dirt Cheap Resale Value.Topend 2006-09 Models are sold under 3 Lakhs,here in Chennai.Remember for your Price point,you will get the Tolpend One with ABS,2 Airbags,2 DIN Auto system,Alloys,Sunroof,Electrically Adjustable Mirrors,Leather Seats.etc.My dad owns a 2004 Optra LS 1.6 Till Date and It is ver Reliable.Not even a Single Breakdown.You MAY get the one with the 1.8 Engine for your price point.My Dad spends around Rs.2K in an Year for Maintainence.DO NOT GO FOR A DIESEL SEDAN !! YOUR RUNNING IS TOO LOW !! He has Nitrogen in all his tyres and It gives 14 in the City with A/C On and 17 without A/C (1.6 Engine).The Top speed he has attained was 202 Km/h.Trust Me,It cruises effortlessly in 140Kmh in the Highways.Thank you

My cousin had went to see an MH Registered 2004 Optra for about 1 Lac. Mileage was 11 on Highway as per the seller. Car was turned down because of MH registration. I am Skeptical about buying an Optra on hearing about maintenance cost.

 

[sunjay nagaraj]

Guys,
is GC a main concern in City? What is the GC? can manage if it is 165MM.

What if we stretch our budget say 4-4.3 Lac? does new choices open up?

How about CIVIC?

 

[anshuman8]

Civic is definitely a good choice only problem again is GC and spares cost.

If you are buying an used sedan go for VFM models like Maruti Suzuki or Tata where maintenance will be cheaper. Do not buy cars from dealers as 99% are odo tampered.