Buying a Car Under a Lakh, Suggestions needed for better Options.


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Thread Starter #1
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Having been in India for the past 3 years now and looking forward to earning a PhD, I really want to buy a used car under the 1 Lakh umbrella but I am quite confused.
Since I would be driving approximately 50km per day, should I go for a used Tata Nano (2012/2013) or should I go for older cars (2000 - 2007). When I check the various websites used in buying used cars, I see that there are lots of older cars in the range of 1 Lakh and then there are of course relatively "newer" Tata Nano cars. My major concern is to get a car that with the price range above that wouldn't require me to visit the mechanic often. I will probably use the car for the duration of my PhD (3 years), so longevity is not considered here.

Please help me out with a decision to take; A relatively "new" Tata Nano car (4 years old) or older cars of other brands of cars including any other Tata models (8 years and above) Thanks
 

Nairrk

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Instead of going for 2000-2007 cars which you may have to spend money for repairs and change of parts etc, suggest go for Tata Nano 2012/2013 models which will meet your requirement.!
 
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Nobody seems to care about my post[embarass][embarass][shock]
It is not the fellow members who don't care about your post, it's yourself who don't care to post your requirements clearly and leave us assume what's running inside your head.
Read below link clearly before posting
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/car-shopper/1298-template-car-buying-queries-must-read.html

We are unsure if this 50km/day running will be on a B2B traffic or highway run or track run or off-road.
- For B2B run, newer the better. Go for a Nano
- For highway run, a little older Alto / Santro / Spark is better (if you don't mind spending a little higher for fuel)
 
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Thank you for you feedback @Mr.Boss. Let me quickly update my earlier post
Your Budget: Not greater than 1 Lakh

> New or Used: Used

> Your Location: Madhya Pradesh, India

> Top Five Priorities: Low Maintenance, Efficient Fuel consumption, Cheap

> Monthly Running: Between 1,200 – 1,500 Km

> Type of Fuel:
Any

> For What Purpose: Daily commute to and fro school of study

> Seating Capacity: Negligible

> Type of Segment: Hatchback
In addition to my first post, I just need a car to be able to take me to and fro my institution of research, a car that will give me kinder peace of mind. The problem is that I am actually unable to make a decision on either getting a relatively new car like Tata Nano 2012/13 or perhaps getting an older bigger car (2000 to 2009)
Sorry for omitting the details earlier, I assumed that other treads didn't have such information but go loads of responses. I hope someone can help me make a right decision. Thanks
 
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Hello Yubix

If you are fine with a Nano and the image associated with it, then there is no problem in getting one. But since you are considering used cars, there is no issue with searching and looking into various options.

For peace of mind and negligible maintenance, you can consider Maruti Alto, Maruti 800 as well as old shape WagonR. All are extremely frugal and tolerant cars which will give you good residual value even after 3-4 years. Since all these are petrol engine cars, the key is to look for one which has less number of kms as compared to age (i.e. around 80k km for a 10 year old car, lesser the better) or the one which has been through highway runs majorly (i.e. possible if you personally know the owner).

According to me, a well maintained 2007-2010 Maruti car would be as good as a 2012-2013 Tata Nano. You just need to search and find "the" right car.

Some suggestions from my side -

1. Go for a petrol car only irrespective of your running, since diesel cars at your budget would be mostly bad examples and petrol cars that I have suggested will give decent fuel economy (in the range of 18 kmpl) and will last you well for the 30-40k kms you will cover during ownership.
2. Consider low run cars. Buying a car that has done 70k kms will mean that maintenance will be high till the time you own it as 80k-1 Lac is generally an expensive period where you have to replace many wear and tear parts. Either go for 50-55k kms run car or one which has been through a major service recently.
3. A car which has done 40-50k kms in city-only is as good as a car with 70-80k kms in highway-only use. There is less stress on tyres, suspension, clutch and engine components in the case of highway-used cars.
4. You will come across many accidental and repaired cars in this price. Make sure to get complete service and workshop records from showrooms to track down any major repairs the car has been through.
5. Cars like Optra, Aveo, City, etc. will be very tempting at this budget but stick to small hatchbacks as these bigger cars will mean less fuel efficiency, high part costs and higher maintenance overall. Stick to cars that costed less than 4 Lac when new.

Regards,
Alpha
 
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i am a final year mbbs student. i have both alto and nano in my garage. i use both thess cars for my daily college commute around 30 km. i can assure you nano is a breeze in city with its commanding seating position and fun hence I recommend nano over alto for city uses only. Caution- TASS is nowhere close to maruti in ASS.
 
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For a hazzle free ownership I think a Maruti probably a well maintained Alto or wagon R will be better. If ur nearby Tata ass is good, go for nano.
 
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Hello Yubix

If you are fine with a Nano and the image associated with it, then there is no problem in getting one. But since you are considering used cars, there is no issue with searching and looking into various options.

For peace of mind and negligible maintenance, you can consider Maruti Alto, Maruti 800 as well as old shape WagonR. All are extremely frugal and tolerant cars which will give you good residual value even after 3-4 years. Since all these are petrol engine cars, the key is to look for one which has less number of kms as compared to age (i.e. around 80k km for a 10 year old car, lesser the better) or the one which has been through highway runs majorly (i.e. possible if you personally know the owner).

According to me, a well maintained 2007-2010 Maruti car would be as good as a 2012-2013 Tata Nano. You just need to search and find "the" right car.

Some suggestions from my side -

1. Go for a petrol car only irrespective of your running, since diesel cars at your budget would be mostly bad examples and petrol cars that I have suggested will give decent fuel economy (in the range of 18 kmpl) and will last you well for the 30-40k kms you will cover during ownership.
2. Consider low run cars. Buying a car that has done 70k kms will mean that maintenance will be high till the time you own it as 80k-1 Lac is generally an expensive period where you have to replace many wear and tear parts. Either go for 50-55k kms run car or one which has been through a major service recently.
3. A car which has done 40-50k kms in city-only is as good as a car with 70-80k kms in highway-only use. There is less stress on tyres, suspension, clutch and engine components in the case of highway-used cars.
4. You will come across many accidental and repaired cars in this price. Make sure to get complete service and workshop records from showrooms to track down any major repairs the car has been through.
5. Cars like Optra, Aveo, City, etc. will be very tempting at this budget but stick to small hatchbacks as these bigger cars will mean less fuel efficiency, high part costs and higher maintenance overall. Stick to cars that costed less than 4 Lac when new.

Regards,
Alpha
Alpha, where do you get Optra, City in one lakh budget? [surprise] Even first gen also not possible.
 

kkn13

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Nano is your best bet
Parts and reliability concerns will be much lesser
Remember- a 10L lakh original value car will still have parts that are priced for a 10L car even if you buy it for 50k

Hello Yubix

5. Cars like Optra, Aveo, City, etc. will be very tempting at this budget but stick to small hatchbacks as these bigger cars will mean less fuel efficiency, high part costs and higher maintenance overall. Stick to cars that costed less than 4 Lac when new.
I agree with this
Aveo has terrible after sales and parts availability like you said
I own one
 
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Alpha, where do you get Optra, City in one lakh budget? [surprise] Even first gen also not possible.
Hello AbhisekVerma

Here in NCR, first gen City is very much possible in 1 Lac budget. I have seen quite a few 2003-2004 models up for sale at 70k-80k. For mechanically sound or less run example, price goes up to 1-1.2 Lac.

Same is the case with Optra, it is available under 1 Lac here but most of them are in the 1.5-2 Lac range for decent cars, so I agree with you on this point and apologize. Thanks for pointing out. [:)] These sedans are big fuel guzzlers and very tough to maintain, so the demand is next to zero. There is no reason one should get a used Optra, Aveo, etc. unless one gets an immaculate piece or is a die hard fan.

Just look for classifieds in Delhi and surroundings, more than 50 examples would show up but yes only a couple of them would be well maintained.

Regards,
Alpha
 
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Just buy a post 2012/13 model Nano, and if you are lucky enough and the chap has bought a 4/5 years Amc gold, all bases covered.
It's a breeze to drive in city.
Try olx, quiker for reviewing.
 
Thread Starter #13
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If I increase my budget to 1.2 Lakh, I think I could find a good Wagon R which has done about 50-60K Km. Else I will just go for 2012/13 model of Nano. I will see the Wagon R from Droom website and if it is unsuitable, I will settle for post 2012 Nano. My residence to school is about 15km of which 4km is in the city and 11km is on the highway. Still confused though[;)]
 

kkn13

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If I increase my budget to 1.2 Lakh, I think I could find a good Wagon R which has done about 50-60K Km. Else I will just go for 2012/13 model of Nano. I will see the Wagon R from Droom website and if it is unsuitable, I will settle for post 2012 Nano. My residence to school is about 15km of which 4km is in the city and 11km is on the highway. Still confused though[;)]
Since you mention highway, Id say get the Wagon R over the Nano, the extra power is needed for the highway

I think you may increase and get a decent well run Honda City otherwise if you are willing to spend for parts etc
I know 3-4 of my friends who learned driving 2 years ago on 2nd Gen "Dolphin" Honda City's and they say parts are still decent to find especially if you get one of the VTEC engines variants
City will be a better car for highway runs but youll need proper research into individual cars with proper service history etc if you take that route

Wagon R wouldnt be too bad either

Nano will be a slight gamble on the highway given smaller tyres,smaller engine but parts will be cheaper and easier overall since its still in production

Very tough decisions imho, if you extend budget a bit to say 2.5-3L , you may easily score a 2011 Ritz Diesel with like 50k on the odometer(lots of such examples on the market, I sold my own 2 months ago)
Ritz has good city and highway manners and mine saw alot of rough use and 3 people learned driving on it, still very cheap to maintain and very reliable
I sold mine only because I wasnt using it much anymore since my highway runs increased and I started using my City more

I think a newer car of higher segment for 2-3L range will be a big jump in terms of reliability etc(except for Nano of course,youll get loads of recent , low run examples in your budget)

Keep in mind, whichever car you buy will need a lot of initial maintenance depending on age and mileage of the car
Nano will have less of that but I hadnt taken highway runs into consideration when I recommended it initially

Even if you buy a good car for 40k, youll still need to shell out for initial part changes and an emergency fund since older cars have alot of break downs
Rather get a newer used car for a bit more money for piece of mind etc
You can score a certified i10 easily for <2-2.5L from Hyundai pre owned , certified i20s go for 3-4L here in Mumbai

Heres the site-

http://hpromise.hyundai.co.in/detailsforbuycars.aspx

I checked for you, there are 2009 i10s for 1.36L onwards for certified i10
Much safer choice than other cars
 
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For your budget 12/13 Nano seems to be the best bet. otherwise well maintained alto will also do. Don't extend your budget as reselling will lose you lot of money and you can buy a new car later on.
 
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