You have a dream of buying your first car and you live in a Metro? Believe me, buy a used one. It serves three purpose.
It’s much cheaper than a brand new one. Actually the cost of car comes down exponentially in the initial years.
You have to drive on a road where every other driver is a novice or not trained properly. And considering the fact that you are buying your first car, the probability of a few added questions on your driving skills is always there. So a few scratches and dents are uninvited guests.
Car is never an asset. Its always a liability.
Having these points in mind, I started my search for an used one. My criterion was a well mantained beauty within 1.5 lakhs. Searching internets, the only available options were Maruti 800s, Fiat Palios,
Premier padminis, Ambassadors, Matiz, Maruti Vans. Personally I don’t like Marutis. Padmini and
Ambassadors are the lost generation. Matiz and Palio share the common problem of no proper servicing and spare parts. So I had to extend my budget a bit.
Also in the process I learnt that there are 3 options to buy a used car
- Maruti True Value / Mahindra First Choice / Hyundai Advantage - Claim that the cars are genuinely in
excellent conditions but they quote too much. Managed to negotiate on some.
- Local Used Car Dealers - They keep a huge margin to negotiate, and you can bargain if you have the
expertize to crack their marketing nuts. But the car they sell may be like an elephant teeth, the show would be good but once you start driving everyday you will learn about the hiccups.
- Directly from the owners - If the selling party is directly / indirectly known to you, you can get an
information on the running history of the car and also can approach them in future if required for their
expertize. Also both parties get the best prize here in this option.
I had given up to the Option 1 and had made up my mind for a Maruti Zen / Hyundai Santro / Tata Indica.
To my good luck, I met a person through a friend who was in he Category 3, i.e. ready to sell a vehicle
and car’s history was recommended. So I went ahead and bought a 2006 model Hyundai Santro.
I have owned this car for last 8 months now. Initially I got a complete servicing just for my satisfaction. The service center guy actually congratulated me on the buy and was impressed with the engine maintenance. The journey did have a few bumps here and there. One fine morning as I placed the key for Ignition, fumes came out from behind the steering wheel.
Later when I called the service engineer he detected a short circuit in the side indicator wires near the switch behind the steering wheel. They had to re-lay the wire. In the process they found 4 non working fuses in the Fuse Box. Also a couple of other wires had lost their insulation. The complete mess costed me over a 1000 bucks.
A few months later I was amazed to find a co passenger in the car in the form of a small mouse which was littering all around. Immediately I took the car to service center before the mouse could damage my
seats or wires. I was more concerned with how the mouse managed to enter the car. The Service Center guys could only find the logical path through the AC duct, but still they were not sure. Anyways I was happy to get rid of the mouse from my car.
I would further appreciate the timeliness and expertize of the Trident Hyundai, Bangalore Service center
people. Though expensive than local mechanics, the car rolls out as a silk on road after every friendly
visit.
Coming to Santro, its a beauty. Its so easy to Zip it around the heavy traffic. The controls are very well placed and easy to operate. The high seating position gives a better command on the road. The breaks are powerful, but more than that is the pickup.
The engine is so responsive. The car just vrooms in the 2nd and 3rd gear. Though the 4th gear is a bit sluggish in the sense that the pickup is not that great, the car regains its effectiveness in the 5th gear. I have never manually counted the 0-60kmph time, but by the time I realize this smarty is in the 5th gear. Usually when the signal opens, the car races ahead so happily.
I prefer the maximum speed to be around 80kmph. Usually I get a mileage of around 16-17 on ring road patches and around 13 in the heavy Bangalore traffic. I havent got time and oppurtunity to take her to long drives, but when I touched the highway I tried to check the maximum stable speed in the car.
To my astonishment the steering wheel started vibrating every time I touched 95kmph. Since the tires are old
and already 50000 kms driven, I suspect their grip on the road to be the culprit for the vibration. I need to wait a bit for a new set of tires and another run on the highway to check the speed durability.
The seating space is good and it easily accommodates 5 grown men. The access to the rear seats is also very easy. Though I have to accept the bumpy ride in the rear seat. Even at 20kmph over a bump or a
pothole you can hear the noise coming from the rear side to confirm this. When the rear seat is empty the drive is more bumpy. This complaint has also come from my mother who is more luxury concious than the drive. The low ground clearance is also something to be concerned about and more when there are 3 passengers in the rear seat. I have to drive at max 5kmph over the bumps to avoid a thud on the belly of the car.
Hyundai people have very well quoted " First Car First Choice"