It is close to 7 years I purchased santro xing. At that time this car model was just launched and there was much hype about the same. In 2003 when I reviewed various cars in my budget range of 4-5 lacs, I found this was the best car among the lot. While I didn’t like the boxy look of wagon R neither I had a good opinion about Tata Indica cars.
So my 7 years journey with Santro is amazing and excellent. I bought this vehicle as I was looking for comfort of the drive as I am 5.11" tall. I have done about a dozen of long drives from Bangalore to Mysore, Dharmasthal, davanagere and even to Pune. Believe me reliability is another name of this car, it never let you down. To date only two times car tyres have punctured and I have not spent a single rupee extra apart from regular servicing done once in 6 months. The engine is silky smooth and power steering is at its best for city driving.The mileage I am getting is around 15kms/ litre in city which is not bad for a hatchback.
About mode of usage, I have never used it on daily basis till last year and hence it has run only about 36000 kms so far. During first 8 months of buying I used it regularly and hence in the first year alone I drove 12000 kms( maybe out of sheer excitement and enthusiasm?). I had resale value also in mind when buying this car. Since this was my first car, I chose a basic comfortable mode.
Now that I am looking for daily usage of 30km or more and hence looking for more comfortable, bigger vehicle probably sedan, I thought of selling this car. And here begins the real trouble. When I took this car to an agent who buys used car, he is asking for 1.4lacs only !!!!. Now all of a sudden I started suspecting Hyundai brand value in used car market. Is it really that bad?? I have no answers yet. I am still undecided about selling this car. I can’t believe the car value depreciates by nearly 75% in 7 years. Believe, I have started making up my mind only to buy used car(my next car) to avoid surprises in future. Few of my friends also suggested the same, that buying used car makes sense considering depreciation.
Any idea how much one can expect for a 2003 model Santro? Is it good to go for new/used car considering 5 years of usage?