[SargentD]

Thanks. That makes me feel a bit better. Hopefully this car should be good enough for around 2 years before I might make a jump to my first first-hand car.

[WindRide]

Anyone has any first hand experience buying from Truebil?

Originally Posted by SmartCat

In Bangalore, if a car does not meet Spinny minimum requirements, the lead is transferred to their sister company called TRUEBIL. They accept all cars.
https://inc42.com/buzz/spinny-acquir...-cars-segment/

Does this mean Tuebil used cars are "riskier" as compared to spinny ones?

[eternal_nomad]

Hey all!

Needed some guidance from y'all. I am looking at buying a 2018 Creta 1.6 SX (Petrol) from Spinny. Quoted price - 10.89 L. KMs done- 18k. The usual Spinny spins are applicable - insurance, buy-back option, 200 point check, warranty for engine and gear box etc.

I have checked the car out personally and also done a test drive on the road/highway.

The car looks nice, with minor scratches that can be overlooked. I got the service record checked in Hyundai and the last time it got serviced was in 2021. And they changed the front and the rear bumper, which seems suspicious. (!) But there is no record of any other changes in Hyundai. I do intend to take it to a Hyundai Service Center to get it checked thoroughly.

Three areas of concern/question that I need help with:

1. Is the price alright? The amount is quite high for me and I want to ensure I take in other opinions.
2. Reading about the experiences with Spinny and them selling cars that turn out to have major defects is worrying me a bit. I know there is risk involved in buying a second hand car. Trying to figure out ways to mitigate or minimize the risks.
3. I am currently driving a 2010 i20 1.4 CRDi. When I test drove the Creta, it seemed a little under-powered when accelerating, but very smooth. Someone told me to expect that difference because I was moving from a CRDi to a petrol engine. Would love to hear some opinions on it.

Thank you so much in advance!

[DocwithFiesta]

Originally Posted by eternal_nomad

Hey all!

I am looking at buying a 2018 Creta 1.6 SX (Petrol) from Spinny. Quoted price - 10.89 L. KMs done- 18k.

I got the service record checked in Hyundai and the last time it got serviced was in 2021. And they changed the front and the rear bumper, which seems suspicious. (!).

Hello sir. We bought an used Grand i10(2017) from Spinny last year February(2022 February), the car had 12k kms.
I have created a thread on that.
Link (Bought a Used Hyundai Grand i10 Asta from Spinny | 1 year ownership experience)

There's almost a 2 year(or, probably 1.5 years) hiatus in the service center record of the car in question. I do recommend you to analyse the record available with you, and see the trend of kilometer increase between each service center visit, and if it is consistent- this will give you a rough idea about how the car was used over the years. Also do check at what kilometer mark was the previous servicing done: if the difference is huge(from the current 18k kms you mentioned), I will not recommend going ahead.

For example:


This is the data I obtained from Hyundai Service Center database, and you can see the car was approximately used 200 kms a month and the trend has been constant since the first service center visit (have not attached all the pictures). Now this made sense for my car, as it was a 5 year old car with 12k kms(200kmsX60months=12k kms- perfect!).

Also, a patient analysis of the service record will give you an idea about how much the car's previous owner took care of the car- the previous owner of our Grand i10 had been very particular about sorting out each and every small issue from the Authorised Service Center, which indirectly means, he took good care of the car.

Analyse your service record and see if it makes sense.

Originally Posted by eternal_nomad

1. Is the price alright? The amount is quite high for me and I want to ensure I take in other opinions.

Before buying our Grand i10 from Spinny, we rummaged through a lot of other websites that do not concentrate primarily on used car buying/selling and the price seemed good. I would recommend you to compare prices on such websites to get an idea of the price(by comparing cars with similar kilometres and of similar vintage).

Originally Posted by eternal_nomad

2. Reading about the experiences with Spinny and them selling cars that turn out to have major defects is worrying me a bit. I know there is risk involved in buying a second hand car. Trying to figure out ways to mitigate or minimize the risks.

There's always some risk associated with buying used car, that can be minimised by leaving no stones unturned while inspecting the car. We took our Grand i10 to an Authorised Hyundai Service Center, got it up on the lifts, and had the service center ppl themselves inspect the car in the presence of Spinny representative.

About the bumper change
A bumper change would definitely be a deal breaker for me, and here you have both front and rear bumpers- could mean car was sandwiched between 2 cars in a multiple car collision (?).

If you still want to go ahead:
Ask the Hyundai executives how much it costed to get the repairs done, was it only bumper change or there were other parts that were changed too(like coolant reservoir etc etc), or were there any other repair work done, whether Airbags were deployed, if insurance was claimed- if so, ask the insurance company about the incident (? accident). Ask the service center how much a new bumper costs and compare it with the billed amount.

Our i10 had an "Accidental Repair" in the service record- on asking the Hyundai ppl about this, they dug a little deeper into the history and found it was something related to the front bumper and total amount was Rs.5k, no insurance claim: mostly a scratch/dent repair and bumper repaint.

Originally Posted by eternal_nomad

3. I am currently driving a 2010 i20 1.4 CRDi. When I test drove the Creta, it seemed a little under-powered when accelerating, but very smooth. Someone told me to expect that difference because I was moving from a CRDi to a petrol engine. Would love to hear some opinions on it.

I cannot comment on this though.
If you can, try driving another similar Creta(probably at an used car dealer) and compare the performance. Before buying our Grand i10, we test drove almost 5 cars- so we knew exactly what to expect.

While buying an used car, I do not trust anyone- be it the previous (individual) owner, be it a dealer, be it Spinny/Cars 24, be it my neighbour. I only trust the data, I only trust the inspection done in front of me by persons expert in that field.

In my case, every information regarding the car, given to me by Spinny, was true upon cross-checking: hence my postive view towards the company.

Hope this helps.

Our Grand i10, a month back: from 12k kms(when bought used, in February 2022) to 23k kms now, from an almost brand new car, to a proper used car now


Thank you.

[ReventonLover]

Originally Posted by DocwithFiesta

Hello sir. We bought an used Grand i10(2017) from Spinny last year February(2022 February), the car had 12k kms.
Thank you.

Hey DocwithFiesta.

I recently booked a Grand i10 from Spinny, a 2020 Jan MFG model with 28.9k on the ODO. Took a test drive of the car and felt good. Almost similar to the i20 (2017/2018) model which was my learner car. Link to the car is below:

https://www.spinny.com/buy-used-cars...-2020/8644750/

A couple of doubts I had regarding the car:

1. The website mentions it as a 3 cylinder engine, but other online portals say that it's a 4 cylinder engine. When I inspected it physically and even in the photos, I can see that there are four different paths in the intake manifold. Can you clarify which configuration it is in your engine?

2. Did Spinny help you whatsoever in the insurance transfer from the previous owner to you?



Thanks!

[hothatchaway]

^^^why are you buying a three year old used car when you can get a brand new Ignis for example for another 20k? You will get full manufacturer warranty and service along with the satisfaction of owning something brand new.

I said ignis but there could be other hatchback models with identical engine and transmission specs for same or similar price. Doesn't have to be a maruti

[ReventonLover]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

^^^why are you buying a three year old used car when you can get a brand new Ignis for example for another 20k? You will get full manufacturer warranty and service along with the satisfaction of owning something brand new.

I said ignis but there could be other hatchback models with identical engine and transmission specs for same or similar price. Doesn't have to be a maruti

Hi there.

Thank you for your suggestion. I just checked online, the Sigma variant on-road price is 6.97 Lakhs. Spec to spec if I match the Zeta variant, it'll cost me 8.27 lakhs.

The main reason why I am hesitant to buy a new vehicle is that we both (Missus and me) are learner drivers and haven't got the confidence yet to drive without a scratch. Plus, this variant has got some smooth powertrain compared to the 2021 Santro I test drove. Don't even ask about the 2021 Kwid, the three cylinder engine was felt immediately.

Another factor is that even for 6L on-road price, I might be able to get only the smallest of the hatchbacks, whereas our family is made up of ummm... not so light people (have to go with stiffer suspension and spacers probably to increase the ground clearance). Hence the decision to buy a pre-owned. I took a test drive of 2011 i20 Asta model, immediately fell in love with the powertrain. If only it was a few years younger...

Lastly, the services offered Spinny will make the ownership ever so slightly easier. The first major upgrades/repairs (that I forsee) will be changing the tires (average 19k life left) and inspection of all the suspension assemblies (again, due to usage of the vehicle by no so light people). That will almost 2 years away, given our current driving confidence and our affinity towards riding a two wheeler (subject to rains of course).

[DocwithFiesta]

Originally Posted by ReventonLover

Hey DocwithFiesta.

A couple of doubts I had regarding the car:

1. The website mentions it as a 3 cylinder engine, but other online portals say that it's a 4 cylinder engine. When I inspected it physically and even in the photos, I can see that there are four different paths in the intake manifold. Can you clarify which configuration it is in your engine?

Hello!
The Petrol 1.2 Grand i10 has a 4 cylinder engine, whereas it's the 1.2 Diesel that has a 3 pot, so perhaps the Spinny guys got confused there.

Originally Posted by ReventonLover

2. Did Spinny help you whatsoever in the insurance transfer from the previous owner to you?

Not at all: they didn't even say they would not be doing that. We had to get it done ourselves.
That being said, a friend of mine got a Seltos last December from Spinny. Upon cautioning him about the insurance transfer thingy, he said the Spinny guys had done it already.

Either way, it's better to directly ask the Spinny guys while purchasing the car.

Originally Posted by ReventonLover

https://www.spinny.com/buy-used-cars...-2020/8644750/

Not to upset you, but Rs. 5.99 Lakh for an older generation Grand i10, although a 2020 car, makes little sense. If your situation permits you to wait for sometime, 2017-2018 Grand i10s(even Astas) will pop up sooner or later for Rs. 5.5 Lakh or less.

Otherwise, it's a market correct price, and Grand i10s are probably the hottest selling hatchbacks in the used car market, so depreciation is minimal with these.
Cars similar to our 2017 Grand i10, are listed for Rs.5.3 Lakh to Rs. 5.5 Lakh on Spinny website, even today.

Advertisement of the car we bought last year


Thank you

[ReventonLover]

Originally Posted by DocwithFiesta

Hello!

Not to upset you, but Rs. 5.99 Lakh for an older generation Grand i10, although a 2020 car, makes little sense. If your situation permits you to wait for sometime, 2017-2018 Grand i10s(even Astas) will pop up sooner or later for Rs. 5.5 Lakh or less.

Otherwise, it's a market correct price, and Grand i10s are probably the hottest selling hatchbacks in the used car market, so depreciation is minimal with these.
Cars similar to our 2017 Grand i10, are listed for Rs.5.3 Lakh to Rs. 5.5 Lakh on Spinny website, even today.

Advertisement of the car we bought last year
Attachment 2443874

Thank you

Thanks. I will check the suggested vehicles out again when I go there. Even I felt it was overpriced, since the last of these vehicles would have gone out at 7.5L or 7.7 L, but compared to the other vehicles available out there in the similar price bracket, this was the best of the lot. The missus was smiling ear to ear when took a TD for this i10. Didn't want to make that smile disappear

[eternal_nomad]

Originally Posted by DocwithFiesta

Hello sir. We bought an used Grand i10(2017) from Spinny last year February(2022 February), the car had 12k kms.
I have created a thread on that.

Thank you.

___________________________

Thank you so much for the detailed reply! I truly appreciate the time and effort you took to reply.

I have done the following:
1. Got the service history checked - the repairs are mostly about the bumpers, nothing major was repaired or changed.
2. Took it to a Hyundai service center and got someone to look under the hood, lift the car and check under it and also drive it around on the road - his feedback was good.
3. The kilometer reading in the service history and the car seem to be congruent.

I will take delivery of the car and then get it checked again.

While my nervousness about buying a second hand car hasn't gone completely, I am a little bit more confident now than before. I have decided to pick the car up.

Will post a follow up on my experience, once I have received the delivery and driven it a bit.

Thank you again!

[Ashdel]

Today i went for a Sonet 1.0 turbo top trim test drive at their Gurgaon hub. Car mechanical wise seems to be fine - got it checked at Dhingra KIA in Gurgaon - however more than 10 panels have been repainted from local market - still they are asking insanely high price and not ready to negotiate even a single penny. My heart is broken Seems i have to drop idea of buying a second hand car

[PreethamNag]

Hello all,

Have not so good experience to share from buying car from spinny. Bought an XUV 700 2 months ago, the RC transfer is still pending when I tried to find the reason got to know that NOC is still pending, due to lost documents and RC from spinny.
Had called multiple times and they kept lying about the transfer and today got to know the truth.
Now they have applied for a Duplicate RC, dont know if it's even allowed legally to file one without owners consent. Also not sure how to deal with it now, tried escalating within spinny and that was of no use.
Please suggest how to deal with this.

Regards
Nagabhushan

[Kashief]

I would like to share my buying experience with Spinny.

We have been contemplating to purchase a car from 2019. And pandemic had put our plans on hold. In our last year end trip, we travelled 1700+kms and last leg of the trip was 700+kms mix of hills/highways/road under construction. Our Amaze i-Dtech is a mile muncher, however it is good at a max of driving 500kms/day.

While travelling back to home, we again discussed about buying another car which should be comfortable and silent (NVH experience from Amaze). As we don't want to sell Amaze, so decided to buy a pre-owned vehicle. Including the valuable suggestions shared in this forum, my search criteria was:

1. It should be Japanese for the reliability and longevity factor.
2. More than 1500CC, D-Segment and Sedan.
3. Should be Petrol and ok with manual or automatic.
4. Single Owner, 3 years and less than 30k ODO.
5. Budget 15-18L.


Only two cars were filtered from the above criteria - Toyota Corolla Altis & Honda Civic. I'm a fan of 1st gen Civic for its aerodynamic exterior design and flight cockpit like interiors. On the other end Corolla looks plain and simple. So decided to search for Honda Civic 2019 model, as all the used vehicles partially satisfies 4th important criteria.

My search in OLX showed 2 cars, 1st registered in Chennai and 2nd one in Madurai. 1st one was top end model which had 70k+ odo with asking price of 18L. I felt the mileage was too high for a petrol car in 3 years. 2nd one was vx model which had 58k odo and asking price was 19L. I felt the asking price was high and not bothered to approach both the cars.

I started exploring other options and remembered that one of my neighbour was trying to sell his swift and validated with Spinny, but he was not happy with the amount quoted. However my requirement is to buy so explored their portal. And there I found a Coimbatore North Registered, 21kms ODO, Single owner, top end model with asking price of 16.56L. The price and mileage looks good and without wasting time I contacted their centralized support number and they explained about the details of my interested car.

Services I like,

1. Portal shows every details of the car body in 360 degree view both interior/exterior, that will assure 80% of the inspection which we do in person.

2. Rs. 10k is a minimum booking amount to hold the car and it is refundable as per their policy. As I have to travel from Chennai to Coimbatore and booking amount assured that the car is on-hold for next 3 days.

3. Spinny I visited is Located in Fun Mall, Avinashi Road and if I'm not wrong the whole parking floor was used by them to park the vehicles for sale. This is really a good business model, you have your store where more foot falls and car not exposed to sun/rain/bird droppings. In comparison, a brand new car is exposed to all sort of dirt/damage before it reaches showroom for delivery. And we have complains seen in this forum that its not properly cleaned before delivery.

4. Mr.Vesley is the person assigned to me and he is courteous on explaining about the car history and answered all my queries. One major doubt we had was the reason for sale from 1st owner. From the cars, we listed out this was the one with less ODO and asking price. However as per their strict PI policy, he didn't shared anything about the 1st owner and reason for sale.
5. After discussion, we went to the underground parking and I saw the car in person. It looks, how I saw in portal and inspected thoroughly and haven't found any damage other than the minor dents/scratches which was already listed out in their portal.

6. Before starting from Chennai, I requested them that I want to take the car to Honda Service Center for diagnosis and they agreed. They assigned a driver after my inspection and I had an appointment fixed a day before reaching Coimbatore with Sundaram Honda for this diagnosis. From the spinny parking, driver insisted to take the car myself, however I wanted to drive once the green signal given from my trusted service personal Mr. Vivekanand from Sundaram Honda.

7. The diagnosis includes a test drive by my service personal, lifting the car in hydraulic for underbody inspection (Civic has full underbody cover and only exposed part is silencer and suspensions) and going through the history of the car for any major repair/insurance claim. After diagnosis, Mr. Vivekanand strongly recommended to purchase this car. On the way back to their store, we went near Codissia for short spin and for the 1st time I drove the car and it felt very good. Had a Whatsapp call with family to show the car which we were going to purchase. During the whole time 3-4 hours, the spinny driver never shown any sort of urgency and very supportive.

Purchase Deal,

1. Price is fixed. The deal includes 1 year comprehensive insurance from the date of delivery, ownership transfer charges.

2. Spinny provide 90 days for battery, electricals and a/c warranty. 1 year engine and transmission warranty.

3. If I don't like the car after purchase, full amount will be refunded with a condition of less than a week from date of sale and car should have not driven more than 500kms from the delivery date.

4. During the diagnosis in service centre, I found a nail in right rear tyre and requested to have it fixed before delivery.

Delivery Experience,

Delivery date was fixed and I informed Vesley, that we will reach around 5pm to take delivery of the car. We reached on-time and signed the papers in their store. Then went straight to the parking, where the car was prepped up in the delivery bay(nothing fancy, its a designated place to deliver the car) with blue ribbons tied on the bonnet, two spinny pillows in back seat, a tissue box and document holder with comprehensive insurance policy in glove box. Last but not least, as promised the nail was removed and the hole was sealed in rear tyre.

Shared sweets with their team to enjoy the moment and a small gift to Mr. Vesley for his professionalism.

We planned to have a get-together in BBQ nation with our friends in same mall. So parked the car in same place, spinny team informed the security personal to allow me to take the car after late evening.

Ownership change process took some time, I believe the RTO process is done through 3rd party and I had to follow up few times to get things done.

After Receiving RC, I promptly shared it to Sundaram Honda to update in their system for ownership change and further it enables me to add the vehicle in Honda Connect app.

Car Experience,

The car was due for periodic service and it was done in Sundaram Honda next day after delivery. So far, I have driven around 5k kms (90% in highways) and the car satisfies all our requirements.

Last week Friday, when I started the car there was no reaction and I doubted that the battery is down. There is a battery store near my place where I have purchased 2 batteries for Amaze in its lifetime. Support person inspected and confirmed that battery life is over and its due to change. I read all terms and conditions of Spinny about their warranty and remembered about battery warranty, however not sure about the warranty duration by heart. So I made a call to Vesley and he confirmed that battery warranty is for 90 days and and my car is now 180 days older. The OEM battery was Amaron, I was interested with Exide Matrix Red model which I have used in Amaze. But the battery store not stocking Exide and they say that they receive more complaints on addressing issues from Exide. So decided to go with same OEM Amaron model that costed Rs. 6200 after buy back of old battery.

I'll rate 4.5 out of 5, from by buying experience in Spinny and happily recommend to my friends who chose to buy pre-owned cars.

To end my post, sharing a picture from one of our trips and my girls named our beloved Civic as Cherry.

[RahulNagaraj]

Thanks to the Team-BHP fan (he prefers to remain anonymous) who sent this in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP share page!

Bad experience with Spinny

I would like to share the ordeal with Spinny and my 1 year of ownership experience of a pre-owned car: Buying a 2016 Hyundai Creta SX+ Diesel Auto. I purchased the car on the 15th of July, 2022

Before buying this SUV, I had a 2015 Honda Jazz Diesel and I was very happy with the car. Jazz is absolutely fantastic & I drove it for 7 years and almost 1 Lakh Kms. iDTEC is very drivable & fuel efficient. I enjoyed tremendous fuel efficiency & a lot of trips!!

But, due to increasing traffic & congestion in Pune, I started feeling physical & mental pains and irritations and decided to buy an automatic.

So I approached Spinny in Pune as well as Mumbai & after reviewing some cars & test drives I finalized one. I visited their Mumbai outlet & purchased a car from them. The car was delivered to my home in Pune by road drive mode as it was purchased from a different city, they said we cannot deliver on a trailer as they advertise and I agreed.

First major issues realization – Excessive steering vibrations as well as on the door pad & armrest

(I drove the car for a couple of days & decided to do servicing immediately(as I was not knowing when the last servicing was done) for my confidence & peace of mind.)

I realized that there are excessive vibrations on the steering wheel, door pad and armrest. I called Spinny and lodged a complaint. Their person came & he reviewed the car & he said that it's perfectly fine. Then I checked a couple of cars from the same manufacturing duration & found that they don’t have such issues. I decided to follow up with senior people from Spinny.

I wrote very strong emails to their different email IDs. Providing the email content as below.

Hello Spinny,

Recently I purchased a Hyundai Creta 1.6 SX Diesel Auto from Spinny Hub, Thane (Mumbai)

Would like to share the good & the bad things I experienced.

THE GOOD

• Experience in the car outlet was seamless & very nice explanation by the salesperson.
• The transparency you showed by telling that this showroom test drive car is phenomenal, the details which customers see in the app before visiting, are the same details you show.
• The booking to delivery management & your different departments works in a good manner.
• Your Spinny Assured program like engine & gearbox, electrical warranties, and buyback assurance is very appreciable
• Your support will be available all across your location & not only at the parent location from where I purchased the car.

THE BAD

• The car condition - I really doubt how your experts are checking with the so-called 200-point checklist OR is your list comprehensive?

1. The visible part wiper frames are RUSTY (image attached). Imagine I am showing my Creta to friends & relatives & immediately everyone sees rusted wipers, how embarrassing I felt. And this creates HUGE doubt in my mind about how the other parts like the underbody will be.
2. The rear parking camera is not having clarity. It is blurred, has horizontal lines etc.
3. Your experts are not bothered to check tire age as well. You provided me with a vehicle with AGED tires - they have completed 5 years (manufactured in 2017). They have absorbed environmental impact for 5 years. It is not only worn mark level or bulge to be checked. Age is also a big factor for tires. This has brought my confidence to the lowest level while driving OR planning long road trips unless I change tires. It's going to cost me around 50k now!!
4. The Rear left window switch was not working properly.
5. Brake pads were worn out.
6. There are hell of lot of vibrations on steering when you are in D mode & your foot is on the brake while the car is in standstill condition OR below 900 engine RPMs

• No communication that "You should inform Spinny before giving to Hyundai Authorized service centre" within the first 5 days. Because I was in no mood to return the car hence I simply gave it for my peace of mind that having a car serviced from an authorized Hyundai service centre (Sanjay Hyundai, Hadapsar) will give me assurance that the car is perfectly fine till the next service.
• Upon raising complaints on a few of the above-mentioned points, the simple answer I was getting was that this is not under warranty, that is not under warranty & if you are not satisfied you have a chance to return the car! Returning a car is the option no doubt, but the question is why these basic things are not checked in the first place by your EXPERTS! Imagine I have proudly celebrated with near & dear ones about my Creta & that got returned because of so many issues! How the feeling would be & that too if I had celebrated with social media like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp status etc?
• I was expecting an officially stamped delivery note from Spinny so that to date I receive RC, I could show officials in case they demand anywhere on the road. But it was not handed over.
• Blank seller handbook provided - no engine serial number, chassis no & other details mentioned, no stamps. No tax invoice was provided. The booking agreement & delivery note is not emailed to me from your official email IDs.

Some mistakes from my side that some of the visible things I could have also checked & communicated but I too missed that. I simply trusted Spinny! but definitely, performance-related parameters should have been checked by you!

Anyways, let us see next. I got the car serviced, and the wheel alignment & balancing done yesterday. Hope your support will continue to be good for the next 1 year or so.

If this email is being processed by a customer care executive I request to forward it to your team leads or general manager.

Thanks & Regards,

Upon sending the above email they approached me, collected the car & kept it for 3-4 days. After this they called me and confirmed that the wipers are replaced, the tires are not possible to replace due to warranty policy and the steering vibration issue (most IMP one for me) is resolved & we are delivering the car back to you!! I was very happy.

But it only lasted for a couple of mins only, as soon as I took the delivery, the steering vibrations were as it is!!!

The next day I again lodged a complaint. I proposed their seniors visit me face-to-face at the Hyundai showroom, and discuss the issue by comparing other cars & if required we will involve a service person from Hyundai which they agreed. We met at the dealership and handed over the car for analysis. The dealer changed 2 engine mounts (one was already changed by Spinny) & issue completely vanished! I was very HAPPY! But again it lasted for a short as the spinny person said you have to pay as we have a policy that rubber parts will not be covered under warranty.

In a good spirit and intent, I thought that I will pay as the main issue got resolved & I paid & closed the chapter.

Second major issue realization - AC blows up the air on the windshield even if it’s in front mode.

This issue caused me a lot of discomfort & irritation as the windshield was fogging up from outside even if it was a little rain & every time, I have to use wipers. I tried to resolve the issue by visiting local garages. One AC expert garage advised me to get this work done at the dealer only.

I decided to get this rectified & this time I did not involve Spinny as they had a warranty on the engine, and gearbox only & 3-month comprehensive vehicle warranty which was already expired. I also was not in the mood to chase Spinny every time, argue with them, convince them etc.

I handed over the car to the dealer. It took 2 days for them to find out the issue. They proposed to change the entire AC unit components behind the head unit which consisted of an entire big plastic part which housed the condenser, evaporator, all sensors, ducts etc. The quotation given was around 35k!!! I thought that I am going to keep the car for the next 5-7 years & almost all of the AC components will be new, and I will be having peace of mind & give it a go ahead. The dealer said that parts need to be ordered from the Chennai plant & it will take a minimum of 3 weeks & you have to pay an advance of 10k which I agreed to.

All parts came in a given time. This resolved my issues.

Third small issue realization – Front suspension lower arm squeaking type noise.

I straight away replaced the lower arm, link rod & some bushes which cost me around Rs 10k.

Fourth major issue realization – Weird noise from the engine's right side

While reporting the AC issue and suspension issue mentioned above, I communicated this issue as well. The dealer dismantled the alternator, provided his supplier for analysis, and confirmed back that there is no issue with it. The dealer changed the timing belt and some timer parts. I went to collect the car but the noise was present. I highlighted to the service manager that I invested so much money (AC parts 35k + suspension parts 10k + engine timing parts 10k) at a time and still, this noise issue is not resolved. He asked me to take the car home & drive for 3-4 days and then confirm as the timing belt will take some time to settle.

I drove the car for 3-4 weeks and the noise was coming very rarely. I was a bit ok with this. Then one sudden day there was a very big noise which was very distinctly noticeable from regular engine noise, tire noise etc. Even the person standing beside was mentioning that something is very very wrong with the car.

This issue came right after 2 days of Spinny’s 1year engine gearbox warranty policy!!! What luck!!!

I have given the car to the dealer again! And again he is saying it's an alternator issue! I have asked them to analyse thoroughly. They have agreed to it.

Let us see what happens NEXT!!

[wheelspinner]

To start with, we have been buying things online since the past 15 years ever since we got our first dial up connection. To put into perspective, we have been through several generations of the internet i.e. moving to broadband then finally to fiber internet. It's been quite a journey for us.

Fast forward today, the experience has been smooth. From groceries to electronics, 90% of the stuff in our household is bought online. We find it very convenient because there are policies in writing, and more often than not they abide by these policies down to the last word. It is generally very convenient to get a resolution if something goes wrong 99% of the time. So, we had a similar expectation from online used car dealers like Cars24, and Spinny.

Let me clarify, the pre-sales experience was very smooth as expected. Refund in 10 mins after booking cancellation (by Spinny). They also offered a 5 day return policy which I think would hold good too - but I couldn't muster the courage to try it. However. inspecting the cars to find their history was another story.

Firstly, why a used car?

Buying a new car would be a few months' income for me. But my line of work is pretty seasonal. There are dry months when I am making almost nothing, or, when I am too burned out to focus on work. Before someone comments on savings, I do have sufficient but I am frugal, and I tend to keep track of every rupee I spend.

Moreover, I love buying used stuff. I have bought used devices in the past, and I get a unique joy/satisfaction when I am able to buy stuff at huge discount. I don't enjoy buying new things at a premium, nor the unboxing experience. I know a few people who are passionate about finding the right used car/device deal at the right price, and then selling it to move on to another one. Are there people here who can relate?

The search for a good used car has been running since almost a year over platforms like Olx. But experience has been bad in general. So I decided to go for online dealers who claimed to offer a close to e-commerce hassle free experience of buying cars.

Death by a thousand calls- pushy sales

Inquiring about the car seemed to have been my first blunder. Both Spinny and Cars24 annoyed me a lot during this time period, they were calling me even in the middle of night (almost)! Even at 8 PM while I was out with friends. Found it very annoying.

The good

What I absolutely loved about these online dealers is their willingness to be transparent about the car. They allowed me to take the car to mechanic's place without paying the token amount. Usually, local dealers at this point would charge me a booking fee, and I would have a tough time getting it back. But in their case, refunds seem to be a smooth affair that gets completed in a few minutes.

The bad


Cars24

Claimed the car had fully original paint (attached partial screenshot). They shared a service history with what appeared to be a Cars24 branded document. In reality, when we physically inspected the car we found out only the roof had original paint. Bonnet was replaced. The suspension produced a weird noise. Glasses were replaced too, and when I pointed that out, the manager argued.

Thanks to @ssjr0498's help in getting the car inspected.

Funnily enough, they managed to sell that car to a sucker in the matter of a few days!

Spinny

The experience with Spinny again left a sour taste in my mouth. Unlike Cars24, they were hesitant to even share the service history. It took me a lot of hassle to get the service records of the car.

In case of Spinny, the RM convinced us the car had no issues, and it was ready to drive for the next 5 years and needed absolutely no repairs. He claimed Spinny charged a premium to ensure they deliver the car in a ready to drive state after refurbishments. As skeptical as I was, bringing over a mechanic proved that the rear tires had dried out and were unsafe to drive in the current state which was never disclosed to us. Furthermore, the mechanic discovered that the suspension on the rear was bouncy and squeaky. He suspected the car needed a suspension overhaul. Furthermore, he discovered a few more parts repainted than disclosed initially.

Did I tell you that our Spinny RM was actually shivering while opening the bonnet of the car in front of the mechanics? On the flip side, he very confidently opened the bonnet in front of me, but in their presence he was so nervous that he was fumbling to find the bonnet release latch! He was way too nervous and it seemed like a red flag to me.

All said and done, after mechanics spotted the issues in the car, the Spinny RM's tone changed completely. He was not as enthusiastic. Rather, he and his friends insisted that used cars will not be trouble free, and you still need to spend on repairs. Then why should I buy from Spinny by paying above the market prices?

Further, I noticed that the owner perhaps didn't replace the ABS sensors, and older battery which the ASS repeatedly recommended them to in the service records that I dug out through another source (service center flat out refused). This was never highlighted to us. I figured out that the car also had pending challans at the Kolkata Traffic Police, when I asked they said they usually cleared them.

Worst, they offered us a paltry 5k discount in exchange. When escalated, Spinny's escalation team took the side of their local center. It became obvious that the certification criteria was a big joke. I pointed out flaws in the exact areas where the car passed their inspection with flying colors, and had an "OK" tested written. This brought me to the conclusion that they are very much willing to lie to customers in writing. Believe it or not.

Guess what, now it appears the car is unavailable, and sent for servicing (see screenshot attached). Yet Spinny refused to do it when I asked them to, what a pathetic experience provided to a customer!

My verdict

During this period, hiring mechanics, logistics, and getting service records of the car has costed me upwards of 6-7k but saved me few lakhs of hard earned money. I know it might have been stupid checking cars so thoroughly both in terms of time and money, but I tend to agree with my parents who feel that the money spent has given me a good experience inspecting such used cars. I intend to continue my search till I find the perfect car at the right price.

As someone new to car buying, I thought my experience buying things online since almost a decade would come to good use. But, I was let down. Their escalation team was useless. They never gave a resolution as to repair the car to their standards. Rather, they repeatedly lied that the car was in good condition as per their own standards.

My advice

Buy a used car from a known person after digging down into it's history. There seems to be very little difference in quality of inspection between these big players, and roadside dealers nowadays.