[abeerbagul]

Originally Posted by KK_HakunaMatata

No doubt, Cedia is gem of a Car, but I would suggest you to look at Cedia if you want only CEDIA. I know few people who own Cedia and understand that it is very difficult to source most of the spare parts and maintenance is also on a higher side and they choose to buy Cedia because they wanted only Cedia and not any other car.

I fully agree with this sentiment. I fell in love with this car and its rally heritage in 2006 when I first went into the showroom and took a test drive, and waited till 2013 to own one.

[Geo_Ipe]

Originally Posted by abeerbagul

When taking a test ride for the Cedia check the following:
1. Take it over rough roads at a speed of 40kmph and listen for suspension noises
2. Take it on the highway if possible upto a speed of 140 kmph and check steering wobble, etc.
3. Brake hard at high speed and check if braking is satisfactory (before doing this ask the owner if brake calipers and brake pads and rotors are in ok shape!!)
4. Any creaks and rattles can be fixed easily by tightening and greasing stuff, the car is very robust mechanically.

If I'm selling my car, I'm not gonna allow all prospective buyers to put my car through the above checklist..!

[hserus]

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

If I'm selling my car, I'm not gonna allow all prospective buyers to put my car through the above checklist..!

Which is exactly why the Cedia is not a terribly good buy - and exactly why an experienced mechanic by your side is worth a dozen test drives on your own.

I personally would be cautious about taking any car upto 140 on a highway - let alone some third party's car that I am trying out to buy. One dog crossing the road in the wrong place, one speedbreaker that's extra high and has all its paint flaked off and I'd probably end up buying something I'd have to scrap soon afterwards. Call me chicken if you wish but well - certainly not going to do that in a car that I have no previous experience with and no knowledge of how it has been driven and maintained.

[abeerbagul]

40 kmph on a rough road is not as bad as it sounds. Note I said rough roads, not offroading or a pothole filled road. Actually any road in Pune in todays rains will qualify as a rough road.

Also a high speed run (upto whatever speed the traffic, road and law will allow) reveals a lot of mannerisms of the car.

E.g. if a serious buyer takes my car above 100 on the mumbai pune expressway, I dont mind it.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

If I'm selling my car, I'm not gonna allow all prospective buyers to put my car through the above checklist..!

I had once a funny turned annoying incident with a prospective buyer of my WagonR. After that, I turned down many buyers just by seeing their background. I got a call from person A that he was interested in the car and wanted to negotiate price. I told him to take a look at the car in person, feel it and then negotiate. Since he worked close to my workplace, he told he would come immediately. Then I agreed.

Dude A turned up with another dude B and we met. B started asking details and stuff and I told him everything. A was prompting B to ask something, check this, check that and so on. It was funny. Then B wanted to drive the car. I agreed and sat in the front passenger seat while A sat at the back. A started asking lame questions

A: Why did you not buy Zxi?
Me: Boss there is no Zxi available.

A: Power windows are factory fitted?
Me: yes(duh, check variant)

A to B: Bhai, clutch check karo, Steering check karo, Pickup hein na?

As B started driving, it was annoying. First I had to order him to put the seatbelt on. Next, he entered the main road as if he had all right of way. By now, A had become really annoying from the back seat. I asked who was the actual buyer. Then he told that it was A but A did not know driving, but everything else

And the actual thing started there. B revved the car to the redline and I was ok with it. But then, in a road with traffic, he slammed the brakes hard and nearly stopped the car. This blew my fuse. I told him to pull over and repeated the request. Once he pulled over, I told them to get off the car and I would drive back as I wasnt happy. After reaching my office, I got down and told that they can leave. A still has the nuts to tell 'I will send another agency to certify the car before I buy'. I just broke the whole deal there and told that I am not interested to sell it to him and drove into the office.

From that day, I never readily offered the keys unless I was sure of the person who was driving. Finally, I sold the car to a person who had a really well maintained car. Only after getting to know about this I was sure that he would drive my car equally well. And yes, I got the price I asked for too instead of vague negotiations from self proclaimed experts.

[prakash_ajp]

Originally Posted by abeerbagul

E.g. if a serious buyer takes my car above 100 on the mumbai pune expressway, I dont mind it.

The question is, how do you know he is a serious buyer or otherwise? Either way, I can't imagine myself (as a car owner) allowing someone to abuse my car. And looks like there are other people that have the same concern too.

A more reliable way is to buy a car that has a complete service history, so you know what the car has gone through.

[abeerbagul]

Hey I guess I have stirred up a lot of passion here!

The other way to check if a car is in good shape is to arrive at a judgement regarding the owner.

Is he a careful and meticulous person?
Does he answer questions precisely?
Does he proudly point out little known features of the car?
Does he mention how he has gone out of the way to take care of the car?
Is he a gentle driver or a rash one? Ask him about any road trips with the car and what top speeds he has achieved with it. A person who drives gently will mention that his personal limits are much lower than the car, while a person who drives rashly will boast of top speeds which are very high.

This way you are judging how the person has used the car, not just the car in an as it is condition. But this is much harder and requires a little bit of intuition about the seller.

I prefer to use this method, because it reveals how the car might have been maintained.

[abeerbagul]

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

If I'm selling my car, I'm not gonna allow all prospective buyers to put my car through the above checklist..!

Originally Posted by hserus

Which is exactly why the Cedia is not a terribly good buy - and exactly why an experienced mechanic by your side is worth a dozen test drives on your own.

How does the reluctance to allow a high speed test drive of any car translate to the Cedia not being a good buy?
These two statements have no relation to each other.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by prakash_ajp

The question is, how do you know he is a serious buyer or otherwise? A more reliable way is to buy a car that has a complete service history, so you know what the car has gone through.

Forgot to add, but after the bad experience, this was my criteria to accept a buyer:
1. No test drive to newbies or first time car owners
2. Long chat to get to know driving experience, what is being currently driven, from how long the person has been driving
3. If possible check condition of the previous car - One dentist came to check my car in his bolero and that car was in superb shape. I gave him the key to my car and did not even accompany him. And he gave his car keys before I gave mine.
4. Mechanics get to drive yes, but depending upon how knowledgeable he is and his attitude - No to arrogant people.

Service history is kind of reliable as a first proof, but not always trustable when it comes to cars with good amount of age and mileage. My car was just 35k kms done in three years and I could easily justify that with bills having a linear Odo reading. Not always the same case.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by abeerbagul

How does the reluctance to allow a high speed test drive of any car translate to the Cedia not being a good buy?
These two statements have no relation to each other.

Let me explain. If you say that some fault is going to become apparent if and only if the vehicle is pushed to 140, do I want to risk buying such a car and hope that 140 is correct, it won't occur when I clock say 100 on the highway?

The Cedia is not a terribly good buy because of the parts and maintenance shortage issue. But if you say there are likely faults which only become sure to reproduce when you push the vehicle to its limits, I am sorry but that's too much of a risk in some other guy's car that I have never driven before.

[sankdeshmukh]

Thanks KK and Abeer for your pointers. (Some how I can not multi quote your replies)

Reason to consider Cedia is because of those OZ Alloys and MOMO Steering wheel which makes me Drool every time i see them either on team BHP or in any Ad and 2.0 V/S 1.8 of Civic.

I miss that acceleration/punch of my old Baleno in my SX4 hence short listed these two.

But as rightly said by both of you Cedia is hard to find as compared to Civic. But Civic post 2010 would be a better bet. Which one would be heavier on pocket to maintain Cedia or Civic any pointers as both cars are premium ones and have heard hondas are heavy on pocket unlike toyota.

Will see if i can schedule a test drive on this weekend as its raining here in mumbai, will update once i decide on either of these.

[fuelinmyveins]

Guys m extremely sad about about the resale value of my 1.5 year old tata zest petrol which has been immaculately maintained.

Due to sudden shift in usage patterns over the last year, need to shift to a diesel but the dealers are really low balling on the price.

Their quotes feel like a punch in gut with them quoting just 20% to 40% of invoice price. Have tried used car dealers and online services such as cars 24 as well but with horrendous quotes.

The standard rant is about how unrealistically unreliable (even from the mouth OF VW dealer) they are with one one going as far to say that he saw 5 burnt tata car on the same stretch of road where I never saw even a single one.

Have driven over 40,000 kms in past 10 months and it still drives like a dream, without even a single hiccup.

Please tell me what shall be done. Financial situation is such that I can't keep two cars at home.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by sankdeshmukh

But as rightly said by both of you Cedia is hard to find as compared to Civic. But Civic post 2010 would be a better bet. Which one would be heavier on pocket to maintain Cedia or Civic any pointers as both cars are premium ones and have heard hondas are heavy on pocket unlike toyota.

In the case of the Civic, parts are easily available in the open market and you can certainly use a good FNG for a Honda rather than having to stick with the ASS. It is not that expensive either.

Originally Posted by fuelinmyveins

Due to sudden shift in usage patterns over the last year, need to shift to a diesel but the dealers are really low balling on the price.

Given all you said and the extremely low resale value you are being quoted - go ahead and keep / use the Zest if it has proved reliable for you. There isn't as much of a disparity in petrol vs diesel prices these days compared to earlier, and any savings on fuel would be wiped out by the loss on the extremely low resale value.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by fuelinmyveins

Guys m extremely sad about about the resale value of my 1.5 year old tata zest petrol which has been immaculately maintained.

Please tell me what shall be done. Financial situation is such that I can't keep two cars at home.

Well a petrol Tata has got a very bad resale value but still that doesn't mean it is 40% of the invoice value in under 2 years. That's just dealers trying to cheat you. On the other hand since its a relatively new car, why not sell the other car that you have? Which one is that? Try connecting to buyers directly, put your car up for resale on various forums. That will give you the best price. In my experience check the actual value of your car using both TBHP and Carwale used car evaluation tools and keep the asking price somewhere in middle of both the quotes.

BTW 40k kms in 1.5 years on a petrol car is quite a running. Looks like you had some fun with this car.

[sankdeshmukh]

Due to sudden shift in usage patterns over the last year, need to shift to a diesel but the dealers are really low balling on the price.

Have driven over 40,000 kms in past 10 months and it still drives like a dream, without even a single hiccup.

Please tell me what shall be done. Financial situation is such that I can't keep two cars at home.[/quote]

In this case I would like to advice you to consider to Convert your car to CNG max 60K expense no need to buy new car, u can use ur current vehicle for another 2-3 years.

Tatas are such that depreciation from 2/3rd years upto 6 years is minimal, dealers will offer 25% to 30% of invoice value even for 5-6 years old Tata Vehicle.