BHPian
Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 29
Thanked: 31 Times
| Re: The "USED" Car Price Check Thread Quote:
Originally Posted by ChoosetoCruze You’re between a rock & a hard place, thanks to the used car mafia in Bangalore.
Do you feel the car is worth 7.8L? If yes, pull the trigger. If not, keep looking. Never rush a used car purchase unless you’re urgently in need of a vehicle. You’ll have to make that decision. |
Thanks @ChoosetoCruze, you've saved me about 60K. I got the vehicle on 22-Nov for Rs. 7.25L, down from the previous rate of Rs. 7.84L, which was again down from the original listed price of Rs. 8.56L. I owe you a dinner whenever you're in BLR or I visit Goa Your mention of the BLR used car mafia meant I got self-righteous and enraged and was able to bargain better.
The back n forth went like this(dates are approximate): Jun-2020: Original price listed Rs. 8.56L
Oct-2020: Spinny reduced it to Rs. 7.84L due to Covid and the 4-5 months of this vehicle not seeing any movement
3rd week of Oct-2020: I test drive and find the vehicle good. I also send it to a FNG and they give a green light. Spinny thinks they've got me hooked since I've spent 2.9K with a FNG to check out this vehicle. When I ask for their best price, Spinny gives Rs. 7.84L as the best and aren't coming down.
4th week of Oct-2020: I quote Rs 6.5L as the best I can offer, citing the vehicle not moving off their hands, 2021 so near, it's a gas guzzler, I'll be the 3rd owner etc.
1st week of Nov-2020: After 2 weeks, I up my quote to Rs. 7L and say that's the last price.
18-Nov-2020: I get my Rs. 10K advance back to my bank account. This probably was the trigger that made the dealer realize they're about to lose me. I guess I should've negotiated the price before investing in checking the vehicle in a FNG. This might've made the cycle shorter, but it also means I might've negotiated a price and post the FNG check, I might have to negotiate down further again, if anything needs more work or investment. I was trying to avoid 2 rounds of negotiation, but I think this is the better tactic and the 2nd round post FNG check mightn't be needed 9/10 times.
18-Nov-2020: After about 10 days, Spinny comes down to Rs. 7.25L. I asked for renewing the insurance(comprehensive) as part of this Rs. 7.25L and they agreed. I tried asking for a basic service(engine oil, wash, all fluids top-up) but they didn't agree.
As per OBV, the highest price for a 2013 2nd owner Accord AT was Rs. 6.91L, so I felt Rs. 7.25L with insurance isn't a bad deal and I closed it out on 22-Nov.
I also told them I'll pick my own insurance from this Rs 7.25L, but they didn't allow that. But I could bargain and select my pick amongst the options/providers Spinny's insurance vendor provided. The insurance premium itself was Rs 22Kish with RSA etc. I would've got the same coverage in Acko for about Rs 15-17K, so Spinny wasted 5K, but such are the ways of the world! Or maybe they might've gotten it for less than Rs 15K as a bulk deal with their vendor.
Over the last month, I've done a basic servicing(all oil, fluids topped up) for about Rs. 11K at a FNG. I've also driven the vehicle for about 500kms. I've also taken it to Honda A.S.S for a basic service and didn't get much confidence from their response. I'll put up a separate thread for this car! Likes: 1. Car is smooth and super silent - due to good insulation and also relative smoother/silent engine compared to the Corolla's engine
2. Paddle shifter/Cruise control with the TC AT means I'm more relaxed and feel less urge to get out of traffic or reach the destination.
3. Powered driver seat with lumbar, thigh support, back recline angle means I find the driving position super comfortable, except for one niggle(see below)
4. The car pulls in a relaxed manner till 3K RPM, it barely runs at 1700 to 2200 RPM for 80-100kmph speeds, depending on the no.of passengers and incline of the road. Once you push it to 3K RPMs, VTEC then kicks in and engine surges to 6.5K+ smoothly and rapidly and you need lots fo empty road to feel it and reach 140K+ speeds. I've done it only once and I don't think it's easy to feel the VTEC kick often. Guess the engine's too good for the roads and traffic conditions I've driven in so far.
5. Low dashboard height - this means my wife can see the road better and is confident she can also drive it on highways or main roads of BLR. I can see the bonnet, at least most of it, so the length, width of the vehicle isn't a big deal, I've driven it in narrow lanes, bad roads etc without major problems.
6. Better suspension, stability - the car feels more planted and handles undulations, pot holes better than the Corolla. I think the lower GC and the multi-link rear suspension are the main reasons for this. You hear the thud of the worst of the suspension joints or pot holes, but don't feel it in the seats. Corolla wasn't this good, period.
7. Better steering - the steering is direct, fast compared to the Corolla, that means I can drive with more confidence in corners and also when I change lanes. Not that the Corolla was bad, but the Accord is much better here. It also weighs up decently at highway speeds as well. Only irritant is, it tends to tighten up in certain cases at crawling speeds, particularly if I'm moving through bad roads or climbing up a ramp etc. Not too tight, just a tad bit. Dislikes: 1. The low GC means I've scraped it twice, once in a single lane district highway and another time where two roads joined inside BLR city limits and it had a steep incline/decline at the junction. Maybe I can move to a wider tyre and get some extra GC and also put in some suspension buffer? However, I've gotten the confidence I can travel to most any place now, just like I used to do with my Altis, so I now have to decide if I retain my Altis or service it well once more and then list it for sale. The fill it, shut it reliability of the Altis means, I'm wary to let it go, but it doesn't make sense to retain 2 cars with my low usage and my wife's not going to feel comfortable with the Altis, it's dashboard is too tall for her to feel confident and she wouldn't drive a manual transmission in BLR.
2. Mileage isn't great. I got 11.27 km/l for a ride to the top of Nandi hill and back to my apartment, over 130 km. The traffic was medium to heavy, but I was able to use the paddle to do engine braking 8/10 times and only 2/10 I had to use the brake and I was able to set the cruise at 90kmph for certain stretches. However, for a BLR city limits trip of 56 km to and fro, I got about 6.25 km/l. But this was known to me and I'm ok with it. I'll drive about 5000km per year max and more likely lesser due to Covid. So my fuel bill would be around Rs 50K with an Accord and about Rs 35K with my Altis, not a big difference. However, I get AT(TC), Paddle shifts, Sunroof(not used much so far, but my son loves it), Cruise control, 6 airbags vs 2 in my Altis, VSC, Traction Control and much better brakes as well.
3. The car attracts more attention than an Altis. You can argue if the Altis ever attracts attention from anyone or even the owners?. It's low slung, long and sleek, some don't like it, some like it, but attention, it sure does get. I prefer an anonymous or understated car, but I guess it is what it is.
4. The rearview camera and/or the display is very dark/dull and this means I can't rely on it fully when reversing. The video is so dark and dull, I can't make out much, neither during the day nor during the night or indoor parking. It's not clear if it's the camera or the display or both at fault. However, the rear parking sensor and the side parking sensor(yes, the car has 2 side sensors, one or each front fender near the front doors) are enough for me to park so far.
5. The rear view mirror isn't auto-dimming and hence it glares big time during highway night rides. It's an irritant, but I can live with it for now. I'm looking at 70mai or similar to get a auto-dimming mirror powered by a night vision rear camera and kill 2 birds(get a better rear view camera and an auto-dimming or non-glaring rear view mirror) in one stone. Misc: Based on my test drive experience with 2015+ Corolla Altis VL models, the paddle shifters on Corolla Altis VL's work even better, they apply a bigger engine braking force in 1st/2nd gear or equivalent, given it's a CVT. On the Accord, the engine brakes well when you downshift using paddles from 5th to 4th or 3rd if you need to reach 60kmph or thereabouts. However, to reduce it further to 20-30kmph, you need to bring it to 1st gear; the 3rd to 2nd gear doesn't apply much engine braking. On the Accord, the paddle shifter also takes half a second extra to kick in. On the Corolla, moving to the 3rd or 2nd brakes better, probably due to the smaller engine or because the CVT is instantaneous. But I've learned to adapt to this by now, so it's a concern anymore. I'm happy I use brakes 1/10th as I used to do previously, since changing gears on a manual Altis was tiresome with the clutch/gear lever related effort. Mods: Sorry for the long post and also for going a bit OT, please move to a new post if necessary. |