[jinu_joseph]

Hi folks,

I need some guidance on buying used premium cars. I am looking for an understated premium car like Skoda Superb L&K. I prefer cars that don't draw attention and at the same time has the premium level of comfort and power. Skoda superb fit that bill perfectly. I had a used Skoda superb some years back. Had bought a 3-year-old Skoda superb and used it for about 5 years before letting it go. It is till date the most comfortable car if have ever been in. But Service maintenance was expensive and very painful. Service cost me about 1 lakh per year on an average because I never did find a reliable Garage for the Skoda superb and was heavily dependent on Skoda authorized service center. Additionally of the 5 years I drove the car almost a total of 90 days the car was in the workshop for some sort of repairs. I swore I would never buy a Skoda again.

Now I want a comfortable spacious sedan again from the second hand market. But I don't want to go through the Skoda service experience again. Some of my colleagues suggested that if I am looking for second hand then I might as well look at the BMW 330 Li and Audi A6 Technology Edition. Slightly premium but better in service and quality. Now this is where I get confused. Any generic video I see on used BMW/Audi, the standard warning is maintenance is going to be unbelievably high, parts shortage etc. which is the Skoda service experience all over again. Frankly I have never driven a vehicle in this segment, Skoda superb is the most premium car I have driven. BMW/Audi is a completely new segment for me.

So my first question is what your views are on second hand luxury cars like the BMW 330Li or Audi A6 compared to the Skoda Superb in terms of service (here I am talking of cars no older than 3-4 years).

I have received a lot of advice on this like take a good mechanic along, get it checked at the authorized service centers etc. Now this where my problem lies

1. I don't know any good mechanic whom I can trust and who could verify the car for me
2. I thought I knew a reliable Second hand car dealer-family friend (the guy I bought the Skoda Superb from previously), but that turned to be disaster, quite a few defects were hidden at the time of purchase. Further this is a premium used card dealers like him don’t stock BMW/Audi
3. I know there are companies that offer inspection services, but I am not sure how reliable they are with respect to Premium segment vehicles
4. I have seen some YouTube videos where they claim that authorized service centers are also hand in glove with the second hand car dealers and they will not highlight the major problems when it comes for a checkup.

As if all this wasn't confusing enough someone else recommended buying the used premium cars from Delhi (especially diesel cars) and transfer it to Mumbai as they will be cheaper (even after road tax paid for Mumbai) and you will get much better variety/options/choices there.

So at the end of the day I am a very confused person and don't think I will be able to buy a used premium sedan. The advice I need on are:

1. What are your views on second hand luxury cars like the BMW 330Li or Audi A6 compared to the Skoda Superb in terms of service (here I am talking of cars no older than 3-4 years).

2. Are there any services who can be trusted to do inspection and certification of used Premium sedans

3. And the most common question are they any reliable premium used car dealers?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Ashwintona675]

Hi, I bought a used Audi A3 couple year ago from Audi approved plus. So couple of tips:

1. Try to shop from BMW approved themselves, the customer service is really good and it is worth the premium. Mostly they stock cars they got as exchange for their new cars. I bought my A3 from Audi approved and customer service was stellar, they got my RC transferred and home delivered to me in 21 days. Took care of all loan formalities for me at a really competitive interest rate.

2. You need the service history of the car. If you were able to follow Point 1, then this is solved as all the BMW approved cars have service history.

3. Try to get the previous owner details, no harm in giving him a call. Maybe he wont reveal the price he gave it to the dealer, but he might give you some valuable info on its history. The hack I found to get said details is to get the insurance copy of the vehicle. It has owner info including mobile number.

4. You need a competent FNG for a preowned german, no two ways about it. Only reason you would go to the ASS is if you bought one which is only 2-3 years old, in which case you will have warranty left (maybe even service package). You are in Mumbai, there are numerous FNGs as we can see from other threads of senior members. You should check it out.

5. Between 330Li and A6. I personally prefer the Bimmer although it is a segment lower. But go for the A6 only if you find a good FNG or if not you get a 2-3 year old car with warranty remaining. Otherwise the maintenance costs especially for the air suspension will burn a hole in your pocket.

Finally, one life man, go for it. Bimmer or Audi, it will put a smile on your face when you floor the pedal.

[dieselfan24]

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph

The advice I need on are:
1. what are your views on second hand luxury cars like the BMW 330Li or Audi A6 compared to the Skoda Superb in terms of service (here I am talking of cars no older than 3-4 years).
2. Are there any services who can be trusted to do inspection and certification of used Premium sedans
3. And the most common question are they any reliable premium used car dealers?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

I think considering you liked the Superb so much the A6 would be the way to go rather than the 3 series. Coming from the Superb you might not find the 3 series comfortable. And to answer your first question, in terms of the service costs I think you might have same challenges for either of these cars as you did for the Superb but a bit more expensive even. Personally I would probably look for another Superb or an Octavia even for that 2 litre diesel engine but thats just me.

Make a list of good FNGs around where you live and just go there and have a word with the owner. Hopefully you might even get to talk to a customer there who gets one these cars serviced by them.

[Shreyans_Jain]

1L per year on maintaining a car like a pre owned Superb is fairly reasonable, we have Jeep Compass owners here who pay more. Although, from a sheer reliability point of view, I’ll be inclined towards the 330Li over a Skoda/Audi. The simplest way to buy a pre loved BMW is through their own pre owned program, where you can be assured of the vehicle’s condition, service history and also get warranty.

That said, if maintenance costs and peaceful ownership are your primary criteria, you should be looking for Toyota Camrys instead.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph

The advice I need on are:

1. What are your views on second hand luxury cars like the BMW 330Li or Audi A6 compared to the Skoda Superb in terms of service (here I am talking of cars no older than 3-4 years).

Between these three brands, personally I’d trust BMW the most for extended long term ownership experience. Between these three specific options, the 330 Li will also likely be the most rewarding to drive, while still remaining respectably comfortable at the back thanks to its LWB format.

On sources of purchase a few points:

1. There is no guarantee on where you might find a good deal. Keep an open mind for every source and use a trusted premium service advisor to do a double check. Many premium brands also offer a paid checkup for a car as a service. Use this facility if you are nearly finalised on a vehicle.

2. Be willing to walk away if something doesn’t feel right. Getting a good car can take time - be willing to invest the required time in the process. Don’t get over-invested in a particular car to a point where you are going against your gut feel on any specific aspect.

3. Don’t try to find the bottom of the pit for price. If everything else adds up and the car is a good one to seal the deal, be open to paying a slight premium for it too. It’s no point trying to buy the cheapest option and compromising on the product itself - it can end up being penny wise pound foolish.

4. Be prepared for the odd surprise and keep a budget for this. You’re going in for a used car, there could always be something that genuinely comes unexpectedly which even the original seller did not anticipate.

5. Try to check if you can extend the warranty on the car with the OEM to the max tenure possible and budget this in your purchase cost. It is particularly worthwhile given you can’t audit every aspect of the service history. Heck, even for my new Mercedes, I opted for max OEM warranty for 6 years as an add on.

Good luck with the search.

[vaibhavyagnik]

Skoda shares a lot of parts from Audi. So, I do not feel you will get better reliability if you buy a Audi. I do not have any experience on BMWs so I cannot really comment, but @GTO might chime in here.

Let me put it like this. If you are getting into buying a used German, you better know how things work in a car, repair them at FnG or you should be wealthy enough to not care about expenses that might come your way and send it to the service centre.

The common failures in used germans are water pumps, timing chains, heater cores, starter motors, alternators, Window regulators and transmission.

I recommend you do a lot of reading and watching youtube videos about a car deal that comes your way. Get to know the nitty gritty, and lastly, get yourself a OBDeleven. Only the dongle without any plan will come at around 6000 Rs. and IMO, it is a must have if you are going to buy a used german. Run the diagnostics yourself using OBDeleven and then google the hell out of all the errors that are present on the car. Then, make a informed decision whether you should buy or not. It will also tell you if the seller is honest or not.

If I were you, I would get a Skoda. If you are in an area where you do not find a FNG for a skoda, how will you find one for a Audi or BMW?

[Mission_PGPX]

The question is how much are you planning to spend on your next pre-owned car. The quality you get is proportional to the price you are paying. Genuine kms, Sparingly used and timely serviced and maintained cars are rare to find and hence they demand premium as well. Your shortlisted 3 choices are miles apart in terms of price you have to pay for each. 30-32 lacs might get you a Superb but none of the remaining. If you have a budget beyond that, why buy pre-owned at all? Get a heavily discounted Camry, Reliable, comfortable and cheap to maintain, unless you want a super performing and handling German only.

If possible, Find a genuine Passat, very reliable, feature loaded. If you are open to SUV, just go a grab a Tiguan.

[Asoon]

Your ask is still open ended, what will be the driving setup chauffeur driven or self driven, city or highway drive, is it a first car of the garage or you have other for other purpose. Plus there are more factors, how long you are planning to keep, what budget you are looking etc.

If comfort is your priority then the Superb is the way to go but if you are someone who love to drive then 330Li is the right option.

Coming to the execution, you need to extra-careful when you are picking a pre-owned German, hence I would suggest to go with BMW / Audi's preowned division (it will be 5-7% expensive than the regular dealers but its worth). With non-OEM dealers you need to have a strong personal connect to ensure you get a clean car.

[Turbohead]

If comfort and ease of maintenance are paramount, check out the Toyota Camry or pre-owned models from Lexus. These machines are purely focused on comfort and reliability unless performance is also a top priority which will bring you back to your orginal list.

1 lakh per year is very reasonably by the way. Yearly expenses for a humble Vento average around 80k a year.

[MarcGomez]

Having owned a Superb, Audi A4, 5 series and an E class. I can say the Superb is truly a fantastic car and in my opinion is a level above the A4 and 3 series. I had the Superb for 9 years and was very difficult for me to let go of it. It was a 1.8tsi and in terms of maintenance my superb costed similar and sometimes more than the E and the 5 series. If you want reliably I’d stay away from the VAG group and stick to Merc or BMW.

I would suggest a W205 diesel C class, you don’t have to stick to a 2-3 year old one. Even a 2016-2018 will be super reliable and serve you well provided you have a good workshop and service it properly. The 2.1 diesel engine returns fantastic mileage and very reliable. Depending of your budget, I’d say get the newest and least used C class you can find and you won’t regret your decision.

[jinu_joseph]

Thanks all for the feedback and advice. This will be a self drive vehicle and mostly city drive with occasional long trips. This will not be a daily commute vehicle for that I have got my trusted Jazz.

I had thought about the Camry but saw some negative feedback on the low ground clearance and the bottom scraping similar to the Honda's. Further there is no reliable data on the battery life, unlike others they use Ni-Mh batteries instead of Li-ion. which is supposed to have lower life and charge storage capacity degrades over time. I don't think the warranty will cover this. I read the T&C for the battery warranty; it makes no mention of under what circumstances the warranty can be invoked.

I would have gone for the Skoda without a doubt, but then I went through my run sheet i had maintained for the Skoda superb when I owned it and all the horrible memories came flooding back. Its amazing how the human brain can hang on to all the pleasant experiences and reduces the horrible experiences to a foot note.

[littlebrother]

I’ve owned a Mercedes A 180 CDI and that thing needs maintenance even when it’s idle. In comparison our E90 320d and our current Volvo S60 D5 and F30 320d are much more reliable and easier to maintain. With a good FNG and sourcing parts myself through a dealer I’m able to maintain them annually for 20k -30k tops. Do note this is without tyres or suspension works and so on. Since comfort and space is a priority for you, why don’t you look out for a Volvo S90?

[jinu_joseph]

Originally Posted by littlebrother

I’ve owned a Mercedes A 180 CDI and that thing needs maintenance even when it’s idle. In comparison our E90 320d and our current Volvo S60 D5 and F30 320d are much more reliable and easier to maintain. With a good FNG and sourcing parts myself through a dealer I’m able to maintain them annually for 20k -30k tops. Do note this is without tyres or suspension works and so on. Since comfort and space is a priority for you, why don’t you look out for a Volvo S90?

Wow 20-30K is really low for regular maintenance. You must have a really good FNG. Wish i had somebody like that. I have not seen many S90s in the used market.

Folks is there a rule of thumb of how old the cars can be upto which you can buy used. My rule of thumb was to buy cars with alteast a year of warranty left. But I have seen old beamers and audis commanding a really high price.

[exhaustbreather]

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[androdev]

If your usage is primary within city, Camry Hybrid comes highly recommended. Pls test drive it before you rule it out. The battery has 8 year warranty and a replacement will cost under 3L when the need comes up. A very reasonable expense for this category during such a long period of ownership. This is one car you car drive for several lakhs of KMs without any glitches.

Germans cars are excellent for highway usage - fantastic at higher speeds. I would recommend them if your usage involves good amount of highway driving.

Being a first time buyer, buy them only from direct sellers or official BMW/Audi preowned channels. Avoid third party dealers - too risky. Go with BMW, their engine and gearbox are very reliable which are the riskiest components as they cost a bomb to fix. The most important thing is to have full access to service history records on the computer system of BMW dealer, ascertain that the mileage is clocked with regular usage with service done as per schedule without excessive visits to the workshop.

Best to buy cars with warranty just about to expire - you get a good bargain, these people are selling because they want to avoid out of warranty cars and since they had warranty, they had no reason to get the cars secretly serviced/repaired off the record. Owners that buy zero depreciation insurance are a better bet vs someone who buys really cheap insurance or just 3rd party insurance. Less incentive to get the car repaired off the record.

Whether you end up spending or not, you need to be able to afford 2L per year for service. Some years it will be just 30K and once in awhile you may get say 5L bill if you get unlucky.

People here mention to save money by going with FNG very casually. It’s a lot more nuanced than that. There are some specific cases where you save big money if an expensive part is repaired instead of replaced. In other cases, risk/reward is not that obvious. The ones who have great success with FNG tend to be very knowledgeable about the service and maintenance of their cars.