[kpbhatt]

my father was looking @ for a used car in Mumbai and our immediate neighbour popped up the question of selling his Indigo -- here are the details :

Purchase date : Sep 04
Model : Aug 04
Kms Done : 28000
Model : Indigo LS Diesel
Place of registration : Mumbai.

The car has been chauffered from day 1 and has never been out of the city -- used to ferry the old couple (neighbours). FE quoted is 13-14 Kpl in city. So I need to tell my dad if its ok to go ahead and purchase this car -- and i would need all the help i can from u folks to decide -- so please pour in ur suggestions and help us decide

thanks.

[arunforu1]

Dear kp,

Tata suffers from a low reliability record, but this doent mean every old indigo to be crap.

just check few points before finalising:

Outside:
Tires: check for proper tread depth, uneven wear is a sign of suspension/alignment problem.

Paint:check for scratches & dings, look out for rusty arear espeacially underbody.

Locks & lamps should be ok

Inside: check if all controls including a/c blower etc are in working condition

Under the hood: check for any visual oil leakages that may be a point of trouble, have a look at airfilter it should not have any oil marks (sign of trouble)

Test drive: hear engine noise, check for metallic knock, should not be smoky exhaust, check for pickup, suspension noise etc.

Have a look at underbody for scraping damage.

finally check maint. record: wether vehicle was regulary serviced, check for any accident history( i mean not regular brushes but for serious damage repairs for chassis)

This was just a breif idea to look for a second hand buy.

Best of luck
Arun

[manikjeet]

Even if the car is good and has never been out of the city still don't buy that car. it is said that don't buy a car from your cousins and your neighbours as it would be bad for relationship if something goes wrong with car on a later stage and the market are flooded with indigo and you could get a better buy and even a higher model maybe a lx or a even a sx

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by manikjeet

don't buy a car from your cousins and your neighbours

I agree. Never do business with friends or relatives.

[kpbhatt]

thanks for the responses -- i will look into the points mentioned above while getting the vehicle inspected ; am planning to take it to a mechanic in a couple of days

[HSV]

Another point worth checking is if your neighbours had initially opted for extended warranty. I had purchased my Indigo LX in Oct 04 it came with standard 18 months warranty and I opted for 18 months extended warranty, so my warranty is still valid until Oct 07. That may work out to be an extra in yur case.

Frankly I feel that it couldnt be better than to buy your neighbour's car. You probably know every thing about it, as its been right under your nose from day one. Thus you have first hand info about the cars history. Further my view on dealing with your relatives/neighours etc is that your relationship may get affected if you were to SELL your car without mentioning any faults. As long as you are BUYING it, and that to you'd get it checked by a mechanic, and most importantly if you buy it 'as is where is' and dont hold any grudges against them in the future in case things dont go as per your expectations - then there shuld be no dramas at all.

I plan to write a long term ownership report on my Indigo LX soon however have been a tad lazy till date. My ownership experience has been great with the car. I wouldnt call it a very refined drive, but it in fact you get what you pay for - VFM (value for money). I have clocked 34000 kms, and have been always getting an average of 13-14 kmpl with non-stop AC even in the stop-go traffic of Delhi (taking into consideration that I dont switch off the AC even when I have to park the car for 15-20 mins alongside a shop and me wife and kid are in the car - I just let the engine idle and leave the AC on). Have been on the highways quite a few times, and have got 18 kmpl (again with AC always on). Just make sure you service it regularly - I dont even wait for it to complete 5000kms. I just take it 500-800 kms before that mark. The service centres no matter which automobile they cater to - WILL always fleece you - atleast being a TATA product the cost of spares would be comparatively low.

Hope that helps.

regards,

[HSV]

Sorry Mods, forgot to mention another point - do add this to my quote above.

From the points above you can figure out that I drive around approx 1200 kms every month (i.e., 34000 kms in approx 2.5 years). I did my maths, and I end up saving approx Rs 20-25K an year - which IMHO is not too bad at all!

regards,

[kpbhatt]

thanks to all the suggestions from the friends inTBHP -- We finally decided against buying this car . Here are the points considered :

Pros : 1. Known vehicle .
2. Service history and insurance history is clean.

Cons : 1. Diesel and that too not the latest tech ( heck not even CRDI)
2. Daily Run-in would not be more than 25-30 Kms
3. Planning to keep it for 3-4 yrs . Resale value would be practically nil ( the Tata 1-1.5 Lac car is expected to shake up the second hand car market )
4. Wanted to self finance it -- this would have led to a financial crunch at my dad's end

thanks again
KPB

[akroy]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

I agree. Never do business with friends or relatives.

Spot on. Borrow from friends but never from relatives !!!
I have 3 very close relatives in Defence (2 Army officers and 1 IAF officer) where i could have bought my car in much cheaper price but I decided "NO"...
As far as the Indigo goes, since they are old couple, u can look into it, if it fetch u a decent price u can go ahead, not a hard-fast rule of "NO" in this case...

Abhi

[kpbhatt]

Originally Posted by kpbhatt

thanks to all the suggestions from the friends inTBHP -- We finally decided against buying this car . Here are the points considered :

Pros : 1. Known vehicle .
2. Service history and insurance history is clean.

Cons : 1. Diesel and that too not the latest tech ( heck not even CRDI)
2. Daily Run-in would not be more than 25-30 Kms
3. Planning to keep it for 3-4 yrs . Resale value would be practically nil ( the Tata 1-1.5 Lac car is expected to shake up the second hand car market )
4. Wanted to self finance it -- this would have led to a financial crunch at my dad's end

thanks again
KPB

Update to my last weeks post -- my dad went ahead and purchased it -- i was against buying it -- but he was pretty much determined to buy it -- wants to gift it to me -- so i will have to learn to drive a geared vehicle first ( have been used to automatics all along) -- so i would be off to a motor training school to learn an Indica and then lay my hands on this Indigo.....