Re: The beater car culture in India | Bought a 13-year old Maruti A-Star for 1.8 lakhs Just couldn’t resist so here my A-Star story.
1. We needed a beater car desperately for wife who just was not learning or liking driving an endeavour.
2. I was not comfortable taking out the monster for small distancees due to traffic, parking etc of course.
3. Wife won’t settle for anything less than an automatic, cute and small & I will settle only if it’s a Non-AMT (I have a bad feeling about automatic-manual-transmission - just doesn’t sound right or organic)
4. New car options - Celerio, Alto, i10 (All AMTs) cheapest CVT magnite- wife hate magnite.
5. Used car options - i10, Brio
6. Patiently kept the search going with 2016-2019 - 60k-90k km range - i10/Brio budgeted 4-4.7 and 4.7 was cutoff not even 4.75 - in fact I liked a few but I let go because 15k or 20k extra (the brokers started hating me)
7. Kept the patience going and my broker called 1 day though he know the criteria and the fact that I won’t budge, he also knows am a sucker for a deal though.
8. A-Star Automatic, 2012, 34k on ODO, immaculate (owned and maintained by a Parsee lady) just wanted me to check out @ 2.25.
9. I go, i am attaching the pics of what I found, went directly to the nearby Maruti ASS, the SM vouched for the car and confirm about full service history, added I should not give it more than 3.5 - I took his advice seriously. Went to the ATM on the way back with 90k cash, gpay balance, 10k broker, 9k changed the 4s with conti CC4 we’re on a deal. 2k service. Wife’s respect for me - priceless; she didn’t want the altos or celerios either.
- rest is history never made a better car decision (have owned/sold 7 since I started driving in india and abroad)
In fact the best car in this segment I have known. IDK what has happened to Maruti but 2012 they were legendary, I was always a sucker for SX4 cannot find a well maintained one though. |