[khaleelda1]

Hey guys!

We are shifting from mumbai to mysore. Will be putting up in the outskirts of the city to be close to our farm.

After a lot of thinking, it dint make sense to take our honda city, considering the transfer charges in karnataka, and also the maintenance, an low ground clearance on it.

Usage in mysore would be, daily trips to the farm, and to the city, about 100kms on most days, will be driven by dad most of the time.

Route to farm is 90% smooth, but the 10% about 1km of no road with stones of the size of fists. But went there in a friends omni, and it managed just fine.

So!, given the requirements, what do you guys suggest should be a comfortable, hassle free, low budget vehicle to own.

Any help would be great help!!

[anekho]

Originally Posted by khaleelda1

We are shifting from mumbai to mysore. Will be putting up in the outskirts of the city to be close to our farm.

Keeping your budget and requirements in mind, I think your best bet would be looking for a Bolero in good knick.

Mechanically sound, work-horse like in nature and practical enough for farming-related usage.

Good luck!

[GTO]

The best used options for you : Tough, abuse-friendly, good ground clearance and decent efficiency (for 100 kms running per day).

Chevrolet Tavera : Top choice. Bullet-proof reliability, easy to drive, nice ride quality, superb handling (by UV standards) and excellent fuel economy.

Mahindra Xylo / Scorpio : Would pick a Xylo over the Scorpio. Built for rough roads and acres of space. Soft suspension helps low speed ride (highway comfort is a different matter altogether).

Tata Sumo Grande : A gem amongst Tata's usually troublesome UVs. Stellar reliability, good ride quality and nice engine (if you get the 2.2).

What you need is a vehicle that can run 2 kms per day (1 km either way) on stones, day after day. A sedan might do it for a week, but it'll take quite a beating after a while.

[revintup]

I would say a Scorpio it is, or a Safari if you are willing to go the Tata way.

Coming from a Honda city, I believe you would want a certain amount of 'status' attached to the vehicle. The Tavera, Bolero and Xylo are too utilarian, have the taxi image attached and wouldnt feel at home at a party or a get together.

The Scorpio on the other hand should manage the different tasks with ease. However I think you might want to increase you budget slightly. You are going to be rough on it so get one that has been least abused.

[zalaps]

Originally Posted by khaleelda1

Route to farm is 90% smooth, but the 10% about 1km of no road with stones of the size of fists. But went there in a friends omni, and it managed just fine.

I would highly recommand Maruti Eeco for low budget requirements.
I know trip to farms usually demand for bigger luggage area and eeco has the same.
Eeco fits your low budget requirement. With your budget you can buy new one.

P.S: Are you the same Khaleelda from BZ?

[KarthikK]

I have to disagree with some of the suggestions made by fellow members, to pickup Safaris, Scorpios and other (S/M)UVs, given the budget constraints the OP specified.

At 4L, considering the high resale value cars command down south, he will probably be able to get only pre-abused 2003-2004 Safaris/Scorpios. Maintaining these 7-8 year old SUVs (most of them with 1L+ on the odo) with their frequent niggles/part replacements will turn out to be a bigger headache than trying to repair a sedan which takes beatings on the bad roads. Newer SUVs will cost nothing less than 7-8L here. My 2 cents. Tavera is a good choice, but it is virtually non-existent in the used market from what I have seen. Xylos and Innovas are good choices, but command very high resale right now. Boleros and Sumos are good options though, if you can find a decent one.

In the given budget constraint, I would look at 3 options:

- I completely agree with zalaps' suggestion- get an Eeco. It will take on the farm duties and bad roads well, plus it being a Maruti gives you the advantage of servicing ease in remote areas.

- if you are ok with sedans, pick up a used sedan like Hyundai accent / Maruti Baleno/SX4 which you should be able to get for 2-3L, go for slightly higher profile tyres, try raising the ride height to handle the roads and you should be fine for a while. This is the next best option after your Honda city.

- pickup a cheap and easy to maintain hatchback like Alto/WagonR which will be able to handle some road abuse, give you basic creature comforts (like A/C, etc) and still cost you peanuts to maintain.

[rohittunga]

Originally Posted by khaleelda1

Hey guys!

We are shifting from mumbai to mysore. Will be putting up in the outskirts of the city to be close to our farm.

After a lot of thinking, it dint make sense to take our honda city, considering the transfer charges in karnataka, and also the maintenance, an low ground clearance on it.

Usage in mysore would be, daily trips to the farm, and to the city, about 100kms on most days, will be driven by dad most of the time.

Route to farm is 90% smooth, but the 10% about 1km of no road with stones of the size of fists. But went there in a friends omni, and it managed just fine.

So!, given the requirements, what do you guys suggest should be a comfortable, hassle free, low budget vehicle to own.

Any help would be great help!!

Since your dad is already used to a Honda City, I suggest you stick to sedans. How about an SX4 ? Lots of SX4's available even in a Tier II city like Mysore, you'll never have a problem with spares, its got good GC and decent space. The only downside could be the fuel costs if you are looking at a petrol SX4.

OR a wild choice would be to buy a Fiat Linea (they are available for around 3~3.5 lakhs) and spend 15k for the ground clearance kit. It ticks all of your requirements rather nicely.

All the best !

[Swanand Inamdar]

Is a used Bolero available in that price bracket, in Karnataka? Im certain you would find a few examples in and around Bangalore/Mysore.

Bolero has been a tried and tested vehicle for quite some time now.
Its also been the highest selling UV for a really long time. That, does speak about its performance, especially when more than half those sales are in rural/semi urban areas!

[roy_libran]

I am a bit surprised that no one has yet mentioned a workhorse like the Bolero Camper. Considering that farm use is involved, and may need to carry moderate loads from time to time, the Camper load bay would come in useful. For other times you get the double cab in front, to seat five people. Of course, the trade-off is comfort.

Another alternative I'd throw at you is the Trax Gama. Very reliable machinery and pretty good space and ride quality on both highways and no roads.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by khaleelda1

Route to farm is 90% smooth, but the 10% about 1km of no road with stones of the size of fists. But went there in a friends omni, and it managed just fine.

For a km of bad roads plus some farm work, nothing suits you better than a Bolero (if you are ok with the interior space) or a Xylo if you need some more but getting a Xylo for INR 4 lac is a challenge in KA.

You can look at a new Eeco like someone has suggested but I d prefer a Bolero over the Eeco for its ruggedness.

[khaleelda1]

@n.devdath @anekho @GTO @revintup @zalaps @KarthikK @rohittunga @Swanand Inamdar @roy_libran @n.devdath

first of all Thanks for all the inputs.

Models considered: Bolero, Tavera, scorpio, xylo (Excluded the Sumo out of personal dislike)

...as @KarthikK rightly pointed out, all these models are tough to get in this price range, whatever i get would be 80000-125000 kms + !

My idea of getting a pre owned car goes only as back as 25-35000 kms ~ 2yrs old.

So i guess i am not getting any of the above mentioned models (If there is an awesome deal out there, or if i am completely wrong about the second hand market kindly do correct me).


Maruti ECO - This one has caught my fancy too, its like omni, only better! :P
should be able to take decent abuse, and be a convenient family car too.
came across this offer of 2011(may)model basic petrol model, with only 5000kms done, available for 3.25lacs, owner claims to have added 45k worth of accessories.
Spacious, built tough(?), easy to drive, easy to repair, low maintainence.


Custom Alternative - As some of you have suggested, any car will fit the bill with slight height adjustment, this opens up a lot of options. but then again, raising the height will not avoid vibrations...leading to rattling of panels/parts (maybe)!!
So what are my option in this category?? spacious, sturdy, height adjustable.....would avoid alto and nano altogether (due to space criteria).

PS: How much height raise is really required?

[ramzsys]

Forget about raising the heights. The suspensions in the hatch/sedan are too soft to be driven over rough roads, you have to crawl. Bolero is the UV for you!

And unless you want to have a 6+ seater, don't go for the Tavera. Bolero handles stone roads(or no roads) better!

If it is the Bolero, stretch it a bit so that you can get a 2007+ model that came with DI engine.

[pganapathy]

Unless your farm work involves a lot of driving in very wet slushy conditions, the omni is the best alternative for regular farm use at reasonable cost.

The omni is definitely better than the eeco. It is more user friendly (flat back) as opposed to the eeco which has different levels in there. Additionally the omni is much easier and cheaper to fix and more robust as it is a simpler design.

I say this because we use an omni on our coffee estate in Coorg for all kinds of farm work, be it carting labour (max 22 labour carted), coffee, fertilizer etc. Yes, in the monsoon the vehicle is not brilliant on mud roads, but all said and done, it makes more sense than a used jeep or other type of 4x4.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by pganapathy

Unless your farm work involves a lot of driving in very wet slushy conditions, the omni is the best alternative for regular farm use at reasonable cost.

The omni is definitely better than the eeco. It is more user friendly (flat back) as opposed to the eeco which has different levels in there. Additionally the omni is much easier and cheaper to fix and more robust as it is a simpler design.

I say this because we use an omni on our coffee estate in Coorg for all kinds of farm work, be it carting labour (max 22 labour carted), coffee, fertilizer etc. Yes, in the monsoon the vehicle is not brilliant on mud roads, but all said and done, it makes more sense than a used jeep or other type of 4x4.

Hey. Do you not think an used Bolero will do the job well?
I would think it would be the perfect option!
Not very comfortable though overall.

[Guna]

Since the primary choice was Honda city (which is petrol), how about pre-owned petrol SUVs? You may get one in your budget which is in very good condition with low mileage. Options: Old shape Honda CRV, Suzuki GV, Chevy Forester