[ChandraSekarMN]

Hi team,

A query from my friend. He currently owns a 2009 registered Swift VXI which is mechanically still in decent condition and the usage is at best about 4K Kms per year (totally run about 55K Kms in these 12 years). But due to the long ownership, the bug for upgrade had started buzzing.

Current preferences are:
1. Automatic (other than AMTs preferred)
2. Diesels (not mandatory though) - only for the decent low end torque.
3. Sedan (not a hatch again and no liking for CSUVs / crossovers)
4. Budget 5 to 7 Lacs including the sale value of swift (only pre owned being considered)
5. Reasonable to maintain - generic term for regular ASS or FNG maintenance, sans major or periodic spares replacements
6. Cruise Control (again non mandatory and good to have feature)

Usage:
Not a daily commuter, as his place of small business is just about a km and two wheeler serves the purpose. Usage would be for occasional weekend drives to friends / families place and once in two months of highway drives with a family of 3 or 4 max. But since the family contains two 6' adults, very cramped rear seats like AMEO etc to be avoided.

Location: Chennai

Current shortlists include Vento (2015 and later registered), Verna, Skoda rapids of similar age, Honda City etc. Suggestions required for what are the conditions to be checked and other options available. I know the forum is broadly against used VW/Skoda's, but ticking the above requirements and Budget, these are the options seeming to fit.

Also for dealer purchases, what are the ways to ensure the odo mileage claimed are genuine?

Having said the above, the requirement is not immediate and a wait for good car / good deal can be extended. Request your inputs.

Mods: pls merge to similar threads if already available.

[self_driven]

For 2 six footers in family, 4th gen City CVT is a good option.

Your friend's usage doesn't warrant a diesel. Out on the highways, a free revving petrol engine in a sedan is a lot of fun.

Also for dealer purchases, what are the ways to ensure the odo mileage claimed are genuine?.

It's always better to purchase directly from owner. Check service history at the ASS to confirm if the odo reading is genuine. In case of partial service history, there are a few tell-tale signs of high usage such as wear on pedals, tyre manufacturing dates and wear, etc. which you can be mindful of.

Please go through this thread for tips:
ARTICLE: How to buy a *USED* Car in India

Also, not to scare you but this thread has a long list of niggles that the 4th gen City especially the early models were prone to:
Honda City (4th gen) niggles: A compilation. Are Honda cars niggle-free anymore?

[Agarwal_Aayush]

Ciaz will tick most of your boxes. Has oodles of space specially for 6 footers, will be fairly easy to maintain and no problems of spares either.

Always try to buy from the actual owner and get the car inspected at the service center for service related details (KMs driven, any major work done and insurance claims if any) and the cars health.

Also, do keep in mind that any car that is >=5 years might need battery replacement(if not already done), tires etc. Please keep these things in mind as well while negotiating.

Happy shopping!

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by ChandraSekarMN

1. Automatic
2. Diesels (not mandatory though)
3. Sedan
4. Budget 5 to 7 Lacs including the sale value of swift
5. Reasonable to maintain - generic term for regular ASS or FNG maintenance, sans major or periodic spares replacements
6. Cruise Control (again non mandatory)

Usage:
Not a daily commuter, occasional weekend drives to friends / families place and once in two months of highway drives with a family of 3 or 4 max

I'd recommend the following options for you

1. 2010-11 Toyota Corolla Altis VL AT (the 4 speed AT)
2. 2010-13 Honda City V AT ('12 and '13 variants come with cruise control IIRC)
3. 2014-15 Maruti Ciaz ZXi/ZXi+ AT
4. 2015-16 Honda Amaze AT
5. 2014-15 Honda City CVT
6. 2012-13 Maruti Sx4 ZXi AT

All these are very easy to maintain and regular spares are available and reasonably priced in the aftermarket. The only issue with the 2010-13 City is the car's low GC. The CVT(no.5 on the list) needs a transmission oil change every 40k kms as per Honda's service recommendations, while the oils in the Maruti and Toyota go on and on. Cruise control need not be a feature for the kind of usage you've mentioned.

The five speed AT option at 2 and 4 is super smooth.
The Sx4 is at the bottom simply because of its thirsty engine plus the 1.6L engine pushes your insurance third party component alone to 9.5k territory (almost 3 times the premium for cars with <1.5L engines). I've still kept the Altis at no.1 because the three time premium is a small price to pay for rock solid reliability even for a 1,00,000km run well maintained car, plus the Altis VL AT comes with cruise control.

Expect a fuel efficiency of 9-10kmpl ballpark in the city and 13-15kmpl on the highway. Chennai was hit by bad floods in Dec-2015 so please be careful when assessing examples.

Also for dealer purchases, what are the ways to ensure the odo mileage claimed are genuine?

I always prefer cars direct from individuals, but sadly, olx which used to feature good direct ads from individual sellers now predominantly features dealer ads.

The only ways to check for genuineness of the ODO reading is to verify the service history. I also use the tyres date of manufacture and condition to deduce the odo reading and have caught many a tampered Odo this way. TSM Royapettah should have genuine odo reading and zero flooding examples in their inventory. However, like other dealers, they also do up cars on the outside and sell, so just look out for panels that have been repainted. At TSM, I like the fact that all documents, including spare keys, manual etc. are available for customer viewing upfront.

[IshaanIan]

Buy a Linea T-Jet, save the rest of the money, and forget about owning a Diesel with such low running requirements

[Equus]

I would narrow it down to City or Ciaz. If Ciaz, go Maruti certified way even if it costs a bit more. Verna is a good option too but petrol is best option for your need.

[AJ56]

Given the requirements and a 5-7L budget, would highly recommend a 2.4 auto accord from 2011-13. It has cruise control, a smooth shifting transmission, rock solid reliability and very cheap to maintain. I’ve driven a 2010 accord for over 11 years now and the only thing that needed repair outside regular maintenance was a worn out hydraulic steering pump. Also the build quality is miles ahead of the subcompacts out there like city and amaze. Also will be much faster (180 hp).

[Knighted06]

Honda still sells Honda City 4th gen for 11.50lacs. I think its better to go for that car brand new. The only problem is there's no automatic. In case you're friend is only interested in a pre-owned car, try Shakti cars near Velachery. Its been almost 2 years since I left Chennai but they have a huge inventory and they act as a broker and sell car for a fixed commision. I would suggest when spending close to 7lacs, its better to go with a brand new car rather than try luck and getting a used one, especially since your friend does not use a car much and keeps it for a very long time.

[kamilharis]

Requirement screams Honda City or Maruti Ciaz. If he likes to have a newer car the Honda Amaze would be worth considering.

Like someone mentioned, if his running is very low and doesn't mind an average FE, the Accord 2.4 or Civic AT (comes with paddle shift) would be a great choice with a lot of money to spare.

[ChandraSekarMN]

Thanks to all the team members for the suggestions and points to consider for all the models in the pre-owned route. This week he had purchased a 2013 Jetta 2.0 TDI Comfortline variant. I understand that most of you might be like 'then what was the point of asking suggestions in the forum?'. But this is the same forum which had time and again also voted in favor of Heart vs Head decisions. This was once such a decision. Each and every suggestion from the post was communicated and considered and a test drive was taken on most of the models. But the impressive Jetta TD resulted in a Heart decision and was done with basic checks on condition/ service history etc. We know this was a segment higher than the normal affordable maintenance (yes, I was also involved in the TD etc and equally impressed and involved in Decision Making) for him. But the heart also was like, in most probability this might be of the last generation diesels and so why not a decent performance diesel.

Likes
-Good build quality
-Smooth and nicely insulated diesel
-Comfortable seats and suspension
-Safety in numbers of airbags (atleast on papers)
-Getting to experience the luxuries of one or two levels higher than the Affordable new car budget.

Dislikes:
-Reasonable dents / paint job requirement (obviously expected of a car of this age)
-Barebones, comes with a CD player and Aux and no reverse camera (reverse sensor comes though)
-might be costly to maintain.
-may be some more, might be found with usage

But the price was decent (not very cheap, but within the budget planned) and hence decision was made.

Any suggestions for having the upkeep simple and economical?

Again, Thanking the entire team 🙏 to have taken time for earlier suggestions and for the proposed suggestions.

This forum had again showed that vehicles (in my opinion better than a cigarette or a drink) can get you friends to reach out to you for a helping hand.

And to be frank, now I m tempted for a pre-owned Jetta too, but only reason to wait is 'no compelling reason enough to upgrade my car so soon' (subjective opinion)