2nd owner 8-year-old Swift done only 14000 km: Is it worth considering?

Apparently, the owner used to stay somewhere else and didn't get a chance to drive it much. The dealer is asking Rs 3.4 lakh for the car.

BHPian wheelspinner recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

As my used car search journey continued, I came across an 8-year-old petrol Swift VXI that has a noticeably low running of 14-15,000 odd kilometres. With two owners to its credit. Fishy, eh?

Upon speaking to the dealer, turns out that the service history ended a few years ago, and since then the car has been driven only around 10,000 Km more, in the last five years or, so. After that, the new owner who used to stay somewhere else didn't get a chance to drive it much really. Not that I find his words credible, but I don't have the know-how to determine a low-running car.

I did check his reviews, and they seem great. As usual, whenever I am in doubt I turn to this forum, as I believe it has the fairest opinion of all.

Factors to consider:

• For a car that has run only 14,000 Km, is it odd to have a few parts repaired? (the bumpers, and doors) We are talking about Kolkata, and it is a super congested place. As per the dealer, it falls under minor touch-ups to cover the scratches. Now I am a bit skeptical, as nobody bothers to touch up such minor scratches especially if they never bothered to drive the car a lot, why would they care about touching it up to enhance its looks if it isn't a daily driver?
• Moreover, seems like the car has a gap in the service history for a few years after the second owner took the car. Should I go ahead with it? The car looks fine based on the pics, and the dealer's reviews are okay.

The price quoted is around Rs. 3,40,000 and he is not reducing below that.

This car would be my first rodeo, and I want to make it a good one! BHPians, I need your serious opinion. Should I go for it? What things should I check?

Here's what BHPian boniver had to say about the matter:

Yeah, no chance an 8-year-old car with 2 owners has been driven just 14k. On the contrary, if the reading is indeed true, this car will be problematic in the long run.

Here's what BHPian Jeroen had to say about the matter:

As Boniver pointed out, very unlikely that an eight-year-old car has such low mileage.

There are a few other telltales. At such a low mileage the interior should be immaculate, almost new! So look closely at the driver seat. Any sagging in the cushions. Roll out the safety belt, it should look brand new. Look at the pedals, at this mileage there should be no wear to be seen at all on the rubber pads on the pedals. Check the shifter and other controls for signs of usage.

If you have access to a good OBD scanner you might be able to extract the mileage from the ECU. Most modern cars have the mileage stored in two different positions. The odometer and the ECU. Flashing the odo tends to be a lot easier than the ECU.

As this will be your first car you need to think hard about whether you really want it. A first car should not bring any worries, the buying process should be a positive experience. When something doesn’t feel right don’t try and rationalize it away. Look for a car with a good vibe!

Good luck.

Here's what BHPian mayankk had to say about the matter:

When in doubt, walk away.

One owner may have sold it since he didn't have usage, but the second as well?

And it's not a Mach 1 Mustang, that it has to be had. There must be hundreds of others for sale, in proximity to your budget, with a more believable/honest reading and history.

My advice is to not consider it.

Here's what BHPian bosespeaks had to say about the matter:

There's a very easy way to check if it has indeed run so low numbers. Check the A/B/C pedals. If there is noticeable wear around the edges, it has definitely run way more.

The pedals start wearing off after 20-25k kms, if it has indeed run only 14K km, the interiors can be taken to a detailer and made as good as new, but the wear on the clutch pedal particularly, is hard to hide.

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