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BHPian bharatbits recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Hello all
What car should I buy? I am quite confused.
I am an NRI, visit Hyderabad once or twice every month for 5 to 10 days on each visit. Usage in each visit would be about 500 to 1000 km if not more. That’s about 100 days in a year and my usage would be about 7500 km in a year.
I currently own a 2013 Ford Fiesta, manual, diesel at 88,000 km with no major problems. Poor roads, heavy traffic, manual cars and image - these are the reasons I am looking to buy a bigger, diesel, automatic, white SUV. I also feel left knee pain when I drive the manual car. I am 35 years old now. I don’t want it to become a major problem as I age further especially when I can afford to buy an automatic car now. Constantly having a driver around me is not really practical when I am in India. The freedom, privacy and convenience you get when you can drive your automatic yourself is priceless.
I am looking at Tata Hexa, XUV 500 and similar cars. Open to older Fortuners too. Isuzu MUX etc. White, diesel, automatic, 7 seater SUVs, image are my preferences. I drive a Ford Ranger truck in Dubai now if it is of any help in the decision-making process.
Budget around 10 lakhs INR. Maybe a little more depending on the car.
I plan to leave my car with my BIL when I am not here. He has 2 Crystas, Vento and Swift for work and personal use. I have to encourage them to use my car too once in a while and take care of it. They have open parking for their cars in front of their villa. No restriction as such on the number of cars they can park.
Hope to hear your valuable input.
Here's what BHPian bijims had to say on the matter:
A used Hexa or XUV500 at under 10 lakhs won't give you a "great" image, it is quite evident that these are old and moreover have been discontinued as well, To add to that Tata and Mahindra don't have as good a brand image as the Japanese, American or European brands. For a dependable machine, I would suggest a Fortuner, but getting good examples under 10 lakhs would be a task in itself, increasing your budget for a well-maintained car is the best option.
Here's what BHPian revsperminute had to say on the matter:
7500km/year is not ‘very low’ usage. But it is low enough to get by with a petrol SUV.
Why not pick the darling of NRIs? The Honda CRV. There’s a reason why CRVs, Accords and Camrys are so popular among NRIs. They don’t mind being parked up for a long time, spring back into service at a moment’s notice and you won’t find yourself at the service centre during the few precious days you visit India. A 2.4 AWD CRV is a very accomplished vehicle and typically sees very sophisticated usage so buying one in the pew-owned market is a very safe bet.
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