Asked the folks there for a test drive outside of the basement, at first they were a bit adamant but eventually let me take it out.

BHPian swamy_r34nismo recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

So, at the start of 2023, I was finally in a position to throw the switch on buying my first car. As it was going to be driven daily in the harsh Bangalore traffic and would be modified a bit in the future, I decided to go with a used car. The requirements were pretty straightforward: it had to be a hatchback, diesel (I've always been a diesel enthusiast), with not too many kilometers on the odometer, a clean well-kept example, and a budget of a maximum of 6 lakhs.

Options I had in mind:

• 2018-2020 Ford Figo TDCI: This was the top priority because of the gem of a diesel engine it has. It's really hard to find an example.
• 2016-2018 Hyundai i20 CRDI: Pretty good engine. However, the driving lacks that raw feeling, in my opinion.
• 2014-2018 Volkswagen Polo TDI: Who doesn’t like a Polo?

For the sake of convenience and the added benefits, I started looking for vehicles on online platforms like Cars24, Spinny, etc.

Test Drive 1: 2019 Ford Figo Titanium Blu TDCI:

• Perfect spec, dual-tone car (white + black), 2nd owner, had about ~52k Kms on the dash. The folks at Cars24 were kind enough to send the car 20+ kms in Bangalore traffic for a test drive.
• When the car did arrive, it looked perfect from 20 feet away. But oh boy, it was rough. The car had multiple repainted panels and not a great color match. Though Cars24 confirmed that the car was not accidental, it had clearly been in a fender bender.
• The headlights and taillights were plastic welded, and the front suspension mounts were redone. Also, the steering wheel would not return to center. The interior had a few broken panels, and the rattle was horrible.
• I had a word with the executive, he was pretty firm that the car had never been in an accident. Nonetheless, I had to pass on this deal.

<I somehow misplaced the images clicked of the car >

Test Drive 2: 2018 Ford Figo Titanium TDCI:

• Saw this car on Spinny website and it was a very clean example. First Owner with 55k Kms running.
• Had all 5 tyres replaced recently, fairly new battery.
• But, the car was tentatively booked by a gentleman. This is where it got interesting , the person who booked the car was not residing in Bangalore. Even i happened to be on a work trip at the moment.
•     Spinny retains the booking for 3 days before releasing the inventory back to the public. As he could not go and see the vehicle or complete the transaction, the car did get released. However, it was booked again by him.
• I contacted the Spinny executive, they could not do much about it.
• This re-booking fiasco went on for another 3 to 4 cycles, around 10-12 days.
• On 1st of May, the inventory was released and for my luck it was open. Immediately booked the car by paying a nominal fee and rushed to their site where the car was being held. The executives there walked me through the entire documents, pics and the inspection report. All the things checked out and I was ready to take the vehicle for a spin.
• It was parked in a Mall basement, and the executive asked me to take it around the basement. Engine fired right up at the first crank, smooth as butter with the usual diesel clatter.
• It was almost in mint condition except a few dings and scratches here and there which Spinny could not sort out.
• Drove the car and loved it, and had a wide smile on my face. Asked the folks there for a test drive outside of the basement, at first they were a bit adamant but eventually let me take it out. Went through all the gears, the drive was very smooth.
• There was a slight noise coming in from one of the rear suspension, which they mentioned while explaining. After a 2-3 km drive, I was completely sold and made up my mind to go for it. The pricing was also right at my budget point

Booking Experience:

• Paid 10k to block the car and start the other procedures. Now I had two options, either to get financing from Spinny or get it done from outside. I went ahead with Spinny as they promised a smooth onboarding.
• The documents required for financing were shared within a few hours. They said they would sanction the loan within 24 hours.
• The strange part about this process was that most mainstream banks declined as the make of the vehicle was Ford. Not sure if this is because of their exit from India.
• One bank did agree to finance, their process was manual and took a lot of time to complete. The physical home and work verification took a good 4 days to complete.
• Finally the process was done and got a nod from the bank to go ahead. The good folks at Spinny contacted for the delivery process.

Delivery Experience:

The car was all prepped while the finance process was being taken care of. They offered me two options: Get the vehicle delivered at home or pick it up from their location.

I opted for the location pickup. Upon reaching, all the pending paperwork was completed with the car history, warranty, transfer, etc.

And there it was all polished, waxed and decked up ready to be picked. The entire process took around 30 mins and we were out with the car.

Pros and Cons of going ahead with Online platforms:

(These details may vary from platform to platform, but more or less the same offerings across the board)

Pros:

• They source well kept example with a complete detailed inspection and health report
• 3 months or 5k Kms comprehensive and 1 year or 15k Kms or engine and drivetrain warranty
• 1 year free roadside assistance
• 7 days no questions asked return policy
• Well documented process, literally received a 20 pager agreement during the sign off

Cons:

• You cannot negotiate the final prize, the one which is quoted is the final prize
• Few panels that are prone to scratches such as bumpers are repainted by them before listing the vehicles. The downside to this is poor quality of work, there are spots where the body work is suboptimal and clear coat rundown marks are visible here and there.
• They claim the cars to be non-accidental, however, there are vehicles that have signs of previous accidental repairs.

Initial impression of the car:

• Runs and drives beautifully, Cannot be more happy with the engine performance in its stock form.
• Fuel efficiency is excellent, constant 16-17 kmpl in city driving conditions. Yet to test on the long highway runs.
• The Interior could have been better, like the quality of materials used.
• Quite a bit of road noise enters the cabin.
• Handles like a champ, you throw it into a corner and it sticks.

Future plans:

Aesthetics:

• Figo S conversion (grille, spoiler and black accents)
• A set of Lenso wheels after the current tyres are due for change
• Window Tint (Need suggestions on this)

Performance:

• Diesel Tronic or Code6 stage 1 (Need suggestions on this: Don’t want to go too crazy as this will be a daily driver)
• Figo S suspension swap

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Spinny Park will house both 'Spinny Assured' and 'Spinny Max' pre-owned luxury cars.

Used car retailing platform Spinny has inaugurated its largest used car outlet in Bangalore.

‘Spinny Park’ is located near Yelahanka on the Kempegowda International Airport Road. Spread across 5 acres, the facility houses 1,000 used cars and has test drive zones, interactive dashboards, customer lounges and community zones.

Spinny operates over 55 car hubs across the country with a total parking capacity of 10,000 cars. Out of these, six car hubs are located in Bangalore. With the addition of Spinny Park, the total parking capacity in the city has reached 2,200 cars.

Spinny Park will house both 'Spinny Assured' and 'Spinny Max' pre-owned luxury cars. Every Spinny Assured car comes with a 200-point inspection checklist, a 5-day money-back guarantee and a 1-year warranty.

Spinny Max currently offers over 500 premium cars from brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi.

Spinny has launched a used luxury car retailing platform called Spinny Max.

Spinny Max is said to be the first pre-owned luxury car sales platform that operates on a national scale. It has over 500 cars from brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Jaguar and Land Rover on offer. The company also offers a pan-India delivery service through 250 cities.

Spinny Max offers a 1-year warranty and Money Back guarantee on the cars. Every car listed on the platform goes through a 250-point checklist.

Customers looking for luxury cars can access the Spinny Max section on the Spinny App. It offers an online buying experience with a 360-degree view of each vehicle.

The vehicle was fully washed and vacuumed before delivery (Nov 6th). Will give them 9/10 for the pre-delivery experience.

BHPian anandtheleo recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Sharing my Spinny experience. Around October 2021 wanted a decent SUV after experiencing the ever deteriorating roads in Bengaluru with my sedan (Ford Fiesta DCT).

Checked out and reserved (by paying Rs.10,000) a used 2017 Hyundai Tucson automatic which even though looked and drove decent, the VFM quotient was not that great. So I cancelled the reservation. Full marks for Spinny to immediately refund the money to my original payment option.

Pre-Delivery: Then I identified a used 2017 Tata Hexa XTA (1st owner) and test drove it (they came home and gave a decently long test drive) after which I identified a few issues like less cooling in AC, wheel alignment issues (pulling left) and other minor issues. I was promised that everything will be rectified before delivery, hence reserved the vehicle by paying Rs.10,000 again. I got the full service history for the car from Spinny and also the latest insurance copy (to check IDV and NCB).

A week later, I got confirmation that all the issues were addressed. I informed them that I will pay the balance only after inspection and test drive to which they agreed. The inspection went well, and I paid the balance and collected the vehicle on the same day. The vehicle was fully washed and vacuumed before delivery (Nov 6th). Will give them 9/10 for the pre-delivery experience.

Post-delivery: During routine engine bay check after a couple of days, I noticed that the brake oil reservoir cap was broken and some oil had spilled. I raised the issue to my RM who in turn redirected me to the Spinny workshop which thankfully was near-by. The cap was replaced and oil topped up without any questions or charges.

Drove for a couple of runs in Bengaluru, and also to nearby places, including a long drive (about 2600 kms) during the Christmas weekend and it was a comfortable drive. Post the drive, I started noticing that the gear lever was not slotting into Park mode and needed a hard push (which was really painful to execute for a car lover) from Drive mode. Took it to KHT Motors, the Tata ASS nearby to diagnose the problem as the vehicle is in extended warranty till December 22. The ASS was full, and was I told to get the vehicle in the1st week of January 22. I then contacted Spinny, who after inspection told me that they don't have the necessary expertise (so much for their 1 year transmission warranty) to fix it in their workshop, and its best that I get it rectified at the Tata ASS.

I gave the car to KHT Motors on January 4th for the gear lever problem, and also for annual service (to keep the extended warranty intact). The ASS after diagnosis informed me that the gear lever assembly has to be changed (cost Rs.85,000) and that they will take it up with Tata for honoring extended warranty.

Current situation: The car is still with KHT Motors, the warranty replacement is approved but since the part is not in stock, they have to order it and are not sure when the part will be available.

So far, its been a mixed bag experience with Spinny. I feel that they are equipped to support for minor issues post-sales, but for anything major, we are left to fend for ourselves. Hence my advice is 'Caveat Emptor'.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

I decided on a 2012 Maruti Suzuki Dzire with just 25,000 km on the odometer.

BHPian Prateek_999 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello to all the esteemed members of the forum this is my first thread in this forum, and I would like to share the experience of buying a car from Spinny

Choosing a car

It began in the year 2020 Jan, requirement was a car that would ply 95 per cent in a city for occasional highway use. I started exploring options. But unfortunately, the lockdown was declared.

I made the car search a part of my WFH. Initial idea was to get a better car (in decent condition) for about 2.5 lakhs as this would be the first car I would be getting for myself.

The Used car market of Hyderabad

I had been following the used car market in Hyderabad for a long time, and when I got into it fully, oh my god it was such a mess. I went to the Maruti true Value, cars there were in extremely bad shape. I saw an alto k 10 which had around 35k clicks on the odo, and the dealer quoted a whooping 3.2 lakh for it. (negotiable). I asked him about the dents the car had, he replied “sir once you finalize the car we can talk about the works and price”. And next, I asked about the warranty, they said it will just be a word of mouth and nothing is written, this was the case with 3 to 4 dealers and then I dropped the idea of Maruti true value.

Next, I visited the used car dealers in a place called Madhapur (people from hyd can relate to), and there began the real game. I visited a dealer, he noted my requirement in his notebook, showed me some cars, I was not so satisfied and walked away. Later I received 50+ phone calls from Various dealers. So, what happens here is they have a what’s app group in which they post the customer’s budget and requirements and circulate it within themselves.

After getting so many calls I visited a few of the dealerships and inspected the vehicles that I liked. Found a Swift that had an odometer reading of 50k km, a Santro, a Honda City and an i10. The Swift and i10 were overpriced. He quoted 5.9 lakhs for the 2015 Swift Vxi. When I refused and walked to the gate he was ready to finalize it for 5.00 lakhs. I did not utter a word and left. I took the number and got it checked, it was last serviced at 76k km and had 50 k clicks on the odo. This was a case with three to four local dealers. They offer no warranty or anything once they hand you over the vehicle, they are done. I was completely dejected and decided to go in for a new car.

The following options were considered for buying a new car after a detailed car search:

• Maruti Suzuki Alto 800, K10
• Maruti Suzuki Celerio
• Renault Kwid

Took a test ride of all the there. Kwid 0.8 L was just not up to the expectations. Celerio had a 4-month wait and k 10 was out of production and had no stock left. The only option left was the Alto 800. I was told by the dealer in Hyd ( Somajuguda) that the vehicle would be ready in a week.

The car procurement:

And finally, one day I came across a website called “Spinny”. It is a company based out of Delhi, now a big chain which is spread over many cities. I went through their website and found the cars to be in really good shape and they were offering a one-year warranty on all their cars.

I decided to pay a visit to the dealership. This was a totally different experience; their office was located in a mall and their inventory was in a basement. People, there were really professional, to be honest, I never got such hospitality even in a few premium showrooms. I told them my budget and they showed me a set of cars. All the cars were in pristine shape which is usually not the case for the dealers who sell ordinary mass-market used cars. After going through the inventory, I saw a 2012 Dzire VXI which did about 25000 km. They happily offered me a test drive, I told them I wanted to take out of the basement to get the correct overview the salesman was very professional and polite yet slightly hesitant but finally agreed. Overall I was very much satisfied with the car.

Later I told the salesperson that I am ok with the car but will get it checked from the A.S.S records. They did not refuse, I booked the car by paying INR 10,000. The good part with these people is the booking money is refundable, unlike other local dealers where they just rob the money in case you do not finalize the deal.

The only thing I was sceptical about was the old car having such a low reading on the odo, but I checked the tires and they had dates similar to the year of manufacturing of the car (sigh of relief). I got a photo of the RC from spinny and got it checked from the Maruti service centre. The reading was genuine, and the vehicle was non-accidental. And on that day, I decided to purchase the car.

I called up spinny and said I will be taking the car. I decided to go for a car loan, spinny offered the best deal from HDFC compared to what I was getting outside. The next morning the finance person turned up at my doorstep for documentation, the loan was approved by the afternoon. And spinny was ready to deliver the car the same day. Woohoo, that was really fast. But I wanted to take the car delivery exactly after 2 days (June 16) as it was my late grandfather’s birthday.

Delivery experience

There comes the final day. I wanted to personally take the delivery but was occupied with work completed. I requested the salesperson if they could deliver the car to my place, they were more than happy to do it. The salesperson himself arrived at my doorstep with the car and all the documentation and RC transfer were looked after by them.

Pros and cons of Spinny

Pros:

• One-year Warranty: 3-month comprehensive which includes electrical parts as well and the rest includes a warranty for engine and transmission)
• Certified Vehicles: They give an entire health report of the vehicle on their website along with the dent map windshield chipping etc.
• Professional experience: Mentioned the way they treat customers.
• Transparency: No previous owners are mentioned.
• Proper documentation: I was given 10 pages of paperwork about the warranty and the way it works making things clear.
• Hassle free purchase even for people who are not aware of cars as most of the cars were in good shape.
• Money back within 5 days of purchase or 200 km (whichever is earlier) in case you are not happy with the car

Cons:

• Fixed price whatsoever
• Prices are about 5 to 10 per cent dearer compared to the local market.
• Test drive is mostly in the basement of the mall which makes inspection a task.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Good review. Thanks for sharing. The entry of organised players into the fragmented used car market is good, especially those who have their operations running like a well-oiled machine. Heard good things about Spinny from a fellow Moderator - their staff, call centre experience and inspection were superior to the others. They actually rejected his car because it didn't meet the quality criteria (was an old beater car).

You anyway save a lot by going the pre-owned way, so a 5 - 10% premium for a smoother experience is nothing. In fact, for most of my used cars, I have paid a premium for the car I really liked.

Here's what BHPian SmartCat had to say on the matter:

My experience with Spinny was excellent too - but I was the seller. Sold my 2011 A-star AT with 45,000 km on the clock for around Rs. 2.3L. A friend of mine sold his old i20 via Spinny too.

PROS:

• Online quote software is quite accurate. You will be offered the "online quote" price, give or take a few thousand.
• Evaluation is done at home. No need to go to a dealership like Cars24 or OLX cars.
• After evaluation, you will get an offer on phone within 24 hours. This quote is valid for a week
• Funds are transferred online
• Driver will come home and pick up the car

CONS:

• Offer is more or less fixed. No room for negotiations
• Ultra thorough evaluation and test drive. The technician takes almost 1.5 hours (including photography time)
• Nervous feeling handing over the keys to a stranger while he checks the car (I stayed with the car though)

So I was chatting with the technician about HOW SPINNY WORKS:

• Once a car is purchased, they fix any minor cosmetic issues and get it serviced
• Car bought for Rs. 2L is likely to have a sticker price of Rs. 3L
• Customer always negotiates while purchasing a used car. So an Rs. 2 lakh car might eventually be sold for Rs. 2.85L or 2.9L
• Small cars are generally sold within 30 days
• If a car is not sold within 30 days, they slash the sticker price by 10% every month.
• Beyond a certain time period, if a car is not sold, they cut their losses by selling it to a used car dealer.

In Bangalore, if a car does not meet Spinny minimum requirements, the lead is transferred to their sister company called TRUEBIL. They accept all cars.

Here's what BHPian sunilch had to say on the matter:

1. True so far in my experience
2. I have noticed more than a 10% difference when compared to local dealers. It could be an exceptional case though due to high demand these days.
3. TDs are available at home too and longer TDs are also possible. I was given a TD at home and the car came 25Kms away from my home. I was also given unlimited time to check the car and drive it on the highway too.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.