Thread Starter
#1
Hi Everyone,
As we all know, India has a huge market for new hatchbacks customers. Of late I was wondering if it really makes sense to buy a new small hatchback spending over 3lacs instead of buying a old sedan & restoring it.
Some Facts:
1. Sedans depreciate faster than Hatchbacks (You will get good conditioned cars for less price)
2. There is practically no new car available for less than 3.5lacs OTR (let us not count Nano here)
3. Small Hatchbacks have really not improved by huge margins when it comes to the safety factor.
4. What has changed in entry level small hatch over the years is more mileage, thinner glass, weaker sheet metals, fog lamps, stickers, plastic facelifts, removing adjustable headrests etc
5. With AC switched on our underpowered hatchbacks are really lifeless to drive (especially when fully loaded)
6. Most good sedans cost less than 1.5lacs in the used car market! -Accent, Ikon, Esteem, Baleno, Old Honda City, Indigo etc
7. We can do a lot of mods in a car to increase pick up, mileage, sound etc, but for increasing space there is no easy/quick/safe mod. So sedans have an edge over here.
I feel its better to buy a used Ikon 1.6 or Baleno 1.6 or Esteem 1.3 or Accent instead of a brand new Alto 800/ Spark/ Eon.
Even if you spend about the same price of the used car on its one time service, still you save a lot of money, which would otherwise be spent on the new car.
Example:
Total budget: 3,50,00/-
Used Hyundai Accent: 1,00,000/-
One Big service as soon as you buy the car: 1,00,000/- (includes battery, tyres, seat covers, engine work, spark plugs, fuel injectors, 1 or 2 sensors, exhaust mufflers, mild body touchup works, headlamps & tail lamps etc
Total Spent: 2,00,000/-
Cash left in hand: 1,50,000/-
Use this cash left to fuel the car for the next say 18,000kms! Assuming petrol is 85/- a litre and the car will give minimum mileage of 10kmpl after the service.
Isn't this a better option than investing full 3.5lacs on a new hatchback & then again putting fuel with our hard earned money?
If we justify buying a new small car for just for peace of mind that it wont trouble. Haven't we seen so many threads where new cars (read 2012 & 2013 models - Sail Uva, Swift Lxi, Vxi,LDi,Vdi brakes, Ertiga mileage issues, i10 steering rattle etc) in warranty come with so many defects, is it still worth investing money on a new car?
Note:
No offense meant to any car owner, Alto is not a bad car, but its not a good option when compared to restored/repaired sedans.
Nano: This is not a complete car, I am considering cars that have Power Steering, Ac, atleast 2 power windows as a complete car. (Since Nano has manual steering let us not discuss about that here). No offense meant to any Nano owner/lover/maker/seller.
As we all know, India has a huge market for new hatchbacks customers. Of late I was wondering if it really makes sense to buy a new small hatchback spending over 3lacs instead of buying a old sedan & restoring it.
Some Facts:
1. Sedans depreciate faster than Hatchbacks (You will get good conditioned cars for less price)
2. There is practically no new car available for less than 3.5lacs OTR (let us not count Nano here)
3. Small Hatchbacks have really not improved by huge margins when it comes to the safety factor.
4. What has changed in entry level small hatch over the years is more mileage, thinner glass, weaker sheet metals, fog lamps, stickers, plastic facelifts, removing adjustable headrests etc
5. With AC switched on our underpowered hatchbacks are really lifeless to drive (especially when fully loaded)
6. Most good sedans cost less than 1.5lacs in the used car market! -Accent, Ikon, Esteem, Baleno, Old Honda City, Indigo etc
7. We can do a lot of mods in a car to increase pick up, mileage, sound etc, but for increasing space there is no easy/quick/safe mod. So sedans have an edge over here.
I feel its better to buy a used Ikon 1.6 or Baleno 1.6 or Esteem 1.3 or Accent instead of a brand new Alto 800/ Spark/ Eon.
Even if you spend about the same price of the used car on its one time service, still you save a lot of money, which would otherwise be spent on the new car.
Example:
Total budget: 3,50,00/-
Used Hyundai Accent: 1,00,000/-
One Big service as soon as you buy the car: 1,00,000/- (includes battery, tyres, seat covers, engine work, spark plugs, fuel injectors, 1 or 2 sensors, exhaust mufflers, mild body touchup works, headlamps & tail lamps etc
Total Spent: 2,00,000/-
Cash left in hand: 1,50,000/-
Use this cash left to fuel the car for the next say 18,000kms! Assuming petrol is 85/- a litre and the car will give minimum mileage of 10kmpl after the service.
Isn't this a better option than investing full 3.5lacs on a new hatchback & then again putting fuel with our hard earned money?
If we justify buying a new small car for just for peace of mind that it wont trouble. Haven't we seen so many threads where new cars (read 2012 & 2013 models - Sail Uva, Swift Lxi, Vxi,LDi,Vdi brakes, Ertiga mileage issues, i10 steering rattle etc) in warranty come with so many defects, is it still worth investing money on a new car?
Note:
No offense meant to any car owner, Alto is not a bad car, but its not a good option when compared to restored/repaired sedans.
Nano: This is not a complete car, I am considering cars that have Power Steering, Ac, atleast 2 power windows as a complete car. (Since Nano has manual steering let us not discuss about that here). No offense meant to any Nano owner/lover/maker/seller.
![[frustration]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Frustration.gif "Frustration [frustration]")