Car Purchase Advice

10yearitch

Hi,
My wife and I are planning to travel in India for about 18 months with our 70lbs Golden Retriever. Looks like we'll need to get a big car / SUV for the trip.

I am thinking of getting a good used SUV for about 6-8 lakhs.
Something which is
a) easy to service and fix
b) sturdy enough since we plan to cover most parts of India
c) easy to sell before we leave

What model/make would you recommend?
Is the budget realistic?

Any advice is highly appreciated.

Cheers!

ks_bluechip

I should think a Local Mahindra (M&M) "Scorpio" should do fine. It is serviceable everywhere in India. Rs 6-8 Lacs is a good budget to buy a 2-3 year old Scorpio with perhaps under 50000 KMs on it? I am also trying to buy a used Scorpio; for my Himalayan Road journeys.

For Buy/Sell online see: http://www.carwale.com/

Also see some vehicle advise given in old '2008' posts in this thread: Grand Himalayan Road Tour (GHiRT)- What to Visit?

There are many other threads too on this topic, if you search on IndiaMike.

BTW: 18 months is about right, to see most of India esp if you have your own car/SUV.

Best Wishes ... if you find a good used Scorpio that you don't plan to buy yourself ... let me know .
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__________________
ks_bluechip [My Travel Blog] [My Flickr Photo Sets]

Indizen

A used Toyota Qualis also fits the bill.

bsprasad

With 6-8 Lacs you can target two types of vehicles

1. Mahindra Scorpio
2. Toyota Qualis.

Scorpio is still in production and running. Qualis is no longer into production but it is still running.

Qualis has a pretty high re-sale value unlike scorpio. Both the vehicles are rugged, but qualis is more driver friendly.

I have driven both the vehicles across India. Qualis gives you a smoother ride on plain roads, But you may require hard shock absorbers to drive it in bad roads.

Scorpio is named as a mini truck in India. It is pretty tough and rugged.

There is a knack in selecting used vehicles. Do let me know your mail Id. I will send you a checklist which can be used while selecting a second hand car.

Please dont go through brokers. They are so good in pushing a piece of junk to you. There are direct and genuine sellers with whom you can strike a good bargain.

Regards

B.S.Prasad

Raghu.Kumar

Hi,

With your budget of 8 lakhs, you can easily go in for a Toyota Innova thats about an year old. Its sturdy, spacious, smooth and has got excellent service back up allover India.

Moreover, the resale value is better than any other car/SUV being the Toyota brand.

Pl dont go in for the Qualis, as the available vehicles in the market are already run down and prone to breakdowns as most of them has been used as taxis.

Raghu

__________________
S.Raghu Kumar
sahana_kumar@yahoo.com

Nick-H

Whenever the subject of cars comes up, I give www.team-bhp.com a plug.

Among other thing (well, everything to do with cars in India!) you'll find checklists for buying.

If you are not going to be legally resident in India you may run into difficulties buying and registering a vehicle. Similarly, unless you have an Indian licence, you would need an International Driving Permit from your own country, which only lasts 12 months.

Unless you are Indian/PIO/OCI, you also have the tourist-visa maximum 180-day stay to work around.

10yearitch

@ks ... thanks for the info ... i went through your blog. It's very facinating ... My wife's family is from Thane too Small world ... we would love to meet you there ...

@nick ... I do have an indian license ... valid till 2012 (got it before I moved to the US) ... Also we'll be applying for OCI ...

@Raghu ... isn't the Innova a low clearance vehicle ... would it be ok for driving through rough roads etc

ks_bluechip

Yes, lets meet! when you are in Thane. I would like to know more about your 18-month tour . My email-id is in the blog home-page footer
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