As a rule, we always get the fully-loaded trim. Didn’t buy the top variant of the Nissan Sunny as it was the beater car of the house. In the ensuing years, I did regret it.
GTO recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Even as gearheads, we can sometimes veer off the intended path due to a multitude of reasons. We have several gold-standard threads on Team-BHP with advice on purchasing cars, yet as an enthusiast, I have to sheepishly admit that I have broken the rules sometimes.
Pre-Owned Honda Civic
Bought it without a test-drive . The showroom was in the far suburbs (1.5-2 hours one way from my office) and I had an experienced petrolhead team member check it out in detail. But the real reason I was okay with not TD’ing it is, I pinged my contact at Honda Cars India. They did a detailed PDI & test-drive and gave me the all clear. Honda’s team & engineers surely know more about cars than I do, so I was satisfied.
BMW 530d
Didn’t bargain, ended up paying the asking price! Truth be told, negotiating on price is like pulling teeth for me. I love fixed-price stores. Had already lost on a few 530d deals because they were a hot moving item so I had to move fast. In the long run frankly, that supposed extra 1-2 lakhs I paid doesn’t matter at all. I absolutely loved the car and was fine with paying a small premium to close it. Time is money. Plus, the car is now in its 11th year and I am still in l-o-v-e with it. I would do it again since, with used cars, you anyway save so much money that a lakh or two here and there doesn’t matter for the right car.
Skoda Superb
Bought a car with a known failure point (DSG) and suspect long-term reliability. But we’d fallen head over heels for the Superb L&K as an all-round package, got a great deal (33-lakhs OTR) and are prepared for some maintenance headaches in the longer run. Skoda now offers long 8-year warranties (was 6 years at the time of my purchase), while I have access to great independent garages for the later out-of-warranty years. Am fine with 10 days of downtime in a year as long as the other 355 days bring me driving pleasure. In general now, my preferences are more aligned with European cars over the more-reliable Japanese.
Nissan Sunny
As a rule, we always buy the fully-loaded trim. Didn’t buy the top variant Sunny as it was the beater car of the house. In the ensuing years, I did regret it. The top-variant’s price premium was worth it for the keyless entry & go, alloy wheels, foglamps, nicer instrument cluster etc . Never again – only top variants for us. This was a rare detour.
Mercedes C180
Family bought the wretched C180 in the year 2003 over obviously superior cars like the Camry, purely due to the badge. Was eventually replaced with a spectacular C220 6-speed MT that we enjoyed for 9 years & 1+ lakh km.
Here’s what BHPian SidTheChamp had to say about the matter:
Back in 2014, I bought my then-second-year Swift Dzire primarily to occupy the parking space allocated to me.
It was a mad rush as I already communicated to the housing society that my car was coming so don’t allocate the space to anyone else.
With very little time, went for a safe option Maruti. The showroom where I had initially booked Red Swift later backed out and said that stock was not available.
Thankfully there are multiple Maruti Suzuki dealers in Thane and another dealer promised to deliver White Swift Dzire.
No test drive, no PDI. Just went, paid and took delivery of the car. Thankfully it turned out reliable like a Maruti car.
Here’s what BHPian Keeleri_Achu had to say about the matter:
Oh boy, here we go.
No test drive was done for any of the three cars we ever purchased – M800, Ritz or the Ignis. While I could be excused for the decision on M800 as I was too young, Ritz and Ignis are on me.
Ritz was bought 6 months after it was launched. There was no research done on the car. One of my father’s customers who ran a driving school recommended Ritz when he was told we were upgrading the 800. We visited the dealership, just checked the car out and made the booking. No negotiations, no visits to other dealerships. Nothing. Heck, we didn’t go for the full option just because the dealer said VXi was a better value. The dealer didn’t even have a stockyard in town and the car was driven 100 km before delivery. No PDI was done and it was driven home by our driver at the time. The car turned out to be fantastic and served us well for 7 years.
Ritz was replaced only because I was going to the US and my parents asked for something smaller with an automatic transmission. This time I did put some effort and made a shortlist of cars – Ignis which was scheduled to be launched in a month, Baleno and Grand i10. Grand i10 was ruled out for its thirsty nature and Baleno was ruled out for its size. Ignis was booked as soon as the website went live. Again, one dealership, no negotiations. I did go to the showroom to check it in person once the display car reached the showroom. I was not available on delivery day and the car was picked up by my father and his friend. No PDI done. The car is at 40k KM now and I absolutely love it.
The cherry on top though is my 2013 CBR 150R It was not even in the list of bikes under consideration. The bike in my mind was FZ-S. I did some math in my head and showed my mother an R15 V2 which, as expected, was rejected. What I expected was the budget to be reduced and eventually settled on the FZ. Before I showed her the same though, I simply scrolled and showed her the CBR. And she said “Okay”. Well, that was it. I was at the Honda showroom and made the booking. And as you would have guessed by now, No test drive, No negotiations, No PDI. The bike is at 75k KM now and still a joy to ride.
But safe to say, since then, all my recommendations to friends/family have been well thought out and done after test drives. Although I could never convince them about PDIs.
Here’s what BHPian starts had to say about the matter:
I bought a Tiago EV without doing the detailed Team-BHP PDI. I was afraid I would never buy a Tata after doing a proper PDI. I was far too excited about owning an EV and I only checked for serious flaws and ignored issues I knew were common in the model.
I realized my mistake once I took the car home and started using it. The horn pad on the left side of the steering and 12V socket on the dashboard were dead, the driver-side mirror couldn’t unfold properly every time, there was a dead cricket inside the cabin light dome and there was no fluid in the windscreen washer tank. I don’t understand how the car ended up with a PDI OK sticker from the factory.
A lesson learned the hard way.
Here’s what BHPian shankar.balan had to say about the matter:
I am a ripe candidate for this thread.
Because I buy things mostly with my Heart. I am driven simply by a combination of function, aesthetics, passion and fantasy.
I saw the New 2020 Thar and bought it. Just because I loved its looks and go-anywhere ability.
I came across a person selling his Gypsy and bought it.
Because I just LOVE Gypsys. And this was my all-time fantasy – Dark Green. Bone Stock. Soft Top.
I live in Bangalore and not on a farm. And while our roads can be classified as off-road tracks, they still really don’t warrant a 4X4. But in my fantasy world, I’m a cowboy and hence I need to have a Jeepy thing or two.
I saw a Red Cooper for sale and made a bid for it. Luckily I was able to wrest it from the Doc who owned it then. I have always loved Mini Coopers and always wanted one- from the age of 4 or so. Yes, it is a superb car for the city and highways too and its growl is addictive. But here also, in my fantasy world, I’m the red car driver in the Italian Job.
Did I do a thorough PDI and investigation prior to buying? Nope, I did not, because a clean Civilian Gypsy is a very rare bird in these days and an R56 Mini Cooper remains a relatively rare object of desire.
However, in the case of my Thar, I did do a cursory check – cursory because I had already invested time and trouble in cultivating a relationship with the Showroom guys and Service guys from the day I booked it, and therefore took them mostly on trust.
Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
