BHPian unni246 recently shared this with other enthusiasts: Hitting Sixer with a Hexa Caution: Insanely long post. Couldn’t keep it briefer than this as it covers a little bit of background, my explorations and of all a lot of Joy and pride in owning a Dream Car. Well it all started a few months back, precisely beginning of 2024. As part of my promotion at work and a level change I was allowed to the Company Car Lease program, though initially the need was not there the devil in me kept whispering to get a new car. A little background: The Tiago used by my Dad, was running fine as of now although it had given enough troubles in all the 5 years of ownership. The NGK Iridium plug swap had immensely given the engine some good breathe and car was more fun to drive now, however with reduced mileage probably because I was pushing the pedal to the floor more often. The Fiesta S on the other hand was a silent performer – no tantrums all these 15 years and due for Fitness check towards end of this year with just about 75K of Kms clocked. The plan is to keep and use the car as long as possible, until fitness would be rejected. Also with Ford leaving India, the support was still great which helps me not to think twice about it. So decision was almost done – sell the Tiago and keep the Fiesta (although its tough for my 70+ old Dad to use it in city) But the next question was – What Car? I did a test drive of multiple 6-7 seaters as these days my Bangalore – Kerala trips would mostly have either of our parents accompanying us along with kids. So a good 6-7 seater with enough boot space was the way to go. Rumion, XL6, Ertiga, Carens .etc were ruled out as I was not happy with the seating position and also the safety aspect Scorpio N, XUV700 though interested the mid variants were too Expensive and I could not justify the OTR prices in Bangalore. The following were shortlisted but did have some or the other Cons:Bolero Neo 7 seater (Rugged car, but recent NCAP ratings came disappointing with a single star)Bolero Neo Plus (Was on top of my list as I loved the Black color and dimensions were proportionate and above all the 2.2ltr mhawk engine), however no test drive car availableWas planning to do a blind booking as the car seemed to be a nonsense deal with OTR of about 15.5 in Bangalore. Though the Rear seats were risky, plan was to have them folded to have a 5 seater with a BIG boot.Citroen C3 Aircross 7 seater was next on my list, though it’s to be still considered as a 5 seater with 2 kids seat. The updated variant launched in 2024 made sense too. However had to wait and see how the ASCs better up for Citroen in India.Finally almost had eyes on the ROXX with all the hypes around. Again would be back to a 5 seater but with better engine and ride quality compared to Tiago. Plus great looking SUV with a lot of features. But the all white sparkling interiors across all variants were a big let down as my Kids aged 5 & 2 are no Saints. Plus the pricing again was almost at par with Scorpio N & XUV700.MG Astor was also one in the list as the seating position was great, plus suspension setup was great. The second base variant did not have complicated features either.The inspiration: Was casually driving around a few weeks ago, when a Hexa just passed me and my mind got ignited – Well this was a car I was dreaming about a few years ago but never could think about it then with its OTR back in 2019. Had gazed at this beauty while at the showroom for the Tiago back then. Mind and Heart shook hands and whispered – sell Tiago, get some loan and then club some savings buy the beast, experience the beast. If not now then When? A post from @arun1100 on his acquisition of a great Hexa from TeamBHP classifieds was another great trigger. Well still had some second thoughts:It’s a BS4 Diesel, not even BS6 – what if some rule is announced tomorrow to phase off BS4?It’s a discontinued Car and also one which did not make good sales figures while in production, is it worth buying?Its massive, how do you handle it?Have a tight parking spot in my basement, would this car even fit?What about my Vow about not owning a Tata anymore, had enough to deal with the ASC guys with the Tiago why Tata again?Used to run through all this questions but still every morning I used to browse through TeamBhps classifieds, OLX, FB and Spinny for good deals This continued for almost more than a month, though I kept a budget of 12-12.5 lakhs I was not able to find good deals and this time I was sure I need to own a KA car as I do not want troubles with the KA Cops or RTO. Well maintained and well priced cars which I had shortlisted were selling off the next day or the other, which confirmed that the car is still in good demand. Few others (top ends) the owners were not ready to negotiate much and was falling out of my budget. Most cars available were Automatics, which I did not prefer and also had horrible thoughts about. But once reading thoroughly through the forum I could confirm that automatics can be taken care by just couple of preventive maintenance. Couple of nice cars in Spinny were always showing as “booked” and not getting released. However the key observation was most cars had easily clocked close to 1Lakh kms but still good to go many more and couple of cars I test drove – it was difficult to tell if they had actually run that long. Finally had shortlisted 2 Hexas – One 2017 XTA belonging to @anandtheleo and another one which was a 2020 registered dual tone XT, but priced much higher. Both had run close to 1L kms. Was planning to negotiate with both which is when things took a lovely turn. Sixer: My usual browsing brings me to a newly listed 2020 Hexa XT on FB page. On checking I understand its listed by a dealer. Although I never entertain dealers, the car looked genuine, well maintained and pricing was OK. Above all it was a Blue again. The Fiesta, Tiago all were blue, so naturally had a feeling for the shade. Left the guy a message and in parallel tried to gather how much info I can from the registration as it was visible from the pics. Parivahan checks confirmed its indeed a single owner car, tried decrypting the owners name from the details. Was successful in tracing him on FB and guess what – he had him standing with the Car as his profile picture. However unfortunately my FB message did not go through and he never responded. My next action item was to check the Service history via Cars24 which was something I learned again from the Forum recently. Gathered much info later, which made things more interesting. The dealer is actually a staff from the MG evaluation team and the car came in exchange for one of the premium MG cars. The Car is currently in their inventory before it gets passed off to sub dealerships. So once dealer confirmed that car is still available, I quickly Paid around 200 bucks on Cars24 to get details. ETA was about 15hrs from then, so wait was on until next morning. Next morning service history came with flying colors and the Odo of just 45K kms did seem genuine. So quickly got back with the guy, who did a good negotiation with his boss for a small tip and he also helped me with a video call of the car as it was in Electronic City and I was at Whitefield and no way I could make it there on a weekday. As everything seemed normal I quickly did an advance payment to block the car for a week and things took a quick turn from then on. MG guys were kind enough to bring the car to my workspace in Whitefield to self evaluate and car did seem OK to my eyes and inspection. Did have scratches and a chip in windshield which I felt is OK to skip. So no red flags there. Next step, as I already had a good offer from Bangalore Spinny team for the Tiago (Even though KL registered) I got it marked for sale. They did a quick pickup and credited the amount in a few minutes. Over the next few days I had to initiate some loan process and clubbed with my savings I was ready to get the car on Onam weekend which I thought would be auspicious as well as it was weekend too and I could arrange all funds by then. MG team did a very well cleaning and polishing on the car and also a good car handover event and my kids were all thrilled. Finished documentation, passed on some sweets, took pics. Car ownership transfer would be taken care by the team in the price inclusive and I just need to do insurance transfer later. All required papers were shared and we left off from there all happy. Family was entirely thrilled seeing the beast in person and also looking at the real estate on offer Driving seems to be a bliss as ORVMS and the seating offers good overall view even in peak traffic and also I see some caution exercised by some otherwise smart lane changers when they spot the car up close. Did enjoy my ~35kms drive all through ORR on a Saturday afternoon from EC to Whitefield (Old Madras Rd). The only thing running in my mind all this while was if I would be able to park the Beast in my basement as it was too tight between 2 pillars. And if I reverse a bit too behind I would enter parking space of my neighbor. However since he does not own a car as of today, I am safe to occupy 20% of his parking and we are in an Agreement for now! My Hexa, Me and my Family are all a Happy bunch now. Enjoyed our Onam a tad more this time followed by a nice customary pooja the very next day at HAL Temple. Looking forward to some great Motoring and great stories with the Car! Signing off the acquisition post, with some photos in sequence of the events Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.
