Lemon Twist

Got it!! That war cry in the middle of the afternoon more than jolted me awake from the siesta in front of the Compaq prolinea the art Ive been perfecting for a while now. In fact, except if the telephone shrieks or one of my immediate colleagues screams, nothing can possibly awaken me up from it.

It had better be important.

The culprit this time was a colleague of mine. He had spread out no less than four news paper sheets and the fine print was easy to distinguish.

It was the classified ad page. Now he stood facing me, looking pretty happy in a very funny way. The next instant he had grabbed the telephone in a quick reflex action and begun dialing. Little could I make out that he thought he had found his dream car something this side of the nineties for under a lakh, and that was what had got his adrenaline rushing.

 

Now that I was fully awake I could make out the classified ad that he had rounded up with a black marker. 1992 Dr. Owned, self driven, Neptune blue Maruti 800, must sell today, low mileage, Rs.1,15,000 contact...., it read. Already there was a buzz in my head. The venerable doctor seemed to be available on the other side of the wire, and I noticed my friend jotting down an address. Slamming the phone down with another joyful whoop, my colleague proceeded to retrieve a cheque leaf before turning a casual face to me to ask if I wanted to come along to check out the car.

Well, yes of course. Soon enough we found ourselves face to face with the doctor only to discover he wasnt one. As if that wasnt enough for the moment, his Neptune blue car turned out to have a Martian tint to it. The worst and this got blurted out much later the car had had a small crash, as if the shabbily patched up front end didnt sufficiently reveal its crash history.

A brief spin on the road later, we were beginning to get wiser. The shocks were shot and the badly maintained engine emitted a cacophony of noises that had nothing to do with its manufacturers design engineer.

The brakes mercifully enough worked, but by the time we discovered that the car tended to skid thanks to the incurable baldness of all the wheels, my colleague was not smiling any more. Only my timely intervention saved the good doctor from landing on a hospital bed.

Clearly it was time my friend was enlightened with facts about the advisability of going in for a used car thats good enough to make you upwardly mobile. Ideally of course, you should be hitting the showroom for a choice of your dream car, but thats easier said than done, whatwith even the Maruti Suzuki 800 one of the cheapest cars anywhere in the world leaving you poorer by nothing short of Rs. 230,000.

Come to think of it, its hard enough to get hold of a used car, the plethora of financing firms sprouting all around notwithstanding. EMI is a possibility, but not without having to part with nearly Rs 5000 a month to it. Certainly not an attractive proposition for the salaried ones.

All said and done however, one thing is for sure nothing, repeat, nothing can prevent a truly determined guy from acquiring one of those used set of wheels. But then how do you make sure that you chose the right car and not get conned in the bargain?

The interrogation: Go for it

The very first logical question the used car buyer should ask himself as and when he comes across a good-on-paper used car is, why does the owner want to sell it? It could be that hes looking for some quick cash, or maybe its that hes looking around for a new set of wheels. Or maybe, just maybe, he wants to simply pass on the headache of running this car in question to somebody in this case, you. Needless to say, if thats the case, pass up the offer and hit the trail again. The 64 dollar question is how on earth do you make out? Well, thats where your interrogatory skills come in. Go for it with all guns blazing. Its your money dont be shy.

The deduction: Go by the mileage

Second-hand is too general a term. The word might even stand in for the nth user. Find out. The fewer the users, the better. A flat no is the correct response to a car used by more than three individuals. In all probability, they have just about used up the car among them. How used is used? These days you could get a used Cielo thats just a few months old, and a 25 year old Premier Padmini, both in mint condition, for a fraction of the price of the former. The best bet here is to not go by the year of manufacture but by the mileage on the odometer.

Dont get bogged down by the chronological age of the car. In India especially, the condition of the car depends largely on the kind of terrain it traversed in its life as also the kind of attention it received from its owners. If you get a Maruti high roof van, circa 1988, for Rs. 1,10,000 with just around 60,000 on board, one gets you two itll be a better buy than a 92 Omni, up for a lakh, thats cloaked up a similar distance in double quick time.

The better part of the life of a modern car the post-Maruti generation, so to say is gone and over with once it crosses the one lake km mark.

The only exception being if the car was used sparingly and maintained well by the owner. In that case itll still have another 50,000 km of good health left in it. A car that has done more than that and that falls in the modern era (as we have defined it) is truly a lemon not worth consideration since it will only add up on service and spare parts bill as in due time.

The hunt

Classified columns are the last place to begin your search for good used cars. How about asking around your friends and relatives who owners cars that you are already familiar with. These are the cars that you have actually traveled in and more importantly, cars with owners whod willingly confide to you on its history.

You stand to benefit the most if you know the history of the car since the vital information like whether the car has had any major accidents, or any serious engine or transmission troubles etc. Which in turn can be briefed to your mechanic whos bound to look after your automobile at some point of time in the near future.

Chances are that this acquaintance of yours is looking for a replacement and would be more than willing to give you the first try. Yes, the asking price and the subsequent negotiations thereoff are likely to be quite touchy with people close to you, but do yourself a favour and go for the buy. Youll be saving a lot more on repairs later. If the quoted price does not match your purse, see if you can pay up what you can and pay the rest later on. A friend is likely to agree. Give it a try.

The other option in this category should be your nearest car dealer for the mark you are looking for. An added advantage here is that hell be quite thorough with the garage history of the car and in most cases will act as a third party in settling the deal. Again, the price could be a little more than what the car is worth since hell be taking a share out of it, but trust the reputation the dealer has in the locality. Anyway, he cant run away once the deal is struck.

Another person whos capable of triggering off a hunt for you with just a passing mention of your budget is the local mechanic. Commissions are relatively less here and make it a point to meet the owner of the car and deal directly with him.

The touch-me-nots: Dont get a lemon

Second hand car dealers have the advantage of having almost all the makes and models in their parking lot. But they are also the masters of their trade and hence should be placed low down on the list. If you do go in for this option, take along a friend who knows his cars or a trustworthy mechanic and get the car inspected on site.

Though classifieds, as I said earlier, figure at the bottom, it has its share of advantages to it. Not only do you have the advantage of contacting the person or organisation thats offering the car for sale with just a telephone call, but the mere fact that a genuine seller ( and not a second hand dealer in the disguise of one) has put the message on the classified means that he genuinely wants to sell the car. This puts the other person in a vulnerable position that should give you an edge.

(My friend, by the way, continues to yell when he spots a find in the classifieds...a decent buy eludes him yet!)

The last word. Definitely avoid taxis, cars that are auctioned off the government fleets, and cars that were used for motorsport activities. They have been used up to the last nut and you will be spending more time in the garage than driving your dream car around.

The best bet is to not go by the year of manufacture but by the mileage on the odometer. The fewer, the better