Asalam-o-alaikum,
I am an executive working for a MNC. A big part of my job involves driving to different cities (mostly via Motorway) to meet with, negotiate, and close contracts with local clients and firms. Because of how local business culture operates, clients will often take note of what car you're driving and treat you accordingly. This is why I was previously driving a 2019 Grande. I clocked in nearly 200k on it in just 5 years before selling it and it never gave me any issues thanks to regular maintenance and upkeep. Sometimes even clients would offer to buy the car from me, which helped to establish a better business relationship with them.
Sadly, due to financial circumstances in the family, I needed to sell that car immediately and let go of most of my savings as well. I'm foreseeing that I can pool together roughly about 20 lacs in a few months for a used car. In the meantime, I am having to travel via public transport when out of city and on careem/ridesharing when in cities. I personally don't mind it and can adjust into this for a year or even longer but when I go to meet clients and they ask or notice that I'm not travelling in a personal car, their body language and tone changes which affects my job performance and career.
On top of that, I suffer from a medical condition (sciatica) as a result of which I sometimes feel a sharp pain in my left leg and therefore cannot operate a clutch to drive manual. I also haven't even owned or driven a manual since 2015. Automatic is a must. Additionally, I also have to visit my village once a week so ground clearance is a huge consideration. This is a car I will keep for 1-2 years until I save up enough to buy a decent hybrid to keep as a long term daily driver, so it needs to be resalable as well. I can wait a few days or a week or two but when the time comes, I would like it gone in less than a month while retaining a decent price.
To sum up, my key requirements:
- Good Impression (Professional looking, clean/stock, saloon/sedan form factor etc.)
- Automatic Gearbox
- Resalable in 1-2 years with good value retention
- Decent Fuel Average (12+ km/l in City)
- Low Maintenance and Reliable
- Regular Motorway Usage Friendly
- Not too old (2007+)
Additional requirements I would prefer:
- Digital info display (for fuel avg display etc)
- Under 150k on ODO at time of purchase, preferably 100k.
- Never had CNG installed.
- As close to stock as possible (No or little visible modifications, why I stopped looking at Civic Reborn on top of bad fuel economy)
I went and looked at some options in this bracket on Pakwheels listings and I shortlisted some options that stood out:
- Suzuki Liana Eminent (1.6)
- Honda City VTEC Steermatic (1.5)
- Toyota Belta (1.0)
Personally, I am inclined the most towards the Liana. It's a local Suzuki so presumably parts and maintenance will be easier on the pocket listings from 2010+ are priced lower than or similar to the other options which are nearly 4-5 years older. But I have no idea what the resale value retention and sell period for them is considering there are such few of them in the market. If that is not the case, then I would have to choose the City, even though I really do not like the way it looks.
I shortlisted Belta simply because it's Japanese. Even though it's listings in this range are of older models with a smaller engine at the higher end of my range, it's basically a Vitz with a diggi and looks like a decent option to consider in terms of ride comfort. I would assume parts would be the same as Vitz, which are affordable and abundantly available in the market. But I know very little about it so have no idea what the cons attached to that car are.
I would appreciate any tips, help, and guidance. This is my first time stepping into the used car market as a buyer so I am very unsure about what the correct decision for a temporary (1-2 year) car should be.
