Which Car to Choose in the budget of 2.5 - 3 Million PKR?

[alibintahir]

Hi Pakwheelers, hope everyone is doing good.

Actually, I've sold my Toyota Corolla GLi 2015 and now I want to buy a car in the budget of 2.5 to 3.0 Million PKR. I'm very much interested in buying a Mercedes E200 (W211) or Mercedes C200 (W204), but my father is suggesting me to buy the brand new Toyota Corolla Altis Grande or Honda Civic VTec Turbo as their maintenance cost is very reasonable and spare parts and accessories are easily available in market and in nominal rate though Mercedes being a 'Safiad Hathi' very difficult to maintain and their maintenance cost as well as spare parts and accessories are not easily available and even if available, are freakishly expensive. So, now I want experts here on Pakwheels opinion on the matter that whether I buy a Mercedes or listen to my Father's suggestion? Though if I'll be buying the Mercedes, this will be my first experience in doing so? So want expert's opinion on that as well.

Note: Please give me some convincing reason to select the car you're suggesting.

Thank you so much.
Hope to hear from you all soon.

Which car to buy in the budget of 2.5 - 3 Million PKR?

• Mercedes E200
• Mercedes C200
• Toyota Corolla Altis Grande
• Honda Civic VTec Turbo
• Any other. Please specify in the comments.

Vote now!Show results

[arslansohail84]

Your selection of car should be based on the type of useage.
if you plan to use it as a everyday car used everytime and at all type of places. Its better you get brand new civic 1.5T. It would be trouble and mantainence free for atleast 2 years.
If you plan to use it occasionally and have enough knowlegde about germans, so that you can understand the minor problems that may arise due to being a used car. i guess You can get a 2007 model c200 or a 2004 model E 200 in your budget. But do keep a good bugdet for repairs and mantainence.

I currenctly have a civic 1.5T but if i had a choice to buy a used car for occasional use i would rather have bought a 2005 model mark x 300g premium. Coz The mantainence and repairs wouldnt be as costly and its much easier and cheaper to find its parts.
Baaqi Those people who have kept a mark x 3.0 know what type of a beast it is.

[alibintahir]

Thank you @arslansohail84 for your valuable suggestion, I've to use the car daily for approximately 20-40 kilometers maximum, so I guess then buying a Mercedes won't be a wiser choice, isn't it? But if I've to buy the PKDM car, I would personally go for Toyota Corolla Altis Grande (just personal favorite, nothing else ).

[arslansohail84]

Atleast For me with zero knowledge about mercedes a used 10 year old is a no go.
If you still have a desire for a german car then you should increase your bugdet and get A3 lastest facelifted 2017 mode for 4million.
I have civic and grande both so i would recommend you to buy civic. Civic is way better in drive then corolla.
But if you will be using your ride on rough roads then its corolla all the way.

[mhaderaziz_official]

I currently own a C180 Kompressor Elegance Package (W204). The C180 and C200 use the same engine (the M271), the only difference is that the C200's ECU is programmed to extract slight more HP from the engine. Everything else is exactly identical.

Your father is absolutely right about the maintenance part. Something always goes wrong with these German machines no matter how well you keep them because you never how the previous owner kept them (I've driven mine only 6000KMs since I bought it so haven't experienced anything major yet lol ). Unless you drive in protocol with 2 Land Cruisers accompanying you from the front and rear, every bike/rikshaw/taxi wala will try his best to scratch your Mercedes Benz. If you park in a crowded area, people will think of it as their duty to swipe their hands on your car out of jealousy. Most importantly, the standing star on the hood is a hotcake for thieves. It costs Rs. 12,000 from Shahnawaz (for the W204) so its not cheap either. One front headlamp (the adjustable one) for the W204 costs almost Rs. 125,000 from Shahnawaz, excluding fitting. The ground clearance is not adequate and taking into account our roads, that is not a good recipe.

As a daily driver, I would never recommend a Mercedes to someone in Pakistan. Considering our traffic situation, these machines are only good as weekend cars. If you buy one for daily use, I can guarantee you it will end up as a garage queen. If you have really deep pockets and a lot of time, only then get a Merc.

If the previous owner didn't treat it well, you'll spend most of your time with mechanics who will try their best to rob you because "Marcadeez awner". You really need to have some knowledge about these cars to avoid getting scammed by mechanics here. They will tell you that your suspension is broken when it only needs a proper alignment.

The Civic Turbo is a good choice. The Corolla is due for a facelift (no exact date specified for Pak though). I would personally recommend a hybrid for daily use. You can get a high spec'd Prius or Lexus CT200h in your budget and still have some cash left over. You'll get at least 18KPL from either of these cars and they'll be safer than both the new PKDM Civic and Corolla. Both the Prius and CT200h use the same engine and drive-train so general maintenance is no issue. I'd try to avoid anything PKDM unless its absolutely necessary otherwise you have a wide choice of Japanese cars in your budget. There are lot of experts on PW who can guide you better about Japanese imports

Hope this helped.

[alibintahir]

Thank you @arslansohail84 for your honest opinion. Anyways, the main point of choosing Corolla Altis Grande over Honda Civic is because of taking the rough roads in mind where most of my drive will be, so I guess and as you've suggested that if my drive is for rough roads, then I'll be considering Toyota Corolla Altis Grande.

[alibintahir]

Thank you so much @mhaderaziz_official for your kind response and detail reply, really appreciate that, it really helps me a lot and I've finalized my decision that base on my daily car usage, it is not a wiser decision to buy a Mercedes, though as you've suggested that it is not good to buy a PKDM car as well in this budget, so what do you suggest then about the Japanese Toyota Premio in this budget? Will that be a wiser decision? Can you refer me to someone who can help me in getting the one?

Anyways, thanks again for your reply and I hope that you'll help me more in getting the ride in my budget.

[DRIFTK1NG]

I would suggest you to get a 2012-13 Premio X in your budget because it could be used everyday. Secondly the car is very comfortable with a beautiful beige/ wooden interior along with a much stronger suspension than Corolla. Premio is the best luxury sedan in all aspects.

[arslansohail84]

Another option that i would recomment you is vezel.
You can import a 4.5 grade 2014 model veZel from japan for 2.8million. Its way better in terms of drive, features and looks then all other jdms such as prius and premio.

[alibintahir]

Thank you @DRIFTK1NG for your valuable suggestion, I'm seriously considering Toyota Premio X in this budget, let's see how things will work out. Anyways, thank you for your opinion. Cheers.

[alibintahir]

Thank you @arslansohail84 for your recommendation, but will Honda Vezel stay okay and bear the rough roads suspension-wise in comparison with Toyota Premio X? Well, base on my previous experience, Toyota will perform better than Honda if we take rough and bumpy roads in consideration, what do you say?

[DRIFTK1NG]

The plus point of buying a Corolla is because of it's suspension so that it could be used on bumpy roads or in rural areas roughly but Premio has a better suspension so it beats Corolla here.
Mostly people buy Civic because of good quality ( which was previously offered before this generation) but Premio as being a JDM has a million times better quality of materials used in it and the second reason of buying a Civic is because it's quick response and here also 1ZZ easily beats the R18 of Civic.
Lastly, buying a Premio would gave you a feeling of a luxury sedan not what you would get into a German but somehow a little luxury.

[DRIFTK1NG]

Around four months back my cousin brother bought a Premio 2011 import 2013 and registered in Black Metallic X Superior 1800cc with beige interior without any malfunction in 3 Million. I hope that you can get a 2013 Valvemectic version in the price of a turbo.

[arslansohail84]

Yes Premio beats civic and corolla when you r in the cabin but it comes at a price. A fresh imported premio x cost above 4 million and i wouldnt advice anyone to get a registered jdm with no service history.
We all know what type of cars most of the car dealers import from japan.
Secondly though premio have rough and tough suspension but no road clearance. So when the car is loaded with 4 or 5 people its bound to scratch of types of car breakers.
Thirdly premio has lost alot of its charm after the arrival of vezel civic prius etc etc so now its no more a car which will sell resale easily and the owner is bound to loss alot in resale.

[arslansohail84]

Bro on very rough tough conditions premio will suffer more due to having lesser ground clearance hence scratching and hitting all type of car breakers when 4 or 5 people on board but there is no doubt that premio has the bestest and most comfortable suspension of the lot.
But If you want a premio then i think you would have to spend alot of time searching in the market for registered one's and then get it properly checked up for faults and touch ups if any. coz freshly imported car would be costing nearly 4 million hence no importer is importing it.

[alibintahir]

Agreed @DRIFTK1NG...

[alibintahir]

Thank you for your valuable suggestion @arslansohail84, but resale is not an issue for me and about searching a good condition Premio is not the issue either as one of my cousin has it and he's interested in selling this one as well and about that specific Premio X, he has the complete service history and the car is just like brand new as he used that as his second car, so both of the problems that you've advised me covers in this scenario, so I think that I better go off with the Toyota Premio as you also suggested that the Premio has the best suspension of all, so as my travel is mostly on the rough roads, so I was also looking for the one with this feature more specifically. Anyways, thank you so much for your time and valuable suggestions, appreciate it.

[arslansohail84]

If thats the case go for it bro

[arslansohail84]

Do you share the price model and pics

[abdullahtareen1]

Hello! Or maybe You Can get a Thai Imported Loaded Hilux, Or a Mark X g300 premium! Well corolla is just Nothing against The New 2016 Civic and Mark X, Comparing 2016 Civic, Hilux or markx to Corolla is like Comparing iPhone 7 plus to iPhone 5. Lol. I would suggest You to Go for Thai imported Hilux, Very Fast and Good looking, You can Do some off roading BCX Hilux is also Known as King of off roading In Pakistan. Also You can Buy A Mark X g3000 premium, Very comfortable and Fast! Good looking and relieble!