The most trusted and the largest automobile firm of India, Maruti Suzuki India, has been doing good business manufacturing and selling cars in the Indian subcontinent as well as exporting it overseas from the Indian shores. The demand for its new models has never ceased as it not only gives its customer a range of multiple options to choose from, but it also gives them an excellent after sales service. Even today, Maruti still has the largest chain of Service Centers across India. The best things with this brand are that not only its new cars are sought after but also the used cars of Maruti are in demand as they are always reliable. This is because of the excellent designing and engineering along with the after sales service.
Amongst all the models of Maruti Suzuki in India, Swift has made a remarkable place in the middle of the used car market. This hatchback has appealing attributes and gives excellent mileage that makes it a good choice for a customer who doesn’t want to go for a brand new car. The firm developed this car mainly for the Indian automobile market. Because of its attractive exterior and sporty outlook, it is appreciated more by the youth and mid size families. The car has a DDiS engine that is coupled with a five-speed transmission which consequently results in a good performance while the car still remains fuel efficient. Being one of the most economical vehicles in India, it has been tagged with a price that competes with the other available brands of the hatchback segment. Whomsoever wishes to buy a pre-owned Maruti Swift is always delighted as its parts and components are available easily everywhere. The two petrol and diesel fuel based engine variants give the customer a good option to buy from. Both the variants meet the BS-IV emission norms where the petrol version comes with a 1197cc K series 1.2-litre engine and the diesel version comes loaded with a 1247cc DDis 1.4-litre engine.
Now since you have made up your mind to buy a pre-owned Maruti Swift, here are few guidelines you must follow when you go to buy one of your favorite.
Where to buy from:
You may buy a pre-owned Swift from different kind of outlets. First could be directly from the owners, second could be the car dealers who sell used car, the final in this list but not the last is the second hand car dealers. There are Maruti Pre-owned car showrooms as well, buying from there is a best option because here the cars are systematically checked and they are being offer with maintenance warranty as well as after sales service. So the car may be second hand, but the service is first hand.
Documents:
Documentation comes after selecting the car unit, but personally I would suggest that you first check the vehicle documents. Thus in case you happen to fall in love with the car, the chances of wrong or incomplete documents breaking your heart won’t be there. Furthermore, checking the documents will let you know the age of the car and whether you are dealing with the owner or a representative of the owner. So here are few things you need to keep in mind when you go checking the documents.
- Registration papers: The set of this document is needed to make the ownership of the vehicle transferred to the new owner.
- Registration Certificate: Always look if the RC is original or duplicate. Find out from the RTO’s office for the authentication of the vehicle. The Chassis number and Engine number should be matching with the details in the registration papers. Check for further details on the state of registration of the vehicle as per mentioned in the papers. The state that is mentioned in the papers should be the one where you intend to run the car. If not then do make sure that the seller does the necessary paper works to transfer the registration of the vehicle to the state where you intend to use the Swift. Amongst every other thing do check for the Tax receipt from the RTO.
- Road Tax: Make sure that the seller hands you over all the papers which are related to the road tax as well as clear all the dues in this regard to the RTO office before you make the final payment and buy this car.
- Insurance Certificate: A must for all the motorized vehicles, here you can check for prior accidents claims as well as this is mandatory for any kind of transfer by the RTO.
- Pollution Under Control Certificate: Mandatory for Transfer of name.
Test Drive
This is extremely necessary in order to find out how is the car doing while driving. Do take the car for at least 4-5 km for test drive. Drive it over different type of roads to observe the comfort while driving. Look if the engine starts without any problem, the steering shouldn’t vibrate. There shouldn’t be an engine sound or unnecessary vibrating when the vehicle is moving or idle. A vibrating steering indicates that there is trouble at the front end. At a speed of 30-40 kmph brake suddenly to see if the car stops at a straight line. Clutch must be smooth, mileage recorder and speedometer should be working properly. The car is supposed to move without uneven jerks when the clutch is released. See if the car jumps out of gear when you try each gear. In the end of your test drive session, park the car in an area where the ground is clean so you may look for oil leaks from the gearbox or engine.
There are other things to check here as well:
- A car that is 3-5 year old and has done 14,000 km to 18,000 km a year or less is the best buy.
- Do check the odometer reading of the car and then calculate with the year of manufacture but then do keep in mind also that there is a fair chance of tampering with the odometer.
- Look at the tires, if they are not good then you may bargain for Rs1,000 on every tire that is bad. Do check the alignment, springs, bushings and sounds coming, if any, from the bearings. Bearings are pretty expensive to change.
- Look beneath the bonnet for any signs of major acid wear and tear around the area of battery, if the wear and tear is more then it means that the earlier owner didn’t maintain the vehicle very well, which makes the car unfit for driving on the road.
- If you find the battery to be old then you can ask for a discount of up to Rs.2,500 on the price of the car.
- If you get an audio system with the car then check if its works fine or not.
- If there is an AC system in the car then check if it’s working well by taking the car out in the noon. DO check how the car performs with the AC on/off on a parallel road as well as on a climb. This will make a huge difference to your comfort in those three months of scorching heat in India.
Payment
If you are not paying the whole amount upfront and intend to get the pre-owned Swift financed, then you have to find a good finance company. If you buy the car from a used car dealer or the Maruti Suzuki Pre-owned car dealer then you may get a good financer’s reference from them only.
Now you have to find their interest rate, the options of monthly payment, loan tenure that you have to evaluate with your budget. There will be a lot of things to lure you to a finance company but you have to understand a few things here before you apply for the loan.
- The estimated price of the vehicle
- The amount you intend to take up as a loan for purchasing the pre-owned Swift
- Interest rate and type of interest, will it be a reducing rate of interest or a flat rate of interest? Former is the best, latter is a curse.
- The EMI where you have to find out the capital and interest you will be paying
- The Loan Tenure and the T&C if you intend to pay few EMI together in advance
- The total amount you are supposed to pay including the loan amount, service charge and the initial payment.
Last but not the least, do take a friend along who can drive the car and you should see how it looks when going. There should be no uneven moves when the car is running on a straight line. If you are satisfied with everything then go for it or else, it is better to wait.
§ Look beneath the bonnet for any signs of major acid wear and tear around the area of battery, if the wear and tear is more then it means that the earlier owner didn’t maintain the vehicle very well, which makes the car unfit for driving on the road.
