What's a good used car to buy in 2022? (2.5-3mil)

PJayX · November 5, 2022

Looking for something in the 25 lakh to 30 lakh price range. Preferably a petrol with auto transmission. Hoping to daily drive. So good fuel consumption, reliability and availability of parts are also a big plus.

So far, I've been eyeing the Nissan N16 and Cefiro A33. N16 seems good but don't really know what kind of common issues it can get and I heard the Cefiro can be awful in fuel consumption.

Edit: How is the spare parts availability for the Cefiro A33?

Edited November 5, 2022 by PJayX

iRage · November 7, 2022

On 11/5/2022 at 5:20 AM, PJayX said:

Nissan N16

The N16 Sunny is not known for its fuel economy. Its very comfortable, perhaps the most comfortable in its class. But not the most economical...if you go for a powerful engine it drinks fuel and if you go for the economical engine it is lethargic.

On 11/5/2022 at 5:20 AM, PJayX said:

Cefiro A33

@PreseaLover had one....he did not have an easy time finding parts. In fact I am just sick and tired of the car just thinking about him looking for parts. Also, some car from Singapore and some from Japan. Depending on where it came from they were likely to have one type of problem more than the other. Also, a lot of people who owned these cars later on seems to have taken the easy way out in terms of maintenance so finding a good example might be a bit of a challenge.

Sadly for your budget what you can get is quite limited these days. I fear what ever you get inthat price range is either going to be really old or newer yet lower end of the spectrumwhen it cmes to the condition of the car.

You could look at cars like a Mazda Familia (BJ series ?),something in the lines of a Civic EK (hopefully something that hasn't been riced up), Toyota Soluna, or even something like a Ford Laser or a Mondeo ?

matroska · November 9, 2022

First off - prices are volatile these days. People who have a hard time maintaining their cars and in dire need of funds tend to sell well below advertised prices so i'm really not sure what falls in your price bracket.

The cars you mentioned - A33 yeah not good on fuel. Parts will not be a huge issue but of course not as common as a sunny n16. There's this sad situation in SL where people tend to get sick of big gas guzzling cars and just neglect them. Common victims of these are Cefiro's and Sonatas. There are dozens of these cars neglected and decaying until someone buys it for cheap dresses it up and sells it off.

N16 - Typical Nissan. Lumpy, bland but generally comfy. The 1.3 might look tempting since it has a smaller engine but trust me those Nissan 1.3's are slow and they are not fuel-economical. Overall I'd pick the 1.5 over the 1.3

I suggest given the volatility to spend as low as possible on something that covers your requirements. As irage mentioned a Soluna is a good choice - has the usual toyota internals with a slightly boring looking exterior. Maybe something like a Carina/Corona would also be an ok car - might be slightly cheaper than Corollas that are overpriced.

Then here's a left field suggestion - what about a diesel ? Due to the petrol price drop diesel cars have lost some value. They were never anyones cup of tea to begin with. But having owned one for a short period of time they aren't as bad as people say. Bargain and get a common model for cheap - spend some money on the engine and you just might have a reliable runner. Of course maintenance is a bit more costly.

pantheraleo · November 16, 2022

You can go for a pre-facelift manual Civic ES8, I saw some for sale in the range of 3Mn,

harshansenadhir · November 30, 2022

May I suggest a bit of a practical fuel efficient daily drive but not a Jap still it's reliable and a decent car. Perodua Viva Elite. If you get hold of a premium version then it has ABS plus few other bells and whistles than the ordinary version. Price wise it'll be slightly above 3.0 mil mark

iRage · November 30, 2022

2 hours ago, harshansenadhir said:

Perodua Viva Elite

Actually the Viva Elite is a pretty decent car, especially for what it offers (quite nippy to drive too). So yes, if the OP can live with a small hatchback the Viva is a decent option. It might not have a Japanese badge but it does have a LOT of parts from Daihatsu, including the entire engine.