Young millennials have started buying more cars as the purchasing power has gone up of late. However, when buying a new car, while cost and features play an important role in the purchase decision, customers must look holistically at the long-term ownership through the vehicle’s lifecycle, experts said during a discussion at FinancialExpress.com Manage Your Money. “A car is the second most important purchase for a family after a house and there were days when people used to keep cars for a lifetime but things have started changing over a period of time as the demand has increased in young millennials,” said Ramesh Dorairajan, Senior General Manager Network management and EV sales Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle Ltd, while explaining the do(s) and don’t(s) of buying and maintaining a car throughout its life.
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When asked about what things should a customer keep in mind while buying a car, he said “Customers need to answer for themselves that does one have the wherewithal to pay more to buy the accessories that one requires? Some people tend to overload their cars with accessories.” Further, one must think about EMI repayments through the term of the loan, if there’s one. “If the customer has taken a bank loan, what is going to be the EMIs, and will they be in a position to pay it? Should they keep aside 20-30% for EMIs, or do they have other EMIs to pay? These are certain aspects that the customer has to decide,” Dorairajan said.
Talking about the maintenance and servicing costs of cars, Rajiv Govil, Vice President, B2B sales, India and South Asia Castrol India Ltd, said, “Life cycle of a particular vehicle or a car in India is 8-12 years, depending upon how you use and drive it. There are typically two types of maintenance costs one is scheduled maintenance costs which for an average user needs to be done twice a year and then there is unscheduled or emergency maintenance. A typical average service cost in India can anywhere range between Rs 5000-10000 depending upon the type of periodic service or maintenance one is doing.”