Steering through year-end car deals

Buying a car in December has its advantages as well as disadvantages. A four-wheeler purchased during the end of the year depreciates by a year just after a few months (March-end), helping the buyer get tax benefits. Buying a four-wheeler this month can help save on cost, but check first the current discounts and loan rates available at this time. Maruti Suzuki is offering discounts of Rs 15K to 30K on models such as Maruti A-Star, Maruti Alto, Maruti WagonR and Maruti Omni. Whereas, Korean carmaker Hyundai i10 offers discount around Rs 25K. Even expensive cars such as Toyota Corolla Altis is offering Rs 45 to 50K discount and Honda Accord Rs 25K. Reena Wagle, who runs Mangesh Auto Centre, a direct selling agent (DSA) for HDFC Bank said, The month of December is when inventories are cleared. Dealer and manufacturer discounts make car-buying attractive.

Buying a car this month has become easier due to lower interest rates on auto loans. Canara Bank is giving an auto loan at 8.5 per cent for the first year, 9.5 for second and third years, 10 per cent for the next three years and 10.5 per cent for the 6th year. State Bank of India is giving 8 per cent for the first year and 10 per cent for second and third years. ICICI Bank has kept auto loan rates to 10 per cent while HDFC has dropped rates as low as 9 per cent for five years. Experts said that it is not necessary that everyone may grab the offers. For the reason, if you plan to sell the car after three years, the resale value will slip. Though the buyer would be aware that the car was bought in December for tax purposes, she or he would still quote a price lower than for a similar vehicle bought in the first week of January.

Wagle said, A small car costing around Rs 4 lakh will fetch the customer Rs 25K less in resale if bought in the current month. Dealers also note that the models which are preferred by customers include Maruti Suzuki’s Swift, Maruti Swift Dzire, Maruti Zen Estilo and Maruti SX4, Hyundai’s i20l; Toyota’s Fortune and Honda CR-V. Although these cars are not readily available but if you book the car now, the delivery will be in 2010. A dealer asserted, Vehicles wear off faster in usage. In such a case, the cheaper the car, the better it is for the owner. Volkswagen Polo and Chevrolet Beat are the upcoming cars in India.

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