Sold for a song

With recession came a demand for second hand cars in place of brand new ones. But

the average Bengalurean has given up the earlier method of gauging how good a second hand car actually is. Earlier there was a demand for cars used by doctors since they hardly drove rashly, used it sparingly and maintained it well considering the nature of their jobs. But now, there’s a demand for snazzier cars owned by techies because the models are of the latest varieties, come with many customised fittings and are, in most cases, relatively new.

Many IT professionals who have been layed off are now selling their fancy cars at throwaway prices. And the ones to benefit the most are youngsters who are looking at buying second hand cars at cheap prices. Prashanth G, a software engineer with IBM, was forced to sell his brand new Maruti Zen, which ran for only 16,000 miles, for Rs 1.35 lakhs as opposed to the show room price of Rs 3 lakhs. “Ever since recession has led to salary cuts, we are forced to dispose certain items in order to reduce our personal costs. Cars are a burden now and there is nothing wrong in selling them at negotiable prices,” he says.

The second hand car market is witnessing a sudden boom as buyers are asking for vehicles used by IT professionals and preferably driven by lady drivers because they are well maintained. Nirupama P, a software engineer with Hewlett Packard (HP), says that recession has forced her to sell her newly acquired Maruti Swift car for half the price. “When I bought the Swift in December last year for Rs 6.05 lakh, I never knew that things would change soon. Now, I’m selling the same car for just Rs 2.35 lakhs which is not even the half price. There is always a good market for second hand cars used by the lady drivers especially if they were working in IT companies,” says Nirupama. Popular cars such as Toyota Innova, Chevorlet Captiva, Honda Civic, Hyundai Sonata, Honda CRV, Maruti Esteem, Maruti Zen are in high demand in the second hand market.

Shariff Mohammad, a second hand car consultant at National motors Limited in Jayanagar, says that though the IT employees are selling their vehicles at half the price yet there are not enough buyers for these cars. “Before recession hit the automobile market we used to sell second hand cars which were bought in 2002-4 at good rates. Now we are selling cars from 2006-9 for the lowest possible rates. There has never been a situation like this before,” says Shariff.

Car Mate, another second hand car show room on MG Road, has more than 45 luxury cars parked in the office backyard ready for sale. Raju S, manager at Car Mate, says that IT employees of HP, Oracle and Philips are selling their new cars in large numbers. “All the cars we are selling here are locally registered. And majority of the demand is for cars driven by ladies or IT employees. Such cars are sold quickly,” says Raju.

It sure looks like a buyers market for those who have the moolah to splurge on a car they fancy.