First things first, which one to buy? This whole process of narrowing down is a brain drain in itself. I used the elimination strategy here - 1. Buy a reliable car. 2. Avoid cars that use too much tech. 3. EV was out for me. I will wait for a few more years to buy EV. Didn't want it to be the primary car. 4. Buy from brands that specialise in making cars. 5. Budget - decide the max you will spend and do not go even a rupee beyond it.

Once you have test driven and decided which one to buy, take quotes from 2-3 dealers. This will help in negotiation. Do it if you have the time. I didn't find it worthy of my time honestly so negotiated with a single dealer only.

Here is how to read the pricing. It is broken down as follows when you see the price chart - 1. Ex-showroom price - this includes cost of car plus GST 2. TCS - collected and deposited in your tax account. 1% of ex showroom. 3. Insurnace - 3 years third party and 1 year accident insurance 4. Accessories 5. Road tax - varies from state to state. In Telangana, it is 17% for individual first owners and 19% for non-individual and second car owners. 6. Extended warranty 7. Service packs

When you talk to the dealer and ask for discount, generally they will give you discounts on the insurance and accessories which might seem lucrative for you. Here is where you step in and tell me to start talking about discount on the ex-showroom price. Join my WA channel - https://whatsapp.com/channel/0...

Note that insurance pricing is heavily inflated. 2-3x of normal price is what I have observed. You tell them to talk about discount on the ex-showroom prices and ignore insurance and other stuff. That's what I did and got a decent discount too.

As far as insurance is concerned, you can also buy yourself. I preferred buying from showroom as they can take care of claims if any. I found out the premiums myself and then told them to match it. They did match it. End of story. PS - Check out the services we offer at Holistic Wealth https://x.com/contliving/statu...

As far as accessorises are concerned, do not buy the expensive packages. Go for the cheapest one. You can also skip it completely and buy it from outside. These are marked up heavily too.

I also took the extended warranty and full service package. These are option. I would definitely recommend extended warranty to everyone.

Now comes the payment part. Do not drop the bomb that you will pay with credit cards till you have finalised the price. Once price is final, you can tell them that you are going to pay with cards. Start negotiating for MDR. If you are borrowing, ask for full waiver since downpayment is small. I negotiated down to 1.5%. Not great. Not bad. Ended up using cards like Atlas so earned higher rewards.

I also tested the Atlas card with a small transaction (booking amount) to see if I got the rewards and then went for the bigger swipe. I also asked them to throw a free cover for the car. They did.

Lastly, you can compare the prices with 2-3 dealers. Negotiate against each other. Some might end up offering more discounts if they have inventory. However, do note that the dealers will not entertain anything if the cars are high in demand like the Innova.

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