But if you need more bang for your buck, it makes more sense to shell out a little more and go in for a new car

A second-hand Mercedes-Benz, not over six years old, with a six-month manufacturer’s warranty added on. That’s the deal that Mercedes-Benz India is offering, at indicative prices which are typically around half or less than half the price of a new car, with variations for usage and model year, as well as condition. All this, sold through existing Mercedes-Benz dealerships, in addition to the new cars on offer there. Making this announcement, Wilfred Aulbur, the CEO and managing director of Mercedes-Benz India Ltd (MBIL), took a small step up for Indians who already have a vast choice of new and used cars, and a large jump down for Mercedes-Benz—from a perch occupied for decades now on the perceived proposition that buying a Mercedes-Benz car in India was an experience unlike buying any other car.
 
Sounds very good. A star in my drive for half the cost, that too, with a manufacturer-backed warranty. So what if it is old and used, and the technology that was state-of-the-art five years ago is already obsolete in new generation cars costing a fraction of the amount? I am an Indian, and I should consider myself lucky, in being allowed to place the famous 3-pointed star in or outside my home. At least, that’s the attitude, in large doses, which one gets at every interaction with Mercedes-Benz in India.
 
If nothing else, this gives potential owners of Mercedes-Benz cars in India a very good idea of what the resale value and depreciation will be, going forward. But first, before going forward—a wee bit of history, and why this attitude from a manufacturer of cars, which elsewhere in the world are slowly fitting into a slot often known as “utilitarian”—apart from the top-of-the-line show models, which in any case usually don’t make it to Third World countries—unless destined for the dictator or ruler.
 
Mercedes-Benz cars have had a favoured run as the ultimate in aspiration for luxury in post-Independence India. One reason for this was the excellent relationship that TELCO, forerunner to Tata Motors, had with the powers that be. This rubbed off on to its international truck partner, Mercedes-Benz, who were the collaborators with TELCO after a deal with the French fell through. The other reason was that it was certainly made difficult for any of the other luxury foreign automobiles to establish a beachhead in India, courtesy a particular well-connected Kashmiri gentleman, who was also in those days very close to the powers that be.
 
So, along with a restrictive import policy, it was not very uncommon to see that second-hand Mercedes-Benz cars often achieved a price higher than that of a new car—when released into the market through STC, or as and when the original importing owners were permitted to resell the cars—or sold them in ‘benami’ transactions anyway. This happened right up to as recently as the mid-‘90s. And of course, how could these transactions take place without help from the various dealers, authorised as well as otherwise, for such imported cars?
 
Cut to the future, 15 years later, and take stock of the horizon with about 30,000 Mercedes-Benz cars sold since MBIL started assembling and manufacturing cars and vans in India. Competition is fierce and free-ranging, and from Germany alone both Audi and BMW are offering not just newer and fresher products, but also aggressive pricing as well as that which all seekers search for—more bang. Mercedes-Benz on the other hand ends up carrying this staid reputation, which would have been fine if all the potential buyers and users of luxury cars were above 50 years old, but that’s not true anymore either. Prices of some models of the lower-end luxury cars are now really low—if you search hard enough—and that’s not surprising considering the way the same cars are stacked up against Japanese and South Korean brands in the international market.
 
But most of all, nobody has any idea any more of how much of any car, luxury or otherwise, is now made from parts and components coming largely out of China—but could also be from anywhere else. Which does not in any way reflect on the quality of the end product, but certainly makes one think—if a brand new car from any of the other countries is available at the same price as a five-year old Mercedes in the same bracket, then which would be a better choice?
 
In addition, please be aware, rapidly-changing regulations for new generation fuels—BS Stage IV is now a fact in the larger cities and soon going to spread—is going to create problems which were not even envisaged when these cars were designed. And this is not going to be easy to fix, either—there are multiple complex issues involved, especially with complex car engines, which no amount of local tinkering will resolve.
 
So, while the price may sound attractive, the fact remains—it may make more sense to go the extra yard, spend double the money, and buy something new, and here the choice is much wider now. Or it may make sense to spend the same amount of money, and look at different brands. After all, ‘new’ also means that you can be sure that your luxury car today was not somebody’s private taxi yesterday.
 
And if you must have a star in the drive, then something which was new about 10-15 years ago is often available for a price which even your scrap merchant may match—and that’s the truth too. — Veeresh Malik