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With the average budget used car price hovering around 600K PKR, choosing which car to buy is indeed a great financial risk and an emotional decision, especially in a country where the average income is about 50K PKR.
Users should consider the availability of spare parts, the brand’s reputation, the vehicle’s resale value, the car’s looks and condition, and the mechanic’s availability in the market. But how would an average person decide which car to avoid and which car to choose on an x budget?
To make your buying process easier, we’ve gathered data from our Pakwheels backend platform and compiled a list of used budget cars that you should avoid and which one to buy instead.
We’ve processed the data based on the number of listings of an x model, the time they take to be marked sold, the frequency of their listing on Pakwheels, the number of views of x model with a ratio of x number of people who click on call or SMS button, availability or parts and mechanics and other important factors.
Hyundai Santro
Hyundai Dewan Farooq Group launched the Santro in 2000. It was a 1.0L hatchback that was produced until 2009. Santro was a good car; its suspensions were soft, the drive was good, and the AC also worked well in its optimal mechanical condition.
However, its resale value is not as good as that of the other cars in the league. The reason was its brand reputation. In 2004, Dewan Farooque Motors Limited, who owned the Hyundai franchise in Pakistan, went into a financial crisis and officially discontinued its operations in Pakistan in 2009.
This affected the brand value of Hyundai in the local market, and Santro’s resale dropped significantly. The Hyundai did come back in 2019 by Nishat Motors, but it was a completely different franchise owner with no connection to Santro, and it was also too late to fix the Santro’s resale.
Additionally, as Santro does not have any official support, finding genuine parts for this car is also a big challenge. Its fuel average is also not good, hardly 11-12 Km/l with AC.
Also, from my point of view, it looks like an Ostrich from the front and it just doesn’t look good.
Our suggested alternative of Hyundai Santro = Suzuki Cultus 2008-12
Price of Suzuki Cultus 2008-12 = 8-11 Lacs PKR
Why choose Cultus instead of Santro?
Better resale, 13-16 Km/l fuel average with AC, easy parts availability and easy mechanics availability, relatively better in looks than Santro, and cheaper.
Faw Serius
I bet you’re hearing about this car for the first time, me too, when I was doing a meeting with our data analytics for this blog.
It was a 1.3L seven-seater crossover produced by Al Haj Motors, which owns the Faw franchise in Pakistan. Like V2, the Sirius was ugly from the back and interior.
They tried to replicate the interior of a 1990s BMW. At least they could have copied from a new-generation BMW.
From my perspective, it looks more like a parcel delivery car used in Western countries.
Again, you might find this car at a tempting price, but you’ll again get in trouble when finding the spare parts and mechanics. So it’s better to buy a sedan or hatchback that offers good resale value and no maintenance problems.
Our suggested alternative of Faw Sirius= Suzuki APV 2004-10
Price of Suzuki APV 2004-10 = 15-18 Lacs PKR
Why choose APV instead of Sirius?
Better resale, spare parts availability, good brand reputation, and easy-to-find mechanics. However, note that APVs are commonly used as commercial cars for inter-city travel, so their mechanics, maintenance, and parts rates will be affected correspondingly.
Suzuki Ciaz
The Ciaz was also a great car, but it was not the vehicle that people had expected from a Suzuki. Launched in 2017, and only after three years, it was discontinued in 2020. There were no problems with the car, but it was an expectation people had that Ciaz did not meet.
Suzuki is known for producing low-budget cars with easy-to-find and affordable spare parts, but Ciaz was the complete opposite. It was a CBU unit, imported from Thailand, so its buying cost was expensive, even 2-3 lacs higher than Honda City 1.3 Prosmatec at that time. Additionally, since it was a CBU unit, it could take weeks to source spare parts, and the price was expensive, close to that of a Toyota Corolla.
So now you will say that if the Suzuki is that expensive, then it would be packed with hi-tech goodies? It was simply not! It was a very simple car, just like the Honda City, with only two airbags. There was no steering control, and even the AC was manual. It was a very basic Suzuki sedan with an overpriced invoice.
In 2024, you might find this car at a tempting price. But remember, sourcing its parts is a struggle and can take weeks or even months, and not every mechanic can work on this car., Moreover, its resale value is poor; you may end up losing money while selling this car.
Our suggested alternative of Suzuki Ciaz = Honda City 2014-17
Price of Honda City 2015-17 = 30-35 Lacs PKR
Why choose City instead of Ciaz?
Better resale, easy-to-find spare parts at affordable costs, better ride quality, good brand reputation, and easy-to-find mechanics.
Faw V2
Faw V2 was launched in 2014, and you probably heard about this car for the first time because it was never successful in the Pakistani market. Not only in Pakistan, V2 is also struggling internationally and has even been discontinued in its home country of China.
There are multiple reasons why this car has made it into this list. First of all is the brand value. Faw is a new brand in cars. They do make large oil tankers, but on the side of the car, they are relatively new, and they are known as a Chinese automobile brand, so now you can expect their brand value in the Pakistani market.
Additionally, the V2’s built quality is not so good, with uneven spaces and lost parts on multiple joints. Another reason is its interior. The exterior is fine, but the interior looks very ugly like you’re sitting in a 90s car.
You will definitely face the problem of spare parts, and you will have to struggle to get its parts even from the international market because V2 was not a successful car even in the international markets. The fuel average is also not so good, 11-13 km/l at most.
Our suggested alternative of Faw V2 = Suzuki WagonR VXR 2015-17
Price of Suzuki WagonR VXR 2015-17 = 18-24 Lacs PKR
Why choose WagonR instead of V2?
Better resale, easy-to-find spare parts at affordable costs, better fuel average, good brand reputation, and easy-to-find mechanics.
Cherry QQ
Cherry QQ is a Chinese replica of the American Chevrolet Joy. It’s a 1.1L compact hatchback that was discontinued in 2008. If you’re thinking of buying this car, you should not consider its resale value because if I speak in straight words, it has the worst resale value, and you might end up selling it at a great loss.
First of all, it’s a Chinese-brand car and a replica of a Chevrolet Joy, so the brand reputation is almost nonexistent for this type of vehicle. Additionally, looks-wise, it’s not a good car either, both exterior and interior, because the vehicle that they tried to copy was known for its bad looks. I guess if they had to do a copy, they could have at least copied a good-looking car.
This car is no longer in production and was not popular in the international markets either, so finding spare parts will also be a struggle. So, it’s better to avoid this car and look for a better alternative.
Our suggested alternative of Cherry QQ = Suzuki Mehran 2006-10
Price of Suzuki Mehran 2006-10 = 5-9 Lacs PKR
Why choose Mehran instead of QQ?
Better resale, easy-to-find spare parts at very, very affordable costs, very easy to maintain, better fuel average, good brand reputation, and easy-to-find mechanics.
United Bravo
To be honest, Bravo looks like a final-year university project of a student. The whole dashboard is copied from 2010’s Audi A series cars; the built quality of the entire car is just worse, with uneven spaces in the door pillars, bonnet, and dashboard joints. Its interior door handles are so bad that they break if you pull them with a little force.
I’ve heard from a few Bravo owners that the taillight color fades over the course of 2-3 years, and the gearbox starts making a stuttering noise when the clutch pedal is released.
The quality of the DRLs is also pathetic; it seems like they’ve just installed a Rs.200, 12V LED light used in DIY projects. The car does have some good hi-techs, like power steering, power windows, infotainment that works like a Sloth, and an RPM meter, but I don’t think anyone would like to invest their 8-11 lacs in this low-built-quality car.
My personal opinion is to avoid this car at all costs and go for a Suzuki Mehran, a far better option than Bravo with quick, on-the-spot resale value.
Our suggested alternative of United Bravo = Suzuki Mehran 2015-17
Price of Suzuki Mehran 2015-17 = 9-12 Lacs PKR
Why choose Mehran instead of Bravo?
Way, way better-built quality than Bravo, quick and on-the-spot resale value, easy-to-find spare parts at very, very affordable costs, very easy to maintain, better fuel average, good brand reputation, and easy-to-find mechanics.
