It is quite hard to believe that you can end up buying a Land Rover Defender luxury SUV for around Rs 8 lakh! However, with the advent of technology-backed startups, innovative ideas have been incepted. This is a recent example of that. Owning a luxury car is a lifelong aspiration for many individuals. People dedicate their entire lives to save enough money with the hope of one day acquiring their dream car. Recognizing that many people find it challenging to achieve this dream, a startup has introduced the idea of co-owning luxury cars. We are using the example of the entry-level Land Rover Defender in this case. It costs Rs 94 lakh for the entry-level model. Here are the specifics.
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Land Rover Defender For Rs 8 Lakh
A startup called Prorata is among the top companies in India to implement the car co-ownership concept at a large scale. They have come up with a business model which makes it feasible for a maximum of 12 people to co-own a luxury car for 30 days each, in a year. This is ideal for people living in the same locality. In fact, Bengaluru is one place where this business has been quite successful. While this concept has been widely commercialized across the globe, India is only warming up to the idea. Still, there are a lot of questions the potential users will have. This includes things like who will bear the maintenance costs, insurance premiums, accidental damage, how will the group decide who will have the car when, parking space, etc.
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The entire money from the co-owners will be held in an escrow account. From this account, the full payment for a car will be made to the dealer. Thereafter, the company will charge an AMC from every user annually to take care of the overheads like insurance, servicing or other miscellaneous activities. In total, there will be 12 co-owners. Interestingly, one owner could purchase upto 3 tickets. In that way, the minimum number of owners could be 4. This process will take place for a period of 5 years. After this tenure, the Prorata will sell the car in the market and the amount will be distributed among the co-owners.
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Addressing Queries of Users
Parking Issue
Addressing the common challenges with this arrangement, the owners of the car-sharing company mention that they provide car pickup and drop at the doorstep of the users. In the case where no one is using it, there are dedicated Prorata parking spaces. The cars will be parked there. Hence, the users will not have to bear the responsibility of transporting it around. This means that when your day of having the car arrives, the company employees will deliver it to you. Similarly, when your time is up, they will take the car from you. In this way, the entire process of transferring the car from one owner to the next is seamless.
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Servicing Costs
Remember the AMC we talked about earlier? Prorata will use that amount toward ensuring that the periodic servicing and maintenance of the car is not a burden for the users. In addition to the regular servicing, all sorts of expenses will be taken care of by Prorata itself. This removes a large burden on owners.
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Accidental Cases
A big concern with any sort of car rental or car sharing instance is who will bear the expenditure if one owner gets involved in an accident. To be honest, this could happen to anyone. Therefore, the solution must be thought of in the beginning itself. Prorata has an accidental policy which immunises all partners financially and legally and takes care of the loss of time covered by the insurance and warranty. Again, Prorata ensures that the owners don’t have to waste their time on anything except owning and driving their dream car. Hence, almost all possible scenarios are clear in this business.
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Author’s Note
Although the concept seems brilliant in theory, it’s still a recent introduction. We would prefer not to make judgments until there are sufficient cases for people to share their reviews about the entire ownership experience. Nonetheless, the idea itself is fantastic. Car enthusiasts would likely enjoy the opportunity to use a luxury car without the commitment of ownership. Plus, there are no concerns about insurance, servicing, and the like. This additional benefit makes the whole deal even more appealing. Hence, if you have a bunch of cash lying around and are a car fanatic, this might actually make a lot of sense. Still, this is a limited use case until the platform has hundreds of thousands of users. This is how you might find yourself driving a Land Rover for just Rs 8 lakh.