Hi, still deciding - which should be my first car!

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by blue_pulsar

I would suggest, buy a second hand Maruti 800, learn proper driving and then sell it with/without scratches. If you have scratches on your 1-2month old car, it definitely hurts. Think practically. This is the way to go. You can use this 800 for about 6-months to 1 year. Till then you will be more certain of your usage pattern. Then you can go in for a newer car.
I myself did this and know many people who have done this. Hope this makes sense.

Good suggestion. One question. After driving M800 for 6months-1 year, did you have any difficulty driving Swift in terms of predicting the size and knowing whether it was gonna touch somewhere in traffic? Was it like learning to drive a new car again or slightly better?

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by ravibhat

My pick would be in this order:

1. i10 : its new car with excellant looks and good quality and by March there might be some discounts. Disadvantages: front visibility is bit poor, costlier than Santro/Wagonr/Alto to maintain i feel.

2. Santro/WagonR: both come as second choice and score same.

Santro Advantage: Its truely tested product now, safest car in its class, very easy to drive, good FE, good service, reliable,

Santro Disadvntages: Bumpy ride in back seat in bad indian roads, pedals bit wrongly placed but once used to it its no problem.


WagonR Advantages: Maruti name, comfortable car with good space, cheap to maintain.

Disadvantages: not good looking, on highway not as stable as Santro, not so good quality materials.

3. Alto: If you don't like above cars I mentioned then you have to decide Alto, its very good small car nothing can go wrong with Alto for what we pay

But I suggest since you have 4+lac budget test drive i10 and you will simply love it, it might look as its overpriced but trust me it has good features and worth it.

I suggest be away from Swift/Logan/Indigo/Palio/Getz/GM Cars unless you really like them.

Test drive and Choose right variant for your requirement.

Regards,

Ravi.

You seem to have a very good knowledge of Santro and Wagon R But, why do you say stay away from Swift?!
I am not sure about i10 as some say it does not have good visibility which is quite important to me considering the fact that I am a newbie to driving.
More inclined towards Alto!

[HappyWheels]

vasanth,

few years back was in the same situation as you are now - no, not with respect to driving, but as to which car to buy. my budget was around 4laks.

i started out looking at second hand cars; first with Maruti and was shocked to see that they are priced so high that it did not make any sense at all. i also looked at second hand Ikon 1.8D, but came to know that it is being phased out and decided not to buy that (which I now regret!!!).

Keeping in mind the 'beautiful' traffic in Bangalore and the running cost (aka FE, spare parts, service cost, etc) I decided that it was either a Indica or Maruti.

Indica was ruled out because there was only diesal version at that time (which is another bad decision - i completely miscalculated my driving requirement - did 43k kms in 2yrs and 2mnts as of now!!! Diesal would have been worth it!).

So that left me with Maruti. TD'd most of the ones available (small ones) and found Alto to be the best fit. unfortunately, the VXi was stopped by that time (would have loved the 1.1cc engine!); so went in for the LXi.

Driving in city is very comfortable. Yes, getting in and out is an issue (I am 5'11''). But once inside all the controls are comfortably placed and the driving view is great. And for maintanence, just the regular services (but this can be said for most of the vehicles in that category now!). I have done heavy highway driving and have found the handling superb.

Now, as my family grows, I am facing the space crunch and am looking at an upgrade. Was the best fit till now.

so, it boils down to:

1. Do not buy a second hand car unless you are financially challenged. in the long run, it will never be worth it.

2. As said by others, getting used to the traffic, getting scratches etc are all part of the game. Trust me when I say that you will be frustrated / shocked / out-raged only for the first couple of scratches (minor); after that, its something you will get used to. (this is unless, like maverick, you do a lot of stickering!)

3. Do not restrict yourself for a small car just because it fits your requirement as of now. Look at where you see yourself (your needs) after 3~5 years. If you can stretch your budget, it best to do it now and go for a saloon than think of a change after 3~5 years.

4. Test drive the vehicles that you find appealing and then take the decision. One mans like need not be yours too. And when you have your better half also with driving skills, it get all the more complex. So both of you have to find a vehicle which both of you feel comfy and meets your requirement and then decide.

5. All the best mate - happy hunting! :-)

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Have you looked at Maruti true value? You might good deals it 2.5 - 3.5 lakh price range.

yes, but not sure how much I can trust them. I have read some really bad reviews about them in mouthshut! :(

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by iraghava

Vasanth - to answer your questions, I just sold off my second Santro (my mother's car) last week after four years & 100k kms of use. My first one was also kept for 105k & 4 years.

Both cars did not have any rust problems apart from the Silencer rusting, which is a common occurrence in most cars.

And no, the spare parts prices are very reasonable compared to virtually any car in its segment.

As for the Santro vs i10, I would still suggest the Santro as it'll be cheaper to maintain than the i10 & also the Santro has better visibility than the i10 which is important for a new driver. You may ask how I know this?? Well my mother's Santro which was sold last week has been replaced by an i10!

Makes me want to go for it, not for the mileage but for the front seat comfort! Can you please let me know if someone you know is selling a Santro, less than 40K on odo.

[wanderlustindia]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

If you have a budget of 5 lacs, you might as well look at a Swift or a Palio 1.6. No point whatsoever buying an entry level hatch. I'm not in the camp that believes one needs to learn driving in a slow underpowered car.

Just buy what seems value for money to you and don't restrict yourself. You can start driving in whatever car you want... even a D segment car or even an SUV for that matter. A bigger car doesn't mean that its harder to drive. I find an old zen or alto without power steering to be way harder to drive than my Cedia.

@reignofchaos, I second your opinion. One need not start with an Alto or a small hatch. When I first went shopping for my first car, everyone advised me to buy an Alto or a M800. But I ended up buying the Ikon. Never regretted that decision.

Vasanth, you have every right to have fun driving right from day one! Do not limit your choices to cars that crawl on the roads. Trust me, after a week you will start to feel you've been driving for ages. Baaki, its your call. Good luck!

[manish_symc]

Drive the best car if you have budget. Man!!, life is too short.
I love Safari but right now I do not have budget for it so most probably, I will go for Palio 1.3MJD because of Palio's ride quality. Enjoy the life.

[sathya_j2084]

go for any car belonging to maruthi or hyundai stable,chevy is also good but dnt knw much abt their after sales compared to hyundai/maruthi.All cars are good and have their own plus and minus(remember there is nothing ideal on this universe!!).Go ahead and enjoy your new car!!!

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

A friend of mine has an Alto and he strongly recommended not to go for an Alto without Power Steering for city driving. Will keep this in mind.

Second that. TD Alto LX and LXi and Power steering made a lot of difference in Bombay's bumper to bumper traffic.

[bkm]

I don't understand with a price difference of 30k or so how Alto is finding favor . Spark any day is much better car technologically with much better comfort and more spacious also. i10 is costlier by about 80K over spark if you want to have power steering. go and ask people who are owning spark , TD yourself and then decide.

[blue_pulsar]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

Good suggestion. One question. After driving M800 for 6months-1 year, did you have any difficulty driving Swift in terms of predicting the size and knowing whether it was gonna touch somewhere in traffic? Was it like learning to drive a new car again or slightly better?

Actually I was not entirely new to driving. I used to drive my dad's Zen "ONLY" on 4-lane NH4. I was of course very shaky and not used to Bangalore driving at all. Then I decided that I should learn city driving. I bought a 4-year old M-800, used it for 11 months. Fortunately, with very careful and alert driving, I got only 1 scratch on it. But when I test drove the Swift, I immediately felt lot more comfortable. Yes, it took couple of days to get adjusted to the bigger size. Till that point of time, I had honed my city driving skills. But had I got that one single scratch on my Swift, it would hurt me badly

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by wanderlustindia

@reignofchaos, I second your opinion. One need not start with an Alto or a small hatch. When I first went shopping for my first car, everyone advised me to buy an Alto or a M800. But I ended up buying the Ikon. Never regretted that decision.

Vasanth, you have every right to have fun driving right from day one! Do not limit your choices to cars that crawl on the roads. Trust me, after a week you will start to feel you've been driving for ages. Baaki, its your call. Good luck!

I learnt to drive on an indica Turbo. The car is a beast anywhere. It front end seems wide but invisible, being a diesel isnt given to bouts of sudden acceleration, but can deliver if required to do so. Now that i'm used to handling an indica around traffic, driving the alto/wagon R seem insignificant to me

PS: i got white , because its damn cheap to touch up. And yes , there were a few scratches the first week

[carCrazy25]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

Hi, I am a software engineer from Bangalore. Have been driving a Honda Activa for the last 5 years. 50,000 kms and a few accidents later, I am still in love with my activa which gives FE of 50 Km/L even now (checked last week with fuel from shell for the last 2 months).

Need a new car as my wife is a little tired of riding on the activa on the pot-hole ridden roads of Bangalore. And now that we both are in the same office, it makes sense for us to come in a car. Joined car driving classes and got my LL, but not the DL yet.

Not sure which car to buy... a few facts
1) I am new to car driving. No experience other than the 8 hrs in the driving class. Nor have i been a co-passenger for long, so... not much idea of driving a 4-wheeler.
2) I am looking for something with good comfort. Had a chance to buy a 2.5 yr old new model Zen for 2.5L, sounds like a good deal but am not happy with the space/comfort in Zen (based on many reviews).
3) I am not looking for very high Power, mainly intend to drive in city and may be very rarely on Highways.
4) Looking for good FE.
5) Will drive around 25-30 kms a day and may be around 50Kms in the weekend.
5) Still confused whether to buy a new car or a used car!
6) My budget if stretched is around 4.5-5 Lakhs!

Research results...

1) I wanted to buy a used Alto, but somehow Alto sellers seem to overprice the car as it is Maruti and has good name. I would rather go for a new Alto.
2) Indica V2 Turbo DLS looks good, but not sure if I need a diesel vehicle. I would be driving around 25 kms on weekdays and may/may not use the car in the weekends.
3) Have loved the reviews of Fiat Palio Diesel, so am keen on buying a used Fiat Palio Diesel, but not sure how reliable the used car dealers are! (Kind of hoping that some BHPian wants to sell a Fiat Plaio diesel and I would buy it!)
4)I fancy Chevy Spark, but not sure, seems to be a lil highly priced.


Suggestions Please...

Can anyone please suggest which car I can go for!?

I would any day pick the santro/i10 for it's ease to drive in city traffic, and cheap maintenance.
I havent driven the i10, but santro is a really good car for city driving.
Hyundai after sales service is top notch, from wat my frnds have told.

[druva]

I hope you have seen the Advice section. Particularly this excellent thread on New vs Used car
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/buying...-used-car.html (ARTICLE: Buying a New Car vs Used Car)

If you think your financial situation changes significantly within 3 years then go for used car.. (like income doubling/ trebling)... otherwise we get pretty used to the cars we hold and continue on it...

I have been wanting to upgrade my car for past 1 year.. have not done so. In USA - i bought used cars and in India i bought new car. Reasons:

a) Finance constraints in US - IT comps pay only so much
b) Used market is mature in US

c) Smell/ Pride of new car is irresistible!
d) its been a dream to own a new car!

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by manish_symc

Drive the best car if you have budget. Man!!, life is too short.
I love Safari but right now I do not have budget for it so most probably, I will go for Palio 1.3MJD because of Palio's ride quality. Enjoy the life.

Wish I could say "Yes" to what you have written, But I have a few points to think about:
1) I should be able to technicaally/financially convince my wife why I am going for the car that I finalize on.
2) I have to pay some EMI's so, dont want to burn another huge hole in my pocket, right now the idea is to learn 4 wheeler driving in city and to familiarize myself with the nitty-gritties of 4 wheeler driving. (I will definitley put a post of this once I have a good enough list of pointers)
Thanks for the suggestion anyway. P.S: I would love to drive a Safari too, especially the older one, not Dicor! Looks cool man!

Originally Posted by sathya_j2084

go for any car belonging to maruthi or hyundai stable,chevy is also good but dnt knw much abt their after sales compared to hyundai/maruthi.All cars are good and have their own plus and minus(remember there is nothing ideal on this universe!!).Go ahead and enjoy your new car!!!

I completely agree with you! The more I researched on cars, the clearer the fact was to me that every car has some pros and cons. The idea would be to decide what pros one is looking for and what cons one can live with!
And yes, my hunch is I will end up with a Maruti car

Originally Posted by bkm

I don't understand with a price difference of 30k or so how Alto is finding favor . Spark any day is much better car technologically with much better comfort and more spacious also. i10 is costlier by about 80K over spark if you want to have power steering. go and ask people who are owning spark , TD yourself and then decide.

I think the reason Alto is finding favor is not just the cost, but:
1) MARUTI: Makes a big difference, BRAND NAME for reliability and easy maintenance.
2) Highest mileage in class. Low running cost.
3) Good resale value (in fact a little more than it should be)
4) Even if I read one article about one spark having some issues, it can put a black mark against sparky in mind, not the case with Maruti.

Personally, I was smitten for Sparky for quite some time

Originally Posted by blue_pulsar

Actually I was not entirely new to driving. I used to drive my dad's Zen "ONLY" on 4-lane NH4. I was of course very shaky and not used to Bangalore driving at all. Then I decided that I should learn city driving. I bought a 4-year old M-800, used it for 11 months. Fortunately, with very careful and alert driving, I got only 1 scratch on it. But when I test drove the Swift, I immediately felt lot more comfortable. Yes, it took couple of days to get adjusted to the bigger size. Till that point of time, I had honed my city driving skills. But had I got that one single scratch on my Swift, it would hurt me badly

Hope I have a similar experience, drive a used car for a couple of years, and then buy a new one and manage not to have any scratches on it!

Originally Posted by carCrazy25

I would any day pick the santro/i10 for it's ease to drive in city traffic, and cheap maintenance.
I havent driven the i10, but santro is a really good car for city driving.
Hyundai after sales service is top notch, from wat my frnds have told.

Thanks mate... may be i will buy it as my second car once I am comfortable driving a 4 wheeler. ( I would hate to see a scratch on a new i10)

Originally Posted by druva

I hope you have seen the Advice section. Particularly this excellent thread on New vs Used car
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/buying...-used-car.html (ARTICLE: Buying a New Car vs Used Car)

If you think your financial situation changes significantly within 3 years then go for used car.. (like income doubling/ trebling)... otherwise we get pretty used to the cars we hold and continue on it...

I have been wanting to upgrade my car for past 1 year.. have not done so. In USA - i bought used cars and in India i bought new car. Reasons:

a) Finance constraints in US - IT comps pay only so much
b) Used market is mature in US

c) Smell/ Pride of new car is irresistible!
d) its been a dream to own a new car!

I am hoping my financial situation changes drastically

[FONT=Arial]Here’s an experience I want to share with all BHPians, especially the newBies and the one’s looking for a used car. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]I searched for used cars in CarWale.com (no doubt a good site to give information on “used car value”, “new car on-road price”, “research in new cars”, “comparison between cars” etc). I found an Indica V2 DLS 2002 model driven for 56K Kms for 2 Lakhs. The value as per CarWale was 1.9 Lakhs. I called up the seller and asked why it is priced higher than the carWale recommended price. He informed that since he had all 4 new tubeless tyres, new battery, new seat covers and an Sony X-plod music system. I was convinced. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Since I am a novice to the world of 4-wheelers, forget about inspecting a car for value, I would not be able to start and test drive on all gears! So, I took along with me a good trusted friend who has very good experience in driving and cars and now owns a fleet of cars (a travel company). He was a blessing in disguise I learnt in just 5 mins after reaching the sellers place. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]I assumed that the seller would be a fair person as the seller was staying in Purva Fairmont in HSR (A pretty prestigious place to stay in), my guess was that someone who could afford to stay there might not lie for petty money. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]We went to Purva Fairmont, called up the seller and the seller took us to the basement where the car was parked. Initially he did not even trust my friend could drive and offered to take the vehicle out of parking himself. Once we were out in the sun, the first thing my friend noticed was one side on the front had a better shine, meaning it was probably dented and repaired. I could not make this out (one needs a fair bit of experience to find this out) however, after my friend mentioned I could at least make out that one of the light cover (or whatever it is called) was new, the other was old. So, definitely there was some repair work (may be a minor accident or a major one) which the seller was trying to hide. FIRST NEGATIVE POINT[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Then my friend opened the boot (dikki) and observed the edges of the boot cover and he could make out that it had also undergone some kind of tinkering/repair work.!! To a novice like me it looked perfectly fine. SECOND NEGATIVE POINT.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]My friend then went to the front and opened the bonnet, opened a few knobs and checked something and also removed a stick which shows the oil level. He touched the oil on that and found that it was black and had not been changed for quite some time.(From the previous posts in many sites, I have understood that the engine oil in Diesel cars should be changed every 5K Kms to have a good life). When my friend mentioned that it was not changed, the seller said that since he uses it rarely he has not changed the oil. My fiend replied immediately that “No, It has run more than the recommended Kms for oil change, it has become dirty!!). Then the seller agreed THIRD NEGATIVE POINT. How on earth would I know I have to check all this, unless I had taken someone who is thorough in all these things!!![/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Then we sat in the car and drove. Remember that I have done only 8 Hrs of driving in the driving school and have never crossed the 3rd gear (which was very occasional when the driving instructor was in good mood!). So, most of the things my friend did after things were out of my comprehension, but let me try to describe! He started the vehicle, left it in idling (on neutral) for some time and tried to feel something, then slightly pushed on the accelerator (on neutral) and again tried to feel something. Then went on from 1st to 5th gears one after the other. “Since HSR has broad straight roads it was easy to drive and test all 5 gears” I commented to my friend, trying to sound intelligent, he replied, but we need bad roads to test the suspension . We did manage to find a rough patch of road after some guidance from the seller. He felt the suspension. After the test drive, he got down of the vehicle and told that the clutch was not in good condition! By now the seller had realized that my friend was quite an expert and tried not to hide many things. He informed that there was some problem with the clutch and had replaced a lot of the parts from the clutch assembly some time back at Prerana. My friend looked at the bill and was even more upset, saying “the clutch assembly was almost replaced just 5K kms back and it is spoilt already!! FOURTH NEGATIVE POINT[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]The most shocking of all was the revelation was that this was a inter-state vehicle with original registration in Gujarat and then re-registered in Bangalore, but the seller conveniently neglected to tell this when I had called. By now, I had lost all faith in the seller. The Engine was however in good condition. My friend said we could pay at most 1.7 Lakhs for this, but avoid it, we can get better cars. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Phew! What an experience for the first car I went to see!!! [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]I wonder what I would have done if I did not take an expert friend along with me!!! I would have bought this car and would have thought I got a bargain until I would have started facing the problem. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]A MESSAGE TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE LOOKING TO BUY A USED CAR. GET IT THOROUGHLY INSPECTED BY A RELAIBLE (PREFREABLE KNOWN EXPERT)!!! I would have committed a big mistake but for this. [/FONT]