[pawank]

Try to teach her to drive a manual car first. A person who regularly drives a manual car can drive an automatic easily. But it would be difficult to switch to a manual from an automatic, it can be a nightmare for a new driver.

If you want to resale the vehicle in a short period of time then strictly stick with hatchbacks from Maruti or Hyundai stable. Hyundai and Maruti cars are always in demand in used car market. You can resale them easily. But try to stick to a manual.

[greendream]

Originally Posted by Vishal.R

We have also started looking for a economical / used automatic for wife.

For used car, budget is caped around 3.5 lac, Plan B is new S-Presso AMT if We don't get good car in the budget.

Instead of S- Presso Amt I would buy the wagon r Amt or New Santro Amt.
The base Amt in both cars will be yours for a lakh more than S- Presso Amt.
Checkout for discounts too.

[Pkumarblore]

Hi, I was in a similar situation a couple of years back looking for an used AT for my better half. I picked a 2008 i10 AT for a reasonable price from the first owner directly..found it on OLX. But if your sister is learning now, I would recommend she learns it in a MT to understand some fundamentals of gearboxes and it will always come in handy when she has to drive an MT. But if you still have to go for an AT, I think the choices are Brio/i10/AStar(I would stick with Torque Converters) or CVT's such as Micra. As for the i10 AT, its a fuel guzzler and Hyundai service costs are on the higher side, but it is probably the better of the 3. Your sister will feel more safer in an i10 than the other 2. Do check with TBHP's guidelines on buying a used car.

[raksrules]

Sorry if I am hijacking the thread. I was someone who had decided never to buy a car in India. I have driven in US (2012 Camry LE) when I was onsite but have never driven in India. My brother in same house owns Honda City (3rd Gen gen automatic) but I have never driven it. He even told me that he can teach me but I am little apprehensive and scared to drive. On top of that Honda City is a big car. I may still try to take his help and learn to drive (On Indian roads).
But I for sure only want automatic and this thread rekindled my interest in buying one car for myself and my family (2 adults + 2 kids). Being first ever car, I want to spend less as it is for my training more. I don't intend to drive the car to office (which is 2 hours away) and will be used not very frequently. May be mostly on weekends when office starts.

If I have to decided on a car with similar (under 4L budget) which one I should go for? I checked responses and this (and other threads) is what I have deduced for now...

-> TC / CVT better than AMT / DSG etc. especially in used car scenario.
-> Some recommended cars I saw were hatchbacks like Brio / Micra / Ritz / i10.

I even had TDed (my brother drove) Micra back in 2014 but then I want onsite so plans of buying got shelved. I liked it at that time. Don't remember much.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by raksrules

But I for sure only want automatic and this thread rekindled my interest in buying one car for myself and my family (2 adults + 2 kids). Being first ever car, I want to spend less as it is for my training more. I don't intend to drive the car to office (which is 2 hours away) and will be used not very frequently. May be mostly on weekends when office starts.

If I have to decided on a car with similar (under 4L budget) which one I should go for?

-> TC / CVT better than AMT / DSG etc. especially in used car scenario.
-> Some recommended cars I saw were hatchbacks like Brio / Micra / Ritz / i10.

Grand i10 with its 5 speed TC will be the best fit for you. It is pricier compared to other options. And it is probably the thirstiest of the lot; many owners get only 7-8 kmpl in Bangalore traffic. But with your low intended use, its fuel inefficiency shouldn't matter. I would recommend a Grand i10 also because my friend has a MT Grand i10 and he said that his car's rear seat is more spacious/comfy than the Ecosport's and Nexon's after we test drove these with our manager.

Brio is good too with its TC gearbox but is probably smaller (haven't been inside one though). Do think of that rear hatch and its suitability in terms of highway safety for your family though. I find it to be too glassed over and too close to the rear seat.

The Ritz AT has the same old 4 speed TC gearbox that my A Star AT has. I get urban mileage of 10 kmpl and 15 kmpl on the highway with it. The gearbox is super reliable. If you get a Ritz AT, it's a worthy catch indeed. It will tick all your boxes, especially with its space. But Ritz AT examples are rare in the used market.

Only these 3 options will fall into your budget and be good enough for your purpose. Jazz CVTs typically cost at least a lakh more. Nissans are risky if you ask me...spare parts, questionable future in India for Nissan and all that.

Note: i10 AT with its 4 speed gearbox is also an option but it has been out of production for 7 years now I think...

[raksrules]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Grand i10 with its 5 speed TC will be the best fit for you. It is pricier compared to other options. And it is probably the thirstiest of the lot; many owners get only 7-8 kmpl in Bangalore traffic. But with your low intended use, its fuel inefficiency shouldn't matter.

Are all Grand i10 5 speed TC? Back in 2014 or so we also saw the Xcent AT and I guess that was 4 speed.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by raksrules

Are all Grand i10 5 speed TC? Back in 2014 or so we also saw the Xcent AT and I guess that was 4 speed.

You're right, it is a 4 speed. There is a 5 speed AMT though.

For your usage, look for used i20, i10, Brio, Ritz, Swift, Amaze etc. If you like a fast car, I'd suggest the i20 with the 1.4 P + 4AT combo. Do note that all of the cars I've listed will give you relatively bad FE compared to their manual counterparts.

I'd stay away from Micra unless you know a competent FNG.

[RavSam]

Originally Posted by raksrules

Are all Grand i10 5 speed TC? Back in 2014 or so we also saw the Xcent AT and I guess that was 4 speed.

Grand i10 also had 4-speed AT only. 5 speed one is the AMT in Nios.

[raksrules]

Bumping this thread again as me and my wife again had a conversation on the topic of buying a car. We both do not know how to drive (US driving not being counted).
Due to this reason, she only wants used car and it has to be an automatic and hatchback. I do concur her feelings. We plan to use that for sometime and get a feel of using car on road, go for some casual drives to my in laws or when we go to a mall (post pandemic) etc. Basically use will be not much. Once we get used to cars, we will sell that off and buy a brand new car in future.

So can anyone please suggest what options I can look at and at what all places? How old to go?
We don't have a fixed budget but I would like to stay well under 5 Lakh (less the better).
I am in Mumbai (Borivali) if that helps

[GandalfTheGrey]

Originally Posted by raksrules

Once we get used to cars, we will sell that off and buy a brand new car in future.
So can anyone please suggest what options I can look at and at what all places? How old to go?

We don't have a fixed budget but I would like to stay well under 5 Lakh (less the better).
I am in Mumbai (Borivali) if that helps

There are actually quite a few options in your price range, and I'm assuming you'll be familiar with them. So I suggest you look something that's around 20-30k run, and 2017+ model for the BS4 engine.

Now let me tell you my story, hoping to add some value to your question. I was looking for a used hatch for my wife, who's learning to drive, around 5 lakhs. The plan is to buy a small car now, and sell it after 2-3 years once my wife is comfortable driving. So I was considering various options, and decided to go the automatic route. My wife was happy with AMT's performance. So I decided to go with a Maruti as it'll fetch me good amount when re-selling. So we're finalizing a 20k ran, 2017 Celerio ZXI AMT in a TrueValue, costing around 4.1 lakhs. One of the main reasons for choosing a Maruti in a True Value is that they give 1 year company's warranty on gearbox and engine. The i10 was rejected because of poor FE, the Micra was rejected as it costed almost similar to Celerio, but will fetch a poor value in resale, and the Kwid and Wagon R were rejected as wife didn't like their looks.

Cheers!

[raksrules]

Originally Posted by GandalfTheGrey

There are actually quite a few options in your price range, and I'm assuming you'll be familiar with them. So I suggest you look something that's around 20-30k run, and 2017+ model for the BS4 engine.

Now let me tell you my story, hoping to add some value to your question. I was looking for a used hatch for my wife, who's learning to drive, around 5 lakhs. The plan is to buy a small car now, and sell it after 2-3 years once my wife is comfortable driving. So I was considering various options, and decided to go the automatic route. My wife was happy with AMT's performance. So I decided to go with a Maruti as it'll fetch me good amount when re-selling. So we're finalizing a 20k ran, 2017 Celerio ZXI AMT in a TrueValue, costing around 4.1 lakhs. One of the main reasons for choosing a Maruti in a True Value is that they give 1 year company's warranty on gearbox and engine. The i10 was rejected because of poor FE, the Micra was rejected as it costed almost similar to Celerio, but will fetch a poor value in resale, and the Kwid and Wagon R were rejected as wife didn't like their looks.

Cheers!

I see you too were looking for same cars I was. I did mention 5L but I wanted to actually not spend beyond 3L. I am now checking True Value online. Should I just check online, if not found, check later or I should ideally go to the truevalue physical store and check as sometimes the inventory on their website is not up to date?

[GandalfTheGrey]

Originally Posted by raksrules

I see you too were looking for same cars I was. I did mention 5L but I wanted to actually not spend beyond 3L. I am now checking True Value online.

Yeah, even I didn't want to spend not more than 3-3.5 lakhs, but the cars within that range weren't satisfactory. Reason could be the Chennai market too, as Chennai's used car market isn't as big as that of Delhi or Mumbai.

Should I just check online, if not found, check later or I should ideally go to the truevalue physical store and check as sometimes the inventory on their website is not up to date?

I suggest you visit the TrueValue dealers in person. There are many customers visiting the dealership, and some even blocking the cars with an advance, so such deals won't be reflected in the website until the customer makes full payment. So website listings won't be ideal indicator of available cars.

Cheers!