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-   -   Buying a dirt cheap car for Rs 50,000 - 120,000 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/hatchbacks/257400-buying-dirt-cheap-car-rs-50-000-120-000-a.html)

Thinking of buying a dirt cheap car which can work for 6 months at least. After that, may not use for a few months?

Vehicles under consideration are:

1) Tata Indica V2 Turbo DLS/DLG/DLX - 2010
2) Suzuki Wagon R Lxi/Vxi - 2008
3) Tata Victa DI GX - 2009

I know Sumo will be rough with bad NVH. But other than that. All these come between 50K to 120K.

Your opinions are appropriated.

Go for Wagon R. Peace of mind. And you would actually get to resale it, other two would go for junk if you're getting at such price (I wonder how and why?)

(Stretch your budget very slightly and you would find a good i20, Alto, Wagon R etc.)

2008 registered means, they are in their 15th year.

How are you going to get transferred? What's the point of buying them when you cannot sell again?

If you wish to pursue, Diesels will be difficult to get their life extended. Petrol's might be a bit easy, depending on where you live. I hope you got my preferred choice of the three.

as a current owner of an indica turbo, let me tell you, run away... FAR away.
Wagon R is the best option. Estilo/Santro should be even cheaper. Ritz/i10/Getz would be an upgrade pick

WagonR WagonR WagonR !!!!

Run away from the Indica and if you do have the utility need for a Sumo, stretch and buy a Qualis, even if it is 5+ years older than the Sumo Victa.

What is the intended use, and what is dirt cheap? Do you have a figure in mind? What is dirt cheap for Ambani may not be dirt cheap for rest of the mortals like me :D.

These points may help people to recommend other options which you may not have considered?

I would suggest you to go for the WagonR as you'll be supported by Maruti's hassle free after sales service. Moreover, parts are dirt cheap. You might be able to get an Estillo at a lesser price than a WagonR. It's a great alternative.

The car is for a guy who would be running errands for me. Including driving me around in a different car. He has to go around few places in next 6months to 1year and I don’t mind scraping it after that. Usage is in rural Kerala mainly. Diesels are fine in Kerala.

So to summarise, my driver + handyman will use this car to go around to get things done. When I am in India I will be driving one of our family vehicles or or one of my 4x4s.

Is Victa DI so bad? By the way which among the three have worst ride quality?

Amongst these three options, the first-gen Wagonr is the only car that I would recommend. Like most other Marutis, it is utterly reliable and extremely light on your wallet in terms of running costs. Spare parts are cheap and easily available since they have the largest dealer and service network in the country. Both pre-facelift and facelift models are recommended in the case of first-gen Wagonr. If you can find a less used 2006-2010 VXI for ₹ 1-1.3 lakh, you should be set.

I had the 2005 Victa GX TCIC - the one with the IDI engine. That was a nice vehicle, simple, easy to drive. Of course the comfort is a couple of levels below the Safari. I did try a fellow TBHP-ian's Victa DI, but found that a little heavier. The DI version will be noisy but more power than the IDI version. More than being bad, these would have been used quite a bit and possibly more rough than a car.

If in KL, then look for Bolero's. You can even sell it later. Helpful to carry stuff too if required.

Well, not that bad. But you would have to spend some money and time to keep it running. Best thing is to avoid.
Regarding ride quality, the Sumo for its time had good ride quality at low speeds. The WagonR is faar faar better than the equivalent Santro. The Indica's ride quality while not perfect, does benefit from the rear independent suspension. Takes mid corner bumps with ease, something most mainstream cars can't.

For your use case, I would suggest the Omni/Eeco for utilitarian use, assuming the driver/handyman is helping with construction of a house/business. Not that others can't be of help. Our '09 F10D WagonR took 6-7 50kg cement bags like a champ. (lowrider:cool:) But with Omni/Eeco you can't go wrong. Easy to buy/sell/dispose/scrap and utilitarian as it can be.

Rural Kerala. Hmm... Any driver would suggest you to go for the Mahindra equivalent instead.

Then indica might not be a bad idea. To use an old phrase, Tata cars are cheap if your time is free. For rural/rough use, the indica makes sense. Just budget for frequent downtime and hunting for parts from scrapyards. Where is your location? May be able to connect you to some sellers from KL indica groups

Here's something I did a long time ago. Back then the need was for a running car for weekend city travel (and the rare long distance trip) that didn't pinch the pocket too much and that's all.

Ended up buying a decade+ old M800 for 50k. And owned it for another 2-3 years till I 'sold' it to my friends who then used it for another half a decade before one of them handed it over to his relatives for usage in his fields/farms in rural MH.

- No frills ownership; we upgraded with a USB music player with stock speakers and that was all we spent on it (incl. a battery change once)
- Did not care about the bad suspension or NVH levels or (lack of a strong) AC or power output or anything else
- We had a FNG mechanic who would tinker around the car to make sure it's in running condition every 6 months

As long as you have a mechanic who's ready to keep the car running at minimum cost and your driver/handyman is okay with a ~15 year old car and the troubles that come with it, go for the one that works from a budget + (future) maintenance viewpoint.

Suggest to check in the place it will be used- may be with members/people at the location. You could look for what cars are easily available there in good condition. This will also help you sell it later if that can be done. Re-selling would mean paying a little more now, but you should be able to get most of the spend back.

The indica has a fan following in rural areas in KL. It's sort of a mini bolero because the diesel engine helps with navigating steep rural roads in a way your average petrol hatch cannot. They're available for next to nothing because keeping them running in urban areas is very pricey. Plus while needing frequent repairs, it's still abuse friendly, and has good parts availablity, so can stay on the road. It's a niche but very much there.