[irdevanand]

Originally Posted by Shanksta

Thanks for confirming that, glad I could be of help. It will be DH in your RC book, check it once. If your number plates are embossed get new ones made will hardly take half a day at any shop if you give the order. Also give a piece of your mind to the SA that sold you the car, being a Sales advisor he definitely will and should have known the current running series when he sold you the car. Atleast he should've noticed it before or during delivery even though it was a mistake. Looks like a silly mistake but can become serious in an instant.

But do get the number plates changed ASAP.

Update : the dealer sent two folks to our apartment and got the number plate changed last week. Thanks for your help Shanksta.

[bharatbits]

I feel one car serves all my needs. Here's a picture of my daily drive, beater, highway cruiser and everything in between. Odo at 21000 and doing duty in Mumbai these days.

[Stigissimo]

Awesome thread, Vishy. We have a Corolla Altis of 2009 vintage that I am convinced can handle just about anything. The other India-specific beater requirement is wading depth: when Delhi roads flood in the monsoons, all our sophisticated German/Swedish cars are promptly hidden away and the Altis takes over.
Even here in college in the US, some of my more fortunate friends often borrow my humble Jetta when they want to go skiing or camping because their Beemers and Mercs can't handle rough conditions. Does wonders for me because I get to drive their cars in exchange

[Sahil]

Great thread ! But since beaters last so long,I have a question that I have been pondering over for a while - When do you get rid of the beater?

I have two beaters in the house currently- Both unsurprisingly are Toyotas of course! 2009 Altis VL AT & 2010(Run 55k kms) Fortuner MT 4x4(Run 80k kms).
The Fortuner although has been a great work horse and literally pulled me out of life-threatening situations besides Mumbai Floods, no one in the house likes to use it. It's far too bumpy and my mom finds it hard to climb in an out of now. Hence, I have decided it needs to go soon and am keen to replace it with the new CRV. But my only sore point here is that the water wading depth of the CRV will be no where close to the Fortuner's 700mm! This one ability has been the reason the car is yet in our garage.

The Altis, runs household errands all day long. Seldom does it do any distance of even over 25kms at a stretch. Hence its only driven 55k kms in 9 years! It has great legroom, leather, etc so luxurious enough too. But am pondering whether I should replace it with the Yaris since both are the same size.

Both cars are going in for their annual service this week, I guess one important part of this answer would be how much work $$ is anticipated in them for the next few years to decide whether to keep or replace.

[Prathiiik]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Why don't you consider the Endeavour then, Sir?

The Endeavour has a good water wading capability
of 800 mm, is much more feature loaded than the Fortuner and also rides better.

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by Prathiiik

Why don't you consider the Endeavour then, Sir?

The Endeavour has a good water wading capability
of 800 mm, is much more feature loaded than the Fortuner and also rides better.

It suffers from the same issues of the Fortuner - Bumpy and climb in and out is a bit bothersome for older people.
I don't think I will be able to find a SUV which doesn't have those issues if it has good wading dept. Its a catch 22.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Great thread ! But since beaters last so long,I have a question that I have been pondering over for a while - When do you get rid of the beater?

Both cars are going in for their annual service this week, I guess one important part of this answer would be how much work $$ is anticipated in them for the next few years to decide whether to keep or replace.

Honestly, we just prefer to keep the beaters as long as they last, unless the needs and requirements change (We sold our Liva for a sedan because boot space was important for the beater) or if they spend enough time at the workshop such that they aren't there to do the beating about which just defeats the purpose of having them (our Octy Combi even though low run, had the odd niggle cropping up due to ageing and more than anything wrong with the car - it just took Skoda a long time to get parts for it which in a way defeated the purpose of having a beater).

In your case, the Corolla should stay because it still has a lot of life left in it. No point picking up the Yaris with it's downmarket interiors, smaller engine, etc. You will still end up paying a decent amount of money for the trade in, and may as well use a fraction of that to spruce up the corolla and fix it.

The Fortuner though is a tough one! I'd recommend keeping it if you still end up using it often enough, and maybe picking up the Yaris as a second beater.
In our case, the Etios is a car that mom hates (compared to others in the garage of course) but I love the size, boot space, passenger space, and peace of mind.

Ended up getting her a Corolla for her daily run about (which is basically a beater duty), and the Etios is retained for airport runs + guests + my trips to site / road side parking when the S-Cross is unavailable (which is often as it's parked at office). Still managed to clock 10Kkm on it last year itself despite mom and dad not using it as frequently (dad prefers the seating of the S-Cross / Corolla, esp at the back).
If Toyota launches a diesel auto version of the Etios / Yaris - I would gladly trade this in for one of those.

In your case, why not consider the Innova? During the recent Mumbai floods - a friend's innova managed to do a decent amount of damage control. Heck, he took it for a spin at midnight on the day of the floods just because the roads were empty!
Similarly, the Tiguan / Karoq should also be on your list of cars to check out. They won't go through water like the Fortuner, but will do 90% of what the Fortuner does otherwise. The Karoq especially, given the Yeti was a surprisingly capable off-roader!

[Varun_HexaGuy]

Originally Posted by Prathiiik

Why don't you consider the Endeavour then, Sir?

The Endeavour has a good water wading capability
of 800 mm, is much more feature loaded than the Fortuner and also rides better.

Plus one to that, man. But, as Sahil sir has already mentioned that the ingress and egress of the mighty Fortuner is getting difficult for his mom, in that sense, the Endy too doesn't make sense since it isn't a low slung vehicle. If the water-wading capability is something you can compromise on, then the Crysta or the Hexa make sense.

I'd say go for the Crysta given its bullet-proof reliability (a must for a beater, IMHO!). It's a lot comfortable over the Fortuner and ingress and egress too are a lot better with respect to the Fortuner. Even the Hexa is a good option. It's at par with the Crysta in-terms of reliability (too early to comment though!) but the way how Tata had claimed of 8-lac kilometres testing and all, I hope it ages gracefully. Even after almost an year, I don't have any niggles (touchwood!) as some of the XUV owners have reported in the early days of ownership. Also, the Hexa comes with 400mm of water-wading capability. Though, it's nowhere close to the big boys, that said it can wade through the flooded roads of Mumbai with ease. I've had a first hand experience taking my Sindbad through the flooded roads of Hyderabad.

On other hand, why replace the Altis? It's done only about 55k on the odo which is nothing. She still has a lot of life. I'd say hold on for as long as possible. The Yaris too, is a tempting downgrade one can go for (in-terms of segment). It's got more kit and a host of additional safety features over the Altis. It's your call now. Want a better and safer car for lesser $$$, then the Yaris makes a lot of sense and is a worthy downgrade over the Altis.

Varun

[YakubKC]

Extremely useful thread! I've been toying with the idea of a beater car since I moved to Bangalore almost a year ago and have now decided to get myself one. The roads in and around my locality (Sarjapur and Bellandur) are pathetic and it hurts me beyond measure to take my Vento outside every day.

Would really appreciate suggestions for a beater car within a budget of 1.5laks (I know this is quite low but that's all I can spare for now). Hatch, economical to maintain and fun to drive - three requirements that I have in mind.

[procrastinator]

Originally Posted by YakubKC

Would really appreciate suggestions for a beater car within a budget of 1.5laks (I know this is quite low but that's all I can spare for now). Hatch, economical to maintain and fun to drive - three requirements that I have in mind.

Alto.
Better if you are able to get K10. But 800 has got better low end.

Once you start looking for cars, you may get other well maintained examples as well.
Start your hunt, good luck!

——————————————-
We keep our cars for long duration.
We prefer buying from brands which are doing well in terms of reliability, service and parts availability.

This makes our oldest car as beater.
We sold our Zen that was made in 2000 in December, 2018.
It’s similar to how we use our old US Polo (or branded)
T-shirt on Holi

Our i20 will turn 10 this year. She took the charge from Zen and has been doing well. She is an all rounder.

[rajshenoy]

Being in Bangalore traffic, I can only think of Alto. I own the k10 amt which is even more suited for the job without having to shift gears as well.

Prior to that, I could think of OMNI which served family needs, be it children or goods.

Curious, beater cars are mostly the cheapest cars in our garage. Does anyone have other story to share?

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Being in Bangalore traffic, I can only think of Alto. I own the k10 amt which is even more suited for the job without having to shift gears as well.
Prior to that, I could think of OMNI which served family needs, be it children or goods.
Curious, beater cars are mostly the cheapest cars in our garage. Does anyone have other story to share?

Wow - not a different story, but I have an almost identical one! I had an Omni as a beater car - & had it specifically because I needed hauling space to move goods regularly back then.

Today - I have an Alto K10 AMT like you again. Its used by my spouse to go to office once in a while & for usual shopping runs, friends' place visits & school / pediatrician runs. Basically a car to go to those narrow places where people don't think twice before giving a scratch/dent to your car! Been an excellent car for the tight city confines I must say. Serves all the purposes well.

[drhoneycake]

My wife owns a Tiago XZA and my dad owns an Alto800.

But the one car that does it all is my Verna CRDI.


This is my prized possession, beater car, off-road car, highway cruiser, daily work drive , you name it. It has done it. I literally use it like a cab. It goes everywhere, so much so I’ve never been in a cab in Bengaluru.

Been all over India and on every kind of road including namma Bengaluru’s craters, Shivaji Nagar & Avenue Road (and their bylanes). I literally take it everywhere. Find it easier to drive than the other two cars in my house.

5 years and 2.1L kms later, she still runs like the day I got her home. Not a single squeal or rattle. Still on stock clutch and suspension. Can take proper abuse too.

Has served me very well as a beater car.

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by YakubKC

Would really appreciate suggestions for a beater car within a budget of 1.5laks (I know this is quite low but that's all I can spare for now). Hatch, economical to maintain and fun to drive - three requirements that I have in mind.

If you can stretch a bit, the Punto Diesel of 2010 vintage would make a lot of sense. You get a tough body, pretty low service and insurance costs, the national engine (the Fiat 1.3 MJD) which is very fuel efficient and rock solid reliability. A few small parts may be fickle, but the fundamentals like engine transmission and electrical system etc. are built to last. It still looks so elegant and timeless even today. My aunt used to have a 1960s Fiat 1100 which lasted for over 40 years and was still running as of 2005! The Punto reminds me of that same level of built-to-last quality

My mom has this car from the 2013 vintage and she uses it once a week with a hired driver and has not had any problems whatsoever for a long time. You may have to end up shelling out closer to 2 lakhs though even for the very early vintage ones.

[arighna.dutta]

Originally Posted by YakubKC

Extremely useful thread! I've been toying with the idea of a beater car since I moved to Bangalore almost a year ago and have now decided to get myself one. The roads in and around my locality (Sarjapur and Bellandur) are pathetic and it hurts me beyond measure to take my Vento outside every day.

Would really appreciate suggestions for a beater car within a budget of 1.5laks (I know this is quite low but that's all I can spare for now). Hatch, economical to maintain and fun to drive - three requirements that I have in mind.

As many are suggesting, Alto would be the best bet, as most of the roads here do not deserve anything more. On top of it, it is another low slung fun to drive car. However, you will be able to better cope up with it, if you enjoy old school japanese type of dashboards too.

It will be economical too, the whole strut assembly cost around 1.5k to 2k IIRC for an alto, there is very less that can go wrong.