[amitayu]

First time drivers/car owners should start with a Maruti, preferably one of their hatchbacks.

Experience driving, enjoy the 'hassle free ownership' and the 'kinta deti hain'...with experience you will realize the list of 'kya nahin deti hain'

For your next car, you can explore other brands based on your driving preferences.

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

While power is something that is available on the tap of a foot, like an old saying goes - with greater power comes greater responsibility. Rather than just trying to overtake everything in the vicinity, I think the bigger cars need to appreciate and respect the smaller cars on roads/highways.

+1 to this. It's not all about one's car power or driving skills, instead it's all about our judgement on what's safe and stay well within the limits and give space and consideration to all other motorists and pedestrians alike. That makes one a safe and great driver out on our roads. A fraction of a sec pause, a couple of seconds of slowing down, giving way to others goes a long way in making our roads a safer place to live. In short, bury one's ego and savour the driving which we all are blessed with and lucky to be enjoying too.

One can still enjoy the thrills of driving by taking it easy. Besides, having a T BHP sticker on our cars would make one even more responsible behind the wheels

[car_guy1998]

In my case,I've learnt driving on our Innova as we didn't have another small car(have Honda City too)but despite having the Honda City at home, my dad had insisted me to learn driving on the Innova so that I can become perfect in driving other cars.

Now, I drive a Honda City almost everyday and this is my preferred car over our Innova due to its easy to drive nature and can park easily when compared to Innova.

Apart from driving our own 2 cars, I've driven Polo 1.0 MPI, Seltos Diesel MT(TD vehicle), Creta 1.6 Diesel MT(dad's friend's car), Swift Diesel, Fortuner 2WD, Bolero and Ford Ikon Petrol (cousin's) though I'm yet to drive other cars soon and never driven an Automatic car till now.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by neeravnaik

Your learning period is going to be pretty short and in few months you are going to be a fairly competent driver.

Like many other things, getting good at driving is a long process. I learn something new even now during some trips, and I have been driving for ~ 20 years.

[supremeBaleno]

While these are good as general guidelines for newbies, things like engine-power are not only relative, but even in a supposedly low power car like the M800, a wrong move (eg panic pressing of A-pedal instead of brakes) can wreak havoc.

Also, instead of going through the time/effort/hassle of buying an old cheap car and then the same to sell it, better to invest in a good driving school and post that take the services of a good driver to get you comfy on road. Eg. my friend enrolled his 18yo son in a driving school, who got him through the driving test and license. Then he engaged the services of a neighborhood expert (works as KSRTC driver) who over a period of couple weeks, took the kid around for 500kms or so in a 25km radius of his home, in varying conditions - town, city, highway, long distance etc. Needless to say, the kid is a good confident driver.

The teacher and teaching methods matter much more than the car.

[BLACNWYTE]

While there are obvious advantages to use a cheaper or entry level car while learning driving or as a newbie driver. I would like to disagree with this based on the following points and my own personal experience.

Whereas, I learned driving in a Maruti 800 and was driving an i10 during the initial period. My first car was a Hyundai Creta which is fairly big and eye wateringly pricey than the 9 year old i10. However, I got familiar with the new car within days of driving it.

I would suggest a bigger and powerful vehicle probably an SUV as the one in which you practice or hone your skills. The SUV will give you better power and avoid stalling in lower gears which is quite confidence boosting for a newbie driver. Also it will give a better view of road with the front end and side visibility which further the confidence. Also you won't be much bothered by two wheelers and autoricks on road if you are in a bigger vehicle. So in my opinion a used reliable SUV rather than a cheap small car.

P. S. - The not stalling of vehicle is applicable if there is decent torque available in lower gears.

[JojyKerala]

Interesting thread. Even though I agree with the message of this thread, I must share a contradictory incident.

Two years ago, a colleague bought his 50+ mother a shiny new Polo. Everybody else asked him to opt for a new or used Maruti hatchback since she was new to driving and still learning the ropes.

She is a sedate driver and barely goes above 50 kmph. Despite this, the car had a zillion scratches and dents. Last year, the Polo had a serious collision with a KSRTC bus. His mother walked out without a scratch. I remember my colleague mentioning that if he had opted for a used Maruti like other well-wishers mentioned, his mum wouldn't be alive today or probably bedridden forever.

He bought her another new Polo as a replacement.

[DieselWanderer]

I absolutely agree! When i started learning in ‘07 the car my driving school forced me to start was as ‘03 Santro. Total bare bones with 3 pedals and a manual steering wheel. Then when i joined work in sales, i preferred mastering my skills with a Maruti Omni though i had an option to go with 1st gen figo. In 2013 when i bought the 2nd Gen swift i was blown away with the ride quality & like steering., and eventually graudating to the XUV500 i could really appreciate the comfort features this car has to offer and also to drive responsibly as coming from basic cars we get wired to driving alert and not getting carried away. I guess we need to have some law where a person applying for a learners licence should have to complete set no of hours driving basic cars before getting his/her licence. This would make our roads little less dangerous.

[tirumalavoleti]

Absolutely agree to the progression of the cars starting with a humble small car.

I had pre owned Alto as my first car which made me realise how I love driving and the places . I was able to get that with the minimal budget I had at that age and life. Never felt the pain of maintenance or insurance or dents(had some as part of learning). That taught me the art of maintaining the car and plan for the maintenance. Later with upgrades I never felt the issue of maintenance as I know what I am signing up for

[OctYFAN]

Well as GTO mentioned earlier about giving his children an old keep, I've given my 14 yr old son a tractor to drive around inside the farm. He is catching up quite well and also if you manage to drive a tractor with a trailer perfectly, you can drive any vehicle no matter how large. These things are slow enough for you to control as a newbie and are completely raw without any electronic nannies.As a matter of fact, the first four wheeler I learnt driving in was a tractor. And it was the case with my father too. Family lineage I guess

The below picture shows what our tractor looks like, (an example), except with a full roof.

[SulemanP]

This is the best way ahead for any newbie. My 1st car was a 2nd hand Santro Zing back in 2010 drove it well till i bought a new i10 in 2014. One of my experiences with the Santro was, i purchased a pressurized polish can and kept it on my dashboard to be used later. Since i was not a daily driver i forgot about the CAN and the vehicle was parked in sunlight (summer days). 2 days later the polish can exploded and even the windshield got a big hole in it (It was a recently replaced). Had to replace it again and thereafter I never keep things as such on the dashboard.

[naveen.raju]

Agree with the points mentioned and I wanted to go this way when my wife started driving, but had to compromise on few points.

1) Wife started to learn driving in my Creta. I wanted her to get the size factor initially itself. Although this was just the basics, she learned how to drive properly from Maruti driving school.

I wanted to get a beater car and had a Ford Ikon 1.6 petrol at disposal and the price was really mouth watering. But he decided to stick with the car for an year or so.

I wasn't really keen on getting an used car (only the Ikon was tempting) so checked out some new cars - right from Tata Nano to V-Cross .

2) My only priority was not to go for an AT. I didn't want someone new to get used to AT and then find it difficult driving the MT.

3) Cheap/reliable was ruled out since she finally decided on the Grand i10. I knew there would be multiple scratches/dents, so had to compromise on this point. Recently had the bumper changed as it had multiple scratches.

She always say that learning in the Creta helped her a lot and she now finds it very easy to drive other cars. But the torque really got her addicted and she enjoys driving the mapped Jetta.

[DudeWithaFiat]

After 3-4 lessons in a Ritz at her driving school, the first car my wife drove? Our longer-than-an-Innova Mercedes Benz W124! Old school diesel. The kind of car that ladies will HATE driving.

She got used to the car in 5 minutes. Okay, agreed, the initial few km were inside the borders of a ground and then roads we took after that were pretty wide with very less traffic and inside the township were we were staying that time. I wouldn't have had the courage to give her the car in a road with lots of traffic. But looking at how she drove the car, I felt like she will get used to it in a week or so. So if you are newbie driver, go for a 'learner' car only if you can afford to lose some money when you sell the 'learner' car. Otherwise, I think one should buy the car that he/she can keep for a long time. You will be a pretty okay driver in a few weeks and very comfortable with the car. If you already have some two-wheeler experience on the road, then definitely don't waste your money on a cheap learner car, buy your 'actual' car instead.

Also, I can recall only one guy who bought an old car with the intention of learning how to drive and then sold the car in a month or so. He was around 20, had a rich dad and had bought a used Ford Ikon to learn how to drive. Everyone else I know of, bought a new/used car that they intent to keep for a long time - this includes my Dad who bought his first car when he was 56 after he learned how to drive at that age and kept the car for 16 years (sold it in 2018 end and bought a Tiago).

P.S:- My wife stopped discontinued her driving lessons in a couple of days when the home pregnancy test kit turned positive (This was around 10 months ago and my youngest one is now almost a month old). She will continue her lessons in a few weeks after the delivery of our brand new Nexon.

[ACM]

Great thread Blackwasp.

While Idid learn on my dads 1956 Fiat with Handshift, hard clutch, no power anything, non AC car in my DP. I'll get my son to drive a pre-owned but 4 or 5 star rated car for safety.

I am aware of my own numerous near misses in my first 2 years as a driver, so won't take the same chance with my kid if possible.

18 year olds can be too exhuberant for their own good.

That said, kids of the next generation are neither too exited in drives, nor in, buying their own car nor in the skills of driving. It is all about the destination now a days and sadly an Uber is fine enough for the next generation.

So a contrary view.

A 4 star Tiago or 5 year old Nexon maybe?

The only question that has me stumped is how the Fortuner in the thread opener managed to park itself in this manner.

[Mjaswal]

I originally learnt to drive on a 2005 honda city zx but later moved to Finland where I bought my first car a 2001 nissan primera and practiced before moving to my current car a Volkswagen golf.