[Slick]

I registerned my Zest in Jan 2015, booked on Dec 30th or 31st 2014.

I really liked the Zest and it was at an introductory price or an introductory offer of AMC or both, Don't remember well.

I was simultaneously trying to get discounts on Linea T-Jet. The T-Jet was quite out of my budget but I was ready to stretch if they offered 1L discount or at least 90K.
(Although it sounds ridiculous, I had read the 1L figure online, probably on team-bhp)


The FIAT salesman was adamant that he can offer only 10K discount or thereabouts. He said to me T-Jet is selling like hotcakes.

I didn't get a follow up call from the FIAT guy for a month, I paid for Zest on the last day of the offer and finished the formalities, next day the FIAT guy called me offering huge discounts
I wanted to kill him.

I am quite happy with Zest, but T-Jet is T-jet. If only I had waited...

-Slick

[Jeroen]

I have owned many, many cars over the years. In general I have not many regrets, but there is one car that came to my attention only about a year ago.

It was an original Fiat Panda, very first generation . It was in absolute immaculate state too. Not restored, but with a genuine very low mileage. 40 years old!

Gorgeous dark blue. These Panda’s were at the time (1980) the latest in two box, three door small hatchbacks. I tried to get my wife (then still girlfriend) interested in one, but she preferred a Talbot Samba at the time. Which turned out to be our biggest mistake.

This Panda was advertised by an Alfa Romeo dealer I know quite well and he put it on his Facebook feed and that is how I noticed it. During the evening when I was checking my Facebook.

It was not expensive at all, these cars are amongst the cheapest classic cars you can find. I showed my wife and she agreed it would be nice to have. So I decided to call him first thing next morning. But for some reason I forgot, or something came up. Whatever, I did not make that call till a day after. By that time it had sold already.

I am still on the lookout, plenty old Fiat Panda’s about, but I have not come across any as nice as the one that got away!

These little old Fiats make the best of run-about-cars. They are utterly reliable, cost next to nothing to run in petrol, road tax and insurance. And are a hoot to drive too! Most importantly, with my 1.93m I still fit into it as well.

Jeroen

[UP!!!!]

I regret some of these decisions every day.

Maruti 800 - Though technically it was already owned by family back in hometown. But when they got Mahindra Scorpio in 2009, I wanted to keep it with me in Noida while I was studying. The plan was to get the CNG kit to minimize the running cost and go on long drives. Somehow, it never worked out.

Maruti SWIFT - After graduating, I joined a MNC in Pune and the need of car arose again for frequent weekend travels. I almost finalized a deal for used Maruti Swift but then a close friend (read: travel buddy) decided to get new Maruti Alto 800. I ditched the idea of buying a car and we travelled across Maharashtra in his Alto 800.
Rather I bought TVS Apache RTR 180 then I realized that I’m not a bike person.

Mahindra Thar - When I "finally" decided to get a car for myself, I had already developed feelings for Jeep. I started to dream about owning or rather building a Jeep.
This was the time when I actually hooked to Team-BHP and read all the threads about re-building MM540/550. However considering the effort, money and patience it require, I decided to get a Mahindra Thar for myself. But then entire family was against it since it lacked basic safety features i.e. Airbags and ABS. They knew that I'll travel to hometown (>1300 km one way) by car, they vetoed against it.

I bought Ford Ecosport.

[KarthikK]

The BMW E90 330i for me!
In 2016 when on the hunt for a preowned 3, I came very close to buying a preowned 330i but had to 'settle' for a pre-owned 320d instead. There were very few petrol 3ers in the market back then, and the ones that were around were either ridiculously overpriced (and thus out of my budget) or else abused / modified.

The last of the N52 6-cylinder petrol E90s were a delight to drive with their rev-friendly motors and razor sharp handling, and I do have a fair bit of regret that if I had got that 330i back then, maybe it would have been a keeper even now . That part of the world has now moved on to 4 cylinder turbo petrols, and the old inline 6 NA engine variants are all but extinct now (even the ones in the preowned market will be too old for worry-free usage)

[Nithesh_M]

I remember it to be the Mitsubishi Cedia back in 2012. I had the brochure in hand and was trying to convince my parents that my first car ought to be it. I was still few years away from graduation and had no income to spend on my own. There was a last model awaiting a buyer at the local tiny Mitsu dealer. The Pajero, Montero and Outlanders looked like they were bullying it. So I followed up to get it purchased but somehow somebody offered up full cash just before I could put together finances for it.

Oddly though, right before the pandemic started I managed to find a mint used Cedia in yellow with 66k on the odometer and had just decided to jump on the deal with the buyer last year. Unfortunately the lockdown started a day before I was to travel to Bengaluru to pick it up. And the car was eventually sold to another buyer in town. I felt equally disappointed as I was back in 2012.

[raghukodali]

Maruti Suzuki Zen of the late 90s.
I just loved that car and used to dream about it. Priorities kept changing and I kept buying other cars. But Zen always has a place in my heart.

[DicKy]

Late 2000s, early 2010s - Contessa
To quote myself from another thread

Was this...close to buy a Contessa atleast three times.

Each time my middle class mentality would scream guilty of plonking close to a lakh on what was essentially an anglo-german-indo-jap rust bucket whose only claim to fame is the absolute lack of choices in the license raj era for American type coke bottle styled vehicles. (sour grapes story for me).

It was not just about the Contessa. If I had a car at that age, my life might have taken a different trajectory and I would have been a bona fide enthusiast.
Blinded by the Conti, had let go many others too. A Caprice Classic for 3.5 lakhs, a Sierra with a 3000cc Isuzu engine, numerous Padminis, jeeps, all the Esteems, Ikons et al.

2012 - Brio
Maybe feeling sorry for me (goodboy me, except for the Contessa, hadn't asked for anything else from my parents), and also since our WagonR loan was paid off, Mum suggested buying the Brio then.
Cute, cheap and a Honda for her.
Cute, fun to drive and Honda for me.
Again, spoilsport me ruined it. It was the time of huge petrol-diesel price difference and I remember doing some rough calculations, found out the Innova Richie guys had lower running costs than our F10D Waggie.
Nope, our next car would be a diesel. (Little did I know that was still four years away then)

2013 - Innova
We had a trip to Chennai planned over a long weekend, and in our usual fashion, didn't book train/bus tickets on time. Fed up with borrowing UVs from relatives and not able to find any rentals, my dad decided to buy an Innova.

He called me when I was in my hostel and asked
"How much does the cheapest Innova variant with rear A/C vents cost?"
I was in cloud nine.
Toyota had just launched a new G/GX(?) variant then with rear A/C and also airbags as standard (yay for the four spoke steering wheel, hated the three spoke one)

But again spoilsport me, became pragmatic and said
"But dad, the next gen will come within an year or two. Maybe we should wait till then"

We managed to get a rental Innova for the trip, and I kinda felt good for the decision not to buy the Innova then. That thing just screamed for a sixth gear at 100+ km/h.

Though now I feel stupid. In the last seven years, 95% of our trips were within Kerala and under 90km/h.
An Innova bought then, would have been an asset for us.

2015 - Figo D
Madly in love with the Figo 1.5D after a casual TD, I kept gushing over the new Figo at home.
Mum is a Ford fan, and Dad was looking for a FTD diesel car.
Again, when the buying decision became serious I had developed cold feet. Afterall, minus the fantastic engine, the interiors were kinda cosy, cramped even and in face of models like the Baleno, the interior styling was drab.
Also, since four of us were in four different places, running wasn't much other than weekend runs.

Figo D, Jazz D, TUV300
These were the three models shortlisted if at all we were buying.
Jazz D- Cool looking, decent efficient engine, roomy and practical yet compact.
TUV300 - Suspension and engine were kinda compromised, still as a rugged sub 4m vehicle it felt like the perfect replacement for our WagonR and our usage.

But I was blinded by the prospect of getting an....

...2016- Innova Crysta
Long story short. We had booked and was allotted a Garnet Red GX. We even did the PDI at the yard.
Ended up buying an Etios D.
In retrospect it was a good decision, cause from then till hitting rock bottom in covid era, we were on a financial downfall for four years.
We would have found it difficult for both the FE and EMI of the Innova, and may have ended up selling it before.
Unlike now, when we ended up selling our beloved WagonR just after the lockdown was lifted.
Still, not able to buy the Innova kinda disillusioned me and it still does.

2016 Dmax Vcross
At the introductory price it was well within our then budget, and ticked all the boxes. But no dealer or A.S.S in Thiruvananthapuram at that time meant a no go from dad.
Again, was blinded by the prospect of the Innova Crysta.

Right now, except for the next gen Scorpio and to a lesser extent the Thar and Jimny, not excited for anything much in the affordable range. Next will definitely be a easy to drive small city car for dad.

Then there was the 90s. Dad would come to India for vacation, book a new car. The waiting period would be too long. He would cancel the booking before going back to Riyadh.
118NE, civilian Jonga, 137D, Armada, Sumo
Less of regret(was a kid then), more of a "damn, why couldn't dad buy that then" lament now

[arvindmanju]

For me it’s the Tiago JTP, when JTP was around there were rumours of facelift Tiago. Hence waited for facelift JTP, by then the TML - JTP venture was dissolved.

[Fury]

Maruti Suzuki S-Cross 1.6- I still can't believe how close we were to booking this instead of our current Ecosport. Although, we have no regrets of getting the Ecosport and after the remap, the power figures are close to the stock figures of the S-Cross 1.6, it would still have been a hoot to have that car, considering the amount of torque and the immense mod potential it had. Better space and a more compliant ride than the Ecosport were an added bonus that would have kept mom and dad happy in the back seat. Unfortunately, the ugly duckling looks were something nobody in the family could digest after spending close to 15 lakhs on a car.

[WhiteKnight]

If i have to name one car that I regret not buying, that would be Mitsubishi Pajero sfx.

I almost had a heart attack reading this thread.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...nd-2012-a.html (Mitsubishi Pajero SFX production to end in 2012)

I grew up seeing, and more so - hearing about the imported versions. Always used to wide eye over the rare sightings. By the time I was ready to buy it, it was already way past its prime, and was not able to convince my family as the only car we have. Guess now it is way too late to have one. Still looking for a vehicle that can do what the Pajero does. I'm eying the new Thar, as it seem to be the closest.

While this has always been a regret, I'm blessed to have owned the older Tbhp-ian's dream cars, that includes

• Suzuki Esteem
• Suzuki Baleno
• Mitsubishi Cedia
• Skoda Laura Tsi

With Fiat Linea also around, in the family, I think that is a fair deal for an ordinary citizen, like me.

Once in a while, I do have an itch to pick up Global Fiesta, but that thought get doused the moment I see Laura parked outside.

[KPR]

Originally Posted by Slick

I didn't get a follow up call from the FIAT guy for a month, I paid for Zest on the last day of the offer and finished the formalities, next day the FIAT guy called me offering huge discounts
I wanted to kill him.

That was like . You could have called that sales man and said look I'm going to pay for zest. If you offer 1L discount I'm coming with this money immediately straight to your showroom instead of Tata's. . Most sales men are pretty bad in follow up. Luckily my Punto sales guy was so passionate, followed up constantly, he resigned before delivering my car yet made it to hand over new car keys to me and now he's a very good friend of mine. He's there currently working at Nexa.

[thalavoy]

My regret (in India) would be not complete the buying of Skoda Yeti. I had booked one in Bangalore and before I could take delivery, my Chennai move got confirmed. Instead of the car, it became time to invest in a house. This small cute monster still tugs my heart when I see it on road.
During my stay abroad (USA), the regret was not buying Subaru Outback (station wagon).

[PrasannaDhana]

I have 2 such examples

I was car shopping last year when my ciaz was at 96000 km / 4 year mark. I truly liked the Skoda rapid 1.5 tdi and the Figo S 1.5 diesel.

Going through TeamBHP threads about retaining 5 year old cars, I postponed the purchase.

Among all cars in my budget now, I like no other C2 segment car than the rapid, but alas, the fast and efficient 1.5 diesel is no more. To drive a turbo petrol 100+ km daily will dent my wallet, so I regret missing out on the 1.5 tdi.

The Figo S was a looker, and it had sweet discounts, it was offered for 7.8 lakhs on road (you read that right) as it was the year end (2019). Now Figo titanium blu is available but looks bad in comparison.

End result - use the 5 year car for 2 more years (I hope to).

[Ashwin Morey]

What an awesome topic. Somehow our list of regrets is always longer and exhaustive than any list of happiness and satisfaction. Anyway back to the topic, I am going to take the liberty of listing all cars I regret NOT buying throughout my lifetime for various reasons (childhood, teenage, no income, no budget, lazy, plain stupid etc.)

Contessa (owned Premier Padmini & Amby)
Sierra/Gypsy (owned Tata Sumo)
Fiat UNO/Maruti 100 (owned Maruti Zen)
Opel Astra/Daewoo Cielo (still owned Maruti Zen)
Toyota Qualis (still owned Tata Sumo)
Honda City 1st generation(College/No income)
Skoda Octavia 1st gen (Still no income )
Fiat Punto (Plain stupid, owned i10 - first self car, no regrets for that though)
Skoda Octavia vRS (Lazy - because after crashing my previous gen TJET, went to buy the new gen TJET)
BMW 330i (own a GLA instead - plain stupid maybe)

If I try to list down all of my future and current regrets then the list will get long and the mood will quickly become depressing.

[arunramaswamy]

I actually wanted to own the Rapid 1.5 TDI. I was abroad for around 8 years. By the time I got back bs6 killed that monster. That is one car which I regret not buying