[mak556]

Being a 90s kid, if you haven't drooled on this baby, you already owned it. As a teen I dreamed of owning this one day. As an adult I had to control my urge and went for something that balances my needs and not my lust.

The Mitsubishi Lancer

[bhaskar.guru]

Before I bought my first car (Tata Nano Twist XT), one of my ex-managers was selling his Ritz VDI for 3.5 Lacs, which I had seen since he bought that car. We also went on a long drive to Munnar from Hyderabad with 5 people and it was very comfortable. I wanted to pick it up but missed it due to financial reasons.

At around the same time, my current then boss was also selling his Punto Sport with the 90hp multijet engine which was also remapped to do about 140 hp. I had driven this car and loved the stability as well as the hydraulic steering. But then again, financial reasons prevented me from buying it.

In the end, I settled for my lovely Tata Nano Twist XT(2014) which I bought in September-14 and drove it for four years and 45k kms. It was a memorable car and cause of surprise for a lot of people for the sheer space it offered and also the nimble driving. I did a lot of trips between Hyderabad to Ramagundam, Bangalore, Bangalore to Coorg, Tamilnadu etc. Sold it only because I moved back to Hyderabad and I had already registered it in KA with a nee number.

I then bought my current car in 2018 Dec which is the Ford Freestyle 1.2 T+ and this has been serving me well too! Love my Freestu ❤️😊

[14000rpm]

Jeep Wrangler Unlimited.

When I knew I was moving from Finland to US, I was damn sure I'd have a Wrangler in my Driveway. Landed Stateside and met a few folk from FCA (my Client) who advised me to wait and buy the JLU instead of the then current JKU. Took their advice and bought a KIA Sorento as an Interim Car. Things changed quite quickly and I chose to return to Finland 16 months after having migrated. I had the possibility to export my car from US to Finland Customs tax exempted as I was a returning Resident but I'd have to have owned the said car for a minimum of 6 months. There wasn't anytime to sell the KIA and buy the Jeep. That's how I now drive a KIA Sorento and not a Jeep Wrangler.

I still regret not having picked up the Wrangler Unlimited I had originally set my eyes on.

[wildnomad0312]

Bought my first car in January 2017. It was a Hyundai Elite i20 ASTA(O) petrol.

I was adamant on buying the top trim whichever car I had to buy, whether it was a Value for Money even over its lower variants.

I had two other options, but needed me to stretch my budget.
Volkswagen Polo GT TSI (by almost 2.5 L)
Fiat Punto Abarth (by almost 5L, however the price soon fell by 5-6L when it was announced “out-of-production, which happened almost after an year of me buying my car)

I regret not buying the GT TSI because of back seat space constraints, even though I have driven my car solo for almost 80% of its time.
Although i20 was a great looking car and filled to the brim with creature comforts and features, the sheer drivability factor and punch was definitely missed and regretted as that 1.2 definitely felt underpowered, with that over-assisted steering.

Sold it in Aug 2020, after 60k on odo, and got myself a Skoda Rapid TSI Onyx 1.0L Manual in that sweet Lapiz Blue shade to suit my hunger for some adrenaline in a suitable budget.
I did not buy the top end Monte-Carlo here, because of this Lapiz Blue color being specific to just one below variant, i.e. Onyx and totally happy with my ride.

[tanbeamer]

Originally Posted by WorkingGuru

The 2019 Innova Crysta GX AT i.e. the 2.8L one.
This was the updated version that had 3 Airbags, Music System, Cruise Control, for a very reasonable (IIRC 30K) increment in price.

Cars for which prices increased astronomically/unreasonably (IMO) after its popularity rose :

• XUV5OO (futuristic car for its time), ~2012 was the ripe time
• Renault Duster (Great balance between power, space, size & ride quality), ~2012
• Hyundai Creta (all the above + design), ~2013
• Skoda Superb (longest car in its segment), ~2014 was the ripe time
• Jeep Compass (well finished product from the beginning), ~2017

If I remember correctly, the Creta came in 2015 and not in 2013. Correct me please if I am wrong.

[7000plusrpm]

--2016
Mazda 6, Golf GTI.

Went with a pre-owned 2015 Honda Civic! Hated the CVT during the short ownership period.

--2020
Polo GT TSI.

bought KIA Sonet. After test drives, my Mom voted against the Polo due to the cramped backseat. Few days before the delivery, Seltos' GNCAP ratings came out!

On a separate note, Something keeps me away from the VWs of the world, be it in the USA or in India.

[aveoman19]

Some of the regrets that we as a family have not buying.

1) The 1st gen 3.0 Dicor Safari EX 4x4. A barebones, no nonsense off road capable Safari. No fancy LCD screens sticking out of the headrest that might stop working eventually. Add some pretty brilliant set of all terrain tyres and some Hella Rallye Auxiliary lamps, replace the footsteps with rock sliders, paint the letters on the tyre sidewalls white and the non coloured lower plastic trims would make the beast look all the more brilliant and purposeful! Yes, the EX did miss out on essential safety features like ABS with EBD and dual Airbags, but I would never exceed 80 Kmph in such a vehicle anyway and would touch 80 only on highways.

2) Chevrolet Optra Magnum LT 2.0 TCDi. The torque rush! We were very close to buying one but were 2 months too late. The production stopped and we couldn't place a booking by then. My dad was not convinced on spending a lot more on Cruze.

3) The Original Baleno 1.6! Need I say more? Low slung, tall gearing capable of taking the car to North of 60 Kmph in 1st gear itself. Understated looks that I was a huge fan of and comfortable ride quality.

4) Mitsubishi Pajero SFX 2.8 BS3. Would have avoided the BS4 as it was detuned to meet emission regulations. The BS4 felt wheezy on test drives. My father was not convinced about coughing up 20 large big ones on what is essentially a platform that was already a couple of decades old in the international market. Couldn't blame him too as he had a very valid point.

5) 1st Gen Toyota Fortuner. The only two reasons for rejection were choppy ride and bad brakes. Do miss the butch presence though.

6) S-Cross 1.6 Diesel! Did not acquire one as we didn't have a requirement of another car in the family but I still regret not being able to lay my hands on one.

7) Honda Accord 3.0 V6. Couldn't buy as it was out of our budget.

8) Opel Vectra. Again. Out of budget during those days.

9) Ford Mondeo. We were concerned about reliability issues as a close family friend struggled to have a happy ownership with a diesel Mondeo. He spent a lot on repair bills.

10) The Chevrolet Captiva LTZ AWD. We couldn't take one home as our driveway and parking were just too small for the big Captiva. Just to put its size in perspective, the Captiva was larger than the first gen BMW X3 in almost all parameters!

I'm sure I have missed out on some more but this is what I can think of right now.

[varoon9999]

Here is my list of cars that I regret buying badly;

1. Punto Abarth, Back then when it was launched I already had a Punto, hence never thought of buying another Punto of same size and shape.

I'm glad to see one FIAT in everyone's wish-list here (such is FIAT Love)

2. Palio S10, 2002 I was busy finishing off my schooling

3. Chevrolet SRV, I was scouting for a used SRV in 2009 in Bangalore, unfortunately did not find one and landed picking up Accent 1.6 instead.

[jbpanda]

I regret not buying the Maruti Gypsy and a Mahindra Classic. As a kid of the 90s, I have always been obsessed about owning one of these. Had test driven the first generation Thar couple of times but could never convince myself to own one.

In hindsight, I also regret not buying the Abarth Punto earlier. But I am glad that I picked up one of the last ones before it was discontinued based on a single test drive, which was good enough for me to confirm the booking. Had I not gone ahead with it, that would have definitely been on the list and I would have been regretting not buying it.

[anoopGTkrish]

Mine would be the Duster RXS Petrol automatic. I was stuck between Ford Ecosport Titanium Petrol Manual & Duster RXS CVT.

This was going to be my primary city commuter for Bangalore. I stayed away from the duster due to the horror stories of terrible city mileage and lack luster cvt performance.

Regret not purchasing for the below:

1. Ecosport manual gives equally low mileage in the city
2. Automatic would've been a blessing in Bangalore
3. Much more space on offer
4. Much better suspension setup could've come in handy as there are passengers with back problems in the family

[amitjha086]

When I was in the lookout for my second car after having sold out pre-worshipped Indica, I test drove several cars. But the cars that attracted my heart with Ecosport TDCI and Honda City iVTEC which I nearly bought. With a budget of 30 lacs Nepalese rupees, I was falling short of 4 lacs for base version of City. I still could have bought it by stretching my budget and that I was buying on bank loan. But facelift City was launched in India and would have arrived to Nepal shortly and hence dropped the plan of getting pre facelift city. Similarly, ecosport was well over the budget. Ultimately, I ended up with Dzire 1.2 MT. A regular car that it is, but that engine with butter smooth transmission drives well. 41K kilometers in a little over 3 years.

[Turrrb0]

It would have to be the Abarth Punto for me. The time around when I bought my JTP, was the time when that last batch of Puntos were being cleared.

At that time I thought to myself :
" Car is going to be discontinued, will sell in very few numbers, and part availability will be an issue. Maybe i should plonk my money on the JTP."

I guess I didn't have the last laugh, because all that I mentioned a line above is what ended up happening with the JTP...

[jbpanda]

Originally Posted by jbpanda

I regret not buying the Maruti Gypsy and a Mahindra Classic.

Additionally, I regret not buying the S Cross 1.6. It would have been an ideal companion to my Abarth Punto in place of Vitara Brezza in the garage.

[piyush318]

This will be more of 'regret your father didn't buy' as at the time i was still in school, I will be practical here so please hear me out it is the 2010 Honda Jazz 1.5 petrol.
Well what we bought home was i20 2010 Asta 1.2 petrol but surely the Jazz at the time was a more better option as it had the same ivtec engine of the city but still was a hatchback which we preferred.

[avdhesh15]

My current City is a petrol manual model. Biggest regret is saving 1.4 lacs and not getting the automatic.