[Tapish]

I bought the Esteem when I was 21 (2009) and had just started working in Gurgaon. Borrowed some money from the family since a used car loan was around 16% that time and promptly paid it off in less than 6 months.

I spent about 2.4 to buy the car and a mid-life overhaul in 2011 cost me another 35k including all tyres, and suspension work.

The car saw the whole of north India and was the best 2.5 lakh I ever spent to date.

I sold the car in 2015 to a friend for around 60k and it is still running somewhere in Mhow.



The number was a huge bonus, 0420

[finneyp]

My first own car was Fiat Palio 1.2 bought when I was 28 years old.

[doomketu]

I was 32 when i got my first car . Having lived in Bombay for most of my life there was barely a need for a car, but moving to BLR forced my hand. Looking at the forum i guess its nothing for me to be worried about buying a car so ' late'.
Since i got the car, i have said goodbye to Shatabdi express and hello to the NH 44/48.

[SILVER-ARROW]

Excellent thread idea!. Was super excited as most of us to own a car with hard earned money. 30 years old back then and still vividly remember the entire buying process from test drive to shortlisting and finalizing the car.

Below is a brief summary of the cars considered during the buying process.
1. Tata Manza – Test drive vehicle wasn’t available, the sales executive looked disinterested.
2. Skoda Rapid – Lack of adequate Boot space. Also Skoda back then was a gamble, parents coaxed to try out an established brand.
3. Maruti SX4 – Design wasn’t particularly liked. It was launched to take on the dolphin designed inspired Honda city, but flopped once the arrow designed inspired third gen city was launched.
4. Hyundai Verna – It didn’t seem to connect. The front facia and headlight was a turnoff when compared to the Honda city.
5. Honda city – The display car in carnelian Red on display was a looker, you may say it was love at first sight.

Booked the car the same day and got it delivered within 20 days. It’s still a stable workhorse the odometer having crossed 92k last week.

At the time of Delivery - 2012



Latest - 2022

[dr_TJ]

Bought my first car back in 2020. Was almost 30 when I took delivery of the car.

Planning started from January 2020. One hell of a buying journey and decision making it was. Started with Test driving a Tata Tigor, Booked the Nexon Petrol AMT, Covid Pandemic and lockdown, had a sub-par experience with Tata Motors and ended up buying the Ford Ecosport Titanium Plus AT. Car bought on EMI. I named it Maverick.



However, Came 2021, 9th September, 2021, Ford exited. It absolutely broke my heart and I just decided to part way with the Ecosport (Yes, stupid decision it was) and I bought home a new Mahindra Thar Diesel LX HT AT. I named it Gray Ghost. Also bought on EMI.
Plan was to keep both the Ecosport and Thar but financially not viable.

[GrandTourer]

Proud owner of this beast at 25 years old. I waited until I could afford the GT TSI and not settle for other more reasonable hatchbacks, because there was no other car that excited me a much (YOLO). Gotta admit, it's a pretty sweet feeling buying your first car with your own money. This is also my first car.

The car: Polo GT TSI MY2019, run ~40K kms till now
Some eye candy for your viewing pleasure:

Delivery day


First trip out of town to Coorg, right after 1000km and oil change.


Some secluded beach in Kerala


Near my hometown in Konkan

[sarwahi]

What an incredible idea for a thread, brings back all the memories !!

My first vehicle bought from own money was Bajaj Pulsar 150 in 2008 at the age of 21 !!




Then the first car was an used Santro Xing, bought in 2012. Age 25. Unfortunately not able find any photographs of the car.

And finally a new car was bought in 2015, a Honda City 4th Gen. That time I was 28 years old.

[bj96]

My first car was WagonR Type-1, bought when I was in my late twenties. This car came with the MAV (Multi Activity Vehicle) moniker on the hatch. It had 16-bit "hypertech" engine (closest rival Santro had 8-bit MPFI) derived from M800 block, one extra cylinder added to make it 4-cyl, producing about 63bhp.



It was very tractable engine, could easily do 30-40 km/h in 4th gear all day. The rear seat was 50:50 split which could be folded flat to make a double bed, a first in the segment. Engine was quite frugal and returned about 13-14kml consistently in the city and maintenance was cheap too due to parts sharing with M800 engine. I held on to this car for almost 15y and 75000 kms. Here is the thread that I had created to chronicle my journey with this wonderful car (Maruti Suzuki WagonR DIY Stuff. Update: 8 years, half-a-lakh kms and counting).

Fond memories .

-BJ

[vnabhi]

I was 30 when I bought this used M800 from Hyderabad. This was in Dec 1989.

Sorry, i don't readily have a picture of the full car. It served me for 12 years, till I replaced it with a new WagonR in 2001.

[abhikb]

Bought my first car in 2013, it was a Maruti Suzuki Swift VXi and fondly called it the 9501.



What a beauty it was, I held onto it till 2019, had covered a little over a lakh kms in it (1.02 Lakhs to be precise), drove it across the length of the country and was a trusty companion.

My beloved Swift was replaced by a more special car, a Thar CRDe 700, which was the last of its kind and had been long a desired one.



By far my 3507 (Thar) has done about 37K Kms in a ownership period of 2.5 years and it is doing more adventures then I could imagine doing in the Swift.

[7000plusrpm]

My first car was the 2015 Honda Civic SE, bought when I was 28. I knew nothing about cars and got it as it was readily available and my colleagues suggested a Civic for a first-time driver.

It came home within a week of getting my MA driving license. I had clocked more than 17k miles in around 8 months before selling it off as I had to return home. The below pic was taken during my first long drive from Boston to Smokey mountains, somewhere in the Shenandoah national park

[josejoseph]

First bike was Yamaha RX135 Tiger (1999) bought in 2007 when I was 22 and first car was M800 5 speed (2001) in 2008 when I was 23. Car is sold but bike was a childhood dream so I kept it in hibernation for 10 years after I moved out of country. Sold it to a relative last year but I can't wait to ride it again.

[Divya Sharan]

Fiat Punto Evo 1.4, my age 26. This was 7 years ago. The car is 70k km young and running as well as day 1.

[vinmechanic]

My first car (bought with my own money) was a Pre-owned 2009 Honda Accord 2.4L . Bought it (financed) it right after I got my first paycheck after getting a full-time job. It had 37k miles on it when I bought it and added 30kmiles more before selling it within 2 years. I was 26 when I bought it.

Sold it to buy 2014 Audi A4.

[jthomas]

Got 2000 Hyundai Sonata GLS V6 while I was on onsite deputation in Texas. This was in 2011 when I was 27 year old.



First car owned in India is 2014 Tata Nano Twist XT, which I still have.