| My Introduction!
Hello friends.
I am Vineet, almost 19 at heart, from dilwaalo-ki-dilli (or Delhi, as the moderators would please). I joined Team-BHP some time back and the start to my journey on board has been very well so far. Interacting with automobile enthusiasts, hearing others' opinions, having your opinions heard, sharing common (and childish) interests - all this has been fairly new to me! I am basically from Ludhiana and had moved to Delhi in my childhood days. Grew up and did schooling in Delhi (traffic), and at the same time grew in me the passion for cars. I haven't met any automotive enthusiasts in person, in these 19 years on Earth, as all friends, family members, neighbours and girlfriends (yup, 3 of them!) do not share the passion for automobiles and are basically 'Engine + Wheels + Body' when it comes to automotive knowledge. While Facebook kept me occupied till 2012, GMail and Whatsapp came up as a much more practical approach to social life as I grew up. I turned 18 (and got a license) in September 2014 and all the Facebook tabs on my laptop and mobile were substitued by Team-BHP tabs by year end. In late-2013, one of my friend forwarded me a link to the 'Tastefully Modified Cars' thread when I was looking for a perfect wallpaper for my PC. I found it - the perfect wallpaper as well as the perfect place for me! Team BHP appeared as a one-stop forum for all my automotive knowledge. I started reading official and ownership reviews and was soon bit by the car-bug. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and I was reading reviews after reviews, fuelling my automotive craving as the days passed by. My parents had gifted me a Swift on my 18th birthday (not a surprise though, it was an year old by then) and I thought of it as a 'Point A to Point B' thing till I discovered Team BHP. I developed a taste for modification after I went through modification articles on Team BHP. Before that, upgrades were only for show-off purpose. As of today, in my family and friend-circle, I am 'THE' person to consult for automotive and related questions. I sincerely thank Team-BHP for re-igniting that passion in my heart and helping me in following my passion - without which I would have been a computer-bug sitting in front of the screen social-networking, trying hard to get people's attention and likes!
I had thought of registering a long time back (during the early days of reading on Team-BHP) but the thought of poor performance in studies (and destroying the early stage of my career) helped me make my mind, take a decision and stick to it. That decision was to register and participate when the time will come, when the call would be from the mind - and not the heart. I had to somehow keep the automotive hobby alive in me, so I stuck to automotive modificatoins (for self as well as friends), movies (Cars, Fast-n-furious series), games (NFS, GTA series) and car magazines to keep the passion kicking. Retrofitting projectors has been a great time-pass for me. I also make custom projectors at my house in free time, sourcing headlights, HIDs, Projectors, Shrouds, Ballasts and then fitting them, and end up getting ~4000 bucks profit from each install. I have done 12 installs as of now. I am in college (doing B.Com Hons) now and don't get enough free time now. 9 out of the 12 installs were done in 11th and 12th standard.
My family has not owned a fleet of cars but are brand loyalists and conscious in every purchase we make. I have summarised all our purchases in an easy to understand manner -
Dec 2006 Alto Lx - Sold in Oct 2009 - served for 15k kms
Nov 2009 WagonR Lxi - Sold in Sep 2013 - served for 30k kms
Aug 2013 i10 1.2 Magna - Totalled in Oct 2014 - served for 10k kms
Sep 2013 Swift LDi - 76k kms and counting...
Dec 2014 Elite i20 1.2 Asta Option - 7k kms and counting...
I had made a blunder by choosing the LDi variant in Sep 2013 during the Swift purchase. I was happy-as-hell as the thought of saving 1.5 Lac odd rupees (by not going for ZDi) was overpowering than the mistake of skipping ABS, EBD, BA and Airbags. I realised this when I lost my cousin brother in an accident in Oct 2014. Our i10 (which was being driven by him) did not have ABS and Airbags and I was very regretful of having skipped safety features in earlier purchases as if they served no purpose. But what was done was done - There was no going back - I would have to settle for a financial loss for a sparing used car (12k kms) if I chose to sell off the Swift. I decided to keep it till 2 Lac kms. My family had also realised the value of safety features, albeit the hard way. I simply ruled out other aspects (save for safety) in the next purchase and got home the Asta Option i20 eyes-closed.
I drive a lot - stress on 'A LOT' - I cover close to 6k km in a month. I was handed over the Swift in Sep 2014 and I decided to go to college by car (instead of bus) to escape from unnecessary hassles and enjoy college-life thoroughly. The Swift is nearing the 80k kms mark next month and I will need a replacement in the next 22 months. I have spruced it up with lots of upgrades - including an RD box, 16" rims with 205/55 rubber, Roots megasonic, Exterior detailing, LED-conversion, RF Comps, 2 RF Amps, RF Basstube and much more - which will be mentioned in detail in the ownership review. That is the influence college-life can have on one's car! My 6k km monthly commute consists of ~3k km for college, plus ~1k km for weekend getaways, ~1.5k km for monthly long trip and add another ~500 km for city runabouts. The Elite i20 Petrol is being used by Dad, for office, and had completed 7k km without any issues. We also have a small history of two-wheelers and currently own an Activa, which was used by me in my school-life, and is at home for errands now. We plan to keep it for long due to the fact that it gives an astonishing 220 km range on 4 liters of fuel - regardless of the way you treat it.
Jun 2008 Eterno - Sold in Jan 2011 - served for 26k kms
Feb 2011 Dio - Sold in Oct 2013 - served for 30k kms
November 2013 Activa HET - 28k kms and counting...
About me, I actually act weird when one asks me this question - 'Tell me about yourself' - and go into the 'Who Am I?' mode for some time! A part of my username comes from my name itself and the '11' is from the Swift's registration number '0011' (Hell I was all about show-off as a kid). Jokes apart, I am a middle class, fun-loving guy with a passion for cars, technology and music.. I have a keen sense on my grooming and dressing sense, I talk a lot and end up talking like crazy sometimes. I speak straight from the heart - as my friends say - and never settle for illogical answers for my doubts. I might belong to a younger-batch in the forum but would consider this as an opportunity to gain knowledge from experts, and try to become like them one day.
Thanks,
Vineet | 
1st September 2015, 00:28
(3)
Thanks
