| Hello Team-BHP
My heartfelt thanks to Mods for approving my membership, it is a dream come true and worth the long wait.
Background
I come from a IT consulting background, took to freelancing since 2013 and presently into NGO consulting (as part of my life strategy post turning 60). Although basically from Chennai, most of my life spent outside Chennai (for major part in Karnataka - Mysore and Bangalore, Middle east and US)
I ran into team bhp by accident while trying to buy a sedan for my family, read through various cars reviews and also ownerships threads. I was quite amazed by the authentic information presented and it helped me to buy Honda city in the year 2014. Things that gave me surprise was people naming their cars like pets and kind of care and money people invest in cars for modifications stunned me. Similarly the minute details on car care, tips, juggad etc was very impressive, tried some of them and it helped me a lot. Since then been yearning to be a member to be part of both ownership and travel forums which are close to my heart.
Cars and memories
My first car was an Ambassador (year 1991), was an incredible experience to drive. We used it quite a bit to ferry heavy items for functions apart of accommodating lot of people. Had to sell since relocated to Dubai
Second car Nissan Sunny, new car given by my employer (in Dubai). Being in a UAE marketing role, travelled all over UAE by road, places like Fujairah or Alain, amazing places to visit by road. Learnt how to drive during Sandstorm, it is an great experience. Since post the storm, the whole car gets covered by fine sand particles, it takes a while to get in cleaned using soft cloth or brush, especially the windshield area (cannot use wiper at all).
Relocated by 1998 back to india and after a short gap, was in LA - Here again my employer got me a Nissan patrol for office, it was lot of fun to drive. Had a chance to drive down to places like Yosemite etc. Being first time in LA USA, it was quite a task understanding rules and driving using physical maps.
Again relocated back to India (this time Mumbai) after couple of years, bought Fiat UNO, (Diesel) amazing car to drive. Did lot of trips in Maharastra and vehicle performed flawlessly, the engine was amazing. Only issue was the ground clearence. Relocated to Bangalore (drove down from Mumbai, Uno performance was outstanding) and after driving 150K KM replaced it with TATA Indigo. However had to sell it in a short duration since reliability was an issue.(lot of niggles and breakdowns) .
Ended up buying Getz which performed quite nicely, ran it for quite sometime. however with a large family with grown up children, we decided to upgrade and after lot of research and test drives (team bhp helped me a lot to make all their reviews accessible to public without membership). We bought Honda City, great car with lot of good travel memories in South India (Kerala, karnataka and Tamil Nadu).
One issue that we had challenges was ground clearence, especially in mountain terrain and in rural areas.
So with an heavy heart replaced Honda city with Creta 1.4 diesel (Team BHP reviews and ownership reports was quite useful to arrive at the decision). It was a class performance, did about 40K KM and not an single issue. However with family priorities changing and for various other reasons this December 2023, we replaced the Creta with Exter (since our running around has come down and needed a smaller vehicle with good build, safety and performance). The vehicle is just 2 days old as I write this communication.
Over 30 plus years of driving, learnt a lot about cars and always believed in proactive care and safety first. Similarly planning in advance for road trip helps a lot and so far touch wood driving / traveling has been an very satisfying and enjoyable experience.
I earnestly look forward to my association with Team bhp.
PV | 
23rd December 2023, 22:59
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Thanks
