[dhanushs]

If you have the time and you are ready to spend the effort, the indigo sounds perfect. It will give you the driving experience and with the added advantage of a paid course in automobile engineering.

Parts will keep falling off and you will be fixing it. That should give make you prepared for good ownership experience with your next proper car.

Note - I read my post again, it sounds sarcastic, which it isn’t.

[mercedised]

Yes, If you want to simultaneously learn how to drive a car and What parts can go wrong during the lifetime of your and how you should take care of the normal maintenance of a car.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by wheelspinner

I heard that the scrap market here would pay Rs. 35-40k if it is running condition, which is the case.

Scrap value for indicas is 8-10K. 35-40K is olx price. Indigos should do better by 10-20K ( i am talking about the oldest ones)

What do you guys think?

Finalize your budget please and get some clarity on what you need, how much you are willing to spend etc for the sake of everyone involved. Too many people here starting at 1L budgets, expanding to 5L and then finally buying 12l new cars.

[Geo_Ipe]

Originally Posted by wheelspinner

Hi team,

I'm getting 2010-2012 Tata Indigos eCS/CS with CR4 engine for dirt cheap like Rs. 50,000 - Rs. 70,000. They were used as private registration cabs I believe.

Unless one has some kind of sentimental attachment to Indigos, no-one would recommend getting a 10+ year old example. Get a Santro or a Wagon R at the same price for your purpose.

I have a high risk tolerance and quite used to huge financial losses in my investments )

If you wanna keep that title, then the Indigo might be a good choice!!

[vijaitech@gmail]

Originally Posted by wheelspinner

What do you guys think? Will a used Honda City from Cars24 (reputed I believe) be a better bet? (I can return within 7 days if any issues come up no questions asked). However, there's one issue the Cars24 showroom is 4-5 hrs away from here, so I would have a hard time claiming warranty if something goes bad thereafter.

Risk appetite is subjective really. I wouldn't put 4L of my hard earned money on a used vehicle for a stop gap and learning purpose car.

For 4 large, I'd buy myself a brand new Alto K10 STD. Yes, it is the absolute bottom level, cattle class variant sans any feature whatsoever but I am getting a brand new vehicle at the least.

[wheelspinner]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Scrap value for indicas is 8-10K. 35-40K is olx price. Indigos should do better by 10-20K ( i am talking about the oldest ones)




Finalize your budget please and get some clarity on what you need, how much you are willing to spend etc for the sake of everyone involved. Too many people here starting at 1L budgets, expanding to 5L and then finally buying 12l new cars.

Thanks, I generally see local mechanics buying running condition condition Indicas for 30-35k (even those with failed batteries) for parts. I guess 10-20k would be the clunker value?

I'm getting impatient finding the perfect used car. Searching since 4-5 months now, and missed multiple deals due to delayed decision. However, I have a flexible budget. Not looking for anything specific just looking for a good bargain, and something that is fun to drive yet reliable. New car seems like a bad financial idea, which is why changed plans to a used car.

Also local mechanic sowed the seeds of anxiety in my mind that new car might not be a good idea right now as I might end up damaging it as I am still new, so I should look for cheaper used cars in good mechanical condition.

[Sanidhya mukund]

The Indigo was absolute garbage when new. A decade later, it is a 10 year old piece of junk. We got a brand new Indigo CS LS, the one with the CR4 TDI engine in 2008. By the end of 2011, every single part other than the horn would make noise.

It was seriously problematic. A part would conk off every other day; One day the alternator, the other day the AC.

I would strongly urge you to avoid it all costs unless you want to start your car ownership journey on a bitter note. A WagonR, Santro, Dzire or Swift from that era would be a much better purchase, even if it is for more money. Even a smaller car like an Alto or M800 would be a better bet.

[Durango Dude]

Originally Posted by wheelspinner

I'm getting 2010-2012 Tata Indigos eCS/CS with CR4 engine for dirt cheap like Rs. 50,000 - Rs. 70,000. They were used as private registration cabs I believe.

I think far from becoming a good driver Indigo eCS will make you a good mechanic. Request you stay away from cabs of any brand, especially from our "homegrown" companies. My answer is a firm NO!

[greenhorn]

Imo sweet spot for a used is Japanese car, 3-7 years old, 3-6 lakh and 20-60k kms. Anything else will either be too expensive from a depreciation/maintainence / risk/effort point of view

[Latheesh]

50-70K is not dirt cheap. As others suggested, get 800, Alto, or a Santro.

Go for Indica/Indigo if you are able to get it and do the necessary repair to run for a grand total of ~ 50K budget.

[GreenerPlanet]

The only old tatas you can consider buying is zest onwards.

Avoid.

If you are new to driving, I assume you are new to car ownership as well. You will quickly know the difference in insuring, maintaining and refueling a 4 wheeler vs a 2 wheeler. And it will be a costly lesson with this indigo.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

If you have the time and you are ready to spend the effort, the indigo sounds perfect. It will give you the driving experience and with the added advantage of a paid course in automobile engineering.

Parts will keep falling off and you will be fixing it. That should give make you prepared for good ownership experience with your next proper car.

Note - I read my post again, it sounds sarcastic, which it isn’t.

There is a lot of truth to this. In the two years you have the car, pretty much everything in the car will have some issue over the other. You'll learn all major components of the car, what are the things that can go wrong with them, what are the different options for repair, what different spare parts shops. The tata parts catalog on boodmo (if you're lucky like me, they'll even upgrade you to business tier because of the number of parts you buy from them) . And since you have quite a few mechanic friends, you're all set with good people to teach you. Then you can upgrade to some proper exotic stuff like a Mercedes Benz or a classic jeep because you are used to the grind and know all the people and processes. Unlike Japanese car owners who don't even know the difference between a fuel and air filter even after 5-10 years of ownership.

Everything I know about cars, I owe it to my indica which has been a hands on course on car maintenance

[shrinz.vivek]

I am a fan of the Indica Indigo twins myself. It was my first diesel car and burnt my pocket badly. The lesson i learnt during my short 4 months ownership is to "avoid repairing it". I just never fixes completely. Just make sure to keep the run-turn-stop functions alright. Dont spend on anything else like A/C, trims, power window motors etc...

My friend and I are now following the same mantra on a Bolt diesel and enjoying it as a beater car. The A/C works only on max speed, one power window doesnt work, one wheel disc is bent and wobbles, but it still has the addictive diesel troque and returns 22kmpl on highways.

[funkykar]

Don't even go anywhere near them. Used as private cabs, then definitely no. If you still end up buying, I don't know if you will end up learning to drive or end up learning a lesson to not buy such cars.

[sumeethaldankar]

You will most probably end getting to know your mechanic better and will also be sponsoring his family for as long as you have the car. If learning to drive is all you want and you already have a drivers license then rent a small car like the Wagon R and take a friend as your co-driver. It will be less hassle free and you will have more peace of mind. Plus you can rent different cars and not be just stuck with the same one. Once you have the confidence buy a better car which will suit your budget and need. For the rainy days do with auto/cabs etc till then.