[MaheshY1]

A Corolla from Delhi can be found for around 1L because of the 15year rule. It's super reliable and still good for backseat travelers. It's also long enough to occupy a substantial area. It's Bombay. Every square inch matters. Otherwise, I'd have recommended Nano, with automatic.

[kiranton]

Why not buy an old Enfield with a side car? It will pretty much occupy the space of a car and you can take it out for weekend shopping while using the side car as luggage space.

[Sail]

Hi GTO, I will go little off-topic here.

Car is in our heart & mind always. But, maintaining an old car, taxes, insurance etc will be an extra burden down the lane just for keeping the parking lot.

Please consider renting out the spot if possible.

I was in the same dilemma two years back when shifted to Delhi/Gurgaon. My Kolkata flat is having two parking lots with neighbors (celebrities) having tendency to put their cars in other’s spot as if the whole world is theirs. So, I rented out the open parking spot and kept one family’s car in the other.

Cheers,
Sail

[saion666]

My neighbour had a rusted Maruti Omni kept at his parking spot before he moved to US.

It never moved and has been there for nearly 4 years.

[embee]

Originally Posted by GTO

Someone in the family might need to buy a car to hold a parking spot. Wants to spend max of 1 lakh rupees.

He figures that, if it's going to be parked in his compound, it might as well look nice. So, what's the most interesting car one can buy for 1 lakh?

This is very unusual. Coming to know for the first time that someone needs to buy a car just to hold a parking space so that other people don't park their vehicle in your designated parking space.

Anyways my recommendation would be as follows.

Toyota Corolla (1st Generation Model)
Honda City (1st Generation Model)

[Jeep]

First thing that came to my mind after reading the original post: Maruti Zen (Jelly bean). If they need to occupy an unmarked, bigger space, where the choice would be a Lancer.

[autohead666]

Well maintained Zen VXi models are available for as low as 50,000.That will be a safe bet considering Maruti's Service network,will be quite easy on the pocket as well.

[porsche_guy]

A well maintained but high mileage Civic should fit the requirements just fine and it's way cooler than a Corolla or a Zen. Oh that timeless design!


Cheers!

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by GTO

...buy a car to hold a parking spot. Wants to spend max of 1 lakh rupees.

He figures that, if it's going to be parked in his compound, it might as well look nice. So, what's the most interesting car one can buy for 1 lakh?

So he doesn't really plan to drive it beyond the compound? If so, it wouldn't matter if the vehicle is de-registered or not - and you can procure dirt-cheap cars over (or just under, if you can transfer registration to a BS3 zone in MH) 15 years old from the Delhi-NCR area, freight/drive it across to Mumbai and use it as a 'place-holder'.

2004-05 Honda Accords are selling for Rs.50,000 to Rs.100,000.

Or, how about a motorcycle or scooter with sidecar? Get an old Bullet or even an old Lambretta, and an old sidecar - or a new sidecar adds another Rs.30,000 to the price of the bike. Cool, not tough to move around in the compound if required, and if done up with a flashy paint job, certainly catches the eye!

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by GTO

Someone in the family might need to buy a car to hold a parking spot. Wants to spend max of 1 lakh rupees.

He figures that, if it's going to be parked in his compound, it might as well look nice. So, what's the most interesting car one can buy for 1 lakh?

They can have my, now road illegal, Lancer SFXI 2002 model. I will let the picture do the talking.

[pedrolourenco]

Most of the cars being suggested are out of production for many years. Maintenance would be an issue. Why not a Tata Nano?

[Durango Dude]

How about my 2005 Elantra GLS

[bharatbits]

Why do you want to retain a parking spot when you don't have a car? Retain is not the right word i think. How do you retain something that's not yours. In Mumbai AFAIK residents don't have ownership rights over parking spaces. Residents are allotted parking spaces once every year on a lottery basis. At least that's what happens in the society i live in Matunga. Whether you get a tight spot or easy a drive in spot depends on your luck. Owners get preference first followed by tenants if still vacant spots are available.

Coming from Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai i found this surprising in the beginning but now i am used to it. In Hyd individual houses have parking anyway within the compound. For apartments, every flat has a reserved parking spot/s which is given during purchase. Parking your car on the streets in the nights is really alien to us. By night all cars are parked inside houses and you can hardly find a car parked on the road.
The odd car that was parked on the street in the evening also moves inside by night. But, in Mumbai as the night closes in cars start getting filled by the roads.


One other thing i found surprising is that there's hardly a concept of paid parking in Mumbai. I travel quite a bit and i hardly remember paying parking fee anywhere in the last one year except when you went to a mall. Very few places have it and rest everywhere you can just park along the left edge of the road. That road might be very busy and traffic might be jammed but still people park their cars on the left edge talking phones, listening to music relaxed etc. In Hyd if you park your car on a busy road you will get honked till you move. Left lane in Mumbai is like designated parking lane however narrow or wide the road is. Just my observations having stayed here for the last 18 months. I hope not to carry these habits as i move to Hyd in 3 months.

Just examples of parking violations. You'll be surprised.
http://125.16.1.69:81/Evidences/22/p...C185658395.jpg
http://125.16.1.69:81/Evidences/23/p...C171003782.jpg
http://125.16.1.69:81/Evidences/23/p...C142303006.jpg
http://125.16.1.69:81/Evidences/22/p...C181294270.jpg

The entire city appears like a no parking zone. You just have to thank your stars if the cop doesn't come on that road clicking photos till the time you are parked.

Improper Number Plate
http://125.16.1.69:81/Evidences/23/p...4EC1583521.jpg

Traffic policemen have digital cameras in their hands and they just click every violation they see on roads. Each cop under a jurisdiction has a minimum target to achieve everyday and goes about clicking every violation he sees on the road. In Mumbai i have never seen traffic cops with digital cameras.

[avdhesh15]

In my building, there are 2 kinds of people, and here's what the do:

1. Want to block parking, stay in Mumbai: these folks have purchased massive flower pots and decorated the parking accordingly!

2. Want to block parking, don't stay in Mumbai: two families purchased clunkers and have put them here. Looked ugly, so society convinced them to swap parkings with other members where the cars would remain out of sight! One is an Ikon and the other is a Getz.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by capslock

Do they own the parking lot and wish to save it from intruders?

Originally Posted by bharatbits

Why do you want to retain a parking spot when you don't have a car?

Yes, dude owns the parking spot and wants to protect it from intruders. In an area where parking is impossible to find, it's equally impossible to keep your own parking spot empty.