[jithin23]

I am in the same dilemma and I've started my career 1.5 years ago. We have the 2018 EcoSport as our all rounder but I feel that there's a need for a 2nd car in our house of 4.

My preference is for the city and I need a proper AT. I was thinking of buying used as it makes more sense but the rates in Bangalore for a used car are eye-watering irrespective of budget. I'm ready to get the car from Mumbai or Delhi and get it re registered in Bangalore if the car condition and asking price is good.

I have the EcoSport for Highway duties though.

I had planned to go for a Polo GT TSI/Ameo or Vento TDI DSG. Since my running will be about 1500km a month, I am stuck in a dilemma for which one to go for. I did the math for petrol vs diesel and my usage and the difference is less per tankfull( ₹400 and 200km range difference). Can anyone shed some light on this.

Maintenance wise, VW suits better as the service interval is 15k/1 year and I'll get it serviced on my own. Cost wise, it's almost on par with the competition except spare parts price.
Even if I have future plans of moving elsewhere, the car will be with my parents and sister. No Maruti or Koreans in my house though and the newer cars I feel are not worth the money and don't have a proper AT at 6-7L On road.

Someday I wish to get a 3.2 Endeavour 4x4

[navaneo]

I have an automatic hatchback for city runabouts ( Jazz - spacious, CVT gearbox )- extremely convenient within a city
My second car for long distance rides is a Skoda Yeti - a 4X4 SUV with a small footprint, diesel for munching Miles on the highway and loaded with Safety features.

[Kartikaygaur]

We switched to a double car garage in 2012.

2012: Xuv500 and santro xing (2003 model - aftermarket cng)
Decided to sell the santro in 2014 and replaced it with an alto cng company fitted.

Now, both the xuv and alto are due for replacement. The xuv would be changed in the next two months and planning to get the crysta VX manual. The alto would be changed next year and hoping to get the Karoq in automatic guise.

Rationale: the innova due to its bulletproof reliability and mile munching ability would be reserved for the highways, long trips, load carrying duties or when we explicitly require 6/7 seats. The karoq on the other hand would be the urban suv, easy to drive in automatic guise, stylish to look at, not too large and something with adequate power. Fingers crossed.

[noopster]

A "second car" is a luxury that one call ill-afford these days. Meaning unless there is someone dedicated to taking car of it, ensuring minimum running, regular service etc. this could well end up becoming a white elephant.

In my household, the two cars are clearly "my car" and "wife's car". Of course we do use each others' vehicles when the occasion demands but at no point is either vehicle idle for too long. But since my daily usage is much higher "my car" tends to be the newer of the two

Not for long though. The current lineup is a Kia Seltos (mine) and VW Vento (hers). But the VW is long in the tooth and won't be with us for more than 2-3 years more. Then we will be in the position of having to get a "second" car that is quite close in age to the "first". Am watching this thread keenly to help decide what we should go for then.

[VS1811]

We have a very clear demarcated roles of each car in the house and they each serve their purpose very well. Also, over the time i realized that one car cannot play role of the other and have their specific roles and the absence is felt in case of non availability of that car even the alternative is available for use.

Beater: WagonR LXi:
- No-one cares for the number of dents or scratches, exterior or interior.
- The car is used for market runs, shopping within 10-15 kms distance, ferrying my dog to parks and to vet, grocery, etc.
- Used by my mom for her self drive to take it to her work and also for other run arounds as she neither cares nor has patience to find proper parking place and would just throw keys to anyone to park it for her.
- It is strictly for city use within 10 kms to markets or places where we know parking would be challenge
- The objective is cheap to run, no hassles, reliable and no emotional connect to worry about scratches and likes.

Middleman: Ciaz Alpha:
- Used by dad / still studying brother to visit around in the city or outside as well as by dad for his official purposes
- Used by driver to ferry mom / grandmother in comfort and for airport runs
- Used by me for official purpose or visiting around in the city to places where i am unsure of the parking availability.
- This car can play multiple roles and do both long distance as well as city errands and is well maintained and looked after.
- The objective is reliable, comfortable, abuse friendly and spacious. The car should look good for official purpose, visiting friends / relatives and being chauffered around in.

Primary: Seltos GT Line:
- Exclusively used by me for official purposes, visiting friends, dining out or going to a party / date :')
- I am extremely cautious about the parking availability where i take it and the car should be scratch less outside and spotless inside.
- The car has an emotional connect and should give some driving pleasure.
- This is also primary highway or family trip car
- This one gets the prime spot in the household parking and is generally least used.
- The objective is fun to drive, feature laden, comfortable and is also a sort of status symbol.

As i stated earlier, i feel each has a very clear demarcated role with very few overlaps if any.

[Jerryaj]

We are a joint family and for us the second car was more of a compulsion. We got our first car Elite i20 just before my marriage. The car was serving its purpose and we quite like the rides in i20. Our usage was mostly on the highways may be 80% of it. Once my brother got married it was difficult to travel together in the car, most often somebody needed to travel by train.

Hence, the need for the second car, as we wanted to travel together we got the New Ertiga to serve us. These two cars are going to serve us for some more years for sure. My family is so obsessed with i20 that they are ready to add a third car but not let go of the i20.

[Creques]

Since 2013, our Honda Brio has served our family (of 4) well be it in congested Hyderabad traffic or on highway drives. It clocked about 60k in these years and we have no regrets except when it comes to low bootspace, which we were aware of beforehand. Recently in March, we purchased Ford EcoSport Diesel to complement Brio (our now secondary car) to better cater to our usually long and more frequent highway endeavors. In the little that we have driven, EcoSport appears to fulfill our needs brilliantly. It is easy on the pocket, handles well and has far better bootspace compared to Brio, which continues to serve us well especially in maneuvering through city traffic. Not to underestimate Brio's highway manners but it lacks some safety features to keep putting to test its capabilities.

[aniketi]

Most of the cars from Maruti stable suits as a second car in house. They are economical, fuel efficient, easy to use, easy to maintain, good AC, ease of driving etc. Cars like Alto, Wagon R, Ignis, Celerio, Eeco, etc. are suitable as a second car as per your need.

[Fiestaboy]

I think there is no single answer which fits everyone here.
Reason being different needs & different budget factors.

I had 2 cars from 2015 to 2020.
We bought a Zen 2002 model at 2012 & at 2014 we bought New Fiesta & planned to sell Zen.
As GTO mentioned, we retained Zen. (we had developed special affection towards our first car & hence it was retained).

Usage of the cars as follows:

Zen: Strictly around city, though i took it couple of times to Coimbatore from Chennai. Easy to roam around city & have less concerns of any scratches as running cost of older Maruti's are very less.(Ex: ORVM of Zen cost <500INR).
Normally i don't share cars/bikes with others & don't expect it from others too.
However, if some close friends/relatives comes to Chennai & look for my car, i will provide my Zen.
New Fiesta: Fully for highway drives & inside Chennai rarely.(except to fill Fuel @ Shell Chrompet/ weekend office drives).
Fiesta will be planted in highways with exceptional handling. With Diesel powertrain & good Fuel economy, its economical to run for long trips. Additionally Fiesta offers better comfort & bigger luggage space to ease long trips.

[armaan_singh]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Out of curiosity, do you mind sharing what line of work you are in?

Thanks

Jeroen

Sure,

I work with the ultra luxury segment of real estate in the NCR region.

Armaan

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Out of curiosity, do you mind sharing what line of work you are in?

Thanks

Jeroen

Personally I think once you’ve actually “arrived”, whatever be the field of work, it is mostly irrelevant what car you drive or other comparable flashy accessories. I can understand if perhaps there are some limited exceptions to this of course but for most part I do believe this to hold true.

Focusing on the accessories is a feature of a certain (younger) age profile in my experience. I have commonly seen people relatively junior really breaking the bank to buy an entry German (costing 35/40L or more) when the highest earning people in the same organisation still get driven in Camrys and Superbs. Similarly, some of us who are the senior most in the organisation tend to use our iphones etc the longest while I see relative youngsters flipping their expensive phones on almost an annual basis.

I similarly also know of some absolute top most lawyers in the profession who for years used to commute in a very basic Honda Accord (when they could just as well be in a Maybach without batting an eyelid).

I feel as many folks grow older, the more they appreciate the “value” of money and the less they feel the need to lean on the material stuff to define their stature.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Personally I think once you’ve actually “arrived”, whatever be the field of work, it is mostly irrelevant what car you drive or other comparable flashy accessories. .

I think it is always irrelevant what you drive, arrived or not. There are some people that believe otherwise.

I am sure there is, to some extend, a cultural component to it. Showing up at Greta’s talk about safe the planet in your RangeRover might get you some frowns, if not eggs in your face.

So to me, as long as it is about empathy, thoughtfulness it’s fine. If it is about ego and showing off, I am not impressed. Nothing to do with careers or having arrived.

Or perhaps we are saying here that the potential buyers of luxury real estate in Delhi are an extremely shallow lot, that can be easily impressed. I would not know, but I have come met most of the wealthiest people in India. And I might have certain names for them, neither shallow or easy to impress springs to mind.

Life is way too short to try and impress others by the size of your car.

Jeroen

[landcruiser123]

Well, the seconds car depends on what the intended purpose is. If you’re looking for a no-frills intra-city commute option that won’t attract attention when parked anywhere, this is a great thread to check out:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...wning-one.html (Beater Cars: The unsung heroes! And advantages of owning one)

If you need it for regular highway journeys, please use evaluate and buy a nice comfortable + safe car.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

We rarely drive each other car. She needs to go to Frankfurt, Germany a 600km journey, she takes her tiny cute car. I need to pop into town, 6km, I take my big and fast car.

Jeroen

Doesn’t happen in India, but only in the developed world.

Indians love traveling as a family as fuel is expensive and safety for women is a concern. My mom, for example, never ever drove alone for more than 150km a day. She’d prefer to take the train, bus, or flight if traveling alone.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Doesn’t happen in India, but only in the developed world.

Indians love traveling as a family as fuel is expensive and safety for women is a concern. My mom, for example, never ever drove alone for more than 150km a day. She’d prefer to take the train, bus, or flight.

Sure, what I meant to illustrate is we each have a car, a very different car. We each take our car for our own journeys. Just because we have a Ford Fiesta sitting in our yard, doesn’t mean I will use it to pop into town. I use my own car.

We are a family, but we still also have separate careers, interests and things to do.so we often travel alone and we often travel together.

I have a company car too. Which doesn’t cost us anything for private usage. (Or rather, irrespective of private usage it cost us the same). My wife will never take my company car, she will take her little Fiesta.

When we travel as family, we tend to take one of my cars or the company tin. I will drive. The only time my wife will drive the car with me as a passenger is when I have had a drink. We alternate. So one of us is the designated driver for the evening, the other is not. If my wife is the driver, we end up taking her little Fiesta. Even if the party we are going to is in Paris.
Jeroen

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I think it is always irrelevant what you drive, arrived or not. There are some people that believe otherwise.

Nothing to do with careers or having arrived.


Life is way too short to try and impress others by the size of your car.

Jeroen

Yes - fully agree with all of the above. Sorry I didn’t mean to suggest that it is ok for the need impress before you ‘arrive’. That was badly expressed. I meant more that this realisation that its irrelevant seems to be more common in some people after a certain age or professional juncture.

At the risk of generalising, culturally, there is also a bit more of “keeping up with the Joneses” in certain parts of the country compared to others. That might play its part too.