[vredesbyrd]

As a stupid idiot who bought his first car as an 8 year (2010 made, bought in 2018) old 4.8m 138hp boat, I've got some advice:

1. Polo - avoid DSG
2. Vento - avoid DSG
2. Punto
3. Linea - very nice and practical
4. Civic
5. Ecosport Diesel (if you can manage that within 4L)

I am not saying that you shouldn't look at Octavia or Jetta. If you drive carefully, 20-30 extra odd hp aren't gonna kill you. It's the maintenance, part lead time and the cost of the said parts that make it a spoilsport.

Also, take my advice with a pinch of salt as I am stupid and I listen to my heart more often than my head (college kid buys skoda superb and people sneer at him but at least he's having fun driving around)

P.S. The planet and NGT is out to get ICE cars and replace them with lifeless EVs. Might as well get something nice, hehe

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by vredesbyrd

As a stupid idiot who bought his first car as an 8 year old 4.8m 138hp boat, I've got some advice:

Get the typo corrected mate. Hope my younger 7 year old son doesn't see this. It's only just yesterday I "convinced" him that he can drive a car only after he turns 18

[vredesbyrd]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

Get the typo corrected mate. Hope my younger 7 year old son doesn't see this. It's only just yesterday I "convinced" him that he can drive a car only after he turns 18

Done!

Maybe I should have made it more clear that it was the car's age and not mine

[androdev]

Unlike a bike, one need not get psyched about BHP or size. The real question is do you have spare cash to maintain the car you fancy. That's all there is to it. If you are a nut case, you can even drive a Wagon R at the limit and get into serious trouble.

My suggestion would be a Polo MPI MT so that you can skip few neighbouring continents and head to Europe directly. You will take your studies, career and life very seriously after getting a used Polo.

If you are not into build quality and good looks, but looking for vroom factor, consider Toyota Liva or last gen 1.5 Jazz. Cars with great engines.

Having come this far and started a team bhp what to buy thread, I forbid you from buying a Swift. You would have got that advice from your uncle himself!

[GreasyCarb55]

Originally Posted by androdev

My suggestion would be a Polo MPI MT so that you can skip few neighbouring continents and head to Europe directly. You will take your studies, career and life very seriously after getting a used Polo.

If you are not into build quality and good looks, but looking for vroom factor, consider Toyota Liva or last gen 1.5 Jazz. Cars with great engines.

Having come this far and started a team bhp what to buy thread, I forbid you from buying a Swift. You would have got that advice from your uncle himself!

Wait did the Indian market get the 1.5L in the old Jazz?

I thought we only got the 90hp 1.2L Jazz and I'm only seeing listing for 1.2 models on OLX and other sites.

If we did indeed get the L-Series 1.5L then that tilts the scales almost entirely towards the Jazz.

[androdev]

Originally Posted by GreasyCarb55

Wait did the Indian market get the 1.5L in the old Jazz?

I thought we only got the 90hp 1.2L Jazz and I'm only seeing listing for 1.2 models on OLX and other sites.

If we did indeed get the L-Series 1.5L then that tilts the scales almost entirely towards the Jazz.

My bad, given the Jazz prices back then I assumed it was 1.5L engine I have the Honda City, so I always thought Jazz 1.5 would be a great option.

[Small Bot]

The first car I ever drove was a Maruti 800, but the car I really learnt driving with was a 2011 i10. A proper workhorse, frugal and reliable, with not many unnecessary features and apt for city driving. It is only a 79 bhp car, but I love driving it. Still have it as a beater car and take it out every few days.
I would suggest not focusing on cars beyond sub-10 lakhs hatchbacks for a first car to learn driving with, and especially if you're not looking at keeping it beyond 3-4 years. I would also suggest only pre-owned (around 4-6 years old) cars as it would be a much better deal financially and you can save money for that future new car. Also, if I may, I would advise to go with NA petrols to learn driving with, and not turbos.
Once you have the hang of driving and have the tens of thousands of kms under your belt, then you could think of buying an enthusiast's car.

[Apex1815]

I understand you will learn driving on this car. Learning driving means more wear and tear as compare to the normal driving. Therefore suggest you to stick with basics first and master it and then graduate to more fun to drive factor cars :
In your budget few basic but user firendly cars which I can quickly think of are :
- Maruti Swift
- Hyundai Grand i10
- TATA Tiago

Aforesaid cars are abuse friendy and you will find these cars in decent shape in the used market within 4 Lacs.
Additionally the low cost of maintenance, ease of driving within Bangalore city and lesser space for parking will add to your convenience.

If you want Fun to drive (This definition varies from person to person) car then you can try the following in this budget :

- Fiat Palio
- Ford Ikon
- Grande Punto

Finding these cars in good shape & Parts availability may be a concern,
Lot more have already been mentioned by bhpians.
All the best.

[RaghuVis]

I don't personally know the person from OP, but being almost double the age of him, one thing I can confirm is that he would definitely want people to STOP giving moral science lessons to him!

I am really not able to understand how you guys think your advice of not getting a car is going to influence him. When was the last time you convinced a teenage stranger to let go of their dreams because of your fears?

He is going to be 18! A teenager who is going to become an adult. He could have gone to any of his friends for finalizing the purchase but he chose a responsible forum like ours to give him car suggestions. Let us do that please and stop preaching.

He has got so many good car advices that I frankly don't see any new entrant to be added in the list. If I had same amount of money back in the day, I would have got many more opportunities especially in C segment. choices are far and few. From the current list, I would definitely pick an older swift, preferably petrol.

All the best buddy. Wish you good luck in selecting car that connects with both your brain and heart.

[vtecblast]

Originally Posted by GreasyCarb55

Hello there, I turn 18 in about 3 weeks and I'm looking for a first car that is also a good enthusiast car, I'm one of the emotional guys when it comes to Automobiles so drive feel/emotional connect is very important.

The original plan was to buy a brand new Duke 250 or RR310 but around December 2021 I had a change of heart and shifted (pun intended) towards a used enthusiast car instead.

At first a Honda City 1.5 VTEC was a no-brainer but I'm not so sure. We will not be purchasing the car until May-June 2022.

My Requirements:

1) Seating/Comfort - Comfort is appreciated but not a priority I'm happy in terms of interiors and comfort as long as I have a nice speaker system and the drivers seat can accommodate my 5 foot 9 inch but slightly chunky frame. We have a '17 Honda City for daily/city use and '11 Toyota Innova 2.5 V (Type2 -> Type4 converted) for Highway hauls.

2) Fun to Drive? - Oh absolutely, it should fun to drive it's my first car after all, I'm willing to make sacrifices (like comfort and interiors) for the fun factor. I want a Manual transmission.

3) Fuel efficiency- FE is not an issue, with the City for dad and mom preferring the Innova this car will not see much use outside of weekend trips and juvenile tomfoolery. Although a minimum mileage of 7-8kmpl in the city would help in convincing the parents. Furthermore we are looking to get an electric scooter to replace our old '13 Vespa LX125 as a errand vehicle so I will be using that for commuting to college 90% of the time.

4) Fuel - Not leaning towards either petrol or diesel, although most of my options that I've considered are petrol with the exception of one car (You'll see it later in the list below).

5) Body Type - Again not leaning towards anything particular, I'm open to everything.

6) Aftermarket Support - Odds are I will keep this car for atleast 3-4 years so I would like the car to have good aftermarket support in terms of mods.

7) Budget - I was initially given a budget of 3-3.2 Lakh (on road Bangalore + Gear) to get my very own bike but that cash has been reallocated to the car (Hence this post). Current budget is 3.5 Lakh and willing to extend to 3.8-4 lakh. We have 30k reserved outside the budget to get any repairs done (if needed) and getting quality of life improvements like a modern head unit and speakers. Any money saved will be re-invested into the car for mods down the line and fuel.

8) New or used? - Definitely used, the only new car I'll get in Bangalore with 4 lakh in hand would be the base model Alto, might as well get a Duke 250 at that point.

I don't have hands on experience with most of these cars so I'm depending on TeamBHP and family input to determine the pros and cons. If it helps I'm located in Bangalore.

P.S: I know the basics of driving a car but you wouldn't want me behind the wheel any time soon, Will be taking a 21 Day course from Maruti driving school before I get my car.

Going with the personal experience, I would recommend going for a Honda Brio. It's a fun to drive car, doesn't have a wow factor as far as a crowd pleaser thing goes. But, once you own the car you know it's a good vehicle.
Other factors that I can mention to support my submission:
1. Minimal repair cost.
2. Little to no major failures are reported by the owners.
3. Is small will make your daily run a lot hassle free.
4. Drives smooth and has good traction on road.
Cons that you might encounter:
1. Poor mid end will always make you hit the vtec alot of the times, which equals to getting poor fuel economy.
2. The car is small and might feel the car completely full only while carrying 3 people.
3. Has a very basic after market mods support (exhausts, intake upgrade, wheels and remaps only) as far as I have come across.
Keep us posted.

[Nav-i-gator]

Etios Liva - if you can live with the interiors
Chevy Cruze - if you can live with an abandoned but genius child
Fiat Grande Punto/Linea T-jet (Or Avventura, if you can find one) - if you can... (same as above)
Honda City - enough said by others already

All these cars are reliable, fun to drive and safe enough.

[HTC]

Many thoughtful suggestions. I would reiterate that having a easily serviceable, light on pocket and relatively safer car would suffice.
As few suggested, I would recommend Ford Figo Diesel. TDCI 1.4 or 1.5 - which ever comes in your budget. Old fords are built tough and have very good highway manners. Since you are from Bengaluru, you may end up paying a bit of premium if you choose the dealers route. Else most used examples are below 3 lacs. You even get good FE around 17+ KMPL as well. Initially you will feel, it is low on power. But once you learn to work the gear shifts to match the RPM and be in the turbo zone, you should have no problems in enjoying the ride.

Few tips - Go for single owner car with ABS and airbags minimum. Odo shouldn't matter provided timely services and scheduled part replacements are done. Look for rusting and avoid cars with rat/mice droppings in engine bay. Good luck with your car hunt.

Drive safe and have fun
HTC

[VaisakhMadathil]

I was in the same boat 7 years ago during my college days. I considered everything used from Honda city Gen1 to Skoda Octavia Mk1 and finally settled for a new Honda Brio. I would suggest you a Honda Brio if you are okay with the looks. It is fun, practical, reliable and cheap to maintain. Otherwise I will suggest you a Swift or Ritz.
From my experience I would suggest you to stay away from Germans since they are expensive to maintain and there are so many electronics and sensors which are prone to failure.
Drive safe

[veyron_head]

I would advise you to pick up a new alto. Here is why:

a.) Considering the first 4 services are fully free for new Maruti cars and that you only intend to drive this car inside the city, chances are you won't spend a dime for the next couple of years, except for oil change.

b.) A new Maruti car will also be completely trouble-free. Fill it and drive it!

c.) Alto has the right compact dimensions for someone to learn to drive properly. My first car was an M800 (similar dimensions). Hence speaking from experience.

d.) A city VTec or a similar car might look irresistible especially when it is within your reach. But handling such power needs a bit of responsibility that I wouldn't trust my own 18 yr old self with!

I am sure you would understand this down the lane if not now and thank us later! Congrats in advance on your first car!

[AdityaH]

Hi,

I have a Budget of 3L INR and I am in the market for a small reliable and cheap to run car.

This will be my first car and the commute will be within Mumbai from Colaba to Juhu once the pandemic rules have eased.

I was looking at CNG cars since that provides the cheapest commute cost, but I have read somewhere that used CNG cars are towards their end of life and do not have any power left in them.

I am 20 yo and want a frugal yet peppy car that I can enjoy in the city.

My running will be mostly in the city, around 60 km a day and a 100-150km highway trip once a quarter.


I am open to all brands and models.

Thank You!

Adi