[greenhorn]

I was in this situation, went for an etios. I would have loved to get a Honda City but ultimately I wanted to stick to budget and went with an Etios instead. It's the most boring car you can buy from your list but the boring cuts both ways. Absolutely nothing breaks in them. All that the etios owners group I joined talks about is how to improve mileage and how to reduce cost of major services like clutch changes. The only faults are raised by those who've been pampered by German and Korean hatches with features - compared to which the etios is drab.

I would absolutely not recommend buying a used Nexon. I considered buying a new altroz iturbo/punch after my in laws talked me into giving them a try (personally I'm not a fan since I have a Tata car already and the repair bills are beginning to sting). The TD cars had enough issues and bought back enough bad memories that I decided not to go that route. All the Japanese cars you've listed are good picks. I'll not impose on the Etios. But stick to the Japanese. For someone buying a car with their head, that's the best option.

[zaid qazi]

I think you should consider cars which are fairly reliable and which requires minimum maintenance and shouldn't be heavy on the pocket, So the cars that come to my mind which can be reliable and easy to fix and maintain are

1. Honda city:This should be the best car for your needs as this is not too old like the corolla and neither it has been discontinued like both the corolla and yaris, although both the yaris and corolla are really good offerings and are very reliable.
2. Maruthi suzuki brezza: this is a really good car for your needs, it has really good built quality, it's easy to maintain and you can get a good example in your budget. You can get both diesel and petrol versions through pre-owned route.
3.Toyota Yaris:this car has been discontinued but good number of examples were sold when it was on sale so finding spares wouldn't be a big task and Toyota is known for its good after sales service.

Wish you good look for your purchase.

[Ithaca]

Voted - Honda City.

If you want peace of mind ownership, the City it is. I am biased because I owned the dolphin shaped City which served me flawlessly for 16 years before I gave it to a friend. The boot is spacious & backseat is extremely comfortable. If you can find a decent pre-owned vehicle, do consider it.

[raunaqv471]

Go for the Honda City hands down. Petrol manual is quick, frugal, looks stylish , is spacious and you can rev it and enjoy the VTEC kick on those occasional spirited drives. Its the perfect size for the city and even for the highway with a good track record of reliability too. I would have recommended the Corolla or Altis but handling a D segment sedan takes some good years of driving experience. Also, driving and parking the City will make you a more confident driver too. Good luck.

[AJ56]

Look for 2012-13 2.4 Accords, very safe (rated IHS top safety pick for many consecutive years, perfect NCAP score), doors shut like a bank vault, has 6 airbags, ABS and ESC. Very reliable and cheap to maintain. Has adequate space and power and will feel much nicer to drive/ride in than a City/Corolla. Easy enough to drive for a first time driver as well. You’ll get well kept ones under 5L. Keep aside the spare cash for maintenance and you’ll be good (not that you’ll likely need it.) Cheers.

[Arwin07]

Update:
I bought a 2017 Honda Jazz VX MT Petrol

Originally Posted by Arwin07

Background:

I am 32 and we are family of 3 with my 3 year old kid. I barely know how to drive.

Requirements:

- Budget 5 lakhs, pre-worshipped car. Stretchable to 7 lakhs by taking a loan.
- With my very low running and weekly two days running, Petrol car will be sufficient. (Exception is it is my last chance to own an Ecosport Tdci.)
- As it is my first car and with no prior experience with cars, I need a reliable, fuss free ownership.
- Need a safe car. 4 or 5 star safety rating.
- Though 75% of the drive is in city, as it is my first car, I want to master Manual transmission before going to Automatic.
- Minimum 2 airbags, ABS. Additional airbags, ESC are good to have.
- Not keen on performance in my first car. Just a sedate, relaxed drive.

Options considered/ Thougt process:
Though all the above requirements scream Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai hatchbacks, I don't consider them for lack of safety.
I am searching for pre-worshipped cars through Spinny, Cars24. The values given below are based on Spinny, Cars24 and OBV.

Cars with 4,5 stars in Global NCAP:
1. Tata Nexon (5 star)
2. Honda City (4 star, unstable body shell)
3. Honda Jazz (4 star, stable body shell)
4. Volkswagen Polo (4 star)
5. Toyota Etios (4 star)
6. Mahindra XUV 300 (5 star)
Tata Altroz, Punch, XUV 300 are recent launches and not readily available in used car market yet.

I do not have enough knowledge and experience to select my first car. My choices are not restricted to the above cars. Please guide me towards selecting my first car, fellow Team BHPians.

Prologue:
Ever since I started working in 2015, I have always wanted to own a car. I was in a tier 3 city then and I was not confident to go to pre-worshipped route. The options to buy used were limited to Olx advertisements and local garages. I was apprehensive of Odometer tampering. I had no money for a new car as I had just began earning.

In 2018, I had savings to buy a new car. As a fan of Ford/VW/Skoda, I decided on Ecosport after considering Polo, Rapid and Aspire. My wife vetoed on the plan for new car as we don't have a own house and so we used the savings as down payment.

In 2022, I am 32 and it's finally time to own a car. Our family's first car. The inciting event was a close call while riding motorcycle. The need for a safe metal cocoon.

Car searching process:
I had been tracking cars in Cars24 and Spinny multiple times a day for the past 3 months, bordering on obsession to spot a car within my requirement.
Every week I shortlisted 3-5 cars and test drove them on weekends. As I barely know to drive, my 2 uncles helped by test driving. (P.S: One of them owns a 2013 VW Vento 1.6 and the other 2016 Honda City). My experience with Cars24 and Spinny app is positive. Both have very practical interface and filters. I meticulously prepared list of cars with all parameters I have for comparison.

Used car market in Chennai is flooded with Honda Jazz, City but only very few Nexon, Altroz, XUV300 (probably because they are launched only a few years back), Yaris, Corolla (low sales numbers, so less cars in used market?). My top choices were Nexon, City, Altroz, Jazz, Tiago in that order.

I flirted with the idea of buying 2018 Ford Ecosport 1.5TDCi Titanium plus on seeing a TeamBHP classifieds. It's my dream car+engine and has 6 airbags, TCS, ESC. But before I could come to a decision and before even calling the seller, the ad was missing the very next day, probably sold like a hot cake.

The Honda City-s available in used car market all have 70000km and above in odo or 2nd owner and above or ridiculously priced. In my 3 months search, I couldn't find a decent Honda City (odo less than 50000km, less than 6 years, upto two owners, not more than 5% Orange book value).

Test drives and finalising:

The few Tiago up for sale were given thumbs down by my uncle after test drives. In one Tiago, steering pulled to right even after Cars24 refurbishment.

8 Honda Jazz were shortlisted. After discussions in Honda Jazz forum, came to know that S, SV versions do not have ABS but have 2 airbags. So those versions were rejected. We checked Vehicle documents (RC, Insurance, Service records) and after scrutiny, test drove 4.

Booking:
I found a car which matched most of my requirements in a late-2017 Honda Jazz VX MT Petrol with 23000km in odo, first owner, perfect service records for a price exactly 5% above Orange Book Value. It has rear adjustable head rests, 60:40 foldable seats, magic seat, all black interiors being pre-facelift model but doesn't get Android Auto.

After test drive and checking vehicle documents, I booked the car by paying a refundable advance of Rs.25000. (I had previously booked a Jazz SV MT. The advance amount was promptly refunded when I cancelled the booking.)

Delivery and Trial period:
After paying the full amount 5 days after booking, the car was delivered to my uncle's house the next day. Cars24 has a 7 days/500km return period within which the car can be returned for full refund. So my uncle drove the Jazz for the next 1 week instead of his trusted Vento. He took the car to work on weekdays and to Mahabalipuram on weekend- he drove 500kms and was satisfied. During the trial period, he took the car to his trusted FNG who found no issues with the car. After one week trial period was over, RC transfer process began.

Simultaneously, I began to learn driving in a nearby driving school. RC transfer and driving classes (one hour personal class twice a week) were completed in 3 weeks. I have driven only 100km so far and never exceeded 60kmph being a newbie. It returns 16-18kmpl in highway and 12-13kmpl in city.

Post-delivery shopping:
The previous owner has a comprehensive insurance. Cars24 gave only a third party Insurance in my name at the time of delivery. I got a Zero depreciation insurance with Engine cover (only Cholamandalam MS gave Zero dep for 5th year in a car with no Zero dep previously).

Honda provides extended warranty for 5th year at Rs.9475. But as per terms of the extended warranty, I have to service my car every 6 months despite a meagre 5000km usage in a year.

I am shopping for a TPMS, Child seat for my kid (Graco DLX 4ever) front+rear dashcam (70 mai Pro+ A500S).

My overall buying experience from Cars24 is positive and fuss free.

I thank you all for your inputs. I wanted a safe, reliable, first car- I am blessed with a Honda Jazz.

[itsmeparvathy9]

Congratulations on your purchase and hope you have good times with it

[Latheesh]

Congrats. Jazz VX manual is a good choice. Magic seat was only available in VX variant and I found seats is superior to the fixed ones available in other variants.

[Chimera]

I have a quick question ,how is the initial response of the car from standstill ,I've heard the bottom end is very weak.
Does it move from standstill after letting the clutch go or extra accelerator input is needed?
For context we have a Chevy spark at home and the bottom end is very weak in that car ,it needs throttle input to get moving from standstill.

[SaiSW]

Originally Posted by Chimera

I have a quick question ,how is the initial response of the car from standstill ,I've heard the bottom end is very weak.
Does it move from standstill after letting the clutch go or extra accelerator input is needed?
For context we have a Chevy spark at home and the bottom end is very weak in that car ,it needs throttle input to get moving from standstill.

Have a Jazz 1.2 in the family and the bottom end is average, not completely unmanageable but it needs a learning curve to get used to. I drive a diesel in which
i can start moving from 2nd gear comfortably (not recommended though), so for me it is hard. Top end is pretty good since its a Vtec motor. I would've preferred Honda offered the Jazz with the 1.5 but the 1.2 combination is not as bad as many make it out to be.

[bajoseph04]

Congrats on your car purchase. Jazz guarantees you a fuss free experience. Truly a hassle-free car with all practicalities. I would say the most practical and the best family car in the segment. Nothing simply comes close to it but then.. it's Honda India who gave up an excellent product. With a proper upgrade and pricing Jazz would have been the top selling premium hatch today.

[Chimera]

Originally Posted by SaiSW

Have a Jazz 1.2 in the family and the bottom end is average, not completely unmanageable but it needs a learning curve to get used to. I drive a diesel in which
i can start moving from 2nd gear comfortably (not recommended though), so for me it is hard. Top end is pretty good since its a Vtec motor. I would've preferred Honda offered the Jazz with the 1.5 but the 1.2 combination is not as bad as many make it out to be.

Oh ok we are looking to get a used jazz hopefully,but I don't want another car with a weak bottom end like the Chevy spark we have.

[venbas]

I have the Honda Jazz VX CVT. Just perfect for City and crowded roads. The response is decent provided you get used to the CVT gearbox. Safe and Great to drive in supreme comfort rivalling sedans. Fun to spin around the corners too as the solid shell holds its line. It's a shame Honda gave it basic feature misses like rear AC vents and adjustable rear headrests. They removed the magic seats too!