Why I am happy that I did not buy a costly car 2.5 years ago

I am a middle-class guy who wanted to get a Tata Harrier but for some reason decided against it and eventually bought a Maruti Ertiga.

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A new car-buying decision is not a small one for a middle-class family. It involves all family members and lots of calculations have to be done. Also, middle-class families don't change their cars too often and use them around 7-8 to 12-13 years normally.

2.5 years ago, I was in the market for a new car. My primary requirement was it has to be a comfortable 5 seater car with good luggage carrying capacity. My wife never travels light, sadly. For 3-4 days vacation also we always have 4-5 midsize bags plus small 2-3 bags. If it is a 5+2 seater, better. Also, we didn't want a low-slung car as my mom has issues with it. Budget was not set as such as I wanted to buy a nice car which would fulfil my requirements.

I always liked Honda City but it didn't fit my requirements. It's not very comfortable for 5 people and it's a low-slung car. So sadly it went out of my consideration. Checked cars like Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos. Creta 2.0 design is very sad IMHO so immediately rejected it. Kia Seltos is a good car but top-end models were going beyond 20 + lakhs and I personally found it very costly and thought it was not worth paying that much money, so cancelled it. Cars like Nexon & Sonet are good but are a little compact so rejected them.

Then I thought of Innova. Called the car for a test drive and SA got it for me at home. Liked the car and it has a good road presence. Car is comfortable and has good space inside. Last row was disappointing and for such a big car, it offers limited space. Also with all rows up, boot space was very small. One more personal observation is it does not give a car-like feeling when you drive it. Really downer was its price. Top end was 30 Lakhs!! Second model was also 27+ lakhs on road. I found it to be very pricey, rejected.

Next visited a Tata showroom. Really liked Harrier and Safari both. Personally, I found Harrier better than Safari. Harrier has a proper SUV shape and big boot space. Safari is 7 seater but last row was very difficult to access. Also with all rows up, no boot available which is really sad. Price was 23+ lakhs for Harrier which I liked which has leather seats and lots of features. Base models, I didn't like much once you see leather ones.

Now we started thinking and the calculation process came into the picture. My initial thought was to buy a car around 15 Lakhs, +/- 10%. I can easily go up to 18-20 Lakhs but Harrier which I liked was going beyond 23. Now my middle-class mentality came into the picture. My brain was telling me that no point in investing so much money into a car which is a liability and value-reducing asset. Mind wanted Harrier for sure. Brain says once the car is out of showroom, you will lose 2-3 lakhs. Also, yearly maintenance is high plus insurance and other costs will be higher. Sadly put Harrier on hold. Mind was still thinking about it though. In between my wife suggested buying a lesser-value car now and after some time we can buy one more small car for her. (This was actually beneficial for her).

During this process, New Ertiga was always in mind. It's a wonderful car and I always liked its versatile nature. New Ertiga's ride quality and comfort is really good and it can beat lots of other cars easily in this area. It's a spacious 5 seater car with lots of luggage space or it's a 5 + 2 seater with some boot space as well (200 + liters). You can go 6 people with lots of luggage too. After a long thought, I booked the Ertiga Zxi+ and fortunately got it delivered in 10 days (at that time normal waiting period was around 3 months). I got Ertiga Zxi+ for around 11.3 Lakhs on road (did Insurance myself and didn't take an extended warranty) and I am really happy with it. I am really happy with the car and started enjoying it as it's a really nice car. Sadness of not getting Harrier soon vanished.

Now after 6 months of purchasing the Ertiga, I bought a Honda CB350 bike for 2.5 Lakhs. Wife couldn't say much as I listened to her while buying the car. In the last 2 years, I have done 6-7 bike tours on it and really enjoyed it. It's a damn good bike and I enjoy it every time I ride it. It's a pleasure to drive on highways.

Fast forward to July 2023, I bought Ignis Zeta AMT for around 7.9 Lakhs on road for my wife. Again it's a very nice, VFM car for city use. It offers a lot more for the price you pay in today's costly car market. I am enjoying its peppy engine and small footprint in the city. Also, this is my first Automatic car which is really helpful in city bumper-to-bumper traffic. Also biggest plus is wife is really happy with it and has become independent (don't have to go to boring places along with her now, LOL). She is taking the car anywhere she wants alone without any issues. Due to AMT, the car never halts anywhere and my wife just loves that. She used to have lots of issues with the manual.

Now when I look back on my decision to buy the Ertiga at that time, I am really happy that I made the right decision. So in total, I have spent around 22 lakhs but I have 3 good rides for me. Ertiga offers me lots of combinations for various family purposes and it does all things perfectly. My Mom simply loves it and prefers it over other cars in the family like Hyundai Aura, Honda City, Nexon, etc. Ertiga's suspension is really good and offers ride quality of the segment above cars. My Honda CB350 makes me very happy whenever I ride it, especially when I take it on highways. Lastly, Ignis makes my wife happy (When the wife is happy, life is good, right?) & also makes my life easy in city traffic. I also enjoy driving Ignis in the city, fun to drive car for sure.

So overall I am really happy with my decision at that time to not buy a costly car (23+ lakhs) and instead in 2 years, I got 3 wonderful rides for myself. I guess my brain won over my mind and I am not complaining at all.

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