warning: slightly long post… but hey, it is material of almost a month since my last post
no ! i haven't bought a swift-dzire... that is just clever wordplay… nor have i got anything else too... but yeah, i have been thinking... after a long thoughtful consideration i sort of started feeling that i might need a car... what with haggling with the auto drivers here (my bike does solve some part of the problem, but it is not always possible to go to places in twos...), mom complaining that i am not taking her around this #%#@%%@^&& up city and a sort of fear of hearing "what??? you don't even have a car?" after spiderman's warning, the need became real...
I had always wanted a car… a nice contemporary design like the swift… that is my definition of a small car… or the nice and majestic SUVs like the endeavour, pajero or even our own local boy the safari… in bright white with grey bumpers… or a nice sports sedan like a verna or civic… or a good big luxury car like a bmw or a merc – doesn’t matter which one, anything will do… all of their models fall into the same category for me – unaffordable… hah for that matter so do the Ferraris and Lamborghinis… btw, did I mention the swift should be in red with those sports stripes… and that sort of gives you my ambitions…
I actually wanted a car and the principle deciding factor is, well my affordability… and yeah it should comfortably seat at least 4 and maybe squeeze in a fifth… a small happy family car… and yeah sometimes I would take it to my office on rainy days and some important occasions… only… so I would not be using it everyday, but yes I would use it frequently… on most days I will conservatively drive my bike to save on fuel (indignantly denying the eventuality that I would start using the car more frequently once I have it). So these are my specs…
Looking at this, the nano came as a big boon… it was supposed to have more space than the small car I was hoping to buy – the alto… and it was at one-third the price… but I was a little skeptical… most tata cars start with a lot of problems, and problems irritate me… plus I figure that since nano is pretty cheap, it would definitely require care in the terms of proven sturdiness of the existing cars… plus thanks to a great people’s person the tatas are gonna delay its launch… I want the car now… you see I am also impatient…
So the next obvious choice is the alto… I eliminated the 800… only a second-hand 800 wud fall into the price range of the nano, but it wud give me a bigger headache than the nano which would probably come with the new-car-warranties… and a new 800… well the car seems to be finally getting old and getting phased out… plus alto seems to be a slightly better car at almost the same price… now this “slightly better car at almost the same price” is going to be the cause of my downfall, but I am blind to it…
So now I am looking at the alto… of course I will go for the highest end model… with power steering and the works… what… I don’t get a music system? That will cost me another 10k… then some more essential accessories will cost me another 15-20k… awesome… so ultimately I end up spending a lot more than the actual price I was initially looking at… and maruti being maruti wont bend over backwards to give me even a free toffee let alone the accessories… so at about 3.6lacs I will get 4 wheels and enuf space to squeeze in 4 people and stuff in one more with some more effort and tolerance from the earlier 4… mmm… what are my options?
The santro… yeah definitely it is slightly bigger… and 5 people can be squeezed in a little more comfortably than the alto… and the current offer price would work out to something that is just about 40-50k more than the alto… so here I was getting a slightly better car for just a little bit higher price… actually it is a pretty good deal considering that I am not just getting extra space, but the engine can deliver much higher power too… so in case the Schumacher in me just one day decides to poke his head out, I will be ready… plus their new petrol-lpg version is a slightly better car which is at almost the same price…
I also considered the seemingly matiz-converted-to-spark of GM… but I don’t think it is worth buying it… they don’t have enough service centers all over the country… so in case I break down in some place where there is no service center I would be screwed… unlike maruti which supposedly has a very good service network… the santro too would be okay because it is a much familiar car to the indian mechanic than a GM… and some wise know-it-all has said that alto is better than the spark because it has an electronic powersteering, while this is just hydraulic… and the resale value was also pretty low – so if, you know, I was hoping to upgrade… you know… (I know what you are thinking – this skinflint bugger definitely cannot go beyond a second hand 800… yeah maybe you are right, but there still exists that small probability called hope, that I can one day… you know… vroooooom!!! ) if only the old zen was still there… the new one seems so cramped for so much money…
Ok, so santro seems like a good choice… but then wait… the sales guy is saying something… the i10? Test drive… yeah why not… mmm a smoother and more powerful engine… electronic power steering over santro’s hydraulic… slightly seemingly bigger interiors… and beige interiors, like that babe in the ad says, it must be something worth aspiring for… how much extra? Oh that is a very small difference… plus there are so many guys out there who are encouraging me to be the guinea pig – if that is not positive response what is?
ok, so what do I get here… only standard fitment? How much more for the extra features? Adds up to around 5.5 lacs? For this car? Come on!!! for 5.5 I can get a swift, from the above dreamy ambitions paragraph, and since it is a maruti I would get better service too… but when I read the reviews the people in the back seat are supposed to find it uncomfortable over a long distance travel… with a hereditary backache problem running in the family, that is a risk that should not be taken when I am buying a happy family car… maybe a hedonistic purchase after that Harley I can think of it…
at 5.5 I can get that new wide bodied Renault… with 2 consecutive f1 championships their quality cannot come under question… but apparently the build quality seems slightly inferior… at least that is what the critics say… and it has almost come to the indica cab status, albeit a luxury cab, but a cab nevertheless. So no Renault. How about an accent or a ikon… naah… old models… I think I should consider a verna or a fiesta… or for that matter, the SX4 because it comes with the maruti service network… see I am still a very practical man… I won’t go for the Dzire – I don’t like its design… see I am still in my senses…
huh how much? 7.7 ex-showroom? And on road will surely cross 8.5 lacs. Come on!!! For that I can get a scorpio – what was the last ad – the price was some 6.7 lacs right? mmm at least it would suit my height… and I think the safari was around that price too… and I think I would go for at least the power steering and some addons, else I won’t get even a practical mileage… but a scorpio also had that modified open top model… that was around 10lacs – almost the same as the high end safari… but wait that negates the rainy day concept… this falls into the hedonistic category… so I will have to go for a safari only because it is closed…
but wait… if I am going for a 10lacs safari, why not spend a little more and go for a more reliable maruti SUV – the vitara? After all it comes with the maruti service network… it costs only around 14 lacs I think? While I am on the topic of SUVs, why not go for something like a pajero or a endeavour or for that matter why not a lexus or a hummer… ok, I think I am getting a bit sarcastic with myself… for this price I could buy myself a small house here… wait… I should not change the topic… back to cars… and reality…
Actually I could probably only comfortably afford an alto… and santro would be worth the budget stretch… a wagonR maybe too, but since I have personally witnessed its instability at high speeds, I am not too keen on it… plus I have a very valid reason – an unjustifiable prejudice… so santro it would be… but the dealers are not giving me any discounts… it would be great if they could save me the costs of the seat covers and a music system… cheapos… they won’t even give up a 10k on their margin… but discount or no discount, I think I will have to go for the santro…
Hey wait!!! What is that in today’s paper? Almost 58k off on the price of a spark??? That is cool!!! Didn’t the dealer say that it was only a hydraulic power steering on the santro too? So maybe I can get a santro like car for the price of an alto…
PS. Did I mention that I was also a little bit greedy???
