[no_boundaries]

For my first 2 cars, Swift VXi and Polo GT TDi, I went way over the budget. My mind quickly remapped itself from conservative to splurge mode after checking each of these cars. I was just 3 years into my career

My 3rd car, Celerio was bought as a practical beater car and we ended up well within the budget we had set aside to get a Baleno CVT.

My 4th car purchase which will replace my Celerio, I want it to be a bigger, safer and fun automatic car to drive. I really want to go a segment or 2 above with a 7 year loan. I don't want to choke my liquidity or my monthly planning by putting more money in. I'm stuck up on this conflict now.

I basically want a car like Vento that can still look, feel and drive as amazing as it was 11 years and 1.6L kms ago

[headbanger]

Be it car purchase, House or marriage, conventional wisdom suggests that all these big ticket items overshoot the budget. And practically, it's the easiest option out of the three listed here to execute. All we need is one reason that may serve as "Eureka" to extend the budget. And I have been also part of the "We" that I just described.

Having said that, with the way the world is changing around us at a pace that we haven't experienced earlier, I am trying to undo this practice for my latest car purchase. And I have no qualms in confessing that it's difficult. The NGT rulings in NCR along with surging car prices in last couple of years have made sure that the VFM choices are a forgone conclusion unless one is ready to make a big compromise.

Conclusively, my history points to "over budget" and I am trying to get it to be "within budget" if not for "Under budget". I am glued to go through the reasonings of fellow members who have opted for "Under Budget".

[e46]

I stuck to my pre-defined budget while purchasing my first new car.

In fact, I went ahead with the same variant that I had in my mind first place. With a plethora of models and lenders to choose from, it is common to stretch the budget these days.

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by yashg

Have now (almost) made up my mind for the Compass Petrol S for 30+.

Who knows even I may end up going deepest down the rabbit hole and get the Trailhawk.

Going a bit off-topic. Request you to consider 4x4 automatic, be it Limited Plus, S or Traihawk. While Jeep Compass is indeed a better car amongst the slew of SUVs in and around that price point, the USP is 4x4. If budget is an issue, go for Limited plus, which is well equipped, except 360 degree camera (the big one), and few other stuff.

A front wheel drive SUV does not really offer a substantially better user experience compared to a sedan, other than the high set position and slightly higher ground clearance.

[yashg]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

Going a bit off-topic. Request you to consider 4x4 automatic, be it Limited Plus, S or Traihawk.
...
go for Limited plus, which is well equipped, except 360 degree camera (the big one), and few other stuff.

I would have loved to go for 4x4 but I have a problem with DPF. My car won't move everyday and when it does, I won't be able to run it at the speeds required to burn whatever it is required to keep it clean. Clogged filter is my concern. Also feel the 10 year rule will come to other states in a few years. I am having a hard time convincing myself and my wife to spend 30 big ones on petrol. 35+ for Diesel will surely get me kicked out of the house. And 360 degree camera is my must have feature so it has to be model S. And if by some magic or if we win a lottery or something, I'd then get the Trailhawk rather than 4x4 model S.

[ankitsharma]

I stretched my budget by 25% for my last purchase. My original budget was 10 Lakhs OTR but purchased my Rapid ambition for 12.1 OTR.
Now after looking at the crazy price hike I regret that I only bought Ambition. I could have got the top spec Monte Carlo and saved big time.
But yeah I got the car I liked and not a single regret for it.
I would keep the car until it lasts.

[yogishkamath]

It looks like I am one of the few people who went "under budget".

I wanted to buy a luxury SUV and started with a budget of 55 lakh. Within a few days, I learnt a couple of things:

1) All the luxury SUVs which can be bought with that budget are rather small.

2) The gap between normal and luxury SUVs isn't as big as it used to be. For a person with refined tastes and a discerning eye, the gap in price might seem worthwhile but I am not such a person


Therefore, I decided to settle for a non-luxury SUV and saved almost 25 lakhs!

[ajayc123]

I was in the market for a new car in 2015. At that point, I had to get rid of my 13 year old wagon r, that I needed to dispose off due to the 15 year rule.
I was interested in buying Brio for the fun element, but you know, there are other stakeholders (u know who) who put the foot down and vetoed the decision, demanding a bigger car.
I had started exploring the jazz in the April/May 2015 timeframe, but the lethargic sales person was more keen to push on the Amaze, and did not offer much of a deal on the jazz. I was in no hurry, hoping for better deals later in the year. Anyway, in the meantime, the Baleno was launched, and we ended up booking the blue Baleno, and ultimately ended up owning one. I think the model that we (this time not vetoed by wife n kids) chose was about 1L cheaper that the Jazz that was shortlisted, and it had a lots of bells’n’ whistles compared to the previous car.
Haven’t driven much, just about 20k, mostly in Delhi, and it’s doing pretty decently. Only battery and wipers changed so far.
In the latest cars these days, I am feeling overwhelmed or rather irritated, due to so many features and electronics, which I don’t care about, since I concentrate on experiencing the nuance and the pleasure of driving. I still miss the driving experience of my first car, Maruti zen, though.

[W.A.G.7]

Well, we went way over budget! We are going to book a Swift ZXi+ tomorrow with the planned on-road price of INR 10.16 lakhs. The car is intended as a daily beater car for my wife. We initially started with a budget of 5L and upped it to 6.5-7.00L in a span of two weeks. We quickly realised that a car costing 5L-7L entails a lot of cost-cutting and compromises. Moreover, none of the 3 cylinder 1.0-litre engines, impressed either of us. We had to increase our budget from 5 to 10L in a very short span of time in order to get a decent car. Prices have increased like crazy with very few discounts and what would have been an outright purchase, is now going the loan way. Not good!

[Benoit]

In September 2020, after long discussions whether to buy a Nexon diesel XZ+, and after all the cost and usage analysis, we decided to buy a tigor. We started from home to the showroom decidedly to book the Tigor. One close look at the car, and my father felt it gave some Indica vibes. He's not against the Indica, he said we needed something away from Indica(He runs an engine reconditioning workshop, and he has worked on a lot of Indicas and was tired of it). I just pointed at the Altroz, he instantly liked it. I told him I wanted a diesel. The XZ variant's on road price was 10.3L at the time, and he was okay with it, and we booked it. Tigor XZ+ on road price was 8.3L, we upped it by 2L. Doesn't look like a big stretch, but without a loan, it slightly was.

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

The car is intended as a daily beater car for my wife. We initially started with a budget of 5L and upped it to 6.5-7.00L in a span of two weeks. However, we quickly realised that a car costing 5L-7L entails a lot of cost-cutting and compromises. Moreover, none of the 3 cylinder 1.0-litre engines, impressed either of us.

If the car will be used only for city drives, check out the wagonR 1.2L as well. It will be more comfortable, compact, has a bigger boot, and would cost way less.

[throttleflick]

Voted over budget.

I wanted to buy the Polo HL+. 2 test drives later, I knew I wanted the Taigun Topline AT. BH series sweetened the deal even further. Got the delivery in Jan '22.

The car is going to be with me for 10 years and the *upgrade* from Polo to Taigun made sense. I would have gone for the 1.5 AT but the way VW specs their cars is ridiculous.

Same happened with my bike. Wanted the Pulsar 180, got a Dominar 400.

Over budgeting runs in our blood it seems. Father was looking at a Hyundai Accent in 2007 after daily driving a 2001 Santro LS. One visit to the Toyota showroom, he walked out with a booking for our 2007 Innova G1 8 seater.

[ramradcliff]

Voted under budget.

Shifted to Bangalore in December and in need of a car immediately as we sold off our old MH registered car during COVID. I booked XUV in Oct and with it nowhere in sight, went for a test drive of Harrier and didn't like the steering feedback. There was a Nexa showroom right next to TATA and Baleno was readily available. Got it delivered in 2 days flat and canceled XUV booking.

[bravo82in]

At time it was within budget, at times went over board

2020: Went for the Crysta to replace Aria and within budget. To keep the budget low went for the GX variant despite buying top models in past always. My father wanted the Endeavour though

2019: With a budget of 5-6 lacs in mind for a hatch back ended up buying Jazz Vx CVT

[car-go]

Year 2001: Bangalore. conservative times, and I was into the 3rd year of my first job. Checked out pre-worshipped cars with a budget of 50K and ended up with a maruti 800 (1994 make) for 90K! Way over-budget! (Though I was able to sell it later at 87K); GTO's comment makes sense on getting the expensive one that I can afford (at least I interpret that way for this past experience). This car was more to "set" my hands on.
Year 2003: Bangalore. budget 4L.Got the Indica V2 DLS for 4.08L, however on a loan. Won't say over-budget as I factored that in.
Year 2009: my Indica started troubling me. So sold it off (Maruti true value), and got my SX4 ZXI. Budget 7-8L, however had to pay 6.4L after car exchange. Hence, comfortably under budget. This car stayed with me for 13 long years! Full downpay, no loan.
Year 2022: SX4 did not give me any troubles, however decided to change it for its age (and the itch!). Sold it off and got a Jeep Compass Sport petrol DDCT. I already had shortlisted this variant, given my knee problems at times (hence automatic) and not really being a fan of car connectivity (thinking cyber security in future; bad to be an IT guy that way) and sunroof (thinking of bird droppings). Budget was 22L, and luckily a few investments materialized. Ended up paying around 21.6L, given adjustment with the SX4 sell-off price. So stuck to the budget. Full downpay, no loan.

[TheBigV]

Way over budget. In 2015 I was in market for my first car. We were looking at hatchs and compact sedans. I was visiting the Honda showroom to look at newly launched amaze. Amaze petrol S was around 7.5 lakhs onroad at the time. The SA suggested to test drive the City. And I was blown away by the iVtec performance. Came back smiling goofily and booked the city. Costed me almost 12 lakhs on road, but I have never regretted getting the city.