[landmaster18]

Dear Team Bhpians,

I am asking the following question of behalf of a friend - he specifically requested me to put it here. The reasoning provided to me was that he is sensitive about being judged for the lack of driving experience, and for learning how to drive only at the age of 40. He further wanted to be in some kind of a safe space where he would get sound and mature advise without any fear of being ridiculed.

Will therefore request you to please answer this, keeping these sensitivities in mind.

I am 40 years old, male and have learnt how to drive only now for various reasons including financial ones. Previous financial status played a major part in not owning a car and also not trying out to drive. Now I am in a fairly better financial condition and would want to drive cars for the sake of my family - want to give them a safe experience. I have never driven cars before this and the only driving experience and mileage is from the driving school.

My questions are as follows:

• What should be my first car? I live in New Delhi. Should it be a small car like the Hyundai i10 or a slightly bigger car like the Hyundai Venue or the Mahindra 3XO? I am looking to buy a car soon - preferably one with an automatic gear shifter.
  
• Should I also buy a car with ADAS? Will it help me since I have never driven in city traffic.
  
• What kind of special safety precautions should I exercise and be mindful of?
  
• Should I practice a bit more in driving schools before I bought my own car?

Grateful for any advice in this regard. Thanks once again and best wishes!

Mods: Please advise deleting this/ moving this if it does not meet any requirements of the forum. Thank you so much, once again

[Engine_Roars]

First & Foremost, there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of here. In fact, your friend should be appreciated for wanting to improve & to put in efforts to learn a new skill which is way outside of his comfort zone.

Couple of things, that I can think of:

1. Buy a car, keeping in mind at least next 10 years of usage. If he wish to travel to see our beautiful country, hatchback might not be a good option however if he only needs the car for city travel, a hatchback is a good option.
2. I personally do not like too much of technology in my vehicles, I trust my skills more however this is very personal and if ADAS makes him feel safer, no harm in using it.
3. In INDIA, you should always assume that everyone else on the road is an idiot and is on the road just to come under your wheels. You have to drive that defensive & I can't emphasize this enough.

Hope this helps. Wishing him all the best!!

[arunphilip]

landmaster18 has given excellent points, and my response stands on that response.

he is sensitive about being judged for the lack of driving experience

There is no shame or judgement in this. In fact, given his age and life experience, he's more likely to be the safest newbie driver (as compared to many of us who learnt driving in our teens).

What should be my first car?

I tend to be of the opinion that one's first car should be a second-hand/pre-owned car.

Firstly, you don't take a huge depreciation hit. Secondly, you can afford to have minor damages (bumper kissing the kerb, scrapes on the fenders due to parking errors, etc.) without the heartache associated with damaging a new car.

Given that your friend's financial state precluded him from buying a car until now, this might also be another point in favour of pre-owned models - no point stretching to purchase a depriciating asset like a new car.

In the city, I'd strongly recommend a hatchback. Automatic is fine, with India having reached a tipping point in popularity of automatics.

Should I also buy a car with ADAS?

Irrespective of whether the car comes with ADAS or not, it's best to become a proficient driver without such aids. Use such aids as a supplement to one's skill, not as a crutch to make up for the lack of a skill. It's not a perfect analogy, but imagine someone who learns to drive an automatic but then struggles with a stick shift, because they don't know about clutch control, engine revving, etc.

What kind of special safety precautions should I exercise and be mindful of?

Cultivate a defensive driving mindset. Be aware of your surroundings, anticipate movements of vehicles, and adapt proactively to that.

Should I practice a bit more in driving schools before I bought my own car?

It's best to practice as much as you're comfortable with in a driving school car.

But remember, you should become capable of driving to the point that the instructor doesn't have to ever intervene (no verbal instructions, not even a sound to warn you of an error). Because when you start driving your car, you won't have the luxury of an instructor next to you ready to step in and help.

And when you start driving your own car, drive it alone, without the distraction of family being present, to become comfortable. This is going to be hard to enforce in reality, though, as the first car in a family is a joyous occasion.

Best wishes to your friend for his brave step, and for all his future journeys.

[It's Magic]

I just want to tell your friend that he is not alone. I personally know people who learned to drive in their forties and they seem to be driving fine. I have also seen older people learning to drive in nearby driving school vehicles many times. So, I would recommend him to drive without worrying too much about others.

Coming back to his questions, does anyone close to him own a vehicle? If yes, I suggest he practices driving that vehicle along with learning through a driving school. I would recommend purchasing a new car (it can be new or pre-owned) once he gains some confidence driving at the driving school. Also, I suggest selecting a driving school where a lot of time is spent on actual driving rather than classroom training.

I would recommend purchasing a small car as it would be easier for him to learn as well as drive. Also, he shouldn't worry about features like ADAS & others at this point in time.

Happy Driving!

[Aish_4761]

Rightly said by everyone bout no need of being insecure, I am happy that the person waited to become stable financially before investing in a depreciating asset, especially in the NCR where it depreciates even faster!
And here I see my generation folks buying phones of a particular brand unnecessarily on EMI! Where have we come!

In my opinion, going with a premium and safe hatch like the Altroz or Fronx makes more sense for both city and occasional highway drives, a plus would be factory fitted CNG to somewhat save the environment and running cost.

Here I would weigh Fronx over Altroz because of the following:
1. Wheel arch cladding, hides small brush-ups well, bound to happen to a new driver
2. Parts and labour should be on the economic side
3. Considerably low tradeoff on safety viz. The rival
4. Maruti resale and reliability

Rest, their choice would definitely suit them better!��

OP: Please convey my heartiest congratulations to your friend for their decision of owning a car, kindly request them to secure a safe parking spot beforehand!

Thanks!

[narayans80]

As long as the friend has the interest to drive. Age is not a factor. My father started when I was 6, I started when my elder kid was 1.

]Should I practice a bit more in driving schools before I bought my own car?

Yes

Should I also buy a car with ADAS? Will it help me since I have never driven in city traffic.

I would expect it would be overwhelming for a newbie to drive with ADAS level-2. So I would say NO.

What should be my first car? I live in New Delhi. Should it be a small car like the Hyundai i10 or a slightly bigger car like the Hyundai Venue or the Mahindra 3XO? I am looking to buy a car soon - preferably one with an automatic gear shifter.

If he is going with an automatic. He will get used to length very quickly, so anything under 4500 mm will not make a difference. I would prioritize on a narrower width car, something like the Yaris. Once he is used to the judgement and controls, he would be confident enought to drive an MT

If he wants to start with an MT, I would pick a car that wouldn't stall easily. My former S-Cross MJD was one such. It stalled exactly 3 times in 4 years (I drove an AT before the S-Cross) because I was stupid

[Guna]

Originally Posted by landmaster18

• What should be my first car?
  
• Should I also buy a car with ADAS? Will it help me since I have never driven in city traffic.
  
• What kind of special safety precautions should I exercise and be mindful of?
  
• Should I practice a bit more in driving schools before I bought my own car?

1. Buy a small car with good visibility, a car where he can see the bonnet will be really helpful (Punch?)
2. ADAS is going to confuse new drivers but features like front parking sensors, 360 degree camera, blind spot monitoring can be helpful
3. I don't know if everything can be listed here but following all traffic rules and adopting 'defensive driving' style will help.
4. Depends on his confidence level. I started driving a new car after 10 hours of training but my car accumulated dents and scratches in no time

[am1m]

There is absolutely no cause to worry about judgement, but on the contrary, the person needs to be applauded for learning something new and being sensible enough to seek advice! So kudos to him!

While all encouragement is due, the reality is that learning to drive later means it will take some more time for it to become 'muscle memory'. Like any physical skill, the earlier you learn, the better. But all that that means is the person will need to spend more time practicing and going about it more methodically.

If one is willing to take the trouble of buying one car, using it to gain experience, and then selling it and buying the car that will be used for longer, then there is absolutely nothing like learning to drive on a pre-owned small car with a manual transmission. It's more forgiving when you need to reverse and when parking, you'll develop skill and judgement that won't be compensated for by more power and an automatic transmission on a more powerful car, and finally it'll hurt less when those inevitable bumps and scrapes happen, like we all experienced when learning to drive.

But that's not always possible, so if the person is absolutely sure of the usage, only automatic for the rest of his life, then I guess it makes sense to go with a small, reliable brand, with a reliable auto transmission. Since again, bumps and scrapes are going to happen, it'll certainly hurt more because it's your own car, but remember, it's just a vehicle it can be fixed, don't let those discourage or distract from driving more and more often in all sorts of conditions.

Either way, spending as long as possible practicing on the driving school vehicles is always going to be a big help.

[m2maddy]

Originally Posted by landmaster18

he is sensitive about being judged for the lack of driving experience, and for learning how to drive only at the age of 40.

There is nothing to be judged about, I personally learnt at 39, had never driven a car or rode a bike. It is all about your interest, and your needs.

When you need something you just the put your complete effort and accomplish it, no 2 ways.

I must say it was such a nice feeling, and it also improves your confidence that you can learn and adapt to new things even at an older age.

[*]What should be my first car? I live in New Delhi. Should it be a small car like the Hyundai i10 or a slightly bigger car like the Hyundai Venue or the Mahindra 3XO? I am looking to buy a car soon - preferably one with an automatic gear shifter.

Go with a crossover C-SUV, like Fronx/Exter/Sonet/Nexon/Brezza/XUV.
Learn with that only, learn manual variant of it and buy an automatic.

[*]Should I also buy a car with ADAS? Will it help me since I have never driven in city traffic.

I would not suggest so, though for future ADAS is good but I would refrain being a beginner.

[*]What kind of special safety precautions should I exercise and be mindful of?

Most important thing, you need to understand how others drive and anticipate, that is more crucial than your skills

[*]Should I practice a bit more in driving schools before I bought my own car?

Learn with driving school, get your licence, then practice with your car, early mornings, late nights whatever it takes, I will say post driving school you need to learn your own style which is more important and within a week or 2 you will be used to it.

[OptaHead]

I re-learnt to drive at 46.

My recommendation would be to:

1) Invest in any 2nd/3rd/4th or the cheapest car possible.
2) Hire an 'at-home-driving-instructor' that'll come home to teach you, on that car.
3) Drive that for 12 - 14 months and get familiar with driving and car maintenance / upkeep.

My story:

I learnt to drive on the Maruti 800 (the fronty) and all we had was a rear view mirror, no ORMs. Moved to driving a 'dukkar' fiat, then the fiat and a few other vehicles.
Kept driving until 2014, when I moved to another city and stopped driving completely - Oh, I did take a turn on the wheel every now and then, but by then driver fatigue had set in. I didn't want to own a car - new or used - in Mumbai, considering the density of traffic and the conditions of the roads and the awful parking situation.
I preferred hiring a part-time driver for the family car or took my trusty bike or relied on the trinity of the kaalipeeli/uber/rail instead of the car, for over 99% of my commutes.

Covid 19 changed my perspective and I purchased a used car (every bike / car I have personally bought, has been used) and hired an 'at-home-driving instructor'.

The instructor came home on request, spent an hour each lesson on monitoring how I drove and ensured course correction - which helped me mentally cope with the dense traffic , to ignore the idiots that play real-life GTA on our roads & to normalize my blood pressure.

I would recommend that for anyone wanting to relearn to drive.

[1.2TSI7DSG]

[*]What should be my first car? I live in New Delhi. Should it be a small car like the Hyundai i10 or a slightly bigger car like the Hyundai Venue or the Mahindra 3XO? I am looking to buy a car soon - preferably one with an automatic gear shifter.

I would suggest buying a used but sub 100 HP car to train on. Can change it in a year / 6 months to a bigger and better car

[*]Should I also buy a car with ADAS? Will it help me since I have never driven in city traffic.

Suggest no - the lower you have assists the better driver you can be. Also ADAS is not independent of flaws. Getting a car with 360 cam vs adas is a different question.

[*]Should I practice a bit more in driving schools before I bought my own car?

No doubt!!

[VeluM]

Congratulations on learning how to drive, age doesn’t matter.

1. Practice at Maruti driving school with their cars and simulators and learn the rules well
2. Do NOT expect anyone else to follow the rules
3. Do NOT try and teach anyone else the rules that they aren’t following
4. Credit to another BHPian whose signature read “Always yield”, don’t let your ego get in the way
5. Learn basic vehicle checks (fuel, oil, coolant, tyres, lights, wipers, wiper washer fluid)
6. Buy a used i10 Grand Auto, get a professional / knowledgeable friend / BHPian to help with the shortlist and purchase
7. Drive for your passengers, not yourself

All the best, and join Team BHP to share your experiences & progress, we all wish you well!

[Fuldagap]

I'd suggest for him to buy a used Alto. He would be quite happy learning to drive with absolute peace of mind and much better confidence.

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by landmaster18

[list][*]What should be my first car? I live in New Delhi. Should it be a small car like the Hyundai i10 or a slightly bigger car like the Hyundai Venue or the Mahindra 3XO? I am looking to buy a car soon - preferably one with an automatic gear shifter.

I would say neither a small car nor a very big car.

You should go with a compact SUV. They are easier to drive , have good ground clearance, are generally safe, decent space for family and generally suitable for first time drivers.

CSUV with AT, there are many options like Nexon DCA, Venue/Sonet DCT, Kiger/Magnite CVT, Brezza AT etc.

Originally Posted by landmaster18

[*]Should I also buy a car with ADAS? Will it help me since I have never driven in city traffic.

No. Don't need ADAS in city traffic for a first time driver. It will confuse you more and make driving more intruding. Although cruise control is a must have feature (not necessarily adaptive cruise control).

Originally Posted by landmaster18

[*]What kind of special safety precautions should I exercise and be mindful of?

Many. Drive sedately. Follow speed limits. Always be belted up and have your family members too.

Whichever car you chose consider atleast 4 star GNCAP rating and the car must have 6 airbags, ABS, EBD and ESP.

Originally Posted by landmaster18

[*]Should I practice a bit more in driving schools before I bought my own car?

Of-course you should get driving training in a certified school only. Don't ever take driving lessons from relatives/friends.

Coming to the exact vehicle you can go for, its a very difficult and complex question. But being first time buyer, don't go for something that requires a lot of visits to the service station and has poor after sales.

Search around T-BHP forums and you will get good idea which vehicle to buy.

Cheers.

[DasAuto1985]

I learnt driving when I was 36, before that I hadn't even sat in the driver's seat. So I can somewhat relate to what your friend is feeling.

1. He should definitely buy a AT car. There will be people who will declare "real men drive manual cars", ask him to stay away from those people.
2. The toughest part for me, when I sat alone in the car without someone guiding me from passenger seat, was reversing and parking. Tell him to buy a car with enough parking sensors and for sure a reverse camera.
3. The car size doesn't matter as long as he has some practice in that segment. For example, if he wants a SUV, tell him to practice few times with any car in that segment. It ll give him an idea of where the edges/corners of his car are. I used to always practice with a Swift and i ended up buying a long wheel base sedan. It took me sometime to gauge where my car begins and where it ends.
4. The headlight throw has to be good. It really inspires confidence during night rides
5. As many have already pointed out, defensive driving is the key and it really works!
6. I would also recommend a compact SUV, surely don't go for a small car. Because as he starts driving and gains confidence, he would start exploring nearby places (150-200 kms) and if the bug bites he will surely want to drive longer distances.