[Kami]

I am looking for my first used car that I can also use as a project car to learn more about engines.

I have been looking at a couple of older threads, and then searching the used market, but I can't really find any up-to-date threads that answer this question.

I have recently learnt to drive as I have just turned 18, and I want a car that I goes really fast and I can possibly attempt to repair myself so I get a better understanding of it.

Here are the cars that I have considered

1. Skoda Octavia VRS - none that are reasonably priced in decent condition, considering some that are not in great condition
2. Polo GTI - cannot find any on the used market
3. BMW 325i - seems to be expensive for what it's offering, spares too expensive
4. BMW 750li - maintenance/spares cost seems to be too high but it seems to offer around 400bhp, seems like a hard choice
5. Suzuki Kizashi - a little slow but seems great otherwise, considering getting it due to being a cheap car that I can open up and modify
6. Accord V6 - seriously considering this but seems a bit obscure, which year should I get?

Preferably, I would like to buy a car under 5 lakhs. 7 lakhs is my maximum budget.
Form factor and mileage don't matter that much, provided they aren't terrible and cripple the car.

Hopefully I can get some good suggestions, and this can serve as a resource to the people that are in the same boat as me.

[AZT]

Tiago or Tigor JTP ? You'll have to negotiate hard as used seem to be in demand.

[hridaygandhi]

Going with pre-owned is the best way forward. Some of them will also help you go side-ways

Anyway, since this is going to be your first car, you do not necessarily need so much power to have fun and learn about it. Also, the options you have mentioned might be cheap but will be at least around a decade old, the maintenance costs will be huge, and sourcing parts will be time consuming.

As your first car where you want to have fun, I would strongly advise you to look for a used Polo GT TSI. The car is fast, practical, and the small footprint is ideal for a new driver. You will also get a relatively newer and less mileage options compared to your shortlist. Once you get the hang of it, you can always switch to another ride a couple of years down the line. By then, you will figure out a lot more about what exactly you want in your car, and upgrade accordingly.

[warrioraks]

Originally Posted by Kami

[*]Skoda Octavia VRS - none that are reasonably priced in decent condition, considering some that are not in great condition[*]Polo GTI - cannot find any on the used market[*]BMW 325i - seems to be expensive for what it's offering, spares too expensive[*]BMW 750li - maintenance/spares cost seems to be too high but it seems to offer around 400bhp, seems like a hard choice[*]Suzuki Kizashi - a little slow but seems great otherwise, considering getting it due to being a cheap car that I can open up and modify[*]Accord V6 - seriously considering this but seems a bit obscure, which year should I get?[*]

Most of the cars here and your budget doesn’t seem to add up. Unless you are looking for cars at the end of their life (15 years in our case) or even beyond that.

My suggestion would be to get a good condition Honda City petrol. It’s a reasonably fast car and getting one in your budget should not be a problem.

Also, do you have free access to other cars in household? If not, then having your first car double up as a project car is not a good idea.

If I were you, this is how I would have spent my 7 lacs:
- Get a 40-50k run Honda city under 5 lacs
- Find another car under 2 lacs which is at end of it’s life (again I mean 15 years) and use as project car

[Ragul]

Or you can get an old battered Gypsy cheap and plonk a 1.6ltr engine into it besides working on the entire mechanicals from suspension, engine mounting electrical wiring etc . Body-on-frame chassis will provide lots of options to experiment with compared to regular monocoque cars ...

[SenPai_GTi]

Since this is your first car and you want to learn about engines, I would advice you to start with the Japanese motors first. German vehicles might be fast and interesting to learn from, but they will be a pain in your wallet and mind, because they can be very complex to understand and build. You might want to try:

Honda Civic 1.8: Its cheap in the used market, fast and much easy to modify. I got to learn A LOT form the car and coincidentally it was the first car which I reverse engineered as a project. Parts might be costly, depending on which manufacturer you chose the parts from. Here are a few threads for your reference:

(Honda Civic with RaceDynamics, 17" Rims, Michelin PS3 etc.)link1
(The story of India's first 2.4L Turbo Honda Civic!)link2
(My Turbo-Charged Honda Civic)link3

Maruti Suzuki stable : It might sound weird to you but I have seen some tastefully modified gen1 Swifts and they accelerate like crazy. If wallet permits, you can take a Swift and plonk in a 1.6 engine from the international Suzuki Swift inside and see the wonders. Or just remap a swift diesel and you won't feel like you're sitting in a Suzuki car. More recently, AM Racing had shown their modified Ignis and never would anyone have thought the ignis could do this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myh_3eUH9d0

You can find out more about AM Racing here

But if you have an experienced mechanic by your side, you can go for Polo GTI. To be honest, you might be eager to try you hands out on Skodas, decade old BMW's, Benzes and what not, but from my experience, you should go step by step, because modifying a car or rebuilding one is a tough task in India since it is not as well networked market as the US or even Europe for that matter. I myself have been stumped and frustrated a lot of times trying to rebuild a simple KTM engine. The much experienced members of the forum might help you shed some light on it.

And remember, any car is modifiable if you're willing to go the lengths for it. I wish you the best of luck for your first build.

[blackstallion76]

A good remapped Punto or Swift should meet your demand and go on making modifications to the engine to get the most. Also you can try Swift K12 engine to Old Baleno or Lancer engines to modify more to your needs. These would cheap to modify as they share mostly similar parts.

[tharian]

Apolgies if this sounds discouraging, but being a 18 year old, I don't think you need a fast car, not yet.

I might be old school in my thinking, but unless you are going to use this solely on the race track, since you also mentioned you want to work on the car as well, I would suggest getting a normal run of the mill car and get more experience in driving and then graduate to faster cars. This way, you gain the responsibility and control while driving a car fast when you get those powerful cars.

You did mention that you just learnt to drive.

I did most of my initial driving on a Mahindra jeep, which helped me a lot when experiencing different cars later on.

[Kami]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

Most of the cars here and your budget doesn’t seem to add up. Unless you are looking for cars at the end of their life (15 years in our case) or even beyond that.

Also, do you have free access to other cars in household? If not, then having your first car double up as a project car is not a good idea.
years) and use as project car

The cars in the list are 15+ years old, but from my understanding many people in other countries (such as the US) use sports cars from the 1990s such as the Mazda Miata, so I assumed that age wouldn't be an issue.

I do have access to several cars in my household, so if it happens to break down that isn't really an issue.
I am interested on going the Civic route though, I'll see what I can do with a Civic and also check the used market and consider other cars at the same time.

Originally Posted by SenPai_GTi

~

Thanks, I unfortunately don't have an experienced mechanic, and I'll definitely look at the Civic and the Suzuki Stable.

[Altocumulus]

I too agree with Tharian on this. At 18, it is not the best time to get a fast car especially as your first car.

However, if you still insist go for a used Laura 1.8 Tsi. It's very fast and since you want to learn about engines, it is one engine which will always give you the opportunity to work on it and learn more as each day passes by.

[warrioraks]

Originally Posted by tharian

Apolgies if this sounds discouraging, but being a 18 year old, I don't think you need a fast car, not yet.

Very valid advice. I wish all 18 year olds reading this would heed.

[Kosfactor]

How are your financials? Can you afford the upkeep of vehicles that costs anything from 5- 10 times your budget when new? If yes, go ahead and keep the same amount of money , if not more as buffer for repairs.

Else, buy a Swift petrol , its fast enough to learn driving and affordable enough to own and maintain. Even people who own garages of their own will stay away from all the cars presently in your list.

[07CR]

Originally Posted by tharian

Apologies if this sounds discouraging, but being a 18 year old, I don't think you need a fast car, not yet.

I might be old school in my thinking, but unless you are going to use this solely on the race track, since you also mentioned you want to work on the car as well, I would suggest getting a normal run of the mill car and get more experience in driving and then graduate to faster cars. This way, you gain the responsibility and control while driving a car fast when you get those powerful cars.

You did mention that you just learnt to drive.

+1, Apologies, I too might come across as a bit of an old school. Most 18 year old new driver's I have seen seem to have issues driving even a normal hatchback/Compact sedan at this age. Most are also too immature to follow the rules and regulations at this age. I am not suggesting you could be of the same breed, however, I can't trust an 18 year old with a 7 series (even if it's pre owned) and that too in a traffic prone city like Bangalore. The car has gigantic dimensions, and too much power on tap for such a crowded city. I won't recommend any of the cars in your list, unless you are into professional racing and will be using these cars only on the tracks.

Some fast used cars that I can suggest you-

Ford Figo/Aspire 1.5 TDCI
Honda Amaze 1.5 IDTEC
Polo GT TDI/TSI
Scross 1.6 ( hard to find)

Happy hunting!

[fhdowntheline]

Guys, I think the term "fast car" may be misleading because any car at sufficiently high speed (>70 kph) can be dangerous if not driven correctly. So (much against the grain) I believe there is no point in discouraging someone from buying a car with lots of power as long as it is legit.

Most importantly, I appreciate that the OP wants to learn about the car/engine itself which is the more exciting part for me if I were at that age, and its so much better than someone who just wants to race around and show off. These are the true beginnings of a BHPian !

[TrackDay]

These days most of the cars are pretty fast enough and you can fully enjoy a swift, Honda city or even the Etios Liva (All in petrol and manual obviously). As a newbie you might feel you will need something powerful, but fact of the matter is that you can rarely use most of the power available on tap on our roads. The bandwidth of usable power in the cars I mentioned are adequate enough and you can obviously remap them to extract a little more. The foremost thing about driving in India is to learn the road conditions first, predict traffic and road scenarios and potential accidents before they happen. Once you master to drive safely you will be ready to graduate to the next level. Do consider the Baleno (first gen) too.