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Used cars: Bought a 2007 Toyota Corolla 1.8E for Rs 2.25 lakh

21st February 2022, 11:46 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

We purchased the Corolla in December 2014 & so far, it has been phenomenal. Last year, we also purchased a 2019 Maruti Swift VXi with 8,000 km on the odo.

BHPian AvishekNandi recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Dear Fellow BHPians,

I take this opportunity to thank the creators, moderators and all the Members of this Group for having and maintaining such a wonderful car enthusiasts forum for such a long time. I must admit that I have enriched my knowledge of cars substantively over the years through this forum.

Since my early childhood, I have been very fond of automobiles and had a special affection for the Mahindra soft top jeeps. I was in absolute love with the design, engine sound and its road presence. My father worked for the Indian Railways and had a few such Mahindra vehicles at his office. He used to take me along with him an hour or so early to the office and the drivers would allow me to sit in the cars. It would make my day. My love for cars started from an age of about 4 years when I could almost recognize neighboring cars by their horns sound.

My fascination for cars was known to my parents and extended family. Every time my parents would go for the monthly grocery shopping, they would not bring me any sweets or chocolates or any other such items. The only thing that they would bring for me was a small toy car. I was happy with even a very small toy car. The size or value of the toy never mattered. And for the first two or three nights, I would sleep with the toy next to my pillow.

While growing up, I always was the most fascinated by any new type of car that I could see. At that age, I could barely remember all types of models. However, I started recognizing a car by its Logo and started remembering them. As I was living near the Khidirpur dock area (Garden Reach Area) in Kolkata, every three-four days while crossing the docks on my way and back from the school, I could catch a glance of a few imported vehicles that were in transit and at the dock. These were visible from the outside of the main entry gate to the Dock was open.

As I grew older, my father bought our first car, a Maruti 800 DX, in the year 1999. I could not sleep for some nights properly in excitement. I would always look for reasons to ask him to take us for a drive. I could not wait to reach the age of 18, when I could drive the car. The year 2004 was particularly exciting for me as I learned to drive that year. Could still remember the first day when I sat on the driving seat of the Driving school’s car and pressed the clutch to put on the 1st gear. I still remember it was a Tuesday and my turn to learn was starting around 11:00 am. The first day I drove was absolutely magical. The acceleration, changing of gears, and the feeling of a little speed after a few days of learning was beautiful feeling. After a good 15 to 20 days of lessons, my father allowed me to practice on our Maruti 800 under his strict surveillance. I am really fortunate that my father patiently taught me to bring finesse in my driving. Today, I proudly admit that I believe I am a good driver only due to his lessons.

In the year 2005, I went for my undergrad studies to the US and pursued a Degree in Mechanical Engineering. This happened due to my love for automobiles and I wished to learn more and be able to understand vehicles to the best. I feel extremely fortunate for getting the opportunity that my parents worked so hard to send me to the US for education. While I was in the US till 2014, I had the opportunity to drive a wide range of cars through car rentals, friends and leases. The car that I loved driving the most belonged to a friend and was a 2004 Cadillac SLS (Seville) Limited Edition with a 4.6L Northstar V8 engine.

I decided to move back to India in 2014 and be with my family. It was always the idea to be in the US for a few years and then move back home since I am the only child of my parents and I wanted to be with them as they grew old. Fortunately, I found a job and I started working for a firm in the railway business.

The 1999 Maruti 800 was still with us and my father kept it in a wonderful condition through all these years. The car would run very little as my father would travel mostly in his office car. The car has run about 28,000 plus a few kms till 2016. Every time I visited India, I drove that car as it would remind me of wonderful memories and was my first car.

As this car was a little old, I was a little scared to take this to work on a regular basis and was looking for a vehicle that is pre-owned and in the budget of under 3 Lakhs. I was fortunate enough to get a pre-owned 2007 Champagne Mica Metallic Toyota Corolla 1.8E in for an amount of 2.25 Lakhs. The car had a little over 33,000 kms on the ODO.

I would like to congratulate you @NODA on this wonderful acquisition and I wish you many more thousands of happy miles on it. I am really thrilled to know that 8 members of this forum have / had this car in the same shade.

I have to admit that this car, as I have been driving it since December 2014, is absolutely phenomenal. The vehicle is due for its Certificate of Fitness in the next two months and I wish to keep this car with me. I get all services and spares from the authorized Toyota Service Center. The car currently has a little over 97,000 kms on the ODO. Here is a photograph of my vehicle.

In addition to the Corolla, we brought home a 2019 Maruti Swift Vxi last year as a pre-owned vehicle with 8000 kms on it. This car is primarily driven by my wife and is also a great ride. A photograph of the same is included below.