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Was there a car you nearly purchased, but didn't and regretted later?

21st May 2025, 18:00 by R Patil

Back in 2021, during the Covid slowdown, I was offered a brilliantly kept Polo GTI by a friend. Bright red, bone stock, and barely 15,000 km on the odo

BHPian speedfreak77 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Volkswagen Polo GTi: the one that go away

While sitting at work today, I found myself thinking about a particular missed opportunity — one that still stings a little. Back in 2021, during the Covid slowdown, I was offered a brilliantly kept Polo GTI by a friend. Bright red, bone stock, and barely 15,000 km on the odo. The asking price? Incredibly reasonable for what it was.

Now, considering there are only 99 GTIs in India — and most have been tinkered with to some extent — coming across one that’s completely untouched is rarer than spotting a clean classic in Bangalore traffic. I’d always wanted one, and yet, I passed on it thinking I’d come across another one in similar condition later.

Fast forward to today: no GTI in my garage. The few that are on sale now have clearly seen better days, and that regret creeps in more often than I’d like to admit. Some missed opportunities really do stay with you.

So I pose this to the community:
Was there a car you nearly brought home, but didn’t — and now regret letting it slip through your fingers?

Would love to hear your stories. Let’s talk about the ones that got away.

This is what BHPian DicKy added to the discussion:

Mentioned a few times in the forum, but here we go.
Contessa. Especially a doctor owned one that I was this close to buying. It was one of the best examples I have seen. Now the asking prices are almost 5-6x times.
Quote:
It would be a betrayal if I didn't. It was my teenage obsession with the Contessa that made me discover TeamBHP.
Was this...close to buy a Contessa atleast three times.
Each time my middle class mentality would scream guilty of plonking close to a lakh on what was essentially an anglo-german-indo-jap rust bucket whose only claim to fame is the absolute lack of choices in the license raj era for American type coke bottle styled vehicles. (sour grapes story for me).
Now with the prices being asked for Contessa would rather buy a W124/W123(?) or 80s/90s japanese imports instead.
Actually except for the 800, had actively looked at every other car in the list in my late teens, early 20s.
Nothing happened.
Regretting it now, if I had put half the Contessa effort into an 800 or PAL or Esteem/Zen, would have been a proper petrol-head instead of staying bookish.
Still wonder how much of my life would have changed if I had bought a Contessa, but one thing is sure. It would have been the first one to be sold during our horrible Covid induced financial crisis.

Meanwhile, here's what BHPian CentreOfGravity added to the discussion:

In 2022, we were on the lookout for a sedan and the shortlist included the Slavia, Virtus and City. I was 16 at that time and I was madly in love with the Virtus! Its classy, timeless, yet sporty design, modern interiors and the better kit vis-à-vis the City drew me towards it. Trust me, it was a very close battle between the Germans and the Japanese and at one point, I was almost certain that the Virtus would come home, but ultimately it was the City that took the crown. The City was the more practical car for us, a family of five, and its reliability was a factor that dad couldn't overlook. Not to mention, VTEC kicked in yo!
We are very happy with the City and have no regrets at all, but when a Virtus passes by, I can't help but think, "How different would life be had we bought the Virtus instead..."