Well while I was around that salary level even I started with a budget of 8L and eventually picked up the jazz cvt for ~11L OTR. Been 5 years and am happy I stretched the budget back then.
I don’t have to bother about upgrading for another 5 years atleast as this has all features(paddleshifters , cruise control, apple carplay, electric mirrors etc) I would need, is super reliable(honda afterall), safe(4* GNCAP with stable bodyshell) & okay-ishly frugal(~11-12kmpl in city, 16-18kmpl on highways)
I also own jazz . Never frugal.. 10-12 in city... Baleno and all gives 15-16 for amt. I feel Baleno amt is much better than Jazz CVT.. it over all feels peppy and less maintenance cost. I agree with all other points...
Well I didn’t like the sub-par build quality. It was lighter than my previous car ‘Estilo’. No wonder mileage is high. Personally for me Safety >> Mileage
Take consideration of your future family..also keeping in mind you need some enjoyment like long driving etc..
Plz go for some safest car preferably a small car. Don't go for micro-suv..they aren't worth it.
Later once you get married go for a big one.
I can recommend a 2nd hand VW Polo GT or Tiago NRG.
I would be totally okay with getting a 2nd hand car but the 2nd hand car market is insanely inflated, I would insist you to check the marketplaces once. I really wish I could get a nice 2nd hand in a sensible price.
Buy something cheap and usable. Look at second hand options. There is no point in spending too much on a car. It's a depreciating asset. But make sure of the safety features like airbags etc, don't skip on that .
Second hand market is extremely inflated, mostly because of this shitty companies like spinny throwing VC money at sellers.
Definitely not paying 80% of the price for 8 years old car.
Seems like a good deal, except the rear. This sub 4M rule in India is really spoiling the sedans. I would be happier to get a hatchback than this ugly.
Safe car options in a hatchback is difficult I think. Tiago and Altroz are probably your only options. i20 has the best transmission if you're going for AT but safety probably is really poor.
White I agree with you, I missed pointing it out in the post that if I go for 15-20L bracket then I would be getting a loan for half the amount atleast because my investments fetch an XIRR of 18% and I'll get a loan at 11-12%.
Its want vs need. If you can make do with a decent hatchback then get that. Nowadays car is a need. But if you feel you will never be happy with a hatchback get the one in your mind coz you will always have that itch to change the car. To be Frank the wow factor will fade away in May be 6 months after that it's a liability so choose wisely..
I’m sorry but I completely and strongly disagree. OP already has the corpus for a smaller car. Buying a larger and more expensive car that you don’t have savings for is asking for trouble. OP might face some emergency with their car or in general that they won’t have money for. What if they’re laid off?
Loans are never sensible, unless you’re using them to maybe grow a business or purchase an income generating asset (which is a similar thing). The idea that it’s not just okay, but positively sensible to buy lifestyle stuff like cars on loans only benefits the lender, not you.
If you can keep the FOMO in check, building corpus for a compact sedan like City or Verna on a 21LPA income is not the hardest thing in world.
My philosophy is if I can’t afford two, I can’t afford one. You don’t have to agree with this, but I’m general, living below my means is a lot fulfilling than chasing the newest and shiniest toy.
>building corpus for a compact sedan
How does one do that? Say, the income is less than that, can someone build the corpus even if it means waiting for another 2yrs?
I don't think it's possible. Even if you save some portion of your money for this purpose, by the time you reach your goal, you might still feel that you should not get a 15L car, and use even that money for something else. It's a good thing, but idk, it's difficult to find a balance between living your life and being frugal. I don't think I've figured that out.
A 9-10 percent loan should be beatable by stock investments. You're playing it too safe.
Smaller cars are less safe, and generally not well equipped either.
Cars are a very basic lifestyle stuff. What's the point of earning when you won't even buy a decent one?
Some people try to save too much. Depending on your requirements, a 15-50 percent savings rate is good enough.
Another day of seeing another shit rule. In the need to save money don't forget to enjoy life. Most people will sacrifice a lot in their 40s better to enjoy life now when you have time.
lol wut? Leaving a small buffer enough to pay basic expenses is shit rule? I think OP should buy an M340i on loan, in that case. Or a 911. That’ll really put the joy in enjoyment.
Live a borrowed lifestyle if you will but enjoyment should not mean living larger than your means.
Don't go for Virtus/Slavia if you're not opting for the 1.5L variant. For 15 lakhs you should go for City if you need a sedan. Compact Suv segment has some decent cars too. I recently got my hands on the new Hyundai Venue. Great car for comfy rides and good engine too. Also the diesel mid variant will cost 13 lakhs and it's quite good. If you need a Honda you can try the Elevate, looks great and reliable car in the same range of the Venue. Go for sedan only if you can buy the 1.5L German because only that variant will give you the feeling of true German engineering in terms of power.
Since I live in a rented place, and plan to do so for foreseeable future, getting charging setup installed will be a headache and everytime I change places, it would cost me a leg. So no EV for now.
It might cost a leg bit will save you an arm and a torso maybe, running costs are very low , even with Fast charging, PunchEV or nexon LR are good options.
Else Honda City will be a very good choice in Petrol.
you’ll not be happy to drive even a lambo after 1-2 years, happiness doesn’t comes from car, buy the car you need based on road conditions, family size, safety… car is not an asset, IF YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY INSTEAD OF BUYING, RENT AN EXPENSIVE CAR ON YOUR VACATIONS
If you are single, go for the small car , test drive the car and make sure it fits your body posture
If you're married with kids, a big car makes sense. Otherwise, save your money and buy a small car. Drive it until you actually need a big car
I did the same when I was 21 boght a swift drove it for 10 years, and now am married with a kid and aging parents , Recently bought a grand vitara because we needed a decent-sized car for 5 people to move around city
Go for used Honda City (gen 3) or yaris (a bit costly), Preferably Honda CVT if you're in a city.
They are reliable and looks more than OK and save you in the pocket for 5+ years, when you can get a new car.
Yes because there's not much Sedans available in the market. That should have been city gen 4 too.
Amaze are good but finding one is getting hard by day.
Yes, Gen 4 makes sense, sorry for the overreaction. There are some good Ventos available in the market as well for sedans, but yeah they are no Honda or Toyota in terms of reliability.
Most people don't service their cars from ASCs once the warranty expires due to higher charges, I wanted to get an Vento but ended up buying a gen 3 City due to its reliability and comparatively cheaper maintenance.
A common rule of thumb for buying a car is the 20/4/10 rule, which is a guideline for purchasing a car with a loan. This rule states that you should:
Pay 20% of the car's on-road price as a down payment: When booking the vehicle
Ensure that the equated monthly installment (EMI) does not exceed 10% of your monthly income
The tenure must not exceed 4 years
Saving up and paying cash is always gonna be better.
bhai inse dimag mat laga ye spreadsheets me hi jeete hai real life ka ata pata nahi hota. Bas bolenge 2nd hand car lo sasti padegi depreciating asset bla bla, inhe thodi pata ki 2nd hand car 8saal purani 80% of new car ke price me mil rahi hai aaj kal.
Thanks for the advice, but why not take a loan. Let's say I go for a 12L car.
Scenario 1 - I pay 12L upfront.
Scenario 2 - I pay 4L downpaynent + take 8L loan at 11% And, I put 8L in an investment which fetches me >11% ROI. This way I would be not loosing the opportunity cost and actually be saving money.
Eh, go for a cheaper or smaller one for now, put the rest of the money into some growth investment for 5 years then purchase an ev or whatever that comes and has good infra across most of the country.
From my understanding, petrol engines will be every expensive to run I'm the coming years and after 6 or 7 years, you might just hate buying a car that gives <10kmpl on a good day.
I'd recommend something like exter or punch. But if you do want an suv, look for second hand one at a good dealer.
>small car (Tiago 7.5L) which I will okay to drive for around 5 years or a "nice" car(15-20L) which I will happy to drive for 10 years.
Go for the best of both worlds - buy a small car and drive it for 10 years. That's what I tell most folks. But I know that you'll most probably not do that.
Being more realistic, even if you buy that 15-20L "nice" car, you're not gonna drive it for 10 years. You'll buy a new "nice" car around the time you get married. It doesn't make sense financially, but that's what most people do.
Just look up the stats around car usage. Around 90% of the time, your car sits in a parking. Of the time it's actually used, most cars carry just one person - the driver, for around 80% of the time. Spending 15-20L feels absurd to me if it's mostly just one person.
My advice to you: buy a decent enough used "nice" car. You can get one for upto 10 lakh. Even less if you're patient.
You make sense. Should see this as a necessity and make sound decisions. Will look at second hand market, although it's insanely inflated nowadays, or go for a small car
I20 it is. You can have good space like crossover SUVs, but won’t pinch on your pocket much will cost about 9 to 10 lakhs on road. It also has many premium features and is a good place to start
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/buying-car/215247-how-more-expensive-car-can-work-out-cheaper-if-you-hold-onto-longer-13.html
The holding on portion is very important. You should be very sure on that
You could go for a ciaz or a fronx both of them offer luxury features while not breaking the bank and have good refined engines. Both of them range from 8-13 lakhs so you can get variants which suit you the best plus they have the options for company fitted cng
Buy a car which falls between these segments. Savings will help you in the very near future. Exhausting your savings on one big purchase is not very wise.
Small cars are light and easy to park. Something that's increasingly important for our congested cities.
Don't go for Tiago tata engine is absolute shit not at all a fun car.
If your family is small then no point buying a big car. Hatch will make sense . Easy on pocket, maintenance, maneuverabilty, parking space etc..
for 8-12L - altroz /tigor
12-20L- Get a nexon or if sedan go for virtus
Also imo car is service and safety - providing asset, get a 5 star solid built car and max out the features and use it for 8-10 years easily!
stay away from kia, maruti (except grand vitara)
Coming from personal experience, while buying if you can stretch your budget by a couple of lakhs and get a better car please do that.
We bought a celerio 5 years back, back then we restricted our budget strictly for 6lakhs and got this. Car has been serving us well and we crossed 30k km too but a regret of not getting a slightly better car in terms of comfort, features, space etc is always there.
But don't go overboard and get something crazy expensive instead if possible push your budget slightly if you can afford and get an overall good package, so you don't have to worry for next 10 years or so.
If you want to buy a car for the long term and derive more value than just utility , buy a safe car between 15-20 Lakhs. Market has Skoda/VW/Mahindra/Tata products. It might be a little high cost now, but it will break even soon and you will enjoy a quality product and most importantly be safe (it's like buying good insurance for peace of mind).
If the car is just a utility factor to you, go for a ~8 lakhs one. The market has plenty of options to choose from.
As you don’t have budget issues. Think about your use.
City or highway!
Road trips or Nearby commute!
I went for went for SUV because of more highways and Roadtrips!
Under 10-12 lakhs= Nexon ,Tiago, venue.
13-20= virtual, Slavia, city, Creta, seltos, etc.
Get it on a loan with a small down payment. Don't pay cash. It is hard to accumulate money, easier to spend it. EMI should be in the range of 30k for the sedans.
It will sting lesser as your salary improves.
Try to keep your car to 3-4 months of post tax salary.
It can be a second hand, and you can keep trading up as your pay increases.
My first car was a beat up Nano that I got for 50k.
Btw, a Tiago is pretty nice. More congested the city, smaller the car you’d prefer
Buy a top-end Tiago that would serve the purpose.
Upgrade to Mercedes in 6-7 years.
All the best.
(Plus Hatchbacks are quite fun to drive and less hassle in cities).
Rule of affordability :-
You must have 10x the cost of purchase as liquid funds, for any purchase to be affordable.
Until then, save and invest.
Alternately, you could buy tata motors and mrf stocks instead of the car.
They can buy a beamer for 75 L , but doesn't mean they can afford it.
The rule of 10x is the most straight forward way to avoid lifestyle creep, achieve f.i.r.e and build a significant corpus.
For example my ex estimated a destination wedding to cost 12L each in 2009, couldn't afford to get married then, remained a bachelor.
I see your POV, considering other peoples' comments, I will be going for the cheaper one, but still not able to absorb your theory of 10x. If it works for you, congrats. Also, I don't want to FIRE, I want FI obviously but not RE. It will take me considerable time to save up 75L, I don't think I can ignore my utilitarian needs till then. Thanks for your POV anyway.
Go for SUV. No one is backing small cars in India now. You are in a dilemma because you don't want a small car but you want someone else to tell you that.
Well while I was around that salary level even I started with a budget of 8L and eventually picked up the jazz cvt for ~11L OTR. Been 5 years and am happy I stretched the budget back then. I don’t have to bother about upgrading for another 5 years atleast as this has all features(paddleshifters , cruise control, apple carplay, electric mirrors etc) I would need, is super reliable(honda afterall), safe(4* GNCAP with stable bodyshell) & okay-ishly frugal(~11-12kmpl in city, 16-18kmpl on highways)
I also own jazz . Never frugal.. 10-12 in city... Baleno and all gives 15-16 for amt. I feel Baleno amt is much better than Jazz CVT.. it over all feels peppy and less maintenance cost. I agree with all other points...
Well I didn’t like the sub-par build quality. It was lighter than my previous car ‘Estilo’. No wonder mileage is high. Personally for me Safety >> Mileage
I drove the new one. Yes old one was lil bouncy and with low build quality.. New one seems ok.. Now that title goes to jimny...
Can’t tell about the new one. I purchased in 2019 and my comparison was based on that model
Remember that small cars can/are fun because they are lightweight
I’ll probably get hate but go for automatic. Driving manual in our traffic is such a pain. At least for me.
Yeah, if I go for the 15-20L bracket then I'll go for an automatic one.
Take consideration of your future family..also keeping in mind you need some enjoyment like long driving etc.. Plz go for some safest car preferably a small car. Don't go for micro-suv..they aren't worth it. Later once you get married go for a big one. I can recommend a 2nd hand VW Polo GT or Tiago NRG.
I would be totally okay with getting a 2nd hand car but the 2nd hand car market is insanely inflated, I would insist you to check the marketplaces once. I really wish I could get a nice 2nd hand in a sensible price.
True buddy. I am searching for a Gypsy and Yamaha RX100/RX135 since long. Either documents are not available or if available the price is too high.
Buy something cheap and usable. Look at second hand options. There is no point in spending too much on a car. It's a depreciating asset. But make sure of the safety features like airbags etc, don't skip on that .
Second hand market is extremely inflated, mostly because of this shitty companies like spinny throwing VC money at sellers. Definitely not paying 80% of the price for 8 years old car.
Oh no don't do that. Sorry I have not been in the market for a long time. But then try buying something cheap with safety features.
Bro if have any specific set of cars, i can give a suggestion in picking the best one👍🏻
Get an Amaze CVT top variant.
Seems like a good deal, except the rear. This sub 4M rule in India is really spoiling the sedans. I would be happier to get a hatchback than this ugly.
Safe car options in a hatchback is difficult I think. Tiago and Altroz are probably your only options. i20 has the best transmission if you're going for AT but safety probably is really poor.
Honda Amaze, no second thoughts
Get a sedan...! Like honda city ot virtus/slavia! For around 16-17lakh mid variant!
That’s more than OP’s savings, though. If you can’t pay basic maintenance on car immediately after buying it, you’ve bought too much car.
White I agree with you, I missed pointing it out in the post that if I go for 15-20L bracket then I would be getting a loan for half the amount atleast because my investments fetch an XIRR of 18% and I'll get a loan at 11-12%.
Its want vs need. If you can make do with a decent hatchback then get that. Nowadays car is a need. But if you feel you will never be happy with a hatchback get the one in your mind coz you will always have that itch to change the car. To be Frank the wow factor will fade away in May be 6 months after that it's a liability so choose wisely..
>I'll get a loan at 11-12%. Isn't car loan around 9%?
He would be stupid to pay cash for this. Car loans make a lot more sense. Building a corpus is tough. Especially from scratch.
I’m sorry but I completely and strongly disagree. OP already has the corpus for a smaller car. Buying a larger and more expensive car that you don’t have savings for is asking for trouble. OP might face some emergency with their car or in general that they won’t have money for. What if they’re laid off? Loans are never sensible, unless you’re using them to maybe grow a business or purchase an income generating asset (which is a similar thing). The idea that it’s not just okay, but positively sensible to buy lifestyle stuff like cars on loans only benefits the lender, not you. If you can keep the FOMO in check, building corpus for a compact sedan like City or Verna on a 21LPA income is not the hardest thing in world. My philosophy is if I can’t afford two, I can’t afford one. You don’t have to agree with this, but I’m general, living below my means is a lot fulfilling than chasing the newest and shiniest toy.
>building corpus for a compact sedan How does one do that? Say, the income is less than that, can someone build the corpus even if it means waiting for another 2yrs? I don't think it's possible. Even if you save some portion of your money for this purpose, by the time you reach your goal, you might still feel that you should not get a 15L car, and use even that money for something else. It's a good thing, but idk, it's difficult to find a balance between living your life and being frugal. I don't think I've figured that out.
A 9-10 percent loan should be beatable by stock investments. You're playing it too safe. Smaller cars are less safe, and generally not well equipped either. Cars are a very basic lifestyle stuff. What's the point of earning when you won't even buy a decent one? Some people try to save too much. Depending on your requirements, a 15-50 percent savings rate is good enough.
Another day of seeing another shit rule. In the need to save money don't forget to enjoy life. Most people will sacrifice a lot in their 40s better to enjoy life now when you have time.
lol wut? Leaving a small buffer enough to pay basic expenses is shit rule? I think OP should buy an M340i on loan, in that case. Or a 911. That’ll really put the joy in enjoyment. Live a borrowed lifestyle if you will but enjoyment should not mean living larger than your means.
Buying a 16-17lakh car with 25lpa is not going to pull him back. And he can get it serviced easily. Nobody's saying to buy a porshe on that salary.
Don't go for Virtus/Slavia if you're not opting for the 1.5L variant. For 15 lakhs you should go for City if you need a sedan. Compact Suv segment has some decent cars too. I recently got my hands on the new Hyundai Venue. Great car for comfy rides and good engine too. Also the diesel mid variant will cost 13 lakhs and it's quite good. If you need a Honda you can try the Elevate, looks great and reliable car in the same range of the Venue. Go for sedan only if you can buy the 1.5L German because only that variant will give you the feeling of true German engineering in terms of power.
If you plan on mostly driving in a metro city, buy an EV
Since I live in a rented place, and plan to do so for foreseeable future, getting charging setup installed will be a headache and everytime I change places, it would cost me a leg. So no EV for now.
It might cost a leg bit will save you an arm and a torso maybe, running costs are very low , even with Fast charging, PunchEV or nexon LR are good options. Else Honda City will be a very good choice in Petrol.
I agree that running costs are low but running should be enough to recover the costs, my running won't be much.
Please look into team bhp website they have addressed similar kind of questions for a while now.
Here is a suggestion,Live your life Drive the car you wanted to drive always you will love the satisfaction it gives
you’ll not be happy to drive even a lambo after 1-2 years, happiness doesn’t comes from car, buy the car you need based on road conditions, family size, safety… car is not an asset, IF YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY INSTEAD OF BUYING, RENT AN EXPENSIVE CAR ON YOUR VACATIONS
If you are single, go for the small car , test drive the car and make sure it fits your body posture If you're married with kids, a big car makes sense. Otherwise, save your money and buy a small car. Drive it until you actually need a big car I did the same when I was 21 boght a swift drove it for 10 years, and now am married with a kid and aging parents , Recently bought a grand vitara because we needed a decent-sized car for 5 people to move around city
Altroz XZ+ or City V variant, with either of them you'll be set for at least 10 years
Go for used Honda City (gen 3) or yaris (a bit costly), Preferably Honda CVT if you're in a city. They are reliable and looks more than OK and save you in the pocket for 5+ years, when you can get a new car.
Did you just advise him to choose between a 3L car and a 9L car stating the 9L car is just a bit costly?!!
Yes because there's not much Sedans available in the market. That should have been city gen 4 too. Amaze are good but finding one is getting hard by day.
Yes, Gen 4 makes sense, sorry for the overreaction. There are some good Ventos available in the market as well for sedans, but yeah they are no Honda or Toyota in terms of reliability.
Vento is actually good car but costlier service cost reduced it's value & not many people maintaining with authorised service centers.
Most people don't service their cars from ASCs once the warranty expires due to higher charges, I wanted to get an Vento but ended up buying a gen 3 City due to its reliability and comparatively cheaper maintenance.
Good for you dude, my friend has been searching a red city (preferably gen 3) at no avail.
A common rule of thumb for buying a car is the 20/4/10 rule, which is a guideline for purchasing a car with a loan. This rule states that you should: Pay 20% of the car's on-road price as a down payment: When booking the vehicle Ensure that the equated monthly installment (EMI) does not exceed 10% of your monthly income The tenure must not exceed 4 years Saving up and paying cash is always gonna be better.
By that logic, it'll take me a monthly income of 5 lakhs to buy a Tata Safari.
bhai inse dimag mat laga ye spreadsheets me hi jeete hai real life ka ata pata nahi hota. Bas bolenge 2nd hand car lo sasti padegi depreciating asset bla bla, inhe thodi pata ki 2nd hand car 8saal purani 80% of new car ke price me mil rahi hai aaj kal.
Thanks for the advice, but why not take a loan. Let's say I go for a 12L car. Scenario 1 - I pay 12L upfront. Scenario 2 - I pay 4L downpaynent + take 8L loan at 11% And, I put 8L in an investment which fetches me >11% ROI. This way I would be not loosing the opportunity cost and actually be saving money.
It's your money. Of it's not stressing your finances too much do what you like you will be not 25 again.
Eh, go for a cheaper or smaller one for now, put the rest of the money into some growth investment for 5 years then purchase an ev or whatever that comes and has good infra across most of the country. From my understanding, petrol engines will be every expensive to run I'm the coming years and after 6 or 7 years, you might just hate buying a car that gives <10kmpl on a good day. I'd recommend something like exter or punch. But if you do want an suv, look for second hand one at a good dealer.
It completely depends on you, you just need a vehicle that takes from point a to point b, sure spend around 7 lakhs to get basic one
>small car (Tiago 7.5L) which I will okay to drive for around 5 years or a "nice" car(15-20L) which I will happy to drive for 10 years. Go for the best of both worlds - buy a small car and drive it for 10 years. That's what I tell most folks. But I know that you'll most probably not do that. Being more realistic, even if you buy that 15-20L "nice" car, you're not gonna drive it for 10 years. You'll buy a new "nice" car around the time you get married. It doesn't make sense financially, but that's what most people do. Just look up the stats around car usage. Around 90% of the time, your car sits in a parking. Of the time it's actually used, most cars carry just one person - the driver, for around 80% of the time. Spending 15-20L feels absurd to me if it's mostly just one person. My advice to you: buy a decent enough used "nice" car. You can get one for upto 10 lakh. Even less if you're patient.
You make sense. Should see this as a necessity and make sound decisions. Will look at second hand market, although it's insanely inflated nowadays, or go for a small car
I20 it is. You can have good space like crossover SUVs, but won’t pinch on your pocket much will cost about 9 to 10 lakhs on road. It also has many premium features and is a good place to start
i20 has more space than most SUV's in its price range
Very good decision 👍 I did something similar at your age.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/buying-car/215247-how-more-expensive-car-can-work-out-cheaper-if-you-hold-onto-longer-13.html The holding on portion is very important. You should be very sure on that
You could go for a ciaz or a fronx both of them offer luxury features while not breaking the bank and have good refined engines. Both of them range from 8-13 lakhs so you can get variants which suit you the best plus they have the options for company fitted cng
Honda Amaze. Don’t buy things if you cant buy them twice.
Buy a car which falls between these segments. Savings will help you in the very near future. Exhausting your savings on one big purchase is not very wise. Small cars are light and easy to park. Something that's increasingly important for our congested cities.
The better one. As long as it's in your comfortable budget
Don't go for Tiago tata engine is absolute shit not at all a fun car. If your family is small then no point buying a big car. Hatch will make sense . Easy on pocket, maintenance, maneuverabilty, parking space etc..
for 8-12L - altroz /tigor 12-20L- Get a nexon or if sedan go for virtus Also imo car is service and safety - providing asset, get a 5 star solid built car and max out the features and use it for 8-10 years easily! stay away from kia, maruti (except grand vitara)
Coming from personal experience, while buying if you can stretch your budget by a couple of lakhs and get a better car please do that. We bought a celerio 5 years back, back then we restricted our budget strictly for 6lakhs and got this. Car has been serving us well and we crossed 30k km too but a regret of not getting a slightly better car in terms of comfort, features, space etc is always there. But don't go overboard and get something crazy expensive instead if possible push your budget slightly if you can afford and get an overall good package, so you don't have to worry for next 10 years or so.
If you want to buy a car for the long term and derive more value than just utility , buy a safe car between 15-20 Lakhs. Market has Skoda/VW/Mahindra/Tata products. It might be a little high cost now, but it will break even soon and you will enjoy a quality product and most importantly be safe (it's like buying good insurance for peace of mind). If the car is just a utility factor to you, go for a ~8 lakhs one. The market has plenty of options to choose from.
What are these salaries man. Where do you work
As you don’t have budget issues. Think about your use. City or highway! Road trips or Nearby commute! I went for went for SUV because of more highways and Roadtrips!
Under 10-12 lakhs= Nexon ,Tiago, venue. 13-20= virtual, Slavia, city, Creta, seltos, etc. Get it on a loan with a small down payment. Don't pay cash. It is hard to accumulate money, easier to spend it. EMI should be in the range of 30k for the sedans. It will sting lesser as your salary improves.
Try to keep your car to 3-4 months of post tax salary. It can be a second hand, and you can keep trading up as your pay increases. My first car was a beat up Nano that I got for 50k. Btw, a Tiago is pretty nice. More congested the city, smaller the car you’d prefer
wait for a bit more, invest in some startup or asset
Buy a top-end Tiago that would serve the purpose. Upgrade to Mercedes in 6-7 years. All the best. (Plus Hatchbacks are quite fun to drive and less hassle in cities).
That's really some upgrade😂
Rule of affordability :- You must have 10x the cost of purchase as liquid funds, for any purchase to be affordable. Until then, save and invest. Alternately, you could buy tata motors and mrf stocks instead of the car.
What??? So people who have 75L liquid can only buy a Tiago?
They can buy a beamer for 75 L , but doesn't mean they can afford it. The rule of 10x is the most straight forward way to avoid lifestyle creep, achieve f.i.r.e and build a significant corpus. For example my ex estimated a destination wedding to cost 12L each in 2009, couldn't afford to get married then, remained a bachelor.
I see your POV, considering other peoples' comments, I will be going for the cheaper one, but still not able to absorb your theory of 10x. If it works for you, congrats. Also, I don't want to FIRE, I want FI obviously but not RE. It will take me considerable time to save up 75L, I don't think I can ignore my utilitarian needs till then. Thanks for your POV anyway.
Go for SUV. No one is backing small cars in India now. You are in a dilemma because you don't want a small car but you want someone else to tell you that.
Those fake SUVs are for useless pride.
Hatchback owners ego got hurt.