Thinking of buying a car...

Driving in India, in the major cities is a hell-like experience. Civic sense spills over on the streets, and that leads to endless traffic jams with everyone trying to squeeze themselves into the queue. It’s always a stressful experience. It’s why I choose to drive to work once a week, maybe twice if I’m up and out early. It should only be a 12-minute drive but it takes up 30-40 minutes.

I own a tiny 2019 Renault Kwid. It was the first car I bought. It is an automatic, because back then my wife showed a keenness in learning driving. That keenness lasted two weeks and I was stuck with a high-spec, automatic small car. Dad always owned used cars - a Fiat Padmini and then a Suzuki Zen, a slightly refined car for its time. They served us well for nearly a decade each, for our weekly drive around town, to the market, and the occasional drive to the outskirts.

Owning and running the Kwid has been a mixed bag experience, but all the misfortunes ended when I decided to stop taking the vehicle to the official Renault service provider. I’ve written about this in one of my earlier posts. All matters aside, the Kwid is a nice, simple car - great for driving around short distances, it’s easy to navigate traffic and to park into tight spots. The air conditioning isn’t great, the suspension is pretty rough once you seat 4 and the performance isn’t enough then. Two to three hour drives are manageable but not cosy.

I’m now considering a new car, and this is very unlike me. My wife nudged me earlier this year, but I don’t think she knows what I have in mind. I’m thinking of a sedan, and a pretty powerful one at that by Indian standards. There is some irrationality involved in me entertaining this idea, and a lot of it roots from the period ranging from the mid-90s to the late 2010s. I used to follow F1 and WRC religiously then I got busier. Top Gear, Fifth Gear and the likes were a staple and the dream I had was not of a supercar, but of a Mitsubishi Evo or a Subaru Impreza - something that fits in with the rest, but hiding a lot. I like driving - I learnt it when I was 10, and we’d moved into this empty new town with clear roads and lanes.

I do like the idea of independent travel but there are reasons unrelated for that feeling to be more consuming now. The internet isn’t as fun to hang out as it used to be - hardware is expensive, and everyone on the web is going on about AI.. It’s quite annoying.

Everyone told me to get of the house, when I was in my early 20s but looks like I’ll be doing a bit of that now, in my 40s. The past year or so has seen me drive a lot more than I used to.

So, I am eyeing the Skoda Slavia 1.5 Turbo. It’s a bit pricey and it’s priced well over what I would’ve considered buying about 8 - 10 years back. It’s a large sedan, it’s not very commonly spotted. It’s powerful, it has the turbo lag when you start moving but it’s a refined machine. It’s supposedly stable, reliable, the service is decent and not too expensive from what I’ve seen from users who’ve driven it a 100,000 km.

Our roads are crowded by cars that want to look like SUVs - they are bulky, but run 1L, 3-cylinder engines. I’d say, 80% of the cars are of that kind. I do not like them one bit.

The Slavia may be just another car, but it’s a pretty big deal for me. The more affordable option is underwhelming when it comes to smart gizmos and hybrid drive - the Honda Elevate. It’s one of those pseudo-SUVs shells, but it’s got a 1.5L naturally-aspirated engine with stupidly impressive pickup speeds and handling. It hits 90 kmph on second gear, but it’s limited to 160 kmph for some reason though.

Another option is the Volkswagen Virtus, and the Hyundai Verna. Those are available in similar specs, but the Slavia has a slightly mature look to it.

I haven’t yet made up my mind and I’m still enjoying the experience of researching things online. There are some other factors that’ll make me bite the bullet maybe early next year. I still have test drives that I need to do, which should be fun as well.

If you have recommendations, suggestions and reasons for reconsidering, mail me!