Please don't mind I couldn't control , 42k in more than 8 years is nothing.
![[lol]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Laugh.gif "Laugh [lol]")
I completely agree with you AllHyundaiCars.
The rationale behind is straight.
When I bought my car, my CTC was less than 4.5L per annum, and I am the only bread winner of my family.
Car has been my childhood days' craze and I started saving money around 10 years before 2013, when I actually purchased Santro.
While selecting the car, I followed my thumb rule - that is, the cost of my car should be around 90% of my then-current CTC, however, it exceeded a lot more, reached almost 98% of my then CTC in March 2013.
In 2013, the car wasn't our ideal requirement, based on my monthly tight budget, cash inflow and outflow calculations.
Car was intended for purchase, for the sole purpose of giving fuel to my long craved desires, and to give some comfort and a standard of life to my family.
The usage pattern of the car hasn't changed since 2013 (purchase time of Santro), till today.
My car stays parked in my car parking 5-6 days a week, and only one day in a week, may be Saturday or Sunday or both, the car is taken out for a mere 10 - 15 kms per week, which works out to be around 50-60 kms a month, which comes out to be 600-700 kms a year.
My primary usage of car is for all out outstation trips, which includes Chennai - Bangalore (350 kms one way); Chennai - Velanganni (350 kms one way); Chennai - Tuticorin (600 kms one way); Chennai - Rameswaram (650 kms one way); Chennai - Karur (400+ kms one way) and several other outstation trips.
Considering the car (both the erstwhile Santro and the current Amaze) resolved the core purpose of our family owning a car, I feel fine with the investment made.
The factors that result in such low running is:
1). I ride my 110 cc two wheeler daily to office, and very rare countable days, I have driven Santro to office, maximum some 10-12 times, in the entire 100 months of ownership, that due to some calamatic reasons or some other reasons, and very rarely for the intention of show-off (may be 1 - 2 times in all).
2). I not only keep my wallet healthy and wealthy by avoiding alone-driving the car, but also contribute towards fuel-saving, environmental friendly factors.
3). I also contribute towards space management in the mad city traffic in Chennai. I always prefer two wheelers when single or even double (but for some romantic jolly rides with my wife in car - both Santro and Amaze), and road users riding / driving with me on the road have the comfort of space, and I take away that credit.
![[:)]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Smile.gif "Smile [:)]")
And, these are all the reasons, I always tend to buy the lowest variant in the cars that I purchase, as I can use the different money I save by not buying higher variant, for fuel bills.
Variant selection of my cars are as below:
1). Santro Xing GL Plus Petrol 2013 -
a mid variant, second from base. GL Plus comes with power steering, AC and front alone power windows. In that period I was preferring the lower variant which was Santro Xing Non AC, with ordinary steering (the ones which can still be seen in some driving schools till now). Family preferred AC car then, and I also found that logical since during rainy days, driving with family without AC would end up fogging my windshield, which becomes a safety issue. Ordinary manual steering was not a concern for me those days (even today - I prefer Maruti 800 and Tata Nano with ordinary steering).
2). Honda Amaze SMT Petrol 2021 -
a mid variant, second from base. S variant was one above the base - E variant. E variant came with black mirrors, black door handles and black bumpers, with indicators on the fenders, which I preferred more, due to the body coloured mirrors being prone to hit by two wheelers and other vehicles thus falling heavy on my wallet. But, alas, I missed two important requirements for my driving in the base E variant - they are music system and central locking system, which I had to go for additional fitment from showroom at exorbitant price. Moreover, the E variant didn't have adjustable headrests, but only had fixed headrests, which was a boon in my ertstwhile Santro. Considering these factors, wife pushed for the S variant over E variant, as S variant had factory in built music system (non-touch screen) with excellent door-placed speakers of excellent quality with bluetooth connectivity phone pairing feature with steering mounted controls, speed sensing auto-door lock, which I liked as I am a
Safety-First kind of guy. Finally settled for
SMT variant over the higher
V variant that comes with rear-view camera, which is a good-to-have for me, as this is my first sedan, and right now I am managing with the parking sensors alone. Moreover, Olympia Honda - Amabattur in Chennai gave me some additional discount in case I opted for S variant over E model, and I finally booked
SMT variant.
The money I have saved in lower variants, is utilized well in fuelling the monsters.
![[:D]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Big%20Smile.gif "Big Smile [:D]")
![[frustration]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Frustration.gif "Frustration [frustration]")
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