My Priced Possession...My BLACK beauty!

Finally...this was a long pending one....So much of thinking & researching has gone into this that it was imperative for me to share with you, dear readers, the almost six months ordeal in deciding on the car to buy along with the various other incidents associated with it. The dream was there long before but was not able to materialize sometimes due to the financial crunch and sometimes due to the indecisive munch.

The car which was there in mind at that point of time(needs to be mentioned as the time frame is really important to understand the whole process) was the very successful new Swift by Maruti Suzuki....a well tested and a popular car...also within our budget. Every time I asked M, when will we go to book the car, now that the model is decided....he would tell me to first decide which car to buy then only we can book it...and I would reply back frustrated that it has been already decided that we are going to buy Swift....and would blame him saying that 'you don't want to buy the car now, that's why you are fooling me around'. And then came in the very BIG question - PETROL or DIESEL? and believe you me that finding an answer to this dreadful question had been a tedious one...full of confusions,  suggestions, decisions, realizations...at the end a draining one...But the answer had to be found. So here began the drive to find it. I was joined in this  journey by a very close friend of mine who was also planning to buy a car. I would also like to add here that the main reason for this question to pop up in our minds was the ever increasing prices of petrol and the speculation that the it will soon touch Rs. 100/litre. And just for your reference, all this was happening around July 2011.

Once the motive was set, began the big research...browsing net for the benefits, features, differences, the pros cons of each one. Hundreds and thousands of different opinions...each for his own..made us all the more confused. Websites like team bhp (got to know the full form of BHP...an addition to the vocab - Brake Horse Power), cardekho.com, carwale.com were read for the reviews and the discussions, various links shared and news releases to update each other on the information found. Every get together was a battleground when we used to start a discussion on this topic and were told literally to shut up if we want to talk on this matter. Anyhow our search or I would say research was going on and it was learnt that now there is a major rise in the diesel cars being sold due to the ever increasing petrol prices, the better fuel economy and the subsidy enjoyed on the diesel prices. Also the fact that we have to shell out extra Rs. 1.25 lakhs for the diesel variant for the same car, which was really depressive at that point of time which would stretch our budget a way too much. Again major permutation & combinations, calculations on mileage, on time needed to reach the break even point when we would start reaping benefits on our diesel engine and of course the pricing. The extra servicing and maintenance charges for the diesel engine which will add to the recurring cost as compared against petrol engine which is a more silent and smooth one. Suggestions from people that the first car should always be a petrol one as it is easier to drive and smooth.....Ohhhh God...so much to break our head for. Reading comparisons, sort of interviewing our car owning friends to get their views and getting yet again a plethora of diverse biased answers...confusing to the core...enough to drive us nuts!

After much brainstorming, Swift Diesel....and can u believe that it took us six months to make a decision and we planned to book it in January 2012 as the waiting period was around 6-8 months..well enough time to arrange for finances. So finally we went to the maruti showroom for a test drive and to see & feel the car physically. Saw the car..bombarded the sales guy with a volley of questions...this that..what not..his views on the car..the diesel or the petrol...And there he demonstrated his best sales skills and tried to lure us for the petrol one and the offers on it. The reason being that the diesel was already selling like hot cake...the need was to market the petrol one. But we were also well researched and determined & the plan was still the same to buy a diesel variant. As we were checking out the leg space, head space, boot size, interiors etc....we saw the showcased dzire next to the swift..so started exploring that as well just for fun and found out that it was more spacious than the swift with a nice interior. So again there was this moment of indecision which compelled us to rethink. And soon enough came the news update from Maruti about the new swift Dzire to be launched in the first week of February with lot more new features at a lesser price than the current dzire. Hence, again a visit to the showroom to inspect the new car and then a unanimous decision to buy the new Swift Dzire!  And as if this was not enough, there was a news of the price hike by Govt.on the diesel cars to earn profits, from 1st April onwards post budget. Speculations were there that the hike can be upto an amount of Rs. 80,000 and this being the major concern for us as we were already overbudget. But to our relief, with the help of my brother in law, we would get the car before April. So finally the car was booked on the 6th day of February. and the colour?....offcourse it has to be the much dzired Midnight BLACK....We were also concerned about the financing part but by God's grace, were able to arrange it. I was so excited about the car and then there was this blast from our landlord to vacate the house as he required it for one of his family commitments. All the happiness subsided. All frustrated, we started searching for the new flat, almost forgetting the car. We got a call on 4th of March informing us that the car has been dispatched from the plant and would reach the showroom within 10 days. This was a great piece of news as we were getting the car exactly after one month of booking and that too before the price hike. But the house hunting had overshadowed all our excitement and happiness. On 6th of March, we finalized the home and now was the time for celebration and shopping for the car as in the cushions, the Ganpati idol etc etc.

Not everything went smooth after that, as we were told by our pundit that the time will not be auspicious to get a new vehicle or for house shifting after 13th March for about a month due to some bad times......and of that 11th and 13th being the most auspicious days...less than a week to plan everything..so requested the car dealer to at least make the car available on 11th just for the pooja and will collect the vehicle on 13th after the registration is done...so did car pooja on 11th morning followed by house pooja in the evening....then again the final shifting on 13th...trying to get it done by evening so that can go to get the delivery of my much dreamed car...but alas! shifting did not finish on time and the delivery was taken by B-I-L on 13th March 2012.... how disappointed I was....nothing went as per the plan...But at least everything was done as per the religious sentiments of our parents and at the end of the day we were happy to get them done as scheduled as it is not everyday that one buys a vehicle.....

AND now I am a proud owner of my BLACK beauty...my much planned and cherished car...enjoin the long drives with friends....the endless rains...music masti....

Today its exactly six months when we brought her home.......and now about the amazing feeling which I get on driving my beloved.......these words come to my mind........
I AM LOVING IT :))))