Cheap To Own & Run, Fun To Drive Used Car Between 70K To 1.2L

[superhornet]

• Your Budget: 70,000 ideally (keeping 30k for maintenance and mods) or can be streched to 1.2L with no room for maintenance and mods (except for regular service)
• New or Used: Used
• Your Location: Lucknow
• Top 5 Priorities: Low and cheap maintenance, reliability, safety if possible in this budget, fun to drive, comfort
• Monthly Running: 250-300 KMs
• Fuel Type: Diesel preferred (for turbo diesel torque)
• Purpose Type: Regular Use
• Seating Capacity: Will be used solo, so 4 seats max?
• Segment Type: Any segment

So due to recent development in my life, I need a cheap beater car that will be used primarily by me. My primary commuter is my bike and this car will be used only during rains or sunny days (probably 12 days a month, totalling around 250KMs per month. May take it for long drives of 300 KMs once a month. I need a Chiller AC for obvious reasons, Car must be reliable and cheap to maintain, can't afford 5 digit repair bills every now and then. Should be a bit fun to drive (my other car, ford freestyle spoiled me), if possible, ABS and airbags? maybe asking too much.

I've considered following options:

1. Tata nano
likes:

• price: a decade old models, selling for 35-50k, newer twist models with PS at around 70k
• cheap to maintain (this is an assumption)

Hates:

• Dull to drive
• Associated image
• Small wheels means those once a month highway trips best travelled at 70kph

2. Fiat punto 1.3 diesel
Likes:

• Looker, newer evo models look best but older punto also looks hot to this day
• 1.3 Diesel was fun enough in swift, when turbo spooled up (never drove punto)
• Low resale value of fiat means its accessible to my budget.

Dislikes:

• Fiat ASS is totally unknown to me. I feel its going to be expensive car to maintain. but then again, my usage is very less (4000-5000kms per year) and i'll own the car for 2 years max.
• Prices hover around 85k to 1.2L for a decade old models with around 80,000 on odo. Never cars are out of budget.

3. Chevy beat:
Likes:

• Looks smart to this day

Dislikes:

• Being a spark owner myself, parts procurement so far hasn't been an issue, but future is unsure.

4. Alto (~2010 model)
Likes:

• Every mechanic is familiar with this, cheap MGP parts

Dislikes:

• bland to look and drive.

Wagon R, Eon hold their resale value well it seems, barely found anything in my budget. Zen estilo was an option, but its almost 12 years old. Wish i could buy a civic or maybe fiesta 1.6P/1.4D. All are accessible in my stretched budget but for 1+ decade old cars, maintenance cost is what keeping me away from them.
Suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[Mr.Boss]

With a 1L budget and expecting a low maintenance I suggest to stay away from Diesel power-train, especially the Turbocharged one.

If I were you I will go with,
M800 - Perfect city car, fun to drive, efficient, economical, not a deal breaker in highways (for the price we pay)
Alto - Same as above with added comfort of 1 in bigger wheel, booster assisted brakes, power steering & power windows (if equipped) and 1 additional gear (if M800 is 4s)
Esteem - Not really cheap to maintain if you fail to find a right source for parts but fun to drive until it reached 3 digit speeds
Nano - Yes, if the drive is limited to City usage

Believe me, writing this after sailing on the same boat.
Took me few years and real life experience to understand anything other than the above car for less than 100k INR will make us regret later (If we are strict on budget and not prepared to spend time money and energy on future up keeps)

 

[superhornet]

Trying to avoid M800 as alto is available in my budget. Did all alto models came with power steering as standard?

What about Chevy beat petrol? Or maybe punto petrol?

After thinking about it, i think it'd be better to skip nano considering almost half of my monthly usage may be on the highway. And don't want to risk it with esteem, It was discontinued a long time ago, parts will be difficult to come by?

 

[MoRa]

Even I am in the same boat now. Instead of a scooty, am thinking of buying Nano, but still not sure.