Memories : Getting my Baleno in 2014

 

Getting my Baleno delivered on December 28, 2014

Back then, I was searching for a used car within my budget of ₹1.5 lakhs. Every evening, my routine was to browse online listings and plan visits to check out the cars in person. I wanted something different—something that stood out.

I had looked at the Indigo Marina, Zen, Indigo XL, and others. One of my students (I was a college lecturer then) worked as a used car evaluator. One day, he called me and said, “Sir, there’s a Baleno available. Are you interested?”

I was surprised. A Baleno? I had never considered that car before because I thought it would be out of my budget. Plus, I had heard the spare parts were costly since it was a premium offering from Maruti Suzuki back then.

I took a day to think about buying the Baleno and decided to see the car in Pune city. The dealer had set the price at ₹1.8 lakhs. I played it cool, acting a bit clueless, saying, “This car looks like an Esteem, no real character or looks—why so expensive?” Then I left, feeling disappointed.

The next day, I called the dealer again, and after some negotiation, he agreed to ₹1.5 lakhs. Finally, after a lot of bargaining and discussion—maybe because the car had been sitting at the dealer’s place for over a month—he agreed to sell it to me for ₹1.3 lakhs.

And that’s how I got my Baleno.

Searching for a car is more tedious than searching for a bride for marriage—I experienced that firsthand. I also learned never to take advice from anyone when buying a car. Buy what you like.

My search lasted four months, which felt long—but then was lucky enough to get one.