BHPian Dippy recently shared this with other enthusiasts: As petrolheads, car buying is a very special occasion. Right from deciding on the car to visiting the dealership and eventually taking delivery. Today, things are very easy with options to buy and book online and even getting delivery at your doorstep. But it wasn’t always like this. Lets go back to the 80s and 90s when buying a car in India was a whole different experience. Choices were limited and dealerships even fewer. Let me share my experience and looking forward to hear experiences of my fellow BHPians as well. So it was in December 1989 that we decided to buy our first car in India. Till that time we only owned cars in Dubai. The choices we had were limited to the Premier Padmini, Hindustan Ambassador and the Maruti 800. The Ambassador was ruled out as my dad found it too huge. We liked the 800 but felt we need a car with a boot. That struck off the Maruti as well, leaving us with only the Padmini. With the car decided, it was time to look for a dealership. That time Autoriders, Bombay Cycle Motor Company and Starline were 3 dealerships in Bombay that we knew. On one of dad’s friend’s recommendation we went with Starline Automobiles at Tardeo. We walked into the tiny showroom which had only a one car display space. There stood a Premier Padmini in the Blazer Blue shade. We were greeted by a sales person who quickly showed us a shade card and the optional extras that ran into 3 pages Our first colour preference was Blazer Blue but unfortunately, there were no cars coming in that colour in the near future we were told. So we settled for Ambi Grey. The variant we chose was the Deluxe BE with the front bench seat. The other option was the Deluxe BU with front bucket seats and floor gear shifter. Next came the options: Can’t imagine we chose extra locks for the door, boot and glove box from the list. We also added carpets and mats. There were no freebies back then. Then were more expensive options like AC and a stereo system. We skipped those. The total on-road price at that time came to approx Rs. 1.21 lakh. Paid in one shot. The delivery waiting game started and that was no different to how I feel even today waiting for a new car. We finally took delivery on January 1st 1989 after a 2 weeks of wait. There wasn’t anything fancy. No ribbons either. Just a few claps and a full tank of fuel of premium white petrol. Later in our ownership we added an aftermarket Seiko AC and a removable Aiwa stereo system. (Stereo thefts very common in those days) So that was the story of the very first car that we bought in India. We had it for a good 10 years before saying goodbye in 1999, replacing it with a Tata Sierra. Unfortunately, this is the only photo I have of the car. Here is BLF 1139 with me and my brother.: Would love to hear other’s buying experiences from the same era. Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.
