Cars Under 3 lakhs: Cheapest Small Cars To Buy in India

The car-buying public in the times of coronavirus is facing a conundrum that has perhaps hardly ever occurred. Owing to questionable personal safety, many are now foregoing public transport for the comfort and safety of owning a private car. But buying a car doesn’t come cheap, especially when taken into consideration with the ongoing global health pandemic and its economic repercussions.

Buying a car now invokes multiple questions and a lot of planning. With car prices scaling new heights every day, topped with rising fuel prices, a potential car buyer has to think twice before investing. There aren’t many cars that can be bought under 3 lakhs in 2021, and they too more often than not turn out to be significantly costlier as the purchase unfolds. Only a handful of new cars can be bought for under 3 lakhs (on-road price) today.

Some of these cars are offered by manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Datsun, and Renault. Here’s a list of the base variant hatchbacks or small cars to buy under 3 lakhs.

1. Maruti Suzuki Alto

Once known as Alto 800, the newly dubbed Maruti Suzuki Alto was the first mass-market BS6 car in the Indian car market. It is quite easily the most easily spotted car on the Indian roads. The Maruti Suzuki Alto is powered by a 47hp/69Nm, 800cc engine. This engine is paired with a 5-speed manual. The base variant of the Maruti Suzuki Alto price starts from Rs 2.94 lakh with an additional charge of 5,000 for the Standard variant. Whereas a used Maruti Alto is available as low as 1 lakh.

Check out our collection of used Maruti Suzuki Alto cars in India.

2. Renault Kwid

The Renault Kwid has only one variant below the Rs 3 lakh mark. It is the Renault Kwid Standard and this one is priced at Rs 2.92 lakh. Its 800cc engine produces 54hp with 72 Nm of torque. The choice of transmission is a 5-speed manual. However, in this variant, the airbag is limited to only the driver’s side. A used Renault Kwid is available from Rs 1.75 Lakhs onwards.

Check out our collection of used Renault Kwid cars in India.

3. Datsun Redi-Go

The newly revamped Datsun Redi-Gois such a huge change from its predecessor, it is almost like an all-new model. Its 800cc engine produces 54hp with 72 Nm of torque. It is the most affordable car on this list and is priced at Rs 2.83 lakh, ex-showroom. A second hand Datsun Redi-Go is available from Rs 1.8 Lakh onwards.

While newer cars are a bit of a dubious choice in the current economical climate, the used car industry shows signs of booming. For the same budget of under 3 lakhs, you could also get your hands on well maintained used cars with 6 Months warranty like Maruti Swift, Ford Figo, Volkswagen Polo, and Hyundai i20 among others. This is a steal as compared to their on-road prices of well over 7 lakhs even for the base variants.

Check out our collection of used Datsun Redi-Go cars in India.