Giving advice about buying a car is one of the most enthralling things I do.
If you are not in a hurry to buy then wait for sometime because there is a flurry of new cars coming in 2005(for e.g. Ford Fusion) .just round the corner.
OK what do we have in this range:
Tata Indigo(boring but sturdy vehicle.built on tata indica platform)
Ford Ikon Flair(good buy .my friend bought it.good space .great handling)
Hyundai Accent(some models like GLE, GVS are in this range .highly recommended car .diesel engines crdi.spend more and buy the one with ABS.)
Hyundai Getz(hatchback.costs like a sedan)
Fiat Petra(its the new age siena .improved although)
Opel Corsa(has a carpet ride .from GM stable)
Maruti Esteem(value for money.look for more features)
Maruti baleno(ummm.will not recommend.low on features)
New Honda City although better then all these cars put together wont come in this range.
Some C segment cars are really becoming affordable with increased localisation(indian content that a car will have e.g. Ford Ikon Flair) .so instead of buying a hatchback like Getz u might prefer to buy a three-box sedan like
My final choice Hyundai Accent 1.6 GLS with ABS as standard.comes in at around 6.25 lacs.
Well my suggestion is though looks matter but performance and safety are the most important things .also look into the resale value thing if you change cars too often.finally buy a car with your wealth position three years ahead in future in mind and not the present status .because car is a long-term buy .atleast for us Indians.