India’s 5 Cheapest Budget Automatics In The Used Car Space

Snapshot – If you want a convenient set of wheels at a dirt cheap price tag, you’ve reached the right place. We bring you India’s 5 cheapest budget automatic cars that cost very little to buy from the pre-owned cars space. All these cars have great reputation for reliability and are from India’s top two car makers. Also, since they’re budget cars in the first place, maintenance costs of these cars are quite reasonable.

Maruti Suzuki Zen AT

[Image courtesy Team-BHP]

The first automatic car introduced by Maruti Suzuki, the Zen is a budget hatchback that uses a 1 liter-4 cylinder, all-aluminium petrol engine known for its refinement and sharp response. In automatic guise, the response is heavily dulled as it is a 3 speed torque converter automatic that this car makes do with.

Peak power of this motor is rated at 49 Bhp while peak torque is pegged at 71 Nm. We found a Zen AT with 95,000 kilometers on the clock at Ghaziabad. This asking price for this car was 85,000 rupees, the kind of money that will buy you a Piaggio Vespa automatic scooter.

Hyundai Santro Xing AT

The next cheapest automatic car in our search for dirt cheap automatics is the Hyundai Santro Xing. This car uses a 4 speed torque converter automatic gearbox, which provides much better response than the 3 speed gearbox found on the likes of the Zen and the WagonR.

The Santro Xing AT we found was a of 2003 vintage, and an example from Mumbai, with about 64,000 kilometers on the odometer. The asking price? A pittance really, at 90,000 rupees. The Santro Xing AT uses a 1.1 liter-4 cylinder petrol engine with 64 Bhp-96 Nm, making it much more powerful than the Zen or WagonR ATs.

Maruti Suzuki WagonR AT

Like the Zen, the WagonR Automatic uses a 3 speed torque converter automatic, which responds in its own sweet time. The slow response means that the WagonR AT is best driven in a relaxed style. The WagonR uses a 1.1 liter -4 cylinder petrol engine with 64 Bhp-84 Nm.

The more powerful engine means that this car is slightly peppier than the Zen. The WagonR we found was an 2006 model year example from Delhi, with 85,000 kilometers on the odometer. This car was selling for 1.25 lakh rupees, which makes it extremely affordable.

Hyundai i10 AT

The Hyundai i10 with the 1.2 liter Kappa petrol engine (79 Bhp-112 Nm) is a peppy car, and was also one of the most popular automatic cars in the budget segment when it was in production. The car uses a 4 speed torque converter automatic, which has better responses than the units on the Zen and WagonR.

A 2009 vintage Hyundai i10 AT from Delhi, with 62,000 kilometers on the odometer, can be found for about 2 lakh rupees, which is a fantastic price tag for this hatchback. The i10’s well appointed interiors make it a favourite among women, who represent a big chunk of buyers in the automatic hatchback segment.

Maruti Suzuki A-Star AT

The Maruti Suzuki A-Star was one of the more successful budget automatic cars that India’s largest automaker produced. The A-Star uses the 1 liter-3 cylinder K-Series petrol engine with 67 Bhp-90 Nm on tap. The automatic gearbox is a 4 speed torque converter unit.

Sporty to drive with good ride and handling, the automatic gearbox on the A-Star offers decent response times, making the car seem a couple of generations ahead of the Zen and the WagonR. A 2011 example of this car with 78,000 clicks on the clock, was found for 2.3 lakh rupees in Faridabad.