[devansn]

Although apart from Interiors (provided its not the worst), everything else needs to be sufficiently good, its handling for me. I believe that even with the best engine on, there is not much you can do with it unless the car handles well...

I have a good handling car and I have seen myself peacefully driving past many others with mostly double the engine size and power and torque...

[roy_libran]

For lack of the right option for me I chose 'Engine'. However, what I look at is the combination between Engine-Handling-Ride. I need that balance!

I hardly care about the Interiors, Looks, Equipment etc etc.

Reliability - Somewhat important, as long as I know that it is not going to fall apart on the first highway trip.

Safety features - I'm good as long there is good structural strength. I don't fancy very fast driving nowadays.

My choices in the recent past have been Logan D and Gurkha 2650FTI. That probably fits, does it not?

[dkaile]

I voted for Reliability. The engine is important and the 3rd most important thing in my mind, but really, do we have the roads in India to test our machines to their capabilities? Build Quality would rank 2nd for me.

[stallindinakara]

I have opted for the Engine.

And my priorities are in the following order:

1. Engine
2. Handling
3. Ride Quality
4. Reliability
5. Looks
6. Safety

I really love a peppy and powerful engine which is supported on the road with appropriate handling. Though I like the City/Fluidic for its engine, I am against it for its (stock) handling. I love my Swift purely for its handling.

Looks are deceptive; but not in the automobile industry. A wonderful engine that handles really well should be supplemented with great looks for sure.

With all the performance I wish the car is packed with the safety features as well.

[redohabitat]

None of these factors will hold any relevance if the car breaks frequently and needs more money to upkeep than a royal elephant. Toyota's legendary reliability has me hooked.

[marlinspike]

It was the handling that made me go for the Fiesta.
But I would say we should have two criteria.
One must have that the car should have then its Handling.
Another thing is Safety.
I would rather buy from a Brand who has Airbags and ABS on the lowest variant.
Safety will be 0 and Handling would be 1 for me. If these are not met then even a car with a great engine and reliability does not get me hooked.

[motorworks]

Reliability it is! Would never compromise on this aspect for sure! Engine is a close second. I bought a dzire as Marutis are by and large reliable. The MJD is available in a dozen cars now, but even today I would pick an sx4 diesel over a linea mjd even though the linea is the most desirable car around under 10 lakhs today!
I can put up with turbo lag in an engine, and even less space { as its just 2 of us 99% of the time}, but I wouldnt want my car to give me unpleasant surprises!

[mohit]

Reliability for me - Based on the fact that I love road trips and can not afford getting stranded with family in the car.

The fact that car repair labor is updwards of $75 an hour here also helps !

[fre2bpowerless]

After 10 minutes of staring blankly into space, I voted Handling. If I don't feel confident about driving/doing speeds in my car, nothing else matters.

Life is more than a quarter-mile straight. (Excuse the cheeky phrase )

[cawnpore ghost]

Ride Quality takes precedence over Engine Performance or Reliability when I compare/shortlist prospective vehicles.

If during subsequent Test Drives, I encounter that in Car A the seats are comfortable and the suspension absorbs the undulations better, I will buy it, even while Car B is more driver oriented and corners better along with more powerful engine.
Ambassador being a prime example. Sunny, Manza et cetera are pitched for Ride Quality in the people mover segment.
Mid-High Luxury Segment Cars offer no compromises on all accounts though there is a significant bias towards Volvo/Mercedes for Safety, BMW for Rear Wheel Drive Handling/Inline Six, Lexus/Acura for Reliability et cetera and prospective customers flock their showrooms accordingly.

[MHG]

I'd say its the overall "feel" of the car - how controllable it is. In other words handling + braking + engine responsiveness.

[pganapathy]

For me the one thing is performance. My list of favourite cars will explain what I mean. Skyline GT-R, Lancer Evo, Impreza WRX.

As somebody's tagline here says, I don't care about brands and exotica, all I care about is horsepower and handling. And a quick 0-100 time is not the be all and end all. Quick round a track is important (handling, putting down its power well, FTD)

[sankdadevil]

For me it is absolutely the handling followed by the engine. Family abroad had '97 Civic replaced with '02 Accord. Both had the most amazing handling amongst their competition. Now I am buying a new Polo and it is simply because it has unmatched handling compared to any other hatch in India, IMO.

The engines on Honda need no elaboration. The stress free and delighted ownership experiences speak for themselves across the globe.

VW Polo 1.2 3cyl P definitely leaves a lot to be desired, but still I felt it has a good engine for the job, city and occasional highway trips. Definitely waiting for turbo charged engines from the stables of VW to be launched in India.

[wantarangerover]

For me, the build quality is very important. I am always looking at cars for irregular panel gaps, fit and finish, perceived quality of materials etc. But equally important is the Engine.

[pow3r2dawh33ls]

Having recently purchased a new car (Skoda Rapid) I can share the thought process that we went through. The one single factor that influenced the decision once we had the options narrowed down was Safety. Here's why:

To a great extent for me personally (and my family) the following factors are table stakes:

Reliability
Looks
Space
Equipment
Build Quality
Interiors

Once we qualified the shortlist the following factors made a difference:

Engine
Ride quality
Handling

But what truly stood out sub-consciously through the process for my decision (this was a family car purchase) was safety. There is no way I would have compromised on a car that does not have driver + passenger airbags, ABS at a bare minimum. A 'tank-like' build was also important. What I thought was interesting in retrospect was that having a suspension that is firm and not floppy / bouncy was also perceived to be a safety factor. Perhaps due to the long drives that as a family we go to?