[carwatcher]

First thought came to my mind is Brand but after going through the OP and thinking deeply, I realised that for me, its the "Rarity" that can be said as the "one" deal maker. Rarity means in our market the car has to be a sales dud despite being perfect.
Then comes the Engine.
Few 'rare' cars I like are Fusion, T-Jet, Yeti, Laura vRS, Force One (for Mercedes engine) and now Volvo cars.
At the same time I don't like few rare cars such as Optra CRV, Rio, Aria, etc.
I really feel scared sometimes thinking about the service issues and reliability regarding the cars I had owned or own (Fusion and T-Jet) and feel that I will buy a reliable car next time. But in four years so far since I first bought Fusion, I haven't faced any single issue with either the car or its service. So can say that I am riding my luck.
One more point, as the first thought came to my mind is Brand, I think I am sold to Fiat for life as far as I know myself.

[ghodlur]

IMHO there cant be "one" deal maker for any car purchase but sticking to the OP, the one deal maker for me would be the Engine. The next in line would be a combination of handling & safety. I guess these three (call them Aces) are of primary importance whenever a car purchase is made by me atleast and were the deciding factors when I zeroed in on my Fiesta.

[sridhar24]

For me this is a very tough question to answer, frankly speaking today's car market we can't decide with one deal maker. I would consider so many factors or rather say combination of the factors mentioned in the poll. One without the other wouldn't make sense too.
My first preference would be Engine, followed by build quality, then comes Ride quality & handling, then safety & reliability.
Apart from these even the Brand and after sales, long term maintenance costs are also important if given a thought practically.
In my case couple of years ago, as i said it was the gem of CRDI engine was a major factor which made me choose Hyundai Verna, and other things like space, build, reliability made me seal the deal. As i said above brand too has importance for me.

[arsenal.arun]

For me, the most important thing is Handling followed by Reliability and then Engine.

And I have all three of them in my beloved Spark.

[Jeroen]

Very interesting question! And like many others I would say it's a combination of factors. But when I start narrowing it down, it probably comes down how it handles and the how it looks from the outside and the interior. And the interior being the most important after all.

When all is said and done, I just want to sit in a car, that has a an amazing, or special, or cool interior. My wife regards her car as just an extension of her handbag. There will be stuff thrown all over the place. I enjoy my cars. And I want my interior clean, polished and no rubbish. I lover my 1982 Mercedes W123. It's interior is very basic, but it looks real solid. The colors are truly awfull and very 1980's. You don't get into this car without sunglasses, because you will go (color) blind.

It has an astounding green interior. And I mean green as in GREEN. It is so loud, so 1980's you would not believe. Still sitting behind a huge steering wheel, looking at a very simple dashboard, with just a few very simply stalks, each one moving with military precision and feel, makes me feel happy every time I drive it. It's only got a pathetic 2.0 liter engine, but who cares.

My Jaguar XJR is the total opposite. It's dashboard looks like somebody threw it together on a Friday late afternoon. There is no logic, no apparent design philosophy. It doesn't make any sense at all. there are switches in different formats all over the place. But they're all set in real veneer! So the whole package still looks and feels as if you've stepped into a gentlemen's 1960 club! It's a very nice place to be!

jeroen