[tj123]

Quite strange to see the poll showing 23% on reliability , I my opinion reliability used to be a factor couple of decade back, remember the Amby /old Premier era ones. Nowadays most of the manufacturers make pretty reliable cars, honestly I have not seen many new age cars breaking down in the middle of the road.

Reliability of cars have a direct correlation with the maintenance schedule, well maintained and properly driven vehicles seldom breaks down.

So on reliability most of the cars are at par nothing much to fuss on.

[ulhas.ahirrao]

One sure thing, this is a really tough question! However for me it has to be reliability. I want my car to run with absolute peace of mind. This for sure is the deal maker as well as deal breaker for me.

[r_subbiah]

Would have told "Engine" . Owning Fiat and Ford , Hence now I am forced to say reliability. Having the car with happy revving engine and poor reliability takes the fun away.

[ra'ul M]

Voted for space. I am surprised to see not many people voting for it. Maybe it's due to the average height of our population!
I like other attributes too, but the relative lack of space in modern day cars makes everything else pale in comparison.

Cars that I love for this reason:
Innova (7 seater)
Jazz

All said and done, I have actually booked a Swift for myself!

[RadiantKarma]

Voted for Reliability. My order of preference for the most important parameters would be
1. Reliability
2. Safety
3. Ergonomics and comfort
4. Engine (Driveability actually)
5. Handling
6. Ride quality
7. Space

[aravind.anand]

He he he This is a petrol-head community for sure! Easily visible from the polling results. Engine is the single most important deal breaker for far too many bhp-ians, followed by reliability (Skoda threads are well read I suppose? ) But I'm sure that VFM, fuel efficiency, features will out number other parameters for most of our car buying public, proof? Read the monthly sales figures month after month!
BTW, I voted for Engine too.

[iFuel]

I voted for handling, for I am an enthusiastic driver. I don't know why people voted for engine, to me if it is a car it's got to have an engine, right *pun intended*. And then again most of the engines here are made by fiat, and then again we do not buy fiats, wonder what people do with the engines, going by the poll results.

Probably engine power, lag etc is what was meant to be written as a poll option.

[SilkDrive]

Wish they were checkboxes instead of radio-buttons so that I could vote for all.

Nevertheless, voted for reliability. I agree that most cars are fairly reliable, and chances of breaking down are less, but niggling issues popping up every now & then is a total put off. And if it involves "God help you" - repeated visits to arrogant service stations and sucking up to even mechanics for explanations (often stupid ones) to the problems, then all the rapport built up with the beautiful looks, an awesome engine, an outright acceleration are all dampened in moments.

I would prefer a car or a bike that though does not give me a ear-to-ear grin ( ) when I ride it, but gives me just a smile ( ), and gives it to me without fail every time I drive/ride it for years.

[Minardi]

Originally Posted by tj123

Quite strange to see the poll showing 23% on reliability , I my opinion reliability used to be a factor couple of decade back, remember the Amby /old Premier era ones. Nowadays most of the manufacturers make pretty reliable cars, honestly I have not seen many new age cars breaking down in the middle of the road.

Reliability of cars have a direct correlation with the maintenance schedule, well maintained and properly driven vehicles seldom breaks down.

So on reliability most of the cars are at par nothing much to fuss on.

Very true. None of the current cars would suffer a break-down in the middle of a highway journey. Most of those who voted for reliability were scared of this factor. What I think GTO meant by 'Reliability' is 'niggle-free'.

[Warwithwheels]

Originally Posted by tj123

.....honestly I have not seen many new age cars breaking down in the middle of the road

Hope you are not kidding! Did you miss reading these threads?? Unbelievable

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ced-skoda.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...-tsi-back.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...se-closed.html

These are very few examples I'm quoting. These cars sport almost all factors except reliability. And I don't think these cars belong to the previous decade either

In fact Reliability has been the ONLY factor for many car buyers in that segment to shy away from these cars.

Same goes for some of the major European brands that are being sold in India currently.

Originally Posted by Minardi

Very true. None of the current cars would suffer a break-down in the middle of a highway journey. Most of those who voted for reliability were scared of this factor.

Read on!

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...iat-linea.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...rman-cars.html

8 out of 10 cars featured in the above thread belong to the same league.

Originally Posted by Minardi

What I think GTO meant by 'Reliability' is 'niggle-free'.

That's more associated with home grown brands like TATA, M&M etc.

[wickedchauhan]

Originally Posted by ra'ul M

Voted for space. I am surprised to see not many people voting for it. Maybe it's due to the average height of our population!
I like other attributes too, but the relative lack of space in modern day cars makes everything else pale in comparison.

Cars that I love for this reason:
Innova (7 seater)
Jazz

All said and done, I have actually booked a Swift for myself!

@ra'ul M: We are indeed a minority, voting for Space. I am 6' tall but not sure if average height alone is a reason. Its about perspective or rather the bottom line from where you begin. For example, I know Fiat 1.3 MJD has very good reliability and is a great engine in other aspects too and so if I had to choose, I would choose Vista above all other cars sporting the same engine.

But then, this is what baffles me - why would you choose Swift after declaring Space as your no. 1 priority?

[abhi413]

Deal makers for me: Safety (ABS/Airbags) followed by Space/Comfort.

Hence, among hatches my vote goes to the Jazz. But for the lack of a diesel engine, it's a Winner with a capital 'W'!

[akj123]

Originally Posted by rtandon

All else being (more or less) equal, for me, it is the ability to see the two corners from driver's seat. I can not drive "andaze se".

Can you tell me which cars you're able to see the corners - in all the cars i TD recently (Ritz/Jazz/Swift), i could not see the bonnet corners at all - it was all 'andaze se'. I agree it's not at all ideal for our bumper-to-bumper city traffic conditions.

[ra'ul M]

Originally Posted by wickedchauhan

But then, this is what baffles me - why would you choose Swift after declaring Space as your no. 1 priority?

I chose Swift because the car would be used as a 2 seater 90% of the times and I found it's front seats to be the best amongst the options available. Also, it outshines other cars in a lot of other aspects.
Vista is great but it's not to my taste. Plus, I am not sure if you have noticed this but the Vista lacks in rear headroom which gets very annoying even on short drives. The benchmark for space is still the Jazz IMO.

[shashank.nk]

Voted for engine, though a combination of engine+handling+safety would be the factors influencing my decision. What's the point in having a great engine under the hood when the handling isn't capable of exploiting the engine's potential.

With ever increasing average speeds on our highways, safety is also a very important factor.