[samirsarkar]

Originally Posted by dipen

Mondeo failed coz it had nothing more to offer comparatively apart from being the best handler. Ford have to realise that they could not sell anything which is almost 2 laks more expensive than the then Accord which used to sell for 16ish. and reliability was a big issue with the Mondeo.

Nope....Mondeo failed due to the prohibitive cost of maintenance (spare parts etc). As a car, it was the best driver's car, excellent interiors, good equipment (great climate control, in dash SONY 6-CD changer etc), lovely and supportive seats et al. Reliability was never an issue with the Mondeo. I have seen 1995-96 registered Mondeos running without a glitch (apart from the regular maintenance) in the UK.

The Mondeo also brought down the price later to about 14 lakhs (while losing some goodies like the motorised driver seats) but even then it was again the unusually high cost of spares and maintenance that eventually led to its demise.

[ReNaGade]

I have kept my 1998 model Cielo Auto even though we have bought many car since then. The car's got a CNG kit so it's quite economical to drive and also easy in the city with the auto box. The car would fetch me about 50k in the market so no point in selling (wont be able to buy a decent LCD TV in that much).

[filcord]

I had a diesel Escort until Sept 2005. Kids loved the car for it's comfort. I liked it for it's butch looks, hated the slug of an engine. Anyway, it served me well when I needed it, and I had no issues with it's reliability, except that the local service for Ford was a little indifferent. Don't forget that the Ford Escort is the all-time largest selling Ford model in Europe and USA, though discontinued there. At one time it was the most popular sedan in the UK.

[tatyavinchoo]

I see a gentleman daily arriving to the office in his Blue escort. One fine day I had asked him for a ride in his car and what an amazing ride quality it had. Simply mind blowing.

You can see lots of Cielos and Astras FOR SALE beneath the JVLR flyover. I was or rather am a fan of Cielo. What a great car it was.

[dezmo007]

these cars are not bad. however if you own one of these cars then you need to take a lot of care of them.

[madhokritesh]

Am getting a 2002 Astra Multiport for 1.40L, well maintened and done 45k kms, is it a good bet. Also wud a LPG kit run well on it? Enlighten plz.

Ritesh

[vnabhi]

Guys, you have all missed the Standard 2000---the first sleek looking car that was released when the Indian junta were only used to Ambys, Fiats, Heralds and Gazelles.
It was damn sleek to look at---the reason why it failed was its mileage--around 4 kmpl, I am told.

[gauravpraksh007]

Sure thing!
The Standard 2000 was a dream!
I remember there was this white colored car that used to be parked in one of the houses near mine.....
now i wonder why it was always parked there - it barely moved!
After all with 4-5kmpl its like having a Honda Accord V6 parked in ur garage way back when people had only Fiats!

[AMATMO]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Guys, you have all missed the Standard 2000---the first sleek looking car that was released when the Indian junta were only used to Ambys, Fiats, Heralds and Gazelles.
It was damn sleek to look at---the reason why it failed was its mileage--around 4 kmpl, I am told.

we are not missing that car vnabhi, you see that car is not worth considering ? it sold in low numbers and apart from the milege even the build quality of the car was not as good as the original Rover SD1

Cielo,astra and escort have really served our country for much greater extent,ruled from 95/96 to 2000/2001 and sold in high numbers they were the first one to stablise the market share of c segment in india

IMHO standard 2000 is important milestone in indian car market only because it tried start that segment.however i feel instead of considering STD 2000 you can instead consider ROVER MONTEGO

even though they you cannot see them in high numbers,i see a good number of these running on bangalore roads and their number even if low is comendable i think we should respect the car for that
considering its age and so many people still using it is great

here is a pic os the station wagon of rover montego



but even then i feel that we shouldnt be deviating form this topic

STD 2000 or ROVER MONTEGO
none of these cars were sold in significant numbers

the fact that cars like cielo ,escort and astra have disappeared actually repressents a huge numbers and their disappearence i indeed shocking

however you can maybe add cars like TATA estate,TATA sierra and FIAT UNO into the list or peugot 309 (ofcourse if you guys feel it is right)

[AMATMO]

guys maybe i am being superficial making this point but i feel

that opel astra was always a good car without any complains(except expensive part)

for escort well,i dont think we should regret its desmise

cielo again a good car worthy VFM

now , lets face it the fate of opel astra and cielo is in the hands of GM

i Feel that it would be great if GM relaunches these cars as(i think these cars can stay alive)
1> astra under Vauxhall badge(pitted against honda city)
2>cielo under Chevrolet badge (pitted against esteem)

this way GM can keep cielo alive and they can also conquor the VFM maket share of Esteem/accent in a big way(just like chevy spark,daewoo matiz)

[bigman]

Originally Posted by samirsarkar

Mondeo. I have seen 1995-96 registered Mondeos running without a glitch (apart from the regular maintenance) in the UK.

The Mondeo also brought down the price later to about 14 lakhs (while losing some goodies like the motorised driver seats) but even then it was again the unusually high cost of spares and maintenance that eventually led to its demise.

Wow I rarely see a Mondeo or a Maestro now. They took the title of being rust buckets from Alfa Romeo and Fiat.

[Dippy]

Originally Posted by AMATMO

guys maybe i am being superficial making this point but i feel

that opel astra was always a good car without any complains(except expensive part)

for escort well,i dont think we should regret its desmise

cielo again a good car worthy VFM

now , lets face it the fate of opel astra and cielo is in the hands of GM

i Feel that it would be great if GM relaunches these cars as(i think these cars can stay alive)
1> astra under Vauxhall badge(pitted against honda city)
2>cielo under Chevrolet badge (pitted against esteem)

this way GM can keep cielo alive and they can also conquor the VFM maket share of Esteem/accent in a big way(just like chevy spark,daewoo matiz)

The Astra is still seen even today in quite a few numbers. It was always known for its superb build quality. Has always been one of my favourites. I especially loved the World Cup football edition. But of course today its a different story.

I'm not sure about GM launching the Astra again as they have finished off the Opel marque on the whole from India all together. But yes, still one of the best premium cars money could buy a decade ago.

[speedy]

i had the astra as my personal car till i had an accident in it. the build quality and the ride was exceptional. my father tempted me with various other cars. the SUV's being my weakness i was not ready to sell it. i have changed other cars after that but i still am loyal to the opel astra. my car was from the first lot that came into the city. i had no problems with the car and i would love spending time in it. i wonder why it was fased out. i wish it was brought back. have had real fond memories with the car it was more like a part of me.

[AMATMO]

Originally Posted by Dippy

I'm not sure about GM launching the Astra again as they have finished off the Opel marque on the whole from India all together. But yes, still one of the best premium cars money could buy a decade ago.

TRUE DIPPY,we cannot expect GM to relaunch the opel brand thats why i said that it should be under vauxhall badge with a different name altogether.cause i am not sure if aveo sedan is doing well...so maybe vauxhall astra can replace it? (its just what i feel)

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by v12

The Astra had a 1.6L (16NZR) 76 bhp engine whereas the Cielo had a 1.5L 80 bhp one. Opel and Daewoo never shared the same engine at that time.

The Cielo was not a rubbish car. It was a good VFM car. As cheap as an Esteem but more powerful and offered more features too. Plus it was India's first "fuel-injected car".

You are right v12 : The Astra and the Cielo never shared the same engine. Also, I wouldn't call the Cielo a rubbish car either......when it was launched in India, it was technologically the most advanced car available then, featuring fuel injection in a petrol car : fuel injection technology in petrol engines was new in the automotive world (not just in India). Cielo was the first car in India to feature multi-point fuel injection (MPFI) as well. It is unfortunate that the company did not do well and we do not have this good car around now.