[Fountainheader]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Bent alloys? 2 axles bent? You took it off road? Or some racing rally on village roads?

Given the kind of abuse (sorry, it requires some serious abuse to get one alloy bent. You have two) you should consider something from Tatas. Anything else will have inadequate GC, poor suspension or start rattling pretty fast.

He has posted in the Tyre and Alloys section, where in his Palio hit potholes-covered with standing water and such on NH1A.

[snaronikar]

You can relay on our tata's like Indigo and M&M Bolero/Armada. Maybe Tavera.

[greenhorn]

tavera's front suspension ( or was it the driveshaft) doesnt like going over speedbreakers fast. Dad's office tavera had the relevant item breaking down twice after going over crashing over speed breakers. Chevrolet A.S.S confirmed that it was a regular occurence

[sabret00the]

Car - Ambassador
SUV - Ford Endeavour

[shantyrocks]

there is no real tough car in the on the indian roads which can withstand the abuse.all cars may/may not get suspension problems.my indica had suspension problems just after 20000 kms.my maruti 800 didnt have any suspension problems even at 60000kms when i sold it.
touch wood,so far my petra is also hassle free as far as built,rattles and suspension are concerned.
i feel that the trick for making a car which will not face suspension problems is to make them light in weight and a reasonably strong suspension.i think the weight of the car really matters.even my friends santro has run 50000 + kms without any suspension problems.

[headers]

Indica. Thats the mini truck from Tatas : LOL

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Uhhhh.... oh @RedMM340 and @Fountainhead.

If bad roads are the problem what you need is a car with less expensive spares. How about something from MSIL?

[RedMM340]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Uhhhh.... oh @RedMM340 and @Fountainhead.

If bad roads are the problem what you need is a car with less expensive spares. How about something from MSIL?

Are you saying that any car will get damaged by our Indian Roads?

Does this mean that only SUVs & Jeeps can survive without damage?

What about the Logan? Is not this car supposed to be designed for bad roads?

The Innova also seems to have a solid rear axle that looks like it can handle potholes much better than an independent rear suspension. Any comments on the Innova?

I'm not sure why people are recommending ambassadors. I know 2 taxis that were purchased new, taken straight to the workshop so that all the joints could be re welded before they started taxi duty. this is to prevent it from falling apart.

and have you seen them being driven over bumps? like elderly ladies getting out of a bath tub.sooooo careful and slow, moving gingerly to avoid hip fractures

the amby is not tough, and it is definitely not suited for our roads, if that were the case, we would all be driving ambassadors still.

indica seems to be the answer. takes a beating well, and in case of damage, can be repaired easily and economically.

what about the logan? that felt pretty solid during my TD thrashing.
i would have said palio, but I've had pretty bad experiences with the palio's availability of parts and the pricing.

I've been thrashing marutis all over south india's roads for almost 10 yrs now. they dont break or die easily. but they complain a lot(squeak, rattles)

all cars coming out these days are pretty tough, in the sense that they wont strand you on a highway with a broken axle or a driveshaft. but the amby is not one of them.

I like the safari's ability to take rough roads with ease. never seen anything like it

[team suzuki]

If its car i too would go for the ambassodor,man its really a strong car and you too need to be strong to drive it(old ambassodor without power steering)suv not sure.

[vaspro]

My vote for Ambassador. Not that it is absolute tough car, but the generations of mechanics that grewup repairing this car in India will make sure you complete your journey safely.

It has taken the "Indian road abuse" longer than any other car. Its more spacious than modern hatchbacks and many entry level sedans. Its economical to maintain and it comes within 10laks.

Cheers!
Vaspro

[Aditya]

Originally Posted by rippergeo

I'm not sure why people are recommending ambassadors. I know 2 taxis that were purchased new, taken straight to the workshop so that all the joints could be re welded before they started taxi duty. this is to prevent it from falling apart.

and have you seen them being driven over bumps? like elderly ladies getting out of a bath tub.sooooo careful and slow, moving gingerly to avoid hip fractures

the amby is not tough, and it is definitely not suited for our roads, if that were the case, we would all be driving ambassadors still.

Don't know about the current lot of Ambassadors, but, the older ones were pretty sturdy. I had a 1978 Mark 3 which I used a lot for touring. It tackled rough roads with ease and just seemed to keep going on and on and as long as I checked the water in the radiator and the oils. I moved on because I wanted cars that performed better, looked better, were easier to drive and had modern features.

[GTO]

The Ambassador may be sturdy and simplistic in build, but it will break down more often. I wouldn't count it in the list of cars that can really withstand abuse. My list of cars that can really take the worst of Indian roads:

1. Tata Indica / Indigo

2. Mahindra Logan

3. Mercedes W124 : Surprised? You will be amazed at the amount of trashing that the 124 can take. Have a look at her solid components when you have a chance.

I know you want to skip the UVs but I'll list them anyways : Mahindra Bolero & Maruti Gypsy. They can pretty much take the worst of terrain and emerge unscathed.

Originally Posted by RedMM340

I am starting to think that the Palio just cannot take the abuse of Indian roads.

Rather than the Palio being fragile, this situation is more a component of what you have been used to (read : Only Jeeps).

[speedzak]

Why not somebody mention the Qualis? My favorite these days!
There're lots of them in our country which has done more than 3l kms and still going strong.

[Mpower]

Looks like we are talking about mostly suspension here. There are other things like engine durability, interior etc.

We had a TATA Sumo that did office duty for several years. Drove the pants off of it and sold it at 1 lakh km. 0 repairs other than regular servicing.

Really surprising because the least reliable car we owned was its predecessor, TATA Estate (1st year production). Pretty much every component on that car failed in the 2 agonizing years that we owned it.