[shashanka]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Your 3 words = My 300 words! I think the problem has more to ........a hardcore driving enthusiast might consider a particular car or brand as 'boringly reliable', but the owner might be deriving oodles of driving pleasure from its ownership.

My two cents worth - I get the feeling that somewhere along this discourse there is a blurring of the line between enthusiasm & competence. An enthusiastic driver is not necessarily a competent driver & vice versa.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by shashanka

My two cents worth - I get the feeling that somewhere along this discourse there is a blurring of the line between enthusiasm & competence. An enthusiastic driver is not necessarily a competent driver & vice versa

Agreed.


But the point was made in support of the fact that one need not drive at insane speeds or an un-ending road bearing twists and turns to derive pleasure. A gentle drive along the country side with a gentle wind silently painting your face is pleasure enough.

But then it always is relative as to how one perceives it.

[Ryuu]

It really depends on the amount of time and money you are willing to spend on your car. If I have loads of cash, sure I'd go for pure driving pleasure and spend extra on it to reduce the unreliability quotient as much as possible. That'd mean spending time and money on proactive maintenance.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by smartcat

I think the problem has more to do with "16 year old" part, rather than "boringly reliable" part. 90% of us will get bored of such an old car.

I have driven the 1st generation Wagon R in Goa 10 years back, and at no point did I fall asleep (figuratively) on the wheel. The steering is dull yes, but 'safe understeer' comes in so early that you can have some 'tyre screaming' fun on wet curvy smooth roads without risking your neck. See? An 'understeery' car can still be fun.

Partly agree with you on the first para. But we were never tired of our M800 that we owned for 12 years, having bought it pre-owned. It was surely more FTD than the Waggie, though short on space and ride comfort.

I find my decade-old Fiesta as exciting as on day 1. Same with the Figo. And the WagonR, despite all its virtues, does have body roll even on the slightest curves. That adds to the lack of excitement.

I think the limp steering is the main reason, because I recently drove a new Swift petrol in Goa for three days, and found it boring too. Only difference was it handled well and had a slightly more powerful engine.

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by ampere

Agreed.
But the point was made in support of the fact that one need not drive at insane speeds or an un-ending road bearing twists and turns to derive pleasure. A gentle drive along the country side with a gentle wind silently painting your face is pleasure enough.
But then it always is relative as to how one perceives it.

True enough, that! Hard core off-road chaps probably think of us regulars as pansies while the regular hill-drivers would look down their noses at city-slickers! Like most of life, one size never fits all!

Originally Posted by Ryuu

It really depends on the amount of time and money you are willing to spend on your car. If I have loads of cash, sure I'd go for pure driving pleasure and spend extra on it to reduce the unreliability quotient as much as possible. That'd mean spending time and money on proactive maintenance.

Very pertinent observation! I guess pro-active maintenance is what the majority of us end up doing, specially as one's steed starts showing its age - our Scorpio being a 2004 vintage!

[akshay4587]

Fiat Linea MJD was my daily when I was in India.

Bought a Honda Civic after moving to Melbourne, sold it within a year.

Now I have a Alfa Romeo 159.

Do I need to say anything else????

[Equus]

Reliability any day! However, there have been options like the Accord V6 or the City VTEC (type 2) which offered both.
Here's hoping to see the new Avatar of the Civic fun to drive as well!

[sanuiq]

I would choose a car that is tried and tested, has spares easily available & with good service centre network. Since cars are a costly buy, I choose to keep my cars for 10 years, I expect the car to simply go on. And I can’t pamper my car, it should withstand the worst roads of my neighbourhood, rain and sunshine. So, reliability is of utmost importance. That said, if the car that ticks these boxes is also fun to drive, I’d be grateful.

[Yasasri]

I voted for Driving pleasure v/s. Reliability.

I am in my early 50's and I am going against the adage of “mellowing down with age.”

I owned a Honda Unicorn 150 (HU) for 5 years - totally and thoroughly reliable yet chose the RETBTS 350 over the HU, purely for the thrilling riding experience of the 'Bull', despite reading all the 'horror' stories on T-BHP regarding repeated niggles and pathetic ASS. Today it's exactly 3 years since I purchased the 'Bull' and I must confess that till date, the bike has not left me in the lurch. No doubt that it requires TLC (tender loving care) which I show - but which automobile enthusiast does not shower his/her vehicles with the same?

Circa March 2017 - I decided to change my Swift Dzire VDI (which had covered over 75 K in 5 years) - a reliable workhorse. While doing the preliminary 'search' (this time decided to settle in for a premium hatch - no specific reason though). Cars shortlisted – i20 Asta, Honda Jazz V – owing to the Reliability quotient both these cars enjoyed. I had to drop the i20 as specs. Of the ‘Asta’ version was downgraded in Feb.’17 and did not match the profile of car that I wanted. After 3 Test drives of the Honda Jazz, had to drop this ‘roomy’ car due to its dull and insipid engine. I chanced to read the Ownership reports of the Figo Aspire TDCi by mobike 008, KreativeGeek (for the diesel versions) and Samaspire (for the Petrol version). These reports gave a totally new perspective to Ford and in March 2017 – went ahead and welcomed WDM2 (I prefer to call my car by that name) - Figo Aspire TDCi Titanium.

6 Months & 7700 Kms. On the Odometer, this car is an absolute pleasure to drive and I sport a wide grin every time I step into the cabin and crank the engine.

[aadya]

Most Perceptions are real not farce like some opinions

I voted for reliability. Some perceptions and some opinions

1.First Car, Family car, Long distance travel, Night travel, adventure travel - Reliability.Majority of the car buyers whether Bhpian or not fall into this category. You don't want your only car in a garage for one week, you don't want a gear box failure when passing through an highway in a national park - I have spotted plenty of Tuskers during my travels through Coorg,Mudumalai etc. I shudder at the thought of waiting there with a Gearbox/Engine failure, with the family inside- forget about the highway robbers.

2.Second car, Individual car, city car - pleasure.

3. GTO's word about car lying one week in a garage - It certainly matters which week of the year. Your only car in garage when a family member is ill, Kid having exam, important job assignments, urgent long distance travel etc would certainly throw the pleasure out of the window.

[Living2Drive]

I Voted for Pleasure. however very poor reliability is a big no no. Born in a family of car mechanics, one more factor i look for is the opportunity to customize. All my past cars have been Ford for their character, safety and options to customize, my immediate past car was a Figo which was not so durable, i've changed almost every thing under the hood except transmission, alternator and compressor. All with in the 4 year warranty period & finally sold at 74K on odo. Got 3 Ecosport in relative circle & all 3 of them had engine failures in less than 2 years of ownership. Failure (design blunder/poor build quality) on body, chassis, engine & transmission is a big no no for me. I can live with anything else that may crop up. For the driving pleasure I am ready to spend even 2 days in garage every month but these major engine kind of failures are not acceptable. So lost interest with Ford. For me an engine should last at least 200,000 kms with out any nonsense and chassis should be durable. My wife drives an i10 Auto, she prefers comfort and reliability over anything else, though it does not burn pocket i just cannot drive that car since it feels like a dolphin even at moderate speeds, which is again no no.

I prefer driving pleasure & safety, with reasonable amount of durability (not bullet proof though) & cost of ownership.

[joy_swift]

Although I love to drive,I voted for reliability and feel that is the more practical option atleast for me.I dont earn enough to buy a car which I would absolutely love to drive(like Octavia RS,BMW 3 series etc) and another for my city drive(Marutis,Hyundais,Fords etc).

I had this question in mind since am scouting for my new car.I absolutely love my SX4 which has been very reliable(low service costs and very lucky with wear and tear parts).It has decent acceleration and mileage and have no compliants with regards to city driving.90% of my drives is in the city and I normally avail Zoomcar(XUV500) for my holiday trips.

The last thing I can afford now is a unreliable car and frequent visits to the workshops and this is where brands like Skoda scare me

[adneo]

Having been a big time Maruti customer, most of the cars in our family were from the MS stable. We were lucky to have owned the earlier lot of MS cars like the legendary Esteem which offered the best of both, if anything broke down help was readily available including parts and it was already a rally legend.
However with the shift in MS philosophy i guess getting a car which offers both to the Indian customers' has become a challenge. Specially with the manufacturer with the farthest support reach switching to a "Kitna deti hae" moto and favoring cosmetics over things that matter like safety and stability.

I am privileged to have 2 cars in my garage, one being an Alto K10 which is my daily drive and the other being a Linea TJet for the long hauls.

That being said i would been more relaxed if either Maruti could offer a TRUE performance car unlike the RICEr , RS badged versions on the road today, or if Fiat put in real efforts to expand their service outreach and improve their support framework.

Truth being told, however good an engineered product might be, there is always that possibility of stuff going wrong at the wrong time and thats when things will bite us back.

[RSimonS]

I have 2 cars
1. 2009 Innova with about a Lakh kms on the odo
2. 2015 EcoSport AT with about 20K kms on the odo

Looks like I am on both boats.

When I change the Innova, my preference would be go ahead with a reliable car, hence voted for that option.

[cijo]

I prefer reliability over driving pleasure due to various reasons.

1. My family once had a superb 2.6 V6 and we went through that "life with a lemon" phase .

2. Reliable cars have better resale value and depreciation rate is less .