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View Poll Results: For me, it's:
Driving pleasure over absolute reliability 353 49.16%
Absolute reliability over driving pleasure 365 50.84%
Voters: 718. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 27th September 2017, 12:34   #121
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

Having a Tjet says it all

For me, in a stressed out traffic jammed world, taking out tjet on early morning drives gives me that "driving pleasure" which nothing else can. No complaints so far in 3.5 years of ownership. Touchwood!

As regards reliability, I try to take good care of Tjet and follow what @ sawnilrules
said like a rule - "if you take good care of your car, the car will take good care of you in return." It sure does!

From my personal experience on servicing, with Maruti, then Hyundai and now Tata and Fiat, your car is as reliable as the acumen the service personnel have who service her.

So while Tjet gives me driving pleasure, reliability is not far behind!

Last edited by SSD2122 : 27th September 2017 at 12:38.
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Old 27th September 2017, 12:45   #122
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

I chose the latter but will like to add that most fun to drive cars are very reliable too and the line between them is definitely blurred to a large extent.
Among the options i will chose the Jetta over Corolla and Compass over Creta any day and i believe they will prove to be very reliable too.
I might not risk choosing Polo GT because of its 7 speed AT and most probably will pick up the manual diesel instead or maybe the i20 for it being a more complete and refined package and the diesel is pretty fun to drive, in line with the point i'm trying to make.
Today we can kinda have our cake and eat it too.
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Old 27th September 2017, 12:59   #123
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

I would choose reliability with my eyes shut. As it is horrible to be stranded on a highway at odd hours and god forbid if you are with family and kids
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Old 27th September 2017, 12:59   #124
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

I voted for reliability, the reason being the remote places I frequently travel to. But the cost of reliability is too high in India. Toyota charges a hefty premium. I could not afford a Toyota as I needed a few other things like 4WD and high ground clearance. So I had to settle for the most reliable product that I could afford with my criteria, the Bolero LX, though it is a driver's nightmare!
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Old 27th September 2017, 13:01   #125
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

Driving pleasure, any day. One can "buy" peace of mind with extended warranty! Considering cars are machines after all. One can mitigate risks around reliability by more ways than one.
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Old 27th September 2017, 13:15   #126
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

Voted for Reliability over Driving Pleasure, though I'm more a lover of the latter. In my context, I drive about 3,000 kms a month and a fair bit of it late-evenings on two-lane desolate state highways. I can't imagine my car breaking down on one of those stretches!
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Old 27th September 2017, 13:45   #127
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

I voted for driving pleasure, i own a Skoda Rapid, Driving pleasure was the only thing which made me choose this inspite of the bad reputation of the company.
But I also prefer some thing in between with not so bad reliability and good drivability. But there is one more factor which I place above both drivability and reliability, that is saftey and build quality. I will never ever compromise in this aspect.
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Old 27th September 2017, 14:02   #128
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

In continuation to my old post, sorry forgot to mention about the Grand i10. If driving pleasure is what I live by then why a Grand i10 in my garage, as driving pleasure and Grand i10 AT, that too with 4 speed AT, just don't go hand in hand.

Well, primarily Grand i10 was chosen for wifey as she was going to use it for her daily runs between office and home. Yes, first car top of my mind was Polo GT TSi but had to give her a skip, as wifey then, had just learned driving and all her driving prior to Grand i10 was on i10. Grand and i10 were almost identical on-road manners and behaviors, so it would have been easier for her to migrate.

Now that she is a pro driver, she's pretty sure that next car that she wants for her self is the new generation Polo GT TSi. Ever since she has seen the photos of the new Polo, she keeps asking me when is it making its debut to India. Just hoping that VW gets the car sometime next year so that we can quickly upgrade to TSi. That then would complete my garage with two super hot cars in the garage.

Till then, I am learning to drive around with super slow responsive car whenever I am behind the wheel of Grand i10. Or probably is it that the TSi power on the other car coupled with super quick DSG has spoilt me a lot. Not able to decide.
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Old 27th September 2017, 14:09   #129
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

I think, this cannot be a binary decision. And even when I say me, that 'me' includes my family.
I'll give priority for reliability and safety first. Then comfort.

Now, that doesn't mean I don't care about performance and driving pleasure. For me, performance is more about the ability to accelerate fast from practical driving situations. A short and strong surge of power ( aka the pull or the torque ) when you really need it gives me the kick rather than trying for the best 0-100 kmph timing. And I'm more interested in the vehicle's ability to remain stable when accelerating hard, cruising at high speeds and when braking hard. That's what eventually decides how fast you drive rather than its cornering ability. I have stopped doing fast cornering long back because you are making the drive unpleasant for the other people inside your car.

So, the vote goes to reliability.
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Old 27th September 2017, 14:19   #130
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
We've had related discussions earlier (example 1, 2 & 3), but a fresh dedicated thread is needed with so many new car options out there.
Are we not trying to create a divide here by naming some car over the other in some way. Trust that we should not have taken names here. These type of comparison creates divide in the minds of people and we being members of this reputed forum are trusted more than anyone else. For example, while we compare Hexa and Crysta, we are not doing justice to our own homegrown major who is trying to give us a world class product?

However all said and done, we indians do not change cars every two years. Hence it is of utmost importance to us that we go for sheer reliability over driving pleasure as normally we use car as a mode of commute from point A to point B. 99% of the time when we move out, we would prefer a reliable car rather than the one which gives us sheer driving pleasure and if in middle of the road the car breaks down we end up either being abused by fellow motorist of being cursed by family members for choosing an unreliable machine.

Definitely, the choice is ours of either making a wise decision or making an adrenaline rush based decision.

Last edited by aah78 : 27th September 2017 at 17:45. Reason: Please avoid quoting large posts. Quote only relevant sections. Thanks!
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Old 27th September 2017, 14:37   #131
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

Voted for reliability over driving pleasure.. I have thought long and hard as I am almost in the market for a swap of my existing Chevy Beat Diesel. The Skoda Rapid, Ford Figo /Aspire, VW Vento almost were the choice I landed upon but did not go through as I don't want to be stuck with a less reliable car considering in the future, given the low number, the aftersales may not exist anymore. I value my peace of mind very highly
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Old 27th September 2017, 14:40   #132
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

Voted for Driving Pleasure & was seriously hurt when my Ride was mentioned as unreliable & something having known niggles (in the opening statement) - Safari. . Trust me it is not, .

It is my money & I am the one who is driving all the time. I am the one to takes all the stress of driving on all type of roads. SO for me I should be happy for at least what I am driving. "Heart Over Brains". I am ready to take the risk & face the consequences. Reliability is a myth, no car is failure proof & no-one can guarantee that a 2+crore Rolls Royce will never fail. That will be a bigger embarrassment, if it does. With thousands of part, anyone can go-off anytime; leaving anyone stranded, anywhere. If cars are properly maintained this issue can be negated to a large extent.

Anyways as far as reliability is concerned, I probably possess the two most (infamous) cars for their reliability issues from same stable - TATA. The Aria can be the leader of the lot. I also have a 21 year old Esteem, well maintained. The proof of its reliability: it handles Hinjewadi traffic till phase3, at least twice a week.

Unless & until absolutely necessary I anyways avoid travelling at nights & taking odd shortcuts when with family. Its all highways. Though none of the cars have given me any troubles till date; (touchwood). The risks are only taken when I am alone or in a group who are capable of handling such situations.

PS: I don't think that any vehicle exists which is "absolute reliable", It's all relative reliability - Some are more reliable than others.
But all are reliable.
The results are Neck to neck (well almost).

Regards,
Saurabh

Last edited by saurabh2711 : 27th September 2017 at 14:59.
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Old 27th September 2017, 14:53   #133
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

I was wondering when will such a thread come up because I dwell on this topic every time I have to buy a car. My garage has one BMW for driving pleasure and rest are good old Japanese sedans. However, I still would vote for reliability. For me it's becoming more and more paramount. The reason is the sheer driving pleasure is enjoyable for sure, like my BMW puts a smile on my face everytime and also has been very reliable till now at 46k but the sheer ease of mind reliable car gives me is worth the vote. Also the more a car is reliable for me the more I forget its presence in my house. As an example it just struck me one day that my previous corolla has spent 11 years servicing my family without a single hiccup! The car was regularly getting serviced and some odd paint and dent works once every couple of years and that's it. It was truly a fill it shut it basket case. Even after selling it for last 2 years I still miss it sometimes!

The point is for me personally reliability in the Indian setting is a top priority for sure and not only for cars but for everything. And that is the reason despite liking the Vento TSI I still went ahead and booked the Creta Petrol AT because for the perceived reliability.
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Old 27th September 2017, 15:08   #134
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

Voted for driving pleasure. However, extremely poor reliability is definitely would be a deal breaker.

Fortunately, i have the Civic. Reliability plus driving pleasure. That's what cars should be like.

Means that it is possible to have reliable cars that are a pleasure to drive.

rgds
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Old 27th September 2017, 15:25   #135
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Re: Driving Pleasure vs Reliability - If you had to choose?

Having owned cars from both ends of spectrum, I vote for Reliability.

Of course having both is an ideal situation, but having a fun to drive car which is unreliable is a big pain.

My personal experience of owning a Tjet has driven my thoughts into this, this car can never be restored in its original condition as there arent mechanics skilled enough to realize the problem, so the car never runs on its actual state.

Even if the technicians claims so, time and again I have faced issues on some or the other reason, so what is the point of having a car which can never perform the way it is suppose to?

Cannot keep singing the song of only fun to drive without the car being able to perform reliably (the most basic expectation from a car)
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