[DrCar]

I voted for the first option. Yes, I will bring a flop home.

"Flop" is a relative term. Can't use it as it is across the product range. For example, Ignis / Ritz are considered flop inspite of it being sold in numbers which are double of that of a Polo. So is Polo a flop?
Similar is the case with Etios twins. They are considered as flops. But look at all the taxis running around.

I consider cars a flop only if you find it difficult to obtain spares for it after few years. So I don't just judge on the basis of number of particular models sold today to consider it as a flop or hit.

Polo though sells in less number has been around for almost 10 years now. So not a flop in my opinion. Chevrolet Cruze or Beat though sold well initially will be a pain to maintain if some major problems comes up today. Similarly will be a case of Figo twins. So I consider them as flops.

So, according to me cars should not be considered flops if,
- They have been around for few years. Eg. Polo.
- They have less private buyers but taxi owners are lapping it up in good numbers. Eg. Etios.
- Cars discontinued but parts still available. Eg.Honda Accord or previous generation Civic.

They should be considered flops if,
- Manufacturers shut shop and decide to leave. Eg. GM, Ford.
- Parts availability issues after 5 years of ownership, though car would have sold well initially. Eg. Cruze.

[NST440]

To me a flop car is:

1. Sales: Sells in less numbers over its counterparts in the same league and price bracket. Ex. Kicks, Duster, Terrano, Vento, Captur, Figo, Aspire.

2. Spares: High priced spare parts, problem of spares availability and relatively higher cost of owning as compared to cars in same league. Ex. Skoda, VW, Ford, Renault.

3. Service and Support: A car belonging to a brand having poor service and support reputation built over time.Ex. Skoda, VW, Ford, TATA( Although now improving).

4. No USP Vs established competitors and still offered at the same price of the established brands. Ex. Why buy Kicks over Creta or a M&M Alturas over the Endeavour/ Fortuner.

5. Hideous Design: You feel how was this product even finalised at the first instance and why the hell has someone purchased it. Ex. KUV 1OO, Verito, Quanto, BR-V to name a few.

6. Low resale or the fear of it: Last but not the least , a culmination of all the above points lead to this. To me this is the No. 1 reason for a car being termed as a flop. One have to literally beg a car dealer to buy his mistake which he did few years back and even if it sells , what it gives you back is peanuts.

Have seen such a situation with a friend of mine who purchased a VW Vento D Highline in 2015 owing to the snob value and discounts being offered at that time. He now repents and wants to change to a different car , however what little amount he may get by selling the dud would be too less to make any new purchase.

A middle class Indian does take into account the "COST FACTOR" most closest to his heart while finalising a purchase. The money spent on a car once plays a vital role in determining all future purchases in the form of resale money as down payment.

Many a times people say that since they intend to keep a car for longer duration, resale won't matter to them much but in actuality that is not the case. A 2010 Swift kept for 8 years sold in 2018 would still yield a good amount opposed to a flop car purchased at the same time and kept for similar no. of years.

I have done certain mistakes in buying flops over time including an Opel Astra and a Skoda Octavia (2007) and learnt my lessons the hard way .I would therefore suggest others to steer clear from such cars, though to each his own.

A moving Maruti is 100 times better than a stranded BMW.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by Nilesh5417

If Marrazo is a flop, am still bringing one home in a month. I was looking for a family mover and didn't like the Ertiga's build though it drives like a car and has more kit than Marrazo.

I would not write off the Marrazo yet.
It's sales are picking up, and there is positive word of mouth in the Commercial Market for this product.
Very soon, the Ertiga will be without a diesel, and the BS6 Innova is already be too high up in the price range.
This will leave a big gap in between for the Marrazo to chew on.

[rulerofsun]

Talking about buying flop cars I think I have bought at least three and am very happy with my decisions.

I currently drive the Skoda Fabia Diesel. It is a wonderful car and JMD Mumbai was great experience for the first 5 years after which I moved to my FNG. After 8 years I am facing issues with OEM parts. But luckily the rapid and the Polo share parts so I am happy.

[Guite]

I bought a 'flop' car - Hyundai Getz, more than ten years back. We knew it was not popular. We really liked the looks. We did not find anything wrong with it. It was spacious. It was sturdy (not flimsy like some of its competitors).

We are quite satisfied with our ownership. There is no image problem, at least we don't have. Our friend circle also liked it. Of course in later years there is problem of resale value and spare parts.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by Guite

I bought a 'flop' car - Hyundai Getz, more than ten years back. We knew it was not popular. We really liked the looks. We did not find anything wrong with it. It was spacious. It was sturdy (not flimsy like some of its competitors).

We are quite satisfied with our ownership. There is no image problem, at least we don't have. Our friend circle also liked it. Of course in later years there is problem of resale value and spare parts.

Was it actually flop car?
I remember seeing quite a few around the time Swift was still new to the market.
Probably later on towards the end of its life is when it became a slow mover.

I have the Ford Aspire. I did not buy it thinking it was a flop, that thought didn't cross my mind either. Service & Sapres are not an issue either even after the Ford JV news.

A flop car for me would be on the lines of Nissan Evalia/Ashok Leyland Stile

[jeganatu]

Originally Posted by TorqMaster

We have a Renault Fluence i
1.dealer treats you well because you are the guy who bought their most expensive-unpopular sedan and gave him a sale. They kinda remember you and treat you with royalty after that. There were few issues in the past 5 years of owning it and I believe their service at Tirunelveli has been good.

Hey , if the car was having TN72, i had seen the same car at Madurai for the first time and thought it should be some imported race car and then read the name fluence from renault. It was the first time I saw the car and I was awestruck for the design of the car and I kept a pet name for fluence as "ship" . I admire this car a lot.. unique styling like a camaro or mustang or dodge sedan. As of now only Hyundai elantra has similar body styling

[bosem123]

Pros


- The build quality for most flop cars is pretty good. Examples given above are Ford Figo and Nissan Kicks. If you are buying cars for the sake of safety, flops are safe bets.



Cons
- Most of the public change their opinions as fast as seasons, so going by this opinion may not be the best decision. For example, the only reason sale of Indicas and Etios went down was because they were majorly being used as cabs, and buyers do not want to be feeling that they are driving cabs. However, that, by no means, meant that the above cars were not good. Both these vehicles have phenomenal boot space and excellent build quality.

[Achilles]

I am a proud owner of Ford Aspire TDCi, which is a flopped model in terms of sales figures! Listing down few pros and cons which I feel for this car..

Pros:
1. Keeps me smiling whenever I drive this car!
2. Very good service experience from Ford! (experience compared to previously owned Maruti and Tata cars)

Cons:
1. Answering friends and relatives 'why did you go for a Ford?'
2. Can't even think of selling this car due to the resale value!

[guru_max]

Pros:
You stand out from the crowd and if you really like the car then nothing like it.
Easy to spot in parking.


Cons:
poor resale values, possible spares issue.

[sgautam]

As with many members who wrote here, all our cars were first grade flops and all Fiats. Only exception being my first car - a much used & abused, accident damaged, multi colored (you can guess the reason) Maruti Zen D palmed off by a True Value Centre owned by a reputed dealer. Those days I was too naive to think that dealerships can do such things. However the car ran fairly reliably barring one very inconvenient breakdown at night during a long journey. We still own a used Petrol Zen bought last year for a paltry sum and it's been fantastic.

Anyways, coming to our real cars after the above episode we stuck with Fiat till date. First the Palio 1.9 D then Punto 90HP and presently a Linea Multijet running a RD DieselTronic.

Both Punto and Linea are exceptionally reliable and till date covered around 2.75 lakh kms between the two. This has been the most satisfying aspect of our new car ownership experience despite following our heart always. The Linea continues to run without a hitch. Though we stay atleast 200km from the nearest service center it never gave a reason to worry. I have to mention that Turbo Fiat, Vijayawada has always been quite prompt in getting the things done during scheduled pit stops. May be we were lucky to have sailed through backed by decent service.

The Palio was an used one bought after much deliberation and care. The mechanic who did the checking was very genuine, previously known and gave the right advice and did a thorough checkup. The owner was a lady who ran a college, the car had 100% service history and lightly run. Text book example of how to buy an used car. However fate decided to have a laugh at our expense as we inherited a big LEMON. The car behaved quite like a thoroughbred Italian Stallion. Nailed it when it moved it's ass but equally adamant and frustratingly headstrong and moody when it didn't. It was also a bit difficult to repair as it was relatively advanced and not properly tropicalised I guess. The later examples were a bit more reliable.

Despite a million breakdowns the damned thing was pure joy to drive for someone who had just stepped up from a battered Zen and drove a office issued Bolero. The steering sensation was beautiful, inviting and literally hooked me to the brand itself. Despite consciously trying to veer off from Fiat for our next new car we as a family couldn't shake off the Punto and went ahead with the purchase. If there was a real example of heart over head decision it was one.

Our Palio episode is a clear example of how things can go wrong with sales duds and why a car is a flop in the first place. For an average Indian buyer one car needs to do all. I could go through the headaches as I had the loyal Bolero to take me around for work. When things go south it's really a big hassle and needless strain on your time and money.

Hence I surely support what the GTO said in his opening statement. Unless ones requirement is very unique ( like the steering feedback I was after) you can always select a safer alternative which matches most of your other criteria. For instance the SCross offers European build/ride etc with all the other inherent traits of a Maruti. One need not go after a Nissan Kicks or any such soft roader from lesser selling brand. It really doesn't serve any purpose unless the lower selling car has a redeeming factor worth the risk. Lower initial cost is rarely a saving since we lose more due to poor resales and higher maintenance.


All said and done, cheers to those brave souls who follow their hearts and may God keep their steeds in fine health always.

[vishwasvr]

As an end customer, I'd stay away from unpopular/flop car. Long term maintenance will end up being a huge challenge. I've seen this with a few friends who struggled with service post warranty period.

[ajay_satpute]

For me, there should be a 3rd option- 'Yes, I would buy the car, if it is from an established company, with good service network".

In this case, the Ford,Suzuki & Honda cars are at least risk, in comparison. Even if there is some delay in getting parts, one would surely get parts. I would be nervous putting money on Nissan, Renault, GM, VW 'flop' cars.

[PNTLovesNano]

Can there ever be a bigger flop car than Nano? I still purchased it when the Twist car was on sale in 2014 and it came with a cool 50K discount. I knew what I was getting in with this buy. Now, 5 years and 20K down the line, the maintenance has been meagre until now. I haven't even changed the battery until now.

I might either replace the car in 6 months or go with it until 75K. The resale will almost zero, and I am aware of it. But it gets a smile on my face whenever I drive it, and it has been a good companion even on long drives of up to 400 kms a day, or a Bengaluru-Tirupathi trip in a day.

The flip side to this buy is of course that the drive quality will deteriorate seriously year after year, and the spares might be that much difficult to procure. Not to say, the service will be not great either.

[THE_DRIFTER]

I purchased a pre-worshipped Manza Diesel 10 months ago and nearly everyone asked me, " Why did not you look at the superior Dzire?? "
I was like it's my car and I prefer many other things than just the FE.
Though I had to get the engine overhauled after 3 months of purchasing it, I still think that many cars under the 10 lakh bracket cannot compete with Manza in terms of space, performance ( though it's more than enough if paired with a good driver ) as well as features ( considering it is 2010 model ). Also, the confidence Manza's 1300kg sheet metal gives was absent in the Dzire ( no offense to owners )

Everything aside, I like the smile it puts to my face every time I drive it the most.