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View Poll Results: Are we overdoing with un necessary spends and the way we treat our cars now? | |||
Yes, most of the things can be avoided and we do it due to herd mentality | 96 | 34.78% | |
Yes, but I do it for my own requirements and very optimally | 144 | 52.17% | |
No, they are much needed and most things are relevant | 36 | 13.04% | |
Voters: 276. You may not vote on this poll |
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4th March 2021, 15:02 | #1 |
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| Now & Then | Owning & operating a car in 2001 vs 2021 I was sitting in my home on a holiday and was ordering some car care items online, which led me to this thought - why am I buying all these stuff? I never bought these many products or services for my previous car that was purchased 13 years back adding to cost of ownership. This change in the way we care or operate our car might be because of more exposure and maturity in us or the affordability (more income and spending mindset), availability of options etc... I am sure that many of the seniors would have experienced and noticed this change in the way we treat a car over few decades. Let us not make this thread about just the driving habits, modifications, basic accessories or cost (example how fuel/taxes were Rs. xx back then while it's Rs. xxx), but discuss the way we and our methods/habits about car care & usage evolved or changed in past 20 years - 2000's and now. There are definitely both sides positives and negatives on this change. Some of those which I could think of are, Keeping the car clean and in better shapeOnce a wise man in the movie Transporter said "The way a man treats his car is how he treats himself". This was always the first pointer to identify whether a person takes care of his car or not, not like judging by the cover of a book though. The habit of keeping cars clean is not a new habit by itself, but the amount of products and the ways have come a long way in just few years. Comparing to early 2000s, cleaning used to be a daily ceremony for quite a few with minimal products like a soft cloth, probably soapy water, once in a while pressure wash and rarely detailing/coating. But now, there is a lot of products, services and outlets to clean. While some normal people employ someone to clean their car every morning and detailing once in a while, others take interest to keep their cars clean by themselves. Some of the points that I would list as increased, Equipment: Evolved from cloth and brush to micro-fiber cloths, water magnets (absorbers for quick dry), mitts and dusters, wax coated dusters (read Jopasu), foam applicators, special brushes, spray bottles/foamers, personal pressure washers (Karcher/Bosch), Vacuum cleaners. Consumables: Evolved from car shampoo to Oh! there too many and will limit to few mentions - windshield washer fluid, waterless wash concentrates, wax coats, dashboard detailers, degreasers etc. Time & effort: What used to be a quick dust and wash now takes hours. People watch videos and go through thousands of lines on forums to follow best practices. Outlets: Evolved from wash stations to car spas, automatic washing centers, detailers. Extra care: Some may think it as overkill, but it is essential to have extra care on few things like using RO water to fill their windshield wash tanks prevent scale & clogging of washer jets/nozzles. Special mention: Interior detailing and cleaning now takes a lot of focus than before even maintaining air quality using electronic purifiers, charcoal bags, perfumes and a lot more. People use dustbins in car now, earlier the ashtray used to be the closest thing. Protecting the carNow there are three things here that people used to consider - protecting the car from outside physical damage due to daily drive, theft/sabotage and keeping the car functional/reliable. External coatings: Evolved to anti-rust, anti-rodent, PU coat, PPF, Ceramic coat, anti-fog for windshields, vinyl wraps. External hardware: Now the bull bars/flag poles are illegal due to pedestrian safety, sun films (like old dark ones) are not legal, so mostly they are restricted to door guards and simple stuff. Interior: Simple rubber mats evolved to 3D/7D and what not, full floor carpeting, sill plates. Security: Earlier, only few variants and models came with in-built vehicle alarm systems, so people used mostly accessories such as remote CDLs with sirens. Now we get access to GPS locators and geo-fencing tech. Dashcams are also very important that people spend a lot on to avoid legal harassment or road rage. Keeping car functional & safe: Again, keeping car serviced is preventive which has no change but the comfort of pick-up and drop, service reminder mails, RSA, start-ups trying to consolidate FNGs and offering services like gobumper and gomechanic. One downside in service area is making fraudulent claims of replacement of parts and inflating bills. There are some beliefs involved too (take it in neutral sense), so people used idols on dashboards which evolved to a lot of fancy illuminated stuff and hanging accessories from IRVM. Another aspect in this is, when you meet with some incident or emergency situation like a tyre puncture, accident etc. We now spend some good amount on getting equipment like jump cables, tyre inflators(in place of puncture kits), fire extinguishers, first aid kit (from simple pouch earlier to a comprehensive kit). There is increase in spend on TPMS sensors and many people fill nitrogen nowadays. Others:
What else do you think have changed from past 20 years in the way we treat and spend on a car? In some cases, I think we are doing a little too much where it is not necessary to. Mods: Please add a poll on the last question if you think it will be interesting and reasonable. Last edited by saikarthik : 4th March 2021 at 15:10. |
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4th March 2021, 16:37 | #2 |
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| re: Now & Then | Owning a car in 2001 vs 2021 Nice topic to ponder upon. And you have covered almost everything! A critical change that i have seen is the need of a Dashcam. What was unheard 20 years back has now become a necessity. This can be a real help in time of unruly traffic, hot tempered mobs and corrupt police. I recently invested in one. One more thing I have observed is the growing dependency on Youtube vloggers to make a car ownership decision. Auto magazines are slowly adapting to social media. New things keep coming as our lifestyles get inflated, and also with advancement of technology. Things that were once considered unnecessary slowly becomes necessity as buying power of consumers increases (like left hand side ORVMs were once given a miss in costlier cars like Hyundai Getz) |
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4th March 2021, 17:38 | #3 |
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| re: Now & Then | Owning a car in 2001 vs 2021 20 years back is only 2001! Damn, we're getting old fast. To be honest, before I found out about team-bhp, I didn't even like or care about cars that much. So, it's this very platform that has been the most influencial change for me. Everything else is so much better than it was before except, ofcourse, the traffic. |
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4th March 2021, 21:12 | #4 | |||||||||
BHPian | re: Now & Then | Owning a car in 2001 vs 2021 The only major difference between owning and operating a car in 2020 vs two decades ago is two words — TEAM-BHP MEMBERSHIPQuote:
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People who own these cars have no time, really, except maybe the occasional visit to the car-care outlet. Besides, car-care products have always existed. People never thought they were important and most of us never do, even two decades later. Quote:
Of course, there are many who won’t. That’s why we have 7D floormats. Folks that go after stuff like this are the reason we have car brands with more than 50% of their accessories list adding more chrome to the car. Quote:
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Now, people have slightly better taste I think. Don’t see a lot of that on new cars, save a small murti of our gods in the dashboard, at times given by the dealership themselves. Quote:
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Subscription is a new concept, relatively — but it is still expensive. Suggested my uncle just last week to check out car-subscription options. Like him, the majority is unaware of the benefits of subscription. Quote:
That being said - allow me to add to the list, please —
Last edited by EightSix : 4th March 2021 at 21:13. | |||||||||
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4th March 2021, 22:51 | #5 |
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| re: Now & Then | Owning a car in 2001 vs 2021 Why 20 years. Allow me to walk this back 40 years and more :-) First what has not changed - a man who loves his car looks after it with the best resources his pocket and technology of that era can provide - that has not changed. Materials and accessories available to us have increased with our buying power but those are merely the tools with which we apply make up on our beloved assets. Cleaning & washing the car once a day, getting it polished were then as they are now. The polishing was always done ourselves as services were less affordable then. Doing this with my father was great fun. Later doing it by myself in order to earn Re 1/- * as a tip was even more fun. The cars were kept more stock than now. The quality of accessories for the interior were tacky for the most part. The most prolific high end accessory was the tiny 6-inch rotating fan fitted either to the front centre dashboard or on the left B pillar. Don't see that any more. And never forget the coir mat that was placed on top of roofs, typically of an Ambassador, to cool the car in India's hot summer. We poke fun at it today but it did the job, rust on the roof notwithstanding. And of course if you were really rich you installed an after-market air-conditioner. As school boys the standard assumption was that the owner was a black money wallah - after all how else could he, in 1972, afford an AC in his car!!!! Anti-rust coatings were de rigueur. You could not live without them. And if you wished to signal that you were an important Govt big shot then curtains in your car were a must or how else will the hoi-polloi know. And most of all speeds were much slower. Even with comparatively very much less crowded roads 40 to 60 kmph was the norm. Those cars did not have the horses to do much more. And if in a Premier or Herald with three adults in the rear seat then the car sailed forward at an 8-degree nose up in the air slant. Most car owners were second-hand car owners. Only the Govt or companies or well to do business men bought cars first hand. And cars held their second hand value rather well due to the shortage of supply and fresh production held back by licenses. And of course the engines then were so simple that most of us could open the bonnet and fix more than a few things. But much less so today. Ahh, those bad old days. * ~Rs 40/- today. Psychologically a lot of bread then. Neighbourhood boys would gladly help me in return for 25 paisa. After all it was a man's job. Last edited by V.Narayan : 4th March 2021 at 22:59. |
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5th March 2021, 08:44 | #6 | ||
Team-BHP Support | Re: Now & Then | Owning a car in 2001 vs 2021 Lovely thread idea Quote:
- Service intervals have gotten longer. In 2001, a workshop visit every 5000 km or 3 - 6 months was de rigueur. Once a year or 10000 - 15000 km visits are standard today. Far more convenient. - I feel back then, we had more honest mechanics than today. Indian society has overall become way more complex + complicated, I feel. - I get all my cars detailed once in 6 months now. Each bill is 7000 - 10000 bucks. In the early 2000s, I merely got them "polished" by a local pappu in a vest with an inverted cap for 500 bucks. Sole product used was Waxpol. - Roads were emptier then. My commute from the Churchgate office to home was merely 30 minutes in rush hour traffic. Today, it's double or more, thus more stressful on the car. It's the primary reason I moved my office home & saved 2 hours / day. - My cars are better maintained today as we are now a self-driving family. No chauffeurs (thanks to Uber & Ola, whenever needed). From the 1980s till about 2015, we have always had a driver in the house and boy, did they abuse our cars. - 6 to 9 year extended warranties have made things so much simpler. 20 years ago, few manufacturers offered packages like today, and the max coverage was just 4 years. - I personally spent a lot more time caring for my cars then. Am way too busy for that today & my only contribution now is to drive them well + park them well + send them to the best workshops in Bombay. I now opt for pickup / drop by the workshop's trusty driver, and all maintenance is done via the phone. Have no qualms in admitting that I always get the best service & attention, because of being part of the industry. When I rebuilt my Jeep in '03, I visited the Mahindra workshop almost everyday, spending an hour or two there. However, the last time the body was replaced a few years ago, I probably went just twice or thrice. - In the 2000s, one would drive straight to an accessory shop after delivery to get sunfilm, after-market audio, foglamps, mats and so on. But today's cars are so well-equipped that we don't need the after-market for them. I don't remember the last time I walked into an accessory store. Not in the last 5 - 10 years for sure. Quote:
Last edited by GTO : 5th March 2021 at 09:13. | ||
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5th March 2021, 11:38 | #7 |
BHPian | Re: Now & Then | Owning & operating a car in 2001 vs 2021 Voted that we're overdoing it. But it is really hard to avoid. Cars now have more features than ever before, and new features are being added at a rate previously unseen. There are very few of us who can afford to take the time to understand all of them. It is probably not wrong to say that there are features whose ideal maintenance procedures are not known to anyone due to insufficient research. Added to this is how difficult it is to find correct information online. It is just too easy to create an article with false information. Whatever opinion one goes to the internet with, one will find articles supporting it. With other influencing factors like people promoting their own business, getting sponsorships, etc, it becomes hard to tell what articles are solid, unbiased truth. I certainly think most of us can do better by trying to do some searching on our own instead of succumbing to peer pressure, but I feel that there will always be things we do because we want to play it safe. |
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5th March 2021, 11:47 | #8 | ||||
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| Re: Now & Then | Owning & operating a car in 2001 vs 2021 Couple of more points: 1. Insurance claims have also become simpler in process, faster and convenient for most people. 2. RTO services are faster now a days. Quote:
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Regarding subscriptions, I wasn't just quoting the car subscriptions. When I said some services like connected car, there are different models. Since it is just initial penetration, the companies are luring customers by not charging them separately and we pay for a 3g/4g sim service as one time cost on vehicle purchase. But this might get diversified and we may even get to see different levels of charges for features. Quote:
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True, the owners manual had become more comprehensive and also there were addition of quick start guides for infotainment and other features. But this changed again with digital revolution, now we have e-manuals on infotainment with all fancy animations and adding more clarity. Last edited by saikarthik : 5th March 2021 at 11:57. Reason: Adding quote of Sanidhya mukund's post to avoid back to back posts | ||||
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5th March 2021, 11:48 | #9 |
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| Re: Now & Then | Owning & operating a car in 2001 vs 2021 The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that servicing was really cheap. Here’s a 2001 service bill of my Ford Ikon. Only 1440! For the same car, a service at the FASS would cost 5-7K today: Then, the owners manual had a lot less to explain. Cars didn’t have much equipment to speak of, so things like these used to be depicted in the manual! (Pictured here is the owners manual of my Tata Estate) Due to the absence of Team-BHP and other websites, owners were pretty ill informed back then. As an example, my Tata Estate didn’t even visit the TASS for its free services! Here’s the coupons, still intact: Needless to say, cars were much cheaper, traffic was a lot lesser, parts were of better quality and fuel was way way cheaper! |
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5th March 2021, 12:28 | #10 | |
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| Re: Now & Then | Owning & operating a car in 2001 vs 2021 Quote:
But I do try to keep my car as new looking as possible both inside and outside. I still remember Suzuki service centres used to charge around ₹350 for a full car wash in 2009, now it stands at around ₹750. I do car wash once in 6 months, then maintain it myself using the waterless wash, applying quick wax and clean it every time when I take it out. Gone are the days when I spent half a day washing and waxing the car. These days am too busy to do those. I still remember the days when I used to visit Shell I tend to buy something or other to make my car look better. I believe it's okay to buy few items to take care of the car and make the experience of driving better, but going overboard am not sure, at least I don't. When I buy my next car I wonder should I go for some kind of coating to make the paint on the car last longer especially from stone hits and tarmacs and make it look almost new?. | |
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5th March 2021, 12:53 | #11 |
Distinguished - BHPian | Re: Now & Then | Owning & operating a car in 2001 vs 2021 Interesting topics, thanks. I grew up mainly in west Europe so my thoughts might be a bit different. When I read through the other members comments I do see a lot of similarities too. Like a few other members, my earliest car ownership take me back much further than 2001. And all the difference just become enlarged. In all I would say all the changes are for the better. As some of you know I am a huge classic car enthusiast. And whereas I love my classic cars, I would not want them as my daily driver. For me the huge advantage in longer maintenance intervals is a big thing. I used to drive well over 75.000 km a year on business. Imagine the difference between even a 5.000 km interval versus a 20.000 km interval. The first means I needed to hand in my car to service centre 15 times. That is almost every three weeks. The latter meant once per quarter! Here in Europe we used to have many car accessoires shops. They sold stuff like matts, key rings, antenna’s, all sorts of little gadgets to put on your dashboard. The number of these shops has greatly reduced. There are still car parts shops and they are extremely well stocked. But aftermarket accessories is becoming a thing of the past, except for some specialised outfits. Much what they used to sell is simply not relevant anymore, or already fitted as standard. The other thing that has really changed; Car radio’s. We used to have a large number of Car audio specialist. It used to be huge business. With hundreds and hundreds of different car radio’s on display. The number of speakers you could buy was mind blowing. I still own two of these old after market radio’s. A Kenwood Mask system (radio, cassette, CD changer) is fitted in my Alfa Spider and my Mercedes W123 sports a Grundig Radio/casette player with removable front. I remember some of these shops very well. My boys when they were little used to love going there. Look at all the different models, hear them play over different speakers (these shops usually had fantastic demo set ups) These days every car comes equipped with a fully integrated entertainment system. It has decimated the number of Car Audio Specialist. There are a few left, but they tend to specialise on the really high end sets. Owning and using a car when I grew up was not a given. When I grew up we were just about the only family in our street that not only owned a car, but took our car on our annual summer holiday. Which we considered a huge expedition. In reality it was only 300-400 km across the border into Germany. My dad used to take the car (A DKW 1100) to get it serviced specially for this mega-drive. The night before we set off, he and I would mount the roof rack. We were a family of six and DKWs don’t have a very large boot. The next day the neighbourhood would waive us goodby! The other thing, when I was a little boy I used to sit in my mum’s lap. I had three sister who would be stashed into the rear seat. But I wanted to sit up front, so I sat in my mum’s lap. There were no belts and DKWs did not have a crumple zone, airbags or anything like that. A lot has changed in that respect! So the build in safety features of a 2021 car compared to a 2001 car, let alone earlier cars is absolutely staggering. Until 1974 there were no speed limits on the Dutch motorways. Speed limits were introduced because of safety concerns. Between 2001 and 2021 the speed limit has changed multiple times. Never over safety concerns. But always over environmental issues. The last change was a direct consequences of an environmental group suing the Dutch government over not meeting N2 reductions. The court agreed with them, as a consequence almost all infrastructure projects were put on hold for more than half a year, whilst the government put together a plan to reduce nitrogen emission. Part of that plan was reduce speeds on all motorways. So what affects you as motorist has changed considerably. Electrical cars are not necessary safer, but are introduced over environmental concerns. In that sense I think a lot of new legislation is making its way into our daily motorist life. In the last two decades many European countries and cities are introducing environmental zones around cities. You need to apply for permits to enter the town. As I travel all over Europe half the front screen is covered with various environmental zone stickers! Twenty years ago you could get two kinds of petrols. What we called Super and Normal. Nowadays, when I pull up at a petrol station there are usually at least four different petrols to choose from! We tend to have Super and Normal, possibly in an E5 and an E10 version and then there are the Super Super and the Super Normal as well! i would say the change is considerable and the pace of change is increasing. Not remarkable perse, as much in our society follows the same path. Jeroen |
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5th March 2021, 13:01 | #12 |
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| Re: Now & Then | Owning & operating a car in 2001 vs 2021 Just realised, when reading this thread, that it is exactly two decades since I received that treasured document - a full fledged driving license. A very endearing memory that I have from 2001. Back then, when I was just starting to drive the family's 35 year old Fiat around the neighbourhood (and about to get my driving license) - a morning start warranted pouring a few liters of cold water into the radiator to ensure that the engine did not overheat. Removing the cap, pouring water, closing the hood and then push starting the car on cold winter mornings was a daily ritual I did with my father. All that seemed worth it when the trusty Fiat engine roared to life and I jumped behind the wheel (Fiats had a lovely engine note, which was distinctive even from a long distance away) with my Dad keeping a close watch. Getting to drive the trusty old Fiat during those days - slow throttle, hard clutch, heavy brakes, side mounted gear lever and no AC nothwithstanding - was a treat in itself and something I looked forward to every morning. Nowadays, fill the coolant tank once and you are good for years Last edited by arindambasu13 : 5th March 2021 at 13:06. |
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6th March 2021, 01:37 | #13 |
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| Re: Now & Then | Owning & operating a car in 2001 vs 2021 Okay, so here is my take on what is needed the most for a car to run, Fuel and the way we fill it! I clearly remember back in 2003, my parents had a fight over my dad getting our Alto filled with INR 500 worth of fuel which was, hold it, 16 liters! Our car was used sparingly and that much of fuel was not actually required. On top of that, it was a new car, registered in Assam itself and back then ULFA and other regional groups were a big threat to new cars of that area, specifically bought by outsiders like us. Consider the same car now, after 18 years, I always top the tank and pay North of INR 2700 in Pune in normal scenario! However, I am afraid to visit petrol bunks nowadays! Apart from that, in terms of creature comfort and safety, definitely a welcome move by manufacturers but not so welcome by the like of Maruti and Hyundai-Kia. They got it right but wrong at the same time. Bells and whistles are good and not more important than Safety! |
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6th March 2021, 02:23 | #14 | |
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| Re: Now & Then | Owning & operating a car in 2001 vs 2021 By and large people are getting the purpose of an automobile wrong over the years, the basic premise that it's going to get you somewhere faster than a horse is often forgotten. The engine and drive train has taken more of a back seat as if it's the touchscreen that is going to take you places - perhaps that maybe the case these days. Quote:
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6th March 2021, 04:42 | #15 |
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| Re: Now & Then | Owning & operating a car in 2001 vs 2021 Back in 2001, I was a kid. And we got a Qualis home in the late 2000s. A few things that were revolutionary: 1. Qualis was revolutionary for use as it had AC & power steering; We didn't have power windows 2. Diesel & petrol were so much cheaper 3. Traffic was light - South Bangalore to North Bangalore was 30 minutes to an hour. The minimum is an hour today 4. Highways were very poor; I'm proud of the progress various governments have made on the highway construction in the 2 decades 5. What are airbags? What are Child seats? Although we have got a lot of electronics over the years, the basic cars are the same over the years. |
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