[Karvel]

Thanks GTO for starting this wonderful topic.

As you said, looking back at the changes in automobile need/want preference life cycle, there are big changes.

Reliability vs Comfort:
Initial days of ownership nearly 2 decades back was more about reliability than comfort. Drive it as you want, the machine should work always. Never had any worries about how the car was handled and evey car driven was used as an absolute beater and a highway tourer at the same time. Now its more about - how good is the suspension, which car is suitable for what usage, when to drive at what mode - all these start flashing in the back of the mind even when thinking about any trip.

Diesel vs Petrol :
Diesels were considered as commercial use category and petrol for personal use. But come this decade and the proliferation of CRDIs changed the perception. The torque used for heavy hauling when presented in vehicles ranging 1-1.5 tonnes of gross weight, gave a very big grin when flooring. And that these diesels started responding quick to throttles and being rev happy was altogether a different experience.

Safety vs Gizmos:
Saftey has become the priority now. High speeds and excited driving opportunities increasing with highways opening up and family opening up to the ideas of long touring, Saftey features and ratings have become important more than, say, features like connected car tech or a 7" touch screen vs 10" screens or wireless charging. New purchases are being soley finalised based on Saftey features than any other features.

Tyres:
It used to be, pick the cheapest and preferred ones used by Taxis. Longevity and all abuse resistant tyres were the preferred ones in earlier days. Now it's about comfort and silent ride and picking the best. Of course, economic feasibility plays a role, otherwise too preferences change.

Maintenance & Warranty :
With earlier set of Japanese vehicles owned, reliability was taken for granted and periodic maintenance, other than the free services, were more or less dependent on whether we had time to service it and was mostly FNGs. Nowadays the warranty requirements and the complex electronics being used, keep giving a gentle and firmer reminder to ensure timely service being done. Also each and every alert makes you ponder on what and how, while those days absence of these alarms was a bliss. Warranty and extended warranty have become very important to have the peace of mind.

Manual vs Auto:
Was an out and out MT guy and avoided auto till nearly 4 years back. Now started thinking of moving even the beater small box car to Auto as the convenience has spoiled me.

Car care :
It's more a quick clean or society cleaning guy's handy work which was relied upon and there was no care about swirls or anything. The awareness of car care has gone up and spend as well.

Future :
Will continue with the diesel and petrol combos atleast for next 5 years as the current vehicles are fairly new. Then maybe to EVs or continue running down these cars as commute might come down to a large extent. WFH is going to stay and hence the associated low mileage.

[JediKnight]

With years of driving and owning several cars i have learnt a few things about myself.

1. I am not gizmo guy. A few basics things i want which are now standard even in base variants.

2. Core engineering is everything: I cannot stand a poorly engineered vehicle. No matter what the hype or bling it has. I have a knack of knowing if there are corners cut by the manufacturer even if not visible to the eye.

3. I don't care about social signaling. I will never buy a car ever again to impress the neighbors. I once succumbed to familial pressure to buy a car for its "prestige " and regretted it.

4. NVH matters. I have realized i like silent cabins. Hate cars with poor sound insulation.

5. Ride quality matters: A car with poor suspension is hard to fix and pain in the rear side.

6. Safety matters: I have seen some really bad accidents. It is important to buy the biggest/heaviest and safe-est vehicle which you can afford/or practically keep.

7. Reliability matters: Hate cars which make un-scheduled visits to the service center. If a car leaves me stranded it will hit the classifieds soon irrespective of the financial hit. A un-reliable car is also a safety hazard in India.

8. 0-100 times no longer matter. As i am aging i no longer want to participate in traffic light grand prix.

9. For a stress free drive in India you have to learn to avoid crowds. Leave early. Go on a week day instead of week-end, avoid going to temples on festivals etc.

10. I love MT cars. I have driven fair amount of ATs in India and abroad but the pleasures of a slick manual transmission are still un-matched.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by GTO

What about you? How have your automotive preferences changed in the last 5 / 10 / 15 years?

Since childhood BIKER at heart & that was until 2006 when I got the first car.

I convinced that car is more safe, bikes cannot do long drives (drives, not rides at that time); besides those buggy eyed Yamaha or CBZ or Rx or even RE weren't good enough to munch miles.

2010 was the twisty year after getting membership for xBhp & TBhp (infact I felt like mini Andy Dufresne ). Within a span of 1.5 years upgraded from Rx to CBR 250R & took to nearly all corners of the country & that was until 2016

2017 arrived & gifted SCross; once the honey moon with SCross was over, realized I'm a simply guy; I don't like many wheels & turned back to two wheels. Infact SCross helped me discover my identity.

Speaking on Manual & Automatic...No automatics for me; this is despite the fact I'm able to make a post here just because of an automatic!!

[speedmiester]

My preferences have more or less remained the same.
After coming from hatchbacks and low slung sedans, I might never go back to them after getting used to the CSUVs and SUVs.

Loved the convenience of Automatics since I started driving and still prefer them over manual for day to day driving, but my garage will probably have a manual for at least a few more years.

Comfort and reliability were a priority back in my younger days and still a priority. I might take a gamble with the Germans over the next two years or so, but again I will be taking the maximum possible warranty and service package for that peace of mind.

Always been a fan of EVs even before there was one in India and still I am a big fan of EVs. My garage will have an EV sooner than later. The current trio of options available in the market lack on one or the other departments. MG ZS comes close, but with the news of an new one coming next year with a higher range, I will wait it out.

I always had two cars in my garage and this will continue as well.

[Samba]

My needs earlier -

A car which can go fast.

Now-

It has to meet a certain safety standard.

I started accepting electronics. How good a driver can be, electronics do the job better! Few cars have the options to turn off the electronic aids. It's like having the best of both the worlds!

Ground clearance. I was happy to go on bad roads with low slung cars. By getting the comfort zone of high GC cars, I started accepting them.

2wd cars are enough for touring, but having a 4wd is like an added insurance.

From a top speed guy to maintaining a consistent speed guy! Hairs are turning white!

[procrastinator]

I believe most of the bhpians will vouch how easy is to select gear, run and switch gears in manual.

But this changed when I drove AT.
The convenience of car changing gear is immense.
There is a manual mode in AT to solve the ‘bhpian’s’ purpose.

————————-
Top model of new car:-
Earlier I was okay settling for VFM variant. But all the extra money spent can be recovered if the extra features are useful and the car is going to be kept for long.
The i20 Asta on sale in 2010 offered two airbags whilst Sportz had one airbag.

Today dual airbags are standard, and this car isn’t outdated.
Do note that Asta was 8% more expensive and offered airbag, rear wiper, height adjustable seat and seat belt info screen giving information of all seat-belts being worn or not.

Apart from extra airbag and rear wiper, rest were nice to have but worth spending the money in long run.

[raghukodali]

For me reliability has always been on the top of my list for the past 17 years (started driving cars at an age of 27) of driving cars and it still stays the same.

I have always stuck to Maruti-suzuki for their reliability (Wagon R->Swift->Baleno). Never had a single unexpected service centre visit for 240000km distributed between these three cars.

As I get older, I am getting more and more onto reliability, comfort and safety than driving pleasure. This got me to Innova Crysta ZX MT (always a manual for me. I am already scared of EVs because they are by design automatics).

The one mistake (in my opinion) I did when I prioritised driving pleasure over reliability is with XUV 500 W8 which was quickly corrected as I could not deal with the service centre visits for small things.

[mav3r1ckblu3]

Originally Posted by GTO

What about you? How have your automotive preferences changed in the last 5 / 10 / 15 years?

From being able to afford a 2 wheeler in a middle class upbringing to now being able to afford a 4 wheeler, life indeed has zipped past in a flash, or so I think. From being able to drive my mum's humble TVS moped carefree and without a worry in the world two and a half decades ago, to now being able to drive cautiously in a car loaded with safety features, the preferences have indeed changed.

Those 2 wheeler drives on mum's moped first, and then later on graduating to dad's LML Vespa 150NV are memories to be cherished. Helmets mattered then, but Hairstyle mattered more, safety be damned! Spot a traffic policeman, put on the helmet and be done with it back in the day.

Onto college, and smoke-spitting 2 strokes were a rage back then, with Yamaha and Suzuki trying to outdo each other. Dad bought the affordable Suzuki Max-100 for me and I was hooked onto it. The rush of the 2 stroke's pick up coupled with the rev happy engine and that exhaust note was addictive. I started wearing a Helmet regularly from then on, purely from safety perspective.

Some jobs and a decade later we moved to a car, in the age when sub 1 litre compact hatches were selling like hot cakes. Dad bought an Eon, and I drove it purely to commute from point A to B. It was affordable, fuel efficient, nimble and fun to drive around, and those were the only priorities for us back then.

Fast forward to half a decade and a marriage, wife, a kid, some grey hair and beard later, safety became important to me as I became more aware about it, thanks to G-NCAP. Bought myself a Tata-Tigor, when everyone else was telling me to go for a Maruti or a Hyundai. The 3 pot naturally aspirated petrol engine was not its strongest point, and I didn't care as well. But everything else was spot on, be it the safety, ride comfort, suspension setup, steering input, ICE etc. Drove it for 3 years and then advised dad to sell off his Eon, and gave him the Tigor.

Till now, I'd only heard about Turbo-petrol and never experienced one first hand. Drove the 1.3L Duster and got hooked to the power delivery and Turbo pull. The ride comfort is still there, along with the suspension setup, steering input, ICE etc. The highways in Kerala are narrow, single lane setup mostly, so precise and calculated overtaking is necessary, and thankfully it is easy with the power available on tap. Plus, this is the closest I'd ever get to drive a Merc A-class in terms of power delivery.

So, it's been an odd transition in the last 25 years, from the speed rush without safety & comfort (2 wheelers/c-hatch), to safety & comfort without the speed rush (c-sedan) and now back to the speed rush with safety & comfort

PS: I drive safe BTW and follow all traffic rules and regulations!

[Torquedo]

Preferences still remain the same as was the case a good two and half decades back, a stonker of an engine and good air conditioning, the only thing that has changed is the purchasing power over the years, consequently, 6 new cars and a used one over the past 12 years.

Firmly believe, it's about purchasing power that has evolved, preferences remain the same, without the booty, where can one think of automatics and leather seats.

Got 2 drivers at home but 4 cars at disposal, now this is what I call preference, pick any which one anyday and it boils down to the moolah we are raking in, the odour and aroma of driving pleasure remains the same.

[YD14]

In 2002 my father bought a Zen and in 2013 we bought a Dzire for the same reasons:

1. Family friend had one
2. It was a Maruti

But over the last few years my family's automotive preferences have changed drastically (mine do not matter yet). To name the major ones:

• Look beyond Maruti
• Automatic SUVs
• Uniqueness in car model or at least color.
• Comfort (space + features, they still think any SUV will absorb bumps)
• Look for information on internet and not from neighbors.

Many of these were surprises for me too. Now, we have selected a Creta not because it sells in huge numbers, but because of the above mentioned reasons and no other option is suitable. Hector won't fit in our garage, Harrier and Compass auto are out of budget, Skoda has no showroom in Uttarakhand, Honda City is a sedan, sub-4m cars lack space and there is already a Seltos in our locality.

Yes, my father researched about all the cars available in budget this time, and somehow narrowed down on Creta and soon to be launched "Tata Blackbird". It took some convincing to rule out the latter.

Some changes for which I am constantly lobbying:

1. Safety
2. Power over fuel efficiency
3. EVs

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by GTO

What about you? How have your automotive preferences changed in the last 5 / 10 / 15 years?

My automotive preferences have undergone a sea change since I first started driving back in the year 1997.
The below 4 pictures summarize the journey that I have undertaken.

Back then, we had this as our first family car:-



And today, I have the beautiful Vento:-



Back then, was content with this interior design:-



And today, I love this cockpit:-

[Jeroen]

Interesting topic! Thanks for starting it.

I had to give it some thought, my initial reaction was “not all that much”.

One thing that has not involved is my distaste for buying new cars. The first car I bought was a VW Beetle. I was 18 and I paid 50 Dutch Guilders for it. To put that in some historical context (Became it is 44 years since I was 18). It took me two weeks of 6 days a week paper round, to earn 50 Guilders. Since I have bought many cars, all second hand, although the currency have changed. (Only once bought a car new for my wife in the early 80s)

I must admit I do like auto-boxes these days for my daily drive. What started off as something that was pre-scribed to me by the company doctor (severe RSI problems in neck, shoulders, arm), has now become something I just genuinely enjoy. I do like my MT cars too, but not for daily driving. Anything with more than 200BHP should come with an autobox default.

The way I choose my cars has not changed much, other than I can afford to buy slightly more expensive second hand cars these days. I don’t have a long list of requirements. If anything the number of requirements has come down somewhat. In the past some of the car had to fit a family of five, with luggage. One great thing of the kids growing up, you don’t need to factor in their transportation requirements anymore.

I tend to buy cars first and foremost on looks/visuals. Some cars I like the look of, others I just don’t. E.g. I don’t like the look of any Porsches, except the Panamera. It is the very first Porsche I really like, so talk about evolving one’s preferences.

Proper handling is nice, but again not essential. My Jeep Cherokee was absolutely lethal in wet conditions, but I loved it to bits.

Once I like the look, I will check it out technically. There are few options / features that would be essential to me. There are some I do like; I think an electric heated front window is the best thing since sliced bread. Very few manufacturers offer it. Most commonly found on Fords I find.

Apart from the outside, I find it very important on how the dashboard and the steering wheels and controls look and feel. I won’t buy the car, if I don’t like the steering wheel. I am not necessarily looking at high end materials, or fancy gauges. Again, I go mostly by look and feel. I know when I like it or not.

There is one thing that is always important to me; Will the car fit me comfortably. I am 1.93m tall and even in some modern cars that can be a stretch.

Another aspect is colour; I won’t buy a car if it is white/black/grey. Never have, and I never will.

I have always been interested in the underlying technology. As a rule, the more the better, preferably nice and complex. So having a lot of features and gadgets on board is always interesting.

So all in all, I don’t think overall my preferences have evolved much. Obviously, cars have evolved a lot and what is available to me, second hand or otherwise has vastly increased. But the basic approach to choosing and buying my car has not. I don’t need to read the spec sheet or the review. I just need to look at it and sit in it.

One thing has changed. The ownership of my cars used to be measured in months, sometimes weeks and once or twice in days. These days I tend to hold on much longer to all of my cars. Which is probably also a reflection that these days I am in position to buy better cars.

Jeroen

[fhdowntheline]

I think its called "age"
But seriously, I have also begun to appreciate the following:

1) Importance of everyday city runabouts
2) Pure engine specs mean nothing in real life. I had a Polo TSI that was more punchy than its garage siblings like the Duster and City. But my usage was 75% urban, so it was of no use having 104 horses under the hood. In hindsight, I was probably better off in the Ignis-which was a strong contender when I brought the Polo, also cheaper by a good 1.5 lac.
3) YOLO works only up to a certain age. Beyond that, you begin to look at future finances and wealth management. So your choice of cars also sobers down unless Vitamin M is available in ample reserve.
4) 0-100 timings dont impress me anymore, as it is one more impractical statistic. And usually you have horses for courses these days. No one expects a Bolero to compete with a Creta on a drag run. On the other hand, you dont expect a Creta to go where the Bolero can , especially with load. And most cars in a category have fairly comparable "every day" performance.

I also become a convert to automatic for the past 3 years.

[padmrajravi]

I have started appreciating reliability more than anything these days. Few years back, I was fine with spending a few days extra at the service centre to get the car that appealed to my heart. I have realized hat time is money and I have decided I cannot even afford a single unscheduled service centre visit.

Ever since I had a little girl, my worst nightmare is getting stranded on road while traveling with her. And I need a car that just works everyday without fail.

[JishD]

Interesting thread and it's funny how choices change as one mellows with age. Earlier it was all about getting the fastest car within budget , preferably a small hatch for that 'go-kart' feel and 'sleeper' look.

Now I'm looking to upgrade from my polo GT to an 'all in one' family car and the criteria are :

1. Proper automatic with active/passive safety features
2. Good space for 5 but manageable footprint
3. Refined soft suspension with low NVH
4. Easily accessible power ( go turbo !)
5. Parent friendly ingress/egress
6. Should have the looks for a second 'palat'

The only car which fulfils all criteria seems to be the Karoq , but it's at least 5L above budget , plus Skoda has unfortunately withdrawn it now !