[anjan_c2007]

India was used to fully built units (FBU) or semi knocked down kits (SKD) of imported automobiles. Thereafter we had completely knocked down kits (CKD) sometime since the 1950's. The imported SKD and CKD kits would be assembled in the plant of the manufacturer in India. After the Tariff Commission (set up in 1951) report became effective in 1957 it put an end to imports and only the selected, licenced manufacturers having a long time commitment to stay put and manufacture in India were allowed under the "LICENCE RAJ".

We would like members to vote for the most long lasting car/s in India ever since the Indian manufacturing took off. The initial brands India started with were Fiat, Ambassador (including its older models the Hindustan 10, 14 and Landmaster), Standard and Willys for four wheelers. Hence restricting ourselves to four wheelers only we exercise our vote for the durable cars that have outlasted their longevity and still lug on. The winds of change sweeping our markets since the mid 1980's and since the 1990's and early 2000's when full equity participation by foreign automobile manufacturers were allowed are also taken care of. Quite many of the brands and common models (old and current) get listed here.

The moot point is to get an idea about the great survivors. Comments, justifications and elaborations are invited in posts by members.

[for_cars1]

Two cars come to mind that have stood the test of time spanning multiple decades. 1)The Hindustan Ambassador and 2) "Fiat" aka Premier Padmini.
Have to admit they are a rare sight in Bangalore these days, but I've seen both of these models plying on our roads as recently as last 7 days.

The Marut 800 gets my vote for 3rd spot.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

The moot point is to get an idea about the great survivors. Comments, justifications and elaborations are invited in posts by members.

We have attempted to cover all the car models that are strictly older than 15 years here as the survivors of later models can only be concluded during polls in the later years. Errors and Omissions could be Expected (E & OE) though !

[wildsdi5530]

The obvious winner is the 2nd Gen Honda city. But the Hondas are conspicuously absent. It was produced after the rust buckets and thus most are cosmetically good even today. Also it was before the cost cutting and material shortage generation. Surely in India the 2000s were the best years.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Errors and Omissions could be Expected (E & OE) though !

OT: Sorry to nitpick, but E & OE stands for "Errors and omissions excepted", not "expected".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erro...sions_excepted

[Candy$Cars]

I guess the Honda City is missing from the list. I still see quite a lot of City on roads.

My vote goes to the Matiz.
It was my father's 1st car bought in 2000. For the next 6 years, the cute little car hauled our family of 5 all the way from hilly terrain of remote Sonebhadra to Lucknow, a journey of well over 13 hrs in those days. Next 8 years were also spent in sub-urban areas.
With the closure of Daewoo and we living in remote locations, the car received just shoddy maintenance from unknown mechanics but it chucked along.
It was as if the car had emotions. Not once in entire 14 years, it brokedown midway. During the last 4 or odd years it suffered some breakdowns but always after taking us to our destination. We would come to know it had broken down only the next day - this with questionable maintenance and unknown spare parts.
Finally we sold it in 2018, the new owner was still using it and managed to maintain it better than us the last we checked!
I know it won't win this poll mainly because very few would have kept a Daewoo for long and maintaing them was tough but to us it turned out to be very reliable.
I wish Daewoo was alive today, it would have been the only Korean i could have trusted with my money.

[Sanidhya mukund]

Only three cars come to mind:

Toyota Innova, Qualis and Fortuner.

These are the only cars that I have personally seen running trouble free even after lakhs of kilometers. All the other enlisted models, including the Bolero are highly niggle prone, even in the initial years of their lives. Even the body on frame Tatas suffer from quite a few electrical gremlins. (Early Sierras and Estates were even worse).

The average Innova or Qualis would have started life as the dependable companion for a family. As the years go by, they change multiple hands, going from taxi cab operators to breakdown assistant vans, Ambulances, and even load carriers. The interiors and body may perish with heavy use, but the robust engine, gearbox and underpinnings keep going on and on. Needless to say, they do need their timely oil changes and belts etc., but other than that, things rarely go wrong.
A construction contractor I know bought a new Qualis for family use in 2004. The car saw its fair share of road trips, school runs and movie outings. It still lives today, carrying tiles, bricks, cement bags etc. The interiors are all gone, the lights and grilles all broken, the body out of alignment, but the car still runs with 3.8 lakh kilometers.

The W124 is known to be extremely durable, but I personally feel that in the Indian context, it doesn't fare all that well. Parts are also not that easy to find and not all mechanics would agree to work on this car.

I find it quite ironic that the venerable Amby is called durable. It was one of the most breakdown prone, poorly built cars that was extremely susceptible to rust. If the body itself rusts, what else is left to be called durable?
The only thing that worked in its favor were the simple mechanicals that allowed it to be fixed by anyone with a brain and a toolbox.

[@og_adi]

First car that comes to my mind-

Maruti 800

Even though the production of this car started long before I was born, the legacy of this car is not unknown and hence remains a legend forever.

1st Generation (1983-1986)-




Few pointers-
1) The car was launched on 14th December 1983 at a price of 48,000 rupees.

2) The first car was handed over to Harpal Singh by the then PM Indira Gandhi.
More on that story here- https://www.hindustantimes.com/india...Fl8jU3rwK.html

3) Specs-


2nd Generation (1986-1997)-



Exterior and Interior changes were made just a little over 3 years after this car was launched. The engine and gearbox remained the same.

MPFI 1997-

In 1997, Maruti added multi-point fuel-injection to the car, thus bringing an end to the carburettor-era. Along with the new MPFI system, the engine was also given 4-valves per cylinder, which made it not only cleaner in terms of emissions, but also more fuel-efficient and powerful than before. The gearbox was also upgraded to a 5-speed unit.

(Source: Indian auto website)

Specs-


The car lived on till 2014, when it was discontinued by its maker. An absolute legend made a first car for many thanks to its affordability. It definitely ruled the small car market and always had a special place in people's hearts. A car still very famous on our roads. Issues related to the 800 are still easily rectified by any road side mechanics which is a great factor contributing to its durability over the years.

A picture with 3 800s from different generations-



A nice video covering all generations and face-lifts of the 800-

https://youtu.be/wIUzMzXzyxs

[PaddleShifter]

Durability: It should be measured both in terms of years of running as well as the odometer.

If a car is driven mainly on the highways for say 200-400km daily, any car would do 3-4 lacs km or maybe more. Drive the same car in city for 5-10km daily and part replacement will come up in much less than 1 lac km.

Cars with modern gadgets, sensors and electronics can’t compete fairly in this race. So that leaves us with cars from 90s and 2000s.

I have voted for Maruti Alto (2000ish models). Reason for voting are as follows:

Quite a lot of them are still running on the roads (unlike few Ambassadors, Contessa and Fiat 1100s).
Most have got basic components such as power steering, AC, power windows. Unlike the Maruti 800 from the 90s which was a pure mechanical package.
Most of these are being used for shorter commutes (in contrast to Innovas/ Qualis/ Tavera from that same period). Still, they are aging well.

I havent voted for classics for the reason that only a few exceptional ones are running. Moreover, these cars were never run the same way that we run cars today. Most cars in those years never touched 1 lac Km odo. Same goes for Santro/Matiz etc. Very few from late 90s and 2000 are running on the roads to be considered for voting.

[CEF_Beasts]

IMHO, it’s the Innova ( & Qualis) that has stood the test of time, and are extraordinarily durable due to their strong mechanical fundamentals.

Although, I’m not denying that other similar vintage cars haven’t stood the test of time. Just that for me it was the Innova.

We had a 2005 Petrol Silver Mica Metallic Innova, which was sold in 2014. Our car was the G4 Petrol variant, one below the top-spec V at that time. It was out of the first 500 Innovas to be delivered in India.

It’s the car that I have traveled as a kid to till I was a teenager. The bond that the car had with me was something indescribable!

Being a petrol, it was extremely silent on the outside and miles ahead in terms of performance compared to the 2.5L Diesel Innova, Scorpio, Sumo, Safari, and Taveras of that vintage, a 12.xx second 0-100kmph from an MPV in 2005 was unheard of.

With a very smooth ride quality, excellent stability at highway speeds and brilliant brakes, it was a proper highway cruiser.

And in those 8 years that the car was with us, not once did it strand us in the middle of the road, this made my parents true believers of Toyota’s reliability standards and we will continue to be their customers, even if it means we have to get a base variant of their “true” car due to the massive price hikes in today’s day and age, basically a no-nonsense point A-to-B car.

Towards the end of our ownership ie. 2013, diesel car sales had sky-rocketed and a petrol Innova at a petrol-pump would be admired by all fuel-attendants. I recall a incident where a fuel-attendant asked 5 times what diet the car had, and shouted to the other attendants “dekho Petrol Innova ayi hein” (see a petrol Innova has come to fill fuel). Fuel efficiency in Mumbai traffic was 7-9 kmpl.

It had run 92,000 kms in 8 years it was with us, in 2014 we decided to upgrade to a Fortuner, and had to bid good-bye to this wonderful car. The person who bought the Innova which we sold to Toyota U-Trust, has added a CNG-kit and is enjoying the epitome of reliability and durability.

Now the Fortuner was not the perfect upgrade to the Innova, which we have understood overtime, but that discussion is for another day. The ride quality being the major negative of the Fortuner compared to the Innova.

My friend has a 2005 Red Mica Metallic Petrol V Innova, and he has still kept his car with him. He upgraded his to the type-3 model and is still using it like it was since day 1.

Several other first-gen type 1 Innovas still exist on the road, one Diesel Innova in Kerala has completed 9,99,999kms and is still continuing, just speaks about Toyota’s durability. And the Qualis is another Toyota that continues to be seen on roads, compared to it’s similar vintage competitors. FYI, Toyota still sells spare parts of the Qualis. The Fortuner will also join this league in a few years. The legendary D-4D engines will continue to live on.

PS: The Innova is the car that got me my T-BHP membership, it was the car I wrote about while registering. A car that will always be in my heart.

[DicKy]

Ambassador has been durable sheerly on the basis of its long production run and almost market monopoly.

But durable cars on the vehicle's capability.

800, Omni, Qualis.

Future models.

Eeco, Innova, Fortuner.

[akn1984]

First would be Ambassador!

Still see a lot of them around! Even as old as 1966 and 1967 models!

Second and third would be Fiat Premier Padmini and Maruti 800!

[TorqueMonster]

Now for this, there are only 3 options. The first and most importantly, the Innova. The Innova is a brand in itself, and that is only because of its excellent durability which it has shown throughout its run, be it the people moving first Gen, or the now more comfortable yet slightly overpriced Crysta. Personally, as someone who regularly travels in both, the car is excellent.

2nd comes to a car which I own myself, and another one of the Cabbies favourites. The Swift Dzire. I own petrol, and the car is still silky smooth. And in 12 years of its existence, except for one slight suspension problem, never has the car even broken down for any issue. I could crank up the car and take it anywhere, it is the best fill it and forget it type of sedan. The seats are decently comfortable too, with excellent bootspace. Well maintained versions of this car can still fetch 2.5 lakhs despite over 10 + years because of how well the car ages. The only downside is safety, my car has no airbags, and this motivates me to eventually change it, despite all the reliability.

Lastly, the Marshall or Armada, that class of Mahindra Jeeps. Cars way older than my age still carry passengers and goods across the toughest of hills without breaking a sweat, a testament to its ruggedness.

[sunikkat]

I see more of old Zen on road more than any of the older models in Bangalore. Hardly see any Qualis here. For that matter I see lot of gen 1 Octavia’s too.

[Sran]

Originally Posted by @og_adi

MPFI 1997-

Attachment 2300410


(Source: Indian auto website)

Specs-
Attachment 2300411

The car lived on till 2014, when it was discontinued by its maker. An absolute legend made a first car for many thanks to its affordability. It definitely ruled the small car market and always had a special place in people's hearts. A car still very famous on our roads. Issues related to the 800 are still easily rectified by any road side mechanics which is a great factor contributing to its durability over the years.

The MPFI model was launched in late 1999 or early 2000. I had a mid 1999 model and it was a carburetor one.