[pk_del]

Ask me about seeing a tow truck . Last month my GP's clutch slave cylinder failed and the clutch was totally depressed.

Tow truck charged me Rs 1500/= to tow the car to the nearest service station. Clutch was fixed under warranty but last night I faced the same issue.

I am currently fighting over emails that this time I will not shell out a penny for towing charges. This is Fiats issue, they changed the clutch under recall (not mass recall) and second time last month because of failure.

Is it Germans or particularly EU brands? My OHC (touchwood) never had such issues God bless Japanese and Koreans for their reliability.

-PK

[Sahil]

Great thread. I'd rate it 10 stars if I could

[pacman2881]

Originally Posted by nitrous

There's a critical point missed here.
Affordability.
Can the non-german owners afford a flat bed?

Affordability may be reason. But let's look at it in a different way.
What will be the percentage of German cars on Indian roads currently? Possibly 1% (or even less)? If we are to compare the number of German cars spotted on flat bed with number of Japanese and Korean cars towed normally as well as on a flat bed (keeping in mind the percentage) it seem to indicate that failure rate is higher among German cars.
This may be a crude analysis but still there is some truth to it.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by Parm

since we indians now have the buying power, thanks to the growth in economic status, and we indians are buying bigger brand value expensive cars.

BUT, i have experienced that sometimes we indians dont know about all the high tech gadgets inside these expensive cars.

maybe this inexperience leads to the fault in these cars and they end up stalling them!

once i was waiting for some meeting at a Honda service centre and this one gentleman came early to take the delivery of his new honda accord. he was so early that the salesman to handover his car was not there.

so i offered to give him a detailed tour of the buttons and gadgets in his accord, since he thought i was one of the employee.

believe me guys, this guy had money but no brain to understand the things on the dashboard!

so i dont blame the cars, when they end up on a flatbed truck, driven by us indians on the indian roads.

NOTE: my comments are not to offend us indians, but the lack of knowledge of some car owners about the high end cars is a fact.

Could you please let us know what buttons on the Honda Accord could be used to screw up mechanical parts?

[samyakmodi]

@srishiva

i don't think pram meant it that way.

@ topic

surprisingly i have never seen an audi getting towed anywhere.. (crashed cars would be a plenty, but i doubt their reliability is as **bad** as the competition)

[GForce1980]

I never thought that German cars were so unreliable. I actually thought that it was the American & Korean brands that were the trouble makers. Including the Czechoslovakians ofcourse. (Thank God for the Spelling Suggestions )

This thread is an eyeopener for me.

[AlokSriva]

Originally Posted by GForce1980

Including the Czechoslovakians ofcourse. (Thank God for the Spelling Suggestions )

OT - After the split in 1993, there isn't any country with that name any more. Now its Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Probably you were referring to Czechs

Coming back to topic -
Khoj correctly pointed out in his post about the reasoning of using a flat-bed truck.
Another factor one needs to keep in mind is the increase in sale of automatic vehicles. If for any reason, one isn't able to disengage the drive mode of a broken down auto, and vehicle is towed traditionally, god bless the car and its owner!

[longhorn]

When it comes to reliability, the Japanese beat everyone else, lock, stock and barrel. No two ways about it. And this is not just with cars. Reliability is the forte of the Japanese. The Koreans used to make really crappy cars in the 80's but have come a long long way since then. American cars are more like sofas on wheels. German cars are the safest of the lot but suffer from niggling reliability issues.

[luky_13]

Seems like AUDI is doing much better in the breakdown dept. Have not seen one on them flatbeds till now. On my last visit to Gurgaon i saw a E-class and a C-class on a trailer on the same day. If it were not for the pulleys on wheels I would have mistaken this 'ride-on-my-back' extravaganza for some kind of a marketing gimmick.

Come to think of it, is Deutschland loosing its engineering finesse? Hitler we want you back!

[Cyrus43]

Originally Posted by luky_13

Seems like AUDI is doing much better in the breakdown dept. Have not seen one on them flatbeds till now. On my last visit to Gurgaon i saw a E-class and a C-class on a trailer on the same day. If it were not for the pulleys on wheels I would have mistaken this 'ride-on-my-back' extravaganza for some kind of a marketing gimmick.

Come to think of it, is Deutschland loosing its engineering finesse? Hitler we want you back!

Really?? The only things from the past that I want back is pop up headlamps.... I dont think we want Hitler back.

And Id still buy german...buying a car as it is relaible is same like marrying a girl because she cooks well.... now who said that...

[Screwdriva]

Excellent thread! The last time Mercedes made good cars was in the early 90's. Take a look at the W124, W126 and even the W140's. Those cars are tanks that are running to this day.

The Germans have lost the plot. They no longer over engineer their cars, which makes them fancy bricks with wheels in India. (Perhaps the smaller VW's made still be reliable but thats about it)

I feel nothing but pity for the poor schmucks who spend crores on them.

[Parm]

Originally Posted by drsnt

Nothing personal but arent these so called gizmos or electronic wizardry meant to make a car more reliable and safer and most important of all easier to drive, can you tell me which high tech gadget will make your car go into "non working condition" if not used properly? beside the preventive measures such as fuel supply cut off in accident or ecu reducing rpm to avoid damage which have to work that way?

Originally Posted by srishiva

Could you please let us know what buttons on the Honda Accord could be used to screw up mechanical parts?

maybe my english is not that good or i wrote something incorrect in my reply.

@ drsnt and srishiva, there are no buttons or gadgets on the dashboard which if not used properly will stall the honda accord!

i request you to read my reply again:

"BUT, i have experienced that sometimes we indians dont know about all the high tech gadgets inside these expensive cars.

maybe this inexperience leads to the fault in these cars and they end up stalling them!"

please understand that it is always not the mechanical parts which screw up the cars, these days the electronics controls almost 90% of the car that even a small fuse stalls a car.

once while replacing ICE in my 328, it took 4 days to find the fault in the electric wiring and the car wont start!

[petroguzzler]

Originally Posted by Cyrus43

And Id still buy german...buying a car as it is relaible is same like marrying a girl because she cooks well.... now who said that...

OT: WICKED ONE

But reliability really matters some times esp. when in an hurry or adverse conditions.

[khoj]

Originally Posted by longhorn

When it comes to reliability, the Japanese beat everyone else, lock, stock and barrel. No two ways about it. And this is not just with cars. Reliability is the forte of the Japanese.

The Japanese actually have an American to thank for their reputation as manufacturers of consistently reliable products.

Originally Posted by longhorn

The Koreans used to make really crappy cars in the 80's but have come a long long way since then. American cars are more like sofas on wheels.

South Korea is the new Japan.
Not all American cars are sofas but yes most of the cars from any given American manufacturer usually are at two ends of the extreme.

Originally Posted by longhorn

German cars are the safest of the lot but suffer from niggling reliability issues.

I believe it is the French who actually have mastered the art of churning out safe and reliable cars.

[Mpower]

I hope all these cars are being sold with free and unlimited towing plan.

Originally Posted by khoj

The reason for using the flat beds is simple. You cannot tow a rear drive/ all wheel drive vehicle not even if you shift to neutral without creating additional mayhem within the drive train. Lifting the car from the rear would mean you will end up scraping everything up front from the bumper, to the condenser, radiator, sump, gear box housing etc etc.

RWD can be towed with one end lifted no problem but only full time AWD cannot towed like that. Back then, flatbeds were called for crashed vehicles where teh wheels were damaged, but nowadays its like a luxury they are used more liberally for all the reasons like low GC etc you mentioned.