[extreme_torque]

The poll to me is flawed.... you just cant catagorise a car as having a supreme thud or reliability. Havent voted.

[cruiser_1982]

We cannot compare India with Europe or USA. The traffic discipline in those places guarantees negligible chances for Denting or damaging your bumper. But in India, almost every day a bicycle or a bike or a car keeps scratching our car. That is why we need a vehicle with a higher gauge metal sheets + supreme reliabilty and crumple zones for those high speed collision. We dont need either of the options in the poll, but a combination of both.

[Buffetfan]

Originally Posted by pawan_pullarwar

For me, heavy metal matters, because it gives me the driving pleasure. I do not want a car to be driven, I want to drive it, and I want to feel it. In my openion European cars gives that feel.

The meaning of build quality means definitly reliable, safer and rattle free.

E.g. Sometimes back I did change the front lower arm of my Palio, and the replaced one lying in my car for few days. My brother inform me that he also going to replace the front lower arm of hi Baleno. We both went together, I found that Baleno's lower arm were much lighter than Palio's and to my surprise it Baleno's lower arm were 30% more costlier than my Palio's.

So some of the parts may be cheaper for European cars than Japanies one.

But I would vote for Thud, if there would be option for Thud+Build I would have voted it.

For all the thickness of the Palio lower arms, a friend's Palio had alignment problems in their cars and ate tires quickly. In addition, I have seen suspension failure on the car as well.

Nothing of that sort in my 5 year / 66k old Baleno till now. Still original suspension and still no issue with tires. In fact the maruti 800 that my father bought when I was a kid had better quality than the solidly built but niggles prone Fiat Uno that I owned.

If your life keeps you busy, there is no substitute for hasslefree ownership - It was Baptism by Fire for me after I owned the Uno.

PS: The Baleno doors also close with a pretty satisfying thunk even if the car is lighter than the palio.

[ramzsys]

@buffetfan Individual cases cannot be generalised sir, for even my 80k + run palio and uno was niggle free. Palio suspension is a class apart and since it is news that palio is out of the Indian market, let the soul rest in peace.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

i have a innova & scorpio. the innova, being a toyota, is the epitome of reliability. but the build of the scorpio is much much better.
on the other hand, the scorpio, though not supremely reliable like the innova, enjoys a much tougher build which makes me "feel" safer inside.

I think the comparo is flawed. You are comparing the build of a SUV (supposedly built tough) to a van. The Scorpio should be compared to a Safari or Endy or some such SUV.

Originally Posted by sdp1975

IMHO, reliability is different for me. It means no sudden and unexpected breakdown on the roads.

Ain't that what is the general definition for "reliability" for most of us ? Not sure what is different for you.

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

I think the comparo is flawed. You are comparing the build of a SUV (supposedly built tough) to a van. The Scorpio should be compared to a Safari or Endy or some such SUV.

i have even compared the innova to the santro! even that is flawed, i agree. assumption is the 'van' should be more sturdy than the 'hatchback'. but fact is the santro feels more sturdy than the innova.

here we are comparing the reliability & build in general, not specific to any class i suppose. since i own the innova & scorpio, i compared them. moreover, i feel reliabilty & build quality are generic terms & need not be classified into specific categories of vehicle. for example, IMO an indica is built tougher than a swift & a fabia has a better build quality than a corolla.

[Jayabusa]

Build quality has to be about the thud or sturdiness of the car. Supreme reliability is an altogether different territory IMHO.

[GordonGekko]

Solid (thud) build and extremely responsive to the driver.

[vikrantj]

I voted for none. Since I strongly believe in a reliable car shutting with a strong thud.

So do not want to segregate both these aspects which are so important in a vehicle when considering the drivabililty and safety of passengers inside. So for me it is not a either-or situation but a must-have situation for the points in the polls

--Vikrant

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

but fact is the santro feels more sturdy than the innova.

Hmm. Interesting. And how did you arrive at this "fact" ? Ignore what you "feel" - feelings vary from person to person.

Originally Posted by raj_5004

here we are comparing the reliability & build in general, not specific to any class i suppose. since i own the innova & scorpio, i compared them. moreover, i feel reliabilty & build quality are generic terms

IIRC you also own an AL bus. So, should we then be comparing the Innova with the bus also ?

The thread surely is about reliability & build. But that does not mean, we can compare apples with oranges for these 2 factors.

P.S. : I neither own a innova or Scorpio - so does not matter to me which is built tough. Just that the comparison is flawed.

[WindRide]

They can't be seperated. Hence haven't voted.

[pawan_pullarwar]

Originally Posted by Buffetfan

For all the thickness of the Palio lower arms, a friend's Palio had alignment problems in their cars and ate tires quickly. In addition, I have seen suspension failure on the car as well.

Nothing of that sort in my 5 year / 66k old Baleno till now. Still original suspension and still no issue with tires. In fact the maruti 800 that my father bought when I was a kid had better quality than the solidly built but niggles prone Fiat Uno that I owned.

If your life keeps you busy, there is no substitute for hasslefree ownership - It was Baptism by Fire for me after I owned the Uno.

PS: The Baleno doors also close with a pretty satisfying thunk even if the car is lighter than the palio.

I would say, though Palio is heavier than Baleno, Fiat made lower arm stronger to handle the weight. But the build quality of suspenstion may not be as good as Baleno.

I did changed my front suspenstion and front lower arm in 40,000 KM. But the way I drive my palio, any car can not retain the suspension or lower arm till 50K. I never slow down my Palio on rural roads or the road packed with graves. Also out of 40,000 KM my city driving is only 10K KMs.

I will give you an example of my driving pattern, when other cars drove at 30 KMPH due to bad road, I run my palio on the same road at 50 KMPH.

But I did not do rash driving. There is a difference in rash driving and fast driving. I just do not care about the road.

[shishir_bn]

Best build quality IMO for indian standards in the AMBASSADOR car. You need not have ABS or airbag for that car.

[inreverse]

My three cents... In an end user perspective

1. When you close the doors of a solid car...The exhilarating sound of a mild THUD...rather than the sound of a "Shops Shutter" coming down is what I call the sound of build quality.

2. The car that carries no smell of plastics in it's greehouse... Inertness to plastic smell...That's the aroma of build quality.

3. Robustness... Does the car instill a feeling of safety and arouse the sense of driving a four wheeled tank? That's the sense of build quality.

[harishnair]

IMHO both the factors mentioned in the poll is required in the car to classify it as a well built car.

The 'Thud' gives you the first impression that the materials used to build it are of the top order and the 'reliability' factor helps you in deciding whether the materials are well put together. So you cant possibly say that the car is of supreme build quality just because it satisfies either one of the criteria.