[McLaren Rulez]

This isn't a buying thread but springs from a discussion yesterday with my family about reliable cars in our market. In your opinion, what car from those sold today in the 10L range would be the best choice for someone looking for maximum reliability and dependability?

I am interested in a vehicle that is a true fill it, shut it, forget it type of car. Regular services and nothing else. No major unexpected breakdowns but also minimal minor niggles. I do not want to hear squeaks and rattles, nor the minor but still annoying downtime due to non critical part failures.

Bonus points if the vehicle can take a bit of abuse and still deliver the qualities above.

My top candidate is the Etios/Liva but this is from hearsay and not actual experience. Any others that might fit the bill?

[AYP]

Even I would say the Etios/Liva. But as you said, this is more of an armchair opinion formed by going through forums like ours. The Toyota brand name being a synonym for reliability in the automotive world doesn't help either.

The Yaris J variant can perhaps be another addition to the list.

[Rajeevraj]

The Etios petrol is definitely the one that comes to mind. Definitely reliable, and although does not seem solidly built, it has good crash test ratings. We have a driver driven 8 year , 120k run Etios in the family. No squeaks and rattles too.

Not exactly sub 10L, the Ecosport is another one that satisfies the criteria in general.

Having said that, while in general we can say some cars are more reliable and maintenance free than others, it would be difficult to consistently say one model that is guaranteed to be low maintenance and does not give niggles or rattles. Depends on your luck too.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

I am interested in a vehicle that is a true fill it, shut it, forget it type of car. Regular services and nothing else. No major unexpected breakdowns but also minimal minor niggles. I do not want to hear squeaks and rattles, nor the minor but still annoying downtime due to non critical part failures. Bonus points if the vehicle can take a bit of abuse and still deliver the qualities above.

The candidate has to be a sales hero. This automatically eliminates lots of issues related to ownership (parts availability, quality of work done by service center, reliability etc). Think of sales numbers as a collective vote by the car-buying public. Even if there are major or minor reliability issues or niggles, the feedback from service center/ customer to manufacturer more or less ensures that such issues don't crop up after passage of time.

Related threads:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...-team-bhp.html (Reliability and hassle-free ownership: Perceptions of popular car brands on Team-bhp)
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...-sell-car.html (Perception, Price and Looks : The factors that sell a car)

[aamateen46]

If we equate reliability to fewer chances of niggles or failures then it would be the Etios twins. The sales heroes, Swift / Dzire, would come next, in my experience as an owner.

[ashis89]

My experience with the Etios twins has been very less - six cabs in all and not all was well.

Two were brand new with less than 5k kms. So I wouldn’t comment on them. Another one was about 26k kms old and seemed tight except for an odd rattle once in a while. The last three had done 50-70 kms each and seemed well maintained aesthetically. However all of them had bad rattles in the cabin. Once had a squeaking noise of some belt, another one had a clunky front shock absorbers and the third one had a few electricals conked off. And all three drivers said the cars were maintained at TASS. It could have been coincidence with me and Etios but I haven’t been able to rate it highly.

For me, a fill it shut it forget it car would be some ‘older’ generation popular vehicle such as an Alto, Santro, WagonR, Celerio manual or the previous generation Swift/Dzire and in their petrol avatar. They lack much electronics and gizmos but their fundamental strengths in place - reliable engine, decent brakes and abuse friendly suspension. And when something goes wrong, you have service everywhere, spares are easy locate and cheap to purchase.

These are my thoughts after comparing ownership experience and cost of my WagonR K10 vs. friends and relatives who own other sub-10 lakh cars such Altos, Santro, Swift, Jazz, Balenos, i20, Gi10, Polo, Verito/Logon and so on.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Regular services and nothing else. I do not want to hear squeaks and rattles, nor the minor but still annoying downtime due to non critical part failures.

Bonus points if the vehicle can take a bit of abuse and still deliver the qualities above.

My vote goes to the Dzire. Have had the opportunity to sit in examples that have done 1.5lac km plus as yellow boards and felt like new. Of course the owners loved them and that was evident from the way the interiors had been maintained but they are proof enough that the cars can be rattle free if driven well.

Reliability is a given anyway.

Abuse is different things for different people. If one is a reckless driver/owner, anything will end up rattling and having premature wear and tear.
If you are referring to heavy use, the Dzire will easily take it in its stride.

[adi_gt]

The New Honda City ZX 2005-2008 models were relatively niggle free.

[landcruiser123]

Going by our Toyota experience with the Qualis followed by the Innova, it has been nothing but stellar. I don't think cars today are unreliable like how some cars were in the past. As long as you stick to Toyota, Hyundai, Maruti- parts should be easily available in almost all service centers. Honda and Fords are also very reliable, but I've heard complaints about rarely used parts sometimes not being available in small towns. Companies like Tata and Mahindra were known to have many niggles in the first year of the product launch, but guess what- looks like they have upped their game. What is shocking is the number of niggles with the Honda City and Toyota Innova Crysta.

However, build quality is something that has gone south in Indian made cars. I feel that in the Ciaz in my house. The '06 Getz felt more solid. If you want rattle free, abuse-tolerant build quality, buy a Toyota or a Hyundai.

[VKumar]

Having experienced the Toyota 1.4 D-4D (In Corolla though), I can vouch for the reliability of this particular engine - it just keeps going and going and going ever further.

But two vehicles which I feel are true rugged and reliability kings under 10 lac are:

• Mahindra Bolero 2.5 - they just refuse to die, there are multiple copies with 4-5 lac on odo and still going strong like an Innova
• Tata Sumo Gold 3.0 - That block is a straight lift from Tata 407; enough said

I have seen more copies of Etios/Liva or other cars those were broken down, but looking at those old and rickety Boleros still doing 100 kph on highways and the drivers vouching for the reliability (They say, "Saahab engine par penchkas aaj tak nahi laga (Sir, no screwdriver has touched the engine till now)") makes me believe that if one wants a truly rugged and reliable car under 10 lac, it has to be a Bolero 2.5 (I guess discontinued now) or a Tata Sumo Gold 3.0

Going by my past experience, only a few engines I know which are capable of going past 3 lac kms fuss free, ones available under 10 lac are (all are diesels BTW):

• Mahindra 2.5 DI (Most reliable engine after Toyota 2.5 D-4D IMO)
• Tata 3.0 DI
• Renault 1.5 K9K (Mahindra Verito / Nissan Micra tune)
• Toyota 1.4 D-4D
• Tata 1.4 DI/TDI (I have seen Indicas and Indigos with everything failed but engine running, had been once in an Indigo XL cab, with 4.3 lac on odo and untouched engine)

What I have noticed is, these big blocks end up being highly reliable when they make such modest power figures. There is hardly any stress on a 3.0 making 70 bhp as compared to a 1.5 making 125.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

what car from those sold today in the 10L range would be the best choice for someone looking for maximum reliability and dependability?

I am interested in a vehicle that is a true fill it, shut it, forget it type of car.

That's hardly a requirement - it is more or less the accepted standard today. This is like saying "I want a car with 4 power windows". Reliability should no longer be a purchase criteria (unless you are looking at the complex luxury cars).

Almost every car under 10 lakhs is reliable today, with very few exceptions. Forget the sedans being discussed here, I have seen cheaper Eecos, i10s & WagonRs which have delivered a fuss-free 1.5 - 2.0 lakh km. How much more reliability does one need?

Of course, do look up ownership reports once you zero in on the car. As an example, my otherwise stellar Nissan Sunny has suffered 2 air-con problems in 50,000 km (still not a deal-breaker IMHO). Some Tata + Renault (Kwid) + VW cars also suffer niggles / problems.

[avisidhu]

GTO has summed it up nicely. You will have to look really hard to find an unreliable car in this price bracket

Still if it's such a big deal, try going for any product which is mature in its life cycle. New product launches even from trusted brands are encountering niggles nowadays (City, Verna).

The i20 for instance should hopefully have all niggles sorted by now, and gives the kind of upmarket interiors that a 10L price point should command (Just giving an example, no first hand experience).

Etios/Liva are too much of a compromise interior wise, in lieu of perceived reliability.

[vinair]

Originally Posted by GTO

Almost every car under 10 lakhs is reliable today, with very few exceptions. Forget the sedans being discussed here, I have seen cheaper Eecos, i10s & WagonRs which have delivered a fuss-free 1.5 - 2.0 lakh km. How much more reliability does one need?

Second that! Don't think I have come across any car that just cannot pick itself and run nowadays. Talk about industry best practices, almost all cars from different manufacturers are pretty competent in their own little world. However, if you start getting into the specs, then there are positives and negatives which I guess is purely depended on what one's looking for!

[SPARKled]

There is always a risk of lemons across any car maker. So pick up a brand that treats its customers well and is ready to work with you in case of a problem. So rather than worrying about a particular car that's reliable, coz in general they all are, research on the maker and how well have they historically managed aggrieved customers.

[IshaanIan]

In my experience, if absolute reliability is what you are looking for, you need to eliminate diesel and look at a NA petrol because it is a far less complicated drive-train with far more predictable amounts of stress on other components, then the vehicle needs to be as basic as possible. Testimony of that would be my 15 year old WagonR which has done nearly 2 lac kms and has never ever been pampered infact it has dealt with some major abuse throughout its life and received very little attention in terms of maintenance and I still have no idea if it will give up on us anytime soon it seems ready to go for another 15 years perhaps. The car helped me learn how to drive, took me through my adrenaline filled teenage years of rash driving, was driven by driver, and mom and dad too, has taken me through headlight-deep levels of water where even a Fortuner got stuck, and the car has simply never ever ever given up on me. Not once in its 2 lac km abuse filled life, has it ever left me or anyone in my family stranded.

I have had some terrible rides in Etios taxis and some of them were brand new yet had major issues. I hear there are several taxi owners who are suing Toyota as well over unexpectedly high maintenance for the Etios so my Vote goes to all the base model petrol Marutis and Hondas that come under that price.