[sandeepmdas]

Almost 75% of the folk I know (from all walks of life) pronounce Mitsubishi as "MISS thu bishi".

[vipul_singh]

On a trip deep in the hills of Uttaranchal we buckling up just before starting off. A lady (clearly a tourist) with her husband and kid in tow remarks (loudly) : 'Arre...kya yahan bhi seat belt ka challan kat jata hai?' (Oh! Do the police challan you for not wearing the seatbelts here too?')

I wonder when these people would people start wearning seatbelts for their own good and not for the Government's!

[kadanaJ]

Originally Posted by me@fiat

This weekend went to car accessories shop, there i met our family doctor, he was fixing new music system to newly acquired Alto.
When he saw my Palio 1.9D,

Dr: "which car do you own?"
I : "Fiat"
Dr: "is it a tata car?"
I : "No Dr. Have you heard of FIAT?????... It's FIAT"
Dr: he looked puzzled, and again said "ohhh Ford, they make nice cars"
I : (Damn!!!!! leave it...i will kill you for this)

God Help me, dont know why i came across such people frequently????

Just tell him it's the Italian Company that owns Ferrari. That should be more than enough to impress any normal non-petrolhead.

[Arkin evoisrevo]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

And in the same way Maruti car means 800 and maruti van means omni

Well, the Omni was introduced in India as Maruti Van, and was later renamed. I think it was the same for the M800.

[allajunaki]

LOL!! On a more serious note, the white line can act like a good guide in the night time. I usually use it as an additional reference while driving at the night.

Also, in night I generally align the car on the center of the road, even on a 4 lane one because you never know where you might find a car or truck parked with no hazard lights in the night, so center of the road will give me more headroom in either direction.
All this, with reference to a road with divider though

Originally Posted by raaga

This weekend drink is going to be a blast courtesy this thread. Here is my contribution, few year back I was traveling with my friend in his CAR at around 11 PM. He seems to be enjoying the drive on the middle of the road. I ask him, why do not you drive in one of the lane may be left or right? For a minute he stare me (as if I had done some crime) and then broke his silent and saying that “you know the purpose of this white line is to guide the driver in night and help him/her to keep the CAR on the central of line” Haaa I was speech less after hearing this from him. After coming out of shock, i tried to explain but he was very sure of his knowledge

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

Another point for this OT discussion: colgate is still a synonym for toothpaste.

I have seen many villagers at my native place ask for "one packet (of) Brittania" and casually saunter away with whatever brand of biscuit the shopkeeper hands out! For them Brittania = biscuit!

And for them any SUV is a "Sumo"! Irrespective of whether you have arrived by Safari/Scorpio/Tavera/Qualis/Innova, they will invariably say you have arrived by Sumo!

[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

Just tell him it's the Italian Company that owns Ferrari.

He may reply like "Oh Ferrari..... CEO of Ford isnt it?"

[coloneljasi]

Originally Posted by vivekji05

Beautiful thread this one.

One incident that happened at a Tata service centre in Cochin.

The lady at the reception greets a customer who had come back, the next day.

Cust: Njan innale ente vandi ivide service cheyyan kondu vanirunnu.
(I had brought my vehicle for service yesterday.)

Lady: Parayu Sir, Njan orkunnu. Enthu patty sir?
(Ofcourse sir, I remember. What happened?)

Cust: Athe, innale kurachu dooram odichu chennappozhanu, engine cheruthaayi missing kanikkunnu. Aarelem kondu onnu nokkikavo?
(Yes, after I drove certain distance, I noticed the engine was 'missing')

Lady: Illa sir, Angane varilla. Chilappol valla CD, USB angane okke miss aavarundu. Ingane ithu vare aarum paranjittilla. Sir sherikkum nokkiyo?
(Never sir. Sometimes, there were complaints about missing CDs and USBs, but we never had any complaints like this before. Did you double check?)

That 'Engine missing' was the first case reported in that service centre. Surprising. Or the lady could be new.

I've had new employees come up to me and ask for advice on cases where the customer had reported with engine missing. I loved to take a dig at them and would tell them in a straight face that they'd better go to the nearest police station and report it!

Nonetheless, I'd always correct them after seeing their clueless expressions and help them out. I'm yet to see someone repeat the same mistake after that treatment!

[Arkin evoisrevo]

Originally Posted by Gansan

I have seen many villagers at my native place ask for "one packet (of) Brittania" and casually saunter away with whatever brand of biscuit the shopkeeper hands out! For them Brittania = biscuit!

And for them any SUV is a "Sumo"! Irrespective of whether you have arrived by Safari/Scorpio/Tavera/Qualis/Innova, they will invariably say you have arrived by Sumo!

Many newspapers do the same. There was once a car accident reported in a Telugu paper, and the report said a Sumo met with an accident, while the picture was of a Tavera! The car in question actually was a Tavera, but still Eenadu called it a Sumo!

Originally Posted by coloneljasi

I've had new employees come up to me and ask for advice on cases where the customer had reported with engine missing.

Engine missing? What the hell do they mean??

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by Arkin evoisrevo

]
Engine missing? What the hell do they mean??

I think they were referring for the engine misfiring. Only thing I could think of.

[diwa]

Originally Posted by Arkin evoisrevo

Well, the Omni was introduced in India as Maruti Van, and was later renamed. I think it was the same for the M800.

I just remembered this incident.

This happened a few years after the Omni was launched. One of friends family had bought an Omni and we had gone for a long drive. The Omni stalled some where near Vandalur (outskirts of chennai). My friends dad couldn't identify the issue and tried reaching the service center ABT.

Mean while there was a local mechanic shop near by and the mechanic came forward to help us. My friend's dad was reluctant as it was a new vehicle but then it was late in the evening and he decided to take the help of the mechanic.

Mechanic: I know how to fix Omni's as they are the same as Maruti 800

Friend's dad: Ok. Please look into it. the car refuses to start.

Mechanic: Please open the Bonnet so that I can have a look.

My friends dad almost fainted.

[Arkin evoisrevo]

Originally Posted by diwa

Mechanic: Please open the Bonnet so that I can have a look.

My friends dad almost fainted.

Bonnet? Was he nuts? BTW, when was this, like which year? 1984? 1997?

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by Amartya

I think they were referring for the engine misfiring. Only thing I could think of.

Yup. "..engine missing a beat..."

[0-100]

Originally Posted by RajaTaurus

Jokes apart, I have come across few qualified(!) Mechanical(!) Engineers in Chennai have the same opinion about ABS and Airbags. No utility value for them as much as Mileage!

That's true. Unfortunately this is the case for many people. They are ready to spend 20,000 even on a sticker that would just enhance the looks of the car but not on ABS or airbags which could be the turning factor between life and death.

[Arkin evoisrevo]

There are people who buy an i20 sport and deck them up bringing the money the spent = the price of an i20 opt. with 6 airbags, and others who buy a swift Vxi (w/o ABS) and similarly deck it up and spend more than what they would've spent on a Zxi.