[bbkp]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

Bcoz ABS helps steer the whole car away from danger and not just the front section. LOL

Shan2nu

But then having a better driver would make more sense - a bad driver is the last thing we want when it comes to safety - even ABS cannot save the day.

[raj_5004]

there are other possibilities too like their first car is some other sedan. maybe this is their son/daughter's car. the sedan must have gone for servicing or something & they might be using the swift. or else they use the swift for short trips & the sedan for office commutes. and many other reasons.

[ampere]

ABS and Airbags were some thing we used to pay a bomb to get, some time back. Now it has come down from that status to a normal-medium price difference. By that I mean at least in many vehicles it has already become standard while for some you can the difference. But these vehicles today are the 7-10L range vehicles. It still has to percolate down to the the 3-5L and finally to all vehicles. Economics still does not allow them to do that. As regards to ICE, I would say, we can choose what we want based on the taste and budget.

[GTO]

Lets not overlook the fact that, for a certain section of the market, buying the absolute "top-end" fully loaded variant is a MUST! I lost track of the number of customers who have walked into a Honda showroom and driven (chauffeur-driven) out in an OHC Vtec. Try explaining to them that a regular 1.3 or 1.5 would have served their purpose just as well, they'll hear none of it. For them, top-loaded means top-loaded.

Atleast the couple (and their driver) from Greenhorn's opening post got a safety feature in the ABS. I fail to understand what a chauffeur-driven Vtec owner got, over that of a 1.3 OHC.

[rohan_iitr]

There are many people who have a lot of money to spend on cars, but do not have sufficient knowledge, time and/or patience to compare car models and their variants.

Such people often go by hearsay and buy the best selling model in the segment, and generally the top end variant to have the peace of mind that the top end variant would have all features available in that model. Like I mentioned above, these people don't have the knowledge, time and/or patience to compare the features in the respective variants and select the best one which suits their requirements.

Also, buying the top end variant is considered a status symbol.

Rohan

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Such people often go by hearsay and buy the best selling model in the segment, and generally the top end variant to have the peace of mind that the top end variant would have all features available in that model.

I think the knowledge of features, models etc is secondary. Before reaching there, they should know what is it that they want. Awareness of one's need will prevent from being influenced by hearsay or sweet talking salesmen.

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Also, buying the top end variant is considered a status symbol.

Yes, cars are intricately linked with the social status. Point to prove in one-upmanship.