Indian Autos Thread

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 05 Dec 2010 17:49

For Indian roads, why all this range of cars, all one needs is a bus. I have decided that is what I want to buy next for a comfortable ride for both long distance and short travels. May also be able to make some money taking on additional passengers on the way.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 05 Dec 2010 21:05

3 people in back @ good comfort level.

must be SDREs only

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 06 Dec 2010 04:55

What India should do to promote green vehicles
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 033734.cms

Electric Vehicles Get Government Incentives
http://living.oneindia.in/automobiles/a ... 31110.html

niran · Post by **niran** » 06 Dec 2010 06:43

AdityaM wrote: Civic which doesnt appeal much in terms of looks to me. yes, Civic has got a digital odometer, but thats a cosmetic appeal which you will bore out of after 2 months of ownership.

so you don't like curves then? tell you how i came to own a civic
few years ago higher authorities were very benevolent and gave this SDRE slave more dollah than he could handle
suddenly me 16 years Beem was khatara

SHQ refused getting in i was cool, then kids refused, now, me was in a corner, went to a Honda showroom with SHQ with the aim to get Acord, while talking to the salesman SHQ exclaimed
(in Hindi of course) wow! what curves, me said he is a man, i prefer curves in wimmen, SHQ then rolled her eye and
you silly, i was talking about that Civic, look what nice rounded curves, rounded rear lights get this, no acord shecord,
and the rest is history.

see, it has more appeals than Corolla which have staid curveless boxy design.

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 06 Dec 2010 08:06

Pick up or not, five doors or not, when I see a fortuner, I move an extra foot to my left to give a wide berth. That one have a tremendous road presence, at least here in SDRE country. No wonder it sells.

My petrolhead 8yo is constantly trying to convince his petrolhead big uncle (ie. my own big bro) to buy one when he upgrades from Safari. I have managed to convince the poor lad that his dad is SDRE, who can afford 10L max for a car.

Apologies, but I HATE hondas. The shape, the (it's fine for SDRE) watered down features, the (let those SDRE suckers pay) overprice, all. Honda is in my 'never buy' list along with mickysoft and sony.

Toyoda looks too plain, a bit under spec'd, but I am not saying I won't buy one. I did like the shape and spec of the Etios, but the concerns about the lower weight turns me off.

I had a bad view on VW, but that is kind of changing somewhat.

The SHQ used to hate fiat, because of the name. Fiat reminds her of the premier padmini. "They make old cars" she said. But I was surprised to hear her go 'Wow' on a Linea, probably prompted by the ad, where a woman goes 'wow'.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 06 Dec 2010 08:28

I had rented a innova for the airport ride, since all the baggage would not fit in my santro. I was chatting up with the driver how I should have bought a Innova instead and it would have saved me a lot of trouble for long distance travel. With Automatic on my mind 4 years ago, there wasn't much of a choice with the self imposed constraint that I would not pay more than what I paid for my Sienna in massa for any car/van in India.

The guy said, don't worry saar you pay my boss rafiq Rs1.25 lakhs and he will give you a Beemer with driver for a full year no questions asked. At the end of the year I will get my Rs1.25 lakhs back too. I dunno if he was joking, but he was dead serious when he said that.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 Dec 2010 09:37

sounds too good to be true - the getting back 1.25L part.

by "3 people in back" - I mean two avg size adults and 2 kids....not overfed TFTA abdools. wife in front, inlaws/parents in back with the kids. Altis/Civic is adequate for that - for long drives too. anything smaller is not comfortable for longer drives with that payload (ANHC,Fiesta,Jazz,Linea,i20,Dzire)...but people do compromise and its manageable.

I dont think most car in the world is capable of holding 5 TFTA abdools in comfort. even the big ones like S_Class seem oriented to two cushy executive type sofa chairs in the back with middle area devoted to a armrest and gizmos. minivans have 3 rows but space issues in 3rd row.

once my santro expires in 5 yrs time, I am looking for something like the Jazz - just a big cardboard box with max interior space and foldable seats...good enough to back up into a lonely beach and sleep in (I hope the local thieves dont see me)

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 Dec 2010 10:01

Nov sales figures from tbhp
Civic: 477
CRV: 35
Corolla Altis : 784
Fortuner : 859
Polo : 1,975
Vento : 2,413
Skoda Laura: ~400
ANHC: 3000+

VW is clearly moving inventory fast...and for a 20L+ vehicles the Fortuner is selling like free heroin burgers in peshawar.

ANHC continues to be bread, butter and dosa for the big-H. they better have a decent plan to occupy the next lower segment with the Brio and introduce a good product with the new-Civic next yr in terms of VFM.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 06 Dec 2010 17:42

Singha, with all the loan sharks owning lexus, bmw, mercs in small towns in Kerala he was not joking. His boss has a big fleet of cars and buses too. It is all oil money flowing in black and they get invested in real estate and vehicles. It is hard to get single drivers in small towns of Kerala for short duration, since most drive their own cars or are attached to some 'company'.

Usually, NRIs buy and leave their cars in India for dual use

commercial runs with known parties when not in personal use. As long as locals lease it is ok. They need commercial license when carrying goras and furriners, or else will get caught is what I was told.

So moral of story is, BMWs, Totoyas and other high end vehicles are for taxis onlee in small town India.

Whereas, santros, Nanos and citys are for private owners driving themselves.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 06 Dec 2010 18:38

re: lack of drivers on demand, yes this is becoming a factor in small town Mallustan. father refuses and has refused for decades to buy or own a car. Simply hired one whenever he needed it - i.e. when mom is with him. I have flatly forbidden him to take her by bus or auto (when he's feeling like luxury

), which is his preferred mode of transport. SDRE to the core, in other words. It's not the lack of money, rather a form of hardheadedness I guess ("I was walking 10 km to school and back, with no food or water, and with various kalari-payatting assailants on the way" sort of thing). But of late he's been complaining about the availability of drivers...

When they're staying with me in Euroland, he turns his nose up at my A5 as if to say, "this new generation, soft headed, no idea how to live, lost all sense of values, pshaw...." Mom, is chuffed of course, she loves the way the whole dashboard and the rest of the bells and whistles lights up like a temple festival on an evening drive

- irritates him all the more!!!

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 06 Dec 2010 20:07

Talking about lack of drivers on demand, during our 4 day stay in Trivandrum, we had 3 drivers. Our driver who took us there from home, wanted to go back after dropping us off, since he claimed to have another long distance he would miss if he stayed and also bakdrid to attend to. So we did not have any on our first day there. We managed to find someone who showed up 3 hrs late the next day, I think he has a real job with sarkar and this was an extra for him for the day.

Next day he did not show up at all and did not even come to collect his pay to this day. Big mystery. So we scrambled again to find one for that half day and I was already banking on the next driver to take me to Bengaluru. But the guy was young and his 'company' did not trust him for long distance trip. So they sent another one the next day for the trip back home. He luckily stayed for the next 5 days for all my long road trips.

If you want a driver in Kerala, you got to book a vehicle along with the person these days.

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 06 Dec 2010 20:38

Well, I see a lot of bijness cards dropped in in the mailbox offering driver for hire. The main target is guys boozed up, and not wanting the fine.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 06 Dec 2010 20:40

Cochin may be different being a big city. I was given the number of 'Cochin drivers club' but never got a chance to use it.

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 07 Dec 2010 01:23

BTW, the Jurassic Car Era in Massaland (60s - 70s) used to have vehicles that can seat FIVE TFTAs with enough space - I once rode in a 70's Chevy El Camino, with atleast 6 of us in the backseat, after some house party (designated drivers et al). Was quite a comfortable ride for more than one reason and I remember noticing the space in the bench style backseat

JE Menon wrote:re: lack of drivers on demand, yes this is becoming a factor in small town Mallustan. father refuses and has refused for decades to buy or own a car. Simply hired one whenever he needed it - i.e. when mom is with him. I have flatly forbidden him to take her by bus or auto (when he's feeling like luxury ), which is his preferred mode of transport. SDRE to the core, in other words. It's not the lack of money, rather a form of hardheadedness I guess ("I was walking 10 km to school and back, with no food or water, and with various kalari-payatting assailants on the way" sort of thing). But of late he's been complaining about the availability of drivers...

When they're staying with me in Euroland, he turns his nose up at my A5 as if to say, "this new generation, soft headed, no idea how to live, lost all sense of values, pshaw...." Mom, is chuffed of course, she loves the way the whole dashboard and the rest of the bells and whistles lights up like a temple festival on an evening drive - irritates him all the more!!!

O-M-G!! That sounded way too familiar. So I am not alone in having a stubborn Ol' Man (and a more pragmatic Mom)! Mine swears by good old KSRTC and even more preferable, walking! Rain or shine, if it is below 8 kms, he walks and he is punctual (which is a bit of PIA, due to his prodding us to get ready so early for any event). And that is something, considering Trivandrum's gradients caused by the low hills. Used to be entitled a sarkari-car/driver when he was in service, but flat refused. It was a hilarious sight when he used to walk in through the tiny side gate next to the guard house of his office, while the security dude rushes to open the main gates for his secretary, who had a car and grabs his bag et al. Those days, the security dude apparently rates people by car size

After his retirement, I tried arguing in vain about having a car, even gifted them a car. My Amma is more enterprising and took up driving after she turned 55 years. But she says she has a tough time bundling him in and often times they end up on a compromise auto-ride !! Same arguments "12km walk to school" etc is there

Good to know, I am not alone in being made to feel like a raging baroque-loving bourgeois by dads!!

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 Dec 2010 08:25

well land yachts like ford crown victoria or lincoln towncar can seat 3 in good comfort in the back....but could be a tad difficult parking them in india.

ShivaS · Post by **ShivaS** » 07 Dec 2010 11:26

ever been in Chevy Caprice station wagon or Buick Road master staion wagon.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 Dec 2010 16:29

cant say I have. road tripping college students? I thought the VW microbus was meant for that?

I also see them in horror movies where people are going home and take a nasty shortcut or get broke down in some desolate nevada / outback type place populated with a mix of murderous natives and alien creatures

ShivaS · Post by **ShivaS** » 07 Dec 2010 16:38

Folks any idea when I can book a Tata Venture?

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 08 Dec 2010 00:59

Crown Vic (cop cruisers later auctioned off to SDREs taxis

) and Towncar nowadays are a lot more refined than the old ones. The Jurassic era had the funnest looking cars with crappiest of mileage.

ShivaS-saar, forgot to say this earlier - the Mid-west town where you mentioned your first car lit up, that is one gnarly effed up place

OT, Road tripping in massaland is lots of fun, I have these college mate couple from Trivandrum, who bought a biggish chevy van tricked out as a rather basic RV. Roams Southern CA to Texas during summer months (crazy time in the desert) with two kids. Recently shifted to Mid-west and does the same upto Maine. Wish someone would start doing that tricking out for our mid-size vans. Am sure would be a good rental market, now that there are decent trunk routes around India (except God's Kundie, of course)

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 08 Dec 2010 10:52

hnair wrote:except God's Kundie, of course

Who are you? And how did you defeat our hnair?

ShivaS · Post by **ShivaS** » 08 Dec 2010 11:21

Those Buik Roadmasters and Chevy Caprice were best designed for desis and iranian students during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

One could make out in the back and then touch (the make) up and go about business, ideal for rest areas stops during late night stop overs....

The Iranian students (any way they wer jumma ko Jumma, with Shoab brand Atthar if not Akthar) would sleep, in them do the routine things in McDonalds and go to university (keep visa status) and live merrily (streets).

The Police interceptors are now discouraged to be Taxis after Bloomberg started Green NYC. Now they are mostly Flex fuel Fords, Chevy Impala (shorter version not the 1960s wings), Toyota Sienna, even toyota Prius...

Even Canadian Police use Chevy Impala (probably made in Ontario plant of GM)
US state troopers now use Dodge Durango SUVs Chevy Malibu etc.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 08 Dec 2010 23:07

read an article recently (maybe in outlook traveller mag) that M.P. Tourism has kitted up a half dozen Tempo traveller vans as a luxury RV @ 22L cost each (incl bathroom) and these can presumably be rented with driver for tours. they would be provided water, electricity and sanitation service at various campground locations owned by M.P. Tourism.

a new uber luxury multi axle volvo bus service has started between blr-chennai and blr-hyd
http://gearheads.in/showthread.php?3321 ... -redefined

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 002516.cms
even KSRTC has bought some of these new buses.

Vivek K · Post by **Vivek K** » 09 Dec 2010 00:01

Can anyone suggest a low maintenance car (Rs. 3-5 lacs)? I am looking for one for my mother in India and frankly I'm just awestruck by the large number of cars available in India. If anyone has a feel of suzuki swift vs i10 vs i20 it wouild be of tremendous help. Do dealers offer good discounts in December? Anyhoo, appreciate the gyan of guru log!

BhairavP · Post by **BhairavP** » 09 Dec 2010 09:14

^I drive an i10 around town, SHQ's dad has a Swift in Baroda. I love the i10, easier to drive in crazy Bombay traffic, that Swift seems like a small truck in comparison.
The i20 is good, but I doubt you'd get it in your price range. Spacious car, decent equipment levels, but not very good to drive. The i10 is a hoot!

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 09 Dec 2010 10:12

i10 is definitely selling very strongly. Swift will only let the driver have his fun, not the passenger in back. go for i10.

ShivaS · Post by **ShivaS** » 09 Dec 2010 12:58

I just walked into Tata Showroom in Ambattur, that guy did not even know that a model called tata Venture is about to be offered....
anybody any news when it will be offered to janata?

Sridhar K · Post by **Sridhar K** » 09 Dec 2010 15:41

venture could be sold by the commercial vehicle division. Try vst motors. Concorde ambattur sells only passenger vehicle.

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 09 Dec 2010 22:46

Vivek K - try team-bhp.com for reviews on the cars you are interested. It is probably the best forum for discussion on Indian automobiles.

Vivek K · Post by **Vivek K** » 10 Dec 2010 00:52

thanks a lot guys!! I was leaning towards the i10 myself. There are several trims and the price difference in the two (for what seems to be addition of CD) is like 60,000 or so. How much does installing an after market CD player cost in Delhi/Gurgaon cost these days?

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 10 Dec 2010 00:55

i think you can get decent car stereos with mp3 capability for around Rs 10k. When I bought the santro 4 yrs ago, I got a pioneer brand installed for about the same price as i recall.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 10 Dec 2010 06:33

Singha wrote: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 002516.cms
even KSRTC has bought some of these new buses.

duh! it doesn't have Shiatsu

--

Heard chevy volt coming to India next year beginning at three times cost in massa!

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Dec 2010 08:14

60K is highway robber for a CD player - you can get a decent one and four speakers probably for under 15K. pls avoid the really low priced ones from Sony - they fall apart after a while. you can get a good one from jbl , blaupunkt, pioneer probably. if you want to preserve the space in the boot, avoid 4 speakers and just go for 2 in the front which is what I did. sometimes people put two more small ones on the A-pillar.

Vivek K · Post by **Vivek K** » 10 Dec 2010 09:46

Thanks, GD!

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 10 Dec 2010 10:03

Bade wrote:i think you can get decent car stereos with mp3 capability for around Rs 10k. When I bought the santro 4 yrs ago, I got a pioneer brand installed for about the same price as i recall.

For me a Kenwood stereo set (4 speakers) came to around Rs.13,000/-. Off course the USB drive feature was not available at that time (it came just 2-3 months down the lane). But it plays MP3,WMA and the normal Audio CDs with ease (along with AM, and FM radios). For the types of songs I listen to, and the times I use the stereo this seems to be more than enough

. Infact a cousin of mine went ahead and installed a Rs.2000 Chinese set for his second-hand car

.

Singha wrote:sometimes people put two more small ones on the A-pillar.

Always wanted to have the back part (i.e the space between the boot-door and the back-seat) covered. So what I did was to have a board placed there, with two speakers also fixed on both the corners). The back seat in my vehicle can be lurched forward and we get a wide space at the back to carry goods. I made this board a fully detachable one, and had a plug-socket fitting for the speakers. So when I want to get more boot space, I remove the wooden panel and flatten out the back seat. Dont know why when I suggested this plug-socket scheme to the auto-dealer he did give me a strange look

.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Dec 2010 11:26

in cars like swift, there is already a removable parcel tray - they punch holes in that and put in two upward facing speakers, which imo cramps the already small trunk. one innova taxi we once rented had a huge subwoofer tucked away in the back, big as a medium suitcase.

the removable front panel of my sony xplod crapped out long ago, with loose buttons and the contact pins to back panel probably gone too. their repair centers are in some tough areas like mission road. so I never really got it repaired...after 3 yrs in cupboard its likely beyond any economical repair, that model cant be sold anymore.

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 10 Dec 2010 11:30

isn't there any cheaper option of a receiver that takes only an aux input from your ipod/stand alone mp3 players etc? its been years since I have actually used a cd for music.

manish · Post by **manish** » 10 Dec 2010 12:27

Recently concluded a round of market research to buy an SDRE music system for my SHQ's equally SDRE Alto K10.

Decided on a 4-speaker music system with a head unit capable of reading USB drives. Set budget to 12k.

Options were:
Pioneer 2190/2290 Head Unit (Rs. 5.5k-6.5k with bill and warranty across different places)+JBL Speakers low/mid range stuff (4" upfront for Rs. 1.1k-1.5k and 6x9 co-ax at the rear for Rs. 2.6k-3k)+approx Rs. 1.5k for installation+antenna (bean counters at MSIL skipped this)+rear tray

Kenwood U346/U446 HU was also priced more or less similarly.

Finally went for Blaupunkt San Francisco 300 HU (Rs. 8490)+Blaupunkt 4"+Blaupunkt 6x9+tray+antenna. Got some discounts on BP products thorough contacts in Robert Bosch. Total all-incl was around 11,500.

I ended up buying el-cheapo model of speakers - go for a better ones, perhaps the JBL ones are not too bad.

However if you are in need of a very TFTA music system, then sky is the limit indeed. Moi boor SDRE onlee, so the above will suffice.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Dec 2010 12:34

the honda city ANHC has a head unit that takes only USB / Ipod input and does AM/FM - no CD player. for around 12,000 they will put in a CD player version but it has to be onlee their version because the space volume is non std.

pretty much all else have a physical CD player.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Dec 2010 12:41

WSJ

Tata Offers Four-Year Warranty on Nano

By SANTANU CHOUDHURY

NEW DELHI -- Tata Motors Ltd. said Thursday it will offer a four-year warranty on the Nano, as the auto maker tries to keep customers' confidence in the world's cheapest car after a series of fire incidents recently that led to a sharp decline in sales.

Tata Motors, which controls Jaguar and Land Rover, will offer the warranty for four years or 60,000 kilometers, whichever is earlier, to existing and new owners of the minicar, the company said.

In addition, new buyers have the option to avail of a comprehensive maintenance contract at 99 rupees [$2.2] a month.

"These benefits will further enhance the satisfaction of Tata Nano users," the company said, adding that it has sold more than 71,000 Nano cars since July 2009.

The auto maker was previously offering a warranty for 18 months, or 24,000 kilometers, on the car, which cost 123,361 rupees for the base model when it was introduced in March 2009.

The latest step comes after sales of the Nano dropped to 509 units in November from a peak of 9,000 in July. Tata Motors attributed the decline to sales and infrastructure problems in small towns. But analysts say the decline is due more to safety worries after a few recent cases of the minicar catching fire were featured prominently in newspapers and on television.

Tata Motors investigated the Nano fires and said in May that there aren't any manufacturing defects. It blamed the incidents on the installation of additional electrical equipment by customers or on some material getting stuck in the exhaust system. But on Nov. 10, the company said it will offer additional protection in the car's exhaust and electrical systems free of charge.

Thursday, Tata Motors also said it will cover the entire country with open sales at dealerships of the Nano by March. Open sales of the car are currently available in 12 states.

Tata Motors started accepting fresh orders for the car in August. It froze bookings of the car in July last year after receiving a large number of orders.

Customers can also avail up to 90% financing for the car at easy rates, the company said.

manish · Post by **manish** » 14 Dec 2010 10:41

GD, this one's for you. Honda has released teaser design sketches of the next-gen Civic.

Looks like an evolution of the current design that was quite revolutionary back when it was launched in 2006. The real deal is to be shown during Detroit Auto Show in January 2011.