Some Thoughts on Indians, Toyotas & Hondas
Look at the parking lot of any apartment that is popular with the Indian community in the United States and you will notice many Honda Accords and Civics and Toyota Camry’s and Corollas. I do not want to generalize but there is a level of loyalty towards these brands more so than towards any other brands among the non-resident Indian community here.
It is common when we get together to discuss whether a Honda or a Toyota is a better buy. The debate always involves reliability and resale value. I always wondered whether this is a valid debate. If we are so concerned about reliability then why do we care about resale value? I assume that you intend to own the reliable car for a long period of time. For the record I still drive the first car that I ever purchased which is a 1999 VW Jetta. I have close to 200,000 miles on it and it still drives like new.
I have traveled to many places but there are few places on earth which is designed for the traveling enthusiast like the United States. Once you leave the congested city limits the highways open up and the driving becomes a pleasure. Many East coast states have a top speed limit of 65 mph but many states in the South and the North West have higher speed limits (75 to 80 mph).
There was a time when both Montana and Nevada did not have speed limits in rural areas. In most cases you can get away with driving about 10 to 15 miles above the posted seed limit without getting pulled over by the highway patrol. There are countries like Germany where you can drive faster (parts of the Autobahn has no speed limit). But you cannot drive fast for a long periods of time as you can in the United States.
Both Honda and Toyota are great manufacturers and the Accord and the Camry are some of the best selling cars in America. But like most old American brands they are also beginning to see some image problems. When we hear of great American brands like Buick, Lincoln and Mercury we always think of brands that are more popular with the older generation. Very few young people buy these cars.
When young Americans think of Toyota or Honda they think of the cars that are driven by their parents. The median age of an owner of Toyota and Honda is getting close to 50. This is not good news for Toyota or Honda. Both companies are working hard to change this perception. Honda has introduced cars like the Fit, Insight and the Element and targeted the younger generation of car buyers.
Toyota has taken a different route. A few years back Toyota introduced a completely new line called the Scion. The Scion line of cars offer a lot of configurable options to the buyer (I own a Scion Xb and it is an extremely reliable car but not a good performer on the highways. I have driven about 120,000 miles on it and have done no maintenance work on it except change oil periodically. I have high performance brakes and tires that together will last about 85,000 miles).
Both these manufacturers have also taken some major hits image wise due to the high number of recalls (Toyota has recalled about 5.8 million vehicles worldwide). Maybe Toyota and Honda will end up in the same place as GM, Ford and Chrysler, victims of their own success.
So you drive a Honda or Toyota and think you are hip? Think again.
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Category: Cuisine & Travel
Ah ha.. here in UK .. it has to be a MERC or a BMW .. every RiCH indian , youngsters have that, its a status symbol here in uk. People who cant afford to have proper meals will have a shiny MERC in the front drive. I am not rich and neither am i young so I got a Mitsubishi and like you it was the first car i bought in 1999, and I still drive it and like yourself it has not given me any trouble so far, I guess a proper service and maintenance if dont makes them run a long way. I am a bit behind you in mileage 156,000 its done ..
I have taken mine to 110MPH or a bit more, sometimes but not for long duration.. here the speedlimit is 70mph on motorways..
But i have a dream to buy a Land cruiser Totota, dont know why , i just like the car.. reading your article makes me thing SHOULD I .. he he he he
I like the Land Cruiser but I prefer the Land Rover Range Rover. Nothing wrong with dreaming :)
Indians have an Indian mentality of saving on fuel. Little higher average with Toyota and Honda, makes most Indians to buy for those living in apartments. Once they have their own house and better established in US, they may go for American cars or German cars. You can hardly find 20-25 years old Japanese cars on the roads, but you will definitely find American Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, Chrysler, and Mercury in the US and even in India moving on the roads today. Hari, you must visit once a Vintage (cars around 1932) Car Exhibition in India and you will find cars from UK, USA, Italy, Germany, but not a single from Japan (perhaps Japan was not making cars in those years).
Welcome and thank you for taking the time to comment.
I used to live in Madurai briefly in the early eighties and it was a tradition for brides and grooms to drive around in old Impala convertibles and Cadillacs.
Hi,
1> I believe its fair on the part of the people to club both reliability and resale value as requisite when it comes to purchasing a new car if indeed resale is there on their mind. Only if a new car, after 5 years for example, still runs as a new one, costs the least to maintain(servicing and spare parts) would it still command a good price.
2> I guess its not just in US but all around the world that Honda and Toyota cars are considered reliable. That certainly is the case in India. I am keen to know whether you have any inputs on the opinion of other groups in US towards Honda and Toyota cars.
3> Owning a car and driving a car are two separate emotions. For most of the people the former is the stronger of the two emotions. One can easily discern a person, who purchases a car for the sake of commuting or driven around, from a person who purchases one for the sheer love of driving. For one who is more of an “owner” than a “driver” resale will always be important.
Welcome Sandeep,
Toyota recently has taken a hit as far as reliability is concerned. Both Honda and Toyota are increasingly owned by individuals who are in their late forties. They are not the favored brands for the younger generation (Toyota has launched the Scion line of cars to counter this). Both cars are capable of running over 200,000 miles with very little maintenance. At this point resale value of the car becomes unimportant.
I agree with you on owning a car vs. driving it.