Comments on: Some Thoughts on Indians, Toyotas & Hondas

By: Hari

Hari — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:43:25 +0000

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.

By: Sandeep

Sandeep — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:30:42 +0000

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.

By: Hari

Hari — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:38:07 +0000

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.

By: D. Ray

D. Ray — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:34:14 +0000

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).

By: Hari

Hari — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:08:02 +0000

I like the Land Cruiser but I prefer the Land Rover Range Rover. Nothing wrong with dreaming :)

By: Bikram

Bikram — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:40:46 +0000

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