[Soumyajit9]

Well, I had set my heart on a vehicle and bought it. I never thought of the after-effects or consequences of buying a car.

I made one change in my car, which I repent a bit now a days. The original ORVMs' of the Beat has a black plastic strip on the lower half of the body coloured ORVM. So whenever a biker would scrape his handle bar against my ORVM, I didn't care, because the black plastic would take the burn and it didn't look any different after the scratch. Then I upgraded to the ORVM with blinkers. This is a completely body-coloured ORVM without any plastic strip.
2 years down the line, I see multiple scratches on the body coloured ORVM. I repent at times as to why did I upgrade to the later one.

Same goes with bumpers. Alto / Sumo bumpers take the hit of all the scratches, but mine, being a body coloured bumper has multiple scratches.

So coming to the point whether it would have affected my buying decision ? Well, No.
Had it been a decision to choose between ABS / Non-ABS, Airbags / Non-Airbags, it would have mattered. I would have probably bought a car within my budget with these features. But since its' a city-drive car, I choose these non-feature variant.

Same with high-end cars. These are easily equipped with technology like ABS and Airbags. So for the owner, his safety would matter, rather than cosmetic appearances like body coloured accessories.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

Buy a butch SUV with a good offroad cladding. Like the Safari, especially the one with the gray cladding. The cladding is thick, protects the body from bumps and damages, the side steps are the first thing that a moron rickshaw or car will bump against, so they tend to stay away from the car. Add a big bullbar and a rear bull bar, and watch the traffic scurrying away instead of coming closer.
BTW the Storme cladding is really thin compared to the Dicor, so in a nick the Storme might crack its cladding instead.

Originally Posted by Gansan

^^Care to know what other road users think of guys driving such vehicles?!

Butch SUV – not a problem. But someone in a butch SUV with big bull bar, and a rear bull bar!!! Those are the road bullies I always watch out for. Much bigger of a threat than a puny rickshaw.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Butch SUV – not a problem. But someone in a butch SUV with big bull bar, and a rear bull bar!!! Those are the road bullies I always watch out for. Much bigger of a threat than a puny rickshaw.

Better you or someone else watch out for me, than me watching out for other road users. I know I drive responsibly in my big butch SUV, can I predict how the others drive?

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

Better you or someone else watch out for me, than me watching out for other road users. I know I drive responsibly in my big butch SUV, can I predict how the others drive?

Sorry, I did not know that you drive a butch SUV. My comments were not intended at a person as such.

Anyway, please read my comment again (highlighted). I have no issues with big SUVs; infact I like some of the big ones on our roads, be it the old Tata Safari, Ford Endeavour, or the Mercedes ML. But if you are someone who drive with bull bars, I will request to get those removed. Its a safety hazard for yourself and other road users.

Originally Posted by vb-san

Butch SUV – not a problem. But someone in a butch SUV with big bull bar, and a rear bull bar!!! Those are the road bullies I always watch out for. Much bigger of a threat than a puny rickshaw.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Sorry, I did not know that you drive a butch SUV. My comments were not intended at a person as such.

Anyway, please read my comment again (highlighted). I have no issues with big SUVs; infact I like some of the big ones on our roads, be it the old Tata Safari, Ford Endeavour, or the Mercedes ML. But if you are someone who drive with bull bars, I will request to get those removed. Its a safety hazard for yourself and other road users.

Thanks. Personally I dont have bull bars on my ride. It affects structural integrety of the car, covers crumple zones and is fatal for people or animals. But frankly driving a SUV on our roads, filled with Indian drivers is stressfree compared to driving an expensive sedan

[EagleEye]

I don't think that I would compromise on the car I wanted to buy just because of the fear of someone scratching it.
I do agree that morons on the road are greatly responsible for your car's condition, but to a certain degree you can keep out of their way.

For example I always watch both my ORVMs very carefully even when apparently there's no danger, because who knows when some idiot biker will come zooming past between you and the next car and break your mirrors off. Accordingly I move out of their way.

Of course, this does not ensure the sanctity of the car as it can be scratched and dented even when it's parked, as many have pointed out here.

Another thing you can do if you are buying an expensive car (20L or 40L types) is to get it film protected from 3M Car Care Solutions. The last time I was at 3M Andheri, a black colour Audi A6 was getting this treatment done. Apparently, the film protects your car from most minor scratches.

[Gansan]

Dilip Bam long ago succinctly described the perfect vehicle for Indian roads!

"Bigger, the better! And biggest is best!"

I think only an MBT will fit the bill!

[himadrimondal]

What I have observed in general:
People with disciplined life and artistic bent of mind does tend to keep everything
in proper fashion, including cars. Families living in areas which were under long term
colonial influence take good care of their cars too.

People from Bangalore, infact most of south India, Mumbai and Kolkata are generally
car lovers. About Delhi? the lesser said the better. Absolutely no road manners, from the
auto rickshaw to the sub 15L car owners. Cramped for space, kissing bumpers is as casual as exchanging pleasantries.

Sadly this trend is penetrating all spheres of life. Money have become the only passion.
People will laugh if one says, 'every car has a soul'.

I too have a tough time maintaining my Duster, scratch free still.
On a family outing for dinner, generally pay double the parking fee to the concerned
person so that he takes care of both the front and rear of the car, prevent other cars
from bumping in. There is constant stress and anxiety as the density of traffic around me increases.

Whereas when I take out the Bolero, I am singing.
Not that I drive roughly but people generally don't mess around. Everything seems so peaceful.

Watching a cricket match abroad, the field is separated from the sitting area by waist height hoardings.
On the contrary, we live in a country where we are the once caged while watching a cricket match. Has anyone reasoned why?
I went to watch a match only once in my life.

[Santoshbhat]

The answer to the OP's question in my case will be : NO. I believe in basing my purchase decision on my needs and purchasing power.

Morons on the road have certainly affected my driving style though. After doing lakhs of kms of driving in crowded city streets, two lane highways, four lane highways and having encountered various categories of morons, I have built up a database of moronic behaviour in my mind. This experience has helped me to hone my driving style by...

1) Always being on the look out for morons in the front, rear and sides of the vehicle. Mirrors are god sent for this.
2) Predicting the morons movements and driving defensively to avoid damage. Morons do follow a pattern you see.

[A M]

Looking at the traffic conditions, scratches are something you can never avoid. I love my cars and maintain them in top shape. It feels bad if someone scratches my car. But I'm not overtly emotionally attached with a machine. Just drive safe and practise defensive driving.

If I'm ever going to buy a BMW, its not because I want to loose my sleep in worrying about it getting scratched by the neighbor's kids, but because I want to enjoy driving it. Am I going to give up buying my dream car because I can't keep it scratch-free? Hell no!!
Its been made to give me driving pleasure, and I'm going to derive the most out of it.

If something cannot be avoided, better to live with it and keep your mind stress-free and lead a healthy life. Stress is a major causative factor in all the life-style diseases. A scratch on the car is nothing to loose your sleep about. It can be fixed, yes it can. There are more things in life which need your attention and care.

[mxx]

First of all no moron(s) should affect your decision in life - be it car purchase or any other decision.
Second there are no very safe cheap cars in Indian market. If safety is a concern you need to spend more here. And big is NOT equal to safe. Many here equate big to safe, hence this SUV advice. In case of safari or scorpio, Not only are they not safe in event of a collision, if you try some emergency maneuvers to avoid collision there is no guarantee that is wont topple over. Even XUV or fortuner is not very safe vehicles, but agree that they are relatively safe.
Now, what to do if the morons cause too much damage? That is what insurance is there for. Nowadays there are zero depreciation policy which will cover almost the entire cost of repair. For small damages like scratches, there is not much to do than to live with it. So, take a good insurance and enjoy your car.

[kphilip]

It's no use not buying the car you love or dreamed off just because there are such morons.I have a beat and am driving it very cautiously in the city and after 3 years there are not much scratches except a very minute dent on my back door which would have been caused when some car's door was opened and hit my car.

I regret for the scratches and the dents which i cause but not by somebody else fault.Being in an off roader is a complete different story especially while riding my jeep, everyone just makes way.

Whats the solution for somebody's fault ?Pray to God before you drive that none will hit or scratch your car on that journey.

[Ravindra M]

Originally Posted by ajayrec

Hi All,

I mentioned this incident because such incidents are pushing me towards cheaper (but safe) cars rather than expensive ones. Am I only one thinking on these lines? Should these morons on the road push us towards more expensive and safe cars or cheaper ones which are cheaper to repair yet considerably safe? Would you compromise on your dream car because of such incidents? Or an huge SUV with "dont mess with me" looks is the answer?

Regards,

You are bang on !
Even huge SUV with "dont mess with me" looks won't solve this problem.
Even 1+ cr Toyota LC gets bullied by Ape 3 wheeler or Tata ACE or Indica.
I have decided on my next vehicle - a white TATA SUMO - should look exactly like company cab. I don't care what others say, at least I will get that peace of mind during peak traffic. For other times I have my beloved W124 E250.

[Sheel]

Imagine everyone & their family driving around in a Thar, Commander or Safari with bull-bars.

What next, a battle tank?

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Imagine everyone & their family driving around in a Thar, Commander or Safari with bull-bars.

What next, a battle tank?

On a lighter note: If everyone can afford a SUV, why not. The next logical step will be to buy an old Shaktiman truck
Actually why have we not thought about making SUV into monster trucks. A good truck with 6 feet wheels should keep most of the pesky traffic below and out of sight.