Indian built cars - good or bad ?

50Twuncle

I have an Indian built car - a Suzuki Baleno 1.0 and so far (touch wood) it has not caused me excessive concern - the only worry has been a weird dashboard light that illuminated approximately 2 months ago - I took the car back to Suzuki for investigations and drew a blank !!
The other issue is build quality - there is a loose passenger side front door seal (where the wiring goes through the door frame) - that won't stay put - another trip to Suzuki I think !!
What is the reputation of Indian built cars ?
Is it as good as Japanese built cars ?

RickRastardly

It should in theory be the same build quality as any other Suzuki Japanese car built anywhere else. As far as I know very few Jap cars that are sold for the EU market are actually built in Japan anyway.


The dashboard light if it only appeared once is probably nothing and was probably just a blip with the cars ECU during a startup or shutdown.

50Twuncle

RickRastardly wrote: »

It should in theory be the same build quality as any other Suzuki Japanese car built anywhere else. As far as I know very few Jap cars that are sold for the EU market are actually built in Japan anyway.
The dashboard light if it only appeared once is probably nothing and was probably just a blip with the cars ECU during a startup or shutdown.

I may be wrong - but I believe that new Swifts are actually built fully in Japan ?
The dashboard light was a worry - but as you say - it was just a one off - so hopefully just a blip ?

RickRastardly

50Twuncle wrote: »

I may be wrong - but I believe that new Swifts are actually built fully in Japan ?
The dashboard light was a worry - but as you say - it was just a one off - so hopefully just a blip ?

A quick Google and Swifts appear to come from Hungary, although parts etc from all over, never a simple answer huh!


Most companies do this simply because transporting a fully completed vehicle from one side of the planet to another is expensive even before import charges.

facade

When you look at a car always check the VIN number, visible at the base of the windscreen.
If it doesn't start with a J (or SN to ST if you believe the hype) walk away.

Renault shifted the Duster production line for Europe from India as they couldn't be bothered even building them to Renault's low standards.

50Twuncle

I was wrong - Japan, India and Hungary are listed as being where 2017 Swifts are assembled - but all UK sourced Swifts are assembled in Japan !!

forgotmyname

The car maybe ASSEMBLED in one country but the parts will have come from all over the world.

Stoke

I know very little about Indian built cars, but I do remember the City Rover. That was an Indian designed car and was absolutely horrific. Cheaply made, cheaply constructed, known to fall apart etc.

That said, they've developed an odd reputation of having a ridiculously reliable engine that go for many 100's of thousands of miles, albeit not with the best MPG.

RichardD1970

Stoke wrote: »

I know very little about Indian built cars, but I do remember the City Rover. That was an Indian designed car and was absolutely horrific. Cheaply made, cheaply constructed, known to fall apart etc.

That said, they've developed an odd reputation of having a ridiculously reliable engine that go for many 100's of thousands of miles, albeit not with the best MPG.

I worked for Rover at the time and knew some of the lads doing PDI's at the docks. Basically a re-badged Tata Indica.

Some of the horror stories I heard :eek:

Strangely enough, 12 years later, I still see one driving around local to me and it still looks and sounds like it did new (not that that is a high standard to maintain :rotfl:).

And Tata has redeemed himself with his investment in JLR

50Twuncle

RichardD1970 wrote: »

I worked for Rover at the time and knew some of the lads doing PDI's at the docks. Basically a re-badged Tata Indica.

Some of the horror stories I heard :eek:

Strangely enough, 12 years later, I still see one driving around local to me and it still looks and sounds like it did new (not that that is a high standard to maintain :rotfl:).

And Tata has redeemed himself with his investment in JLR

But was that down to shoddy workers or shoddy design ?
or both ?

RichardD1970

50Twuncle wrote: »

But was that down to shoddy workers or shoddy design ?
or both ?

Probably both.

MG Rover paid Tata £3000 per car, a couple of minor differences in body panels (bumpers if I remember right) and a different suspension set up and tried to sell them on for £6,500.

Cheap components, cheap production facilities and a car never designed for the European market. What could go wrong! :rotfl: