Enthusiasts share car brand combos owned & if they would change them

If I had to swap to a different OEM combo, I would replace my Honda Jazz for a VW Virtus

BHPian turbospooler recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I just realized that after selling our Tata Tiago, our parking has 2 Japanese brands, namely, Toyota & Honda. Honestly, I am super happy with how this has turned out as instead of the Hycross, I was looking at XUV700 as our 2nd vehicle. But as I am not fan of waiting period (and having received our Hycross on the day we wanted), we went ahead with Hycross.

Some advantages I can think of by maintaining a Japanese-only garage:

• Headlight, viper stalks are in the same orientation! I used to be massively confused when driving my brother’s Compass.
• Reliability is a given trait as both are Japanese. When owning the Tiago, we usually had few niggles, which are significantly minimized by the shift.
• Practicality is at its core of Japanese engineering and I find loads of useful features in both the cars.

If I had to swap to a different OEM combo, I would replace my Honda Jazz for a VW Virtus, but then it would be a pain to address my 1st point in advantage. But I love the design of Virtus, so would live with the compromise. So VW+Toyota combo in the future. Let’s see.

Here’s what BHPian achyutaghosh had to say on the matter:

A possibly interesting thread that can throw up how people derisk their car ownership.

I have a 2021 Toyota Fortuner and a 2021 Hyundai Santro. I would keep the Fortuner till kingdom come. That thing requires as much thinking before a 5000 km trip as it does for a 5 km trip- which is basically zilch.

The Santro is a great city runabout that gives 20 kmpl and has good interiors, but i am not very confident of it in highways. The exterior built quality has degraded big time from previous generations. Given a choice i would go for a Tiago/Punch today.

T&T for me then?

Here’s what BHPian MotorDev had to say on the matter:

We’ve got an opposite combination of cars in our household. There’s the 2023 Skoda Slavia 1.5 DSG, which is like the fancy suit you wear to weddings and important meetings! It’s sleek and sophisticated, and we plan to keep it for a long time.

And then, there’s the 2019 Maruti Wagon-R 1.2 AMT, our practical city car. It’s like your favourite pair of comfy slippers – not the most stylish, but they get the job done, and you wouldn’t trade them for anything when it’s time for a walk.

Both these cars serve their purposes perfectly. The Slavia for those special occasions and road trips, and the Wagon-R for everyday errands and city driving. So, as much as we might daydream about shiny new cars, there’s really no logical reason to trade these two in. We’re sticking with them !

Here’s what BHPian GForceEnjoyer had to say on the matter:

We have one American car, a 2006 Ford Fiesta and one Czech (well, German masquerading as Czech) car, a 2021 Skoda Superb in our garage.

I would not change anything about this garage, since it has one small, old-school and analogue sedan with a naturally aspirated engine and a manual transmission, while the other is a newer, bigger, much more modern and high-tech car with a state of the art turbocharged engine and dual-clutch transmission.

Practicality wise, the Superb edges ahead due to its seemingly infinite little touches that make life easier, along with its cavernous boot, but the Fiesta makes up for it with the sheer simplicity in the way that it aces all the basics and how everything works perfectly even after 17 years.

Two very different cars. Yet, they are very similar in a couple of ways: they are big on the fun to drive factor (for slightly different reasons), and small on the bling factor. They are both extremely competent road trippers and can happily sit at triple digit speeds all day. And of course, they both have the indicator and wiper stalks oriented the wrong way for a RHD market.

Overall, a combo we are very satisfied with.

Here’s what BHPian riteshritesh had to say on the matter:

3 cars + 1 Scooty in the stable.Till a few days back it was the Honda BRV ( CVT), Honda City ( CVT) and the Toyota Glanza (CVT). Since one employee’s Etios has to be replaced, passed on the Glanza to him and dabbled with the Koreans this time with the new Seltos ( IVT) for the newness and fanciness ( went from a Hyryder—->Grand Vitara—->Elevate—–> Seltos). Previously tried with the Germans with 1st gen Skoda Octavia( 2003) and then the A4( 2017’ish), but will stick with the Asians making CVT transmissions for now. Scooty is the Yamaha Ray ZX 125 (1 year old)

Here’s what BHPian Ry_der had to say on the matter:

Maruti, Maruti and yes another Maruti since 2003( the first car in the family)

The only other branded car which was in family for a period of 4 years was a pre owned Hyundai Accent. As on date, there are 3 cars in the family and all of those are from Maruti Suzuki.

I had considered other brands while selecting a car for my Father. But couldn’t zero in on any of the other brands as my first priority is service network and the second is part availability. And MSIL has both of those covered. I am aware about the build quality issues in the present offerings of the brand but the bulletproof reliability surpasses any other shortcomings. Zero breakdown in last 20 years of ownership (except once) and collective driving of appx. 2 lakh KMs. The one time we had a breakdown was when the clutch plate got fried but the same hardly created any problem as the service centre was just opposite the place where the car got stalled.

Not a Maruti fanboy to be precise but I don’t see any worthy alternatives IMHO.

Here’s what BHPian The Rainmaker had to say on the matter:

I’m a pure JDM car guy at heart with a penchant for EUDM cars since certain cars are only made best by certain automakers. Having said that, we have a Porsche Cayman S (987.2), Mitsubishi Cedia Sports (CS6A) and a VW Jetta (Mk5) at home.

And to answer the second question, no I don’t want to, especially the Mitsubishi and Porsche since they both offer the quality I desire and are highly reliable. I may buy another German or Japanese SUV in future though, for the long distance trips with family that shall replace the Jetta.

Photos below:

Cayman:

Cedia:

Jetta:

Here’s what BHPian Kumaran93R had to say on the matter:

Have always owned Maruti hatches and German sedans. Used to have two Opel Astras and two Maruti 800s (Carb and 5 Speed). The 800 5 Speed is still going strong after 22 years as a spare beater car.

Currently, we are using a remapped Vento 1.6 TDi and Fiesta 1.6S as the main highway rides. City beaters duties are carried on with a Swift 1.3 VXi, Alto 1.1 VXi and 800 5 Speed.

I mostly like the nimbleness of small Maruti hatchbacks for city duties and a planted, good handling sedan for the highway runs.

Clearly, we hold on to our cars for a really long time. Working in the tech industry, I’d rather have my cars with as less tech gizmos as possible.

Might get a pre-owned Rapid or a Jetta and keep the Vento as a spare car in an year.

Here’s what BHPian Stratos had to say on the matter:

Two “T”s in my house.

Toyota Corolla Hybrid Touring Sports (wife) + Tesla Model Y (mine).

Keyword: Enthusiasts share car brand combos owned & if they would change them