Tata Nano to cost $8k in the US

Bob_Fout

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If it really does get 50 MPG on the highway, that's something none of the other gas cars mentioned are even close to. Silly 40 MPG gassers :D

This is what we've been needing for years, a cheap, economical car. Payments would be around $200 a month for a 5 year loan.
 

k1xv

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Looks like an upgrade for Steve Urkel
 

MrMopar

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Being an owner of a 2009 Hyundai Accent, current cheapest car in the USA, I can say that my Accent comes with a whole lot more features and standards than what the Nano appears to have.

I could be very wrong, but I honestly don't see a market for this car. What the USA does need is a $4,000 version of this car. I am a believer that the US needs to ramp down standards quite a bit for entry level cars so that people can start buying them for much cheaper than they currently are. The one possession that has the largest effect on personal income and the ability to maintain a job is car ownership, and we need to put that within reach of 99.99% of the US population to help make the economy better.

Another economic aspect would be to have more people start valuing cars as mere transportation, instead of the current thinking that you're buying a "lifestyle" with the purchase of certain vehicles. If we can get more people to buy cheaper vehicles, they'd be able to contribute more towards retirement savings and personal health care expenses. Not that they would necessarily start doing that . . .
 

raybo

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The sole purpose of the Nano is make the Accent look great.

For most people, the entry level car is a used car - we don't need $8,000 death trap Nanos.

Ray
 

TurbinePower

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I know there are some extraordinarily awesome glues on the markets right now... but I don't feel comfortable with something where metal parts were glued together rather than subjected to the even more awesome process of using heat and electricity to bond them together by intermingling and fusion.

From previous articles... there isn't a single danged weld in that whole car. They are instead glued together so that the technical skills required for assembly were lower.

Nope, not for me, thank you. I would like to get in a car that was assembled by a highly trained, highly skilled worker, with fused-metal bonds, bolts, rivets and screws holding it together instead of glue.
 

LiLredTDI

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21st century Yugo. No way, I would take a 1995 Tercel with 200K on it before that can.
 

TT71

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If my daily commute to work was strictly around town. I could see buying one of these but since my commute involves 30 miles or so on the interstate it just isn't for me. It will find its niche.
 

MrMopar

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TurbinePower said:
Nope, not for me, thank you. I would like to get in a car that was assembled by a robot, with fused-metal bonds, bolts, rivets and screws holding it together instead of glue.
Fixed that for you.
 

MrMopar

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raybo said:
The sole purpose of the Nano is make the Accent look great.

For most people, the entry level car is a used car - we don't need $8,000 death trap Nanos.

Ray
Free market competition is good for the customer. It can't hurt to have new cars competing with used cars, because sometimes people want something with a factory warranty.
 

TurbinePower

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MrMopar said:
Free market competition is good for the customer. It can't hurt to have new cars competing with used cars, because sometimes people want something with a factory warranty.
You can get a fair number of pretty decent, cheap used cars with a factory warranty these days. "Certified Pre-owned" and all that.

When you're shopping the bottom of the barrel, you can't have it all, and anyone who tells you that you can is lying to you (or at a minimum, not telling you the whole story...).
 

supton

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TurbinePower said:
You can get a fair number of pretty decent, cheap used cars with a factory warranty these days. "Certified Pre-owned" and all that.
What's the value of a VW warrenty these days? Is CPO warrenty work as good as brand-new warrenty work (I can't imagine it being worse)...

My point being, cars are expensive to work on today, many people like to ditch them before they get "too expensive" to repair. The "100k" mentality is still there, and if anything, starting to get reinforced by high-cost repairs that take multiple trips to sort out. MrMopar points out that ownership of a vehicle is what enables many to work; but if that's true, the darn thing can't be sitting at a dealer for a week. Gotta get to work and all.
 

TurbinePower

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supton said:
What's the value of a VW warrenty these days? Is CPO warrenty work as good as brand-new warrenty work (I can't imagine it being worse)...

My point being, cars are expensive to work on today, many people like to ditch them before they get "too expensive" to repair. The "100k" mentality is still there, and if anything, starting to get reinforced by high-cost repairs that take multiple trips to sort out. MrMopar points out that ownership of a vehicle is what enables many to work; but if that's true, the darn thing can't be sitting at a dealer for a week. Gotta get to work and all.
I was more thinking the various pre-owned programs from domestic manufacturers and the array of Asian imports. They are plentiful, fairly cheap, and most are pretty cheap to service, too. My sister's Honda, for instance: a used car that's being backed up by the dealer for another 35k or so, which at her rate of use is a 3-4 year warranty on a car that's almost ten years old and will be over 100k when it's out of warranty.

I love my VWs, but I fully appreciate and acknowledge that they, especially the older ones, require a very involved owner. You need to show your 'dub some love for it to show you the love; case in point, my Coupe recently made her unhappiness with me known, in the form of a crapped out thirty year old starter. Random, sudden problem, but luckily I have some spares... a 1.6TD longitudinal starter is being swapped in this afternoon. :D
 
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MrMopar

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TurbinePower said:
You can get a fair number of pretty decent, cheap used cars with a factory warranty these days. "Certified Pre-owned" and all that.
That's fine and good, but it still can't hurt any consumers to have new cars competing against used.
 

firecrow

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Survivability of occupants in a car built like that, even in lower speed accidents would be terribly low. I cut people out of cars (I'm an FF) and I can tell you NA built cars are some of the best physically built in the world for passenger survivability. I've seen people walk away from accidents that when you arrived on scene and just looked at it you would swear you're just going to be recovering bodies. Its a testimony to our safety and build standards - that doesn't get talked about a lot, but manufacturers should talk about that.

Someone mentioned we should lower our standards to enable more car ownership. Thats the most assanine thing I have ever heard! Roll back 30 years of evolution of research and development of safer and safer cars? I still send the wife and kids to school in a '98 Dodge Durango. I don't care about mileage for the 4km, I care about safety, four wheel drive and being able to nav the snow in bad weather. People generally don't die in Durango accidents, at least on the inside of the car (outside is another story).

This car comes from India where, I mean no disrespect, but life is cheap by their standards. People die every day from accidents and illnesses that we don't consider acceptable in this part of the world. That car is an evolutionary step for them, but it should stay in India. You want a reasonably safe car with that kind of footprint buy a Smart Fortwo. These cars have an excellent passenger cage system and for its size and type is far safer than a Nano.
 

supton

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TurbinePower said:
I was more thinking the various pre-owned programs from domestic manufacturers and the array of Asian imports. They are plentiful, fairly cheap, and most are pretty cheap to service, too. My sister's Honda, for instance: a used car that's being backed up by the dealer for another 35k or so, which at her rate of use is a 3-4 year warranty on a car that's almost ten years old and will be over 100k when it's out of warranty.
Bet that Honda warranty means something more than a VW warranty! :p But you make a good point--used can bring a decent cost savings. But still, too many people fear what repairs can cost, especially if they are still making payments. Better to make a scheduled payment every month, than an unscheduled boat payment--which might turn into several boat payments if the repair shop has "issues".
 

firecrow

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I have what I call a car 'reserve' fund. I put $100 away in an account each month for when I will need to purchase my next used car. As a result I had $3400 I could put down to buy the Passat. With that much down a simple loan is easy to get and the 48 payments at about $200 a month. Even with the repairs, its still worth it, and I still put $100 each month into the vehicle reserve. And it was only $3400 because I used about $1500 for repairs on my prior used car.

Cars ALWAYS cost you money, even once they are paid for. The trick is to plan for it. Being surprised by a costly repair just means you're not being realistic about the cost of getting from point-a to point-b. Just work it into your general cost of living.
 

supton

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Oh, I agree--cars always cost money, repairs are always popping up. It's wise to put aside money for said repairs. However, I'm talking about the general population. I suspect many would rather pay more up front and simply not deal with unscheduled repairs, period. And, let's face it: it's nice to have a new car every few years, instead of running the same junker for 10.
 

firecrow

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Well, yeah, the general population has unrealistic notions of how long something lasts when proper maintenance isn't done.

I take good care of my cars, so even my 10 year old 'junker' isn't a junker. But people are very fashion oriented about their cars. It amazes me the number of people who if given the choice would armor-all their tires rather than change their oil as an expression of their care for their car.
 

supton

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firecrow said:
Well, yeah, the general population has unrealistic notions of how long something lasts when proper maintenance isn't done.

I take good care of my cars, so even my 10 year old 'junker' isn't a junker. But people are very fashion oriented about their cars. It amazes me the number of people who if given the choice would armor-all their tires rather than change their oil as an expression of their care for their car.
I'll give you that. Me, I'm starting to think about going back to my "plan B" of car ownership: own for either 90k and trade in, or 150k and private sale. Always a payment, but (hopefully) little time in the shop for unscheduled maintance. I used to think I was a car nut, but the realities of repair work means I really don't want to mess with 'em any more than I have to. Just keep it to fluids and brakes, and trade before the clutch (or worse) goes.

But I'd be hard pressed to go to a Tata. For that price, I'd rather own two cars, one to work on or to leave at a shop for repairing, and the other to drive. I can't imagine a Tata (or similar) having any sort of resale value.
 
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