Would you buy the World's Cheapest Car - Tata Nova?
By sharay
@sharay (2769)
India
March 23, 2009 2:00am CST
It costs only $2500, but are we ready or even interested to buy it? Does safety not come first?
I defntly am not interested, I appreaciate TATA in their effort to let every one have a car, but the disadvantages of the car are higher than the advantages, just the look of the car would tell you that, i am not here to say that these cars are useless as there would be some advantages, but just read some of the following drawbacks of Tata Nano:
No Hand Brake.
Engine at the rear. So no protection at the front in case of accident.
Top speed - 90 Kmph (Kilometer per hour). Thats why it would be just a city car more or less, no long drives! Pity!!. So, it would not be popular among youth who need speed which they get in Bikes.
Made up of low grade metal - Aluminium
Mileage: 20 Kmpl in spite of being light weight
Low Quality interiors - Seat cover are made up of leather.
No spare Tire.
Small sized Dashboard which can't safeguard against collision from front.
Low Priced gearbox from Kinetic Scooter Company.
Very ugly interiors.
Seats uncomfortable much like a Three-Wheeler.
Emission norms not followed properly.
Not powerful, Slow Pickup (0-20 Kmph)
Would anyone still be interested no matter how much less the cost is?
3 people like this
28 responses
@Informer (802)
• India
23 Mar 09
Hi Sharay,
Sorry to say but this car is not for you at all.
because this car is made for those lower middle class people who have a scooter and get wet while it's raining..
Don'r compare this car with any traditional car near you, just compare it with a scooter and bike. Only the you'll be able find it's benifits.
), 3 hours was my maximum travel in bike with him up and down with my kid
@23uday (2997)
• India
24 Mar 09
Hi friend,
The worlds cheapest car is Tata Nova, every one can buy this car.
It is useful and suitable for middle class family members.
Good looking small car,
Mileage is giving 23 kmp/l
4 seater car
central locking system
fog lamps
power windows
smallest turning radius of 4m.
be happy.
1 person likes this
@jbolanger (46)
• United States
24 Mar 09
sorry 23unday but i have to agree with sharay on this one
in order to keep the price of this car (cough...toy) so low they need to cut out some key safty features like airbags
it basicly comes down to safty or cost.
@alokn99 (5717)
• India
23 Mar 09
My decision to buy a car is based on many factors. Although the Nanao is attractively priced and offers agood mileage, today because of the economic downturn there are a lot of good slighlty used cars in the market at very attractive prices. And i'm not sure how good flooding the market with more and more cars especially the less expensive one's especially keeping in mind the poor infrastructure.
1 person likes this
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
24 Mar 09
I'm getting a scooter -- safer than a car? No. Good MPG? Yup. 70. It also can haul things...and I can get snow tires for the winter. I'm all for roughing it, plus, I can get it for under $2500, potentially.
BUT, the Tata Nano fits my minimum requirements for a car -- it gets 50 MPG.
I'm a rough girl. I'm a young thing, I like speed too, but I'll take a bargain. Especially as less and less people're driving for me to worry about wanting to crush me.
If I couldn't get a scooter, I'd consider a Tata Nano.
1 person likes this
@jpso138 (7851)
• Philippines
24 Mar 09
Well I am not saying that this car is not good. But the thing is I buy a car depending on a certain purpose. What I need is something that is a little bit spacious since I do put a lot of things inside my car considering that I conduct training on safety and first aid. So I have cpr manikins, backboards, etc... This car would not be appropriate for me. I also travel to different areas, usually rugged terrains in the mountain to train certain communities. Certainly this car would not be great for my daily job activities.
@sinokirin (900)
• China
24 Mar 09
Ive heard it in morning news, so cheap,but little safe.
so,i wouldnt buy this car for my safety.
I would rather by bicycle indeed.
1 person likes this
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
23 Mar 09
i don't think i will... safety is always number 1 for me... i am not driving anyway and my hubby is the one who drives... and we already have one car... so we are not really looking to buy another one... even if we are, my hubby won't buy the car as he wouldn't want to jeopardize our safety just for the sake of money... take care and have a nice day...
1 person likes this
@Kowgirl (3490)
• United States
23 Mar 09
Nope I wouldn't buy it but I would use that $2,500 for a down payment on another Camry. Much more comfortable as well as safer. I wonder how many will get sold in the next few months and how many may die because of the none safety features. As for the seat covers , leather is good and more expensive than cloth so that is the only good feature I can see in this car. Makes the saying "You get what you pay for" more realistic. Oh BTY a motorcycle (Harley-Davidson) now days cost almost as much as a car.
1 person likes this
@bballpro (79)
• United States
23 Mar 09
Safety is much more important then saving money. I would rather pay 20 grand more and still be able to walk and live a normal life then to be in a wheelchair my whole life because I wanted to save some money. Even if you are a safe driver that doesn't mean the rest of the people driving are.
1 person likes this
@rosa_pearl (70)
• China
24 Mar 09
is it possible?so cheap....but i worry about the safety.i saw the information in internet.but so lower,the top speed-90KMPH..i like enjoying the high speed,so i think it is not fit for me.
1 person likes this
•
23 Mar 09
That really is not a good looking car! Sorry folks, economy is one thing but there is always a fine line where people say "nah.. he is a cheapskate, or nah he is a penny pincher... The tata has been given an image of cheap and nasty.. just my opinion.. there are certain things in life we all need.. like spare tyre and handbrake! lol
@jbolanger (46)
• United States
24 Mar 09
lol heck no.
its funny u ask becous i heard of this car today, iwas like look at that little tin can and i was wondering why people would buy this myself.(it looks more like a toy than a car lol)
i guess u get what u pay for when u buy this car!!
@sharay (2769)
• India
24 Mar 09
yes...not to blame the manufacturers too, because for this money, we could get only such features, but who would want such features in their car, they could just use their bicycles instead, i wish people do not buy this car to show the company that "safety" comes first than the cost
@inked4life (4224)
• United States
23 Mar 09
I saw a little bit about this car on the news today, but they didn't really give any of the technical specs of the vehicle. Given what you have just said, I'd be reluctant to purchase a car that I do not feel measures up in regards to safety. It may be ok for someone who travels relatively short distances to and from work and who does not have to travel on the highway. Other than that I'd pass, no matter the cost.
1 person likes this
@strawberrychocodahi (4818)
• Philippines
23 Mar 09
Hello Sharay, nice to get this as a topic. For me i go for quality. And not because it is cheap, that i have to compromise on my safety or my family's safety.
So just like what you have mentioned, i will never want to buy such a cheap car that has more disadvantages than advantages.
If we just settle for cheaper kind of car even if it is new, but does not concern about safety of the passenger, then i guess the worth of our money will be just useless or wasted because we tend to buy things for our advantage and safety. Happy Mylotting!
@csrobins (1120)
• United States
23 Mar 09
Wow...it doesn't sound worth it to me. Plus hwo do we know yet how long they will last? Safety should be everyone's main concern. Hopefully they will begin to make cars with its benefits mor eimproved in other areas soon. I think it's ugly anyway.
@Archie0 (5652)
•
23 Mar 09
well in my opinion i wont buy this so called cheapest car lol, just because few good reasons i suppose. its i wont like to mess with my city with hell lot of pollution ofcourse and second thing i wnt to give that extra space for humans to walk on road, i think its not very good plan to introduce such a car without thinking too much like human..we have already created mess on the earth and we are doing it more. and other mentioned by you about the system then i am not really intrested because i hate what pollutes.
@sharay (2769)
• India
24 Mar 09
pollution, yes that is the second aspect of concern after the safety, already people walking in the pavements find it hard because of hell a lot of vehicles here and now, since this car is cheapest, hope many would buy and the air pollution nad noise pollution is going to get high
@andrewcbr86 (19)
•
23 Mar 09
first thing ya dont need a hand brake ya gearbox does that, second just cos engine is in back doesnt mean its not safer, hope ya dont fly anywhere planes are made of alluminium, ya dont get spare tire in lots of modern new cars, ya dashboard wont save ya life in the safest car in the world even if ya in a smash its the strength and shape of the structure, look at the smart car its a very safe car, you can die in a crash in it and the car is still sound and will run. might look horrible but they can still be strong even if they are ugly.
1 person likes this
@writerscorned (31)
• United States
23 Mar 09
I'm in desperate need of a cheap car, but even still I want something that's reliable and safe and this sounds like it's neither. A useful car, for me, has to be safe and be able to drive on highways. There are a lot of times when a highway is how I get t work and I need it. Plus, slow pickup drives me INSANE and it makes the guy behind me start honking like I'm doing it on purpose. Yeah no thanks.
1 person likes this
