[jaibir]

I got my Swift LDI delivered yesterday through Sai Service, Andheri (more details on the initial ownership review forum). Here I'll stick to the booking/buying experience.

Overall summary of the experience: Helpful sales people with slightly dishonest dealership management

Initial impression: I first visited Sai Service in late December to take a test drive of the Swift Diesel. I picked up the following points:
+'s
1. A large professional setup which gave an impression of reliability on deliveries, A.S.S. etc.
2. A very helpful sales chap
-'s
1. The managements practices are slightly dishonest (e.g. the rate list provides the extended warranty from the dealer, not Maruti. on top, the Sai warrantly is 2.5k more expensive than the maruti one!)

Why I chose it: I was put off by their dishonesty and knew I would have to be very careful if I dealt with the dealership. However, my main criteria was delivery time. The reason I finally went ahead with these guys is that when the time came for me to finally book, they had a 2008 Swift LDI in my colour choice in stock. This was not available with any of the other dealers I was in touch with. So I decided to go ahead with Sai. Also, the sales guy had been quite helpful and kept me up to date with availability.

The experience: I booked the car on Saturday, 19th December in the evening after confirming the car would be allotted to me.

Financing: I was originally planning to take the loan from a PSU bank as I planned to prepay quite early. I switched the choice to Citi for 3 reasons: 1. I already had a bank a/c and a credit card with them; 2. The initial cash back would cover the pre payment charge; 3. Credit history with the bank would be useful in taking a home loan later.

This is where the only real hiccup arose. After I had finalised things with Citi orally (tuesday or so), the sales guy at Sai asked me to switch my loan to Reliance. He said something about citi rates going up, which I knew to be utter bullcrap I told him this was unacceptable. After this, he explained that he wasnt being allowed to deal with Citi (the guy I know at Citi later told me Reliance gives a higher cut). He said I should speak to his manager and also get the Citi guys to put some pressure.

I called up the sales guy's manager and told her if they didn't allow me to go ahead with Citi, I would withdraw my booking and put a complain with Maruti. By this time I was getting the vehicle from the other dealer on a ready basis as well so was comfortable with the threat. She also tried to give me the same nonsense about citi rates going up. I was in no mood for that. She told me she would check with her manager and get back to me. Finally she capitulated and agreed to let me go ahead with citi. The whole experience left a bad taste in the mouth. Its something I plan to put in their feedback form.

The rest of the process was smooth. The sales guy made multiple trips to my office for the loan and registration formalities and generally kept me up to date on timelines. The vehicle was delivered on the date promised despite some delay on the loan.

Conclusion: Overall, if someone plans to deal with Sai, I would advise them to be quite watchful and dont let them arm twist you into anything. The sales guy I went through was quite helpful and I would recommend him (Umesh - ph. 9920528383). You can use my reference if you are dealing with him.