Buying a Car in the 9 to 10 L (OTR) range

[sj_koova]

Originally Posted by sridharps

Well, I got a call from lathangi as well saying that only they were offering discount of 30k on these few models and that Southern could not match it! normal sales tactics i guess..Anyway, I told him that I have not made up mind yet..I asked him about service and he told me that either Dakshin or Whitefield Honda would open a second service but that would take 6 to 8 months at least..well it is this A.S.S thing that is bothering me a bit..

It is less likely that Dakshin or Whitefiled Honda getting into Mitsubishi dealership. I asked this to HM and they said it is just a rumor and ruled out any such chances. Today also I got a call from HM to inform me about Lathangi closing down. They said it will take 2 months for them to workout the new dealership. Though this was not a definite answer.

[santhosh_kumard]

Originally Posted by sridharps

Well, I got a call from lathangi as well saying that only they were offering discount of 30k on these few models and that Southern could not match it! normal sales tactics i guess..Anyway, I told him that I have not made up mind yet..I asked him about service and he told me that either Dakshin or Whitefield Honda would open a second service but that would take 6 to 8 months at least..well it is this A.S.S thing that is bothering me a bit..

Yes, even Lathangi guys told the same to me.

[sridharps]

Hi guys, thanks once again for the inputs you have been giving me(both through personal messages and here in this forum)..I have eliminated the Aveo from my list and that leaves the cedia sports and the vtec plus in my shortlist..my calculating, analytical brain(blame it on an engineering/mba background) is veering me towards an analysis based on facts and statistics while my natural instincts veer towards intuitive decision making ..at this point I don't know what I will decide but will soon let you guys know

[Proxima]

Get the Magnum. Good VFM and has everything you will need.

[carbaliga]

Originally Posted by santhosh_kumard

A little addition here. I guess the Sales Dept of Southern was much better than guys at Lathangi. I am not promoting SM here, but here are the facts which I liked about SM.
(i)Test Drive: Lathangi brings me a car after 3 calls and that too with almost emptying fuel . SM brings me the same model but with a full fuel tank
(ii)Liar Liar, pants on fire : Well it starts off with red not available in sports to french claret being unavailable in select. I assume this is for selling their showroom pieces.

But A.S.S is a different ballgame altogether.

Santhosh - in your thread i was mentioning about not a good experience with Lathangi for sales, what you have said above is exactly the same experience. Liars and trying to tell me that Yellow and Grey are the only fast moving colours in Cedia hence they dont have other colors readily available. I would have appreciated if they would have told me straight about the dealership closing down and not keeping stocks. The Sales Manager was very vindicted about my posts in Tbhp and was on a confrontation mode. He even promised me for a TD on the weekend, its almost a month and i have not heard back from him again.

Now that they are closing down anyways no point in pursuit. I just hope they don't start off the Liar business with Ford dealership also.

Regards
-Rajesh

[sridharps]

Originally Posted by Proxima

Get the Magnum. Good VFM and has everything you will need.

Optra Diesel - fully loaded diesel variant is at 11 L + and hence beyond my budget.
Optra Petrol - even the fully loaded variant has only driver side airbag. I am giving importance to dual airbags since a lot my travelling will involve a co-passenger.
This is the reason I have rejected Optra

[santhosh_kumard]

Originally Posted by sridharps

Optra Diesel - fully loaded diesel variant is at 11 L + and hence beyond my budget.
Optra Petrol - even the fully loaded variant has only driver side airbag. I am giving importance to dual airbags since a lot my travelling will involve a co-passenger.
This is the reason I have rejected Optra

Hey Sridhar,
Did you have the test drive of Toyota - H1 ?. This is another good VFM brand with 11.5 OTR. But consider the fact that they often discount of upto 1 lakh. ( i can give you the contact of sales person @ Nandi Toyota who gave me this deal ). Why I dint go for this ?. --> I had booked a cedia by this time.... but i like the way the sales team there worked. VERY UTMOST PROFESSIONAL.

[sridharps]

Originally Posted by santhosh_kumard

Hey Sridhar,
Did you have the test drive of Toyota - H1 ?. This is another good VFM brand with 11.5 OTR. But consider the fact that they often discount of upto 1 lakh. ( i can give you the contact of sales person @ Nandi Toyota who gave me this deal ). Why I dint go for this ?. --> I had booked a cedia by this time.... but i like the way the sales team there worked. VERY UTMOST PROFESSIONAL.

Hi Santhosh, sure..pls do give me the contact number

[GTO - Touring]

Originally Posted by sridharps

that leaves the cedia sports and the vtec plus in my shortlist..

at this point I don't know what I will decide but will soon let you guys know

What you should do is wait for the '09 Honda City. It has already been spotted by a Team-BHPian. Search within the Indian car section for pictures.

[sridharps]

Originally Posted by GTO - Touring

What you should do is wait for the '09 Honda City. It has already been spotted by a Team-BHPian. Search within the Indian car section for pictures.

Hi GTO, I really wish I could wait.. in fact, I would ideally like to wait for the Fiat Linea as well and then do a comparison. Unfortunately, I would need to decide in the next few weeks. So currently I have initiated negotiations with both the Honda and the Cedia dealers. I must say that both these Car dealers have appeared lackdaisical to me during this sales process. No one has chased me aggressively and I am the one doing all the chasing and the pushing. I am a bit surprised and had expected a more proactive approach from the dealerships.

[tsk1979]

Wait for the new Honda City, it should be here within a couple of months atmost.

[santhosh_kumard]

Originally Posted by sridharps

Hi GTO, I really wish I could wait.. in fact, I would ideally like to wait for the Fiat Linea as well and then do a comparison. Unfortunately, I would need to decide in the next few weeks. So currently I have initiated negotiations with both the Honda and the Cedia dealers. I must say that both these Car dealers have appeared lackdaisical to me during this sales process. No one has chased me aggressively and I am the one doing all the chasing and the pushing. I am a bit surprised and had expected a more proactive approach from the dealerships.

For Cedia, Try Southern , Lathangi was lethargic partly which i suspect due to their termination of Mitsu dealership.

[loving_alaap]

can go for a Toyota corolla, with heavy discount, as new corolla is not seems to be changed much.

[sbelekar]

If good FE, city drive are your criteria then Vtec Plus it is. What I dont like about about Vtec is
1. Not very stable at high speeds
2. Vtec Plus at 10L+ seems a bit overpriced.
3. beige interiors loose their sheen pretty fast. When I was researching the cars for my purchase, I saw 4-5 cars in Honda service center, which were not more than 6 months old. But the interior looked really shabby and worn out.

[sridharps]

Originally Posted by santhosh_kumard

For Cedia, Try Southern , Lathangi was lethargic partly which i suspect due to their termination of Mitsu dealership.

Santhosh, thanks for passing on the info on Toyota..I tried the test drive on Toyota H1..you were right on the discounts..however, at my height of 6 ft 3 '' I found the driving seat position a bit uncomfortable( the H1 model does not provide for driver seat height adjustment) :-) so back to square one!