My would-be drive- Safari 2.2L VTT EX Pearl White!! – Arrived 25/05/08 - Pics on Pg 3

[bhagathmp]

Hi to all TBHPiens,

*My would-be drive- Safari 2.2L VTT EX Pearl White!!! –ETA June 6th 2008*

Vote of Thanks to TBHP!

This is my very first post in here. Hence I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members whose inputs on many a different threads have influenced my decision and choice of the model to a very large extend, well infact this made my life so much more simpler and that of my sales guy so so difficult.

Steeroid, harjeev, bglsrini, dadu, drifter thanks a Zillion for your very very informative notes on TBHP. I could easily see the passion for the vehicles that you own, and most of all your sincere advice.

This does not mean that I've only these 5 guys to thank. Thanks to all you guys who asked all the questions that I could think of and making my choice ever so easier, I just had to search various threads and would find the answer that I was looking for.

Topics such as "Pre-Delivery Check List", "Get better FE", "Tips for Log drives" etc are so very informative that I’ve book marked each one of them to gain easy access when ever required. Thanks GTO and other members for all the wonderful topics out here.

Road to buying the Safari.

Let me brief out my experience that lead to me finally booking my dream vehicle. Yes, I always wanted to own a Safari right from the day I saw one of its ads about 9-8 yrs ago. But it was only in early 2004, when I landed a job in the UK, that I felt my dream would be realized soon. Yet it took me over three years to finally convince my family (Dad, Mom, and toughest of all my wife) that the Safari would be the new family car. I relocated to India in early half of 2006 and It was not until early Aug 2007 that I happed to seriously think of getting the finances ready so that I could own my Safari by end of May 2008, it was during this period that one of my friends introduced me to the all new Safari 2.2L VTT. (I was working for the company in Vancouver then). He passed on the Safari Dicor URL for me to glance thru and boy was I thrilled or not. The moment I read about the new Safari, I was sure I had more reasons than ever to convince my family for one last time. During the research on to the New Safari I found out abut TBHP on Google and it did not take long before I became a member. This was like a gold mine for me waiting to be explored. With the 100s of threads that I guess I’ve been thru, I got enough information, I knew what I wanted right from the time I picked up the phone to call in the local dealer.

The Test Drive- or should I say ‘Just a ride’.

The test drive was just an excuse to drive the Safari for the 1st time ever in my life. This was one of those very few cars on Indian roads that I was yet to drive/travel in. The test drive happened on Thursday and the following Monday the 19th of May 2008, my wife and I went to the dealer and booked the 2.2L beast. Pearl White EX.

During the test drive, (I’m not getting into much detail here as I had a picture of what to expect and as I said it was more for the ride than the test itself) the sales guy was busy explaining to me all the new features of the 2.2 L. it wasn’t long before I asked him a few questions and made him sit quite and think for a while. After that I got a good 30 min of drive with out the chatter just the engine and the wind noise errr should I say music!!! We came back to the dealers office and by this time it was pretty clear that I’m no ordinary customer just jumping onto the band wagon. I thank TBHP a zillion times for giving me the upper hand while dealing with the sales guy. This site simply rocks!!!.

Initial Offer and Discount.

This is what I’m being offered by the dealership.

1) Rs 10,000/- cash discount
2) Floor Mats and Mud flaps (I guess Safari comes with Mud flaps for front)
3) Perfume
4) 3M SunFilm (opted for a light shade)
5) Upgrade for seats from Fabric to VX type Art leather (beige is what is being promised)

Alloys and Hood Deflector

The guy also knows a dealer who sells alloys, tyres and other accessories. We went to that place this evening and were shown around various different models. I did see the same ones as on bglsrini’s ride. I did see Plati and HR. but I like the Plati range more. I’ve selected a model that would coast me 22-25K for a set of 5. He also said he would work out a decent deal on my stock rims. Yet to get confirmation on this amount though. I’ve decided to stick on to my OE Bridgestone Dullers as it seem to be all I need. I do zero off-roading, minimal city driving, My drives are mostly on highways. This includes my commute to work as I stay well out of the city and 15km is all I need to cover one way to reach work, that too on a long stretch of High way.
After reading thru bglsrini’s thread on his new ride, I too decided to go in with the hood deflector. The sales person said I’m the 1st guy to ask for this thing at his shop and to my surprise neither the TATA dealer, nor the accessories shop that we visited even knows what this ting is!!!, I had to explain this to him and said this is even mentioned on the TATA website. I had to finally google the stuff and send it to the sales guys e-mail. I’ve asked the guy to get it from BLR or CHN if required. Not sure how much he is going to charge me , but I guess Srini got it for Rs 3500/-. So I’ll try and get this for that price at least. If I can push him for a better deal then be it.

Thanks once again – TBHP – Simply Rocks….

So there you have it. My experience on deleing with the guys here in Trivandrum. It did not take me too many trips to the dealership to check out the vehicle and its features. Insights provided here on TBHP was more than what I could have wished for. Once again I thank each one of the members for giving me all the “gyan” and making me an informed customer.
Regards
Bhagath aka Bugs

[chaxy]

congrats bhagat! welcome to the club. Its raining safaris in here.

[dadu]

Congrats and welcome to the club, one more piece of advise, check the exterior and the roof for any small scratches & dents (one of my friends faced this in a maruti).

Sit down at the underbody level and you should be seeing a straight line (except for the shockers and arms etc), anything else protuding out needs a closer inspection and there should be evenness on both sides, if it doesnt, something is wrong/ dented from below.

Am glad my thread and ownership experience helped, thats the purpose of it, to provide a true insight into the ownership (good or bad).

[smsrini]

Hi!

Welcome to t-bhp and to the Safari owners club on t-bhp!

Enjoy your ride!

[narayan]

one more bites the safari "bullet"..

good example of how TATA has created an iconic brand out of the safari ...wonder why TATA does not want to leverage the brand to off roading etc like M&M is doing..

the hood deflector - do post pics once u fit that - isnt this the piece of plastic at the front of the hood to deflect the air over the windshield ? i think its hugely popular in THAILAND - every pick up has it..

[SumitB]

Apart from all other suggestions and advice, I will also advice you to be in constant touch with the dealership and ask them to let you inspect the vehicle as soon as it arrives in their yard, preferably, ask them if you can witness it being unloaded from the truck. I have heard a few stories (of my dealership in Shillong) that leads me to believe that dealerships in small towns and cities use their customer's vehicles as test mules and abuse them. Inspection at the yard on the day of arrival will make the dealership aware that you have seen your truck when it came and will deter them from any hanky-panky.

[vkochar]

Welcome mate - Fantastic first post there. Looks like we have a big T-BHP fan here. We all are and get ready to spend endless hours here.

Safari's galore here nowadays !!

10k discount is good + other freebies mentioned - overall a good deal I must say.

Make sure you do a thorough PDI and make a note of all the problems faced by other owners here, TATA is known for small faults in their vehicles.

[GTO]

Glad we could be of help, Bhagat. It is your turn to start assisting newbies now, or once you get your Safari.

Congratulations on the beast!

[stable rock]

Welcome Bhagat , congratulation for your Safari.

[bhagathmp]

Originally Posted by chaxy

congrats bhagat! welcome to the club. Its raining safaris in here.

Thank you chaxy. hope we'll get to see lot more of this magnificent beast rain in here.
Bugs

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by bhagathmp

Hi to all TBHPiens,

*My would-be drive- Safari 2.2L VTT EX Pearl White!!! –ETA June 6th 2008*

Initial Offer and Discount.

This is what I’m being offered by the dealership.

1) Rs 10,000/- cash discount
2) Floor Mats and Mud flaps (I guess Safari comes with Mud flaps for front)
3) Perfume
4) 3M SunFilm (opted for a light shade)
5) Upgrade for seats from Fabric to VX type Art leather (beige is what is being promised)

Alloys and Hood Deflector

The guy also knows a dealer who sells alloys, tyres and other accessories.
So there you have it. My experience on deleing with the guys here in Trivandrum. It did not take me too many trips to the dealership to check out the vehicle and its features. Insights provided here on TBHP was more than what I could have wished for. Once again I thank each one of the members for giving me all the “gyan” and making me an informed customer.
Regards
Bhagath aka Bugs

Welcome to TBHP and congrats.

1) Did you block you vehicle ? Warm them not to TD it if its there etc?
2) Rear mud flap a must, front has one.
3) The perfume looks good( maybe the same one I got), compass atop it works!
4) 3M? You sure? I have the lightest of the film they had, Crappy it is. Please do be there when they fix it.
5) Art leather from which shop?
6) See if you can get underbody coating. Its worth and we need it in Kerala.
7) And alloys from? Which accessory shop?

[bhagathmp]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Welcome to TBHP and congrats.

1) Did you block you vehicle ? Warm them not to TD it if its there etc?
2) Rear mud flap a must, front has one.
3) The perfume looks good( maybe the same one I got), compass atop it works!
4) 3M? You sure? I have the lightest of the film they had, Crappy it is. Please do be there when they fix it.
5) Art leather from which shop?
6) See if you can get underbody coating. Its worth and we need it in Kerala.
7) And alloys from? Which accessory shop?

Thanks jkdas,

Please find my response

#1- I just go off the phone with the delear. He siad he would call me when the load arrives. which should be in a couple of days time. I've preponed my delivery date to 28th of May (coming Wednesday). i cant really wait till the 6th .
#2- The guy said no Safari has rear mud flaps fitted.
#4- He confirmed its 3M. I did say i need to be there when they fix it just before delivery.
#5- Art leather from TATA itself. Mostly it woudl be the same seats that come with VX. Not very sure on this at the moment though. will confirm this weekend.
#6- Underbody coat is another 5K. trying to push him to get it as part of the offer
#7- Alloys from New Bharath Tyres on the Bypass (opp Ananthapuri Hospital)
Regards
Buga

[bhagathmp]

Originally Posted by dadu

Congrats and welcome to the club, one more piece of advise, check the exterior and the roof for any small scratches & dents (one of my friends faced this in a maruti).

Sit down at the underbody level and you should be seeing a straight line (except for the shockers and arms etc), anything else protuding out needs a closer inspection and there should be evenness on both sides, if it doesnt, something is wrong/ dented from below.

Am glad my thread and ownership experience helped, thats the purpose of it, to provide a true insight into the ownership (good or bad).

Hi dadu, thanks. will keep these points in mind before taking delivery.
Regards
Bugs

[bhagathmp]

Originally Posted by smsrini

Hi!

Welcome to t-bhp and to the Safari owners club on t-bhp!

Enjoy your ride!

Thanks smsrini. I'm really glad i'm making this plunge finally after 8-9 yrs of deraming of owing one
Bugs

[bhagathmp]

Originally Posted by narayan

one more bites the safari "bullet"..

good example of how TATA has created an iconic brand out of the safari ...wonder why TATA does not want to leverage the brand to off roading etc like M&M is doing..

the hood deflector - do post pics once u fit that - isnt this the piece of plastic at the front of the hood to deflect the air over the windshield ? i think its hugely popular in THAILAND - every pick up has it..

Thanks Narayan,
Yes its that piece of polycarbonate at the front of the hood. i'm yet to hear any thing on it from the sales guy as its not available here in TRV. will definitely post the pictures as soon as its installed.

Originally Posted by SumitB

Apart from all other suggestions and advice, I will also advice you to be in constant touch with the dealership and ask them to let you inspect the vehicle as soon as it arrives in their yard, preferably, ask them if you can witness it being unloaded from the truck. I have heard a few stories (of my dealership in Shillong) that leads me to believe that dealerships in small towns and cities use their customer's vehicles as test mules and abuse them. Inspection at the yard on the day of arrival will make the dealership aware that you have seen your truck when it came and will deter them from any hanky-panky.

Thanks for the note Sumit. I'm definitely in touch with the sales guy and have informed him to let me know when the truck arrives at his yard.

Originally Posted by vkochar

Welcome mate - Fantastic first post there. Looks like we have a big T-BHP fan here. We all are and get ready to spend endless hours here.

Safari's galore here nowadays !!

10k discount is good + other freebies mentioned - overall a good deal I must say.

Make sure you do a thorough PDI and make a note of all the problems faced by other owners here, TATA is known for small faults in their vehicles.

Thank you vkochar. the deal seems to be reasonably ok. just need to make sure on the Art leather though. will confirm this weekend. i'm taking along the PDI check list posted on this fotm.

Originally Posted by stable rock

Welcome Bhagat , congratulation for your Safari.

Thanks Stable rock.

Bugs