[ContessMan]

Originally Posted by hserus

You could just buy the 2014 model of that instead. The classic is a decent car but being phased out.

If you want safety with airbags, abs etc you might consider whichever VW is in your price range

Yes, I had considered that option, but since VW's long term maintenance is unknown, I put it in the back seat. But it s definitely an option if the Classic is ruled out. BTW, my budget would be around 7 - 8lacs on-road.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by ContessMan

Yes, I had considered that option, but since VW's long term maintenance is unknown, I put it in the back seat. But it s definitely an option if the Classic is ruled out. BTW, my budget would be around 7 - 8lacs on-road.

In which case you're better off buying a higher end model of a cheaper car (maybe a roomy hatchback) that does have airbags and abs.

[ContessMan]

Well, I have ended up booking the Classic Titanium (petrol), and have been promised delivery by Feb 2015 at the latest. Though it seemed to be a bit of a gamble to go for such a car as a first family car, whatever I've heard and read about the car made me feel it is the right choice. Hoping for the best

[Doge]

Originally Posted by ContessMan

Well, I have ended up booking the Classic Titanium (petrol), and have been promised delivery by Feb 2015 at the latest. Though it seemed to be a bit of a gamble to go for such a car as a first family car, whatever I've heard and read about the car made me feel it is the right choice. Hoping for the best

Congratulations for the ford. I too was interested but to my disappointment, I was told that the Classic petrol is now no more. This may bring in some ray of hope.

[ContessMan]

Originally Posted by Doge

Congratulations for the ford. I too was interested but to my disappointment, I was told that the Classic petrol is now no more. This may bring in some ray of hope.

Even I was told that the 1.6 Petrol was out of production by one dealer, who insisted I go for the 1.4 Diesel which was available in the showroom right away. But the other two dealers said that they can get the car by January or Feb latest. I inquired with the Ford Customer Service, and they confirmed that the car is in production, but I can expect a waiting period of atleast a month or two. So, booked it and now eagerly waiting for the car to arrive

[my969]

After oogling at the car and threads for the Volkswagen Polo TSI for a long time, I've decided to take the plunge and get one too!
But am in a dilemma...
Actually i've been waiting since the past nine months for the polo dsg diesel. but doubts have crept in ie. I've never owned a diesel, so don't know if the vibration/ noise will be a irritating factor for me. Also my running isn't more than 1200 km/ month usually less and the petrol / diesel prices also suggest I should just go for the petrol.

I have heard all around that the prices will increase by 4~5% in the new year. So am wondering if I should buy it now before the new year. Here in Mumbai, prabhadevi (Downtown Volkswagen), the car is quoted at 10.56 Lacs for individual mumbai registration, on road. They aren't offering any discounts, maybe some negligible reduction in the insurance amount.

So should I wait for the diesel and see how it is and then pay 50 K more for the petrol for the new year price changes or should I get it now.
Any one have any advice as what price reduction I should get for the petrol version if I do take the plunge now?
Any insights would be very welcome.
Jafar

[commonman]

Don't know if any one from Maruti is reading this forum,but after sales issues are never solved by Maruti .I am not talking about vehicle service .There are lot of complaints about the offers,discounts and promises. I assume Maruti Suzuki close their eyes in favour of big dealers .
When I went to buy my celerio,I was not given the VIN,saying once you book the vehicle,they will give the VIN.When I booked they registered without my PDI checking and not giving the VIN.During delivery they didn't inform anything about the VIN and kept me waiting for 3 hours saying bank had not verified the loan papers.(which was pre approved by ICICI bank).This was called delivery order.
When I went for permanent registration,I came to know that the vehicle is 7 months old.
I was surprised to see a fast moving vehicle in the stock for 7 months. I didn't ask one Rupee as discount or anything. ( I even paid for the mudflaps and floor mats separately). The total amount I paid was close to 5 Lac on road for Celerio VXi, in Bangalore.
Fortunately, I didn't see much abuse in the vehicle,still I complained to Maruti against the dealer for selling me a 7 month old vehicle. This was a case of cheating as they should have informed me at least about the age of the vehicle.Gave all the email details of me asking the dealer for VIN for which the dealer never answered.
What did Maruti do? Send the mail back to dealer.Then a customer care manager starts giving lame excuses again. Fed up of it now and just accepting the fact that any body can be cheated by Maruti dealers.
The dealer is Pratham motors,HSR layout Bangalore.
So,this is the way Maruti works.I am really surprised how do they come in surveys as No 1 in Customer service.
Sorry for being off topic and little grudgy,I had highlighted this issue here as I know now,Maruti don't care about Indian lives and this car is the last Maruti in my life,in my friend and family circles.

[rki2007]

Originally Posted by commonman

I know now,Maruti don't care about Indian lives and this car is the last Maruti in my life ,in my friend and family circles.

Sorry to hear this. In the first place why did you proceed with the car purchase formalities without getting the VIN. If I were you, I would out rightly rejected that particular dealer and would have cancelled the booking itself. Had you said that you would cancel the booking, the dealer would have been a bit cautious with you at least. Hope you don't mind sharing the name of the Dealer and location.

In your case, Sorry to say that you have left the head and trying to catch hold of the tail which is difficult. In India at least you need to be very careful when you have a hold within your grip and not when things go out of your hand. Writing mails, seeking explanation and expressing dissatisfaction are least cared by huge manufacturer like Maruti.

I can get to see the name and fame of Maruti to deteriorate day by day. More and more people have started to complain about Maruti for something or the other reason, both within and outside teambhp!!

[commonman]

Originally Posted by rki2007

Sorry to hear this. In the first place why did you proceed with the car purchase formalities without getting the VIN. If I were you, I would out rightly rejected that particular dealer and would have cancelled the booking itself. Had you said that you would cancel the booking, the dealer would have been a bit cautious with you at least. Hope you don't mind sharing the name of the Dealer and location.

In your case, Sorry to say that you have left the head and trying to catch hold of the tail which is difficult. In India at least you need to be very careful when you have a hold within your grip and not when things go out of your hand. Writing mails, seeking explanation and expressing dissatisfaction are least cared by huge manufacturer like Maruti.

I can get to see the name and fame of Maruti to deteriorate day by day. More and more people have started to complain about Maruti for something or the other reason, both within and outside teambhp!!

Dear,my situation and circumstances were something utterly ridiculous in this case.
First of all,in my farthest of the dreams,never I thought of a celerio idle for 7 months and the dealer will do this to me. Come on! Celerio was selling like hot cakes and a vehicle unsold for 7 months,I can't even imagine!. Now,the story goes like this, I wanted a Celerio VXi car in white color and when I called up Pratham motors, they said they have it.I asked them can you pass on the VIN,for which they said its a new car and if you give us the booking amount we will definitely pass on the VIN. I told them, then come and take the booking as the dealership was 25 Kms away from my residence. I also told them whoever comes must come with a proforma invoice and the VIN of the car. The sales guy came with nothing in his hand .He says just give the booking sir,I'll get you all by evening. I wanted the proforma invoice, so that I can process the loan from my bank as this was the only document pending for the bank.It was a Saturday and the bank was clear that if we get it today will process the loan on Monday and by Tuesday money will be given to the dealer. The SA says he will give the invoice directly to bank.So I gave the entire margin money as booking amount.Evening, I called up the dealership and they said they received the money and they had booked the vehicle in my name.I enquired about the VIN,for that they said the information is with stockyard.I insist again I want the VIN,they say it will be given on Monday. On Monday I call up the bank and they say the proforma invoice had not come. Excuses after excuses follows and fed up I have to be vocal with the SA,the customer care manager and the finance manager at Pratham motors.Again,no VIN that day too. On Monday evening I got the call from bank that they have got the soft copy of the proforma and that is OK with them. On Tuesday again checked with the SA,he says will call you back and no info.On Wednesday I go there whats happening and the customer care manager comes in,she says "sir we are fixing your accessories,tomorrow we will do temporary registration and you can take the car "! (VIN forgotten completely).On Thursday,I go there and wait for 4 hours to take delivery of the vehicle. At 8 30 night,they gave me the delivery of the car saying it must be registered in 30 days.I just wanted to run away from that place.Fortunately,the car was not in bad condition.When I went for permanent registration two weeks later,I opened the TR papers and surprised to see that the manufacturing date was of 8 months back.Then I started the ordeal of calling and mailing,which is still going on.Rest of the story I had already given.

My question to them were,
1)Why didn't you give me the VIN?
2)Why didn't you inform me about the manufacturing date?
3)Why was this vehicle not sold for 7 months?

Still waiting for the answers from them.
I had bought 8 cars from Maruti till now,never experienced anything like this before.Praying that nobody must go through this type of sales experience again.

Sorry for a long post,since making myself clear for the sake of it and sorry for going off topic.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by commonman

There are lot of complaints about the offers,discounts and promises. Maruti Suzuki close their eyes in favour of big dealers .

I would really like to know about the offers and complaints. I can share with you couple of instances where a reputed dealer in Bangalore was fined 10 Lakhs for “Unfair Practice” when MSIL conducted audit. In case of Maruti Dealership, you would normally see that all the dealers offer Standard Discount defined for that period by the manufacturer. Not a Penny more. Corporate discount depends on whether your organization is listed for that month and there-on.

Freebies are not discounts and we all know that – Next time ask the dealership to provide you with an invoice on what accessories were you given in free and take it to another dealer and see how things unfold after that!

When I went to buy my celerio ,I was not given the VIN ,saying once you book the vehicle,they will give the VIN.

Isn’t that true with most dealerships? Was the same case with me as well. Upon checking the VIN and the car post booking, you always have a choice of cancelling the booking. On what you lose on cancellation is a negotiation game altogether.

When I booked they registered without my PDI checking and not giving the VIN.

I assume they registered only after the loan formalities were over after the bank did RTGS to the dealer, payment reflected in their account. If the dealership has accepted the payment and simply gone ahead to register, this is totally inacceptable. They should have at least called you inform about this next big step (Registration) and you may have sought time to check the car in and out before this.

During delivery they didn't inform anything about the VIN and kept me waiting for 3 hours saying bank had not verified the loan papers.(which was pre approved)

The loan disbursal is the last step that happens and in this case I wonder what formality was the dealer referring to when they say “Verifying papers”

When I went for permanent registration ,I came to know that the vehicle is 7 months old.

Sorry for your ordeal. That is all I can say. With almost every costumer these days getting very finicky about PDI and VIN (Talk about internet access), very rarely a dealer would give you an old car like this. If the dealers weren’t informing, you should have always been in touch with the Sales rep checking for updates as we all do.

I even paid for the mudflaps and floor mats separately

I too did! These days they take a lump sum in the range of 3-5k calling it “basic accessories kit” and provide you with Mud Flaps, Floor and Boot mats, Idol, Perfume, Puncture repair Kit, Car Care Kit with 3-4 cans and a sponge. Go to any dealer and you are likely to get this as part of the overall package.

Haven't we paid for Mirrors and Numbers plates for Activa from a Bangalore dealership? I had escalated as to how Number plates is not part of Standard accessory and the lady from Honda who called me had no answers!

Mud flaps were always charged by the MSIL Dealer as far as I know (for cars that didn’t come equipped with one).

Fortunately I didn't see much abuse in the vehicle ,still I complained to Maruti against the dealer for selling me a 7 month old vehicle. This was a case of cheating as they should have informed me at least about the age of the vehicle.Gave all the email details of me asking the dealer for VIN for which the dealer never answered.
What did Maruti do? Send the mail back to dealer .Then a customer care manager starts giving lame excuses again. Fed up of it now and just accepting the fact that any body can be cheated by Maruti dealers.

Didn’t you receive email from MSIL head office with a URL for filling up the New car ownership survey? A lot of sections in this survey talk about the Dealer, Car (Body, Wind noise, NVH), etc. I hope you received this and have filled this up.

You have options to reach out to the Zonal In Charge first and then escalate to the higher ups. No one should deny you the email IDs. The way the dealerships gets reprimanded over a dissatisfied customer by MSIL is to be seen than believed blindly.

So,this is the way Maruti works .I am really surprised how do they come in surveys as No 1 in Customer service.

Instances like these come to light less often for the overall sample and glad you have posted it here. PM me the details and let me see if I can help you as much as possible.

Leave aside Build, Handling, Dymanics, weight factors but the way they tackle issues reported by customers is one of the primary reason most of the dealerships are under Radar.

MODS: - may be we move this to Indian Car Dealerships to any active threads or create a new topic over this.

[roby.thomas]

Hello Team-BHPians,

I'm planning to upgrade from my Hyundai i10 and almost have decided on Hyundai Xcent SX(O) as my next car. I have test driven that, and is quite close to completely agreeing on finalizing this one. So the "Step 1" and "Step 2" in the advice is done.

This car has its first service schedule set for an interval of 2 Months (and I think it's 5000 Km whichever is earlier). This is quite convenient as far as my usage is concerned. Also, in the months of April-May is when I expect to travel a lot soon considering it is summer holidays for the kid. So if I can capitalize on that window, buying the car around March end is what makes perfect sense. By the time it is due for 1st service, I would have run a good distance to make a meaningful use of the service. I have casually got the sales guy to comment that it may take only a week after booking to get the specific model of that car delivered before I hopped on for the test drive.

Right after the test drive, the sales executive persuaded me to make the booking now (cited Valentine's day offer too , on car ). He said though I book it now, I can always take the delivery of the car at the time I wanted it. I can understand his eagerness to close a deal, his targets for the month is precious and the risk of letting me go free for another month where competitive cars are on launch . I politely rejected his suggestion, and made my point that though this vehicle is in my very positive list, I would still try a few more cars and I did have plenty of time ahead of me.

It's here that I have the main question. Consider I am not going for a change in my decision and opt another car, how bad could this become if I gave into his suggestion of booking it earlier?

What exactly does the dealer do once you made the booking? Is it the case that the car comes about in a week (as that guy casually commented) or already in stock, and lingers in the dealer yard until I decide to pick up? Chances of someone using it for test drives / demo in that window? Is there any connection of the customer booking to the exact vehicle dispatched by the manufacturing plant ?

[hserus]

Book the car when you are ready to book it, not before. And when you book it get the VIN etc to make sure for yourself that it is a new car and hasn't been sitting for months in the dealer yard.

[gragusha]

Hi,

I was talking to a leasing company about a new Toyota Fortuner 4x4 AT and wanted to change the stock Dunlop tyres to Continental Cross Contact A/T. They claim that changing the tyres will void the vehicle warranty. I wanted to get forum experts views on this.

Does this mean that you cannot change the tyres from OEM supplied ones wihtout voiding the warranty of a car?


Any suggestions?
Thanks!

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by gragusha

Hi,

I was talking to a leasing company about a new Toyota Fortuner 4x4 AT and wanted to change the stock Dunlop tyres to Continental Cross Contact A/T. They claim that changing the tyres will void the vehicle warranty. I wanted to get forum experts views on this.

Does this mean that you cannot change the tyres from OEM supplied ones wihtout voiding the warranty of a car?


Any suggestions?
Thanks!

Not true. Ask them to give it in writing stating the reason. You are using same spec tyres - 265/65/R17. A 4x4 vehicle is expected to use AT tyres, not only HT tyres. The Dunlops are HT tyres.

Fortuner run on AT and MT tyres all the time in South Africa and in SE Asian countries. Many of us use AT tyres on our Fortuners.

[naturaldisaster]

Hi folks,

What do you guys think will happen to the fuel prices in the long run? Its time for my to buy a new car and i am hard pressed between petrol and diesel. i have average daily in Delhi and i cant decide which to go for.

thanks