[Rajeevraj]

One of my friends has been planning to buy an Automatic car and after reviewing options and doing some test drives finalized on the Ford Figo Automatic. Decided to book it today and I tagged along to Elite Ford-Marathahalli-Bangalore.

Booking amount was 20,000 and we handed over the cheque and filled out the booking form. SA was then doing the entries from his side. Suddenly came up with the statement-'Sir, Loan processing and insurance has to be done through us, you cannot do it outside'. Now, we have heard a lot about dealerships not allowing/creating issues with the buyer taking outside insurance. But here we had not asked anything about it. And frankly had no real plans to go outside for insurance. So this sudden statement surprised us.

Initially thought it was a standard statement they make. The SA then said it is to avoid problems and confrontations at a later stage and also made the usual statements about how in house insurance is better etc... On drilling further, he said that it needs to be mentioned in the booking form (which the buyer signs) that Insurance will be In House- Basically need to give in writing that we will not go outside for insurance and/or create a problem about it later.

Now this upset us. Asked if it was a mandate from Ford. First answer was yes, then on further probing that changed to 'Our management directive'. Next statement, if you have someone in the Insurance industry, an exception can be made. That made no sense to us and made us a little more mad.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, we had no plans to go outside for insurance and did not even bring up the topic. But hearing all this we said, we cannot write any guarantee in the booking form that we will take insurance in house. We probably will still end up taking from you, but that is our decision.

SA said it has to go to the manager and if manager approves, it is ok. We asked him to go check. After a brief discussion he comes back and tells us that it is not possible and you cannot book unless you give that guarantee in the relevant column in the booking form. In spite of us saying that we still in all probability will take insurance from them and it is just that we are not agreeable on such a written commitment, there was no change in stance.

So in short, we were not allowed to do a booking without that in house insurance guarantee. We took back the cheque and walked out in disbelief. I have heard and read a lot about dealers resisting this when a customer asks for it. But this is the first time I am hearing/experiencing a dealer basing the booking itself on this condition and refusing to accommodate and seems to have no concerns with a lost booking. Not sure if it is a common occurrence.

My friend has escalated this to Ford. Need to see how Ford responds.

[khoj]

Good that the matter has been reported, trust you guys moved on to another dealer.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

My friend has escalated this to Ford. Need to see how Ford responds.

[amansanc]

Great on your friend's part to raise this up. Much needed. Many car dealerships have this habit of making a quick buck while a new car is doing good. Recommending the customer to buy the insurance from them is fine. But making them promise by signing on the booking form isn't cool at all!

On the other hand, if they commit a delivery in say 20 days, would they be ready to put that on the booking form and sign and then honour the commitment??!!

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

We took back the cheque and walked out in disbelief.

Many dealers do this arm-twisting methods to make extra money. That's why, I used to get this clarified just after TD. During my son's car-buying process, we had 4 TD of Tata Zest, petrol/diesel a few months back from Prerana Motors, Lalbagh Road, who readily agreed for our own insurance. We had two TD of Ford Aspire 1.5 TDCi Titanium+ from Cauvery Ford, Binnyston Garden, Magadi Road, who also agreed for our own insurance. So, Ford has nothing to do with this coercion. But, after my two TD of Hyundai i20 1.4 CRDi Elite/Active with Blue Hyundai, Mysore Road, I was told in-house insurance was compulsory. No amount of reasoning would make them budge. So, I called Trident Hyundai, Sankey Road to get the matter clarified. They too readily agreed for our own insurance. So, me and my son had 3 TD, booked i20 Active 1.4 CRDi SX AVN on 20 Nov 2015 with an advance of ₹ 10 k, did PDI yesterday [25 Nov 2015], arranged insurance from our side saving ₹ 17 k and signed all the RTO papers with the scheduled delivery tomorrow [27 Nov 2015].

So, there are good apples with some rotten ones in their midst. We have to carefully select the good ones from the rotten ones.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by khoj

Good that the matter has been reported, trust you guys moved on to another dealer.

Yes, no question of going back to them.

Originally Posted by amansanc

On the other hand, if they commit a delivery in say 20 days, would they be ready to put that on the booking form and sign and then honour the commitment??!!

They made a kind of rude comment that, if we have a free insurance offer later (currently they have it for the petrol MT and diesel) then you will not go outside right?

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

We had two TD of Ford Aspire 1.5 TDCi Titanium+ from Cauvery Ford, Binnyston Garden, Magadi Road, who also agreed for our own insurance. So, Ford has nothing to do with this coercion. But, after my two TD of Hyundai i20 1.4 CRDi Elite/Active with Blue Hyundai, Mysore Road, I was told in-house insurance was compulsory. No amount of reasoning would make them budge. So, there are good apples with some rotten ones in their midst. We have to carefully select the good ones from the rotten ones.

Thank you for that information. So looks like Cauvery Ford is an option. And congrats on the new i20 Active.

[dpkbehera]

This is a common practice.But asking for a guarantee is way out of line. Usually an email to the Ford Customer Care resolves this issue. In my case Ford CC resolved this issue for me.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

arranged insurance from our side saving ₹ 17 k

Assuming all the tenants of the insurance policies that you took by yourself and the one the dealer was offering were the same, you managed a saving of 17k.

I'm curious, what is the dealer's cut in that?

Even if it were the entire 17k, is that worth losing the booking?! I wonder what this arrogance gets them. Or is the percentage of people asking for their own insurance, or the VIN before registeration, or a PDI *so* less that dealers don't mind losing them?

The dealer sure can suggest that you get insurance in-house but pressurizing itself, leave alone asking for a signed commitment, is out of line.

[shifu]

Good that your friend found out about it before he went ahead with the booking.

I had a similar experience with Pride Honda, Hyd couple of months back. They are charging 10k as "Handling charges" for Mobilio. I mentioned once that this is unreasonable. I didn't press further because I didn't book the car anyways.

[GTO]

Since you brought Ford into the picture, they'll definitely sort it out. Nothing but a typical home-made rule by many dealers for a quick buck.

That said, here's what I would do - only if the dealership has provided me with an exceptional sales experience, I'll let them price match whatever quote I'm getting from outside. If they do, I'll take the insurance from them. A win win situation. But the choice should be mine. If they try to force me illegally, my business goes elsewhere.

[execve]

Shocking to say the least. Makes me suspect if the individuals get a larger cut of the insurance "premium" and are actually taking this stand based on their own greed. I find it hard to believe that the Dealer senior management would accept this kind of approach.

[Zappo]

There can be a huge difference in the quotes depending on the car and the make/model. I remember that for my XUV the dealer's insurance quote was 51000. Later I took it from outside. The most competitive quote was 32000 and since I had NCB to transfer it ended up costing me only 21,000. Do the mathematics.

[Rajeevraj]

Update:

Originally Posted by GTO

Since you brought Ford into the picture, they'll definitely sort it out.

Spot On. after the escalation via Social media, got a call today from Ford to understand the situation. Post that requested my friend to book the car via Metro Ford and also gave the direct number of GM-Sales of Metro Ford. Have said that there will be no issues with the insurance purchase.

To the question on the behavior of Elite Ford, it was told that it will be taken up for discussion with Elite Ford. Will update once there is any additional information on that point.

Side Note: Ford contact was surprised at the escalation, their point was that as part of the current offer insurance is anyway free. We were told at the dealership that the free insurance offer was not available for the Automatic. Apparently that is not true. As per Ford, the free insurance and free extended warranty offer is available on all models including the Automatic.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Side Note: Ford contact was surprised at the escalation, their point was that as part of the current offer insurance is anyway free. We were told at the dealership that the free insurance offer was not available for the Automatic. Apparently that is not true. As per Ford, the free insurance and free extended warranty offer is available on all models including the Automatic.

Good that Ford has responded and taken issues in their hand. Hope the way of dealing with a customer is same in all dealership rather than individual dealers making their own rules without keeping the manufacturer in loop.

Hope Elite Ford is sane and good in dealing with your friend.

PS: Congrats on the booking!

[Autolock123]

I had a similar experience with Maruti Suzuki, Recently i had gone with my friend to book a Maruti WagonR AMT and was told by Sales executive that insurance has to be done from Maruti only and it is non negotiable.The premium quoted was around 20K ( zero dep., bumper to bumper) which is quite steep.

When i purchased my Grand i10, I was quoted insurance of 21K by dealer and when i got it from outside the premium amount was 14K (IDV of close to 90% of ex showroom price).

After further inquiry i got to know that around 40% of the premium amount belongs to dealer.

[vinu99@gmail.co]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

One of my friends has been planning to buy an Automatic car and after reviewing options and doing some test drives finalized on the Ford Figo Automatic. Decided to book it today and I tagged along to Elite Ford-Marathahalli-Bangalore.

It would be wise to stay away from the dealer in concern. During Ecosport launch, booking priorities were thrown aside by this dealer and deliveries were made to those who paid a handsome margin amount. Besides, their arrogant attitude made me come out of the showroom in 10 minutes. I got my Aspire in September without buying in-house insurance from Metro Ford. There was not even a hint of dissent even when it was right after the car launch.