[Samurai]

If one lives in a metro where each car company has multiple dealers, then it is a no-brainer.

However, if one lives in an area where there is only one dealer for the car model, then it becomes a real problem. About 12 years ago, I rejected both Hyundai Tucson and Tata Safari because the only dealer for these cars didn't show any interest in giving me a test drive. There was no alternative dealer I could approach.

[paragsachania]

No with me as well. I am OK to deal with a bad dealer and still pick a car of my choice and then take it to the ASC not even remotely related to the said dealer for service.

A particular dealer or his attitude will never be the reason for me to shy away from buying a particular car. NEVER!! I would rather scout for another dealer from the same city or a remote town around me.

The biggest problem with dealers is not the dealers; its the sales folks who deal with the customers and they are often not trained the right way.

The SAs usually belong to various industry verticals and are bound by very stupid targets to try their best to sell cars belonging to a particular variant rather than acknowledge the client's needs.

[KMT]

When you go to spend a few/many lakhs of rupees on a car and the sales person gives you attitude or inefficient treatment you cant help wondering how the same dealer will behave once you buy the car and go for any service or support.

I strongly believe a poor dealer purchase experience is a good indicator of the treatment you will get when you visit tbe same dealer subsequently.

In addition, there is NO reason why the manufacturer cannot train their dealers better.
When they spend so much on manufacturing the car they should invest more in dealer training.

[mazda4life]

I am sort of picky on first impressions and the absolutely pathetic experience that we had with Tata dealers in bangalore made us postpone our decision to purchase Nano car for my spouse. It’s a different matter that it was a blessing in disguise as moved to USA, but the overall experience with Prerana motors was plain horrible , even a bangalore one office has better customer service.

[Thebat]

Yes, I have dropped a car because of the dealership experience and I have never regretted my desicion. I would never buy anything from anyone who doesn't put in any effort into selling his wares irrespective of how good it is. I am buying a car which for me costs a significant amount and for which I have put countless hours of effort to be able to afford it.

If the dealership or a brand does not value that by offering the bare basic details or a test drive I will gladly take it elsewhere.

Agreeing that we will not be affected by the dealership experience and would still go ahead with the car is like telling that even though I am completely capable of doing my job, I will not do it but I still expect my salary to come on time. There are no free lunches.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Thebat

Agreeing that we will not be affected by the dealership experience and would still go ahead with the car is like telling that even though I am completely capable of doing my job, I will not do it but I still expect my salary to come on time. There are no free lunches.

IF all cars are made alike, then this holds true without further argument. But they are not!

The problem comes when you compromise on a car just because of a poor dealership experience.

Taking your own example - that's like selecting a poor job role over an excellent one, because the HR handing over the job letter had an attitude. Job role is for years, HR you deal with for a day or two every year - just like the car you drive every day being compromised for a service or sales experience coming up once in a year.

[Geo_Ipe]

Let me tell you my story of dealing with the Bajaj dealership in a Tier II city - Vellore in TN.

I own a nine year old Pulsar 180, which I bought used. I took the bike to the Bajaj ASS in my city for a service - routine oil change and stuff. At the time of paying the bill, they insisted on charging me 2% extra, because I was paying by card!! We're talking about INR 12 (Twelve)! Me being a law abiding citizen, argued hard against it, went all the way up to the manager - who argued with me for half an hour over INR 12! I walked to the nearest ATM, withdrew cash and paid.

In spite of this sour experience, I went there for another service. This time they billed me 1400+ for the routine service for a near decade old P 180!! General Service was chrged twice under different codes. Along with polishing, some treatment and even 'waste cloth' used for cleaning!! When questioned, they gave replies which didn't make any sense. Also, the extras were justified saying it's their policy!! Again, spent 30-45 mins arguing all the way up to the manager - with zero result.

This time I shoot a mail to Bajaj - and I get an apology! And a compensation - that I can avail 500 bucks worth of 'extras' at the next service. No refund or revision of the bill I had to pay.

One fine day in September 2018, I decide to upgrade my motorcycle and go to the same showroom (because there's no other showroom in the town) to check the Dominar out. These guys offer me a test ride on a brand new motorcycle with the speedo disconnected!! I even enquire about the 2017 stocks (in the discontinued Plum colour), and they blatantly lie saying it's new stock!

Esteemed members may comment on how I'm supposed to pursue with the same brand and dealership - who has zero ethics when it comes to doing business. Please refer to my display picture to know where I did my business.

[H_Dogg72]

True.
It's the product and the service that matters.
I have had horrendous buying experience with Volkswagen. Yet I own 2 of them.
While buying the Ameo, my buddy and I bought 2 silver highline dsg's together and yet the sales experience was extremely crappy.
Highly satisfied with the service experience and the product, don't mind it at all. Would never buy a maruti or Hyundai ( dad bought one tho) because the service and reliability may be better but the product simply isn't.
On a sidenote.
Maruti: use tap water in coolant (dd peeragarhi)
VW: DISTILLED water only.
It's the little things.

[H_Dogg72]

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

.

One fine day in September 2018, I decide to upgrade my motorcycle and go to the same showroom (because there's no other showroom in the town) to check the Dominar out. These guys offer me a test ride on a brand new motorcycle with the speedo disconnected!! I even enquire about the 2017 stocks (in the discontinued Plum colour), and they blatantly lie saying it's new stock!

Esteemed members may comment on how I'm supposed to pursue with the same brand and dealership - who has zero ethics when it comes to doing business. Please refer to my display picture to know where I did my business.

Well. I would not bother about 12 rupees for one.
Secondly, it's common dude, test drives on customer cars is nothing new. Part of India if you will.
In this case tho, since you're dissatisfied with the service and sales both, plus no other alternative. I would not pick Bajaj.

I had a similar experience in regards to service.
Went for warranty claim on the ignition transformer + bodywork. Dude says, all is ok (VW Bangalore said otherwise) and threatened to void my warranty for gti lights etc etc. Blew my top at the guy and told them to cancel the claim for insurance too. It was only then the manager came and reasoned. After that experience I get all my stuff done from one SA only and even get them chocolates. They treat me beautifully. Don't let one idiot spoil your ownership experience.

Furthermore: get full estimate before giving for service if your are concerned about the bill. If you're not doing this then you can't put the blame on them. Eg. Cousin gets polo TDI serviced for 8-9k, I get polo GT TSI serviced for 18k. Ameo diesel DSG for 15k. So it all depends on what all you want to get done.

[ashwinprakas]

Though I agree with CD's post about the predominant selection criteria being coffee and courtesy in ownership threads, speaking for myself I simply couldn't care less.

Choosing an automobile based on how you're treated brings to mind the case of my uncle whose car's are worked by a FNG I know very well, every time I visit the place I see either or both of his car's there, and I mean that literally.

Holding a respectable position in society and having accolades to show for you'd expect him to add one and one but that never seems to happen.

As far as his concerns go, the FNG treats him with respect and the grandeur alone trumps shoddy workmanship.

Something for the life of me I can't comprehend, because when I pay, I expect things to go down my way, not the manufacturers and definitely not the dealers.

Because if you really take a moment to think about it, no one is doing anyone any favors, they have a product to sell and you are in the market to meet your requirement.

Now I do understand people's concerns about limited dealerships or other concerns pertaining to acquiring the said motorcycle.

For them I'd simply say that I do not see purchasing a particular model from a particular manufacturer from so and so dealer to be my life's calling.

If not this, then another, if none at all, then that's that.

My beloved CT100B's ownership thread reflects the same trend, I wanted the Splendor, but couldn't hence the CT100B, case closed.

Though owning a specific machine is fueled by passion I feel we have to draw the hard line, money is time and time is limited, I'd rather cherish spending it where it matters the most.

After all what makes my CT100B or Tharian's CI etc etc.. special is not the vehicle in itself but the time of our lives spent in making it what it is today.

[SJM1214]

I have noticed that for most of the laymen, the bad experience at dealership starts with the car valuer. Most of the potential car buyers (including me) blame car brands when the respective car valuer quotes very low figures for their old car. In my home town, Amar Cars ( MS dealer) is bad; known for quoting very low for an old car. I know many of my friends and relatives who switched to other brands just because respective car dealer quoted low figures for their old car. IMHO, this is not a good practice. There are plenty of other ways to sell the old car.

However, eliminating a car model or brand just because of the bad experience of SE(or valuer) is not a good idea. There is always an option to ask for the SE team leader or showroom manager. Be communicative and escalate the issue. No car brand/ dealer can afford to lose a potential customer just because of the bad experience of the Sales team.

[GTO]

You know, come to think of it, all of my pre-owned car experiences have been exemplary. Sole exception was the City Vtec through the thieves Ichibaan Honda. But other than that, all have been absolutely fantastic & a lot better than the many new car delivery complaints I read on Team-BHP.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Whereas the ownership thread will say - "Yes, I narrowed down on this brand due to the dealership network. I haven't even shortlisted other brands because of poor dealerships or service network".

There's a difference, Crazy Driver. I'm talking about not ignoring a car because of an individual salesperson. Example, don't dump the EcoSport because of the attitude shown by a Ford salesman, or the Alturas because the salesman didn't know how to speak in English.

What you are talking about here is someone avoiding say, Skoda or Fiat or Nissan, because their *overall dealer network* is poor. This, I'll agree with the customer. In fact, as a Nissan owner, I'm the first to tell everyone NOT to buy their cars because all Nissan dealers are scumbags.

After all, how many times have we heard the line - If x brand treated me this way before sales, how bad will they treat me after the sale?

[JoshMachine]

Fortunately for me, this situation of a sleazeball salesman coming in the way of buying a car that I love, hasn't yet materialized successfully.
That doesn't mean that there have been no idiots trying to pull a fast one, but just that I chose to drop them dead and move on to another dealership.

I remember we trying to close a deal for our beloved Alto (some 13 years ago) in Mumbai's Sai Service dealership but got turned off by the "Head" Salesman there trying to con us into buying a year-old stock.
I tried to reason couple of times and brought out the glaring transgression of what he was trying to do, but to no avail.
So, off we went to the next dealer couple of kms away, and got our hands on a freshly minted, Caribbean Blue Alto.

I think the point is, had this been some other car or product, with limited dealerships in the city, then the decision making could have been swayed.

Typically, one tends to correlate the pre-sales experience index to the post-sales experience index to a great extent, especially for a product which one uses for few years.
And if there is only a singular dealer in the city/closeby, then the love for the car has to be really that much to go the extra mile so as to purchase it from other city/dealer located far away.

[Nav-i-gator]

There are 2 things to it:

1. If entire dealership is unresponsive and/or a bad experience, I would give the car a miss altogether. A bad customer experience must hurt the dealer/company, otherwise they would not bother to change for good.


2. If it's just a bad SA, I would anyway buy the car if it wins me over (preferably through a different dealer, if possible). Interactions with a SA is only till the actual buying anyway.

Having said that, I must add that we ourselves must ensure a good experience (as a customer) for the dealer/SA as well. We try to get max benefits/deals/discounts and many a times pitch one dealer against other to get the best for us. It's important to keep the negotiations on a healthy and open way.

[asingh1977]

I would have had a Renault Duster.

The dealer made me wait for ~4 months. Playing around with bookings, and making me change variants, stating non availability at the "plant" . Starting from the low trim petrol and moving to the top end diesel in my desperation to get a Duster. Finally my heart broke, I cancelled the booking: Picked up a Creta in ~45 days. Total loss their dealership. They would call in between--and just extend delivery by 1.5 months. What the heck.

Ironically, post cancellation: I got the Creta before I got the refund from the Renault dealer. LOL. I realized: before even setting my eyes on the car this is happening. I thanked all my deities that this deal did not work with Renault.