[ndp88]

I voted 'No'.

Recently bought Renault Duster in Mumbai, Benchmark motors. Pathetic sales experience. I wanted to purchase this car far more than they desired to sell me one. They are in terrible condition as far as consumer interests are concerned. Their sales lead had audacity to tell me that their company has monopoly in Mumbai region as all showrooms are owned by the same group, so I can deal with it or find some other car. Okay, he din't say the later part of that sentence but it was implied. They delayed vehicle delivery by over 2 weeks after receiving all the payments.

There were moments and days when I was about to cancel booking due to terrible treatment, and insistence from my friends/family to rethink this purchase because (a) Duster is outdated car (b) Totally pathetic experience with dealer.

I did not budge because I was convinced with the product. I did not need glamorous marketing or charming experience with dealer to help pick my new car. It sure would've avoided unpleasant treatment but that is fine. Like GTO said, you are going to spend time with the car (product) and not with sales rep after the purchase.

[Palio_2005]

We too have had a bad experience with Mira Hyundai Pune. We were promised a car on 24th Aug when we booked on 7th Aug. I had cancelled my booking with Kothari Hyundai as Mira offered a better deal and confirmed delivery on 24th my wifes birthday. Post booking these guys just wouldn't commit. Lots of reasons given none of them convincing. When we asked the booking to be cancelled and return our I10 given in exchange they claimed they have already sold it in a day!!! Now we are really stuck. The GM Mr.Raj Chugh is an arrogant man who told my wife this is what it is. Complaint to Hyundai has had no effect. Some calls from non effective call centres. This experience has left a bitter experience. We enjoyed the use of I10 for 9 years and decided to stick with brand Hyundai due to past experience. Please avoid Mira Hyundai if you can...

[coolkurt]

I don't know how Kia is doing it, but the experience at their dealerships is pathetic. They're garnering the praise from 'critics', their showrooms are full, their car is decent, but the entire experience leaves a lot to be desired. It's probably the worst experience I've had while buying a car.

I'm here, ready with my money to buy your product. Atleast treat each customer as an equal. And give him time. I was forced to cut short my test drive as they said "There is a lot of demand. cannot waste so much time". Exact words. Same happened at Delhi and Gurgaon showrooms. No one bothered to sit down with us and explain the features, the pricing.

Sheer arrogance. They forget , Customer is king.

[Vik0728]

Voted NO.

Proof...Sold a GT TDI and Bought a GT TDI

As GTO has pointed out at the beginning of the thread, VW are not known for their Pre or Post sales experience. They do leave a lot to be desired for, even in its most basic sense. However, the products that come out of these German manufacturers are epic.

Of course in India, neither have VW Sales/Support evolved, nor has many (or most) of their products. The positive side though is that they have never really lacked quality right from the very beginning.

[coolkurt]

With the speed with which Kia bookings are going north (50k+) , I think a huge number of customers read GTO's first post on this thread

Also, it's been two months since I got the S Cross. Just got done with the second service. The NEXA service from their Okhla outlet has been excellent. I felt all the attention when I went to book the car, I got two feedback calls after the last service. Hats off to maruti for the NEXA experience.

[GeneralJazz]

Voted Yes. Dropped multiple cars due to crap dealership experience. 2 times from the same dealer infact. Once in 2013, we dropped the Fiesta due to rude behavior of Ford dealership at Kannur. Now this month, cancelled the booking for a Figo AT, again due to rude behavior at the same dealership. Ford, if you don't want to sell cars, let us know. We need not spend time running behind your dealerships.

[VWAllstar]

Read through the thread and thought which brand gives the best presales and delivery experience? Is there a brand which has formulated a policy or a SOP for delivery which stands apart?

I would not prefer a rude dealer but wont give up on the car as being in Mumbai, we have a luxury of choosing different dealerships for most brands.

[T.U.P]

Extremely interesting thread. Hope it's okay if I mention a few quick "reviews" about some 2 wheeler dealerships! I've been snooping around in Bangalore for nearly the past year, as I've been looking to buy a 2 wheeler when I can afford it and wanted to try everything within my budget just for the kicks.

Regarding my answer: I did vote YES, because I do know how to circumnavigate the BS that some of these showrooms spout when it comes to actually buying the bike, but I still did want to have the complete n00b experience once and visit each showroom just to see how they were. Hence this list!


1. TVS (RTR200 and RTR160):

* Prakruthi Mobikes: Apathetic towards customers entirely. Never had a test ride bike ready despite multiple confirmation calls. Had to sit behind me on one test ride and very reluctantly let me go on another for a 100m. One one occasion, I decided to visit a branch of theirs that opened near my house. I asked the sales rep if there was any chance of getting a bike with Pirellis (the option used to exist). She was visibly confused, asked me what tyres those are, and finally pointed to a display unit and said "sir that's what you'll get sir".
On my last visit there, they were offering what looked like a customer's new bike for a test ride since they knew me by then and didn't want to send me back. The fuel lines hadn't been connected and the moment the rep tried filling some petrol into it, fuel everywhere on the floor. That was enough to make me nope out of there.

* The Bharat Automobile Agency: Slightly less apathetic, also had a more sensible test ride service. They had a separate unit for test rides, gave me the key and sent me off. Weren't pushy about buying the bike, but patiently answered whatever queries I had. Wouldn't mind buying from here at all.

2. Honda (Hornet 160):

* Dhruvdesh Honda: Did not even give me a glance when I walked in to the showroom. Perhaps too busy signing off Activa deals for everyone. Walked in, waited 2 minutes and walked out.

* Silicon Honda: Similar experience to Bharat TVS, funnily enough. Rep gave me the key, let me go on a ride of my own, answered a few queries I had when I came back. Decent experience.

3. Bajaj (NS200, Dominar):

* Kalyan Bajaj: Not a single time did they have a test ride vehicle of the NS200. And this was after following up, setting a date, etc. Didn't even bother visiting the showroom.

* Khivraj Bajaj: Far better than Kalyan. They also seem to know their customer base better. Was assigned an SA who was a biker himself (I think I had this experience in only 2 showrooms in Bangalore!). Didn't let us test ride the bike on our own but he was patient with us, let us play with the bike a little (in fact, when my friend tried it, the SA insisted that he gun it at one point!) and also didn't push us to make a purchase. However loan dept seemed a little lazy, but forgivable.

* KTM Mekhri Circle: Okay, not Bajaj but I thought I'd mention it here! Didn't actually test ride any models since I'd arrived there late and didn't give them any notice, but the sales rep was courteous, although he did keep pushing to make a booking (which I felt was odd for a KTM showroom).

4. Yamaha (FZ-S, FZ25):

* Torcente Motors: Was okay. Went to test the new FZ-S. They had one, went for one ride with the rep as pillion and one round without. Didn't push much, gave me the quotation and said to call for any doubts.

* Pacer Yamaha: This was where we'd gotten our household's current 2 wheeler, a Ray Z. Less interested than Torcente, even.

5. Hero (Xpulse 200):

* Sai Motors: They are, to date, the only showroom in Bangalore even selling the Xpulse and its variants. There's a Hero showroom in Lalbagh that kept saying "sir they'll come in 10 days" and to date the 10 days haven't ended yet. Sai motors in BSK is decent though. Will let you test ride the bike on your own. However, didn't have a clue about accessories and spare parts.

6. Suzuki (Gixxer, Gixxer 250):

* Meghavath Suzuki: Very pushy, test bikes were in bad condition. Sales reps lost interest the moment I said I wasn't immediately booking.

* Aerolex Motors: By far the WORST showroom experience in this list, which is ironic considering they sell most of Suzuki's "big bikes" here. Which means I guess smaller bike owners are good-for-nothing in their eyes. Took 20 minutes for the sales rep to even figure out if there was a test bike, which model it was, and another 5 minutes to get the forms for me to sign. I'd asked for the Gixxer 250, they made me ride the 250SF (the faired version). Worse, the sales rep seemed to have ZERO clues about the bike except for the price and the displacement. (I think I did bump into the owner at the showroom who was more friendly and answered a few questions about the V Strom that was on display there). But for sheer incompetence from their SAs, Aerolex has to be the worst.


7. Royal Enfield:

I visited the Jayanagar branch of Royal Enfield, and I have to say, the experience was the exact opposite of what I was expecting. For some more context, I hate RE except for the 650 twins and the Himalayan, and I'd also read quite a bit on T-BHP about how their showrooms were. However, a colleague wanted to have a look at the Interceptor for non biking work and I thought I might as well have a test ride on it. When I called the showroom, they were extremely polite, even insisted that I wear shoes (HUGE thumbs up RE!). The showroom folks were very pleasant, let me ride the Interceptor (what a bike!) and even let me try the Himalayan for the first time even though I had no interest in it (until then).
Then they brought us in to the showroom post TD, had a rep from HDFC talk to us separately about financing, took my number and only called ONCE to ask if I was buying any of the models (honestly, I was half inclined to).
But somewhere I did feel that this was akin to Apple's service in the US: The reps are manic fans of the brand, and service, etc might be a different issue. No comments here.

[akshye]

Originally Posted by GTO

Attachment 1867155

On Team-BHP & elsewhere, I'm seeing too many mentions of ditching a car model ...

My advice = If you really like the car, please do NOT drop it just because of the sales experience. Reason? You have to live with the car, not the salesperson. ... It is the actual product & driving experience that will keep you smiling in the years to come, not the dealer.

... And you never know, the after-sales & reliability could be good. ...

...

What I feel is, the showroom experience is sample of a larger set. If a showroom doesn't entertain me, when there is an opportunity to make financial gains from me, how would I be treated after I've already paid?

Well, this is rule I apply everywhere. Even when I am looking for job change. If the recruitment HR is not treating me well, before offering me job, I can't expect the HR respecting me, after joining as an employee. (Here I mean mutual respect. I don't mean to say I'm superior/inferior.)

I believe, Maruti sales are so high not just based on pre-sales but A.S.S. too. On the other hand, however well engineered a product might be, it requires maintenance. If dealers are treating me ill before extracting money from me, I doubt they would provide good service later. Which is apparent, based on BHPian's experience with Tata sales matching with Tata A.S.S. on one side, Hyundai sales and A.S.S. on the other.

On a side line, yesterday (Sunday) I inquired Mahindra from their website at 2:30 PM. I was driving test vehicle at 5 PM. (Vehicle was scheduled for test drive at 3:20 PM, it was I, who was late to drive it.) I am almost sold to their service already! Whereas I showed interest in Tata vehicle, through their website. I got call from their call-center within 3-4 hours. No further communication from any dealer, whatsoever.

Frankly, I think the consumer business runs on personal touch and service.

Peace!

[TheGearBox]

Voted no, although my actual answer is "Mostly No."
We were looking to buy a new car in October last year, preferably a compact or midsize SUV. I liked the Ford Ecosport and thought it would be the winner. The other choice considered in that segment was the Hyundai Venue. The Honda WR-V was also considered but then discarded. When we (me and my parents) went for a test drive of the Eco and I was disappointed. I just did not like it as much as I thought (or hoped) I would.
What did not help matters was the lax, unenthusiastic attitude of the sales person.
I drove the 1.5 Dragon as well as the 1.0 Ecoboost. The clutch on the Ecoboost felt quite jerky. When I asked the sales guy about it, he said that many people drive the demo car, so the clutch is very prone to wearing out prematurely. I read later that the hard clutch is characteristic of the Ecoboost.
Full marks for the sales guy's creativity there.
He was also interested to know what other cars we would be looking at. My Dad mentioned that we would be looking at the WR-V to which he replied that it was not a model that was selling well and we should, in fact, not consider Honda at all. Note that our local Ford dealer is also the dealer for Honda.
He also might have mentioned something negative about the Venue as well, I'm not sure as I was paying more attention to the road at that moment and just heard something in passing.
What really pissed me off was that during the entire test drive, I never even got to see the key! He just kept it with himself. Is the customer expected to explicitly ask for the keys to a car when taking a test drive?
Finally, what disqualified the Ecosport was that the Titanium variant we were interested in did not feel VFM when comparing features with price. Dad was also concerned about Ford's uncertain future in India, not to mention that the Eco was a nearly 7 year old model.
In the same month, I had requested a test drive of the Kia Seltos. I was very keen on the then newly launched model and reserved a test drive through their fancy online booking system. I selected a time slot for 2 days later and entered the OTP I received. The day of my requested test drive came and went and I received no response from the dealer. Two calls to the dealer also went unanswered. I thought I made some error while booking the test drive online and made 3 more bookings over the next two weeks. The result was the same. Then, 8 months later, in June 2020 I receive a call from a lady the Kia dealership, asking what I had decided. I told her that I had asked for a test drive back in October, that too four times, and I was yet to get even one, and that she was very quick to get back to me. She seemed quite unperturbed by my reply and told me that for any queries I could contact her. After this experience, I have become very skeptical of buying the Seltos or any other model from this Kia dealer. As akshye said, "If dealers are treating me ill before extracting money from me, I doubt they would provide good service later." While I have not been turned against the Seltos or the Kia brand itself, I would prefer no to have to deal with such a dealer, who could not care less about a few lost sales.

[KMT]

As car buyers we buy the make and model that suits us.

For 99% of buyers, our ONLY touchpoint with the 'brand' is the dealer.

We dont meet the designers, the engineers, the assembly line workers of the company.

Therefore we go to a dealer with a perception of the brand, the dealer can make or break that perception.

Skoda is a case study for this, good product but not represented well by its current dealer network.

If the dealer treats me poorly, I may try another dealer for the same brand if I am very passionate about a particular model. However, if I am not dead set on something, a bad dealer experience will put me off a brand.

[Yieldway17]

Brands/dealers sometime feel invincible after success of a car.

I remember walking into a Suzuki showroom back in 2017 to inquire about Brezza and the salesperson was not even willing to talk about the car unless I paid booking amount. He kept repeating that there is a 6 months waiting period and that's all I have to know. I walked out and bought a car which I could drive off the lot in less than a week.

Not saying that buyers are entitled to discounts and freebies but the attitude of some of the dealers can turn from bad to worse when a car model becomes too successful. Like paying 18 lakhs and waiting for 3 months to get a car (other than for extremely limited edition ones) is something I wouldn't put myself through in this day and age.

[RavSam]

Originally Posted by Yieldway17

Brands/dealers sometime feel invincible after success of a car.

I remember walking into a Suzuki showroom back in 2017 to inquire about Brezza and the salesperson was not even willing to talk about the car unless I paid booking amount.

Having worked in a dealership I can tell you why the dealership and sales people act like that. They don't really feel invincible that they have such a huge backlog. What they care about is how many cars are "moved out" each month.

A sales person has a monthly target and the bookings done with that big of a waiting period (anything more than a month) don't count towards it. And a good percentage of people do change their minds about buying a particular car even after booking in a span of 6 months.

Do they not want to sell it to you because their car model is successful? No! They want to sell what they have at their stockyards.

The behaviour sucks, yes. But the salesperson are least interest with someone buying a car 6 months later when they may or may not even be with working in the same dealership in that 6 months time

[motorlover]

Agree with you. When I was looking for a new car Kia dealer said TD itself will take a week. And meanwhile they said they would send the brochures which they never sent. Every other dealer was prompt in sending the TD car next day and also the quotations with brochures.I never followed it up because in my first impression itself they turned me off.
In my state seltos is selling like hot cakes. Every other car is seltos.

Originally Posted by Yieldway17

Brands/dealers sometime feel invincible after success of a car.

Like paying 18 lakhs and waiting for 3 months to get a car (other than for extremely limited edition ones) is something I wouldn't put myself through in this day and age.

[v12]

Ok, I would not call this a bad sales experience - but an unethical one.

Last week I had visited the Honda, Suzuki and TVS dealerships Since I was looking to purchase a scooter.Started off with the Suzuki and TVS dealers and the experience was pleasant. Both of them handed over the price list containing the prices ex Showroom, insurance and RTO and On Road. Ines also had listed down prices with all the accessories. However when I mentioned that I would not be interested in the accessories, this was deducted from the find estimate .

The same was not the case at the Honda dealership(Pritam Honda, Goregaon, Mumbai). The price of the new Activa was quoted as 103,000 with accessories which include crashguard, seat cover, handlebar grip,* body cover and helmet. The combined cost of the accessories was approx Rs-5000/-. However when I inquired for the cost without accessories, I was told that accessories are compulsory. The dealer does not take bookings if accessories are not purchased. This seemed like a daylight robbery to me and a very immoral and unprofessional and unethical way to run a business. Is this the case with all Honda 2 wheelers showroom? Or just this particular one? This experience totally put me off and I would never even walk into that showroom again. None of the other dealers ( Suzuki, TVS or Vespa) enforced accessories on the customer.