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Old 10th February 2009, 13:24   #61
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Sorry for going a bit OT, but I have a question. My insurance is coming up for renewal. How do I make sure if the comprehensive cover that I have also includes damage to engine from water-logging?
I am asking this after reading the travails of a Civic owner on this forum. I don't mind paying extra for that insurance.
The call center dude from the insurance company who called me up did not appear to be knowledgeable on this point. He simply said 'comprehensive' includes all damages, but I don't wanna be misled by his ignorance.
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Old 10th February 2009, 14:04   #62
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Originally Posted by vnabhi View Post
How do I make sure if the comprehensive cover that I have also includes damage to engine from water-logging?
Look for "flood damage" in the existing insurance policy - the copy which you keep at home.
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Old 13th February 2009, 13:16   #63
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Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
For sometime now, I have been thinking of getting a small car as a town-runabout. Mainly to be used by my wife and occasionally by me/Dad. Could not decide between the M800-a/c and Alto-Lxi and due to some reason this kept getting postponed. Had initially planned to get it in end-Nov '08, then X'mas '08 and now we are in Feb '09, but still pending.

The idea was to buy it in Kerala, since that is where it would be used, but I found that my weekend visits did not allow me enough time to check out the cars or to finalise a good deal with the dealer. Only managed to get quotes for both the cars there.

Then I thought it would be more easier for me to buy it in TN and drive it down, because I have more time during weekdays to finalise the deal. Ofcourse the hassle would be that it would be a TN-regd car running in KL.

Anyway, I land up at the showroom of CARS India (MSIL dealer) last week and get quotes for these 2 cars. This is the quote he gave me for the Alto-Lxi :

Ex-showroom : 2,72,568.14
Insurance : 7,991.00
RoadTax, Registration, number plates, handling charges + basic accessories : 31840.00
-------------
Total : 3,12, 399.14

The first thing that struck me was that the price seemed so much higher than the on-road price quoted to me at Kerala, which was 2,95,936. Since the ex-showroom price and Insurance seemed OK, I narrowed down the difference to the tax part.

I asked him what %age was the road tax. He first said it is 4%, then immediately corrected himself saying that he mentioned Pondicherry tax by mistake and that it is 8% of ex-showroom value. I told him that as AFAIK it is 6% of ex-showroom price in TN. But he stood to his stand of 8% tax.

I told him that even if you took the tax at 8%, it should come to only 21,800. So what is the explanation for the extra 10K they were charging?

He mumbled something about registration charges, bribe to RTO guys for getting car registered, transportation charges of car from Gurgaon factory to Chennai etc - which is plainly a truckload of bull.

Later I checked the website of TN-RTO and see that I was right about tax being 6%, which in this case would come to 16354. Add another 1K for registration, regn-plates etc and still it comes to 17354 only which means they are actually charging 15K more than what is due.

I went home and looked up the quote given to me by the Kerala dealer for the same car :

ex-showroom : 2,71,301
Insurance : 7757
Road tax + service charges (Temp/Perm) : 16878
------------
TOTAL : 295936

This is atrocious to say the least and pretty much illegal too, given that you are cheating on taxes. Plus the normal layman would think that a dealer won't inflate taxes and thus ignore that part of the price.

Posted this here so that atleast tbhp-ians would avoid being fleeced by these dealers.

This is an interesting bit of information that you have provided.

Just for the benefit of others, the road tax in Karnataka for new vehicles varies between 12 to 16 % (3 slabs) based on the cost of the car.

Slab 1 - upto 5 lacs - 12%
Slab 2 - 5 to 10 lacs - 13%
Slab 3 - Above 10 lacs - 16%

This is way above what is levied in TN. No wonder the cost of cars here are always a bit on the higher side.
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Old 13th February 2009, 13:52   #64
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Thats would be the correct information. More detailed information here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-c...ml#post1167243
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Old 26th February 2009, 13:19   #65
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Insurance + Registration queries when booking a vehicle

I am inching closer to book a Bolero from Sireesh Motors. As part of my negotiations, I am also going to further say that I prefer taking the insurance myself (brother works in TATA AIG) and do the registration myself (including payment of Life time road tax - Uncle is at Yeshwanthapura RTO).

I am fibbing on both counts, but will the dealer agree to release the vehicle without the registration and insurance? I gather that I can put the "for regn" sticker and drive straight to the RTO and get this work done, and thereafter finish the insurance.

Can someone throw light on how I can take this forward? Would much appreciate.
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Old 9th June 2009, 18:01   #66
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Are we being conned by the dealers?

Finally, I decided that what I want is an automatic car and called up the Honda dealer to find the prices. I am in Bangalore. Here is what he told me:


922000 - ex-showroom price
131846 - road tax
6500 - registration and handling
26394 - insurance
3000 - mandatory kit (mud flaps)
-------
1089000 - on road
======

I have a few doubts:

1) The Bangalore RTO website says that cars below 10L have a road tax of 13%.
(http://stg1.kar.nic.in/transport/Tax...0TO%202008.doc Check page 9)
At 13% of the ex-showroom price, the road tax is 119860. So where is the additional 12K being accounted?

2) The RTO website mentions registration fees as Rs 200.
http://stg1.kar.nic.in/transport/feestablecss.html.
So what else is covered in handling charges?

3) Rs 3000 for mudflaps?

This is not just a complaint about Honda. Price list of Hyundai also seems to show similar rates. So are these dealers charging us high? Or am I missing something?
 
Old 9th June 2009, 18:25   #67
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3000 bucks for mudflap! well thats definitely a typical Honda con job and how the hell does it become mandatory???!!

Tax is there something like cess on top of it?

Handling charges mostly will go as bribes and dealer cuts lol

I had done old iKON's registration on my own, since it was delivered from another town and i remember paying only the mandatory fees which was under 500 bucks. I had a friend in RTO who helped me

So obviously all this is part of our chalta hein attitude, to which i had fallen when i delivered my Swift
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Old 9th June 2009, 19:06   #68
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When i checked last time the dealer sales consultant told me that the essential kit includes the following

1. Mud flaps (4 nos)
2. first aid kit
3. Red Triangle
4. puncher kit

Regarding other things, i will check with the dealer
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Old 9th June 2009, 19:11   #69
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how else you expect the auto dealers to make money if they dont have extra charges for handling your vehicle!

i think a dry powder fire extinguisher mandatory along with the first aid and the warning triangle in the vehicle!
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Old 9th June 2009, 19:16   #70
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Ofcourse yes. and +1 to Parm comments.

All dealers have something or other in different names, which goes just unnoticed. Like the surcharge concept in "How to Rob a Bank" movie The pennies adds up to millions. Same here too.

Basically even of the dealer says he gives something free, remember you are charged for that in a different heading.
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Old 9th June 2009, 19:18   #71
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I believe the first aid kit and red triangle are supposed to be packaged with the new car and not part of accessories. The dealer is trying to mint some $$$ by having mudflaps and puncture kit in the list.
Check with other car dealers, its our hard earned money.
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Old 9th June 2009, 19:43   #72
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hyundai dealer didnt offer us anything extra and not even forced anything upon us from his side to make that extra rupees!

also the customer has to be aware of what is being offered by the dealer and the OEM as standard so that he doesnt pay extra!

one has to be a smart customer rather than a dumb and hungry for free bee customer!

demand things and not just free gifts!

Last edited by Parm : 9th June 2009 at 19:45.
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Old 9th June 2009, 20:29   #73
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StarVegabond View Post
When i checked last time the dealer sales consultant told me that the essential kit includes the following

1. Mud flaps (4 nos)
2. first aid kit
3. Red Triangle
4. puncher kit

Regarding other things, i will check with the dealer

WHAT THE HECK! 2&3 comes from the manufacturer FREE!!!

Puncture kit is very much optional and mud flaps, man i think these dealers are really into big time con job!

OR dont tell me RTO doesnt allow registration without mud flaps??! man then we have really advanced.

Last edited by Jaggu : 9th June 2009 at 20:31.
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Old 9th June 2009, 21:09   #74
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StarVegabond View Post
When i checked last time the dealer sales consultant told me that the essential kit includes the following

1. Mud flaps (4 nos)
2. first aid kit
3. Red Triangle
4. puncher kit

Regarding other things, i will check with the dealer
First-Aid Kit and Warning Triangle are mandatory but are provided by the car manufacturer as a part of the car. There is no dealer kit for these items.

Mud Flaps costs start at about Rs. 300 for set of 4 and would depend on the quality supplied by your dealer, but once again are in no way compulsory purchase. Puncture Kit is just a farce. The two things combined would cost the dealer a max. of Rs. 1000/- and are in no way essential.

The RTO charges once again may include extras like Hypothecation charges and other service charges that dealer needs to pay to their agents but these are limited to a maximum of Rs. 1000/- and are in no way calculated as percentage hence would be same for an Alto as for a Honda City.

All in all, the dealer in question is taking advantage of Honda Halo that blinds many buyers giving dealers a chance to make extra money.

Just few weeks back, I met a person who argued that only Honda Ganesh idols (from 'Diviniti') were compatible with the sophisticated airbag system of his ANHC as he had been told by the sales manager of honda dealership. Guess Diviniti has been producing ultra sophisticated Ganpati Bappa for Honda owners
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Old 9th June 2009, 21:16   #75
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Quote:
Originally Posted by akhilesh51 View Post
Just few weeks back, I met a person who argued that only Honda Ganesh idols (from 'Diviniti') were compatible with the sophisticated airbag system of his ANHC as he had been told by the sales manager of honda dealership. Guess Diviniti has been producing ultra sophisticated Ganpati Bappa for Honda owners
lol now this takes the cake >

The dealer is conning you for sure. Do check with another dealer before you make a decision.
edit: Maybe he is giving you Skoda mudflaps for that price

Last edited by sammyboy : 9th June 2009 at 21:18.
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