Didn't quite find much on Bhubaneswar, hence thought of really putting this up for this city, given my experiences across dealers of cars, spare parts and accessories here. Its going to be long, so have patience.
Standard disclaimer - these are all purely my personal opinion, so please don't go by my words only.
To start of with, here goes my car buying experience:
Planning to buy a C segment car, I started with TDing Ford Fiesta, then Honda City, then Fiat Linea and the SX4 at the last - in that order and preference as well (SX4 was the last on my mind, and that's what I ultimately bought).
Capital Ford (Ford) - Situated on NH5 towards Fire Station. The salesman was quite friendly and was well informed about the car. I TDed thrice, and all the times the salesman gave me that comfort level everytime. When mentioned about the pluses of other cars, he quickly pointed out the great driveability of Fiesta (and its smaller size as an advantage w.r.t. taking it in tight roads and parking spaces).
The salesman did follow up quite a few number of times later, and was quite eager to arrange for my old Indica (for exchange/sell), but somehow did not click. Moreover, I got a few informal feedback of bad A.S.S. of Ford - more so as it is the only Ford car dealer in Bhubaneswar.
Highway Honda (Honda) - Not sure where they are situated but guess, its on NH5 towards way to Cuttack. After TDing, it was out of my mind - more due to the GC and feature list at that price. Though salesmen were informed, but somehow fumbled when I talked about the offered (rather, not offered) features at that price (though one of them kept saying about how good the VTEC engine was w.r.t. the competition).
Swapna Motors (Tata-Fiat) - Situated in Mancheswar. In this case, I once got my old Indica serviced by them. Though it was a normal service (they picked up and dropped off the car at my house), they charged rs.7000 for it - lot of stuff done seemed to be overpriced for this service, or did not make much sense.
Now comes the experience iin TDing Linea - two words, "really bad".
Note that it was the only dealer dealing in Fiat cars when I was planning to buy (May-Jul '09 timeframe).
I TDed the Linea thrice. The first time they came 30 min late, second time 2 hrs late, third time again 2 hrs late - excuse was, too much TD demand and only two TD cars available (one diesel, one petrol) ..
The salesmen were not very well informed of the features, but kept pushing me to close the deal fast, even when TDing. The way they talked was more like as if I'm planning to start a taxi service fleet.
I almost decided to buy Linea anyhow (great car indeed) - though tossing my options with SX4 (I'll cover that next), but the last nail in the coffin was when it came to exchange of my old Indica. They did not have a section to exchange old cars (not sure if they have one now). Hence, they kept sending me some really harassing prospective Indica buyers
directly to my home, even anyone from Swapna Motors accompanying them !
.. and later as if they were not satisfied after whatever happened, the salesman kept calling me and asking me "aap kab kharidenge? aap mujhpe gussa hai?" ..... etc.
Narayani Motors - Situated in Rasulgarh beside the BP petrol pump. SX4 from Maruti was the last on my list. I TDed it thrice at different points of time while deciding on the car to buy. Found that the salesmen were friendly, but not at all interfering or trying to push the product. Even when I kept TDing and comparing the features with the other cars, they kept acknowledging that (guess that's their marketing technique to boost the buyer's ego ..
).
Coming to the actual deal at the showroom, found that the
sales manager was really inconsistent in his communication. First round negotiation went quite well, second round he promised to give me seat covers and parking sensor free. Kept pursuing me to take their insurance and get registration done by them (in that case the salesmen and the manager were quite frank in stating that they did make some profit). Third time, sales manager straightaway denied about the parking sensor and told me to pay half the price for seat covers - I totally denied ; my wife, and the salesman backed me up. But the manager still did not agree.
On the final day of delivery, I informed him that I am going to place a complaint on the same to Maruti Suzuki. Quickly the sales manager changed his color, served cold drinks and promptly gave me seat covers for free (I did not take the parking sensors as it was two-sensor device with a small display only from MGA that I did not like). Later after delivery, the salesman pointed out that the manager somehow gave me non-MGA floor mats (very thin black ones) - so got one more chance of nailing him ; so on top of those mats he gave a set of nice thick MGA mats.
One more thing - the dealer could not give me much choice of color on SX4, saying about the waiting time and low demand of the car. I wanted azure grey, but ultimately settled for silky silver (though my wife was quite happy with it). Also, the sales manager at the last day when I went to decide on the color and final deal, tried pushing me a little to close the deal fast - the salesman though was quite good and later told me to negotiate hard with this manager and get things right.
So, beware while you talk to sales managers while making a deal. Sky Automobiles (Maruti) - Situated on NH5 on way to Vani Vihar. Salesmen were quite friendly, non intrusive. But did not care to follow up in between (somehow seemed not very interested?) until two months after I already bought my SX4 from Narayani. Further, they were not able to give me any better deal that Narayani.
Jyote Motors (Maruti) - They have two showrooms ; one near Kalpana Square, the other on NH5 towards Fire Station. I visited the former near to closing time.
Going inside the showroom, I was literally lost of whom to approach. The salesmen were going around but nobody seemed interesting in addressing me. Went to one of them dozing off at one of the desks and talked to him. Did not find him very interested though.
Feedback from one of my colleagues who got his SX4 from the other showroom has been positive, but he did not get any better deal than what I got from Narayani. With this, this dealership was out of my list.
Utkal Hyundai (Hyundai cars) - Only got their feedback from others ; couple of my colleagues who got i10s, Getz, Santro and Verna from them - so not my direct opinion. They were quite good and friendly, and good part was, they were getting chosen car registration numbers without charging the customer.
Now comes my experiences in spare parts and accessories buying:
One of my SX4's OEM tyres (JK) was stripped off in an accident, so great quality they were of ..... ?!?!?!?!? So my tyre buying experience went like this:
Gugnani Tyres - Situated on Cuttack Road. This is the most famous tyre dealer in this city ; even the other dealers swear by it ! Previously I got an extra tyre for my Indica from them, and undoubtedly the owner was excellent in terms of guidance in buying the right tyre and giving you the comfort feeling.
Coming back to my SX4, was not able to find the correct specs (205/60R16) with any dealer. I was keen to get JK (just to keep everything matched up). After going through a lot other dealers (including Gugnani), still could not get this specs. Gugnani, after promising my JK (they had Bridgestone rotation, and Apollo with same specs), made a delay of 5 days to get JK ! - this was of course genuinely attributed to the festive season holidays and distributor shops being closed. The owner did every attempt to get them, but at last I bought the apollo. Initially though I settled for the bridgestone and got it fitted to the wheel, but got them take it off and put apollo, as the bridgestone was a rotation tyre and could either be fitted for left or right side.
Recommended Express Wheels - This is in Patia somewhere down on the right after crossing Big Bazaar at left.
The owner was quite friendly and good. They were also very responsive in following up when I asked them if they can source this specs for me (confirmed the availability and called me on my cell to know if I'm interested). Their stock is limited as its a small new dealership. Did not buy from them, but would definitely look at dealing with them if required later.
Recommended Rajdhani Tyres - Situated on Cuttack Road. They again were not able to source the right specs but tried pushing me to buy the specs they had (225/55R16) which I did not agree to. The owners did not seem much interested, even though they also were reputed and old with a huge stock.
Not recommended At last my experiences with accessories shops: Car Palace - Good dealer situated on Cuttack Road on rght if coming from Rasulgarh square. The dealer did not seem to smile much, but was dependable in pricing and dealing. I was going to them since I was having my Indica, but recently seemed that their stocks were going down. Got car cover for my SX4, nothing more than that.
Recommended Classic Cars - Situated on Cuttack Road on right (near FlexPrint, after crossing Gugnani tyres and taking a U-turn). They are also quite good and have a large variety of accessories. Got some good car shampoo, interior cleaner, and decorative accessories from them for my SX4.
Recommended Car Magic - Situated on Cuttack Road on right.These people seem to overprice everything and cannot even bargain much. Got Philips Diamondvision bulbs for Rs.2000 (found its little less at other dealerships). Also, the dealer was more interested in gossiping with other guys in the shop rather than providing the right guidance in buying any product, even though they have a good stock.
Not recommended Unique Fashion - Situated opposite to Ram Mandir on Janpath Road. Quite good, has a good stock of accessories. The owner is elusive, but the other guys who run the shop are great to deal with - gives good guidance in what to buy and what not.
Got 4-sensor parking sensors, extra floor mats, FM modulator with USB/SD, and a few minor accessories from them. Have been most satisfied dealing with them. Pricing is also right (note that you can still bargain in any of these shops).
Recommended