Toyota Etios Booking Experience

RegularIndian · 11th December 2010, 22:10

Note from Support : GTO's Etios review has been uploaded at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the review. This thread is closed.

Hmm...sometimes its the hype that gets you! And is all over the place..Latest Mobile Phones, Real estate (less said the better), Cars...

So we have seen the mad rush for Swifts, DZires, Eeco, Polo, Vento, Micra, I'm told even Corolla Altis has a wait period... and the big daddy of all Fortuner!

Having decided to buy a second car it was a tough choice..and was keeping Etios under the radar..waiting for the price announcement...hooked onto the Etios Launch Webcast and the moment price was announced picked up my phone and called one of the two existing Toyota dealers in Gurgaon.

Now the first dealer is in the heart of Gurgaon, bang on the expressway, more visible of the two, the other one is further up the highway towards Jaipur. Called the first one..a very rude female voice, reminiscent of MTNL's telephone operators in the previous century, answered and my question was "Are you taking bookings for Etios?" No! came the reply, on asking why she said they dont ave a price list yet. Conversation ended!

Called the second dealer, same question. The answer was a yes and a much courteous voice. They even offered to send a guy to collect the cheque to my office which is a good 12 kms from the dealership. Then I called two dealerships in Delhi and got a yes and a no.

Confused, I decided to wait for a day. On 2nd Dec, got a follow-up call from the second Toyota dealership in Gurgaon but not willing to travel a distance of 12 kms did not commit. Called the first dealership to check again and the same rude voice this time answered in affirmative.

Reached this dealership at 530 PM on 2nd Dec ... lots of people..asked for Etios booking, was escorted to a waiting lounge and within a minute had the brochure and price list with a sales guy in front of me...

Asked him whats the waiting period, July 2011 was the answer...and I could not have been more disappointed....has the hype caused Etios to command a waiting period of 8 months on day 2 of booking? So I started speaking to this sales guy and he told me they have taken 200 bookings so far…during the conversation it slipped out of him that this dealership is part of a large business house and hence they have booked at least 60 Etios for their own employee schemes..well decision was made! To exit this dealership.

It was dark and cold and the idea of driving 10 kms in peak Gurgaon traffic was not very encouraging…just when I had turned towards my home a call from the second dealer forced me to stop. Courteous voice, willingness to serve and sounding honest..I turned towards the highway to drive 10 kms on the highway towards this dealership.

Right besides the highway (NH8), sprawling campus, ample space to park my vehicle and a well lit showroom. Was greeted, made to sit on a couch, offered beverages. The sales guy was courteous, well aware and the first question again was…waiting period? He said, Sir..we cannot guarantee anything because we have no information from the company, but given the news and our guesstimate…April is when you can expect your car to be delivered. Sounded more assuring than the previous one….We were also told that Toyota has modified the booking process and once booked we cannot ask for a change in variant and color and that booking cannot be transferred in some other name. This is to prevent hoarding and then asking for a premium…no means to check the claim but if its true its good! We did sign a declaration saying we would not request for a change in variant and color.

So made the booking, were shown around the Etios stall, and offered to explain the features etc. which I declined due to paucity of time and anyway had read a lot on the internet etc. We were also told that there is a road-show in Delhi on 4-5 Dec where we can ‘see’ the car and the sales person will be there to assist. It was 6:45 PM and he said let me check if our EDP folks are around to punch in the order and generate a booking number, unfortunately that could not happen as the official closing time is 6:30 PM. But as promised , got my booking number on email promptly the next day.

Could not make it to be road-show in Delhi but now…The Wait has begun..read in the papers that Etios got over 3000 bookings in the first 2 days…and also that their production capacity is 2000 cars a month to begin with…so just hoping that I’l get my car before April…

Would appreciate if anyone who has booked an Etios describe their experiences…

tachobells · 13th December 2010, 17:12

I read it somewhere that Etios has got 7000 bookings already.

I've been to new Toyota showroom in outer ring road bangalore (Ravindu Toyota) this weekend for seeing the Corolla.

I couldn't find an Etios display car there. There were some scaled down Etios toys there instead :-) Also there was a big LCD TV which was showing some interactive Video on Etios.

camchennai · 13th December 2010, 21:51

Total booking for Toyota Etios pan India as on date stands at 9500
Expected delivery date in Chennai is August :(

download2live · 13th December 2010, 22:29

I understand the long waiting period. Toyota always does its homework well before launching anything.

Wishing that you get the car fast.

OT: Initial batches might have some niggles (but we are talking of Toyota....So who knows.). Willing to bear them?

psbali · 13th December 2010, 22:32

@regularnewbie..

My tuaji is the GM of grace toyota.. Which one is the first one and the second one?? Ill give him a feedback on such a rude reply in case first one is Grace toyota.. Though I have a feeling that it is the first dealership you are talking about.. Because my dad was talking to him and he said that they have 300 bookings and waiting now is till sept 2011..

SPARKled · 13th December 2010, 23:02

This wait list makes the Vento wait list look pretty reasonable. 8-9 months is way too much time to wait for a car and that too without any kind of a test drive.

harishpr · 14th December 2010, 00:35

IMO, its all hype. Its become a trend oflate by manufacturers (more so with dealers) to keep customers luring with high booking numbers.
Its all false. Come on, we all know that no sensible middle class (Etios is targetted at Mid income grp) would book without test drive.
Agreed that Etions is from Toyota; But that doesn't mean 2 days of booking will result on 6 months of waiting.
More they hype, more curiosity is generated. As rightly posted by one of fellow BHPian, We are more of 'Herd'. Just follow the group !!!
For the very first time, toyota is entering the 'Mass' market and the playing field is no longer the same.
This field is dominated by Maruti, Hyundai and Tatas who have read indian market long enough. Toyota is no longer dealing with Elite or Cab segment.
Mid income class here is very ambitious; we need VFM and jusy replacing all basic luxuries with Toyota badge won't help.
Toyota has taken a bold step; need to ensure that dealers live upto the expectations.

realactivex · 14th December 2010, 03:09

my booking was relatively dull. I called up the guy from Nandi on the 1st and he turned up on the 2nd (saar too much crowd.... kindly adjust maadi)
I wasnt around when he came home. It was my wife who gave him the booking cheque.He took the cheque and then gave a rather scary warning " madam, no different colour car and model choosing in middle " No receipt nothing. I got the jitters when my wife called me and told me no receipt!
I immediately called nandi and confirmed that such a named employee does indeed exist on their rolls and that sending the receipt at a later date via email was indeed normal.

I could only relax when i got my receipt the following day on email!

But overall experience is slowly turning pessimistic.

Given the unwanted hype generated on waiting period, i also wrote to Toyota asking them to clarify how they are going to schedule their deliveries.

I am still on the fence and might change my mind to buy some other ar if the wait gets too long.

psbali · 14th December 2010, 09:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by realactivex

my booking was relatively dull. I called up the guy from Nandi on the 1st and he turned up on the 2nd (saar too much crowd.... kindly adjust maadi)
I wasnt around when he came home. It was my wife who gave him the booking cheque.He took the cheque and then gave a rather scary warning " madam, no different colour car and model choosing in middle " No receipt nothing. I got the jitters when my wife called me and told me no receipt!
I immediately called nandi and confirmed that such a named employee does indeed exist on their rolls and that sending the receipt at a later date via email was indeed normal.

I could only relax when i got my receipt the following day on email!

But overall experience is slowly turning pessimistic.

Given the unwanted hype generated on waiting period, i also wrote to Toyota asking them to clarify how they are going to schedule their deliveries.

I am still on the fence and might change my mind to buy some other ar if the wait gets too long.

well it is always better to go and try out other vehicles if you haven't already.. IMO Sx4 is another VFM with a hefty discount.. In case you haven't taken a TD please do so.. It is an awesome car.. I got the first edition on Sx4 and it shows no sign of ageing even after 1.2lac KMs.. Quite a lot of people I know who wanted to buy a car in that segment have blindly gone and booked etios.. I have told everyone of them that don't expect it to be as big as city and sx4.. And the thing that is most confusing is that how is there a waiting period when only about 9800 etios have been booked?? Dont tell me a car in this segment is manufactured at 1.5k to 2k per month.. Agreed that dzire, manza are in a waiting period but they are volume driven and I am not ready to expect that a company like toyota that is entering in the value segment for the first time can afford to have such a long waiting period.. Agreed Fortuner got the butch looks and is a very good car and offers more oompf compared to other SUVs in the sgement but this value sedan segment is different as there are better cars in this segment.. Top end etios= to end sx4, lower end city after discount and vento..

and as SPARKled says it really makes vento's waiting period bearable to an extent..

RegularIndian · 14th December 2010, 12:24

@psbali..thanks for the update on tToyota dealership...tell ur tuaji he has a good setup

...I hope u get the message!

I have been given an expected delivery of April..by then I guess a few thousand cars would be on road already and production going into steady mode...so not sure if initial hickups will marr Etios..never heard about any such thing with Innova which is also a mass market vehicle...

I own a Baleno currently, and drive my FILs Dzire regularly. Sitting inside SX4 gave me the same feeling as Dzire...same layout, same fabric...SX4 had the additional chrome and a bit more spacious...so I decided to not go with it...

Also SX4 Vxi in Delhi costs 1.4 lakhs more than G variant Etios in Gurgaon...so Etios is well worth it, I believe..

bkbkr1212 · 14th December 2010, 15:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by RegularIndian

@psbali..thanks for the update on tToyota dealership...tell ur tuaji he has a good setup

...I hope u get the message!

Did you get a chance to test drive Etios? You seem to blindly go with reviews,eh? With Toyota, no doubt, it is quite a safe bet, still...
Is there anyone in B'lore who has had a chance to TD it?
Nandu, in ORR, doesn't have a test vehicle.

RegularIndian · 14th December 2010, 15:43

There are no test drives before Jan 2011. By then dont know what the waiting period will be...well the decision is based on Toyota's history and the reviews done by car experts just before the launch...and again...im a RegularIndia..not very finicky about small things...so what matters to me is what I hope to get...

bkbkr1212 · 14th December 2010, 18:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by RegularIndian

There are no test drives before Jan 2011. By then dont know what the waiting period will be...well the decision is based on Toyota's history and the reviews done by car experts just before the launch...and again...im a RegularIndia..not very finicky about small things...so what matters to me is what I hope to get...

I just wanted to know whether you weighed all your options.
Most of us are regular Indians :-) That's all the more reason for doing a good check before we put our hard earned money on to it. :-)

I agree with you on Toyota's history. Reviews, I prefer to go by our own forum since that is the almost close to un-biased.

Now we will all wait for the ownership write up from you

RegularIndian · 14th December 2010, 22:57

Yes , the options have been weighed...booked the car on day 2 end...so not getting it before April..by then there will be enough reports on it so have the option of backing out. Also test drive will be done in Jan. So if I don't like it I have the option of cancelling the booking. Problem may be if I get it in the first month and its not a good car, but have to take that risk

. Will definitely keep the community posted on the developments here.

Just wanted to know booking experiences from likeminded users, regular Indians ..

11th December 2010, 22:10	#1
RegularIndian BHPian Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: NCR Posts: 53 Thanked: 17 Times	Toyota Etios Booking Experience Note from Support : GTO's Etios review has been uploaded at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the review. This thread is closed. Hmm...sometimes its the hype that gets you! And is all over the place..Latest Mobile Phones, Real estate (less said the better), Cars... So we have seen the mad rush for Swifts, DZires, Eeco, Polo, Vento, Micra, I'm told even Corolla Altis has a wait period... and the big daddy of all Fortuner! Having decided to buy a second car it was a tough choice..and was keeping Etios under the radar..waiting for the price announcement...hooked onto the Etios Launch Webcast and the moment price was announced picked up my phone and called one of the two existing Toyota dealers in Gurgaon. Now the first dealer is in the heart of Gurgaon, bang on the expressway, more visible of the two, the other one is further up the highway towards Jaipur. Called the first one..a very rude female voice, reminiscent of MTNL's telephone operators in the previous century, answered and my question was "Are you taking bookings for Etios?" No! came the reply, on asking why she said they dont ave a price list yet. Conversation ended! Called the second dealer, same question. The answer was a yes and a much courteous voice. They even offered to send a guy to collect the cheque to my office which is a good 12 kms from the dealership. Then I called two dealerships in Delhi and got a yes and a no. Confused, I decided to wait for a day. On 2nd Dec, got a follow-up call from the second Toyota dealership in Gurgaon but not willing to travel a distance of 12 kms did not commit. Called the first dealership to check again and the same rude voice this time answered in affirmative. Reached this dealership at 530 PM on 2nd Dec ... lots of people..asked for Etios booking, was escorted to a waiting lounge and within a minute had the brochure and price list with a sales guy in front of me... Asked him whats the waiting period, July 2011 was the answer...and I could not have been more disappointed....has the hype caused Etios to command a waiting period of 8 months on day 2 of booking? So I started speaking to this sales guy and he told me they have taken 200 bookings so far…during the conversation it slipped out of him that this dealership is part of a large business house and hence they have booked at least 60 Etios for their own employee schemes..well decision was made! To exit this dealership. It was dark and cold and the idea of driving 10 kms in peak Gurgaon traffic was not very encouraging…just when I had turned towards my home a call from the second dealer forced me to stop. Courteous voice, willingness to serve and sounding honest..I turned towards the highway to drive 10 kms on the highway towards this dealership. Right besides the highway (NH8), sprawling campus, ample space to park my vehicle and a well lit showroom. Was greeted, made to sit on a couch, offered beverages. The sales guy was courteous, well aware and the first question again was…waiting period? He said, Sir..we cannot guarantee anything because we have no information from the company, but given the news and our guesstimate…April is when you can expect your car to be delivered. Sounded more assuring than the previous one….We were also told that Toyota has modified the booking process and once booked we cannot ask for a change in variant and color and that booking cannot be transferred in some other name. This is to prevent hoarding and then asking for a premium…no means to check the claim but if its true its good! We did sign a declaration saying we would not request for a change in variant and color. So made the booking, were shown around the Etios stall, and offered to explain the features etc. which I declined due to paucity of time and anyway had read a lot on the internet etc. We were also told that there is a road-show in Delhi on 4-5 Dec where we can ‘see’ the car and the sales person will be there to assist. It was 6:45 PM and he said let me check if our EDP folks are around to punch in the order and generate a booking number, unfortunately that could not happen as the official closing time is 6:30 PM. But as promised , got my booking number on email promptly the next day. Could not make it to be road-show in Delhi but now…The Wait has begun..read in the papers that Etios got over 3000 bookings in the first 2 days…and also that their production capacity is 2000 cars a month to begin with…so just hoping that I’l get my car before April… Would appreciate if anyone who has booked an Etios describe their experiences… Last edited by GTO : 19th December 2010 at 20:37. Reason: Adding thread closure note
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13th December 2010, 17:12	#2
tachobells BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: bangalore Posts: 227 Thanked: 115 Times	Re: Toyota Etios Booking Experience I read it somewhere that Etios has got 7000 bookings already. I've been to new Toyota showroom in outer ring road bangalore (Ravindu Toyota) this weekend for seeing the Corolla. I couldn't find an Etios display car there. There were some scaled down Etios toys there instead :-) Also there was a big LCD TV which was showing some interactive Video on Etios.
	() Thanks

13th December 2010, 21:51	#3
camchennai BHPian Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Chennai Posts: 335 Thanked: 11 Times	Re: Toyota Etios Booking Experience Total booking for Toyota Etios pan India as on date stands at 9500 Expected delivery date in Chennai is August :(
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13th December 2010, 22:29	#4
download2live Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: - Posts: 1,147 Thanked: 1,144 Times	Re: Toyota Etios Booking Experience I understand the long waiting period. Toyota always does its homework well before launching anything. Wishing that you get the car fast. OT: Initial batches might have some niggles (but we are talking of Toyota....So who knows.). Willing to bear them?
	() Thanks

13th December 2010, 22:32	#5
psbali BHPian Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: PNQ - PUNE Posts: 316 Thanked: 360 Times	Re: Toyota Etios Booking Experience @regularnewbie.. My tuaji is the GM of grace toyota.. Which one is the first one and the second one?? Ill give him a feedback on such a rude reply in case first one is Grace toyota.. Though I have a feeling that it is the first dealership you are talking about.. Because my dad was talking to him and he said that they have 300 bookings and waiting now is till sept 2011..
	() Thanks

13th December 2010, 23:02	#6
SPARKled Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Navi Mumbai Posts: 1,110 Thanked: 656 Times	Re: Toyota Etios Booking Experience This wait list makes the Vento wait list look pretty reasonable. 8-9 months is way too much time to wait for a car and that too without any kind of a test drive.
	() Thanks

14th December 2010, 00:35	#7
harishpr BHPian Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 517 Thanked: 468 Times	Re: Toyota Etios Booking Experience IMO, its all hype. Its become a trend oflate by manufacturers (more so with dealers) to keep customers luring with high booking numbers. Its all false. Come on, we all know that no sensible middle class (Etios is targetted at Mid income grp) would book without test drive. Agreed that Etions is from Toyota; But that doesn't mean 2 days of booking will result on 6 months of waiting. More they hype, more curiosity is generated. As rightly posted by one of fellow BHPian, We are more of 'Herd'. Just follow the group !!! For the very first time, toyota is entering the 'Mass' market and the playing field is no longer the same. This field is dominated by Maruti, Hyundai and Tatas who have read indian market long enough. Toyota is no longer dealing with Elite or Cab segment. Mid income class here is very ambitious; we need VFM and jusy replacing all basic luxuries with Toyota badge won't help. Toyota has taken a bold step; need to ensure that dealers live upto the expectations.
	() Thanks

14th December 2010, 03:09	#8
realactivex BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 55 Thanked: 55 Times	Re: Toyota Etios Booking Experience my booking was relatively dull. I called up the guy from Nandi on the 1st and he turned up on the 2nd (saar too much crowd.... kindly adjust maadi) I wasnt around when he came home. It was my wife who gave him the booking cheque.He took the cheque and then gave a rather scary warning " madam, no different colour car and model choosing in middle " No receipt nothing. I got the jitters when my wife called me and told me no receipt! I immediately called nandi and confirmed that such a named employee does indeed exist on their rolls and that sending the receipt at a later date via email was indeed normal. I could only relax when i got my receipt the following day on email! But overall experience is slowly turning pessimistic. Given the unwanted hype generated on waiting period, i also wrote to Toyota asking them to clarify how they are going to schedule their deliveries. I am still on the fence and might change my mind to buy some other ar if the wait gets too long.
	() Thanks

14th December 2010, 12:24	#10
RegularIndian BHPian Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: NCR Posts: 53 Thanked: 17 Times	Re: Toyota Etios Booking Experience @psbali..thanks for the update on tToyota dealership...tell ur tuaji he has a good setup ...I hope u get the message! I have been given an expected delivery of April..by then I guess a few thousand cars would be on road already and production going into steady mode...so not sure if initial hickups will marr Etios..never heard about any such thing with Innova which is also a mass market vehicle... I own a Baleno currently, and drive my FILs Dzire regularly. Sitting inside SX4 gave me the same feeling as Dzire...same layout, same fabric...SX4 had the additional chrome and a bit more spacious...so I decided to not go with it... Also SX4 Vxi in Delhi costs 1.4 lakhs more than G variant Etios in Gurgaon...so Etios is well worth it, I believe..
	() Thanks

14th December 2010, 15:43	#12
RegularIndian BHPian Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: NCR Posts: 53 Thanked: 17 Times	Re: Toyota Etios Booking Experience There are no test drives before Jan 2011. By then dont know what the waiting period will be...well the decision is based on Toyota's history and the reviews done by car experts just before the launch...and again...im a RegularIndia..not very finicky about small things...so what matters to me is what I hope to get...
	() Thanks

14th December 2010, 22:57	#14
RegularIndian BHPian Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: NCR Posts: 53 Thanked: 17 Times	Re: Toyota Etios Booking Experience Yes , the options have been weighed...booked the car on day 2 end...so not getting it before April..by then there will be enough reports on it so have the option of backing out. Also test drive will be done in Jan. So if I don't like it I have the option of cancelling the booking. Problem may be if I get it in the first month and its not a good car, but have to take that risk . Will definitely keep the community posted on the developments here. Just wanted to know booking experiences from likeminded users, regular Indians ..
	() Thanks