[vinair]

Its a Indian Phsyci, the more you go trumpeting your prowess, the more people start to expect, regardless of your ability to do the same. Even a moped that ran on our streets decades back, had a German engineered component in it. The spark plug, manufactured by Mico Bosch. And I do not ever remember seeing a single ad that emphasized on the roots of the company or about the company's prowess. The reliability and the durability of the product spoke for itself and continues to do the same even today.

Remember the Opel Astra ad lines? which kept bragging about the 'German Engineering'?? and people who fell for it later realized that one should be earning in Euros to maintain the car in India!

Only if the German's can shut their mouth a little and stop bragging about their so called engineering prowess, things might work a little better for both the company and to its customers!

[rejoycjohn]

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

You have read a lot of threads about the bad service experience with German Cars be it a BMW, Merc, Audi or a VW. This thread is about why the Germans are bad at providing service and why they will always will be bad at providing service thereby helping in a small way to manage your expectations when you buy a German car.

You have been warned!

I honestly don't get the point that this thread or its author is trying to make here. The thread tittle reads out " loud " that Germans need not or will not give you service. I read through the points; other than mere individual thoughts / assumptions I was not able to read any announcement made by reliable sources within these companies that the author quotes to prove his point. I was also not able to see any "sting operation " made by the author deep inside the corporate houses of these German car makers that can substantiate the reasoning given here for German car service being bad in India. Of course there are instances where many German car owners here have burnt their fingers.

But hey a simple search in Tbhp reveals issues with other manufacturers as well in their respective service departments.

http://www.team-bhp.com/search.php?c...uti+issues&sa=
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ty-issues.html
http://www.team-bhp.com/search.php?c...ata+issues&sa=

I can write the same bullet points and possibly start a thread changing the tittle to some other manufacturer , like Indian/ American/ Japanese or Korean. I am still wondering on the value addition that this thread will give to TBhp family or its readers worldwide.

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

No, I have not suffered by owning a german product. In fact my experience has been very good but my case is different as I have connections at the factory level. This will not be the case with the typical german car buyer and this thread is intended for their benefit.

This is where it gets interesting, the author owns a German car but due to the " high profile factory connections " doesn't bother about the service quality or issues that is pointed out in the first thread .

This makes me thinking is it the German car companies to be blamed or that in India things will move only if you have nice high profile factory connections. May be discussions with these high profile connections and giving them inputs on how they can improve their customer service would be a better deed than this thread.

With respect to the author's comments on making a statement by buying a German car etc , I think they are answered very well in this thread.

[viper_711]

Originally Posted by rejoycjohn

I honestly don't get the point that this thread or its author is trying to make here. .....

I can write the same bullet points and possibly start a thread changing the tittle to some other manufacturer , like Indian/ American/ Japanese or Korean. I am still wondering on the value addition that this thread will give to TBhp family or its readers worldwide.


.....

Totally Agree! I own a German car (its my first time) and all I can say is that the experience has been excellent so far! They also follow up very well with third party verification calls on service quality. That tells me they are trying to monitor/improve the service quality. I don't see where this thread is headed Mods! your inputs please.

[PNTLovesNano]

After having gone through the first page and the spirit, I do believe that one day the Germans WILL provide service. Why? Some thought over this.

Are they in India, when they could have as well skipped it without any eyebrows being raised against them? The fact that they are here means they are bound to adapt. When the Tatas and Mahindras are finding it difficult to deliver, give the Germans some time.

Are they giving discount like any other brand? Yes, very much yes. In lakhs, often up to 10-20% too. Now, being THE alternative, that is, the alternative to German car being German, it is not difficult to see that its really easy to manipulate demand-supply chain and show up waiting lists and hence defer the discounts. It shows that the Germans indeed need volumes, not as much as Maruti and Hyundai, but they need some nevertheless.

Like pointed out earlier, they could have easily gone Toyota-Honda way with too little options instead of their near complete range in India. May be not today, not the next five years, or even ten years. The Germans will have to provide service, and it will be here.

[VeyronSuperSprt]

Originally Posted by rejoycjohn

I honestly don't get the point that this thread or its author is trying to make here.

If you honestly don't get the point, maybe you should just send PM's to the 82 members who have expressed their thanks for this thread and find out what points they have benefitted from.

[veyron_head]

It may sound cliched, but I buy a car to take me from A to B for sure in airconditioned comfort. This is the bare basic need on which the concept of a 'car' has evolved. This basic need is met easily by the japs & koreans. And this seems 'complex' for the europeans and they focus on some complex engineering.

I will draw an analogy to mobile phones here. There is no point in buying an expensive Galaxy Note if you cant utilize it for the very basic purpose - to make and receive calls.

A car I buy with my hard earned money and pay EMIs through my nose should take me from A to B without getting stranded on the road, its as basic as it gets. No compromises there. As with complex engineering, I am content with XBox and PS4.

[anky]

Slightly OT . First car I bought was for economy the second one for comfort and economy the third one I purchased was for comfort and safety and the next step up will be for safety and the good image of the car as comfort will already be included at that price but economy will mostly be left behind .

[manjubp]

While I never owned a German car, my cousin has one from last 2+ years, and they have visited service station only twice for regular service. He is very happy about his decision to go with German car and the drive and experience. Also 3 of his friends have brought the same car, and they are also happy with what they have got. Based on this now I am about to get a Vento.

Having said that " Here is my experience at one of German car showroom" last week.

I was talking to the sales manger,
He: Sir, in addition to XXX discount, 2 years warranty, etc., our service is very good, and hence you should by the car from us.
Me: Agree, since others are offering better price, I would buy from them and since all services are paid, I would come here for service
He: But there would sort of difference in service, if the car was not brought from us. We give preferential treatment, if you buy from us.
Me:What :-O

With this answer, I decided to go to the other showroom for my purchase..

[diffsoft]

Originally Posted by rejoycjohn

This is where it gets interesting, the author owns a German car but due to the " high profile factory connections " doesn't bother about the service quality or issues that is pointed out in the first thread .

This makes me thinking is it the German car companies to be blamed or that in India things will move only if you have nice high profile factory connections. May be discussions with these high profile connections and giving them inputs on how they can improve their customer service would be a better deed than this thread.

With respect to the author's comments on making a statement by buying a German car etc , I think they are answered very well in this thread.

Quite captures my thoughts as well. It basically boils down to saying "I have connections. Do you? If not, then you are buying a car just to make a statement like everyone who owns a German car. But not me of course."

The title of the thread is structured to dramatic attraction, but once you read through you discover that there are no substantive or logical arguments made by the author and any evidence to the contrary is an exception that proves his hypothesis!

[VeyronSuperSprt]

Post #77 and Post #84 have been reported to the moderators as trolling and personal attacks. Please await moderator action. It would be in your interest not to continue to spoil the thread with troll remarks.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by diffsoft

The title of the thread is structured to dramatic attraction, but once you read through you discover that there are no substantive or logical arguments made by the author and any evidence to the contrary is an exception that proves his hypothesis!

I can't but help being under the impression that most of this thread is put up by individuals who have very little or no experience with ze German cars. As far as I can tell, those who do, including VeyronSuperSprt, seem to have quite favorable experiences. So comes across as a bit of German bashing.

If you don't like these German cars, for whatever the reason, just don't buy them. I'm not that particular on them either, but why is everybody jumping on the German bashing bandwagon? Nobody seems to be responding or even show a remote interest in those that actually own these cars and are pretty satisfied with it. Other than playing their experiences and comments down.

So, not a very enlightening discussion. Or to be more precise, people agreeing with one another and thanking each other, could hardly be called a discussion. At best agreement amongst like minded. It only becomes a true discussion if those who have different experiences, different opinions engage in debate, listen and ask questions. Sadly the German bashing crowd doesn't appear to be interested in such a debate.

Jeroen

[zenren]

Originally Posted by manjubp

He: But there would sort of difference in service, if the car was not brought from us. We give preferential treatment, if you buy from us.
Me:What :-O

With this answer, I decided to go to the other showroom for my purchase..

That is what they say even in case of Maruti and Hyundai dealerships, only ones where I've had an option of multiple dealers in the city. These are all bluffs from the sales folks in the dealership so that you buy from them and they can meet their targets.

Sales and service are usually different sections with separate management teams who have their own set of accountabilities.

For sales advisors, their targets are solely based on the number of each variants they managed to sell against a specific target. Their responsibility ends the moment the car goes out of the showroom.

For service folks, its mostly the number of cars they serviced and stuff like that. For these guys, its important that the owners return to them even for the next service. They don't really care for sales department much and are usually frustrated with them due to the false promises that the sales folks give the customer to sell a car.

I've seen an owner bringing his Alto for first service and complaining with the service advisor that he was not getting the fuel efficiency that the sales guy at the showroom promised. It seems he chose Alto over Santro for that FE. After he left, SA shared a few of the promises from the sales folks that he had to deal with.

BTW, not many encounter this situation with German brands as you need 2 dealerships in the same city for this scenario to arise. That's very rare in most parts of India.

[condor]

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

If you honestly don't get the point, maybe you should just send PM's to the 82 members who have expressed their thanks for this thread and find out what points they have benefitted from.

On a forum that has thousands of members, 82 thanks doesnt really mean much. If there was button that said the opposite of thanks, we would have seen far more clicks there than the number of thanks you have received.

Yes, I too would have clicked on the other button

[pgsagar]

The objective of this thread is not clear. Is it to boast about his connections at factory level? I do not know whatever that means. VW is too big a conglomerate to be influenced at assembly floor level. I mean like having your car custom built ground up or something of that sort. On one hand, the author says he gets good service for his German car and on the other hand he says service is bad. I am confused. May be he means others do not get this kind of service. I think others who own German cars need to comment here. While reliability of German cars may be suspect because of compex engineering, I am sure their service will not be as bad as is being made out here.

[urban legend]

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

If you honestly don't get the point, maybe you should just send PM's to the 82 members who have expressed their thanks for this thread and find out what points they have benefitted from.

We have talked so far about expenses and inconvenience due to minor failures and breakdowns. What about the safety aspect? I have read horror stories of fabia stalling at 80 kph on highways and yeti whose electricals just shut down at speed. What would have happened if they got hit by a vehicle from behind? And i ve also read of an audi whose power steering failed due to oil leakage. At least such vital components should not fail. What is the use of having hundreds of safety features and electronics if the basic parts dont function perfectly? Finally i had an uno which left us stranded in the middle of nowhere twice and had to be towed. Sold it off at a big loss. In 22 years of driving its never happened to any other car( read japanese) that i ve owned and driven.