[vijayshouree]

Yes, I am.

I like to give proper advice based on every parameter. Most importantly, their budget and also their ability to take the risk of getting other brands than MS and slanted H. I mostly accompany them to the showrooms just out of my interest and help them in taking the right decision, even if the sales guy tells all the b--l s--t. Recently, while having a chat with Hyundai sales guy on Verna for my friend, he was mentioning that the chrome window line at bottom makes it look like "Benzu caaru" (read in telugu, if you know). We were like

A couple of examples below,

1. In 2004, I made my dad buy HH Splendor instead of HH CD Deluxe as Splendor is more comfortable and short.
2. I adviced myself not to get a car too early in life as I have other commitments. But, bought a Santro Xing .
3. I adviced my uncle to get Grand i10/Tiago instead of Celerio, he bought Celerio and he is happy. As BHPian 'boniver' mentioned correctly, "people will always buy the car that they themselves want to." I can prefix the statement with "Most".
4. I adviced one of my close buddies to get i20 instead of Creta based on his financial commitments at that time. He listened to me and got i20. But daily I get beatings from him as now he can afford Creta
5. I advised one of my friends to get i20 instead of Baleno for his wife. He got Baleno, but his wife liked i20. The reason is lil funny, Baleno has that Volvo ish looks at the c-pillar.
6. And so on and on...

There are countless conversations on getting accessories, from car perfume to sunroof.

[bharatbits]

I would love to but they end up buying what they want to. So, i don't bother much these days.

I know their budget, needs etc and tell them if i were in your place this is what i would buy. End of discussion. After that it's your choice.

[pyrodrive]

Yes. Also, I am often the guy who has to drive the shiny new car to the friend/family home. This year have driven out from the showroom a new xuv, a creta and a grand i10 so far.
Tomorrow will be taking delivery of a thar 700 for a colleague and will be driving her to his home.

[Rajeevraj]

Answer is a yes. But I am generally careful about it. In most cases the opinion seeker has 2-3 vehicles in mind. So I try to guide within those choices based on the requirements. It is easy to try to influence based on our individual preferences, so consiously try to keep that personal preference out and focus on thinking from the opinion seekers mind set.

So my input is restricted to providing clarifications or maybe throw in a couple of additional options they may have overlooked.

Finally as few folks have already said, most people have made up their mind based on the general herd mentality options. So more often than not advice goes waste.

[rajvardhanraje]

Yes absolutely. Friends, relatives, colleagues, all of them. I am the default go to person for this in my social circle. Although from my side I recommend them something based more on their requirement and liking. Most of the times it would not be the car I would by at that price point. Different people want to buy cars for different purposes and most of them are not enthusiasts. So what matters to them more is ease of ownership, reliability, automatic transmission, comfort oriented suspension and fuel efficiency. I would say 8 out of 10 people are more inclined towards the 'conventional' brands and not willing to risk it out to buy 'newer' brands. It takes a lot of convincing to make them opt for other brands.

[sabi_swat]

Originally Posted by vishy76

...

A buyer selection is not just based on safety.He/she is influenced by many factors like price,fuel consumption , ASS,reliability and most importantly the sales experience.

Your dad while choosing Kwid must have seen something positive over all other choices he had at that time. My dad had bought a Padmini,a Matiz and a Beat till now. Despite being these brands kept extinguishing within a decade,this doesn't deter him from buying "exotic" brands.

His reason were simple, Padmini had great engine, Matiz had best in class power and fuel consumption and Beat was the cheapest diesel with highest ARAI mileage in the country.

[ash22]

Oh Yes. I also feel proud sometimes that my suggestions are moving up the ladder and end up in a purchase. I get the actual requirement, study the same and I recommend the vehicle (car/bikes/scooters/gadgets/sometimes real estate too) based on my knowledge and experience. I will split the pros/cons to them in detail and leave the final decision to the owner.

[Mortis]

I do try to advise people when the discussion comes up or if they ask for my opinion but unfortunately most of the time it's with people with no knowledge or with preconceived notions or have some misconceptions stuck in their head. Due to this I state my facts/opinion once and don't continue to argue for my own piece of mind.
Especially with people that believe that when you fill petrol in the car it "goes into the battery" !!

[tejas2323]

Is it true that when we advice someone we are mostly correct but when it comes to decide for ourself we often get confused! And in that confusion we decide something wrong and that we realise later.
I think most of the first car purchase end up with a wrong decision due to lack of knowledge or influence of others.

[blackbeast]

Originally Posted by ajmat

have been asked to locate a used Mini Cooper.

Ajit i know of a 50k run mini cooper s diesel. i can you to the guy. he is in bellary.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by blackbeast

Ajit i know of a 50k run mini cooper s diesel. i can you to the guy. he is in bellary.

Thanks, looking for a petrol one though

[Aakarsh]

I voted for yes because for most of my friends and family I am the consultant but for some i am not. From last 7-10 days I'm constantly getting calls from my uncle who is in Mumbai and I convinced him to take a test drive of freestyle and figo blu. He kept on telling that he heard about expensive maintenance costs and what not but I just let him know what the truth was. He test drove the car and came out thoroughly impressed. Now He finds ford value for money and will be finalising the deal coming sunday. He was keen on xuv300 base as well but though he is on a budget I told him it's better to have something smaller but fully loaded rather than going for something big and barebones.

Thanks and regards
Aakarsh

[Samba]

Well, i have suggested to few of my friends and family members. Some of them have taken my advice, whereas some of them came with some prefixed choice's and they just wanted me to support their choice!
For them, i just tell the pros & cons and encourage them to go ahead with their decision. I never try to convince them on what i suggest. At the end it's their hard earned money.

Am a type of guy, who will tell once, take it or leave it, i don't care!
But yes, if that guy have multiple queries, i will try to answer them.

Well my suggestion list for 2019 which which got converted into sales, goes like this -
Four Duster Awd's
One Ecosport Petrol (1.5 Dragon)
One Figo Petrol (Suggested him the Freestyle diesel, but he bought a Figo petrol).
One Nexon Diesel

[livetodrive]

I used to be but no more now. It's tough to say someone close by just saying "Buy whatever you want", but that's what I do now, in a polite way.

I can see there are confused buyers nowadays:

1. No control over budget. Sometimes people come to me asking should I buy a C1 sedan or a MPV or a new launch SUV? When I explain him the range he is talking about is from 7 to 17 Lakhs and the response is "It's fine, I will manage", then I feel its going to be a waste of time if I go in further discussion and subsequently go for direction less test drives. Also, there are no specific deadline to purchase the asset and it might go on forever.

2. Its just time pass: People just for the sake of having a discussion on which car to buy starts it and in few minutes of discussion makes it clear that he has no clear plan or intention to buy a car. Just for sake he is doing time pass in the name of discussion. I might be harsh here, but I really do not want to get into fruitless discussions on cars.

3. No idea about the product: Well that's the reason why they sought my help right ? But it becomes tough to explain and convince people on what might suit them best. Seems I have to train myself more in soft skills.

4. As already stated by BHPians : The discussion is more of a kind of approval on what they have already made up their mind about. So, better not to waste energy in such discussions.

5. Last but not the least : People with hidden desires. "I saw an ad of a 15 Lakh Jaguar, how will it be?" No point in indulging such discussions, I know he will not go beyond his favorite tincan.

So voted "No".

[deehunk]

I am the first person among my close relatives for any car buying/servicing exercise, proud to say that 3 people who bought a Skoda during its bad days are extremely happy about the decision. I have always promoted lesser known vehicles, one because of discounts and second because of the reliability. My cars are also favorites among prospective buyers, I never abuse my vehicles. The latest recommendation was Tata Nexon, my cousin owned a Fabia earlier, he is now addicted to Nexon XMA.