[fazayal]

There are multiple threads on this topic. However, I have tried to give my point of view with logical explanations on why it doesn't make sense to buy a car with high waiting period. If mods feel, they can merge this with another thread.

There are many people across India who wait for months to get delivery of their beloved car. However, in my opinion one should not wait for more than a month to get delivery of the car. There are many reasons for it:

1. Booking a car with high waiting period is like going on a road with high traffic. More and more people keep on booking that car and waiting period keeps on increasing, making situation worse. If there is another car available in the market which fulfils all your needs, better to go for it than go for a car with higher waiting period.

2. In many cases you would be exchanging your old car. So you would have to drive the old car for more time. The old car would have higher chances of breakdown, there might be scheduled services in between or even insurance renewal. Resale value would also be lower 6 months down the line. It would also rob you off pleasure of driving a new car for such a long period.

3. If the car has a huge waiting period, you would not get proper buying experience from the dealer. I remember going to Renault showroom during launch of Duster and Ford showroom during launch of Ecosport. Dealer staff was not even interested in attending walkin customers. They might also create circumstances that would make you cancel the car booking after waiting for sometime because there might be people ready to pay extra money to get that popular car. Even if they refund the full amount, they practically used your money interest free to run their business. Imagine you booked by paying 50k. There are 100 bookings in pipeline. That's a cool 50 lakhs in dealer's bank account to use as interest free working capital!

4. Dealers might also force customers to buy everything in-house for cars with high waiting period. Be it inflated insurance price, finance or accessories. They can't do it legally, so they might very well quote a much higher waiting period for someone who wants to get insurance, finance, etc done on their own rather than going with dealer.

5. Cost of cars usually go up and rarely come down. For cars in high demand, the price is increased more regularly by the OEM. Customers have to pay the cost of car as on date of delivery. If one buys a car with waiting period of say 6 months, it's very likely that price of car would have increased considerably by then.

6. With high waiting period, there are chances that your EMIs might start even before delivery of the car.

7. Most of the time, high waiting period is for newly launched car. There are higher chances of niggles in a newly launched car than in a car in the market for say 2 years as most niggles are removed by then.

8. You might have to make compromise on variant, colour, fuel options etc. on cars with high waiting period.

9. Read a thread which was about how OEMs fake that waiting period is higher to show that their car is in high demand and they would not give any discounts/offers etc. If customers start walking away when high waiting period is quoted, they would be forced to stop this gimmick.

10. Economically speaking, buyer's market is much better than seller's market. Seller's should be chasing customer's and following up with them rather than the other way round. Instead of deferring for six months, a customers spend money now, it's better for economy as well. More people spend in market, more jobs are created and we all benefit as a country.

These are few points I could think of. Would love to hear points for and against.

[saisree]

Isn't the high waiting period because of the customers demand? He booked it against the waiting period knowingly and he needs the very same car. We can't ask him to look elsewhere.

That feeling of getting a new car after a wait time has no comparison to getting one - off shelf. India waited for 2 years to know why Kattappa Killed Baahubali. If we can wait for a film, we can wait eternally for a loved possession.

I for one is waiting for Honda to introduce the new HRV/Vezel in India and what do you think about this?

[AYP]

Originally Posted by fazayal

However, in my opinion one should not wait for more than a month to get delivery of the car. There are many reasons for it:

1. Booking a car with high waiting period is like going on a road with high traffic. More and more people keep on booking that car and waiting period keeps on increasing, making situation worse. If there is another car available in the market which fulfils all your needs, better to go for it than go for a car with higher waiting period.

It is more like going on a road with traffic up to a certain limit which then becomes the German AutoBahn. In comparison, the other choices are like driving on an average quality road throughout the ownership experience. Choose your poison. Again, 'choose' is the key word. I know what I'd choose.

Originally Posted by fazayal

2. In many cases you would be exchanging your old car. So you would have to drive the old car for more time. The old car would have higher chances of breakdown, there might be scheduled services in between or even insurance renewal. Resale value would also be lower 6 months down the line. It would also rob you off pleasure of driving a new car for such a long period.

It is a personal choice, isn't it? If a person is willing to wait for a specific car, then he also knows about the associated 'potential risks' like the ones you stated above. He or she also knows about the benefits and has still consciously decided to stick to his/her booking.

Originally Posted by fazayal

3. If the car has a huge waiting period, you would not get proper buying experience from the dealer. I remember going to Renault showroom during launch of Duster and Ford showroom during launch of Ecosport. Dealer staff was not even interested in attending walkin customers. They might also create circumstances that would make you cancel the car booking after waiting for sometime because there might be people ready to pay extra money to get that popular car. Even if they refund the full amount, they practically used your money interest free to run their business. Imagine you booked by paying 50k. There are 100 bookings in pipeline. That's a cool 50 lakhs in dealer's bank account to use as interest free working capital!

4. Dealers might also force customers to buy everything in-house for cars with high waiting period. Be it inflated insurance price, finance or accessories. They can't do it legally, so they might very well quote a much higher waiting period for someone who wants to get insurance, finance, etc done on their own rather than going with dealer.

9. Read a thread which was about how OEMs fake that waiting period is higher to show that their car is in high demand and they would not give any discounts/offers etc. If customers start walking away when high waiting period is quoted, they would be forced to stop this gimmick.

Technically speaking, we all should be righteous enough to teach these dealers a 'lesson'. However, will we? Should we? Is it morally or ethically wrong on our part to not teach these dealers a lesson? It is not so easy you know. It is not like switching to a different Cola brand for 6 months and then reverting back once the lesson has been taught. And heck, majority people won't even do that. For instance, we all know how easily we all got over the whole Coke and Pepsi pesticide scenario back in mid 2000s.

And here, teaching a lesson to these dealers would mean compromising on 1 of the biggest purchases of your life and living with that compromise for 10 years or more.

I know I am not 'that' morally inclined, neither are the majority. Personal preference>>> moral obligation to teach the dealers a lesson period(for the vast majority).

Originally Posted by fazayal

5. Cost of cars usually go up and rarely come down. For cars in high demand, the price is increased more regularly by the OEM. Customers have to pay the cost of car as on date of delivery. If one buys a car with waiting period of say 6 months, it's very likely that price of car would have increased considerably by then.

Price protection for pre-booked cars as a concept would be great to have. Even in the present scenario though, customers know what they are getting into. And if they aren't happy later on with the price hike, cancellation is always a possibility.

Originally Posted by fazayal

6. With high waiting period, there are chances that your EMIs might start even before delivery of the car.

Not applicable in most cases I believe. And even if it applicable to a lot of them, again, the customer knows what he is getting into. It is ultimately a 'choice', be it morally wrong or right.

Originally Posted by fazayal

7. Most of the time, high waiting period is for newly launched car. There are higher chances of niggles in a newly launched car than in a car in the market for say 2 years as most niggles are removed by then.

A calculated risk, a hope. There are chances of even Toyota producing a lemon. Hope is the word. And for the majority, it turns out well, to the point that no one really thinks about it, until it happens.

For the vast majority-

Getting their recently launched favourite car as quickly as possible>>> thinking about the technicality of there being a higher possibility of something going wrong with their newly launched choice.

Originally Posted by fazayal

8. You might have to make compromise on variant, colour, fuel options etc. on cars with high waiting period.

Yes, they might have to compromise on variant, colour, fuel options etc. Or they may choose to stick to their original choice.

The alternate is compromising on the vehicle choice itself. It is all about the 'choice'.

Originally Posted by fazayal

10. Economically speaking, buyer's market is much better than seller's market. Seller's should be chasing customer's and following up with them rather than the other way round. Instead of deferring for six months, a customers spend money now, it's better for economy as well. More people spend in market, more jobs are created and we all benefit as a country.

That is indeed true. We definitely meed to have a much more balanced market. And we are far from being there.

Originally Posted by fazayal

These are few points I could think of. Would love to hear points for and against.

In an ideal world, your suggestions will definitely work. It will create a more egalitarian society. However, in an ideal world, we wouldn't be needing these suggestions in the 1st place.

In the world we currently live in, more specifically India, don't take this the wrong way, but most of the points stated in the 1st post sound more like a complaint or a wishlist than actual suggestions.

Again, this is my view as a practical person but I do appreciate the view from the other side as well. The world needs all the kinds of people to have a balance.

[sodapop]

Originally Posted by fazayal

There are many people across India who wait for months to get delivery of their beloved car. However, in my opinion one should not wait for more than a month to get delivery of the car. There are many reasons for it:

First of all I'd like to state that this isn't a one size fits all topic at all. What might work for you won't for somebody else so let's get that clear.

1. Booking a car with high waiting period is like going on a road with high traffic. More and more people keep on booking that car and waiting period keeps on increasing, making situation worse. If there is another car available in the market which fulfils all your needs, better to go for it than go for a car with higher waiting period.

This point doesn't make sense. If somebody is happily willing to wait for a particular car, why change to a different product? There are many people who change their cars often and can wait because of many reasons.

2. In many cases you would be exchanging your old car. So you would have to drive the old car for more time. The old car would have higher chances of breakdown, there might be scheduled services in between or even insurance renewal. Resale value would also be lower 6 months down the line. It would also rob you off pleasure of driving a new car for such a long period.

Not always really. Today's cars aren't like the ones from the 80s and are very reliable as such. Yes, if you drive an old, ill maintained or in general unreliable car this would be a point to consider. There's also the fact that you needn't always trade in the car. You can sell it outside to other sellers or used car dealerships directly too. For most cars as well 6 months won't mess about with your resale significantly.

3. If the car has a huge waiting period, you would not get proper buying experience from the dealer. I remember going to Renault showroom during launch of Duster and Ford showroom during launch of Ecosport. Dealer staff was not even interested in attending walkin customers. They might also create circumstances that would make you cancel the car booking after waiting for sometime because there might be people ready to pay extra money to get that popular car. Even if they refund the full amount, they practically used your money interest free to run their business. Imagine you booked by paying 50k. There are 100 bookings in pipeline. That's a cool 50 lakhs in dealer's bank account to use as interest free working capital!

Now I agree with the general thought behind this point. Generally this step motherly treatment does happen by dealerships along with possibly more goofups too. However, there are some dealerships who don't leave their values behind when a popular model is running or launched recently. As for the working capital part, yes its true but also take into the fact that the dealership also has to have the ready cash to pickup as many cars from the OEM as possible. This money would be used there only in most cases. If it's not, then well steer clear from the dealership. These days with the digital world and automation, you get updates of each stage your car has reached which further reduces the loopholes.

4. Dealers might also force customers to buy everything in-house for cars with high waiting period. Be it inflated insurance price, finance or accessories. They can't do it legally, so they might very well quote a much higher waiting period for someone who wants to get insurance, finance, etc done on their own rather than going with dealer.

Again, related to the same point above it works on demand supply theory. Dealerships are more likely to be unruly in this aspect. You can always escalate the issue to the OEM to get it sorted and hope for the best. If it doesn't, then shift to another dealership or get the rival product!

5. Cost of cars usually go up and rarely come down. For cars in high demand, the price is increased more regularly by the OEM. Customers have to pay the cost of car as on date of delivery. If one buys a car with waiting period of say 6 months, it's very likely that price of car would have increased considerably by then.

Completely agree with this. The price hikes though are usually in the range of 5% of the ex showroom price which may not be as much to be a dealbreaker.

6. With high waiting period, there are chances that your EMIs might start even before delivery of the car.

This is why team bhp always recommends you to ask your bank to disburse the loan to the dealer only after a thorough pdi. You do not need to have full finance available before the car is ordered in most cases. The booking amount which is a few thousand rupees usually should suffice till the car reaches the stockyard. Paying full money is inviting trouble as even if you're unsatisfied later, you might be forced to take the car later

7. Most of the time, high waiting period is for newly launched car. There are higher chances of niggles in a newly launched car than in a car in the market for say 2 years as most niggles are removed by then.

True fact, as most OEMs fix them as the car ages. But it's not always a problem enough to go for a competitor. E.g if it's a brand new Tata or Mahindra I'd definitely wait for 6 months minimum so the issues get sorted out but if it's a Toyota, I wouldn't mind picking up a vehicle from the first batch as well. For a lot of people, they're willing to live with the issues too to get their car early as evidenced by the intense popularity of the Thar and the subsequent issues that have followed.

8. You might have to make compromise on variant, colour, fuel options etc. on cars with high waiting period.

True. It's mostly compromise or wait till the dealer gets the right combination

9. Read a thread which was about how OEMs fake that waiting period is higher to show that their car is in high demand and they would not give any discounts/offers etc. If customers start walking away when high waiting period is quoted, they would be forced to stop this gimmick.

It's just a marketing tactic that adds fire to the fuel of our herd mentality culture. But I doubt shifting to other rivals will kill this practice. Afterall can't OEMs even claim about their car's popularity anymore?

10. Economically speaking, buyer's market is much better than seller's market. Seller's should be chasing customer's and following up with them rather than the other way round. Instead of deferring for six months, a customers spend money now, it's better for economy as well. More people spend in market, more jobs are created and we all benefit as a country.

I'm not sure I completely understood the last point of yours. If you're saying that the same person buying Car A should go buy Car B if Car A has a high waiting period then how is it that more people are buying cars/spending money? The demand of Car A is just being substituted by the Car B. No extra demand is being added or subtracted.

Additionally, on the other hand, there are some legitimate reasons as well as to why you should buy a car with high waiting too. Like I said, different strokes for different folks. Let's leave it at that

[GTO]

You make some really valid points . Agreed with almost all of the disadvantages to buying cars with long wait periods.

Will add one more con = at the start, manufacturers push the higher variants (more profits). You will have to pay more. The base & lower variants are freely available only later. Cheaper variants are as rare as white Ferraris in the months after the launch.

Originally Posted by fazayal

Booking a car with high waiting period is like going on a road with high traffic. More and more people keep on booking that car and waiting period keeps on increasing, making situation worse.

Just look at the plight of those who booked the Thar!

If there is another car available in the market which fulfils all your needs, better to go for it than go for a car with higher waiting period.

I usually zero in on the "one car" I love, and have no problems waiting for it. I look at the situation this way = if I have to drive the car for 10-years, I don't mind waiting another 6 months to get the model that I really, really like.

[Jeroen]

Different countries, different ways of procure a car!!

In the USA, if you want a new car, you just rock up to whatever dealer you fancy. About an hour later you drive away in your brand new car. All paperwork, including registration, trade in, insurance and car loan done!!

Here in Europe, in most countries every car is made and produced to a specific customer order. Dealers do not have any stock apart from demo cars and the few cars they have in their show room. But it means that it takes 3-6 months before you take delivery of your new car. On the upside is, you get to spec your car to the exact level you want!

Trade in are no issue. The dealer will offer you a price for your trade in car and make an estimate on the additional mileage you clock till you take delivery of your new car is likely to be. You agree a trade in price and as long as you are in the ball park of that agreed mileage and not any undue excess wear and tear (scrapes and dings) the dealer will honour that agreed price months later. It is never a problem.

My company car lease will expire end of November. So yesterday I received a mail from our company lease co-ordinator, reminding me I need to start looking for a new car, so something can be ordered in the next few weeks, so it can be delivered towards end of the year.

I visited a Porsche dealer last week, and you can’t even get any new Porsche delivered before the end of this year! So waiting times are in access of 6 months.

Mercedes W123 and W124 at the time had waiting list of well over 2 years!! Taxi driver would order a new W123 at the same time when they picked up their new W123!!


Jeroen

[Kosfactor]

From Utility to Vanity - cars are many things to many people. If you equate a car purchase to a mere transaction involving money, you`d be dead wrong.

Desirable cars will sell and may have waiting period regardless of competition, that is just the way it is.

[starke]

Very good thread, I agree with most of the points you mentioned but disagree on a few which I've mentioned below.

But if we take the recent 2 years with the pandemic and chip shortage, the delay in waiting periods seems to be genuine.

Originally Posted by fazayal

5. Cost of cars usually go up and rarely come down. For cars in high demand, the price is increased more regularly by the OEM. Customers have to pay the cost of car as on date of delivery. If one buys a car with waiting period of say 6 months, it's very likely that price of car would have increased considerably by then.

Most of the companies now offer price protection. You can get the car at the same EX-Showroom price at delivery.( Recently a friend of mine booked the Magnite XE at initial price and he got the same last week as he had price protection )

Originally Posted by fazayal

6. With high waiting period, there are chances that your EMIs might start even before delivery of the car.

Not exactly if I recall, the bank will disburse the amount once the showroom confirms delivery, mostly prior a week or something. I rarely heard someone paid full loan amount to showroom and waiting for the car

Originally Posted by fazayal

7. Most of the time, high waiting period is for newly launched car. There are higher chances of niggles in a newly launched car than in a car in the market for say 2 years as most niggles are removed by then.

Well, Every car is a new car when it is launched This concept is absurd as we won't be able to buy any car at all right?

[avira_tk]

The only cars you should consider if you don't want to simply burn your money is one that has a waiting list or is sold against confirmed orders. Simply put, demand determines resale and lower depreciation automatically lowers your cost of ownership. I've been waiting for a Sonet from November, well, I changed the colour choice in February, so there is that delay and going back to the end of line again. The reason I'm waiting is because I am specific with my requirements, a compact SUV with a diesel TC automatic. Punto didn't have much of a wait, there is a reason for that, the herd may not be enthusiasts, but the majority aren't stupid with their money.

[haisaikat]

I think it is only worth the wait if the particular car model / variant buying decision will not become stale owing to one or more of the below reasons

• Newer more compelling model / variant from manufacturer or competitor
• Reported issues in the selected variant that one cannot make peace with
• Price appreciation that is not acceptable, in case this was a consideration in the decision making process

Personally, anything beyond 3 months is a big no for me, as I would miss a lot in 3 months with the new car.

@Moderators, can we have a poll attached to this thread?

[fazayal]

The points that I had made were rational and transactional. However, if you have fallen in love with a car, then it is really worth the wait!

Originally Posted by sodapop

I'm not sure I completely understood the last point of yours. If you're saying that the same person buying Car A should go buy Car B if Car A has a high waiting period then how is it that more people are buying cars/spending money? The demand of Car A is just being substituted by the Car B. No extra demand is being added or subtracted.

When you buy a car with immediate delivery, you spend the complete money "Now". When you buy a car with waiting period, you defer your spend. It's better for economy if people spend money "Now" than after six months.

Originally Posted by starke

Most of the companies now offer price protection. You can get the car at the same EX-Showroom price at delivery.( Recently a friend of mine booked the Magnite XE at initial price and he got the same last week as he had price protection )

Not exactly if I recall, the bank will disburse the amount once the showroom confirms delivery, mostly prior a week or something. I rarely heard someone paid full loan amount to showroom and waiting for the car

Well, Every car is a new car when it is launched This concept is absurd as we won't be able to buy any car at all right?

If companies offer price protection, it's good, but as per the standard policy, customer has to pay the price as on date of delivery.

There have been many cases where customers have started paying EMIs even before car was delivered. We have a thread on Team Bhp as well.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...vered-yet.html (Started paying EMIs, but car not delivered yet!)

I would wait to see performance of a newly launched car in market before betting my hard earned money on it. We have threads on niggles of XUV500 when it was launched. Most of these niggles were resolved after some time. If the car is niggle free say, 6 months after its launch, one can buy it without much worry, but if there are multiple reports of niggles; I would rather avoid such a car.

[Lalvaz]

If you truly feel that buying cars with a high waiting period doesn't make any sense for you, then you should do the exact opposite. You ought to only buy a car with immediate delivery, and keep your fingers crossed that its not a market failure, old stock, unpopular colour, rejected during PDI, not VFM, bad ASS, etc.

Remember that many cars with waiting times are market successes, and there are usually many reasons for that. Like I bought a Swift diesel many years ago, and at that time I had to wait for 12 weeks, but 12 weeks is a drop in the total lifespan of a car. After the 12 weeks, I got a very fuel efficient, Fun to drive, newly manufactured model of a brand that is topnotch on ASS. I'm still driving it even more than a decade later, and I don't regret my buying decision or the waiting period at all.

Yes, it might be slightly inconvenient if you've already traded in your current ride, but that's easily resolved with proper planning, usage of Uber, borrowed cars etc.

So if you ask me, I think its better to buy the car you love driving, waiting period should be the last of your deciding factors.

[TrackDay]

In some scenarios there is no other option but to wait out for that particular car if there is a long waiting period. For instance the Thar is the only kind of vehicle in that price point and segment. Even cars like the Innova fall in the same bracket. But for the other segments where competition is very hard, I don't think manufacturers can afford to play the demand game. Could also be the reason why shared platforms such as the Creta-Seltos / Venue-Sonet exists. With the current new generation used to instant gratification, patience is very scarce and one cant wait for a longer time period to get a car. Also in this age and time, waiting period for more than 3 months (besides the chip issue) is really absurd unless one is looking at a super expensive ride which has to come from abroad.

[starke]

Originally Posted by fazayal

If companies offer price protection, it's good, but as per the standard policy, customer has to pay the price as on date of delivery.

Usually if the demand is high and the OEM wants to retain their booking, they commonly do this price protection thing and we should be alert while booking the car. A little bit of research on the demand vs supply is required so they can plan accordingly. But moreover, if it is the vehicle which we are looking for (like no alternative found to our taste) even if the price protection is not there, we need to pay the price at the respective delivery rate. If the supply can not meet demand (unless intentional delay) this something the buyer also will have to adjust from their side.

Originally Posted by fazayal

There have been many cases where customers have started paying EMIs even before car was delivered. We have a thread on Team Bhp as well.

Like I mentioned, it is very rare to see loan disbursed before delivery as the car price tends to change monthly, usual buyers do wait till the car is allotted or arrived at yard. But its a good reminder as we should authorize to disburse the amount before assured delivery

Originally Posted by fazayal

I would wait to see performance of a newly launched car in market before betting my hard earned money on it. We have threads on niggles of XUV500 when it was launched. Most of these niggles were resolved after some time. If the car is niggle free say, 6 months after its launch, one can buy it without much worry, but if there are multiple reports of niggles; I would rather avoid such a car.

It's a good practice, but think if all the consumers tend to do that? So practically this isn't feasible for all. Like said before, someone has to buy it considering the risk, and usually, it is linked to the value proposition of the product and the brand loyalty among consumers. Anyway, TBHP community buyers can practice this as long as the majority is ready to be the beta testers

[BlackPearl]

High waiting period is not always bad and does not mean that one is buying a car that is very high in demand, it might also happen that the car has so less demand that the manufacturer will manufacture only when they get an order. It might also mean that you get to customise your car with different options and trims. So you get a bespoke car. I have been in both situations and have acted differently for different cars.
I wanted to buy a 4WD Bolero but Mahindra made that only on order and that too it needed a lot of follow-ups. But I wanted the car badly, so waited for almost 3 months. Next was the Thar. I wanted a black or rocky beige Thar, in that order. But that would mean that I would have to wait for more than 2 months. The dealer had one white Thar ready and I did not waste anytime in booking it.
Then in 2020, I wanted to buy a Land Cruiser Prado (called Land Cruiser) here in the UK. Toyota said that I would have to wait for 6 months. I did not want it that bad, so did not go ahead. So, to sum it up, it all depends on the priority of the customer.