[petrolHead_1609]

Decision finalized : Dec 2020
Car in case : Honda City ZX manual
Wait period : 2 months
WHEN to buy : whenever offices reopen, as there's really no relevant running apart from commute and once a month weekend getaway.

Fast Forward to March 2022
Office still shut, with 15 months to think over car purchase, the issues cropping up with car, posts about the quality going with every gen, Honda possibly shutting down in India and on the top, if I really needed a new car kept bugging me.

I went ahead and purchased a pre-owned 2015 Corolla Altis VL-AT.

So the wait duration, even if not because of manufacturer, made me change my mind

[RedTerrano]

When I bought my first car (WagonR) I knew 100% I wanted it. I had driven my father's WagonR and that I absolutely loved it.

Back then WagonR was available in a particular shade of blue and I had my eyes set on it even before I had gathered the required moolah to plonk in front of the dealer. Eventually when I did plonk it, I was devastated to find out they were sold out of that color. Further enquiries at other dealers in Pune gave the same result.

Since I was not ready to wait few more weeks for that color, I eventually ended up buying the one in silver.

To return back to your original question, the delay did affect my purchase decision, but I did not switch the model/make. I merely opted for a different color.

[Thilak29]

I TD many compact and full-blown SUVs/MPVs recently. All of them had a 6+ month wait period, TD Jeep Compass and found it suitable for most of needs, dealer had two in stock for immediate delivery, picked the color of choice and car was delivered swiftly.
Compass was not on the shortlist and quick delivery favored the decision over others despite not being given much color choices.

[ashvek3141]

Well, these decisions are primarily driven by your requirement & also depends on the options one has. For example, when we decided to replace our 10+ year old Swift ZDi at the beginning of this year, our requirement was very specific: SUV, Diesel & an automatic (No AMT's though). This primarily left us with only ONE choice. The Kia Sonet D AT!

The wait times of the Sonet when we booked in the beginning of the year were running into 5-6 months!! But again, we didn't have any other option. Hence, the only option was to wait for the allotment.

In my personal opinion, if one has his / her eyes fixated on any car and in absolute love with it, it's kinda worth waiting for it. Of course, this scenario maybe not be possible for everyone, especially for those who have a single car in their garage. And for some, it doesn't really matter about the specificities.

[sathya_g_m]

Not just Car. Even bikes did have long waiting period. Couple of years back, I wanted to buy a new Honda Activa (My current ride is another 14 years old activa, and god knows how many KMs it drove as the speedo stopped working 4 years back :-)).

I had everything ready and when I was about to book, came to know it has about a month of waiting period and they could probably be able to do it in 2 weeks time. Last time (Long back) I brought a two wheeler I got it next day.

I just moved away to give it a thought and soon the urge died down and old scooter is still doing its duty :-)

[GrammarNazi]

While booking my XUV7OO (i.e. Nov 2021), I was expecting ~7-8 months wait. Was a little disappointed when I got confirmation that it was scheduled to be delivered only in ~12 months (i.e. Nov 2022), still managed to console myself.

But by mid-April '22, I couldn't resist the itch & started following up with my dealer if they had any "free stock". They said Diesel was very hard, but they offered me Petrol Automatics' of Black AX5 & Red AX3 and a Blue AX5 Manual even!

While I got busy with my work schedule & this was when the realisation dawned that a wait period beyond 6 months is most usually stupid.

Unless one has the patience level of Jackie Chan/Bruce Lee, one's inner child will become impatient, moody & emotional. People working at the dealership can confirm this - because they're the ones left dealing with these moody customers & it really can stress them too.

This is possibly why people accept to pay a premium for immediate delivery.

[ashutoshb]

It has happened to me once and most probably will happen again.

I had booked a Bolero Neo first. After waiting for two months and sales staff still been clueless about the expected delivery, I decided to cancel the booking.

Very soon, I had a Kushaq in my garage. I am pretty happy with the car, but whenever a black Bolero Neo passes by, I, for some reason, wish I could have waited more. Even though, the Kushaq is better in every way. Maybe it's the towering stance that I miss.

Interestingly, within a week of cancelling my booking, Mahindra sales person called me to inform that my car has arrived. Wish they had informed me sooner.

More than the waiting period, it was the lack of clarity from the company and the dealer, which made me frustrated.

Had there been some clarity, some transparency, it wouldn't have been so frustrating.

-- --

I am likely to face a similar situation pretty soon. I had booked an MG Astor Style (base variant) in January this year. Their app shows expected delivery in the second quarter of 2023, which is nearly one and a half years after the booking was made.

Seem like it's their way of telling me, to let them go and look elsewhere.

With every new launch in this price segment, I contemplate to make a switch. Till now, I have held on to my booking. Maybe because MG offered a lot of kit for the price, which no one else is offering, yet.

I won't cancel the booking, till I get a similarly equipped crossover at the same price.

[Excommunicado]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

It’s as if certain models are created either for purely marketing purpose (starting xx.y lakhs) or as a legal and official way of charging extra premium for quicker delivery.

Seriously brother you have one of the most sorted minds that I've come across on Team-BHP forum. You are indeed a Distinguished BHPian!

[brt_mhn]

Here are my thoughts:

While it is very easy for us to lament about the manufacturers not increasing production immediately to meet demand, one thing which we are forgetting is that most cars getting pushed back are newly released ones with high levels of interest. A question lingers, "will the manufacturers be able to sustain these high levels of sales 5, 6, 7 years down the line?" In my book, that is highly unlikely. If they increase production now, it will only be a knee jerk reaction which might not pay-off in the long run.

Working more shifts is not an option as most of them are at their maximum capacity already. Setting up a new assembly line might not be worth it considering the other economic factors at play like the rapidly depreciating rupee.

Add to this, the global chip shortage would only lead to cars sitting in yards with missing parts/chips.

The Associated Press reports things are so bad that General Motors has been forced to park 95,000 unfinished vehicles.

In my opinion, it is better for OEMs to play it safe rather than try and meet this unprecedented demand.

After all, you don't want them to make bad decisions and disappear from the market entirely thanks to lack of funding. What I'm trying to say here is that waiting for a car is far better than not having it as a choice at all.

Coming to the cars itself, unless a car was leagues ahead of its competitor, I would not hesitate to look at other options. Don't get me wrong. Sometimes, if you want a Polo, you just want a Polo. But if you want an XUV 700 but are swayed by the design of the Safari, I would not hesitate to jump ship.

[swami69]

A simple principle in life - there are compromises in many things we do. There is nothing in any of the cars sold here wherein we need to wait for several months to get that. If you really want a change from your existing drive, Just settle for something equal with couple of misses/additions here and there and move ahead

People should not even make booking if the waiting periods are over a month or two. I really can’t understand people waiting for cars for 18 months, wherein many things change. What will they do ? Keep reading the threads and watch you tube reviews ?

Better, Just get one similar, close enough, enjoy and keep moving, this is my principle !

Swami

[MBond007]

Originally Posted by rishi.roger

-

-Planning for unforeseen situations like Covid-19 or sinking economy, heck even foreign travels and stays. A friend on mine purchased a used car because he couldn't wait, guess what ? 2 months down the line he receives an opportunity to migrate to US and now he's busy selling that user car (lucky for him, it was a used car so less depreciation).

.

Hi rishi.roger,

I am looking to buy a pre-owned car for my wife. Can you please connect me to your friend who is looking to sell his car? I am reachable on 9920282642.

Cheers

[adi.mariner]

My father-in-law opted for a Tata Safari XZA+ Dark Edition over the Mahindra XUV700 only because of the uncertainty in the delivery date. It was such a straightforward decision that the Mahindra showroom wasn't visited even for a test drive. The only change was from Harrier to Safari for the extra 2 seats which would be used for kids only. So yes the waiting time did play a factor in changing the choice of the car.

[KPR]

We are not buying a flat or a house. It is a car and that depreciates fast. In the pretext of waiting period, car companies and dealers are playing with customer's desire and deprive us of negotiation/discounts. Instead they call us to inform ever increasing price of model that we have chosen. I can't buy a car waiting for years or months.

[charanreddy]

More often than not depends on the situation.

I have been lucky to get my vehicles delivered almost immediately.

1. Chevrolet beat diesel : waited less than a week post processing of the loan to get vehicle in hand back in 2012.

2. Tata Nexon Diesel XZA+ : the time from selecting / paying booking amount to getting the car in hand was less than 1 week. I insisted on the fast delivery as I needed a car.

3. TVS NTorq : decided the bike with out a test drive, paid the full amount at 2 PM, walked out with the bike at 5 PM.

In all the above cases I got the car fast as there was availability. For my next car, I am willing wait for 6 months if needed provided I have a car to go around. If not will insist on immediate delivery.

[attinder]

RX 100 was my dream bike. Took years to convince my parents ( I was bit underage ). Only to be told by the dealer about 1 month waiting. Month felt like eternity, so went ahead and bought Suzuki Shogun. I loved that bike and had no regrets.