[moralfibre]

Me, Swale84 and Dhaval (all t-bhp members) landed at B.U. Bhandari for a test drive of the Fiat Linea 1.3 VGT MJD.

Dhaval was at the wheel when we asked Dhaval how the pickup was, he said, its pretty ok.

Sales guy: sir, the pickup is slightly less in 1st and 2nd gear. When you shift to 3rd gear the "Variable Geography Turbo" moves and the car goes faster. Me and Suhail couldn't stop laughing our backsides off at that comment.

[rishab.k]

Originally Posted by animdas

V is pronounced as Fau
W is pronounced as Wi

So, VW is pronounced as Fau-Wi

W is pronounced as way.VW together is pronounced as foway.

[advaitlele]

My recent TD experiences

Honda - Excellent. The SE new everything from under the hood stuff to all the features. First time I met someone from sales who knew everything that he was selling.

Fiat Linea MJD -
Me : Its a nice car to drive. When the turbo kicks in?
SE : No sir, its a multijet diesel no turbo.
on some other topic : Manza is a quadra-jet engine adn this is a multi jet engine so Manza has more power, you see 90 PS whereas this is a smoother and more efficient engine as it has got multiple jets and lesser power.

SX4 AT -
I was looking at the dashboard and other stuff there
SE : Sir, look here, we have got a unique switch here which adjusts the headlight beam. And this switch would reduce or increase the illumination of the dashboard console.
Me : but is it not common and expected for a car that costs 9L?
SE : No sir, this is only available in BMWs and Mercs. First time only Maruti is offering this in below 10L range of cars.
After our discussions I showed him two switches on my Indica Xeta that adjusts the headlight beam and illumination. I said I got this for 3.8L more than 3 years back. Needless to say, he just nodded.

[ahuja365]

I recently went to the Honda dealership in Jamshedpur and enquired about the city automatic and to my surprise the salesman told that automatic is not good and was pushing me for the manual.I asked him that whether he has ever seen an automatic car and to my shock he hasn`t instead he argued with me that automatic would sip more fuel and so no point going for it.I mean what fools are there at the dealer.

[salilpawar1]

This was at Wasan Motors, Mumbai when we took delivery of our Tata Indica six years ago.

Sales Chap: Saar, Tata recommends not to go above 90 kph in 5th gear for the first 1000 km.
My Dad: (who is not much into cars) Why?
Sales Chap: Saar, all Tata cars come with a built-in speed governor which automatically deactivates after 1000 km.

ROTFL

[vcash]

Originally Posted by ahuja365

I recently went to the Honda dealership in Jamshedpur and enquired about the city automatic and to my surprise the salesman told that automatic is not good and was pushing me for the manual.I asked him that whether he has ever seen an automatic car and to my shock he hasn`t instead he argued with me that automatic would sip more fuel and so no point going for it.I mean what fools are there at the dealer.

The level of exposure that sales guys / gals esp. in Jamshedpur is very poor. And their main objective is to clear their inventory which does not move very fast so they will never push rarer moving models and variants. But having said that, I think most dealerships in Jsr are not very good, more so Millenium.

P.S. Have you checked out the slew of 3 and 5 series that have recentley invaded the town. The OSL guys from Cal are making a killing since they are offering special pricing in town.

P.P.S. If you need any help with dealers in Jsr, drop me a PM.

[pamiboy]

Originally Posted by khan75

Reminds me of the time when my car illiterate colleague called a Porsche a Pors-chee.

That is really hilarious.
Thankfully he didn't say pork-cheese.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I admit to simply not knowing the correct pronunciation of Porsche!

I say in one long syllable, poor-sh, many say poor-sha. As a linguistic dumbo, I'm more likely to be wrong than right!

[Sarvodaya]

OFF TOPIC: Some People do have problems in spelling these foreign names. My friend says Vani Hussian Shirt for Van Heusen Shirt. And for Smironoff Vodka it is Simran Off (Simran is the tamil actress)

[shankar.balan]

good suggestions- nobody like a driver and/or mechanic to give accurate, spot-on feedback!
Im not a chap who is usually first off the block to buy a newly launched vehicle/ variant.
I usually like to wait and watch to see what happens in the marketplace for a bit. Also, buying a vehicle is an expensive business - reasonably large money is involved so the frequency of purchase typically stays around once in 3-5 years give or take depending on "happiness quotient" and general usage.
How the vehicle is selling and the numbers that you see around you are usually a good indicator of the car's acceptability, reliability etc too. Lets say one can put a small amount of weightage on this.

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

I actually use a variation of this method - 1. Talk to owners of the car, 2. Talk to the mechanics in the A.S.S. (not the Managers or Service Advisors but the real mechanics - do not worry, the Sales guys will smooth things through with an eye on the eventual sale), 3. Talk to drivers who drive the car whether for a owner or the drivers in the dealership. This gives accurate and useful information.

Cheers,

[thorpe]

VW - Folk's Wagon (Volks Wagen) [People's Car]
My uncle taught me how to pronounce it when i was 11

[robimahanta]

We know about numerous dealerships where the pronunciation is really below par to say the least..it is rather impossible to correct everyone. So we as tbhpians can atleast make sure none of us make any appalling pronunciation mistakes..
Audi - OU-Dee
Chevrolet - shehv-ruh-LAY
Nissan - NEE-sahn
Peugeot - poo-ZHO
Porsche - POR-shuh
Renault - reh-no
Volkswagen - VOLKS-wa-guhn

OT: the automobile industry is quite an easy one when it comes to pronunciations..just imagine the condition of the guys working in fashion..

i bet very few of us would be able to correctly pronounce haute couture, bvlgari, ermenegildo zegna, yves saint laurent, hermes, tag heuer etc

[Thad E Ginathom]

Ni (short i) San, rhymes with ban.

Purrrrrr zho; not poo!

The first, I am confident about; I do not know Japanese, but worked with Japanese people for a long time. The second, I admit, is the Brit way of saying the French name, I do not really know how the French say it --- and generally find French pronunciation baffling! It's curious to go to Pondy, and not be able to pronounce the street names!

I have the feeling that we should probably have this conversation in a separate thread!!!

[lamborghini]

@Thad: I actually believe it is called Nee-san out here in the States.
Either ways, this thread is about a SE providing incorrect information and not about pronunciation (which also has different ways of being pronounced.)

[sumujumdar]

Here's when I was curious about Manza's 35*C legacy
Me: (after ignition on) What is this 35?
She: That is the temperature in the car, sir.
Me: 35? But it feels much cooler.
She: Sorry, sir, that is the temperature outside the car.
Me: But with the AC and all, the showroom is definitely at 23/24 or something. Can't be 35.
She: Just a minute sir, I will ask.
Enter smart sales rep.
SR: (after a moment's observation and reflection) I think some setting has to be done sir.
Me: You mean calibration? Do I have to calibrate the thermo?
SR: I think some setting has to be done sir.
Me: Where are the buttons for changing anything on this display?
SR: I think some setting has to be done sir.
Moment's silence.
Me:(with a straight face) Oh, I know what this is. It is showing the temperature at the contact point between the floor and the tyres. Mercedes has this as a standard safety feature, gives a warning when the tyres overheat due to speeding.
SR nods, eyeing me suspiciously. End of discussion.