[DWind]

not going to argue with you :-)
My thought was with respect to your first part of statement with fabia struggling to climb the flyover (not very steep!) which I feel would be the almost similar in jazz and with salesman's second part of the sentence that 22 bhp does not make a huge difference here (for climbing the flyover with ease). That is why I mentioned 'in this case'. I agree the power difference would make a difference in all gears and not only during cruising in high speeds.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by DWind

not going to argue with you :-)
My thought was with respect to your first part of statement with fabia struggling to climb the flyover (not very steep!) which I feel would be the almost similar in jazz and with salesman's second part of the sentence that 22 bhp does not make a huge difference here (for climbing the flyover with ease). That is why I mentioned 'in this case'. I agree the power difference would make a difference in all gears and not only during cruising in high speeds.

I agree! And I must say,

It's the torque and it's arrival at a particular RPM that matters while climbing a flyover, and not the power. I was stupid enough to complain about the lack of power, and the salesman was even more stupid for trying to justify it!

Anyway, we're going terribly off-topic here. Do read the rest of my post. The salesman actually says that the other cars in the segment are powered by 3-pot motors as well! And then I realized, arguing with someone against the product he's trying to sell to you isn't very smart. You just have to grin and bear it.

[kanuj]

But I just could not resist myself from posting this. CarWale.com really *does not* proofread its contents, as is evident from the Swift DZire tech specs page:

Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire 1.2 VXi BS-IV Specifications - CarWale

scroll down to the 'Steering Type' section... a 'electisteronicass' steering? And a Pinion type at that... I do not want one of those, for sure. Looks like the Etios might have the DZire beat in atleast one department Cue a few customers asking a few hapless Maruti salesperson's for one of these steering setups...

[Thad E Ginathom]

Yep. My Swift has electisteronicass steering. But it is the racket type, not pinion.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by drive_or_die

I wonder if GM India is actually changing wheel design for cleaning purposes

Could be one of the reasons. You see, alloy wheel designs are made keeping in mind aesthetics, aerodynamics and ease of use apart from the basic technical requirements of load and stress bearing capacities.

[rajismine]

Safari guys are extremely used to this...as soon as we bought our cars, we faced some minor niggles on very first few days...first option always for me was go to the showroom and confirm and all they said was:
" No sir...this is a feature in safari...dont bother...All safaris are like that only no sir..."

Another funny thing that the manager told me when I told him the car plastic rattles a lot:
" Sir....there is only one solution...and it will fade all the rattles away to absolute ZERO....Keep you music volume always above 15" ha ha ha

Rajeev

[speedmiester]

My colleague and I were at the Skoda dealer yesterday to check out the Fabia.

We were checking out the car when y colleague asked the sales person what does he think of the i20.

Salesman: "Sir, Fabia is a European car, i20 is a Japanese car. It doesn't even come close to the Fabia."

I controlled myself from correcting him and just walked off with the brochure and price list.

[nkrishnap]

A sales rep from Bimal in whitefield enlightened that ABS is the Additional brake system which gets activated only when the speeds are above 130 kmph.

I almost fainted with the product knowledge these sales reps possess. Wonder how they get trained and how many refresher courses are given to them.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Sir, Fabia is a European car, i20 is a Japanese car.

My geography is almost that bad. Only almost, though.

At least he didn't try to tell you that the Fabia was German!

[sheetumanu]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

A sales rep from Bimal in whitefield enlightened that ABS is the Additional brake system which gets activated only when the speeds are above 130 kmph.

I almost fainted with the product knowledge these sales reps possess. Wonder how they get trained and how many refresher courses are given to them.

'Additional Braking System', the fellow at least did better than his counterparts who call it 'Anti Braking System'

As for the training, they hardly get any; just a handful of information is supplied to them and are pushed on the sales floor. They end up learning more from 'informed customers' than the company they represent. What an irony...

[Skyline GT-R]

After working with Renault, Honda & Nissan in the middle east, I took up a sales job with a Maruti Dealer. I was nastily surprised at the product knowledge of many of my "seniors" & the daily dose of it made me quit the job. Now I am jobless - but very happy compared to the time i was working there.

1) There are no proper sales training either on selling techniques or specific product knowledge or general automotive terms.
2) Whatever training offered is by the above mentioned "seniors" who know nothing about automobiles.
3) Customers are not bothered about technical specs comparisons at all. Most of them buy a car because wife likes it/friend likes it/neighbour bought it.

I still break into laughter when the person whom i reported to (on my first day in job) told me that Swift Diesel does not have a turbo & turbo is a Tata technology used only in Indica & Turbo is a failure !!!!

He also described DDiS as Double Overhead Diesel Injection System (I guess...because i had stopped listening)

Training offered at Honda Middle East was by an engineer who was part of the vehicle development program & at the end of the training session sales staff has to answer questions and prove the technical knowledge on a newly launched vehicle. (Usually 1 month before the car is launched)

All TBHPians can hope that Indian market matures sooner so that manufacturers take this unimportant staff training thing seriously.

Oh yes Anti-Braking system is the most common new feature in cars nowadays.

[Rehaan]

The other day i said something about engine-braking to a dealer. He seemed a bit surprised and insisted that the engine was not breaking!

cya
R

[sunishsamuel]

Training seems a big problem. Face similar issues when i ask questions during servicing, i own a tata car and family got a punto (fiat guys are no different)

Couple of them like:

When i ask why do door pads rattle ? - Sir, you have not bought a benjz car (their pronunciation closely reproduced), so u will get these rattles, nothing can be done.

Sir, don't by michelin tyres they are china make and known for bursts, i know a lot of customers who faced the issue (no evidence though) better to buy mrf or jktyre. A friend of mine sells them, i can get you discounts. (easy to guess the intention)

Once, there was a strange noise coming when accelerating while on 5th gear, got to know that its to do with the air filter box loose, but explanation given to me by the service advisor to impress me. "sir the turbo was almost getting faulty, but i fixed it sir, only for you, you are a regular customer na, can't disappoint you.

Asked what he did, he grins, don't worry sir, all ok. In the bill it says (air filter assembly replaced under warranty) and he tells its because he did not want to burden me by adding the service charge for the turbo (which is not the case)

On braking, car tends to move to the left, asked to check alignment, bang comes the reply. Sir, its a common problem, the engine bedding needs to change the weight of engine is not equally distributed so the problem. After servicing the bill shows nothing about replacing the engine bedding, and he tells me, "sir, don't tell anyone, i got that tightened"

It goes on. They still service the vehicle and i keep praying to god !

[Thad E Ginathom]

And yet, in electrical shops I find young women who can quote the exact specifications of fridges and microwaves. So sad that, in this area, there is no such expertise.

3) Customers are not bothered about technical specs comparisons at all. Most of them buy a car because wife likes it/friend likes it/neighbour bought it.

I guess that explains it. We have to face up to the fact that either the marketing people of such companies are complete incompetents, or they do actually know what sells their particular product.

He seemed a bit surprised and insisted that the engine was not breaking!

[animdas]

Originally Posted by Skyline GT-R

Training offered at Honda Middle East was by an engineer who was part of the vehicle development program & at the end of the training session sales staff has to answer questions and prove the technical knowledge on a newly launched vehicle. (Usually 1 month before the car is launched)

I know the same is done by GM to their dealers. Once I attempted reaching one of the Service Managers and I found out (through different channels ) that he is going to (GM) Factory to get trained on new car (I think, it was Beat)