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Mod Note: Please continue the discussion in the new CSD buying thread. Thanks!

My experience of purchasing a Corolla Altis GL Light Blue Metalic from Lanson Toyota, Koyambedu, Chennai Thro’ the CSD canteen

Dear Team BHPians,
At the outset I must thank all the BHPians for all their posts which helped me in making my choice of car.
For the last 8 months I was looking for a replacement for my Innova V which I bought 3 ½ years ago due to the marriages of my son & daughter. My requirement was for a car in the 10 to 15 lakh bracket.
Since I am an Ex Serviceman I decided to buy the car thro’ the CSD Canteen. I stay in Tirupathi AP. The CSD rates in Andhra, Karnataka & Kerala are not much different from the market rate. It is only in Tamil Nadu the Govt. gives 12.5% VAT exemption.
The CSD has very few authorized dealers with whom they deal. In Chennai it is Lanson Toyota.for all Toyota vehicles.
The procedure for buying thro’ the canteen is

• You must have an Exservicemen’s ID card issoued by the Tamil Nadu Ex Serviceman Board.
• You have to fill a proforma issued by the CSD and get it countersigned by the Asst. Dierctor Exserviceman Board,along with a DD for the cost of the car thro’ the CSD.
• The CSD will give a release order to your dealer for releasing the car to you.

I contacted Lanso Toyota towards the end of April after selling my Innova. They promptly responded with a Proforma Invoice thro’ e mail. It took me about 10 days to get my bank loan processed thro’ ICICI bank head office in Hyderabad since for CSD purchase the local ICICI had no authorization. My loan was processed thro’ their alternate channel.
Loan Amt 6.5 lakhs for 5 years.
Rate: 9.75%
EMI about 13,300 per month.

Once the loan was finalized in the 1st week of May, I transferred the balance amont to ICICI Hyderabad and they sent a Consolidated cheque to Lanson Toyota. In the meantime Lanson Toyota booked my car without any advance payment and informed me that it reached their yard by the 8th of May.

I went to Chennai on the 13th of May when Lanson had my DD for the canteen ready collected it, got the endorsement of the Asst. Director Exserviceman’s welfare, went to the CSD depot depositd the DD, collected their release order, went to Lanson,& gavethe release order.

Lanson gave the following as free:

• Muffler cutter cost Rs. 990
• Fabric floor mat premium Rs. 2280.
• Car perfume Rs. 450
• Discount of Rs. 2000 on other accessories.

The only extra fitting I wanted was Map my India Zx150 GPS devise which has Bluetooth for your mobile and also acts as a screen for your reversing camera. I also fitted a night vision capable reversing camera. This cost me Rs 19,490 + Rs. 5000 for the reversing camera.Total cost Rs. 24,490 less 2000 rebate.

Lanson themselves adviced me not to fit sunfim from their showroom since the people there where charging exorbitant prices. This happened after I showed them the cost on the internet.Now they are in the process of changing their agents for sunfilm.

I was promised delivery at 10 am on the 15th of May. I reached there by 10 am & the car was ready for delivery with a garland & lemons under the wheels At the time of delivery the odo read 42 kms. The tank was ¾ full with an estimated driving distance of 320 kms.
When I topped the tank it took only 22 litres ie they gave the car with 33 litres in the tank.

After taking delivery I drove straight to Tirupathi covering the distance of 140 kms in 2 ½ hrs.

My experience at Lanson was simply stupendous. Every ½ hr a cup of coffee. If you are there at lunch time free lunch coupons.. The whole process was looked after by Mr. Ashwinkumar, belonging to the corporate sales division.

Cost thro’ Canteen:Rs. 11,11,171 DD to Canteen + Registration(done at Chennai since Tamil Nadu has 8% and in Andhra it is 15%)Rs. 96,976 + road tax Rs. 1,500 total cost on road Rs. 12,09,647

Cost in the normal market: 12,93,360 Ex showroom +1,19,797 + 1,500 total14,14.657. My savigs Rs. 2,05,010.

Insurance: I transferred my old policy with all the NCB to this car. Cost 2,300 only for 6 months when it is due for renewel.

Congrats for your purchase, Altis is an excellent car and would surely serve you well.

BTW, you were lucky that you got 33 Ltrs of Fuel. Normally, they dont give more than 5 Ltrs.

David. Congrats on your new drive.

You saved a cool 200K by going thro the CSD route. Good choice of a car and colour. Lanson service is impeccable. 33 litres of fuel is real surprise. Good for you. Enjoy your new drive.

I wonder what made you choose a Altis (Pertrol) over an Innova (Diesel), which was just 3 1/2 years old.

You have a good writing style. A ownership review from you will sound very interesting.

Congrats on the car, and thanks for outlining the procedure, David! I'm sure it will be very helpful to other servicemen.

Link to the other CSD Canteen Rate thread

Drive safe.

The rates have changed after 1st April. The new rates are not displayed as yet. I had to get it from the central depot.Thans for your wishes.lol:

Thanks Shantan & MAS. I bought the Innova for moving people during my childrren's wedding. Once that purpose was served I got back to a car.

The reason they gave me 33 litres of petrol may be because they wanted me to reach my house in Tirupathi before topping up.

Congrats on the new car, David.

It is possible they pampered you with 33ltrs because they may be getting back the full difference of MRP - CSD sale price, which may be a few thousand more than what they would get when normally selling to a customer with discounts.

@David, CONGRATS on your new acquisition! And am sure you have more reasons for smile this time. Thats one great deal you have struck! A cool 2L off ! And nice to read about the dealership experience as well! I came to this thread after reading a potential Fiesta 1.6S owner's nightmares @ dealership and here I find a beautiful dealer response. Anyway enjoy you car -- can we see the pics and a long term review?

Edit: So the TN registration is not going to cause any issues in AP ? Or ex-servicemen has flexibility in the law?

Hi David,

Could you please upload the latest rates from CSD? My father is in IAF, and I just wanted to take a look at the latest rates.

Hearty congratulations on your new Altis. Please upload a few pics sometimes.

Best Regards,
Ajay

Which car do you want to buy? And from which place? Prices vary from state to state depending on the local taxes. For rates applicable in Haryana, go to Welcome to Noida Auto . If you want to know the rates applicable at any other place, lemme know. I will try to find it for you.

-Navneet

I have no idea about it

Thanks. Pics and review after I have experienced the car fully. My father is in chennai & I will be alternating between chennal & Tirupathi


Thanks Ajay. I think Navneet has answered your query. You can also contact the dealer of the car you want to buy. Most of the good dealers have the CSD rates of their products. As far as my knowledge goes only HARYANA, PUNJAB GUJARAT, RAJASTAN & tTAMIL NADU give you the VAT exceptios.

Thanks Navneet,

I'll be in India next week to buy a car for my parents. My dad is currently serving in Delhi, so not sure if he wants to buy a car from Delhi / Sonipat, Haryana. I will discuss this with him.

Do you have any idea of how much time does the whole process of buy a car through CSD takes? except for the delay at the dealers... just the time for CSD process approximately.

Regards,
Ajay

Ajay,
You have to find out the canteen rates from Delhi, Haryana, & Punjab. I think Punjab is cheapest. To buy from the Punjab canteen your father must be attached to some unit in Punjab. The procedure is very simple. You have to take a canteen purchase form from a Punjab canteen fill it up &get it signed by the canteen incharge, make out a DD to the CSD and submit it in the canteen.They will give you a release order to your dealer. The whole process took only 1 day in my case.

Hi David!

My father is a retired ex-service man (IAF) and he had a bypass surgery recently. I was planning on buying him a car so that he can use it for his local travel.

Do you have any idea regarding the prices of hatchbacks in chennai? I am currently looking on the Ritz diesel for my father since it is a very safe car. Any inputs you have regarding how to proceed in buying the car thru CSD would be of great help to me!

Thanks,
Saran.