10 years is a very long time to keep a car.
But very long feels like a weak adjective when it comes to an old indica. 10 years makes an indica Ancient.
So... as 2011 came to a close, we were sitting with an ancient indica, and an aging safari.
Safari with its tantrums, and Indica with its own set of problems meant.. we did not have a single "fill it, shut it, forget it car:.
It meant when Safari went for its Spa holiday to the workshop, we were without a car.
So last year the quest began.
Buying Decision
Deciding on "What Car" is not easy. The "What car" section is a testimony to that. People take days, months or even years to decide on a car. some people take so long that their original candidates actually get phased out.
I had no such intentions, so we decided to get on a TDing spree.
Our experiences are in details here
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...h-hopping.html
And our "what car" thread is here
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/hatchb...d-liva-gd.html
They are fairly long threads, with the usual flop flops and confusion and drama. But the jist of it was that around Nov we decided to book the Liva GDSP.
We loved the blue, and red. So, we booked a silver Liva. Well we did not book the silver liva because we loved red and blue, its just that, we were playing safe.
Final candidates were
Ritz Vdi - Which we called the car with the dented read hatch
Nissan Micra - The car with no breaks
Liva GDSP - Car with Brakes, and airbags, but it was actually a scooter under the skin.
On road, the Ritz was the cheapest. Around 6L, with no airbags, and a dent right out of showroom. The Micra was around 6.3, but it had only one airbag. Since it had no ABS, and no brakes to talk about, they might well have given 2 airbags. It was our choice, but the brakes, and lack of service center in Noida, and the 5000kms service interval pushed us away
that left the Scooter, and the dented car.
And guess what the Ritz had a tacho, but no Airbags.; And the Liva had a lot more space too. So at the altar of practicality, and space, the Tachometer was sacrificed.
So we booked the very noisy car with one wiper, No tacho, no temp gauge, and no foot mats or mud flaps.... But it had ABS, Airbags, excellent brakes and acres of space.
Estimated delivery time was given End feb/early march(4 months).
So the wait started, for the Silver Liva diesel.
Eternal Confusion of the confused mind
A few weeks back, I visited the dealer in Ludhiana, and he told me that they can deliver me a Silver Liva "Next week". We were getting impatient too with the rumor that govt may put a 1 billion rs tax on every new diesel car.
Toyota had also changed the interiors to black and put some more foam. Since black dashboards and foam are very expensive, price also went up by 15K.
So we were at the dealership, and we decided that we did not want a Silver Liva.
It has to be red or blue. Eventually red was decided, and our delivery date was pushed by another 2-3 weeks.
Delivery!
"your car is on the way" please make the payment, was what the dealer said. And we promptly did so, and on Saturday night, we were in Ludhiana. A call to dealer revealed that though the system was showing ETA of -1 day, the car was not here yet. So we will not get our car.
I called up the main sales guys, and expected a wall. But there wasn't any. Their delivery incharge told me that since I am already in town, they will specially get some staff on a sunday and get the PDI done.
I was already liking toyota.
And so, on an unusually warm Sunday Afternoon.... We got our Liva GDSP. In bright shining read.
It took around 2 hours, due to some temp number fiascos, but... we had the Liva.
Finally, we had our "Fill it, shut it forget it".
Normally, you go to a fuel station right from the dealership, because new cars run on fumes.
But I was quite amused when I saw the dealers men taking a huge jerrycan of diesel, and pouring it on. "Sir, there is atleast 10 liters of diesel in tank".
We were already liking Toyota. all in all, an excellent delivery experience... except for
FREEBIES.
you see, getting something free, is a big part of car delivery. It does not matter if its just 500rs footmats, or just some cheap mudflaps.
Its the freebie thing.
Unfortunately, there is no such thing with a liva diesel. No mud flaps, no foot mats, no hangy thingy.
So now it was time to get the stuff.