| Quartz Black Safari Dicor Lx Joins
I used to like Safari from the day one it landed on Indian roads, but my wallet was just enough for a second hand 100cc bike. I got my dream of owning a safari came true in 2004, when i bought a second hand Safari TCIC. It had everything that I wanted, except for the power. And then Safari Dicor came in and my first thought was just to go for a engine upgrade, since I loved my TCIC a lot. But the Tata engineers said that it is not possible and I had been waiting from that day to get a Dicor, which finally fulfilled last Thursday (28/06/2007).
After my decision and before purchasing the my Dicor :
I did a fair bit of research on the net and with the help of brochures on the net, I decided to go in for a Lx version, as I found the accessories on Ex was not worth that extra money (except for the roof mounted AC) and Vx was a bit over my budget. I started with Manipal Motors, since it was close to my house. Went in and had a Test Drive, though the Sales Rep was not able to explain the details properly to me, he provided the test drive without any problems. Though I had driven a couple of Dicor's previously belonging to my friends, this time I put this beast to test in quite a few ways. This safari had all the problems. Lot of rattling problems, clutch pedal was loose and used to make a big noise every time i applied it and a few more. After the test drive I was satisfied with the Safari since I had already owned one and also had read reviews at Team-bhp, but on seeing the condition of the Test Vehicle, I had doubt on the after sales service of Manipal Motors. The reason for the doubt was that if they cannot maintain their own car, then what will they do for their customers.
Still I went ahead and got the quotation. Here I would like to suggest everyone that before asking for a quotation, we should be sure and know what we want. I gave my requirements including the color and I asked him to provide the two options, one with full cash discount and another with additional accessories.
I visited the other dealers too and got the rates. Then started my bargain. But here just Prerana and Concord communicated with me on time while Manipal Motors guy was not at all ready to provide compitative rates. Infact I had to call him and he used to promise to give me a better rate, but never. I went with Prerana, since my friends were already their customers and they were happy with the after sales service though Prerana and Concord both gave equal deals, should say Concord gave a little extra but only after I had my deal with Prerana.
The final discount was 30000 Cash Discount, 10k for body cladding, bumper & other external grey plastics painting to body color, Free Dupont Teflon Coating (worth 3500), and other basic accessories like mudflaps, floor mats, car perfume, idol. The interest rate came up to 12.4% floating.
The Day I owned my Dicor:
Finally after finishing the documentation and the down payment, It was promised for 28/06/07 and on the day, I was busy hunting for good alloys and tyres, since I wanted to sell my stock tyres with wider ones. I got quite a lot of tips from Team-Bhp regarding the tyres and thanks to all. I decided on 255/65/16 tyres. I visited quite a few shops and finally decided to purchase it with a store in JC Road. He gave me the best rates. He took the stock bridgestone for 4000 pre tyre and 5900 for Hankook Dynamics. Though this is lesser than all the places i have enquired, can't say there will be someone who will have it for a less amount.
Before I could call them, Prerana people called me and informed that the vehicle was ready for delivery. I could make it up only in the evening and after all the documentation, I got the keys for my vehicle at around 5.30. Prerana representative gave me a short course on the features and they filled up the take with some 10ltrs of fuel.
Now came those small problems that usually you get for free with every Safari Dicor, rear break lights and parking lights were not working, door behind the drivers seat doesn't lock properly unless extra force is used, a plastic fitting had its lock broken and was not fitted properly, this seems to have happened when they were fixing the Autocop. The Coin tray doesn't open properly. These are the thing's that i have found till now. By now it had already done around 91kms.
Took her straight to the JC Road to purchase the alloys and tyres. Meanwhile I even had a bull guard & Sun Film installed. He directed me to a tyre store in Wilson Garden to get the tyres and alloys fitting. By the time i got all this done, it was around 10 PM. Also nice time to take it with empty roads.
Here I would like to mention about those small modifications that requires in case of the wider tyres. In order to have those new tyres fit properly without touching the side walls, we had to cut the mud flaps and also the front bumper, as they used to touch the tyres when we rotate the wheel fully on either side. Also a small piece of metal sheet had to be cut in the process. I felt bad on seeing all these cuttings on my new safari, but then there was no alternative. Next there is another adjustment. The stepney wheel fitting also needs some modification to get it fixed.
Instead of the nuts that come with the car, i purchased chrome nuts, had to pay another 1800 for a set of 23.
Next day went to the temple to finish the puja, then a small ride...a start of a new relationship....
Will update the rest in the coming days as well as the pics... | 
3rd July 2007, 16:49
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