[pogo0120]

People are forgetting one thing!
See, after COVID, lot of things have changed. Two-wheelers are a commodity now. No matter, what you think, that is the status of affairs. The good staff has left. Rents are again over the roof. Margins are thin. There is no culture now... Just reduce expenses, and make money on service activities, hook or crook. Customer interaction, sales target -- No one cares!

I hardly take even cars to showroom service centers. Even if I take it, it's like three times oil change at a local mechanic and a fourth time to a showroom service center.

Don't expect too much from showroom people. Just buy only the bike/scooter based on your research and taste. Do not buy accessories. Buy from a local market and find one or two good bike mechanics to service your two-wheeler regularly. Never go back to the showroom again.

If you keep too many expectations, you will be disappointed for sure! Life is changed!

[dsuman]

Originally Posted by sunilch

The suburban area that you are referring to suffers from this attitude where two-wheelers are simply commodity and hence the owner treats it as a business. TDs are seen as unnecessary expense. Many don't even keep a TD unit at all.

However, I have had a mixed (good to ok) experience with different brands in Thane area for TDs.

1) Yamaha 1 - Owner was sitting next to sales manager and when I reached showroom for TD of FZ25 (newly launched then), the owner whispered to sales manager - "I don't understand what do the get in TD. What benefit does it have?". Sales guy still gave me a TD for 200 meters only.

2) Benelli (when they were operating) - TD easily available but for only 200-300 meters with staff as pillion.

3) Yamaha 2 - "No TD. We don't give TD. You can book and then do all TDs that you want."

4) Honda BigWings - All bikes ready for TD on your own for whatever time you want.

5) Suzuki - Same as Honda BigWings.

6) Kawasaki - All bikes ready for TD but with staff as pillion.

7) Triumph - Any bike, any place, any duration. They were even ready to bring the bike to my place any time. I never opted for on in the end as I had a change in priorities so actual TD never happened.


Now the real pain point: After Sale Service. Honda has simply gone down the gutter. It was good (not great due to volumes and AMC push every time) but now it is downright pathetic and waste of time. I recently gave them my activa for service with a genuine problem to solve. They attributed it to low battery charge and did only normal service. Not even spark plugs were changed which I actually had asked them to do so. One week later I took the scooter to a local mechanic and hen solved the problem in the gearbox for Rs 100 in one shot. He knew the resolution from my first description.

Bajaj ASS was similar. They do regular work and for actual issues, you are better off with a local garage who will attend to you properly. I had to take my bike to Bajaj twice after full service for a problem that they solved later in third visit.

So yes, two wheelers are pure commodity now (more so the lower displacements - anything lower than 200cc). Simply because the dealership and service center owners look at it as business only. They don't care about your hard earned money or emotions.

I too kind of had the same experience. The rationale given by the showroom guys is that there are People who have no intention of buying but just want a joyride so they pose as customers and seek Testdrives. This happens more with the likes of Kawasaki, Triumph, Benelli.

Not justified but they have their reasons to deny TD without booking.

[thumpmeister]

Originally Posted by Malliketh

Great thread which would benefit people in the process of purchasing.


KTM showrooms were excellent in terms of customer service and follow-ups. I first visited KTM Thane showroom to see the KTM 390 Adventure for the first time. Saurabh there was very patient in providing an in-depth tour of the bike and its features.

This is my experience from between Feb 2022 to April 2022.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I am looking at buying the A390. Would you recommend KTM Thane or Vikhroli showroom considering your experience while buying ?

[Malliketh]

Originally Posted by thumpmeister

Thanks for sharing your experience. I am looking at buying the A390. Would you recommend KTM Thane or Vikhroli showroom considering your experience while buying ?

Don't think you can go wrong with either. Speak to both of them, get the final pricing (don't think it should differ), do get the extended warranty + RSA (its cheap) and see who's promising you the earliest date of delivery.

Side note, KTM just launched the 2023 model internationally with spoke wheels. No word on release in India but something to know before you pull the trigger.

[thumpmeister]

Yes, the 2023 spoke wheels launch news triggered my hibernated state. Though awaiting the India launch update. I am more keen on the adjustable front suspension news. Thank you for answering my query.

[Viju]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Exception being Kawasaki who neither have bikes for TD nor the sales guys have any interest.

I am not surprised at all to read this, knowing how the company operates. I had the exact same experience when I went to a Kawasaki owned Brand Showroom in Yokohama a few months ago when I was looking for a new ride.

I was interested in the W800 / Meguro K3 duo, but had never ridden one before. The salesman plainly refused to provide a test ride. He asked me to rent their rental W800 for a day and ride as much as I want. He just printed out a quote, and gave it to me saying 'no discounts, you have to wait 2 months'. It's unbelievable that this is how they operate even in their home country.

To his credit, the sales guy gave me a call 2 months later and asked 'Did you decide yet?'. I said "Yes, I will go for a Royal Enfield".

I have dealt with Kawasaki's core R&D team here for project discussions as well and to put it mildly, most unprofessional Japanese people I have ever met! Even my Japanese colleagues joke that the motorcycle wing is just a hobby for Kawasaki Heavy Industries, as it's a tiny part of their overall portfolio and operations.

The next day, I went to Triumph and Royal Enfield and had great experiences at both the places. Royal Enfield guys (again, Japanese) were keen to make me test ride even the models (Himayalan, Scram411 etc) that I had no interest in.

I am currently waiting for my GT650 to be delivered. This will be my 21st motorcycle, and sadly, I will spend this life-time without owning a Kawasaki ever.

Sorry for the rant / going OT!

[Abi5hek]

Was losing my mind thinking I was alone in this experience before having come across this thread. I am from Chennai, have had quite a different experience compared to other entries on this thread when it comes to RE and TVS. Both dealerships were very responsive and gave me a test drive when I visited them:
TVS : Gave me a proper test drive of the RR 310 & Ronin. No sales exec in the pillion seat , no disconnected speedo

RE: Somewhat similar (if not better) experience with RE. Visited a showroom looking for a TD of the Hunter but their TD vehicle had run out of fuel. The sales exec took down my info and came home for with the Hunter about 2 hours later so that I could take it for a TD. Experience was quite same as TVS (No sales exec in the pillion seat , no disconnected speedo ). In fact the sales exec encouraged my dad to go for a longer test drive when he noticed that he had barely driven the bike for 5 mins.

Now comes the worst part! YAMAHA
I had an eye out for the MT-15 as well and wanted to take it for a test drive but two dealerships which were fairly close to my house flatly refused saying that YAMAHA have directed them to NOT give test drives. The third one told me they would give me test drive ( after me telling them in detail about my abysmal experience with the other dealers ) only to have me drive it in a narrow alley which ran behind the showroom for about 100 mts that too with the sales exec sitting pillion on that tiny rear seat. (Couldn't even get to cross 20kmph in that crowded alley)
In the end all I ended up with was losing a day's pay going from one Yamaha showroom to the other. Leaving each dealership more disappointed than the previous one.

I even took this up with Yamaha customer care only to have the customer support exec cut the call on me midway.
I would like to ask anyone from YAMAHA India seeing this: If it is indeed your company policy to not provide test drives, why do you provide a list of 'Test Ride Dealers' for MT-15 in your official website with the words *Test Ride Available* written in bold right next to their names??
Is it your intention to willfully mislead prospective customers and waste their time and money?
I hope this gets across to the right person at Yamaha India and we see an improvement in the buying process.
If not, I don't see any point of having showrooms as everything else can be done online right from the convenience of our homes.