[Flasshhhh]

Originally Posted by Minato

I went for PDI today but it was a short lived PDI as the SA though stating the xline DCT being a December model, turned out to be November model. I was really very annoyed and tried to keep my composure, and when I asked why the discrepancies he said it was billed to the dealer with a 39 days stock. I asked why he did not gave a straight and clear answer, he could not say a word. :(

My brother faithfully continued with PDI and said he could not find any flaws but my mind had already switched off. I just couldn't bear false promises or words. The ODO meter reading was 38kms which SA mentioned is due to the drive from the stockyard to showroom.

I checked the gear levers, brakes and accelerator - they did not have any of the protective covers (like the plastics wrapping) the protective covers over Digital instrument cluster had bubbles in it. Footwell had footprints and no protective covers as well. Not sure if the factory provides it in the first place either.

The tires were clean but the bottom rear torsion beam had accumulated a lot of mud. I did not check the engine bay. The showroom folks when brought the car in front of us, I did not hear any noises, so I assume the engine/transmission is perfect.

All in all, I haven't cancelled the booking as my brother says the discount is decent enough for a reassessment/consideration. Given KIA price rise is round the corner and Bangalore being overtly expensive for cars - what should I do?

I agree! Lies creates doubts, and when it is about paying 20L+ for something, these things kills the mood. Your SA should have been clear with this.

But on the plus side, the November manufactured cars have One touch up down functionality for all windows, which was discontinued after 27th November.(My December model GTX Plus does not have it)

The ODO reading is fine. Anything below 100kms is fine considering it is not 2 months old. Regarding plastic wrappings, someone from them might have remove them, reason best known to them. You can convey it to them, they will place the plastics before delivery.

I took delivery of my Seltos on 19th January. When I did PDI, the car was in stockyard and was very dirty which is normal if stays stationary for a month.

Overall, going with discounted cars will have its drawbacks. As when a person buy 2-3 months old car on discount, yes, there are chances that the car would have been on a few test drives, would have taken mud, would not look brand new on some aspects, these things will create doubt, but, if there are no major issues related to engine, transmission, air-conditioner etc. in my opinion, one can go for it.

[GTX+]

Originally Posted by abhi3284

Not the Full amount but I recently paid the Down Payment of 6 Lacs with my Credit Card and i was charged 2 pc extra over it.

Is this charge legal? And to whom does it go, the dealer?

[ankur_fox]

Originally Posted by GTX+

Is this charge legal? And to whom does it go, the dealer?

It's not a question of legal or not, these are applied when merchants choose to cover the transaction fees they are charged by the credit card companies for the transaction. Most merchants absorb them as costs, some choose to recover from the customer. These are not applied for other payments such as UPI or NEFT.

[Behemoth]

Well some good news for Seltos GTX and Xline owners. The projector mount bracket is now available from Genome India. Please see pic attached. This is suitable for 2 inch projectors like Aes and GTR. But the catch is that this fitment is irreversible and will most likely void warranty. I am not taking the jump for now and may decide at a later date of required.


Also another challenge is that the male connector for the Kia female connector is not available so installers will try make a jugaad fit which is not advisable.

[F1amit]

Questions to fellow BHPans especially those who purchased Seltos recently.

I have booked Seltos GTX+ DCT by 20-January with a reputed KIA dealership in Mumbai through initial payment of 25k. Today I received a call from SA informing about a vehicle getting available from another showroom of same dealership which can be allocated to me. Vehicle is still in transit and should be landing in their stockyard in 2-3 days.

I emphasized on getting a VIN for the vehicle and getting a PDI done before sending it for registration. SA is fine with that but mentioned that as per their policy, it can only be done once the payment has been made (car is invoiced).

Is that normal practice? I am thinking of standing my ground about PDI to be done before making full payment. But wanted to check experience of other BHPans.

[abhi3284]

Originally Posted by F1amit

Questions to fellow BHPans especially those who purchased Seltos recently.

I have booked Seltos GTX+ DCT by 20-January with a reputed KIA dealership in Mumbai through initial payment of 25k. Today I received a call from SA informing about a vehicle getting available from another showroom of same dealership which can be allocated to me. Vehicle is still in transit and should be landing in their stockyard in 2-3 days.

I emphasized on getting a VIN for the vehicle and getting a PDI done before sending it for registration. SA is fine with that but mentioned that as per their policy, it can only be done once the payment has been made (car is invoiced).

Is that normal practice? I am thinking of standing my ground about PDI to be done before making full payment. But wanted to check experience of other BHPans.

I think you need to stand your ground. Different Dealers act in different ways. But, ultimately it depends on how quickly you want your Car delivered. In case the Dealer does not budge and you decide to go to another Dealer, it might take more time. If it suits you, you can maybe make another part payment with assurance of full Refund or another Car allotment, in case you find any issues during PDI.
I replied to your PM about my scenario.

[eragon92]

Originally Posted by F1amit

Questions to fellow BHPans especially those who purchased Seltos recently.

Is that normal practice? I am thinking of standing my ground about PDI to be done before making full payment. But wanted to check experience of other BHPans.

Hi Amit
I did PDI for my GTX+ after only paying the booking amount in Mumbai only. I was crystal clear with my dealer that no payment will be made before PDI under any circumstance. Do you mind sharing which dealer is this? I dealt with Shreenath and Shaw Kia and both had no issue with my request.

[wadewilson]

Positive Accidental Repair Experience at Kia Meridian Service, Guwahati

My father accidentally hit our 5 month old Seltos on the gate of our house 3 weeks back. I had been unable to help take the car for repairs as I had my Viva coming up. Anyway, after the Viva was over, my little brother took the car and had it assessed as to what parts needed replacement. They didn't have the parts in stock so we placed the order and had the car brought back.

Since I had to go to Guwahati to submit some documents, I took the car with me - called up the parts manager who confirmed that the parts were in stock. In my hurry to reach Guwahati to ensure that my document verification isn't hindered due to car repairs, I forgot to make an appointment for the same.

I call up the number of the service centre that I find on Google and a lady picks up. I explain to her my situation and she seems aghast at the fact that I wanted to get my car repaired that same day itself without prior appointment (note - I called early in the morning as soon as service centre opened). Seeing as it was going nowhere, I asked the number of the body shop manager. After giving me the number, she didn't cut the call but seemed to berate me behind my back. I cut the call as she seemed to "forget" to close it from her end

No hard feelings from my Side towards the individual. Sometimes not everyone might be empathetic or understanding to our situation.

Anyway, I call up the Body shop manager, Mr. Pranab, who immediately understood my situation and assured me that he would get my car fixed and have it delivered by evening. He also got me in touch with a Service Advisor, Mr. Gautam who was also quite helpful.

Anyway, by 5:30 pm the car was ready, washed and cleaned inside and out, even engine Bay was sparkling. The car looked great and the front parking sensors, radar, etc. worked without any issue.

Thoroughly satisfied and wanted to highlight the positive and helpful action of Mr. Pranab (Bodyshop Manager) in this regard. I was apprehensive at first but he allayed my worries and also ensured that the car was repaired and delivered to me on time.

[F1amit]

Originally Posted by eragon92

Hi Amit
I did PDI for my GTX+ after only paying the booking amount in Mumbai only. I was crystal clear with my dealer that no payment will be made before PDI under any circumstance. Do you mind sharing which dealer is this? I dealt with Shreenath and Shaw Kia and both had no issue with my request.

Thanks for update. I am dealing with Shreenath Kia. Initially SA did agree on balance payment after PDI. Now it seems he is getting a car available from their sister dealership in Thane because someone else had delay with finances ( heard of this in many posts on Team BHP) and thus would like me to go ahead with payment so as that allotment can be done on my name.

I am going to dealership tomorrow to discuss it further. I am surely not in a mood to make entire payment before PDI.

[arcanec]

Originally Posted by deovrat

Thanks for this, would there be any negotiation over the % charged for the card payment? I would assume this depends on the negotiation power.

Everything is negotiable, but dealerships are unlikely to bend on this. I read someone else was charged 2%. I paid a similar amount and was charged 1.5%.

There are various factors that come into play that decide the percentage cost to the dealer including the card network, the agreement between the bank and the issuer, between the dealership and the bank, etc. With all this in place, dealerships have a specific percentage cost (MDR) they incur to process CC payments, and they pass that cost on to the customer. It's completely possible that some dealerships try to skim some % off the top, e.g. they incur a 1% MDR but charge you 1.5% for payments through cards, in which case the 0.5 difference in percentage points becomes your negotiation range, but you're unlikely to know what that number is.

At the end of the day, if the benefit you get from paying that premium is higher than the premium itself you should probably go for it. In my case, I paid a 11.2k premium for a direct benefit of 25k. Well worth it, imo.

[deovrat]

Originally Posted by arcanec

At the end of the day, if the benefit you get from paying that premium is higher than the premium itself you should probably go for it.

This is the crux of the story. I believe, that even with a 2.0% MDR, I would come out ahead.
Considering an example of 20L payment, Rs. 40000/- extra would net me an effective value of Rs. 1,50,000/- for my scenario.

[arcanec]

Originally Posted by deovrat

This is the crux of the story. I believe, that even with a 2.0% MDR, I would come out ahead.
Considering an example of 20L payment, Rs. 40000/- extra would net me an effective value of Rs. 1,50,000/- for my scenario.

In which case I'd go ahead without wasting my breath negotiating with the dealership. Only two things I hope you take into account -
1. 1.9L on a 20L payment is a 9.5% benefit, not sure which card offers such value without accelerated rewards etc, which are usually capped. I assume you've done the math.
2. I've heard of instances where dealership POS payments are classified under "Insurance payments" or something similar where you don't get reward points. Need to check the MCC to be sure.

[deovrat]

Originally Posted by arcanec

In which case I'd go ahead without wasting my breath negotiating with the dealership. Only two things I hope you take into account -
1. 1.9L on a 20L payment is a 9.5% benefit, not sure which card offers such value without accelerated rewards etc, which are usually capped. I assume you've done the math.
2. I've heard of instances where dealership POS payments are classified under "Insurance payments" or something similar where you don't get reward points. Need to check the MCC to be sure.

Thanks for your concerns, all of which are valid, particularly the math.
I intend to do the purchase with Axis Magnus card, which offers accelerated rewards whenever purchases in a month are >1.5L, irrespective of spend category/MCC and yes, the math checks out in this case.

I will not clutter this thread with CC rewards in detail, so feel free to continue this in credit card thread or in PM. Thanks again

[the_bugil]

Originally Posted by wadewilson

Positive Accidental Repair Experience at Kia Meridian Service, Guwahati
=====
Thoroughly satisfied and wanted to highlight the positive and helpful action of Mr. Pranab (Bodyshop Manager) in this regard. I was apprehensive at first but he allayed my worries and also ensured that the car was repaired and delivered to me on time.

Based on your post you are from Guwahati, I am planning on to go for 7DCT in white, can you tell me how much Meridian kia quoted for insurance for you?

[Behemoth]

Completed a small landmark of 4000kms on my Seltos Xline in less than 2 months (had it delivered on 11th Dec). This distance has been covered only in my drive to office and back from Gurgaon to Noida.
Am happy that I bought a diesel At as it is frugal and efficient and fun to drive too.



Mileage with my driving is 17 kmpl overall and I feel that is quite good for a diesel AT version. My daily drive in the morning gives me almost 21kmpl but my evening drive in peak traffic drops it to around 14kmpl so am getting an average of 17kmol overall.