[autocrat]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

Hello All,

Happy to tell you all that I've completed the financial part of the purchase.

Paid Rs. 2.45 lacs upfront and took an SBI car loan of Rs. 6 lacs over a 7 year term. EMI works out to Rs. 10590 a month

Mother's going around proudly telling her friends that her 'paiyan' has bought his first car

Father-in-law & brother-in-law found a dent in the front door when they inspected the car.

Hope Fiat gives a thought to recruitment & training of their frontline people!

Congratulations

I am sure Linea will surpass your expectations - esp. in ride and handling department!

I too went with SBI for car loan. Its not as simple compared to private banks, but the benefits outweigh the initial pain.

Dent in the car door - try as much as possible to get this rectified before delivery, especially if its too obvious. Once you take delivery, dealership may disown their mistake. Take a pic now and email it to your sales rep so there is proof its before delivery. AFAIK, its quite a common occurance at dealership yards, for cars to get a few nicks.

[one-77]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

Hello All,

Happy to tell you all that I've completed the financial part of the purchase.

Paid Rs. 2.45 lacs upfront and took an SBI car loan of Rs. 6 lacs over a 7 year term. EMI works out to Rs. 10590 a month.

Salesperson has promised to have the vehicle delivered the coming Thursday or Saturday, as Monday's a bank holiday. Moreover she also has more papers for me to sign for the registration.

Mother's going around proudly telling her friends that her 'paiyan' has bought his first car although she was a little upset with the 'inauspicious' Hip Hop Black paint.

Father-in-law & brother-in-law found a dent in the front door when they inspected the car. They were pleasantly surprised with the easy breezy attitude of the salesperson to their query and her preoccupation with phonecalls.

Hope Fiat gives a thought to recruitment & training of their frontline people!

Congratulations!
You'll fall in love with this car every time you take her out for a spin.

About the dent, do not take delivery of the car without getting it repaired and REPAINTED to your full satisfaction. The dealser might try telling you that they'll repair it during first service or whenever you find it convenient etc, but do not take their word for it. And yes, most of their staff do need some serious training in customer relations.

[carwatcher]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

Paid Rs. 2.45 lacs upfront and took an SBI car loan of Rs. 6 lacs over a 7 year term. EMI works out to Rs. 10590 a month.

Congrats,
You'll realize in few days that what an amazing and under-rated car it is. It is fully loaded and apart from usual floor mats, sunfilm, speakers, etc. you won't have to spend much on accessories.

As regards Dent part, hard-press them and in case you haven't done registration yet, do tell them that you'll do it only after the dent is removed or else you'll go for another T-Jet (even if you've to wait for it to come from Pune).
I am more than sure that as the Tata-Fiat staff is incapable of properly handling Tata customers, proper handling of Fiat customers is expecting too much of them after the sale is affected.
Expecting your ownership report very soon.

[C300]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

Hello All,

Happy to tell you all that I've completed the financial part of the purchase.

Paid Rs. 2.45 lacs upfront and took an SBI car loan of Rs. 6 lacs over a 7 year term. EMI works out to Rs. 10590 a month.

Congratulations Siva!
Make sure that you do a thorough PDI before taking the delivery and get that dent repaired properly.
Eagerly waiting for your ownership log with lots of pics.

[Sivasankar]

Thanks all!! Had an interesting experience at the showroom today when I was called to sign a Form 20 meant for RTO registration. Here it goes.

Scene 1 - Car

I saw the doors of my car open & assumed that the dealership had begun work for the delivery. Was shocked to see 2 prospective clients seated in the car with the salesperson, who was as usual hooked to her phone and leaning on the door while they were having a look.

Friend accompanying me lost his cool and asked her how people were being allowed to have a look at a car which has technically been bought. I told her of my presumption and told her to lock it immediately (which couldn't be done as the battery was down). When I said I wanted to speak to a superior, she introduced the Tata Safari Sales supervisor to me. He gave an excuse that there were chances of it getting scratched / dented in the yard. I retorted that it was no better inside and the blame would be pinned on my choice to move it to the yard if something happened there.

Scene 2 - Form 20

Sample Form 20 prepared had mistakes in my name, address and most importantly in the year of manufacture. It was quoted 2012 when it should've been 2011. Salesperson reasoned that RTO TN had a problem of issuing wrong years of manufacture & this was their Jugaad. I told her it was better we let them make the mistake first.

Agenda promised by salesperson goes this way - (1) DD process for RTO payment at their bank end is for tomorrow as today is a holiday,
(2) Forms/DD process will be completed tomorrow and car would be taken to service centre for the battery to be charged.
(3) Car will be taken to RTO on Wednesday between 11am & 2pm (she committed that timeline)
(4) Work to prepare the car will commence on Thursday
(5) Car can be picked up on Friday

Scene 3 - Broken mount of the right front windshield wash jet

I spotted the misalignment of said part on the way out and discovered the breakage (it was actually hanging lose). Showed it to the Fiat Sales Supervisor (aah, finally!) and the salesperson and told them I want it replaced before the delivery as it cannot direct the jet in the direction intended.

Keeping fingers crossed!!!

[autocrat]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

Keeping fingers crossed!!!

Siva, suggest you
1) Document all this on email.
2) Get pictures wherever possible.
3) Dont relent on your demands
4) Remind them they are not doing you any favour. Its a business transaction and as a customer you have the right to demand good product and service.

We dont buy cars every day. I dont understand why some dealers ruin the buying experience.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

...(3) Car will be taken to RTO on Wednesday between 11am & 2pm (she committed that timeline)

Why didn't you get the registration done before Apr 1? Isn't there any extra Road taxes added by TN government in the current budget?

Again, you could ask the dealer to lock the car by "key" and make sure no one gets inside of it; even when kept in the showroom. There is NO mandate that the cars displayed needs to be kept open for people to "sit & feel" it.

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Why didn't you get the registration done before Apr 1? Isn't there any extra Road taxes added by TN government in the current budget?

Again, you could ask the dealer to lock the car by "key" and make sure no one gets inside of it; even when kept in the showroom. There is NO mandate that the cars displayed needs to be kept open for people to "sit & feel" it.

No additional taxes introduced in the TN budget. So, no issues here.

Yes. I agree with you that car be kept locked.

@sivasankar - Hearty Congratulations on your T-Jet. Pardon me if I missed your post. Which dealer did you book your car?

[Sivasankar]

@rameshnanda - TAFE Reach

The car cannot be locked as the battery's down. And the salesperson will begin work on recharging the battery only after completing the documentation. Wonder what is the actual process and how many unique ideas people have added to customize it.

I feel a little caught between the frying pan and the fire

[sandeepmohan]

Excellent choice Sivasankar. I would have bailed out with this dealer if I were in your place.

Makes me cry when I hear the price your getting this car for. I paid over a lac more for the same car but this is Bangalore where everything is super expensive only because of the way the tax system is.

[Sivasankar]

Friend, the other dealers are no better.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Excellent choice Sivasankar. I would have bailed out with this dealer if I were in your place.

Makes me cry when I hear the price your getting this car for. I paid over a lac more for the same car but this is Bangalore where everything is super expensive only because of the way the tax system is.

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

Friend, the other dealers are no better.

Not entirely true Sivasankar. Concorde, Guindy is the best dealer in Chennai to buy a Fiat. Still your choice of dealer is better than VST.

[Sivasankar]

@ rameshnanda - You could be right there. I'll never forget the treatment we got as a prospective client at VST, thanks to the brilliant salesman (the Linea's namesake) who's been there 2 years now. This after we registered for a test drive thru the Fiat website.

For those who are interested, Concorde Guindy has a Fiat Linea T-Jet on display

[MAS]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

Friend, the other dealers are no better.

Hi Siva,

Congrats on your decision. T-Jet Plus is one heck of a car and is fully loaded.

Last December, i had been to the TAFE Reach on Mount Road and found a black T-Jet Plus in the show room. It was a 2010 model with all the "identity" stickers pealed off. Please check the VIN number and ascertain the year and month of manufacture. I am worried if TAFE Reach would palm off the car as a 2011 model. I hope i am wrong, but it is always safe to be careful. Open the bonnet and check for the manufacturing dates of parts, that is how i found that it was a 2010 model.

I also feel Concorde on Velachery main road to be better and more professional.

[Sivasankar]

@MAS -

This is the VIN i wrote down from the engine and the cabin floor

MCA11041E09025444CMZ

Engine number's 1573384

18th character of VIN is the month and 19th & 20th characters the year of manufacture

I decoded this car's VIN as March (character C) 2011 (characters MZ)

Based this on Bhpian Wildon's guide -

Manufacturer: Fiat

VIN Characters: 20 (beginning with MCA...)

Decode:

18th character represents the MONTH of Manufacture
19th & 20th character represents the YEAR of Manufacture

An Example:

If your 18th VIN character is G, then it represents the Month - July
If your 19th & 20th VIN character is NZ, then it represents the Year - 2010

Month Codes:

A = JAN
B = FEB
C = MAR
D = APR
E = MAY
F = JUN
G = JUL
H = AUG
J = SEP
K = OCT
L = NOV
M = DEC

Year Codes:

LZ= 2012
MZ = 2011
NZ = 2010
QZ & PZ = 2009