[sterlingjames]

Ever since i saw the 'reclaim your life' ad on TV i was hooked on the Safari and couldnt wait to come back to India and rush to the nearest TATA dealership and buy it..
i had this recurring dream which went like this!:

A Pearl white Safari 2.2L DICOR GX, with White Leather seats(wanted Stanley or Haiton to do that). Chrome Alloy wheels instead of the standard aluminium finish and matching front chrome bull-bar.

Then there's me in a Khadi shirt(two buttons undone)and jeans, at least 8 fingers sporting gold rings,bracelets and matching flat gold ropes around my neck, sitting in the FRONT PASSENGER seat, with my right arm draped on the DRIVER'S seat and the car cruising along at 40 to 50 Kmph(not more!)on chennai streets.

with such a grand dream what can go wrong?.....in fact, everything did!

i called up the Dealer(concorde-because it was TATA owned) and asked for the details. the sales guy tells me to come to the showroom and see the car and color.since it was close to my house i wasted no time in reaching there..
but no salesman there.. he says he is stuck in the vehicle yard and that i can see the car in the service area.another volunteer pops up and takes me to the adjacent compound. sure enough i see a new safari pearl white with a recent number plate, but there were 3 huge spider cracks on the windshield caused by head injuries and i could see blood on the dash board as well. the bonnet was crush under, probably when the vehicle had hit the stationary lorry(i was later told) and all the occupants including the owner had died in that accident.
that really shook me and i wondered what is the message the salesman is trying to convey??? still shaking off the temporary attack of nerves, i plodded on(remember my dream?.white safari, gold bracelets,rings??...)
it soon became obvious that the saleman was too busy all the time and even after several visits, a face to face became too elusive.
undaunted, i visit VST Motors which is on the other end of town. as anticipated finding a parking space on mount road was a pain and i had to walk nearly 1/2 km to reach the showroom.
once inside, the response from the salesfolk was even worse. the salesman deputes a finance executive to attend to me and as expected, did not know anything about the tech. aspects of the car.
i leave both the dealer points and instead entrust the same to the finance DSA to finalise the deal. He suggests TAFE Reach, but the color and model of my choice was not in stock..if i wait, i may have to forgo the 25k + 5K discount that was on offer for that month.
while on this dilemma i ask several friends to find out which dealer to go for and all convinced me against going for this car- (was there a conspiracy going on against my dream????)
another setback was when the DSA guy calls me and tells me that the funding will only be 75% as against 90% for other brands in the market. he suggests that i go for the Ritz now(with an 8000/- cash discount thrown in) and maybe think about the Safari later next year or the next...

again i visit the dealer point to see if the car was worth the extra 15% DP and luckily this time i get to see a new car in the showroom! with much anticipation i get into the car and start looking around to connect to the dream i was now getting used to having....and get the feeling of royalty.
but then....
i see the A-pillar. the finisher is loose and just a touch and it drops off. i hastily put it back and open the glovebox.
this drops out at an angle because the support hinge is broken. all the Aircon vents are poorly finished and the cheap plastic smell was getting a bit oppressive.
getting down i notice the side cladding at the rear, bulge out of the body line. hoping fervently that it must be a transit damage, i point it out to the salesman, who patronisingly,comments "sir this is TATA finish, not Toyota!"
THAT'S IT!!!
all the earlier experiences come flooding back.starting from the first sight of the safari(the accident one,the numerous trips to the dealers and finally the casual attitude even BEFORE the sale itself was too much of a risk of hard earned money!)

so, into the bank locker goes all the rings, bracelets and rope chains,khadi shirt....and i've mentally started the count-down for 2012 when i can start my quest again to buy a well finished TATA Safari with a good Sales and after sales dealer support(as if there is a possibility of that ever happening!!!!)

[aaggoswami]

1) I did report your post. Hope I have made no mistake.

2) Tata is not the best when it comes to buying or servicing. I think Tsk1979 also has faced a lot of issues with his Safari. Definitely not the best experience and makes one think that if this is how they are interested in selling, how will they do servicing ?

I dont intend to see salesperson wiping my shoes with his collar, but certain amount of respect to customer is expected. Comments like this is not Toyota are too bad and it shows total lack of professionalism.

I think you had quite a bad time running around dealer only to get no attention. This again proves that Tata which even controls Fiat sales and servicing, has to improve in more than one area.

For the time being, Tata has lost a customer, but is tata listening ? If you still want to get your dream car, give them a second chance. I think visiting the dealer in afternoon time or evening time will help. In afternoon I have noticed that they are generally not having a large number of customers and hence they may answer your queries.

[drpullockaran]

Originally Posted by sterlingjames

with such a grand dream what can go wrong?.....in fact, everything did!

i've mentally started the count-down for 2012 when i can start my quest again to buy a well finished TATA Safari with a good Sales and after sales dealer support(as if there is a possibility of that ever happening!!!!)

Are you living in a fantasy world? Getting a well put together TATA is just a pipe dream. Unload your hard earned money on any other brand in India except a TATA or Skoda which takes the cake for its horrid A.$.$. Even if you are lucky to get a good TATA product the A.$.$ will kill it in the first service. I know because I own a Indica for the past 9 years which I cannot sell because of an ongoing consumer court case which I intend taking to its logical end.

[CliffHanger]

Why not you realize your dream except for with a brand new Scorpio? I'm sure, Mahindra dealerships are way better when compared to Tata in handling customers.

[sterlingjames]

well the only problem with mahindra is there are too many of them running around on govt. plates and the kind of grand exclusivity that the Safari exudes is just not there in the Scorpio..an endeavour seems the next logical choice but the dent in my pocket will be quite huge, i think..

[esteem_lover]

Nice recount of your experience sj. How many more customers have had this experience like yours ? It is sad that the sales staff are so casual about everything.

[akas_chauhan]

Very nicely you put your feelings here. This is one classic case why someone should not purchase a TATA.

[tanwaramit]

while buying experience may not be that good, I guess you should think about how you would feel when you drive this beast and reclaim your life like Tanveer does. Sales experience may turn you off but that is not the only reason to say goodbye to a product you want so desperately.
talk to senior manager at dealership and get the car of your dreams.

[Ravveendrra]

Next time, send your driver (preferably Safari suit clad) with the message "Ayya wants to buy a car" and do all your negotiations only through your driver or other flunkey (it would be even better, if you can get a PSO, i.e. Personal Security Officer to do it). All those elusive salesmen will queue up to give you a car of your choice and the fit & finish will put any other manufacturer to shame.

Cheers,

[sterlingjames]

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

Next time, send your driver (preferably Safari suit clad) with the message "Ayya wants to buy a car" and do all your negotiations only through your driver or other flunkey (it would be even better, if you can get a PSO, i.e. Personal Security Officer to do it). All those elusive salesmen will queue up to give you a car of your choice and the fit & finish will put any other manufacturer to shame.

Cheers,

ha! ha! ha! that sounds grander! i will do that soon!! thanks, mate! i think the Safari deserves another chance cos' this is the only car which will go with all those rings,bracelets,khadi shirt and chains...(otherwise i may never get to wear them!)

[HappyWheels]

Rings, bracelets, khadi shirts... mmm... better suited for a Scorpio; especially a Scorpio with a bold bull bar!

Not sure what kind of dumb sales man will take a prospect to view an accident car, that too one in which there was a death involved! These things come in all kind, dont they!!!

If you are against the Scorpio just because it runs with G plates, I am sure you are missing out on a lot of things that it has to offer. Especially the new variant which is loaded with a lot of features.

Test drive it before wiping it out of your list.

[kewlferrari]

Well written post. I share the same experience. I was sold on to the 2.2 Dicor. After visiting 3 showrooms multiple times couldn't test drive a car.

The classic excuse being - We are not giving test drives these days. I was like Huh, you expect me to put 10 big ones without a test drive.

Still yearn for the safari, but with all the problems associated with it I am happy with my safari dream being unfulfilled.

Safari is a better SUV than Scorpio but no prizes for guessing why the Scorpio outsells the Safari.

[shishir_bn]

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

Next time, send your driver (preferably Safari suit clad) with the message "Ayya wants to buy a car" and do all your negotiations only through your driver or other flunkey (it would be even better, if you can get a PSO, i.e. Personal Security Officer to do it). All those elusive salesmen will queue up to give you a car of your choice and the fit & finish will put any other manufacturer to shame.

Cheers,

Absolutely right "Raveeendrra". Even one of my friend did the same thingw hen he was buying Sumo Grande. He went in his friend's Scorpio and then sent his driver with white suite,cap etc inside the dealer chamber and he told "my boss wants to buy a safari". To his surprise the sales manager itself came out from his cabin and took my friend into the AC chamber and finished the deal in flat 15 days.

4 years back when my relative was buying a Honda City, he went to the dealer in a minister car(with thjat red light glowing,but without the sound) and got down. Within 5 days the deal was done.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by kewlferrari

I was sold on to the 2.2 Dicor. After visiting 3 showrooms multiple times couldn't test drive a car. The classic excuse being - We are not giving test drives these days.

This is absolutely wierd!!! Things are not as bad here in Bangalore - one phone call and both dealers were at my doorstep with the demo car the next day. Infact, the one I turned down kept following up for a week or so and I was able to nego a good deal by pitting them against each other

[4x4addict]

@Sterlingjames:

These guys at concorde motors chennai are unadulterated idiots. A while back I called them about a Xenon test drive. Some lady on the phone said she would check with the sales person and said that they have the vehicle and I can come over. So I went over there and guess what no xenon !!. I was pissed off but figured there is no point in talking to these dim wits and asked for the manager to complain but was told that he has gone for an extended lunch break.

So I decided to just keep my cool and leave the place. This is when a cheeky salesperson came to me and ask me if I wanted to test drive an Indica instead. That's when I blew my fuse and unloaded a magazine on that perp. Why would I want to test drive an Indica when i called on the phone and some person confirmed that there was a xenon available for a test drive.

I honestly don't have a lot of faith in Tata products. The dealer experience was a bad experience too. Anyways now that Scorpio is available with AT and 4x4 and aribags for 10.22 lakhs, if I wanted a 4x4 SUV in the 10 lakhs range, I will go with a Scorpio any day. I don't care that Tata fans call the best middle row seat and highway comfort in the world and the supposedly upmarket image compared to the Scorpio. I need a reliable product with good after sales support. If these bozos at Concorde motors cannot sell you a car, how the hell will they service it if there is a major issue??

Sorry guys, I had forgotten this episode but stelingjames experience with these nincompoops triggered a bad flashback

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

If you are against the Scorpio just because it runs with G plates, I am sure you are missing out on a lot of things that it has to offer. Especially the new variant which is loaded with a lot of features.

Test drive it before wiping it out of your list.

I totally agree with you. I was very biased against the Scorpio for the image reasons.