"Experience" is a comb which nature gives us when we are bald. Well I'm not bald; not yet at least. But just as I was guided and enlightened through the words of wisdom on this forum, I'd love to share my experience with selecting, and finally buying a new car in Mumbai. While you read through this post, please forgive me if it's too long; the role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say; and I am one. So here goes.
Let's first take a look at
requirements
1. I am six and a half feet tall, heavy build. I drive.
2. Have already had a spine operation for severe pain 2 years ago.
3. Traveling about 50 Kilometers daily within Mumbai. Occasionally moving across the golden quadrangle across Western India with the family. A family of 4, with typically everyone wanting to carry everything that can fit inside a home.
4. Purchase the car with finance; ready with down payment of 3 Lacs and mentally prepared to pay about 20K per month as EMI.
5. Needed reliability to use the car for at least 8 to 10 years.
6. Fuel efficiency to ensure low running costs; definitely not wanting CNG or LPG.
7. No particular choice between a Sedan, or MUV.
So the hunt was on! First
information gathering activities
Friends; newspapers; TV shows; commercials; and then test drives. Speaking about test drives; I don’t particularly remember the sequence, but it began with the Toyota Innova, then Hyundai Verna, Honda City, Hyundai i10, Tata Safari, Maruti SX4, Honda Civic, Skoda Fabia, Skoda Octavia. Everything from 5 Lac to 14 Lac luxuries.
You must know by now there was
confusion. Lot’s of it. That’s when I turned to the trustworthy internet. Stumbled upon forum after forum but finally reached TeamBHP. (Thank the good lord for that). And lo and behold; selections started to narrow down. Here’s how:
1. Honda City ZX
(Arya Honda - Worli): Too low, poor suspension and could barely fit in (even with the seat at completely back and low position). Close uncle informed me that the ground clearance is too low. Bottom of the car hits bumps and need to be careful. This was rejected.
2. Hyundai Verna (HMP - Bhulabhai Desai Road): Great car. Good looks, Diesel economy, good pickup, does not feel like a diesel, seamless suspension (gas shock ups at their best). Could not fit the 4 + passengers comfortably. This was near selection; but rejected due to space constraints. Too big a dashboard and feels heavy for the driver and front passenger.
3. Maruti SX4 (Sai Motors – Kemps Corner): One more - great car. Excellent ground clearance, superb pickup and suspension (once again gas filled shock-ups), feature rich, effortless power steering, smooth gear shifts. Unfortunately high running costs. Petrol with a low average. Friends experienced 7 to 8 KMPL in City with AC. Rejected.
4. Hyundai i10 (HMP - Bhulabhai Desai Road): Again good car. Superb pickup; surprisingly I could fit in it quite well. But it did not suffice for the space requirements my family wanted. Rejected.
5. Tata Safari: No good points. Too heavy and could not feel comfortable in the drivers seat the moment I got in. Rejected.
6. Skoda Octavia (Autobahn): Great car superb pickup, diesel, no gizmos or frills, practical. Nearly bought this. But thanks to the forum, found out that Skoda has a high maintenance costs with poor after sales dealer experience. Rejected. After sales service is too important to compromise for luxury cars.
7. Honda Civic (Arya Honda – Worli): Poor dealer experience. The dealer actually forgot that I was due for a test drive with my family. No car available. But they made up for it by sending the car at my residence the next day. Great car. Absolutely futuristic. Superb drive-ability. Two reasons for rejection. Like its lower sibling, this Honda bottomed out on speed breakers. Hit hard on the underside during the test drive, and low fuel efficiency. Rejected.
8. Toyota Innova (Shinrai Toyota - Worli): Well by now, you know what I bought. After three test drives, the Innova was selected.
It met almost all of my requirements. Over and above all, it was the dealership that impressed the most. Extremely courteous staff and an out of the world experience. Great clarity in explaining every feature the car has; you kind of get a feeling that they give you a personal assistant. After booking the car, regular information about the delivery status from the dealer was quite relaxing (especially after reading some horrific car buying experiences on this forum).
On the day of delivery, the dealer again gave us a personal assistant; who spent 4 hours with us; explaining every feature of the car, with a checklist of items to use (of course I had carried the checklist available on this forum); they left no stone unturned. It was finally the time to move and drive the car home.
It has passed 10 days today after the delivery and I receive a call reminding me of the first service if my car has covered 1000 kms. Informing me about the procedures of service and asking me for a suitable time that would be convenient as per my schedules to bring the car in for service; informing me that while they would take 2 hours for the first service, they have a customer lounge that I could sit and relax in, or alternately use the internet connection available in the lounge to continue with my business work.
Truly a great experience! Just as memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose; I would forever cherish the memories of buying this car.
Apologies if this is rather long a story. I did not begin with “long long ago”; but I am sure of the “happily ever after”. Cheers!
Thread edited since it contained various [FONT], [COLOR] and [SIZE] tags. Posting with such text formatting should be avoided on Team-BHP as it is inconvenient for members to read post. Kindly go through Announcements section before proceeding.