[passionrider]

Originally Posted by passionrider

Thank you everyone for your best wishes. I will try to post the pics and initial reviews very soon.

Dealer: Koncept Automobiles, Safdarjung Enclave
Salesman: Rakesh Chauhan
========================
Downpayment = 10000/- (The dealer started with 51000/- but I decided not to pay a penny more than 10K. He eventually agreed)
Delivery Time = 1 week

I missed the 'Logistics & Handling' charge of Rs.6500/-. Yes I was forced to pay this as the dealer insisted that it is mandatory and something that he cannot part with.

[forbhaskarm]

Good choice mate... I own the beast for the last 4.5 years & trust me, you would really feel quite relaxed when you drive through the sea of traffic which are omni present on the Delhi-NCR roads now.

Wouldn't have to worry about the pesky autorikshaws bumping into the bumpers, nor the cycle & rickshaw wallahs coming anywhere close to you, neither any small car - read hatchbacks and/or sedans grazing past you. But ... beware of the biggies - blue lines, trucks ... however, you would see a serious change in their attitude towards you.

Njoy your ride .....

[passionrider]

Stage 1 - Buying Experience

]I was in touch with Shiva Auto in East Delhi and Koncept Motors in Safdarjung Enclave. Both seemed well behaved & provided answers to all questions asked. Shiva came to my residence with a demo vehicle and mingled well with the family explaining them the seating, aircon, micro-hybrid features etc. Koncept provided a VLX old model m-Hawk for test drive saying that the actual demo car had gone for another Test drive

However both didn’t have the right knowledge about how the Immobilizer works . I was told by Shiva that the SLE model comes with Voice Management system with 4 speakers but this was corrected by Koncept that SLE comes with only ONE speaker in the right hand front door . Shiva was flexible and was ready to offer a Discount (read Gear Lock) whereas Koncept was more rigid. Shiva did not have an 8-STR in stock whereas Koncept offered me to take to their stock yard to check out 8-STR configuration in Black color. I decided to take my family on a hot Sunday afternoon to check out the 8-STR and we then made up our mind to purchase the 8-STR. I was particular concerned about the Aircon and was pleased to see it work just fine when the mercury was touching 44c

Shiva had a waiting period of 3 to 4 weeks whereas Koncept had an almost ready delivery of SLE, D.White which made me make my decision in Koncept’s favor almost instantaneously.

We bargained hard for a Gear Lock to which he finally agreed (Mahindra quoted price of Rs.2850/-) and I gave him a cheque of Rs.10000/- as booking amount. He asked for Rs.51000/- but eventually agreed to Rs.10000/-. I would like to thank Red_Liner and other members in TBHP for encouraging me not to pay more than 10K for booking. I requested that I needed Bridgestone tyres (information courtesy TBHP) but I was told that it is something that he has no control on. If the vehicle comes with JK I would have to accept JK or simply wait for the next vehicle. I agreed. I informed him that I will do the insurance and finance on my own to which he had no objections

More to follow….


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[raj_5004]

hey buddy, please go through the rules section. MODs here are strict! not more than 3 smileys are allowed.

[umang dutt]

Congratualtions, remind me to take you along when I'm booking my next vehicle

[tanwaramit]

true, have been to Shiva, they seem to be working with too many people coming in and paying serious attention to the serious buyer. Would like to explore Koncept (though they are good and call back on time)

[highsteem]

Congratulations on your buy buddy.
Let us know your driving impressions.
I am still not sure if an suv is for me considering that you need to be extra careful with lane changes and any sudden swerving. Request senior suvs to advice on that front too. What are the things that he needs to keep in mind while driving an suv considering that he has moved from a vehicle that has low cg to a vehicle that has high cg.

[raj_5004]

@ highsteem:
1) first of all, dont expect sedan like handling from your SUV.
2) you can definitely do sudden lane changes but avoid a tight sharp bend at high speeds.
3) once you get used to it, you will ove driving an SUV more than a low CG sedan..

[anirbanm]

Congratulation on owning this ... guess you will enjoy your ride more than ever.
First thing first get the default immobiliser code changed

Drive safe....

[passionrider]

Stage 2 – Finance

I then started hunting for banks to give me the best possible finance rate. ICICI was charging 14.50% p.a with 3500/- as processing fees while HDFC was charging 13.75%. I figured out at this rate the EMI is going to eat up a substantial portion of my monthly income so started looking for options. Meanwhile a cousin called saying that he just decided to purchase a Hyundai i10 with finance from HDFC bank at 12.25%. I was thrilled at hearing a lower rate of interest and immediately took the agent’s number from him. I enquired and asked for a quote for my Scorpio to which he said ‘Badi gaadi ke liye 13.75% hi lagega’. He also said that they had special tie up with Hyundai but none with Mahindra so he cannot offer me 12.25%. However He did agree to offer a discount of 0.5% making it to 13.25% along with 3750/- as processing fees. Feeling dejected again I frantically started calling up every bank who could provide me a cheaper loan. I spoke to Citibank, ICICI, HDFC, SBI. Citibank has stopped providing car loans, ICICI was still above 14% while HDFC didn’t revert back for 2 days. SBI had an interesting proposal of 10% for the first year and floating from 2nd year onwards. I requested for a fixed percentage for the remaining loan tenure but they expressed their inability to provide so.
2 days gone and still no finance option in sight. Then HDFC called back and offered 13.25% again. I asked them if they could provide 10% like SBI and they said NO that is not possible however if I had a salary account with them they could do something. Sadly I said No I don’t have and hung up. An hour later while discussing with my wife it suddenly dawned upon me that she is holding a salary account with HDFC for 5 years. Silly me. I called up HDFC bank again. After speaking to them for 15 mins they finally gave me the magic figure. It would be 11.75% if I took it in the name of my wife and if I were to take ECS from the HDFC salary account. Yipee! That was a good 2.75% saving over ICICI’s quoted rate of 14.50%. I patted my back. Being a Cancerian and a perfectionist I started introspecting again. If HDFC had a ‘special arrangement’ with Hyundai, Mahindra should also have it with some bank. I started googling and finally stumbled upon the site RupeeTimes.com : Advice & compare - Loans, Deposits, Credit Cards. I started looking for a preferred bank for Mahindra Scorpio finance and what do I see – Bank of India, State Bank of Hyderabad, OBC, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, Allahabad Bank……all nationalized banks with Bank of India offering 10.25% for a maximum period of 3 years. I cursed my luck and wondered if it was as easy to obtain a loan from a public sector bank when compared to a private sector. It was already 3am and I went off to bed.
Next morning I woke up, determined to at least try it out Bank of India. I called up Bank of India and asked an executive to be sent over for my car loan. “What executive” exclaimed the bank manager of Bank of India. Saab aapko khud aana padega, we don’t have executives. Silly me – I was expecting too much from a nationalized bank. A series of visits and submitting a plethora of documents later (never submitted anything like this either for my passport or my job or wherever) I managed to secure a 5Lacs loan from Bank of India at special rate of interest of 9.5%. Yes 9.5% was offered in the name of my wife under a special ‘Woman Empowerment’ drive for women . I was now loving nationalized banks ;-)

More to follow.

[tanwaramit]

wow, thats wonderful narration. I was at Shiva auto showroom on Sunday and the guy offered me loan from Bank of Baroda at 10.5% which I thought was good deal. This 9.5% surpasses all.

Is there a limit for maximum number of years ? upto what percentage do they give loans ? Can you PM me the number of the person there ?

[highsteem]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

@ highsteem:
1) first of all, dont expect sedan like handling from your SUV.
2) you can definitely do sudden lane changes but avoid a tight sharp bend at high speeds.
3) once you get used to it, you will ove driving an SUV more than a low CG sedan..

Thank you raj. As I see we may need one suv, as our family is now growing. However, was not sure if the SUVs are safe at high speeds. I love the way I am able to steer my esteem in any corner. Your response gives me enough confidence to test drive one.

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by highsteem

Thank you raj. As I see we may need one suv, as our family is now growing. However, was not sure if the SUVs are safe at high speeds. I love the way I am able to steer my esteem in any corner. Your response gives me enough confidence to test drive one.

yes buddy, a TD is the best way to analyze. most SUVs come with anti-roll bar as standard, so it wont roll over so easily. but many stupid drivers take this term too seriously & attempt tight bends at 3 digit speeds, wannabe michael schumacher you know! thats when simple laws of physics overtakes technology & the car's underbody faces the sky.

[passionrider]

Originally Posted by narayanang76

just being curious - what is MCD parking charge of 4k?

You have got a nice insurance deal and a hard&small bargain - well done!

MCD = Municipal Corporation of Delhi. They charge this tax (Rs.4000/-) for SUVs/MUVs. More like a congestion surcharge.

[passionrider]

Stage 3 - PDI

With the loan formalities over and the bank draft now in my possession I was eagerly following up with Koncept for my Scorpio delivery. It was the 4th day and I was told that the vehicle delivery is delayed by 2 days. I followed up again on the 6th day after booking and I was told that they have received the vehicle in their stockyard early morning. I was excited and requested them to be part of PDI. The salesman looked at me amused. He said ‘PDI is done at workshop; why would you want to be a part of it’. He said they don’t allow that as a policy. I insisted. He then went back to his manager who in turn came to me with a similar expression on her face. I smiled and said it is my ‘passion’ for the SUV and that I may be allowed to which she finally agreed. In 1 hour I was at their workshop waiting for the vehicle to arrive from their stockyard. I met the workshop manager and asked him how long will it take. “20 mins Sir” – I was like “That’s it?” ‘Yes he said’. I complimented him on keeping his workshop clean. It was not the best in its class but pretty functional workshop. I have seen the Maruti Service Masters workshop so I can comfortably say that Mahindras aren’t quite there yet when it comes to comparing their Japanese counterparts.

She finally arrived and looked stunning in her 'white dress'. The delivery person parked the vehicle and went inside the workshop. I looked around for visible dent/paint marks if any. All clean. But wait. What’s this? JK Tyres. Oh no! I called up the salesman, his manager, to see if they can swap it with Bridgestone. No they firmly said. I tried again but no joy. Little disappointed I focused my attention to the PDI. One of the drivers then sat in the vehicle to move it towards the washing section. Krrlaaaaaank – he put the reverse gear. Whooa! I yelled at him. Take it easy fella, it isn’t out of the showroom yet. The delivery manager came out and I told him to keep his drivers trained on how to handle new cars. ‘Sir’ he said, ‘he is the senior mechanic’. I was taken aback. A senior guy should know how to handle new cars especially when the customer is standing right on his head. There was silence for a while as the PDI progressed. Washing, cleaning, inspection of all electrical parts – I kept following the T-BHP check list. PDI completed after 90 mins and car was taken back to the showroom for delivery the next day. I came back home exhausted eagerly waiting to take delivery the next day.

And as promised here are some of the initial pics.

Stage 4 to follow…….