We went over to Pandit around 3 pm. Lost in the mad rush inside the showroom, it took us a while to gather our bearings.
I can somewhat empathize with the sales reps after seeing the sort of weirdos the place sees. Middle aged men sitting inside cars and mock driving complete with sound effects might seem funny at first, but by the end of my day I was quite irritated with it.
We found our sales rep Sachin Patil and he informed us that the car is ready for delivery. I told him we would be requiring some time with the car to conduct the PDI. He claimed it had already been done and there was no need. However on a bit of persuasion he relented.
We did the PDI in the delivery yard once the rains stopped. It lasted a good 1.5 hours and once we were satisfied with everything I requested Sachin for a test drive. I also requested that I be allowed to check the underbody for rusting. After a few antics and photoshoots showing me holding the car over my head with my bare hands
, we moved out for the TD.
Alas, how long can good things last? We moved out of the showroom, turned right, only for the car to stall at the first red light. Mind you this distance could not have been more than a 100-200 meters. I had been insisting that the fuel levels were low and we should be given the requisite 5l as per company policy. The reps told me that it had 3-4 lts and I, being too happy to find no faults with the car yet, relented.
So here we were, stalled bang in the middle of a busy red light. I got out of the drivers seat, folded the ORVMs and started redirecting traffic around the car while Sachin called up people at the showroom.
Now, I have done this a few times in Delhi...getting out and trying to get some semblance of sanity in the traffic. One is usually met with rude comments in Delhi. No one in Pune passed irritating comments. Hats off to the driving ethics of the city.
But yeah I was the subject of a few empathizing smiles. Thats okay. So the guys from the showroom took another 10 minutes to arrive emptyhanded. We pushed the car to the kerb and Sachin told them to get some fuel. Sachin left after this and Rahul Joshi, another sales rep, stayed back.
It took them another 30 minutes to get the fuel.
I was somewhat shocked at how callous they can be. But still things were bright. The car already has 120kms on the meter when we took delivery. Although I argued a bit on that count, it was a rather half hearted effort as the vehicle had already been registered.
Moving on... I drove it for 3-4 kms. Was not able to test much in the crazy traffic and the one ways. But I could hear no weird rattles and the cooling etc were satisfactory. We rolled back into the showroom and sat down to complete the paperwork.
I inquired about the FOCs that had been offered before. The rep was very non committal disowning his own promise. When I showed him the accessory list where he had marked the FOCs, he told me they would be possible only if I purchased accessories worth 10k. After consultation with a fellow tbhpian on the phone we decided against it.
We talked to the insurance fellow about the legality of driving a car without plates and how the claim was to be filed. With most of our work done...we rolled out the showroom with the GP at around 6:30. After getting the car refueled we decided to head home.
An interesting experience while on the way home...
I have talked about how well behaved Pune drivers are...sadly the law of averages caught up for us. I don't know where this happened, but this fellow in a blue i10 was honking madly while I was waiting to take a turn. My car stalled, but we were moving in 10 secs. He then went round me and slammed his brakes right in front of us.
Now a move like this would elicit a fist fight in Delhi... I was about to react in the same manner but my brother advised me against getting into a fight when we had no number plates. After a few minutes he decided to move on honking away to glory again. I wonder what sort of a hurry the guy was in... He never took his hand off the horn! This left a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth. Anyways from then on the experience was rather smooth. We took it for a drive on the airport road.
It was a very tiring day and I crashed into bed only to wake up at 2 the next day. The exhilaration is still pretty much there and I can barely stop myself from going downstairs to check on it every hour.
The car is absolutely charming. The handling is the best I have ever seen. The steering is as perfect as it gets for <10 lacs.
I am having a small problem though...The car does not pick up clearly in the second gear. This effect is accentuated with the AC on. I initially thought it was the compressor going on/off. But now it seems like something else. It happens on 3-4 as well sometimes. In the second it feels something like turbo lag would in a diesel. But in the 3-4 its like different accelerations at the same rpm. I was associating this with adulterated fuel. Any guesses what might be causing it? Also the noise from the brakes when coming to a stop is also disconcerting.
Thats about it from me for now.
I would like to specially thank Amogh and Crimson here for their help. Their co operation through the whole process was instrumental in the comfortable delivery. Thanks a lot guys! I owe you one!
I will be uploading the pics in the evening most probably.
Cya!
PS: The colour is Minimal Grey.