| New Manza .. Only Hope this beauty is worth the trouble
This is my first post and would like to share my story of how I became a Tata Indigo Manza owner.
So it first started in October when I decided I needed a car. We had a Wagon R at home and it was getting difficult for my mother without the car. I work in Mumbai and live in Pune over the weekends so I used to get the car over to Bombay over the week when I knew I had long hours.
I decided to get the car in Pune as all my Id’s have Pune as my city. I short listed about 3 cars that fit within my budget. One was a Swift, the other one was a Linea and the third one was a Getz. The Maruti dealer I visited had no car to test drive and was told at least a 3-4 month waiting period which put me off. The hyundai dealer also had no Getz so I took a test in an I10 which was good but was not spacious enough. THe accent crossed my mind but then it was an old car so was hesitant if Hyundai stops production. The last one was a Fiat Linea. I decided to go to B.U. Bhandari. The first time I just barged into the showroom for a test drive but was told that the showroom is pretty much closed on a Sunday afternoon and was given the salesman's number to contact for a test drive. The second time I called and went and still there was no car. I threw a tantrum as I had driven nearly 20 kms for the test drive and no car. The sales in charge there calmed me down and told me he would arrange a car within 10 mins for me. While I was waiting my eyes fell on the newly released Manza. So I sat in the car and felt good. Additionally saw all the features and liked what I saw. Meanwhile the Linea was ready and I went for a test drive though my mind was already on the Tata Manza. Took the price list for both the cars and the Manza was the obvious choice. But I did not want to book the car without a test drive.
So in mid November I finally got a test drive and liked the car overall which fit within my budget and was overall VFM. However here was the mistake I made. After my first experience with the Pashan showroom I decided maybe I should go to another branch of B.U Bhandari.So I went there and spoke to the salesman and got all the details. This was around the 15th of November and I mentioned that I want the car on the 1st of Jan the next year which would give them enough time. The salesman assured me of everything. I had to go to UK the next week and needed to get my loan arranged. So while in UK i finished getting my loan sanctioned and asked the salesman to get the booking done.
After that every week I checked with him regarding the car and he kept assuring me that everything is on schedule. Then suddenly towards the end of Dec the salesman stopped picking my calls. On the 28th when I called him from another number he told me he was on vacation and would be back the next day and follow up. The next day he mentioned he was in hospital and gave me his sales manager's number. I spoke to the sales manager and he mentioned that they do not have any car for delivery. After making a noise he mentioned that Tata had held up delivery and I would not get my car. Additionally he told me that he did not know when it will be available and asked me to call the next week.
I was disheartened and went home and was actually thinking of canceling my car as I did not want to get my car from cheats. Additionally I also thought I should gave Tata a piece of my mind that this is the kind of dealers they have who do not let their customers know the status of their car. I was the one following up.
So I called Tata customer care and surprise the agent there gave me the Tata Sales Managers cell phone number. So I called up the sales manager and explained the whole situation to him. He kept mentioning that it takes 4-6 weeks for delivery and that Tata had stopped production for the past 2 days. So I got upset and told him if this is his response to the fact that the dealer was mentioning that Tata had delayed my car I would need to go to the head office and let them know the fact that I can was canceling my booking and the reason for it.
He then put me on conference and called the GM who was constantly apologizing the whole time and gave me his cell phone number and asked me to contact him directly. Additionally the Tata sales manager mentioned that the first car out once production started would be mine. So I followed up for the next week and still no word on my car. Finally I lost it when the Tata Sales Manager stopped picking my calls. I had to tell him to provide me a date else I was canceling my car and he told me my the 15th the car would be in my hand.
So I kept my fingers crossed and finally got the call from the salesman :-( that my car had come. So I rushed from Mumbai to Pune for the PDI. The salesman kept lying to me that the showroom is shut and that the car is at the Wakad showroom which 40 kms from home little, expecting that I would make that trip. I made that trip only to realize that the car is still in Ranjangaon. I lost my head and met with the GM who was at a loss of words to explain how the salesman could blatantly lie to me. when we tried calling the salesman his phone was off. The GM asked me not to cancel the car and he would compensate me and arrange for my younger brother to do the PDI. I left the next day back to Mumbai disappointed.
Late the next day my car finally came to the workshop while the dealer did the PDI. The next day my brother went for the PDI only to find that the odometer read 95 kms. Apparently since this was just one delivery they had driven the car down from Ranjangaon. I was feeling cheated that my car had already done nearly a 100 kms without me touching the car but at the same time happy that they did not fiddle around with the odometer and show me its a new car. I also told the GM that I will take delivery from the watchman but not from the salesman. He mentioned that he would give the car keys himself. Ohh and the compensation were Mats and mud flaps . So I let everything aside and finally took delivery of my car. After all the trouble I only hope the car it worth it.
Initial Observations/ reviews:
Pros:
VFM - I guess everyone agrees with this. Good interiors, fully loaded and spacious.
Quadrajet engine – It’s a step up from the old Tata days. Really solid. Sorry have not driven the Vista so don’t know how to compare.
Easy to Drive - After driving a petrol engine for so long moving onto a diesel engine is surprisingly easy
Cons: -
The dials are smallish – Have to strain to check the speed
Audio quality can be better.
The Tata Image – After my sales experience
Rear Air Con vents - Would have been nice
No Arm Rest for driver and co-driver
But having said, that I have done 650 kms so far and have loved it so far. Will be due for its first service next week and then maybe I can go over the 80 km/hr speed limit. Will post additional reviews then.
Last edited by Eddy : 18th January 2010 at 16:57.
Reason: Post edited to remove formatting tags. Please don't use external editors (except notepad) to copy-paste text. Thanks
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18th January 2010, 16:51
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