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Old 26th May 2010, 20:09   #16
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Birth of a Star on distant horizon

One fine day I saw teaser ad of Manza on backpage of newspaper.

Teaser ad had just console instrument cluster and steering wheel

I though its copy of Honda Civic cockpit design, sx4s steering wheel controls..
Outline of steering wheel convinced my that it’s a Tata vehicle.
No one else can produce such shoddy stone age design. The spokes outline was really squerish looking out of place. Smooth curviness in steering spokes outline was lacking.

I couldn’t guess it was re-incarnation of indigo, as vista has centrally located console.

Once curtains where officially raised and Manza was launched. I started tracking online/print media for Manza updates, I was convinced that one of the reason was Vista could never took of the way it should ‘cause Tata failed to create marketing magic/hype around it. So wanted to see what Tatas are doing this time.
Some time during this period while searching online reports for Manza, I stumbled across team-bhp. GTOs impressive review about Manza.

Hmm… probably this car is going to repeat magic of indica when it was first launched.

But never thought about owning one.

Since ‘Sari Khudai Ek Taraf…’ owns indigo for 5 years, I knew that TATA service centers understand Truck servicing very well.
They know if something is broken/stopped working how to bring it in working order.
But fine tuning… what is that? Engine is running and their job is done. It doesn’t matter how it is running.

They simply don’t understand, there is noise or there more black smoke or there more vibration.

How does it make any difference?

Try to explain to service advisor in Tata service center that there is increase in vibration. You are bound to get reply
"Sirji , Gaddi chalti hai..Thoda bahoot vibrate to karegihi. Breakdown to nahi huain na..
Aur kabhi galtise ho gaya to 24x7walle baithe hain na….Apki seva main.”

I think they firmly believe
‘Why to fix it when something is not broken.’

‘wait till it breaks and then only fix it’


Still…

Team-bhp Manza review thread discussion left quite a good impression.
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Old 26th May 2010, 22:56   #17
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You have summed up the TATA service as merely "reactive." That's pretty accurate.
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Old 26th May 2010, 23:28   #18
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The Dilemma

Over the weeks kids Accepted idea of having Jazz.
Once I visited showroom with my Better Half, and she changed her opinion about Jazz.
Obviously…
Jazz was creation custom made for me!

Now it was question of convincing my Mom

In December/January timeframe Jazz started offering huge discounts

And all sorts of fears started creeping in my mind.

Will it be a repeat Matiz experience?
If Honda is not able to sell car in volume, how the heck support and spares for next ten years will be guaranteed?

Finally a thread in Team-bhp (250 odd jazz sold in month of Feb. 10) hammered nails in coffin of my dreams of deep blue Jazz.
With so huge discount the car is not selling well, it is not going to capture fancy of market when discounts are discontinued.

Reluctantly started looking/evaluating other options. Meanwhile travelogue section tilted me towards buying a sedan.. a huge sedan.

No. I was never person on road, but somehow I was hooked to travelogues section on team-bhp.

I realized that probably with mom, growing kids probably I need to evaluate other options also for once in blue moon long drive.

When you have kids, practically you have to move with entire kitchen and half of the wardrobe... Even you are going out for couple of days.

‘Sari Kudhai ek taraf…’
did value add. “Jiju…See Indian market does not have rent – a – car system like in US, where you can rent car for going out on long drive. Despite having all trouble is city driving, you gotta own one sedan, just for once or twice a year out station trip or even you want to pickup/drop somebody on airport”

As Jazz started fading from my dreams, I couldn’t think of any other hatchback.

Now I wanted sedan.

Slowly I started comparing ultra reliable, niggle free city car jazz with Manza.. A Tata car ala Truck with questionable reputation about reliability.

The biggest plus was back office (backseat) comfort, which I was never able to provide my mom in Matiz. No other car was giving backseat comfort in this price range I was looking for



Actually Team-bhp favorable reviews for Manza back seat comfort tilted my decision.
Emotional Roller-coaster experience of buying & owning White Elephant called Manza-aura_abs.jpg
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Old 27th May 2010, 01:16   #19
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Very good writeup. Boy, you can write!

I agree that the title is misleading. Before I clicked the link, I expected an emotional roller coaster experiences, as in frequent breakdowns peppered with fun drives. Thankfull I was wrong, or so I think!
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Old 27th May 2010, 01:32   #20
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Hey, you have got some good writing skills. I wish I had atleast 10% of your's. The way Jazz going out of your heart and entry of Manza was very well described.
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Old 27th May 2010, 08:36   #21
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Nice writeup RDP. Please continue!
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Old 27th May 2010, 09:31   #22
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Congrats on the new car ! Good write up, but a bit slow? Waiting for detailed review and also loads of pictures!
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Old 27th May 2010, 16:53   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SunilM View Post
Very good writeup. Boy, you can write!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anand123 View Post
Hey, you have got some good writing skills. I wish I had atleast 10% of your's. The way Jazz going out of your heart and entry of Manza was very well described.
Quote:
Originally Posted by quadmaniac View Post
Nice writeup RDP. Please continue!
@SunilM, @Anand123, @quadmaniac
Thanks a lot..


Quote:
Originally Posted by swiftnfurious View Post
Congrats on the new car ! Good write up, but a bit slow?
I will try complete roller coaster journey soon. I can write after office hours, so there is delay. So there is a limitation.


Quote:
Originally Posted by swiftnfurious View Post
Waiting for detailed review and also loads of pictures!
Its more of a emotional journey than technical review. However I hope you will enjoy it.



Cheers/
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Old 27th May 2010, 22:13   #24
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The Rejection and Re-discovery of dream

Buying a car is not ‘selecting’ a car of right choice, but rejecting the other cars which do not fit the bill.

See Initial ownership reviews in team-bhp, almost every owner spends hell lot of time in rejecting other cars before zeroing down the one which he/she owns.

Although friends insisted that I should evaluate all options, with lot of online surfing, I had pretty much my choice clear. But to justify myself that I have evaluated all options started looking available choice in market.

Now I have to find out reasons why other sedans are not fit for me!

Dzire was not considered due to lack of back seat comfort.

Fords and Logans were out of question due to sales volume.

ANHC was impressive, really impressive.....but price was out of range.

Test drove SX4, somehow A pillar created huge blind zone, which was fearful while taking sharp right turns. No matter how I adjusted seat, A pillar created a large blind zone.

And I got reason to reject SX4


Now turned to Manza..

Only petrol TD vehicle was available for Manza.

While taking TD of Manza first took a test drive Linea to understand how unrefined Manza is.

it was.

Petrol Manza TD experience was pretty disappointing.

Gear shift was like moving wooden stick within heavy stones. No… I was not interested in building my left hand biceps-n-triceps in my sunset years.

Started thinking seriously beyond Manza. But couldn’t figure out where to zero down, as almost all possible options..

Also couldn’t understand why nobody reported this heavy Truck-like-gear-stick issue.


There are two TATA dealers in town. Both offered TD with ‘car-waiting-for-delivery’ for diesel Manza in absence of official TD vehicle. Which I refused.

Couple of weeks passed.

No change in scenario.

Finally took TD with car-waiting-for-delivery at both dealers.

Impressed with power/grunt. Gear shift was manageable.
Back of mind I had already made decision, so everything else looked +ve. Esp. initial pick-up, I felt rocket like getting pushed myself in seat with sudden surge of speed.

Little did I knew this initial surge will create problem in bumper to bumper traffic.


And myself officially put stamp on already finalized decision.

Mom was happy that I am back to my senses.

Kids were relived. In school they don’t have to listen taunts from their friends. Everyday teasing is going stop now.

Better Half.. As usual and as always supported my decision. She always stand by me, whether I am right or wrong.

Once I finalized the decision, Better Half took over from this point onwards for doing spadework.

Attachment 356666
Attached Thumbnails
Emotional Roller-coaster experience of buying & owning White Elephant called Manza-fourth.jpg  

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Old 27th May 2010, 23:35   #25
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The pain of delivery

Sales Person (Mr. Pawan) at Dhingra’s dealer was nice chap. Very systematically he explained features. Neatly compared with Dzire, which was the direct competitor, without bragging about Manza or unduly underestimating Dzire. .

Salesman and ABS dealer was clumsy fellow. Couldn’t put his words together.

After returning home bargaining strategy was finalized. Although team bhp reviews has written lot in favor of service center of new ABS, we decided to go for old Dhingras.

Strategy was simple… bargain hard at ABS . Whatever offer we get, go to Dhingras and ask him better discount than what we are getting @ ABS.

So visited ABS with home work done.

And got clean bold….

Since salesman was not able to handle us, a sweet speaking person came into picture. This guy simply hypnotized that we have got best deal.

We dropped idea of visiting Dhingras and booked car on 16th March. Pearl white QJD ABS. Promised delivery date was 5th April

Well ABS is name of great feature to have, ABS may not be great dealer to book a CAR

Meanwhile finalized loan. IDBI bank is near to house and offered loan at 8.5 %. Since I was privileged customer, doorstep service was offered to do all work.

From a bankers perspective privileged customer is a fool who keeps 6 digit amount in saving account, instead of putting in better investment.

Trouble started brewing as delivery date coming nearer. The loan processing was getting delayed thanks to in-efficient relationship manager. ABS motors was unable to tell anything about status. Both bank as well as dealer stopped giving updates. You call on mobile and other side will not pickup the phone. You call on landline and you get promise that concerned person will call back you soon. …The call back could never happen.

My Better Half started following up at both places in hot summers of gurgaon. Simple task of taking car and loan became epic story..

...My Better Half, who left her cozy job 13 years ago and traveled more than thousand and five hundred kilometers, to spend entire remaining life with me, who was unknown to her… Just ‘casue her parents though that I am her perfect life partner….

…and now she is running from pillar to past in hot summer afternoons, following up with bank, following up with dealer. While all the time I was hiding in comfortable AC office.


As usual ‘Sari kuhadi ek taraf…’ came to rescue.
Except Daam other tools from chankyaniti (Saam, Dand, Bhed) were put in use.
After lot of heated exchanges of words and escalation at Tatas zonal office, on 9th April, TATA zonal manager confirmed that our long awaited vehicle will arrive by 16th.

We decided to do the PDI on 17th and take delivery on 18th.
18th was Sunday so I instructed Better Half to collect the IDBI DD on 16th itself

On 16th night when I reached home around 11 PM, Better Half dropped the bomb.

IDBI loan is not sanctioned.

What…

I was speechless for a moment.

Slowly Better Half filled the details. I understood that we had highly incompetent relationship manager, who managed to screw up loan. She forgot to take signatures at all required places. I must have done 75-100 signatures, still few were missing. This loan was under special scheme. The scheme was closed on 15th.

Next day was Saturday... Banks are open only for half day.

At 12 o clock in night I picked up phone. Dialed ‘Sari Khudai ek taraf…’

“….I need money..”

”..No issues..”

“I need DD of rupees 4 lack tomorrow morning 10:00.”

‘Jiju … DD to ban jayga. But why so early in morning? Tomorrow is Saturday..”

“Tomorrow is Saturday that is why..”



Next day at 10:05 AM, I got call.. “Jiju.. DD ban gaya”


Emotional Roller-coaster experience of buying & owning White Elephant called Manza-third1.jpg
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Old 28th May 2010, 11:07   #26
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Very nice and impressive write up.

Congratulations on your well thought and implemented decision.

By the way, you won't regret your decision to buy a TATA vehicle.

Its an INDIAN MADE FOR INDIANS vehicle.

Congratulations once again.
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Old 28th May 2010, 11:49   #27
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RDPJi,
What a write-up, an impressive, thorough entertainer.
You broke the suspense in the title itself but your screen play and another lover (Jazz) in picture made me stick to the thread till now. I was wondering with some much going against how is the hero going get the heroine. But, you made it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by R.D.P. View Post
Buying a car is not ‘selecting’ a car of right choice, but rejecting the other cars which do not fit the bill.
You summed up well about TATA A.S.S and 'buying a car'.

TBHP reviews do make a lot of difference in our lives - the choice of vehicles, travel destinations, routes etc.
And finally congrats on getting the white elephant for your family.
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Old 28th May 2010, 11:57   #28
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Jiju, still same Indian story of running for loan .

Dont know when things would become professional here, all these formalities and walks are common in rural limits where we have only nationalized banks or cooperative banks with no computer. But still our cities have these challenges?
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Old 28th May 2010, 12:17   #29
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Engaging write-up. Congrats on the white giant. You will enjoy its comfort.

What is ‘Sari kuhadi ek taraf…’??
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Old 28th May 2010, 12:37   #30
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great write up. Congrats on your car. Drive safe.

Quote:
Originally Posted by WindRide View Post
Engaging write-up. Congrats on the white giant. You will enjoy its comfort.

What is ‘Sari kuhadi ek taraf…’??
Sari kuhadi ek taraf = Saale saab. ( WIFES BROTHER)

there is a saying Sari kuhadi ek taraf; joru ka bhai something something. I dont remember it right now. M sure lot of our fellow members here would help me out.
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