[shridhar.s.i]

Hey All,
Sorry to keep you waiting but the next update will be little bigger one and i want to tie all the loose ends up before giving the next one (as it will be a big one)
@F150: i will be taking delivery of my car on June 17 as it is my father's birthday that day

[sajo]

Shridhar, just so that you know, almost all dealers in Pune are now offering the ZXi trim off the shelf, in the couple of colours that they have.
The following are available with dealers :
- Mahalaxmi Motors : White ZXi (Silver and white available within 20 days)
- Sai : Black and White ZXi
- MyCar : Silver or Azure Grey ZXi
Having a car or two readily available in the stockyard was unheard of only a few months ago for the Swift ZXi. That means thanks to the recent petrol hike, sales of petrol models have plummeted.
OR
Maruti has dumped an excess of cars on the dealers.

Please do wiggle for discounts. My colleague , who is booking a ZXi, is getting the following free :
- Mats
- Perfume
- Films
+ Corporate discount.

[F150]

Originally Posted by sajo

Shridhar, just so that you know, almost all dealers in Pune are now offering the ZXi trim off the shelf, in the couple of colours that they have.
The following are available with dealers :
- Mahalaxmi Motors : White ZXi (Silver and white available within 20 days)
- Sai : Black and White ZXi
- MyCar : Silver or Azure Grey ZXi
Having a car or two readily available in the stockyard was unheard of only a few months ago for the Swift ZXi. That means thanks to the recent petrol hike, sales of petrol models have plummeted.
OR
Maruti has dumped an excess of cars on the dealers.

Please do wiggle for discounts. My colleague , who is booking a ZXi, is getting the following free :
- Mats
- Perfume
- Films
+ Corporate discount.

This is surely because of petrol price hike. Sajo, I am wondering why Zxi in particular?

[shridhar.s.i]

@F150- Actually i cant afford the Zxi Trim, my budget is strictly 5 lacs, so i am buying the Lxi Trim (base version)
They are offering me perfume + Corporate discount for the same

[F150]

Originally Posted by shridhar.s.i

@F150- Actually i cant afford the Zxi Trim, my budget is strictly 5 lacs, so i am buying the Lxi Trim (base version)
They are offering me perfume + Corporate discount for the same

No. I am not suggesting you to buy Zxi, I asked sajo about the immediate availability of Zxi in particular.

[sajo]

Originally Posted by F150

This is surely because of petrol price hike. Sajo, I am wondering why Zxi in particular?

I posted in Particular about the ZXi because my colleague was considering the ZXi only. Since they are one of the "rarer" Swift variants , I believed the dealers would have many other cars in stock too. I verified the VIN that he was given , and it is a May2011 manufactured car. Infact, MyCar has 3 ZXis in stock.
Hence I just wanted to inform Shridhar that the dealer may have many other petrol Swifts in stock, and he had good scope for bargaining.

[ajay_satpute]

Shridhar buddy

Which is the Maruti dealer you are dealing with? I hope it is NOT MyCar. I found a thread on Team BHP itself regarding how a big cheat MyCar dealer is. He is famous (or infamous) for selling broken vehicles or vehicles lying in the stock for too long. People have got horrible experiences from him. So please be aware of this. If I find the thread, I will post the link here.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by F150

This is surely because of petrol price hike. Sajo, I am wondering why Zxi in particular?

If you intended to ask why ZXi is being dumped in particular, I guess it is because people cancel this and go for the VDi instead.
We all know how the fuel prices are going, especially us petrol heads!

[F150]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

If you intended to ask why ZXi is being dumped in particular, I guess it is because people cancel this and go for the VDi instead.
We all know how the fuel prices are going, especially us petrol heads!

Yes that was the intent. Yes it is Zxi vs Vdi. I see it now.

[shridhar.s.i]

All right, i know it has been quite some time and the thread has been moving nowhere, but here comes the final chapter of my Booking story.
May 20, 2011 - The Loan processing
I am adding this point for helping all those freshers like me who approach the Bank for a loan for first time

Here are 3 golden rules you need to keep in mind before approaching an institution
1. Bankers are NOT Gods - You need money to buy car but that does not mean that the lending authority is some god, they are not giving you money for free,
they are earning a good profit from the interest they levy, So STOP acting like their subordinates
2. Be professional in approach - We are not there to make friends, so do loan shopping, have options in hand so that if they dont bend more then you can always threaten to take the business away to other bank
3. Be Prepared and plan in advance - It is obvious that when you are taking a loan, you need to repay it as well and interest rates are pretty high
these days; so try and keep the loan amount only to the limit where you can repay it without being overstretched

Now, i had planned to take loan from HDFC bank as i already have my home loan there but on enquiring i found that the interest rate is higher and also
there is no prepayment option
So i turned to my older Banker "Saraswat bank", some people may laugh on hearing the name but my experience turned out to be very good as always and guess what i got my loan approval in 2 days, who says small banks are not keeping up with competition and also since we have known the bank for so long, it was like taking money from a family member (but on interest though)

May 30, 2011 - The VIN Check
It was a bright sunny morning and i was supposed to goto maruti Godown to go check on VIN number to make sure the car was not an old one,
i had called up the dealer on Saturday that week and he had said it was an April car, as Sajo and others had advised, i went to the TBHP thread
where they have provided detail steps to calculate Month / Year of Manufacture (it was very helpful),
So i went to Godown (Garware open ground, near Finolex)..I stepped thru the gate and Sagar pointed towards the car and said "Wo raha sir aapka Gaadi"
And there stood my car...All shabby and covered in Dust, Initially i was angry and suddenly i took a good look around ad guess what there were around 100+ cars all dirty and dry (Including a Kizashi, the guy who must have paid the money would faint if he saw his car in that condition)
I asked him that how can they treat cars like this, on one side they say "Use MGA Car Cover to protect you car from dust and rain", and here they are
kept like this, what surprises me more is how do they make it look so pleasing on the day of delivery
He got the keys and i asked him to pop the hood, on the left there was a plastic cover, he opened it and there it was "DB", which meant April - 2011,
So now i was sure he was not lying about the car manufacture, i went back with a smile on my face as a major query was now answered

June 1, 2011 - The Car is mine, finally
As i had mentioned many times, down payment was done but fingers were crossed to get a "yes" from the bank, and as mentioned above that yes came pretty fast
But due to one document pending from my side, things got delayed by 10 days
Finally on June 1, 2011 i got a call from my bank that the Pay order was ready, i quickly said to myself "Thank You God, lekin Ab aur twist mat lao is deal main"
went to bank, thanked the loan officer, got the pay order home and kept it in front of God, then called maruti showroom that i was coming to make my final payment - what a climax
I went to showroom and also submitted my company ID proof for Corporate discount, made the payment - got the receipt and he asked "Sir Gaadi Kab le jaa rahe hai"
I said "June 17, Mere Dad ka 60th b'day hai aur ye unka b'day gift hai meri taraf se..."

[amitwlele]

Great Sridhar. Now the agonising wait for 17th June.

Just in case if i do not log in on 17th, here's Wishing your Dad a Very Happy Birthday (Well in advance) . I am sure its going to be a memorable one for him - what with his son gifting him a car.

[mdsaab]

Absolutely mind blowing, fantastic, super, Swift Wala!
I am really happy for you. and that the car is up to date APRIL 2011.
What more could we have asked for.
Congratulations!
Drive Safe!

[noopster]

Wow! Welcome to Club Swift, sridhar! Dude, I get the emotional reasons behind that date but your Dad will be happier if the car comes home early! So go get it, and bring it to the mega meet at Sunny next Sunday!

[shridhar.s.i]

@Guys, i cant thank you enough for continuous feedback and help provided, and what makes me feel even happier that i know most of them in person
I never knew buying a new car has so many nitty grit-ties(heck i did not even face so many challenges while buying my house),
Here is an interesting story - The other day i was talking to my Boss and he said "Hey i am planning to buy a new car and so to do some homework i did google and on Team-BHP i found a thread by shridhar.s.i-isnt that you, many people have written important notes there and guess what it was a 10 page thread ! We never thought there could be so many factors while buying a vehicle"
So it looks like the purpose of starting this thread has finally been fulfilled, a full experience shared along with expert comments from folks

But as i said, the battle is only half won, i have done some hunting around and i know everyone tells me not to go for 205's but here is what i found

Alloys - Silverline 15" (i forgot to ask him PCD, will ask him tomorrow, he had said those are for SUV's but i believe Yoko-S Drives will fit on them)
Tyres - Yokohama S Drive 205/55 R15
205/55R15 01051 SL 300/AA/A 22.6 6.5 5.5 - 7.5 8.6 23.9 7.4 10 11 871 1235@51 BW

Now as per the tyresize calculator (link given by Noopster)
the upsizing difference is -2.1% which is within the +-2.5% threshold

The only question is - where can i find a good Yokohama Tyre dealer in Pune
Any advise because i can get a good buyback for my existing tyres only when they are new else no point in changing them until they wear out

[F150]

Try mehta tyres or darshan tyres or lokmanya tyres. You should get their contact details on just dial.
Regarding the buy back, you should get Rs 1250 per tyre, if you change the tyres straight out of show room. Mine were good year gt3 and I upgraded to bridgestone turanza ER 60.