More Than the Car: How Dealer experiences built our brand preferences

I believe showrooms and the advisors there have a huge role in building brand loyalty.

BHPian ps_abhijith recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

This is from the personal experience we have had over the years with different car dealership experiences and brand loyalty.

Back in 2011, when my parents were looking to replace our old Maruti 800, we ended up buying a Chevrolet beat over the Hyundai i10, only because they were the ones who offered us a test drive car at our home after initial calls to multiple dealerships. My parents were impressed by the level of convenience provided by the Chevy dealers compared to others like Hyundai at that time.

Fast forward to 2014, I had just got married. We both were 26 just then. We have been saving up for our first car, and were looking forward for getting the right car. This was the time when ecosport was just launched, amidst big hype. The Ford showrooms were seeing never before footfalls. We walked into a showroom in Kochi, almost ready to put down the money for deposit without even a test drive. We walked into a crowded showroom, had a look at the car, spend around 15 mins there. All this while, not even a single showroom staff talked to us or asked us anything. The service advisors there were more focused on the older people there (we looked like kids compared to most of the people in the showroom tbh). We finally caught hold of an advisor, who showed the least interest when we asked for a price breakdown. He was not even ready to talk to us, just told us to check the prices online, gave us a card, and then hurried off to the next customer. We both felt awkward and a bit insulted. Walked out of the showroom with no plans to go back. The current state of Ford in India requires no mention. They had good cars, but poor product vision killed the brand.

Next week, i20 was launched, and a service advisor with whom we had talked about a month earlier for a test drive of the i10 reached out to us pro actively, shared pics of the car in the yard before the official launch, gave us an approx OTR price, and estimated delivery times, all without even us asking. We decided to put in a deposit and make a booking for the car anyway. The car was launched, we asked the advisor to proceed, and we had one of the very first elite i20s in Kerala. We had multiple minot niggles with the car over years, everything was taken care of by the service centers efficiently. The showroom and service experience with Hyundai has always been above average or exceptional for us, and for the same reason, I would personally still recommend Hyundai to any friend / relative.

Again in 2018, when my parents were looking to replace the ageing chevy beat, we went with a Suzuki swift only because my father was used to the hassle free service experience with the maruti before beat, and the service experience of the beat was not very pleasant. He bought the car without a test drive, only thing he made sure was that he can have the car picked up and delivered by the showroom whenever needed for service / repairs etc. We would recommend Suzuki cars for anyone who can look past the below average build quality, but want a hassle free life with the car, and exceptional resale value.

The experience with Tata was the other side of this experience. We knew the showroom experience would not be the best, we had first hand experience of the poor service centres, yet we have had 4 Tata cars over the years, and have 2 of them still in the family. All 3 cars were bought only because of the quality of the cars and the value for money they offered. Brand loyalty here was developed only for the products, never from the showroom / service experiences. We still would recommend Tata cars, but will make sure that they are aware of what they are getting into in terms of service experience.

We moved to the UK few years back. We were looking to get a used car after the first few months, as we knew getting a new one on finance would be near impossible. We walked into a Honda dealership one day to check on a used approved Jazz. My wife was a bit sentimental about Honda as she had a Brio back in India which was sort of her “first car”. We were ready to put down 50% of the price of the car as deposit, and wanted to finance the rest. We didn’t want to get an older jazz with the deposit money we had as we had concerns overs safety and reliability. The showroom experience for us was one of the worst we have had in our life. As soon as they learned that we have been in the country for only 6 months (even though we both had jobs with above average pay and no debt in the UK), we were blindly told that they cannot give us a loan, would need at least 3 years address proof for a loan, were not even offered a test drive, and the advisors there told us to our face to try to get a very old jazz from a used car showroom, and forget about getting anything newer for at least the next 2 years. My wife was almost in tears with the treatment we received from the showroom, walked out, and she declared never to get another Honda in her life.

Few weeks later, I learned that my company had some internal tie up with Toyota, and they did offer finance on used approved cars. Walked into a nearby Lexus showroom to check if this was true one afternoon. Told them our background, and that we can put down at least 50% deposit. All we wanted to check was if we could get a loan for the rest. They asked us if we had any cars in mind, and recommended to go with the CT 200, it being cheaper and a bit smaller for us to get used to driving in the UK. Ended up driving back home the same day in a used CT200 with 50% downpayment, rest financed over 4 years at a very low interest rate. The showroom experience was exceptional, At no point we were treated unfair or ignored. They were patient to listen to us, made the right recommendations, and helped us through the entire process in a very short time. We have been so loyal to the brand that we ended up buying a brand new Lexus NX last year, and at least 3 of our friends here have bought used / new Lexuses because of us.

I believe showrooms and the advisors there have a huge role in building brand loyalty. From my experience most people are likely to build strong brand loyalties not because of the quality of the car, but based on their experience at the dealership, and how issues are handled by the service centres. I know of many friends here who blindly go with MG because they offer a 7 year warranty, and every niggle / issue with the cars are addressed quickly by the service centres. Would like to see if others have similar experiences.

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