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BHPian derick recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Hello, fellow BHPians,
Previously, I posted about my 10-year-old Ertiga and my hunt for a new car. I thank everyone who took the time to read my post and give their valuable suggestions. I will admit that I had made a decision and booked an i20 Asta (O) iVT MT in the colour "Starry Night" but I wanted to read suggestions from other people and post a buying experience separately. Inserting pictures in between.
Honestly, there is no perfect car for everyone but I think you have to find your requirements and whatever ticks those boxes is the perfect car for you. Having driven almost all cars around my budget, the i20 met my needs well. The top-most requirement was that I needed a relaxed driving experience which cocoons me when I drive back home after a long day at work.
The i20 is the smoothest, it cocoons me extremely well and oh that Bose sound system! Yes, it's a little expensive but you do notice where all the extra money has gone, the price finally justifies.
You may skip the dealer section if you don't need drama.
On 12th March 2022, I booked my car by paying 21,000/- at Koncept Hyundai, Green Park, New Delhi. The price quoted was with no discounts and a pretty high insurance amount. I knew I wanted the insurance offered by the dealer even if I had to pay extra. The final amount quoted was 10,63,138/- including a full cover insurance of 41,200. No added warranty and no basic kit. This would be the biggest transaction of my life.
The promised delivery was in two months i.e 12th May 2022. And the wait began. I read many buying experiences here on Team-BHP and was expecting regular updates of my car getting manufactured, pictures etc. But the only time I got any updates was when I called.
In mid-April, I got a call from my SA stating the same car is available with another dealer which they will exchange and my delivery could be within a week. I got super excited and proceeded to ship my car to my parents. A week later I had sent my car and there was no sign of my new car. My SA called me and was asking for payment to which I requested to see the car in person and take the check by hand. Few days later, he informed me that the car had dents so they didn't accept it. This was a little alarming to me, what if I had paid him before seeing the car? Would my money be stuck with the dealer?
Having sent my car, I was facing a lot of inconvenience traveling to work every day, thankfully, my sister was kind enough to offer me her car.
In late April I was getting a little frustrated since my SA wasn't picking up my phone, I went to the dealership and requested to be assigned someone else, I was assigned my SA’s team lead who promised me 5th May as my delivery date.
Soon the 5th passed, I was pretty anxious on the inside but wasn't pushing the dealer since the actual date was the 12th. Sidenote: had my delivery been on the 5th I wouldn't end up paying 5k extra of the revised price. Once the 12th passed I got a little mad, partially fueled because I had to give my sister’s car back two weeks back and Delhi's heat waves were relentless and hailing cabs was a huge inconvenience. On the other side, you must have seen many videos of YouTubers getting their cars within a day or two because “mere contact mein koi hain” I was skeptical if the dealer was making other customers jump the queue.
One late night, with no delivery date promised, I started looking for any Hyundai email ids I could find and wrote a long email with all receipts. The next day I think all Hyundai employees took turns calling me and helping me sort out the problem.
Maybe now I was back in the queue, I was promised my delivery on the coming weekend. I could pay whenever and however I like. I was given a stockyard inspection with pickup and drop from my work! My SA was pretty apologetic, and me being a young professional I know how hard things can be at work and I definitely didn't want to be the reason for someone's career setback. My SA would have been around my age and I made sure any complaints raised against him were removed.
After the email, in my mind, things got a little uncomfortable between the dealer and me, which obviously I didn't want to be. Thankfully the SA made the delivery very smooth. I had made the payment a day before since I had the chassis no. I got a huge bouquet, some chocolates and keychains. When I was booking the car I had told the SA I will take Mats for free! And I did. Sadly I took the delivery all alone, my parents and sister stay in different cities and, all my friends were out of town. I had to sign a few forms regarding the email and got a few phone calls, gave maximum ratings, no complaints anymore. I got my car.
It is no surprise few customers are jumping queues, dealers are offering accessory loaded vehicles for early deliveries and customers are willing to pay extra. The balances have changed and so have dealings. In the end, honest customers suffer who can’t afford to spend a penny more and are made to wait longer since people are skipping ahead. I think I should have written the email on the 13th, had I kept silent no way would I have gotten my delivery on the 22nd. Having said so, my dealer never asked for extra money or pushed me to buy accessories. He was even fine with getting insurance from elsewhere.
Starry night on a rainy night
“She’s an attention-seeking car!” said my colleague. This car was launched 2 years back, but you hardly spot one on the road and everybody stares at it when it passes by. Sure some of them think it's ugly but I think it's like an iPhone. It looks ugly at first but the more you look at it, the better it looks. A week later, she's the most gorgeous thing I have seen.
The interiors are "lit" at night literally
Some unique features I noticed:
Lights at night
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