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#1
I start most thing late. I did not learn how to ride a bicycle till std x when my classmates forced me to learn it, as otherwise they had to carry me everywhere. Similarly I did not learn to ride a motorcycle till I was forced by my family to buy my Hero Honda CD Dawn in 2003, at 31 years of age, as they thought it was not proper for a MD physician to move around in a rickety bicycle.A decision to buy a car was made in 2007. As I was commuting about sixty kms thrice a week through highway, depending upon my bike and public transport has become problematic. Our budget was around 3 lacs so we went to Maruti showroom to take a look at alto. We did not like the cramped space. So we proceeded to Hyundai showroom to have a look at Santro. Enroute we saw a new spacious sales and service center of Tata motors had opened. We went in to have a look at Indica. Fresh from my alto experience, I got bowled over by the space and rock solid feel of the car. Though I planned for a petrol car of around 3 lacs, I went over-budget and booked Tata Indica DLS non-turbo at an on road price of 3.94 lacs. After a series of hiccups and goof ups on part of the bank and dealer (which can be subject of a separate post ) got my first car delivered on October 2007.
By december 2011, the Indica has less work to do as monthly running has been reduced to 500 km from 1500 km earlier. Service has been a pain always as I had to take the car to Kolkata for a proper service as the local authorised as well as unauthorised service stations did more harm than good to the car. As more and more problems started coming and many parts required replacement, I thought of a downgrade to a A segment petrol car. Moreover road tax required renewal at October 2012, which entails an additional expense of 18k other than yearly service cost of 15k. So we went to Maruti again hoping alto k10 will be a better car. But crampy interior and very low price offered for our indica was a big put off.Once again we proceeded for Hyundai showroom to have a look at the recently launched Eon and once again we did not reach there. A new Tata motors showroom was showcasing 2012 nano (the old one was closed by Tata motors for various irregular practises some of which I am also victim of). We had a look at the car and felt it to be perfect for our small family and congested roads of our town. I logged into tata motors assured site.
From the service history of my indica available with them the website gave a tentative price of 1.6 lacs and gave contact no of their dealer for a detailed on spot assessment of the indica. As price of nano cx was 1.9 Lacs on road plus an exchange bonus of 30k, I was hoping to get the new car almost for free. The dealer fixed an appointment for the next day. I cancelled all my engagements and went to the dealer. The receptionist told us to wait as the assessor had gone to RTO and would come in any moment. We waited for one and half hour and the contact person for dealer told us to take a test drive in the nano. I took a short test drive and came back in 15 minutes. the contact person told us that the assessor had come and seen our indica (which was lying locked in the dealer's courtyard) and gave a price quote of 1.2 lacs and went back. I wanted to talk to the assessor in person but he would not be available. I demanded his mobile no and talked to him over phone. He said that he is happy with the external look of the car and had put a price of 1.3 lacs. When I told him that dealer is giving 1.2 lacs he said that dealer quoted price is final. We were very angry at their behaviour and cancelled the deal. It was decided we would keep the indica for 2 more years and then go for a new car.
Next month the indicamet with an accident.Nobody was hart but the left sided doors got badly dented. As the new dealer is for sales only, we got the insurance repair done by local Tata motors authorised workshop. It took around 20 days for all formality to complete. Then I got my vehicle back. After that we found that the car was getting floored easily which was unusual. On inspection we found some plastic hard cover dangling from underside of the car. I complained against the service center in Tata motors customer website. Their representitive called to inform that it's not possible to maintain good quality service point in every town (ours is a district headquarters) and if I bring the car to their service station in Durgapur (about 60 km from here) they will look into the matter. I decided enough is enough. I must buy a car which can be serviced locally properly and that too by October 2017 before the road tax renewal is due. But I continued to use the indica for next 6 months.
In end of July '12, one elderly lady came to my chamber for consultation. Her son-in- law was accompanying her. While going out he gave me his card and said "I work as sales person in Hyundai showroom. Please come if you decide to buy a hyundai car. "I did not want to miss hyundai showroom for the third time. So things moved pretty fast now. We test drove and booked Eon next weekend. The on road price was 3.39 lacs of which exchange price of indica was 1.2 lacs (including 15k exchange bonus) and 7k insurane was free. We took delivery of our Eon on 10th August 2012.
My experience is an indicator why Tata motors is faring badly as had their dealer and after sales service more customer friendly, I would be driving a nano instead of Eon. I will compare the driving experience of Indica and Eon in my next part of my post.
docmit
By december 2011, the Indica has less work to do as monthly running has been reduced to 500 km from 1500 km earlier. Service has been a pain always as I had to take the car to Kolkata for a proper service as the local authorised as well as unauthorised service stations did more harm than good to the car. As more and more problems started coming and many parts required replacement, I thought of a downgrade to a A segment petrol car. Moreover road tax required renewal at October 2012, which entails an additional expense of 18k other than yearly service cost of 15k. So we went to Maruti again hoping alto k10 will be a better car. But crampy interior and very low price offered for our indica was a big put off.Once again we proceeded for Hyundai showroom to have a look at the recently launched Eon and once again we did not reach there. A new Tata motors showroom was showcasing 2012 nano (the old one was closed by Tata motors for various irregular practises some of which I am also victim of). We had a look at the car and felt it to be perfect for our small family and congested roads of our town. I logged into tata motors assured site.
From the service history of my indica available with them the website gave a tentative price of 1.6 lacs and gave contact no of their dealer for a detailed on spot assessment of the indica. As price of nano cx was 1.9 Lacs on road plus an exchange bonus of 30k, I was hoping to get the new car almost for free. The dealer fixed an appointment for the next day. I cancelled all my engagements and went to the dealer. The receptionist told us to wait as the assessor had gone to RTO and would come in any moment. We waited for one and half hour and the contact person for dealer told us to take a test drive in the nano. I took a short test drive and came back in 15 minutes. the contact person told us that the assessor had come and seen our indica (which was lying locked in the dealer's courtyard) and gave a price quote of 1.2 lacs and went back. I wanted to talk to the assessor in person but he would not be available. I demanded his mobile no and talked to him over phone. He said that he is happy with the external look of the car and had put a price of 1.3 lacs. When I told him that dealer is giving 1.2 lacs he said that dealer quoted price is final. We were very angry at their behaviour and cancelled the deal. It was decided we would keep the indica for 2 more years and then go for a new car.
Next month the indicamet with an accident.Nobody was hart but the left sided doors got badly dented. As the new dealer is for sales only, we got the insurance repair done by local Tata motors authorised workshop. It took around 20 days for all formality to complete. Then I got my vehicle back. After that we found that the car was getting floored easily which was unusual. On inspection we found some plastic hard cover dangling from underside of the car. I complained against the service center in Tata motors customer website. Their representitive called to inform that it's not possible to maintain good quality service point in every town (ours is a district headquarters) and if I bring the car to their service station in Durgapur (about 60 km from here) they will look into the matter. I decided enough is enough. I must buy a car which can be serviced locally properly and that too by October 2017 before the road tax renewal is due. But I continued to use the indica for next 6 months.
In end of July '12, one elderly lady came to my chamber for consultation. Her son-in- law was accompanying her. While going out he gave me his card and said "I work as sales person in Hyundai showroom. Please come if you decide to buy a hyundai car. "I did not want to miss hyundai showroom for the third time. So things moved pretty fast now. We test drove and booked Eon next weekend. The on road price was 3.39 lacs of which exchange price of indica was 1.2 lacs (including 15k exchange bonus) and 7k insurane was free. We took delivery of our Eon on 10th August 2012.
My experience is an indicator why Tata motors is faring badly as had their dealer and after sales service more customer friendly, I would be driving a nano instead of Eon. I will compare the driving experience of Indica and Eon in my next part of my post.
docmit
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