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#1
I never knew much about Lathangi Ford on Banergatta Road in Bangalore till I really interacted with them. I still do not know how they were before the Figo era but as of now they seem to be just professional.
It all started the day I was about to stop by Advaith hyundai and pay a booking amount for an i10. That was the day I got to know about this new car called Ford Figo and when searched for a dealer nearby my house, pointers pointed to Lathangi ford. Putting the i10 on hold, just went to Lathangi showroom to have a look at the car. There were no TD at that point of time but they just had one car for display.
Was very well greeted at the entrance by some sales guys and one of them accompanied with me to the car. This guy was relatively new to the job but the confidence in his talk was something admirable. Since there was only one car and lot of potential buyers, we had to wait for our turn. In the mean time, he went on explaining the features of the car in an interactive way.
I had been to Advaith Hyundai (i10/120), TV Sundaram (beat) and Sagar (supposedly Ritz) and out the above three, the Advaith guy was better having more information about the car. The TVS guy did not have much knowledge about the car (or so he sounded) and Sagar, we all know, don't want to sell cars to anybody. Believe me, Sagar was the worst and it clearly shows up that these guys take their customers for granted, this along with 4-5 months waiting period.
When compared to all these, the ford guy (his name is Dilip) was much more composed. If he did not know something, he used to find it out from somebody else.
I shall cover the experience with the car in the Test drive section since it is more appropriate there. The guys there are in no hurry which means you have loads of time to have a look at the car. The other dealers I interacted with lost interest within 15 minutes.
I loved the car and was really happy with the professionalism shown at the showroom that I paid the booking amount on the same day and booked a Figo. Of course, there was assurance from them that if I did not like the car after a TD, I would get my money back.
After a few days, had the TD of the car and it was just impressive. So decided to keep the booking and for the colour of my preference, the delivery was promised for end of March.
It was after this that the uncertainty of the delivery cropped up. Lathangi was not to be blamed for and neither was Ford. It just turned out that the response from Indian market was out of bounds and Ford did not anticipate te degree. As we approached end of March, it became more and more apparent that I was not getting it in March which I kind of accepted too since nothing was in hands of Lathangi, per se.
I was in constant touch with Dilip and his lead, Gangadhar asking them about the status of my car. Ford really started delivering Diesel Titaniums only after the first week of April and there were lot of people waiting. I knew that this will take some time so volunteered to opt for Chill metallic also if not Silver.
Even after this, I convinced myself that I will get the car only by end of April.
But, BOOM, one fine day, 14th April to be precise, I get a call from Dilip saying my car is alloted and will be going for registration once I pay the full amount. It just so happened that a Titanium was improperly entered as ZXI in their inventory. When they found out this and looked at their priority list as to who was the next person, it was me. They promptly alloted that car to me and informed me.
They accepted to take me to their yard when I asked to do a PDI, nothing to hide here, isn't it? Did my PDI and was happy with it so finished the financial part too. The car got registered two days later, 16th April, due to bank holiday on 14th.
On the delivery day, I was supposed to take my car by 6:30 PM but could not do it till 8:30 PM. The guys at the showroom patiently waited for me till that time which, I am sure, was extended hours for them. Even though I had informed them that I will get late, this is worth some appreciation. Nothing was cut short in the delivery process and was conducted like it would have been done if it was 6:30 PM.
Something makes me feel that the after sale servicing will also be good but time will tell.
A Small Hitch:
At the time of delivery, I was told that the car usually has 5 liters of Diesel. Considering that, I drove the car home after the visit to Raagigudda temple. This was in total around 9 Kms. The next day I take out the car, drove for 2 kms and the car slowly shuts down. It had ran out of Fuel!. I was furious that the guys did not warn me about this potential issue. May be they themselves were not aware that the car was running dry. For a Diesel car, you need to have atleast 4 liters if the car has to start again after such a scene.
Again I called Dilip who apologised for whatever happened and arranged for a servicing guy to come to my car with Diesel. Fortunately, the car had stopped reasonably nearer to the showroom. But I am sure that it would have been attended in the same way had it been somewhere far. Things were back to normal after this and I am enjoying my drive till date.
I highly recommend people to consider Lathangi Ford when they are thinking of Ford. It is really a great and a professional place to buy a car.
Disclaimer: This is purely my personal opinion based on my experience and is not influenced by any other sources/personal opinions.
It all started the day I was about to stop by Advaith hyundai and pay a booking amount for an i10. That was the day I got to know about this new car called Ford Figo and when searched for a dealer nearby my house, pointers pointed to Lathangi ford. Putting the i10 on hold, just went to Lathangi showroom to have a look at the car. There were no TD at that point of time but they just had one car for display.
Was very well greeted at the entrance by some sales guys and one of them accompanied with me to the car. This guy was relatively new to the job but the confidence in his talk was something admirable. Since there was only one car and lot of potential buyers, we had to wait for our turn. In the mean time, he went on explaining the features of the car in an interactive way.
I had been to Advaith Hyundai (i10/120), TV Sundaram (beat) and Sagar (supposedly Ritz) and out the above three, the Advaith guy was better having more information about the car. The TVS guy did not have much knowledge about the car (or so he sounded) and Sagar, we all know, don't want to sell cars to anybody. Believe me, Sagar was the worst and it clearly shows up that these guys take their customers for granted, this along with 4-5 months waiting period.
When compared to all these, the ford guy (his name is Dilip) was much more composed. If he did not know something, he used to find it out from somebody else.
I shall cover the experience with the car in the Test drive section since it is more appropriate there. The guys there are in no hurry which means you have loads of time to have a look at the car. The other dealers I interacted with lost interest within 15 minutes.
I loved the car and was really happy with the professionalism shown at the showroom that I paid the booking amount on the same day and booked a Figo. Of course, there was assurance from them that if I did not like the car after a TD, I would get my money back.
After a few days, had the TD of the car and it was just impressive. So decided to keep the booking and for the colour of my preference, the delivery was promised for end of March.
It was after this that the uncertainty of the delivery cropped up. Lathangi was not to be blamed for and neither was Ford. It just turned out that the response from Indian market was out of bounds and Ford did not anticipate te degree. As we approached end of March, it became more and more apparent that I was not getting it in March which I kind of accepted too since nothing was in hands of Lathangi, per se.
I was in constant touch with Dilip and his lead, Gangadhar asking them about the status of my car. Ford really started delivering Diesel Titaniums only after the first week of April and there were lot of people waiting. I knew that this will take some time so volunteered to opt for Chill metallic also if not Silver.
Even after this, I convinced myself that I will get the car only by end of April.
But, BOOM, one fine day, 14th April to be precise, I get a call from Dilip saying my car is alloted and will be going for registration once I pay the full amount. It just so happened that a Titanium was improperly entered as ZXI in their inventory. When they found out this and looked at their priority list as to who was the next person, it was me. They promptly alloted that car to me and informed me.
They accepted to take me to their yard when I asked to do a PDI, nothing to hide here, isn't it? Did my PDI and was happy with it so finished the financial part too. The car got registered two days later, 16th April, due to bank holiday on 14th.
On the delivery day, I was supposed to take my car by 6:30 PM but could not do it till 8:30 PM. The guys at the showroom patiently waited for me till that time which, I am sure, was extended hours for them. Even though I had informed them that I will get late, this is worth some appreciation. Nothing was cut short in the delivery process and was conducted like it would have been done if it was 6:30 PM.
Something makes me feel that the after sale servicing will also be good but time will tell.
A Small Hitch:
At the time of delivery, I was told that the car usually has 5 liters of Diesel. Considering that, I drove the car home after the visit to Raagigudda temple. This was in total around 9 Kms. The next day I take out the car, drove for 2 kms and the car slowly shuts down. It had ran out of Fuel!. I was furious that the guys did not warn me about this potential issue. May be they themselves were not aware that the car was running dry. For a Diesel car, you need to have atleast 4 liters if the car has to start again after such a scene.
Again I called Dilip who apologised for whatever happened and arranged for a servicing guy to come to my car with Diesel. Fortunately, the car had stopped reasonably nearer to the showroom. But I am sure that it would have been attended in the same way had it been somewhere far. Things were back to normal after this and I am enjoying my drive till date.
I highly recommend people to consider Lathangi Ford when they are thinking of Ford. It is really a great and a professional place to buy a car.
Disclaimer: This is purely my personal opinion based on my experience and is not influenced by any other sources/personal opinions.