On December 22nd, 2007, I booked a Maruti VXI with this dealer in Kolkata.
I was advised to go for HDFC bank car loan, as I have my salary account there,
and I will get the loan very fast, which would enable them to deliver the car by 15th
January, which I required.
By 4th of Jan, the loan was approved and payed to them by HDFC.
While talking to the salesman initially when I went to book a car, we started off discussing
LXI. But my friend, who went with me, and myself, found I was gettign a good deal(**ON THE DECMEMBER Maruti prices)**, if we go for VXI. By that time the salesman has already filled up the form for LXI, saying the Loan amount will be 3 lakhs. When we mentioned about VXI, he changed the relevant fields in the form, and the VXI was booked. I told the saleman to apply for Rs.3.3 Lakhs,
in case of VXI, and he recalculated the EMI, and was supposed to update the same in the form.
When the loan amount was disbursed, I saw that the amount was Rs.3 lakhs only. So the sales guy has mucked up there, as it should have been 3.3 lakhs.
Now, in Jan, the discounts that were on offer have been reduced(and this is what I hate about Maruti.the booking price is invalid, and **only the price on the time of delivery is valid**. I think Maruti should be sued in this respect, as it **also makes inordinate delays in delivering the car**, shooting the prices up, in most of the cases). Due to this, I had cough up an extra 50k, which was not in my budget. So I asked the dealer **can the model be changed to LXI. **They replied in the negative, as the hindrance was that the bank has already issued the loan in the name of a Wagon R **VXI.
Even after 15th of Jan, and enquiring every day, they were saying that the VXI will be delivered very soon. I complained to Maruti through their website, and they replied back it will be looked into.
In around the last week of Januray, the delaer started sinmging the tune "**VXI production is low, please opt for LXI". **This time when I asked what about the **bank loan, **they replied back that only some papers needs to be changed, and the cost of chaning the model name from VXI to LXI is around Rs.1000, **which the dealer ultimately payed.
*After all this hassle, I got the car in around 1st week of February. Ultimately I had to pay around 3.9 lakhs for an **LXI, **where I could have got the **VXI **at around 3.99 Lakhs, if everything would have gone smoothly.
Maruti’s intervention in this fiasco was: An apology letter from the dealer, which I needed to sign, and give them back. I did that, as I was so frustrated with both Maruti, and this dealer.
Points to ponder:
Absolutely unprofessional approach by the dealer.
Not letting the customer know the best of options(even if you go today, they will always push you
for HDFC loan, whereas SBI offers the loan at much lower rate. The sale guy will tell you that
since SBI takes more time to process the papers, the delivery of the car might be delayed. This
immaterial as Maruiti itself takes a long time to deliver the car, even with the loan cleared.)
- Absolutely indifferent approach by maruti itself on this whole issue.