Experiences while buying my first car – Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire

****************
Source: I OWN this article; it is solely based on my personal experiences.
****************
Since 2005 I had a dream of buying my own car. Thanks to my usual tardiness and patent style of pushing things ahead, my plans never materialized. I enjoyed driving my dad’s car (Maruti Suzuki Esteem).

Three years later, a friend of mine asked me if I would like to test drive his new Swift. Initially, I was reluctant to drive his new car but after seeing his car I gave in and decided to test drive it. I was extremely happy with the car and immediately decided to go for it.

Call it karmic connection or luck – I read in the papers that Maruti Suzuki was launching its new car Swift Dzire – cedan version of their Swift car. I loved the design, specifications and the price too was in my budget (Rs. 600,000).

I discussed it with my family (including my in-laws) and decided to book the car. After getting quotations from various dealers I decided to go in for a Bandra based dealer (Autovista). I was extremely happy with their service. The sales executive – Rajesh Sharma too was good. He was courteous, polite and very prompt in his response. They promised to give me the car within 25 days – other dealers had a wait period of 2 months. I booked my first car on April 6, 2008.

The next thing to do was to get in touch with my bank for a car loan. My loan was cleared and the cheque was ready. In about 15 days, I got a call from my dealer – he shocked me by telling that the car will not be delivered in 25 days as there is a wait period of 2 months. He gave me a date of May 22nd. My loan manager informed me that if I keep my cheque on hold then the interest rate and EMI would go up. I had no option but to ask the bank to clear my cheque. I was waiting for May 22nd.

May 20th
I was told that the wait period was now 6 months. This was the time I felt like breaking my head on the wall for booking the car. I immediately sent out mails to the General Manager, Maruti Suzuki complaining about the way this matter was being handled. There was no response.

May 24th
My fiancee’s Mama decided to step in to help me out. He introduced me to his friend – a Senior Inspector with the Mumbai Police force. The Senior Inspector spoke to the dealer and asked him to deliver my car at the earliest.

May 29th
Later, I realized that there was a genuine problem. Maruti Suzuki was indeed out of stock. The cars were still under production and hence the delay. I got a call from the Sales Manager (Mr. Praveen Pereira)– he apologized for what I had to go through and assured me that I will get my car – Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire (Vxi model, Azure Gray color) by July end or mid-August.

I am extremely positive about getting my car Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire (Vxi model, Azure Grey color) in a perfect condition by July end. Amen!