The Curious Case of Chevrolet Beat (BLACK)

Finally, I am taking the plunge and going ahead with Chevy Beat PS, Black very very soon. I hope this post is a summation of on ground learning & Team – Bhp posts. Hope it helps new buyers in future J At the outset, I would like to Thank Team-bhp topics and fellow members like Devarshi, Thedreamcatcher, mi2n & Salbin Initial Consideration set (Oct’11 Last week) - it all started with buying my first small car and extremely limited budget. 1-Hyundai Eon – 3cylinder expensive than 4cylinders available + cheap plastic quality. This happened in Chandigarh 2- Santro Xing - Saw the golden colour at the dealership & had to put on my shades on. Too much bling + the dealer was quite cocky & plain stern when it came to discounts & schemes. He basically shrugged it off saying there is a waiting list already. This happened in Ambala 3- Nano – Cute, Nice & all but somehow I was not convinced if I have to travel 350 kms to Punjab & back, which I do once every month. This happened in Delhi 4-Spark – Much relief after checking the above 3 & 50 K Discount + 3 year scheme made me say – “I want this”. But while the Sales guy was explaining everything and throwing in free accessories I kept staring at a BLACK BEAT in a darker corner of the showroom. I felt a little black monster stealthily hiding and watching me over. I know it’s a bit dramatic there but I fell in love with that black machine Next Step – Go back to my inbox and find my Team-Bhp password. I know I was an auto enthusiast in my younger days. But it is coming back ;). It is. Due Diligence (Nov 1st week) - Visiting Dealers To cut the story short, I aggressively started frequenting dealerships. 8 in all in no particular order 1. Oberoi Ambala – Best deal, Loads of accessories, Registration cheaper by 8k in Haryana than in Delhi 2. Gallops (Ahmedabad) – Went there for cousin’s wedding so why not! Most expensive – Satirically Beat is made in Gujarat. 55K more expensive 3. Metro Vasant Kunj (Delhi) – A lady pulls out a printout and tells me it will cost you 3.93L + 20 K discount. Gives her card and tells me call me if you want to go ahead, before I can continue anything further she was called by her boss 7 did not come for a while. Sayonara 4. Auto Vikas (Delhi) – Nice bunch of people. Really involving and ready to stretch and leave room for negotiation and additional accessories. 5. Regent Mathura Road (Delhi) – Again, nice lot but something was missing coz by now I had known all the schemes, yearend discounts, price of accessories like front power windows, Remote Central locking etc which I always wanted 6. Triumph CP (Delhi) – Warm elderly Sardarji guy came to receive me; since I got lost in CP @ 7PM (I am not from North India). Patiently listened to me & my problems like proof of address. He offered me Teflon coating package but the quote he offered me was not competitive 7. Metro Bikaji Cama (Delhi) – Honest Guy. Gave a major discount upfront without me digging in but I had to negotiate hard on 4 things that can make my PS to LS - 2X front Power Windows, Remote Key less Central Locking , Antennae, LHS Rear View Mirror. I can live without chrome on my grill. He has shown enough flexibility and I may go ahead with him. Best quote so far. Key things I Learnt(Nov 4th Week) 1 – Coincidently, the trigger to buy a car happened towards year end which is actually a good time to buy a car. In Oct – Nov there was a discount of 21K excluding corporate discount. Towards the end of Nov it rose to 25 K. by Dec 1st week you can negotiate till upto 5k more + freebies. Also, note they have SALES TARGET. Nobody ain’t buying that stuff in next 30 days 2– I went through various checklists available on Team BHP and I asked for VIN & Form 22 while I was giving them the booking amount. I find out the car was 8 months old (April). I throw a tantrum and they promised me an Oct one dispatched from Gujrat. Still awaiting on my VIN 3 – I was in love with black Beat and then I find it is a blessing in disguise. The base model does not have a chrome around grill but a black panel (can live without it ), no B & C panels in body colour , no door handles in body colour, interiors is also in one colour – which is BLACK. Good for me 4 – Atleast 2 - 3 Dealers / sales guy above in Delhi inter communicate among themselves. I also found out couple of sales guys were working in one or the other dealership earlier on. I found it when I started getting calls back to back in a span of 5 minutes & they would stress on giving the booking amount right away. It’s a feeling 5 – Transparency – I learnt people skills, how to negotiate (I am into sales myself ;), balance between being fair & street wise, Since I had learnt that they would always disclose 3 – 4 K less than the discounted price shown in newspaper to leave room for negotiation. This is very subjective. Next up 1. Finance – SBI Vs ICICI & Why? 2. Alloys ( CARBON Black) 3. ICE (JBL HU , Rockford Fosgate , Silicon ) 4. Tint (BLACK) Will share more on that, as of now I am really stressed out on giving the token amount and go ahead I would like to know what you guys feel and if at all there is any room to be safer, smarter or better

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