Is the average Indian car buyer too tolerant? Our entire forums is littered with posts talking about complains. some big, some small. However there is a trend in the posts. It goes like this.
"Yup my car has run 1000kms without any problem. There is just a slight rattle from the door. All in all a great experience." So here we have a gentleman, whose brand new car's door rattles, but he calls it good experience.
"Then there are some other posts like. Well there are few niggles, there are a few part failures, but when you buy brand XXX, you got to live with it. After all these are small thing compared to the wonderful power and handling." Ok wait a minute. Somebody spends their years salary on a car, and he should not complain because it handles well?
And then there are posts which really take the cake. "Well my car is doing really well. Its very very reliable. I don't know why people say the reliability is below average. Look at me I have had minor problems. AC failure around 1000kms, Some clutch failure at 7000kms, some ECU issues around 10000, but all sorted under warranty. I have broken down just twice in these 10000kms and the service people always rescue me. I am very happy with my very reliable daily driver"
Now all these are not actual posts. Just some summaries.
Here we have people who visit the service center every month to get their new car fixed, and yet say the car is very nice.
Moreover it appears that by selling the car to you the manufacturer has bestowed a favor on you, rather than the other way round.
When a service van comes in 1 hour, people write "how wonderful experience it was". Well whats so wonderful about breaking down. I remember seeing a Hyundai advert, part of their "Think" Campain.
The tagline went like this
"Think... When a car company offers breakdown service, aren't they really helping themselves"
Somehow on the board, many people have forgotten, that by selling a car, nobody is doing you a favor. Just by owning a tank/beast/pari/angel/bull, its not that some kind of honour or power or blessing has been bestowed upon you. You are doing the favor to the company by buying their car.
How is it okay for a 1000kms car to rattle. How can a vehicle which as clutch issues at 7000kms be termed reliable and good quality.
You buy a 5 lakh car to go on and on, on your daily commutes. Whether it handles well on the race track, why do you even care. How many of you have ever even stood on a race track, or watched a track race in person. Yet somehow the being quicker to 100kmph by 1 second is more important than reaching the destination??
So the question I am asking here is, is the average Indian consumer too tolerant, and is willing to accept poor quality after sale service/poor product quality/lousy service? does the average buyer think that just because the door does not fall of if I close it too hard its a great car, or just because the seats and suspension is very comfortable, its okay to have poor electronics? Or just because the car is "great handler/Built like a tank/looks like a beast/fastest 0-100 in its class", it makes it a great car irrespective of the lousy service that is bestowed at service stations? |