[StableRide]

My experience of (almost) booking a car via AckoDrive

Recently I was in the market for buying my first car. We have 2 cars in the family, but none owned by me.

1. Car selection, showroom visits

I will admit that my selection process was not as thorough as people who post on "What car" threads here. It was mainly based on emotions and a basic sanity check based on car sales figures. I had shortlisted Creta, Venue and Nexon (automatic transmission in all). Creta went above my budget, Venue felt a little congested at the back. I decided to take a gamble (!) with Nexon, based on the good reviews on TBHP, YouTube and a few acquaintances.

Only question then was, which variant to take. My wife wanted a car with sunroof, but after she saw the small sunroof in Nexon she was disappointed. More like a sun window! I wanted to splurge on iRA connectivity (always want to track everything!), TPMS and those options did not come without sunroof. So finally we settled on the top variant XZA+O (P).

Two showrooms I visited, both being branches of KHT Motors. KHT Domlur salesperson was so unenthusiastic about selling the car, I wonder how they will sell any new car which is not popular. She did not have answers to some of my basic questions, neither did she demo the features in the car in a good manner. It was as if she was reading out from a book, instead of showing what a particular feature meant.

Pricing as per printed paper was Rs. 11,74,900 ex-showroom, roadtax being 18.7% of ex-showroom (including cess, and cess on cess!), 64k for comprehensive insurance, 2600 for reg., 600 for fastag i.e. Rs. 14,58,806 for necessary things + 16k for accessories (mud flaps, mats, seat cover and a few other things).

2. Negotiation tactics

Since I had finalised the variant, next important step was negotiating the price. I am an analytical negotiator, I can only negotiate based on some facts and comparative numbers at hand. I searched a lot on TBHP for how to negotiate the price (this thread was very good (Are you good at negotiating? How much did you bargain off your new / used car?)). After reading that thread, I was sure of getting 40-50k thousand discount overall!


As per the method recommended by most people in that thread, I visited another showroom (KHT Whitefield). The salesperson and his manager were both enthusiastic about selling the car (which I liked), but were not giving any discount on it. I could have gotten a measly Rs. 3000 corporate discount, but that would have meant I (primary driver), would not be covered with Owner-Driver PA insurance. I told them I will come back later.

3. Ackodrive option, description of agent provided information

Since the dealer was not giving any discount, I searched online if I can get some discount/offer from somewhere. This is where I learnt about AckoDrive. There are not many posts on TBHP about it. I saw that they were offering AckoDrive discount of Rs. 44,752 and additional January month offer discount of Rs. 5,000. I was very happy! Now I don't have to negotiate at all, I was going to buy my car, without having to split hairs on price negotiations.

I had 5-6 calls with AckoDrive agent. The reason we needed that many calls was because their call center network is very poor. Always dropping voice, either the agent is not able to hear me or I'm not able to hear him. Frustrated by this, I asked the agent to send me the quote by email. Any further questions I got clarified on the email itself. The email from which he contacted me was his_name@acko.tech

Based on what he told me -

A. First, I need to pay their booking amount (Rs. 11,000).

B. Then the agent will search for a Bangalore dealership for me. According to him, once the booking is done dealership will be assigned in max 24 to 48 hours .

C. Then I have to go to the dealership, can do test drive, fill the booking form.

D. If I don't like the dealership, I can cancel my booking. Booking amount will be 100% refundable. I have to email to hello@ackdrive.com for the cancellation process. Usually if we have to cancel booking, dealers charge 3-4k, so it's nice that they provide 100% refund option.

E. Any additional accessories are not included in their quotation. For them, I have to deal with the dealership only.

F. If I get a cheaper quotation on car, they will match it.


So far so good, what is the catch then?

4. The devil in the details

I searched online for genuine AckoDrive reviews. Didn't find TBHP very useful here, as I only found 1 person here who booked via them. I found 2 people on another online forum, and a few genuine reviews on AckoDrive Facebook page. They all said that the ONLY DISCOUNT we get is from the insurance amount. Neither the Ex-Showroom price is discounted nor is there any dealer cash discount. One person complained about losing Rs. 5000 discount because the AckoDriver agent did not clarify to him who will give discount (the dealer raised their hand saying speak with Acko for any discount, don't come to me). Another person said that they don't provide any assistance/information for long wait times (which is fine I think, as they don't have any control on that). There were some people who had good experience with them as well.

Somehow for me, the numbers did not add up. How are they able to give me Rs. 47,752 discount purely based on insurance discount? Even the insurance doesn't cost that much, are they giving me insurance for free?

AckoDrive_quotation_NEXON_XZA-plus-O_Petrol_Jan22

My observations:

P. Both regular dealers and AckoDrive use the cushion of inflated insurance price. While the dealer quoted initial insurance to me at Rs. 64k, AckoDrive quoted insurance at Rs. 66,895k ! When the baseline prices themself are so inflated, it is easy to offer "huge discounts".

Q. As clarified by their agent to me, even within the quoted insurance of Rs.66k, they only provide 1 Yr OD, 3 Yr TP, consumables, Zero Dep, PA and passenger cover. For any more insurance add-ons e.g. Return to Invoice, Engine Protect, RSA I need to pay extra (apart from their total quotation value).

R. For comparison purpose, I took an insurance quotation from Acko website itself, which turned out to be Rs. 24,492 (including GST).

Acko_separate_car_insurance_quotation

So, it is but logical that they would be able to provide me Rs. 66,895 (their own inflated insurance quotation) minus Rs. 24,492 = Rs.
42,403 "hypothetical" discount on car. In reality, if we get quotations from other insurance providers (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...mpany-why.html (The 2020 thread: Your preferred car insurance company & why)), it is only Rs. 6k - 10k difference. I got quotes from RoyalSundaram and TATA AIG for 28k and 30k respectively.

5. Discrepancy in Final Price of car

I am attaching below a screenshot of full quotation from AckoDrive website -

AckoDrive Final Price Quotation from their website

If you add the prices, they do not match with what they write at the bottom.

For example, in the left side image Rs. 14,77,547 minus Rs. 5000 minus Rs. 44,752 = Rs. 14,27,795 (instead of what they mention i.e. Rs. 14,06,295.)

This is quite disingenuous on the part of AckoDrive. People generally don't cross-check the final price in quotation. We assume that the numbers are added correctly. Therefore, when we compare the Dealer quotation (Rs. 14,58,806) and AckoDrive final price quotation (Rs. 14,06,295), we feel that we are getting a huge discount with Acko. In fact, in one of the online reviews, one person complained that the Final Price increased after he clicked on "Book Now" button. (find that review here).

6. Final decision

I decided to NOT go with AckoDrive for the following reasons -

1. Uncertainty in dealer assignment

2. Headache of cancelling booking if I don't like the dealer

3. Real discount (compared to other insurers) of only upto 10k max

4. Not being able to negotiate insurance terms once booking is done.

5. Deceitful practice of showing lower Final Price on their website. I have complained to their customer care to fix this issue on their website.

---

PS. Finally, I booked the car with KHT Whitefield. To my surprize they did not push me to take dealer insurance. They told me I can take insurance from anywhere I want.

PPS. Please consider answering my questions about Tata AMC plans (Tata Motors Annual-Maintenance-Contract: Reviews?) and clarification about paid driver PA insurance (Help demystify 'PA Cover' in my car insurance policy). Thank you.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Rocketscience]

This started out well and turned out to be a cruel joke, it reminded me of an instance from 17 years ago though, the Swift was newly launched and we wanted one but the wait periods were anywhere between 3 months to 6 months (depending on dealerships and their quotas), my dad knew an agent from a finance company who would get you the car, handle all the formalities and also get you the loan, they had connections with many dealers in NCR, my dad called him on Monday, we drove the car home on wednesday in the variant and colour of our choice, the loan interest rates and everything was at par with dealership quotation too, the loan and all paperwork was finalised after a day or two of the delivery of the car too.
Was such a great experience and we became the owners of the first batch of Swift and even got a plank from Maruti saying the same, the attention we got for the car everywhere was staggering, I was a 12 year old kid at that point and loved every minute of it.

[Tgo]

Acko has never been able to convince me to buy even their insurance packages. I was never provided a list of “approved garages” that they so proudly mention.

Buying a car through them seems like a bigger gamble.

[Deep Blue]

I look at it this way.
If I want to buy a product, I will go to the point of sale and buy the product.
If more people get involved between me and the point of sale in the buying process, not only is the cost going to be more,but also the process gets more complex.
So, if the help of domain expert is not required to buy a product, it is better to buy it directly without involvement of any more middlemen.

[funkykar]

You have done very good research and analyzed it well. This is quite an eye-opener. Hope the masses don't blindly fall for it. Most people search for team-bhp for reviews like we do on IMDB for movies. This thread will surely help lot of them!

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by Deep Blue

I look at it this way.
If I want to buy a product, I will go to the point of sale and buy the product.
If more people get involved between me and the point of sale in the buying process, not only is the cost going to be more

Not always. A case in point is the online portals. Oftentimes, we get a better deal online or compared to the company store. This is because the middleman is able to get better pricing due to higher volumes. But clearly, it doesn't seem to be the case with Acko.

[Delta]

Originally Posted by StableRide

5. Discrepancy in Final Price of car

..
If you add the prices, they do not match with what they write at the bottom.

For example, in the left side image Rs. 14,77,547 minus Rs. 5000 minus Rs. 44,752 = Rs. 14,27,795 (instead of what they mention i.e. Rs. 14,06,295.)

But you have selected extended warranty on one quote which makes up the balance 21K

[StableRide]

Originally Posted by Delta

But you have selected extended warranty on one quote which makes up the balance 21K

@Delta, please note that I have added two separate quotation images in that single screenshot.

In the left side, i have not selected "extended warranty", in the right side I have selected "extended warranty".

In both quotations, the FINAL PRICES (at the bottom) are incorrect.

[psbali]

I got my seltos after booking via Acko Drive. I got a discount of around 16000 on seltos htk+ petrol.

I didnt have to pay acko drive anything. My booking amount of 25000 was directly sent to the dealer's account. The only thing is that I had to buy insurance from acko. The dealer was charging 45 to 46k insurance and i effectively paid around 28k for acko insurance.

I observed that even online quotes of insurance companies were inflated the moment I used to select new KIA seltos on policybazaar. All the good insurance companies like Bajaj, Tata Aig and the likes had inflated quotes. Even go digit was around 45k.

Since acko insurance had decent reviews on teambhp at the time of purchase I went with acko insurance and scored a cool 16000 discount. Actual amount paid was 38000 and acko gave a 10k rebate to the dealer which was deducted from my final amount and returned to me bringing the effective price to 28k.

All the above said I wouldn't route the booking amount through acko. I didnt have anything to lose at that time so I made the booking through them. Their policy must have changed now.

[@Debanshu_B]

Unfortunately, Insurance is the most ignored and underrated subject when buying a new car as the discounts are packaged and it is easy to be disguised under the garb of a customary discount.
It is recommended to compare min. 3 different insurance and refer to the following checklist

1. Right model name and make mentioned in the quote.
2. Right IDV value mentioned.
3. Third-party coverage
4. Zero depreciation for consumables and parts.
5. Engine and engine parts coverage
6. Tyre protection ( Check clauses properly)
7. RTI ( Return to Invoice) coverage.
8. Key replacement coverage
9. Loss of personal belongings (In case of any mishap/ accident)
10. Hotel stay coverage (In case of any mishap/ accident)
11. RSA (This is also provided by ASC)
12. PA coverage (if any)

[Herschey]

Originally Posted by @Debanshu_B

Unfortunately, Insurance is the most ignored and underrated subject when buying a new car as the discounts are packaged and it is easy to be disguised under the garb of a customary discount.
It is recommended to compare min. 3 different insurance and refer to the following checklist

1. Right model name and make mentioned in the quote.
2. Right IDV value mentioned.
3. Third-party coverage
4. Zero depreciation for consumables and parts.
5. Engine and engine parts coverage
6. Tyre protection ( Check clauses properly)
7. RTI ( Return to Invoice) coverage.
8. Key replacement coverage
9. Loss of personal belongings (In case of any mishap/ accident)
10. Hotel stay coverage (In case of any mishap/ accident)
11. RSA (This is also provided by ASC)
12. PA coverage (if any)

Just to add to @Debanshu_B's list, another important element to pay attention to while finalising the policy is the 'Compulsory Deductible' amount.

[Dry Ice]

I don’t understand their business model. How can they offer more discount than the dealer? Unless ofcourse they are out to burn some cash from their pocket.

Like you rightly pointed out, the only thing really in their control is insurance. Which also happens to be their core business.

So this looks like a thin wrapper over their insurance business to attract more customers or specifically new car buyers. The returns are definitely higher than what they get by insuring a 10 yr old car. Some data scientists must have crunched the numbers to say we need to lower the avg age of the cars we insure to improve the profit margins.

[swageo]

Acodrive website says their business model is bulk purchase and hence better price...

[debasish_dash88]

Sharing my recent experience with AckoDrive:

I was looking for a small automatic car (Santro, Ignis, WagonR category) within 2 weeks. I had reached out AckoDrive and local dealerships too. Finally after a week's search I was able to get a santro with a very good deal as it was going out of production.
On the day I was going to make the payment, Ackodrive guy calls me and says he has a swift for immediate delivery silver color.

I thought lets invest a lac more and will add features later after to the car.
I made the payment of 11000/- for booking and I was assured I will get the dealership details next day.

Next day afternoon I got a call from dealer and he said, car is in transit but we have white only. I said I can do Silver or Grey, but they refused.
Then I got the shock, dealer asked me to pay full amount upfront for delivery.
I said, as per AckoDrive's T&C, i will make payment after PDI, but dealer refused.
I then contacted Acko drive and told them the issue. they said they will discuss with dealership. Meanwhile I was losing out on the santro offer as people were ready to buy it immediately.
After 2 days dealer was still asking me for money, so I told ackoDrive that I will try their service next time. For the time, I am going with Santro through local dealership.
Its been more than a 1.5 Weeks, and I am yet to get a refund of that booking amount.
The issues I faced with Acko :
1. They don't have updated stock inventory, so if sales team says anything about delivery, take it with a pinch of salt.
2. Once sales team takes the booking, you cannot reach the same person, a new person will be assigned to you and you would have to do lot of follow-ups
3. They have just 1 email id to reply to and its generic. So getting a reply will take days.
4. Same goes for their Contact number. You would talk to a new person every time you call and explain them the whole story again.
5. I had asked them to give the insurance breakup but they said, they cannot provide before booking amount is paid.

I liked the convenience, but after experiencing it, i would say, talk to dealership directly. You would get a similar deal(if you factor in the discounted insurance). Awaiting my refund, fingers crossed.

Thanks
DD