Story starts here
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-...uld-i-buy.html (New or used car for 25 lakhs | Which one should I buy?)
It's increasingly becoming apparent that we will likely not meet the head-heart sweet spot in the original budget aspiration of 20-25L. We are realigning our head to this.
We have also opened up to the idea of a sedan, and not necessarily a crossover/SUV.
Although Toyota dealers (at least up north here) are notorious for not keeping test drive vehicles and are selling the cars on the basis of the brochure photos of Fortuner, we managed to get a TD of a 4x4 AT at a dealer (pure chance, we went for TD of a manual just to experience the interiors of the car, but it ended up being an AT so did the whole nine yards - interior experience + engine workout).
- The car's performance is greatly improved.
- The NVH levels are controlled.
- Acceleration and torque delivery are very good.
- The ride quality is improved but not to a level that would make someone coming from a monocoque cross-over/sedan world want to spend a whole lot of time behind the wheel. The ride's still busy.
- People/other road warriors continue to make way for the beast.
It's funny with Toyota. Most car sales are driven by an excellent pre-sales experience and a doubtful after-sales-and-service experience.
With Toyota, you quickly want to forget their sales experience. Cocky/arrogant sales advisors who think they are doing you a huge favor by speaking with you. They want to know what you do for a living, what you drive, where you live to determine if it's even worth talking to you about Fortuner.
We visited two Toyota dealers and one of them (initially) said buying car insurance and extended warranty from the dealer is an imperative for the booking and it comes as a 'package'.
During a subsequent conversation, when I stood my ground on bringing outside insurance, the sales advisor said if you don't buy insurance + extended warranty + accessories worth 1 lac from us then the wait time is 3 months. If you buy the said items from us, we can slot in your car from a 'display vehicle' delivery which could happen within a month.
Talk of shady dealings.
While all of this was happening, saw a full front-page ad of Skoda Octavia on a national daily.
Skoda hasn't been in our consideration with the Skoda experiences we've had in the family with Laura from 10-15 years ago.
But, it piqued the interest and ruffled through TBHP threads. Over-priced, missing the sunroof and low ground clearance were the takeaways. On the over-priced front, there were also references to Superb-territory pricing.
Needless to say, scanning the TBHP threads on Superb was the organic next step.
While reading 50-odd paginated discussions on the 2020 and face-lifted 2021 Superb, discovered that @GTO got a bargain deal on a Superb earlier this year, on the 2020 inventory.
GTO's vote of confidence is good enough in this world for the rest of us to at least pursue & evaluate that direction. I also read some folks were unahappy that GTO's thread diluted the discount value for subsequent buyers by a couple of lacs :-)
We took a TD of the new 2021 Superb, and wifey & I came back impressed with the hard product. The Pre-Sales experience was also very good. The only thing I would criticize about my Sales Advisor is that he tried to trick me on the fuel efficiency numbers. On the console, it said 11.1 l / 100 Km and he told me - look, it has a FE of 11.1 Kmpl. On correcting him that it's not to be read as Kmpl but as 100km/11.1 l ~ 9 Kmpl, he flushed and obediently changed the reading metric on the console (through a setting) to Kmpl instead of l/100 Km. Car salespeople will not change. Huh!
Skoda Superb is now a serious contender with the revised budget.
They are offering 2.0 lacs discount on Sportline and 2.xx on L&K.
All Skoda dealerships in Union Territory of Chandigarh and State of Punjab are owned by the same dealer, so not much of a comparison or haggling possible. I might try Haryana or Himachal to see what’s possible there.
What do fellow BHPians think of Superb 2021 as a product? And, Sportline vs L&K?
What else would folks recommend in this price bracket?
For Camry - the situation in Chandigarh is such that nearly all Toyota cars are sold on pictures alone - no TD possible. Got lucky with the Fortuner. Sad state of affairs with Toyota dealers.
Without a TD, not sure I’d plonk a huge sum on a Camry regardless of perception or pedigree.