[manpreetsj]

Internal communication on car allocation, as shared by SA right now:

"Basis inputs from you all, we propose to allow variant color changes of Astor bookings in dms till 12 noon Monday. We will prepare the final allocations on Monday with data uptill 12noon 25th Oct 2021."


Let's check with our respective SAs by EOD on allocation status. It may take 1-2 days I guess to get clarity.

My guess - Those who are getting a response of Jan/Feb delivery could be a strategy of MG to see how many bookings can be comfortably pushed to next batch. Hence, making it easier to meet demand of those customers who they fear may cancel if delivery is delayed.

[nasir88]

Originally Posted by Gotcha

First video of Astor Style base variant - wheel caps and tail lamps are quite dull! Can they be changed?

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=ZPKppvyu9TI

Everything can be changed...just a matter of money

Tail lights are a easy coupler to coupler swap. Although they are same as the ZS ev which looks fine in person.

[Gotcha]

Originally Posted by neeraj0272

Although we liked MG Astor and even Hyundai Creta but I didn't like the idea that for a 20L rupees product we have to chase these car companies and that MG has the guts to conduct a lottery and that car buyers are willing to participate in this game of roulette!
So we bought a ready to deliver Honda city and that too at a discount.
Sorry to say that I do not sympathise with those who book cars with long delivery times and then cry about their delivery getting postponed.
Also the way MG kept delaying the announcement of prices and hence actual booking was in itself a sign of things to come.
However I will say that second lot of MG Astor will be more readily available as till then initial euphoria would have died down.

Thanks for this eye opener. The most sad part is MG didn't even offer the base MT variant for test drives before booking and we bought into the hype. Also, they haven't officially released specifications such as ground clearance, boot space and fuel economy yet. The overall lack of transparency is really shady and seems to be part of their strategy!

[neeraj0272]

Originally Posted by Col Mehta

You are absolutely right, dear. I think we all are naive to have booked Astors/Cretas et al when a world class product with amazing build quality and features, with so much fun to drive CVT, setting sales charts on fire, is readily available that too on discounts, good lord! I really do not know how I missed it. My bad.

I didn't think that 'setting sales charts on fire' or not is such an influencing parameter for Team-BHP members! Thing is I am 'driving my new car' within 'one week' of finalizing my decision. I will pay a premium for immediate gratification instead of hoping for delayed and hence uncertain gratification.

CVT was my conscious choice over DCT. In fact we rejected DCT & Turbos keeping in view our own requirements. Even Hyundai,MG & Kia are offering NA engines & cvt variants and many customers are buying these variants. In fact Creta DCT Turbo was offered to us at 15 days delivery but we refused as we didn't want DCT & turbo. Astor is a completely unknown quantity right now so I won't get too cocky upon it. Already people have started disliking it's base variant!

Creta is a proven product but it's wait time has induced a certain arrogance in its dealers and also in Kia which any self-respecting buyer spending his hard-earned money shouldn't tolerate. Its not like they are providing extra-ordinary vfm. We were told TD of the variants we wanted was not possible in whole of Delhi except for one dealer maybe and wait time of 5-6 months. Since then these wait times have only increased as fellow members have been complaining in their posts. Honda dealers as well as Skoda dealers have learnt their lesson and they are more than willing to sell you their cars. Both the dealers were ready for multiple TDs and Honda guy traveled 25km in Delhi traffic to bring TD car at my office.

Honda city is indeed a world class product. Any car especially made in India can have questionable build quality no doubt about that. It's true for Honda cars as well as Hyundai, Skoda or MG or any other manufacturer.
Currently sedans are selling at discount due to consumer preference of SUV and not because there are any shortcomings in sedans. I respect the value of fashion and the current "in-thing" such as SUVs and Astors and i am not against 'hip' things but I don't want unnecessarily to be at the mercy of car dealers and manufacturers and I don't have the energy to argue and hassle with them over delivery and then accept their terms of color or variants so that I can lay my hands on a new car.

[manpreetsj]

Originally Posted by nasir88

Everything can be changed...just a matter of money

Tail lights are a easy coupler to coupler swap. Although they are same as the ZS ev which looks fine in person.

Definitely recommended, if possible. I just love the way it looks, the kind of depth it has with that row of square blocks design. In my confusion between Hector vs Astor, Astor's tail lamp has its own value!

[K.grg]

Originally Posted by Col Mehta

Thank you for comments, dear.

We had booked the turbo Savvy variant. So not sure basis what they deprioritized/downplayed our booking.

Please have your SA give you the booking status in writing. That's one thing I feel we should have done on the day of booking.

Good luck!

I happened to get through their online booking on 21st before 11.20 am and got the confirmation from MG. Also, the SA of the showroom (as I had selected this particular showroom) had shared the booking form which was sent by MG to the showroom. Actually the series no for 2021 deliveries should start from 0110*****, this was informed me by my SA. In fact most of the showroom guys couldn't complete all the booking forms, which they had with them and had to make the second set of offline booking post 11.20 am on 21st, which naturally pushes the deliveries to 2022. For example, my SA told me that out of 800 odd applications, they could only punch in around 30-40 before 11.20 am (which is for 2021 deliveries). Rest they had to make offline bookings which, naturally, would be scheduled for deliveries in 2022. They have shared all their booking details, irrespective of 2021 or 2022 deliveries to their clients. If your SA is informing you that your delivery is in 2022, it is due to the fact that your SA couldn't book it in the first batch.

MG hasn't till now finalized the allocation of 2021 or 2022 deliveries. But only the first 5000 bookings would be delivered in 2021 (which all of us anyway know). MG will release the allotments today noon, which would be communicated to buyers and their respective showrooms.

Originally Posted by manpreetsj

Internal communication on car allocation, as shared by SA right now:

"Basis inputs from you all, we propose to allow variant color changes of Astor bookings in dms till 12 noon Monday. We will prepare the final allocations on Monday with data uptill 12noon 25th Oct 2021."


Let's check with our respective SAs by EOD on allocation status. It may take 1-2 days I guess to get clarity.

My guess - Those who are getting a response of Jan/Feb delivery could be a strategy of MG to see how many bookings can be comfortably pushed to next batch. Hence, making it easier to meet demand of those customers who they fear may cancel if delivery is delayed.

As per my source, if the buyer changes his preference (either variant or color), the priority would naturally go down and will get to the end of the list. His strong advise was not to fall for this change, as it appears to be a strategy to change the booking queue.

[Col Mehta]

Originally Posted by neeraj0272

I respect the value of fashion and the current "in-thing" such as SUVs and Astors and i am not against 'hip' things but I don't want unnecessarily to be at the mercy of car dealers and manufacturers and I don't have the energy to argue and hassle with them over delivery and then accept their terms of color or variants so that I can lay my hands on a new car.

I'm glad you got your car within one week and I'm equally happy that you like your new Honda City and went for it instead of waiting for other cars. Your personal choice/preference, I respect that and won't judge you.

But I would never touch new City. Honda City, once, was a pinnacle of quality.The current generation is nothing but just a shadow of it. We hate that car. We hate the cheap plastics and build quality of it. We hated that CVT on that car. Took forever to gain speed. I don't think I can live with such poor quality product after spending my hard earned money. We could also get it delivered within a week but did we like it - HELL NO. Personal choice/preference right? And a calculated decision was taken to book a car which connects - Creta IVT which drives much better than other CVTs, Astor for the best in class interiors, good turbo engine etc (didn't like it's CVT), even if it takes time to deliver, though the current trend of booking and waiting is pathetic to say the least. And if something goes wrong in that process is absolutely out of your scope.

All I'm saying is, everyone makes choices in their lives basis their capacity and circumstances. Please don't disrespect it if you can't emphasize.

This conversation is going off topic. Let's have other dear members discuss Astor.

Good day!

[ridehard]

So was my SA was lying then?
I did the order around 11.40am on the website, my SA was very confident in stating that the order is confirm for December end.
Even when I said I would be happier with a 2022 handover (with price lock), he said that might not happen, and would definitely be delivered by Dec end.

Hoping the website would get updated with details today..

[maverick88]

Originally Posted by neeraj0272

So we bought a ready to deliver Honda city and that too at a discount.

Can you share the variant you bought, the discount you received and the final on-road price?

[Gotcha]

Just got a call from the sales team at MG that they will not be manufacturing the base Style variant and I will have to opt for the Super or higher variant by paying more!

[immortalmechano]

Originally Posted by ridehard

So was my SA was lying then?
I did the order around 11.40am on the website, my SA was very confident in stating that the order is confirm for December end.
Even when I said I would be happier with a 2022 handover (with price lock), he said that might not happen, and would definitely be delivered by Dec end.

Hoping the website would get updated with details today..

Yeah, my SA just told me that MG has given some time for variant and colour changes today. He said based on that and the changes they will be able to see allotments for delivery. I'm not sure but though he has told me 2022, he hasn't confirmed. Looks like he is seeing some cancellations or changes in colour/variants which could help push some bookings up like mine. I've booked the Turbo Sharp(O) in Glaze Red. Anyway, fingers crossed.

I saw the same thing happen for my Grand i10 booking 8 years ago so I'm not surprised by how it goes for in demand models. Back then there was an Airbag shortage and he kept pushing me to pickup a dirty white instead of the Twilight Blue I wanted for my top spec Asta(O). I persevered by waiting 3 more weeks.

[Sidban85]

So my dealer in Bangalore mentioned that my booking SE031022xx will be alloted in December 2021 with delivery in January 2021.

I had booked directly with dealer, which may have been a mistake in hindsight.

Need to evaluate if I should cancel the booking and go for alternatives.

Meanwhile, mail and call to MG Pulse was not helpful: they just redirected me to the dealer.

[ridehard]

Originally Posted by Gotcha

Just got a call from the sales team at MG that they will not be manufacturing the base Style variant and I will have to opt for the Super or higher variant by paying more!

The what!? Then I guess it will be a, "No thanks MG, good luck with the Astor" from me, if I receive a call

[Naman_Ferrari]

I have an Astor booked in the first lot but it's coming upto almost 22L OTR Bangalore so wondering if we should consider getting a Jeep Compass instead (if we get a good discount on one).

My question is - has anyone here directly compared both cars? do we think the Jeep's price premium is justified over the likes of the Astor?

Super confused right now, so will appreciate any and all of your thoughts!

[Sidban85]

Originally Posted by Naman_Ferrari

I have an Astor booked in the first lot but it's coming upto almost 22L OTR Bangalore so wondering if we should consider getting a Jeep Compass instead (if we get a good discount on one).

My question is - has anyone here directly compared both cars? do we think the Jeep's price premium is justified over the likes of the Astor?

Super confused right now, so will appreciate any and all of your thoughts!

In same boat now in Bangalore. But not seeing any discounts on Jeep.

Also thinking if I should wait for BH series to be implemented by Karnataka as I am eligible due to company having multiple state offices.