I just love cars and whenever I am in a new city I always try to visit its luxury car dealerships. Just to simply click pictures of the cars and collect their brochures. So like that I have visited many car dealerships till date. Be it an economic car dealership or an high-end luxury car dealership.
I heard lots of mixed reviews from people visiting the luxury car dealerships and not getting the proper attention. That’s the reason many people don’t feel confident visiting these dealerships. Manager giving you the looks when you say this car is very costly and things like that. To give it a break I visit all the luxury car dealerships to find out who is the best for you.
I frequently visit New Delhi and never forget to check out the vast range of luxurious car dealerships this city has. It’s the capital of India and that’s the reason some top car companies have only one dealership in India which is at Delhi. I visited exclusive dealerships like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, Porsche, Jaguar Land Rover, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and the many more.
The experience at some dealerships has been worse, whereas at some dealerships it’s a memory. I always dress up in casual like a regular boy of any city, grab an auto rickshaw and visit these dealerships. So I will tell you some good and bad experience in Delhi before telling you the best experience ever:
- At Ferrari dealership: Lovely cute staff. I stepped out from an auto rickshaw, as tried to open the gate, guard came running while shouting, “Sorry sir not allowed”, I always say shut up and enter inside. Then a gorgeous lady come towards me and show me the Ferraris, she is very humble and even takes me to the Ferrari waiting area, where she shows me some great books on Ferrari ever written. And when I take out my camera, she said, “Sorry sir, taking pictures of car at dealership is not allowed.” I never like this answer but then you are at someone’s property.
- At Lamborghini dealership: Crazy people. I entered inside while giving no consideration to the annoying guard. But here he entered behind me and said to the manager in front of me that, “I told this guy not to enter inside but still he has”. I asked the manager why is this shit, he says, “Sir actually you have to take appointment to enter our dealership”. At that point of time I wish I can throw some good amount of cash on his face and break all his cars. Anyways, as I took out my camera and he said, “Sir, please no pictures at all”. Crazy! He treated me with a little pain in his head.
- At Rolls-Royce dealership: Very lenient. The manager came towards me and told me this is Ghost and Phantom model. He allowed me take pictures in any way I want. He stayed with me all the time and kept telling about the specification of Rolls-Royce cars. Such soft spoken and ready to assist people!
- At Aston Martin dealership: Nothing is here. No cars, no guard, no manager at this dealership. There was on Aston covered outside the dealership on which a guy said please don’t uncover it. Mysterious dealership.
- At Jaguar Land Rover south: You are free. I asked the reception to take pictures. The lady said, “Sir please go ahead. There are more cars at the back at service centre, please visit that too.” I clicked all the cars from inside out, took as many brochures I want. These JLR guys are chill. Do whatever you want!
- At BMW south Delhi: Sorry sir. I entered, manager comes to me, and I asked that I wanted to take pictures of these beautiful cars. He said, “Sorry sir, it’s not in our policy. You can take pictures from outside”. I was like yeah right! I asked for brochures, he gave me some local printed papers of BMW 3 series, I said please use this to help yourself!
- At Audi south Delhi: You are free. I asked at the reception to take car pictures. The girl said, “Sir please go ahead”. I clicked lots of pictures. All cars are opened, you can even sit inside and do whatever you want, no one will ask even! I sat inside the Audi R8 for a long time, no one even looked at me. When I took lots of car brochures, the Audi guy looked at me, scratched his head and went off.
- At Mercedes-Benz south: Not interested. As soon as they realize that you are not able to buy a Mercedes, they will bridge a gap from you and won’t show you any kind of interest. You have to ask twice if you want to know about a car.
At Porsche Gurgaon dealership-
I especially made this article to tell everyone about the experience I had at Porsche Centre situated at Gurgaon. I mean it was incredible. It’s the only dealership in New Delhi.
It’s a huge dealership with almost every car at the display. Before visiting I called at the dealership to ask whether they are open today or not. I took an auto rickshaw and reached the dealership. Girl at the reception walked in and asked, “Sir, how may I help you”. I said I just want to see your cars. She asked are you interested in buying any model, I said no as I just want to take the pictures. She called the sales manager and assist me. I would like to mention his name, he was Puneet Lakhina.
He greeted me, called for the water and came along as I started clicking pictures. I told please continue your work, I am here just to click the pictures, I don’t want to buy any car. He said it’s not a problem. With all the seven cars I clicked he assisted me while telling about the features of the cars. He knew I am not his customer but still he spent around half an hour with me. He happily opened all the cars, told me to get in and have a look. I asked for a test drive of Porsche 911, he said it’s not available at the moment but promised me to give it tomorrow. Call it his own outlook or was it a culture of Porsche, but the generosity at the dealership was truly unforgettable.
As I clicked all the pictures, I asked brochures of the cars, he said he can give me a combined brochure of all Porsche models. I said I want single brochure of every car as it has more knowledge into it. He told me to wait and went for the search around the dealership. Later he came back with all the brochures and happily handed it to me. I was glad once again.
Then the best part, I thanked him and went out of the dealership. As I turned back I saw him standing outside at the dealership and giving us a goodbye. He kept watching us from there until we left the dealership. I sincerely praised such a goodness of Porsche at that point of time.
Later, the sales manager called the other day for the test drive he has arranged for me. I told him I have left the town and I will surely visit soon.
Written by, Shobhit Gosain, a car enthusiast.
The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author.
