I have agreed since I was young with my father’s view that a car is a vehicle to get a person from point A to point B, and not a status symbol.
But after having driven my current Nissan for just over 13 years, its future has started to look bleak. I concluded that it was time to finally fork out some cash and buy some new wheels.
In the more than a decade since I’d last done any serious car shopping, prices seem to have gone through the roof. After careful consideration, I settled on what my friends jokingly called “your personality of a car”, a Toyota Camry.
Well, sure it is. There are three other Toyotas at my house and they have been reliable cars for a long time. At 1.9 million baht, the price of the hybrid Camry looked a little steep to me. But then, I’ll be saving the environment as well as saving money on fuel in the long run (I hope).
All went well, until the date of the delivery. I was promised delivery in six days after booking (Feb 22) and knowing that meeting that deadline would not be easy, I said, “Let’s do it on March 7,” enough time for the dealership to find the car.
To make things look good, I and a friend both booked the same car, model and even the same colour.
But booking a car and getting it on time are two different issues. The two of us have since had to endure postponements of various appointments to receive our new rides.
If you thought this was a case of just one company or dealership, think again. Delayed deliveries have become commonplace among Thais, if the comments on various web forums and blogs are anything to go by.
Some blame the government’s first-car programme, a victim of its own success with tens of thousands of back-orders stretching well into the middle of this year. The Camry I’ve been seeking didn’t qualify for that programme, so getting one shouldn’t be a problem.
Still, my friend and I have had very little feedback from the dealership about what’s causing the delays and when or whether our cars would arrive.
And wouldn’t you know it — to raise the cash for my purchase I sold some shares, and some have risen by nearly double digits since. I can’t win.
I must also say that while the quality of car showrooms has improved a lot in the past decade, the quality of service has failed to catch up to the rise in vehicle prices.
If you’re in the market for a high-end Honda or Toyota costing 1.9 million baht or so, you should expect high-end service. For only about 300,000 baht more, you can get a C-class Mercedes Benz or a BMW 320i. Their sales staff follow up with you every step of the way. They have guarantees for five years for the car, parts and host of other things including regular service for the five-year period.
As Asian automakers try to push their way into the upper leagues, pumping as many gadgets as possible into a vehicle to jack up prices and margins, they may be missing out on the service side.
If some blame the automakers, others say the current sad state of affairs is partially the fault of the government for creating a stampede of mass-market buyers from all over the country. Dealerships couldn’t get people in and out the doors fast enough, and maybe they started taking all their customers for granted.
Now we are seeing a domino effect. Garages have to wait longer for spare parts to arrive. Why? Because there are too many cars on the street. Want to get regular service done? That too needs an appointment, and you may not get a time that suits you.
Thailand has been blowing its own horn for years about being the centre of the Asean automotive industry. Companies are investing heavily in manufacturing vehicles but it seems they are forgetting another fundamental element of success — service.
Making customers feel as though they have to beg you to get their cars will not win a business many friends in the long run. Lots of companies with good products have lost their leadership in the past after failing to live up to customers’ satisfaction.
I don’t know if similar problems exist in other car markets in the region, but if Asian carmakers want to jack up their prices to European levels, with no corresponding rise in service, more customers such as myself will most likely shift their allegiance to smaller European models at comparable prices.