Another Kind of Test Drive

There’s little doubt that the Filipino consumer is one hard-to-please creature. Fifteen years ago, it wasn’t obvious, where the story of buying a new car had no remarkable or shocking twists. It was simple then: buy a Toyota…and learn to be happy with it. Why a Toyota? Mainly because it’s reliable and because…it’s a Toyota. However, with the continued entry of new players, the Philippine automotive industry is undergoing a metamorphosis, where the buying experience has remarkably changed.

Nowadays, purchase isn’t dictated by badge alone. In fact, the most miniscule of details can’t go overlooked: everything from warranty to interior materials to emission standards and even the stereo can make or break a purchase.

Auto makers, realizing the difficulty in satisfying their customers, have remarkably improved the sales experience during the past few years. Stylized showrooms complete with complimentary coffee, sodas and even flat-screen televisions are now commonplace. Some even spend good money in scientific studies to determine the customer satisfaction with the sales process.

J.D. Power and Associates

One such study is the J.D. Power and Associates Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI). Best known in conjunction with the BBC Motoring Program, Top Gear, J.D. Power and Associates has been doing studies in the Asian region since 1990. ASEAN-level studies such as the Philippine market’s SSI are handled by their Singapore office.

The SSI study, according to a press release by J.D. Power and Associates, offers a complete perspective of sales satisfaction by analyzing customer satisfaction with pre-sales and vehicle delivery experience. The study focuses on what’s important to today’s consumers—process and sales transaction-related factors—and reveals the factors that determine customer satisfaction with the dealer. The SSI deals in six key areas: deal, paperwork, delivery timing, delivery process, dealer facility and salesperson.

The Sales Satisfaction Index study done in 2001 revealed that Ford led the industry with a score of 872 over 1,000, while Honda trailed in second with 863 points. The former scored well in deal, paperwork, delivery timing and delivery process while the latter excelled in the areas of dealer facility and salesperson. Surprisingly, the rest of the manufacturers fell below the industry average of 856. Tied for third were Nissan, Mitsubishi and Toyota each with 852 points, while Isuzu fell to the bottom with 848.

Test Driving Dealers

As scientific as the SSI is, it merely presents only a general picture of the entire dealership experience. Though not as meticulous in terms of the approach, motioncars.com went through a dealer test drive last November 25. motioncars.com reckons that there’s more to the car buying experience than the SSI suggests.

Since we were in the market for a new mini-SUV, it was fairly easy to limit the competition to three: the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V and the Toyota RAV4. Picking the C5 / Libis area dealers, mainly they’re nearest to home, we went to the following dealers in this order: Toyota Shaw-Ortigas, Honda Cars Pasig and Ford Libis.

Throughout the afternoon, we used different criteria based on the J.D. Power and Associates SSI ranging from trade-in value, dealer facility to knowledge of product by salesperson to determine the overall victor and perhaps the privileged supplier for the new vehicle. (The complete rankings are available at the end of the article.)

Toyota Shaw-Ortigas

Toyota Shaw-Ortigas prides itself having won the “Vehicle Sales Department of the Year Award” for three years running. Judging from the outside, they have a big inventory mostly made up of Corollas, Corolla Altis, and Revos.

Facilities are complete, but not outstanding. Customer parking is easy, and the repair bays are spotless. The showroom is on the cramped side, but at least they have one of each vehicle on display: Corolla Altis, Camry, Revo, and yes, a RAV4. The overall layout of the place is a bit disorienting as the vehicle sales shares its space with the service department.

The response time of Marketing Professional Jenny Vi Dela Cruz was fast, approaching us at five minutes after we entered the showroom. She had surprisingly good knowledge of the key features of the RAV4 including the full-time all-wheel drive and the split-fold removable rear seats. She also knew the CR-V quite well, but was a bit clueless about the Escape. She also made the mistake of describing the VVTi as an improved version of Honda’s VTEC-3. Though knowledgeable about the features, Jenny used Toyota’s new pricing promos in trying to seal the deal.

Freebies are typical, but complete: LTO registration, tint, floor mats and rust proofing. For cash basis, Jenny is willing to throw in the J-sport grille and rear spoiler as well. The deal is good, as long as everything is done in-house: 45,000 pesos worth of accessories. Third- party financing cuts the discount in half. A trade-in option for any used car is available, and delivery time is quick: roughly two weeks after reservation.

However, there was minimal paperwork done during our visit. The pricing promo wasn’t explained in detail, and Jenny neglected to give us a financing computation, much less a product brochure. Fortunately, she did fax a complete set of paperwork (product brochure, financing promo, computations, and such) a day later.

Honda Cars Pasig

Honda Cars Pasig is owned and operated by Honda Cars Makati Inc. As one of its four dealerships, this one’s got a small façade, but a big overall area. Customer parking is relatively easy, despite having to share it with unclaimed units from the service department. The dealership is clean overall, but not exactly sparkling new. The service bays, however, look well maintained.

The showroom has a simple ambience with an airy atmosphere. The cool granite floor, white walls and brightly-lit environment are good pluses. The sales desk greets the visitors along with the artic-blast of the air conditioner. Unfortunately, the sales people are more content fooling around with each other, avoiding any sort of contact with the customers. Response time was actually quick at three minutes, but it felt longer because of the feeling of being unattended to.

A showroom display unit is available much like Toyota Shaw-Ortigas. Sales Executive Ruthie Silva assisted us during our brief stay. She starts off right by giving the pluses of the CR-V: the 10-seater configuration, the
i-VTEC engine and so forth. She also mentions how it does compared to its soft-roader rivals.

With Honda’s ramped-up production, delivery time is short: two weeks for the Clover Green and about a month for the Satin Silver. Paperwork has been prepared before hand with everything from the product brochure to financing options all available right off the shelf.

The overall deal with the CR-V isn’t as sweet when compared to the Toyota though. The sub-million purchase price doesn’t come with rust proofing, seat covers or even tint. The only freebies are the floor mats and LTO registration. There’s no trade-in option for an old vehicle either. On a good note though is that the 3-year / 100,000 kilometer warranty includes both parts and labor except the stereo, tires, battery (they are covered by separate warranties), and consumables, unlike Toyota which offers a 3-year / 100,000 kilometer warranty for parts only.

There’s less bias when it comes to Honda’s financing and insurance deals as the latter presents far more flexibility with the choice of in-house or third-party with no penalties of any kind. What’s more, Honda does insurance repairs even if the papers are still in process—that means fewer headaches for those prone to vehicular accidents.

Ford Libis

The newest of the three dealers here, Ford Libis is also the smallest. Don’t be surprised that beyond the industrial American feel, customer parking may be difficult to find. Fortunately though, this lack of space is offset by the best looking showroom and repair bays compared to the other two.

Like Honda Cars Pasig, Ford Libis is well-lit and cool, but Ford’s ambiance is much more organic thanks to a combination of stone, wood and steel structures that line the interior. The placement of the sales desk and even the vehicles are logical and appropriate. Response time was immediate, and if it counts for anything, the sales personnel in here are the prettiest.

Lizzie Cruz handled our inquiries about the Ford Escape, which probably lasted a record time of just below fifteen minutes. It was not because of her inability, mind you. Indeed, she offered the best feeling of personalized service thanks to on-the-spot financial computations, answers to pressing questions about warranty and product features.

The reason for our short attention span in the Ford Libis showroom was because the unit in question, the Escape XLT wasn’t available for viewing. That’s right, even their brand-new showroom floor display unit had been sold already, and since it was locked and heavily tinted, we couldn’t see beyond the glass. Like Toyota and Honda, Ford doesn’t offer any sort of test drives of the Escape and delivery time will take beyond a month thanks to Ford Philippines’ Export Program. Based on Lizzie’s computations, if we had plopped down a reservation fee last November 25, we would get a unit of our choice come late January to February of next year. That’s not a good sign, especially since other similarly-priced vehicles are more readily available.

The deal was soured even more with the lack of freebies for this 1.3 million peso car. There’s no seat covers and tinting, options which would cost in excess of fifteen thousand pesos.

Because of the popularity of the Escape, there’s no available special offer at the moment, and though Ford offered the choice of unbiased in-house or third-party financing / insurance, Ford’s own Ford Credit gave far better options with the choice of quarterly or monthly fixed payments. Surprisingly, Ford Libis offers trade in on selected rival vehicles such as the Honda Civic and Nissan Frontier. Unsurprisingly though, they don’t offer the trade-in for the Escape.

The Verdict

Overall, it is easy to commend Jenny Vi Dela Cruz and the staff of Toyota Shaw-Ortigas, who by far, gave the best deal on the Toyota RAV4 with good pricing, huge discounts, freebies plus added bonuses such as quick delivery time and a vehicle trade-in option. Unfortunately, their showroom lacked the avant-garde touch that befits Toyota’s new corporate image.

Though boasting of a very affordable product, Honda Cars Pasig lacked the initiative to push more of these CR-Vs beyond the already high sales figures of 5,000 units. There’s little to say with regards to the deals department as there are nearly no freebies and no discounts. On a positive note, Honda Cars Pasig offers the best warranty package plus the most flexible choice of insurance providers.

Despite a reputation from the J.D. Power and Associates SSI study, Ford Libis ranks last in terms of our satisfaction. With a great looking showroom, it goes to waste as there’s no actual Escape unit available for display. It’s hard for customers to imagine ‘large interior room’, ‘cavernous luggage space’ and ‘Ford though DNA’ without actually sitting and feeling it. What’s more, despite the great financing options, the long waiting line, lack of freebies and discount / trade-in options killed the Escape right on the showroom floor.

Take note though that our dealer test-drive is not a scientific study. The accounts in this article are a singular experience, and may not reflect the overall performance of the entire dealership network in question. However, it does show that different dealers have different standards and even means in order to complete a sale. What is important to know is that these showrooms can leave a lasting impression on any customer considering a purchase. In the tight-battling arena of the automotive industry, the smallest touches can make the biggest difference for a customer.

By Ulysses Ang | Photos By Jason Ang
Originally Published in the December 2002 Issue