A "slightly damaged" new Swift for 3.5 lacs. Worth it?

[rajeev26680]

Hi,

I have been offered a deal by a True value dealer which seems to good to be true.Please help me out.In exchange of my 2004 Alto lxi (He's willing to pay me 1,75,000 for that),he's giving me 2006 swift lxi for 3,55,000.Now he's saying that the car is as good as new since it has clocked only 50kms.The reason was in the assembly line it was hit by another vehical so it suffered minor damages in the front bumper.Now since Maruti could not sell it as new hence he got it from Maruti as a 'TRUE VALUE' car ?
Now I am in a dilemma ? please help ...is this possible ?

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by rajeev26680

Now he's saying that the car is as good as new since it has clocked only 50kms.The reason was in the assembly line it was hit by another vehical so it suffered minor damages in the front bumper.Now since Maruti could not sell it as new hence he got it from Maruti as a 'TRUE VALUE' car ?
Now I am in a dilemma ? please help ...is this possible ?

Is that car registered? and the odo 50 Kms or 50K kms?

If it was damaged on the assembly line, (1) they would simply replace the components; (2) the odo should read 0; not 50 or anything.

Did you ask for the registration papers? Who is the owner? That call the bluff, if any. A damaged vehicle will not be registered in the frist place, and if at all registered, the registred owner would be the company or its officer.

[BUSA]

Sounds more like a test driver car accidented then a Assembly line accident. All cars do less then 10kms when sold, before registration.

[lamborghini]

@backseatdriver - Generally, if a car gets damaged at the assembly line, the car is not repaired and sold off.
Atleast that is what I have been told so far.
Also, when have you bought a new car with the odo reading 0 kms?

@rajeev and nitin - the car is over 8 months old and has just been lying around in the stockyard. I doubt the car would run as efficiently as a brand new one.

[lamborghini]

@BUSA - Not necessarily. All cars that we have bought have done more than 10km for sure.
Generally the reading is around 50km.

[itwasntme]

IMHO, anything more than 70/80km should be a cause for concern.

In my case, both my cars were bought from dealers in the Lalbagh road area but sent for registration etc to Yeshwanthpur RTO which is my local RTO. That in itself will add about 20km to the odo. Further, in many cities, dealer stockyards are located outside city limits for economy and for octroi purposes. Hence, any drive from there will add to the delivery mileage!

Originally Posted by lamborghini

@BUSA - Not necessarily. All cars that we have bought have done more than 10km for sure.
Generally the reading is around 50km.

[theMAG]

If its just a bumper damage, they wouldnt have chucked it into MTV.

Re: that 50 kms on the odo, that can be achieved by simply replacing the Swift's instrument console 50 kms back.

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by theMAG

If its just a bumper damage, they wouldnt have chucked it into MTV.

. Looking at the "honesty" of our car dealers, a car with minor damage would have got passed to some unsuspecting customer an brand new

[lamborghini]

But guys,
this is Maruti the Company. Not a Maruti Dealer.
Also, the odo in the Swift is digital. It cannot be rolled back.

[finneyp]

Originally Posted by rajeev26680

The reason was in the assembly line it was hit by another vehical so it suffered minor damages in the front bumper.Now since Maruti could not sell it as new hence he got it from Maruti as a 'TRUE VALUE' car ?

The reason dished out by MTV dealer is pure crap!
If it had happened in the Assembly line, they would have easily replaced the bumper and dispatched as a new car.

I think it was damaged during transit.

For peace of mind, better to avoid this car!

[ajkail]

Would take what the dealer is saying with a BIG pinch of salt, how on earth can a car doing nothing for close to a year (2006 LXi) though it has done only 50 paltry KMs be termed "as good as new" ....

The Odo (even digital ones) can be made to show whatever one may desire with consumate ease. When you think about it Rs. 44K is what you stand to save that converts to Rs. 1K a month emi @ 13% / 60 months

Sorry if I sound cynical, try and get as much history as you can on the car, please do not try to double guess anything ..... if I were you, I would get the Salesman to get me the right contact at Maruti to verify his story & if possible the "official reason" for this discount in wrtiting.

This car looks like a crash test champ of some sort to me ... IMHO !!

[abhilashvk]

Just a thought that came across my mind...Usually cars are released to the dealer once they make payments to the company. So why should a dealer buy an already damaged car? I feel that the car must have got damaged on transit or it could have been a test drive car.. Guys, what are your thoughts on this?

[kpzen]

Even the cars damaged(not major) during transit are repaired and sold as new.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by kpzen

Even the cars damaged(not major) during transit are repaired and sold as new.

What about the test drive cars?

They cant be sold-off as new! And some even have speedo disconnected.

[rjstyles69]

rajeev I would simply stay away from that car.

Like theMAG mentioned the odo' reading could be tampered. My gut feeling says that it could be a test mule.