Note: Dear fellow TBHPians this is my first thread on TBHP and this is my story against a popular used car brand from India. While this is purely based on my personal experience, the intention of posting this thread here to educate & caution the future used car buyers against a malpractice. I don't endorse any other brand in particular over this article.
This article is my story around the purchase experience cum the story of being cheated. This is my first thread so please excuse me if the article wasnt upto your expectations.
Story of my 3 mistakes: Mahindra First Choice Yes it was a big mistake
It was the year 2008 and almost 2.5 years since I started working. It was the era of economic boom, middle class purchase power was rising and I too decide to buy my own car. Since I didn't had any previous driving experience and had just completed the RTO license test & also my budget was on the lower side, I started looking for a used car. Searched many cars from the local used car dealerships but couldn't zero down on any particular car. Some had body re-painted, some had bad drivability.
As it was told in the movie Transformers-I, A driver doesn't pick the cars. Mmm-mm. Cars pick the driver. Something similar was written in the destiny for me.
Mahindra had just re-branded their used car business as first choice. Saw a lot of campaigns on TV & print media. With a budget of 1.5Lacs I called up the Mahindra First Choice dealer in Thane (Dealer @Khopat was the only dealer present in thane at that point of time). Inquired about the exact location and decided to pay a visit to the showroom in Jan 2008 along with a friend of mine.
I was attended properly by one of the SE. He showed me various vehicles some of them I liked, some I didn't even bother to open the door and check. Nothing in my budget price band was appealing me. Then he showed me a Santro 2003 model cost ~2.3Lacs. I liked the vehicle. The paint job seemed OK, tyres were had some life left of approx another 10000KM. Analog ODO was showing 39K and SE put a disclaimer saying we don't take a guarantee for this but most of the cars have the geniue reading after all its Mahindra they do 118 points check. I trusted him & brand Mahindra. This was my first mistake.
I wasn't a confident driver until then so I asked my friend to take a test drive. He drove the vehicle and said seems OK. We examined the entire body, no signs of major dent except a small on top of the front windshield. I brought my parents to the showroom immediately in the evening and they too liked the car. So the vehicle was decided. We sat on table for the pricing. The dealer said no negotiations as the price is fixed by Mahindra company and they cant bargain on that. 2.3 was way over my budget but I still decided to re-think. Told them I will come back again next day which was a Sunday.
Before buying the car I didn't do my homework. This was my second mistake. I was a newbie and wasn't even aware of things to check before buying a car. My friend used to get his vehicle serviced at Maruti A.S.S. so we didn't had any local trusted mechanic whom we can show the vehicle.
After thinking a lot on Sunday I went again to the showroom. Asked them for negotiations they said no scope. Called up my friend he also then came to the showroom. We gave a second thought and decided we have seen enough vehicles. This seems OK. Lets go for it. Paid the advance, showed work to be done prior to delivery of the vehicle. There were many cleanliness, old carpet etc etc. The delivery was promised within a weeks time. Went to the showroom exactly after a week. The vehicle was ready. A tank full of petrol and 2 services in one years time frame were committed. From the check list of work to be carried prior to delivery some of them were rectified. Some I decided to live with.
Paid the balance amount. He said the RTO passing will be done in a month's time as this is a thane registered vehicle and need to transferred to Mumbai. One month was high but I still decided to trust the brand Mahindra. This was my third mistake.
Took the vehicle came home. The joy of owning the first car in the family was something that words cant describe.
Started using Santro mostly on weekends. Initially the usage was low. Around 250-300 Kms a month.
After a month's time I called up the dealership asking about the RC, he said it will take some more time. I asked why, was given a response that there are some challenges with the transfer and it will take another 15 days.
4 months just went like this and there was no proper response. I was frustrated and escalated the case to MFC helpline. I got a call from one of the lady after a months time who asked me what went wrong I explained my story. She said MFC will get back. Didn't get any response from Mahindra ever after that.
In the mean while I called up the showroom and insisted that I want to speak to the owner. He came on a call after repeated drama of being busy with other customers. I explained my pain and told him that I really regret buying a vehicle from him. His personal feeling were hurt. He asked me to pay 5K for the octroi transfer and mentioned that this is under the table the receipt will be of much less amount. I was loosing patience decided to take this final gamble. Paid him 5K as asked. Never followed up with him after that just for mental peace. Finally after 7 months or so I got a call saying RC has arrived. Went to the showroom and picked it up.
After that the Santro was my regular companion for my drives to Pune. This gave some boost to the ODO count. In the meanwhile the vehicle gave some niggles like any other used vehicle but no major repair work so life seemed good.
Somewhere in March 2013, approx 5 years after the Santro was bought the ODO was about to touch 80K and here comes the surprise that I never wanted to have.
Saw on the ODO that it was tempered. The paint from the digit 8 was damaged such that it was evident that some one had tempered it. I was sold a vehicle which had run more than what was shown to me. Though the SE had put the disclaimer, I was merely trusting brand Mahindra which was my biggest mistake of all.
My sincere advice to all the fellow TBHPians & readers is that before you decide to buy a used vehicle, please go through the check list under the used cars section.
Also note that we live in India. The consumer laws are weak and you can be take for a ride even from a reputed company dealer. Mahindra had a strong swadeshi brand image in my mind which is no longer a brand to me now. Its hard for me take this jolt of being cheated. I paid the price on the basis of a 39K Kms used vehicle. I should have got it. Thats my right as a consumer. But life moves on. Decided to live with this cheat but I wanted to ensure that this experience is shared so that at least I could save some one else from being a victim of this malpractice.
I was a addicted TBHP reader until a few months back but then decided to share my story with the fellow members so that some one can learn from the mistakes that I did.
Thanks for reading.
Geekyengineer.