Curious cases of unethical dealerships

[Zappo]

Two different cases... and yet they make you wonder whether there is really anything like a genuine dealership in cars!

Incident -1
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Told by an acquaintance... A poor guy purchased a Maruti last year. A few days back while washing his car he discovered the front tire is peeling off rubber from the sidewalls. He was sullen that he probably carelessly drove it over some boulders and damaged the tire.

A few days later he finds two more tires showing the same problem. Now he gets alarmed and starts inspecting the tires closely. This reveals the shocking truth. Four of the tires are 2.5 years old while the car is just 1 year old!

He took it to the dealer who simply washed his hands off saying that he probably got the tires replaces and "forgot" about it! The attitude of the dealer has made the man suspect that the dealer has something to do with this whole thing.

However some legally aware people have told him that he has been trully castled as it is too late in the day to prove anything anymore. He won't be able to prove anything. Moreover the cars are never sold with the tire batch nos. noted on the invoice or the RC book.

Incident 2
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My friend is buying a NHC. Delivery is on the coming sunday. There is only one Honda dealer in the whole of AP, Sundaram Honda. They are just unethical and even apathetic towards their customer. He has had to chase them since last 2 months and yet they themselves do not show any proactiveness in selling the car. In fact a sales rep told him last month that they sell so many cars that they do not have the time or intention to give individual attention.

He has N no. of grudges... two prime ones are,
1. He has a Pio HU which he brought from US. He asked the dealer to fit it for him while fitting the rest of the accessories. The dealer has flatly refused and in fact has suggested thatif he does not buy the HU from Honda (read the dealer) then his whole electrical wiring guarantees and any other liabilities arising from this will be made null and void.

2. They have refused him any discount on the sticker price of the car as declared by Honda. Moreover, even the corporate discount that Honda gives (mind you, it is given by the manufacturer and not the dealer) will only be available to him in terms of accessories which he will have to get from them. He won't get any price rebate. I think this is daylight robbery. You can not force someone to buy something from you... especially in this case since the rebate is being extended by the manufacturer to the buyer.

[hrag]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Moreover the cars are never sold with the tire batch nos. noted on the invoice or the RC book.

All 5 tyre serial numbers are normally quoted in the owners' manual. Please ask your friend to check - he may still have a case.

[Bomi]

And yet your friend wants to buy a Honda from them? And suffer the dealer's attitude for several years? Is he a masochist by any chance?

[suman]

Originally Posted by Zappo

However some legally aware people have told him that he has been trully castled as it is too late in the day to prove anything anymore. He won't be able to prove anything.

Exactly! Too late in the day....it could have even happened when he took the car for servicing (I'm assuming the car has been serviced at least once in the past one year)

Hrag, even if the numbers were on the owners manual, how does he prove after one year that they were swapped at the dealer & not anywhere else?

[navin]

Originally Posted by Bomi

And yet your friend wants to buy a Honda from them? And suffer the dealer's attitude for several years? Is he a masochist by any chance?

The sad fact is that most other dealers are as bad or even worse. I have tried National Garage, Arya, Ichiban, Linkway, Autobahn, etc...and each time I've had a horror story to relate. In many cases I am a repeat customer and still suffer the same apathy.

[theMAG]

There is only one Honda dealer in the whole of AP

Thats shocking, but number of dealers are decided by the manufacturer. Probably displays the lack of seriousness by Honda toward AP. Sorry that that 1 dealer happens to be Sundaram - they're the snottiest of the lot - Premier, Fiat, Mercedes-Benz eras are live examples.

I'm surprised abt the Maruti incident. Here in BLR, Maruti dealerships bend over backwards to satisfy you. The hapless Maruti owner in question is well advised to send an email to Maruti with facts.

[hrag]

Originally Posted by suman

Hrag, even if the numbers were on the owners manual, how does he prove after one year that they were swapped at the dealer & not anywhere else?

You're right, I got a little confused about the case part. My post should have remained restricted to mention of tyre serial numbers in the owners manual and not say anything about the case.

[rider60]

well this might be a old thread but still, i have a question, cant we sue the dealers for such robbery? cant we write this to honda saying the dealer forces the buying? and who is the dealer to decide if the eletrical system warranty gets void?

is there really nothing that can be done against this?, i agree there will be a lot of time waste and money too, but the honda or the dealer can be made to be paid for all the losses if the case is won right?

[humyum]

I would rather not buy a honda than face this callous attitude of the dealer.Disgusting.

[narayan]

Originally Posted by rider60

well this might be a old thread but still, i have a question, cant we sue the dealers for such robbery? cant we write this to honda saying the dealer forces the buying? and who is the dealer to decide if the eletrical system warranty gets void?

is there really nothing that can be done against this?, i agree there will be a lot of time waste and money too, but the honda or the dealer can be made to be paid for all the losses if the case is won right?

honda somehow does not come across as a company which has much control over dealers...

im saying this after owning a city for over 3 years now..

i had some issues with improper work and wrong charging last time i went to RING ROAD honda in gurgaon -

HONDA has amongst the WORST websites for giving service feedback...u need to go through some 10 pages of boring questions that they have drafted which would not help u in giving details of ur specific problem...

and what happened after all that ???

dealer sends me a letter saying, "bring car again and let us see whether we did the work right or wrong" !!!

[aadix]

why did your friend keep quite with the sundaram guys? he should have given them left,right and centre. but oddly i never had any probs with sundaram honda both in tems of sales and service, they were always polite and nice.
but my cousin did face similar probs wrt to sundaram ford in it's heydays.