How is Mahindra Firstchoice? (formerly automart)

[k2_4_u]

Folks,
Do any of you have experience dealing with Firstchoice for used cars?
I searched the forums about this dealer, but there isn't much info.

1. Quality of their cars.
2. Their certification credibility.
3. Service reliability & keeping up with commitments.
4. Their rates & bargaining level.

They showed me a 2006 Santro XL with 10K on the odo and gave an initial quote of 3.6L. I need to start bargaining once I am satisfied with the car & the dealer

Thanks much!

[Su-47]

On 1, they aren't any different from any other used car dealer. I've seen a case of tampered odometer in a car sold by them. I don't know if it was done by automart or it escaped the so called certification process.

On 4. They are a bit expensive than the market, but, there is a pretty good scope for bargaining. BTW, 3.6L sounds insane!!

[Eddy]

3.6 !!!!

How much does a new Santro cost in Blore ? Not too much over 3.6 I am sure, especially with the discounts that are going on

[k2_4_u]

Originally Posted by Eddy

3.6 !!!!

How much does a new Santro cost in Blore ? Not too much over 3.6 I am sure, especially with the discounts that are going on

At the first bargain itself, they came down to 3.3L !! How do we believe them !

[tadukuttan]

Same as the rest, at least the one on Sarjapur Road. Employees have targets, and one easy way some of them meet it is to buy cars, correct the odo, and make a quick profitable sale with the now low mileage car!

Not sure when or if we will ever have a decent used car dealer.

[esteem_lover]

A name change & some impressive ads do not mean they have changed their attitude. A car dealer is a car dealer, he wants to make a bundle while he still can. The govt is yet to impose any tax on these guys, once that is done you can expect them to normalise on prices, but the quality of their cars & the odo tampering will continue forever.

[hollywoodhogan]

Originally Posted by tadukuttan

Same as the rest, at least the one on Sarjapur Road. Employees have targets, and one easy way some of them meet it is to buy cars, correct the odo, and make a quick profitable sale with the now low mileage car!

Not sure when or if we will ever have a decent used car dealer.

hah? decent used car dealer? my friend, there is no such thing as a "decent used car dealer". they are the same world over and not just in india.

all odometers are tampered and all usage data is manipulated. not that the car is a bad piece but just that its NOT as good as its touted to be.

thumb rule is cut 10% off the price on mileage and 5% off its "alleged" single owner and lady driven value added stuff. so you can basically not offer more than a 85% of the quoted price at best.

i had visited one of their showrooms a year or so back and i was fortunate enough to take a good peek at their "workshop" where they "build" a car to certain specs to dispose in the market at premium. they swap tyres and batteries and steering wheels and pedal rubbers from car to car because these are the 4 main things that show the age of a car. odo tampering is a "mandatory" option because you will hardly find a car that has done more than 30k kms no matter how old the car is. odd isnt it?

its not that they massively cheat but they tamper with the cars. so a 15% reduction in their quoted price is a fair offer that you can make.

[tadukuttan]

Originally Posted by hollywoodhogan

its not that they massively cheat but they tamper with the cars. so a 15% reduction in their quoted price is a fair offer that you can make.

So I sold them a 3 year old car with the odo at 67,000Kms. They promptly got it down to 27,000Kms and sold for a massive profit. Came to know because a surprised friend saw my "low mileage" car there and called up. That is like a 50%+ reduction on the odo reading!

The many other cases I know are worse. Sometimes the odo reading is marked down by as much as 80%, and tires, steering wheel, seat covers and rubber pedals etc are changed to match the new mileage.

Saw another example couple of weeks back. The odo reading checked out with the service center records, but the steering wheel grip was way too worn out. Checked further, and came to know that the owner simply did not service the car in the showroom for a few years, while he raked up the Kms, then when it was time to sell, dude marked down the odo, and then took it for service....

[dadu]

This is simply ridiculous, who can trust them after this, no matter how much they spend on the adv.

Originally Posted by tadukuttan

So I sold them a 3 year old car with the odo at 67,000Kms. They promptly got it down to 27,000Kms and sold for a massive profit. Came to know because a surprised friend saw my "low mileage" car there and called up. That is like a 50%+ reduction on the odo reading!

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by tadukuttan

So I sold them a 3 year old car with the odo at 67,000Kms. They promptly got it down to 27,000Kms and sold for a massive profit. Came to know because a surprised friend saw my "low mileage" car there and called up. That is like a 50%+ reduction on the odo reading!

The many other cases I know are worse. Sometimes the odo reading is marked down by as much as 80%, and tires, steering wheel, seat covers and rubber pedals etc are changed to match the new mileage.

Saw another example couple of weeks back. The odo reading checked out with the service center records, but the steering wheel grip was way too worn out. Checked further, and came to know that the owner simply did not service the car in the showroom for a few years, while he raked up the Kms, then when it was time to sell, dude marked down the odo, and then took it for service....

All in a day's work for these unscrupulous dealers.

[PatienceWins]

My experience with the used car dealers has been bad. Its always better to buy from a known source.

[arunk]

I had once approached them for valuation of my previous car and I didnt feel comfortable atall, their whole approach was to undervalue the car by so much and then offer a throwaway price. But they do just the opposite when they are sellers.

But I had good experience with TVS . There was NO bargaining and the price they told was what i had in my mind and I signed the papers in a flash. All the paper work was prompt and well done

[Sagi]

Guys I had a first hand experiance with First Choice, though not In used cars but in their service out let. I had bought a used fiat siena and went down to these people seeing the brand value of mahindra. Its one of the worst experiance i had, i finally felt that the road side mechanics are far better than these guys. They charged me 30K for the repairs and finally what i get is two Tail lamps which are working. They change the drive shafts, shocks, bushes, brake cylinders, discs, etc......

What i get after all this the same old feeling or you can sat far worse ride. The breaks dont really catch the tires to stop, i have the same vibrations from the drive shaft, the same bumpy ride. Guys please do be very very to the nth degree careful befor you deal with these guys.

My experiance is in the Hyderabad out let

[HappyWheels]

30k and you get this kind of result! Very sad!

I do agree that post warranty, it is always better to go to known and reliable neighborhood mechanic than these 'hot-shot' service centers.

[Unknownsatan]

My friend from Dakshin Honda told me the same. He told its a good place for buying a car,but once u give it for servicing they will try and mess up with your vehicle.This i am talking about bangalore branch. Guys give it to company service station, thats the best ,atleast better than others.