Beware - Buying a Fabia 1.2L at Giriraj Motors, Gurgaon

[saraf_suman]

We are looking to buy our 2nd car to supplement our existing Honda. It is supposed to be a replacement for my old Santro (which I sold via carwale).


After looking at all the options in the 5-7L bracket (getz/swift/u-va/palio...) we decided on the Fabia 1.2L petrol. I knew I was paying a premium of about 50k for the Skoda brand but I thought it was worth it because we really liked the car. We booked a Satin Grey Ambienete at Giriraj Motors on 30thMay after paying a booking amount of 50k. The sales executive promised to have the car delivered to us on of before the 15th of June. They have a white Fabia in stock which they were willing to deliver immediately, but we didn't like the color.

This is when the real trauma started. I started following up with the dealer and he reassured me that our order had been placed and the car was in transit. When I called him on the 9th, I was in for a rude surprise. He said that the Satin Grey color had been discontinued and I would have to give him alternate color choices. After debating with him (how could our car have possibly been in transit then?) I gave him alternate options. He also asked for 3 extra days as the original date of 15th could not be met. In the meanwhile, I lodged a complaint against the dealership with Skoda, Aurangabad.


On Friday, the GM Sales North+East of Skoda, called me from the dealers showroom and said that I could not get a car before the end of July. He said there was no way they could ship my order by June 18th. He offered me a diesel varaint which I refused as it ran our budget. I don't understand how Giriraj could be so moronic in promising me delivery dates (twice) which they couldn't have met. This put me off completely and I got my refund cheque of 50k immediately.

Just out of curiosity I called Silvertone Delhi to check what was happening with the Fabia 1.2L. The executive said that they had stopped taking bookings for the Fabia 1.2L as it has some manufacturing defects. He said that the booking were expected to resume in a month.

Has anyone else heard of manufacturing defects with the Fabia 1.2L?

Anyways, I have decided I have had enough of it. I will never touch a Skoda, definetly not till they kicked the butts of all their dealers and after sales network.

This is just to forewarn you in case you decide to buy it from this dealer.

[BTW I suspect the test drive was also on a delivery vehicle]

[aaggoswami]

A bad experience. Clarification was a must from dealer, and wrong promises means a lot of trouble for customers. What was more surprising is the GM of the region also never told you about the fact. This is not an honest approach towards potential customers. If you suspect that the test vehicle was also a deliver car, then one day they could use anybody's car as test drive vehicle.

I dont know why manufacturers dont take swift and appropriate action against these dealers. This dealer must not get business from your side, and the best part from your side was sticking to the car you want, and not falling for the deals they were offering. I have noticed that people have habit of selling what they have, and not what the customer wants.

Thanks for informing about the update of Fabia petrol.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

It appears as if Skoda has run into some trouble with the petrol Fabia. Dealers seem to have stopped booking, even though ads are still appearing in the papers.

[cooldude1988765]

A really bad experience. (SKODA)

OT: They might be upgrading the engine to a more powerful one. I would expect in excess of a hundred horses at least for that expensive a hatch.

[ankit.jhamb]

sorry to hear about that,do confirm from other dealers about fabia.continental motors is another dealer you should check with

[rishab1987]

I second that ... please be wary of this dealer ... he gave me a deal for a 09 Fabia and when I was about to give the payment chq i confirmed whether it was 09 or 08 and then he says that the deal was for 08 Fabia and not valid on 09 ... please be careful and make sure you take everything in writing .... on the other hand Fahrenheit Skoda was very helpful and are arranging for my FABIA 09