Peninsular Honda sells me a *new* repainted Honda Civic 1.8 V

[jmathew]

The re-inspection was not really useful to arrive at some solution. The area manager of Honda, chennai came for inspection along with few managers from peninsular honda. He was the same person who did the first inspection also. He saw all the defects and this time he agreed that these are "real" defects. There were total of 6 defects, including paint defects on the door, back side bumper, front bumper, repaint marks on the bonnet, dent on the door, the door is not closing properly. He told us that the dealer will replace all the parts which are defective.

We told him that we are ready to accept this solution if honda is ready to prove that the car came just before 5 days from factory and does not have any other damages happened. We asked vehicle history/logs from the date of manufacture(Feb 08) to date of delivery(June 08). The manager of Honda said that honda will not maintain any such logs. Logs will start only at the time of delivery!

One of the person from Peninsular honda told us that the car came from Cochin. I was really shocked to hear this. After booking the car, the executive at the peninsular honda told me that the car is in transit from factory to trivandrum. They also promptly informed me when the car arrrived from "factory". Now the cheat is very clear. The vehicle was with them for a long time at their cochin dealer ship. They transported it to Trivandrum and sold it to me as a fresh car.

[motorheadinc]

then what are you waiting for Jmathew.
Take the matter to the highest possible level and make sure
that you get what you had paid for.
Ask them for a new car plus damages.

[aka_iitd]

Originally Posted by motorheadinc

then what are you waiting for Jmathew.
Take the matter to the highest possible level and make sure
that you get what you had paid for.
Ask them for a new car plus damages.

I feel if they have accepted the 6 defects then you should get them written on paper. This will help you to make your case strong if you go for some legal fighting.
Also I checked with Maruti and they say when the car is loaded form the factory they note down the chassis and engine number. So honda factory should have this log atleast. This procedure is valid for every thing like bike,medicine,cosmetics ie every consumable which have number it can be in form of batch number etc
This will confirm when the car was sent from factory.
I - If it was sent in feb and it was either lying idle or used by someone.
II - If it was loaded from facotry in June then 6 damages might have happen during transit(ie truck might have met with some accident etc on highway etc).
This will atleast help you to clarify some portions of your case. If it is case II ie june 08 it was sent from factory then you can go ahead and get the parts changed and close the issue if you feel like.

[HotChillyPepper]

Originally Posted by jmathew

He saw all the defects and this time he agreed that these are "real" defects. There were total of 6 defects, including paint defects on the door, back side bumper, front bumper, repaint marks on the bonnet, dent on the door, the door is not closing properly. He told us that the dealer will replace all the parts which are defective.

.

Hope this time you haven't missed it and recorded the full conversation you had with them.

What they have told about the Log is not really true. Honda has got a Software running to track the full inventory, including Parts arriving at factory, Shipping from Factory , Transit details etc.
they even have a Patent on this:
PRODUCT INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - Patent WO/2004/108568
He is trying to Cheat you. You can get this through Court.

[GTO]

he agreed that these are "real" defects. There were total of 6 defects, including paint defects on the door, back side bumper, front bumper, repaint marks on the bonnet, dent on the door, the door is not closing properly.

I do hope you video recorded the entire statement, or have it on paper.

[kaizen]

Have the facts checked thoroughly before hand ,as the allegation proved wrong will call for defamation suit against you by the honda.


i am with the dealer,in such things as legal suit ,the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst.

may good winds go with you.

[HotChillyPepper]

Originally Posted by kaizen

Have the facts checked thoroughly before hand ,as the allegation proved wrong will call for defamation suit against you by the honda.


i am with the dealer,in such things as legal suit ,the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst.

may good winds go with you.

Sorry to say that it looks like you joined Team-BHP to just post this. What kind of a defamation case Honda can charge on Mr.Mathew? Can you please make that point clear? Was it for posting here in Team-Bhp about the issue he had faced? Or was it for complaining about a faulty product sold as new? Honda can't just shake off this issue by cheap tatics.

They should have answered to the customers query well in advance and as they accepted the product delivered was faulty they should have replaced it without questions being asked.

By the way what is your relation with Honda to say that "allegation proved wrong will call for defamation suit against you by the honda" ? ohhh yeahhhh hearing this we are all scared to death.

[araje]

JMathew,
My case is a little different but I thought I might add 2 cents here.

While inquiring for civic in whitefield honda (BLR), the manager told me that they had some heavy discounts on models that are manufactured in 07 and not sold yet. I was puzzled and found that this is fishy. However they told me that they had 5 such cars which are 07 manufactured and where not sold in 07 since they are NightHawk Black color. The discount was 65000/- + 50% of the additional excise duty that was just in effect ( came to 15000/-).

I had spoken to many people about this about the drawbacks of getting a 07 model in second half of 08. I was advised by my friends to see the other cars if they really exist. Hence on one day, I gave a surprised visit directly to the facility and asked for seeing those 07 batch vehicles. And they were really there. She showed me 3 of them ( I verified the Nov 07 date between the 2 doors on left) in those cars. So finally I decided to go for the offer.

The only difference here is that the manager told me that they were upfront telling me that it is a 07 model and since its a yr back they are offering discounts. His reason for this is that black color though looks very good, is not a fast moving color since it needs high maintainence and some ppl have other beliefs abt black color.

Even I had doubts initially about they trying to push me a demo car or something like that. But the presence of multiple such 07 cars was enough to be convinced.

I just wanted to let u know my story.

[hemanthisgreat]

Originally Posted by kaizen

Have the facts checked thoroughly before hand ,as the allegation proved wrong will call for defamation suit against you by the honda.


i am with the dealer,in such things as legal suit ,the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst.

may good winds go with you.

I think you did a very stupid thing posting this here. You think such posts are going to do any good to either the honda dealer or honda themselves.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by rahuldeodhar

Jmathew - legal hassles get a long time to get resolved. Just don't give up. And don't miss the legalities.

Post the notice - you must be required to file the case within stipulated no. of days? I would be surprised if thats not so. Please check with lawyer.

I hope you are documenting all dates and correspondence received and all that.

Take care
RD

Sad to read the whole problem. Was it a Demo Car earlier? Its true that legally resolving the issue may take a long, long time from the trial court higher upwards.
It would be in the fitness of things to file the civil suit in a competent Consumer Court. There is a Limitation Act that stipulates the time limit within which the case has to be filed. I feel its six months from the date of delivery of the car in this case. please check with your lawyer. As and when the court issues notices to the respondents viz. Honda SIEL and the dealer, you can issue a press release through your lawyer ( so that nothing subjudice gets reported) to the media in the English and the regional/vernacular language newspapers. The companies are very wary of such reports that besmirch their image. Maybe they offer an out of court settlement!

[Brabus E V12]

Originally Posted by kaizen

Have the facts checked thoroughly before hand ,as the allegation proved wrong will call for defamation suit against you by the honda.


i am with the dealer,in such things as legal suit ,the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst.

may good winds go with you.

Mr 'Kaizen', judging by your handle you clearly seem to be inspired by Japan and its manufacturing philosophies. Philosophies like Kaizen work well within the factory, but not once the product is out and with a customer. In this particular case, Honda have royally screwed up a customer. They clearly don't have any idea of what good customer service is. Few months ago they even had some employee unrest in Haryana - So customer service - internal as well as extenal is something that Honda have to learn.

Lean manufacturing, Kaizen, J-I-T all work well inside the factory, but not outside it - when it comes to Customer Service!

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by kaizen

Have the facts checked thoroughly before hand ,as the allegation proved wrong will call for defamation suit against you by the honda.


i am with the dealer,in such things as legal suit ,the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst.

Not sure what you were trying to convey here, but if you were trying to scare the gang here I'm not sure its working.

Good comic relief, though !

[ankit.jhamb]

Originally Posted by kaizen

Have the facts checked thoroughly before hand ,as the allegation proved wrong will call for defamation suit against you by the honda.


i am with the dealer,in such things as legal suit ,the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst.

may good winds go with you.

Sir,i request you to please read the post carefully. the car has 6 defects(body paint).checking has been done carefully (from last 2months).honda has sold a defective car which can be clearly seen from the pictures in the thread.

We would like to know what kind of defamation suit can be filed?i think if you are with a dealer you will be able to explain the above point.

[PatienceWins]

Originally Posted by kaizen

Have the facts checked thoroughly before hand ,as the allegation proved wrong will call for defamation suit against you by the honda.


i am with the dealer,in such things as legal suit ,the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst.

may good winds go with you.

What are you trying to convey? Are you saying that sharing experience in a public forum would call for defamation suit or the affected person should not go legally?

I do not think the dealer follows kiazen techniques like the japanese manufacturer.

Please get some good winds to the affected person instead of hampering the spirits at the wrong place. Are you related to honda in any way?

[MaserQ]

Originally Posted by kaizen

Have the facts checked thoroughly before hand ,as the allegation proved wrong will call for defamation suit against you by the honda.

i am with the dealer,in such things as legal suit ,the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst.

may good winds go with you.

kaizen, since you have not posted an introduction, let me on behalf of team-bhp, welcome you on board. I hope you have a long and fruitful stay with us!

As for your above post, let me just say that justice is and should be blind.

Meanwhile, I sincerely hope Honda and its dealers are on their intended path of continuous improvement..we do not and will not expect anything less!