A fishy offer from Honda dealer for ANHC

[psp62in]

In August, when I decided to but ANHC, I was in touch with various Honda dealers in Mumbai, to see if any of them had ANHC-AT for sale. They confirmed me that ANHC-AT was not available since 2 months, all of them, well almost!

One of the dealers came back with an offer. He told me that he had two ANHC-AT "new| cars for sale. When I probed for more details, and was told the following:
1. The two cars had run 5000 and 10000 km
2. The first one was early 2009 vehicle and second one late 2008.
3. They were reportedly in immaculate condition
4. Both the cars were still "new" because they were still NOT registered, so any buyer would get these registered as the first(?) owner.
5. They wont explain how these vehicles had run so much that too without registration)
6. For the so many kms run, the dealer was offering a discount of Rs. 35K and 50K respectively on the OTR price.

I did not like the offer, firstly because for the KMs run, the discount was miniscule (coupled with the fact that these two cars must have been come to the dealer at pre-April 2009 prices, which were about 30K less than Aug09 list price) and I was very uncomfortable to see a dealer trying to sell a so called "new" vehicle. And I also realized that with unknown history, I wont have the peace of mind later.

I then decided that even if a higher discount was to be offered, I would not be lured by it. I also decided not to deal with these guys any more. (Ultimately I bought ANHC-MT from a different dealer).

Did I make a right decison? It depends on how you look at it.
For the dealer -- sure he will find some one else to sell these cars to.

But, I am still curious on how a Honda dealer can have the "new" unregistered vehicles in his showroom which are showing a few thousand kms on the odo. How an unregistered vehicle can run so much? And what are the risks a buyer taking if he falls for such a deal.

[frankmehta]

Maybe ran on a temporary plate as a demo car??? And the dealer conveniently hid that from you? You made the right CHOICE!

[maglev]

It seems like a clear a case, where in both the cars were used as test-drive vehicles & now they are being sold as new. Many dealers do this to get the maximum amount for these cars. Also since a New Honda City is around the corner they need to change the test drive vehicles as well, hence the offer.

[Fountainheader]

Originally Posted by frankmehta

Maybe ran on a temporary plate as a demo car??? And the dealer conveniently hid that from you? You made the right CHOICE!

+1

Right choice indeed. Peace of mind guaranteed ?

[ajmat]

Dealers do run cars on dealer plates for personal or test cars. Retained for deprriciation benefits and sold to friends. Single owner means finance is easy. We were offered one recently as compensation for a dmaged honda

[prince_pervez]

I think you made the right choice. I think he should have honestly said that they were demo cars and offered you atleast, atleast 1 to 1.5 L discount. And yes I am dreaming.

[ikoneer]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

I think you made the right choice. I think he should have honestly said that they were demo cars and offered you atleast, atleast 1 to 1.5 L discount. And yes I am dreaming.

Yes that's what normally happens. I guess the car does not get sold by the dealer directly but sent to their second-hand sales department.

I saw a NHC CVT AT for sale at TVS motors, chennai and they said it was the demo car used by Sundaram Honda and selling it off after the ANHC came.

[vasudeva]

Demo cars should be usually considered only as a last preference, and that too at a much higher discount. Why:
1. possibility of some dents, etc which have been repainted.
2. the more the people that drive the car, the worse off it is (my personal experience and a very useful advice from my father in law). This is regardless of their driving style or habits.

[Spitfire]

You should name the Dealer so other's are alerted.

[blackasta]

The cars in question are in no way 'new' ones, so go for them only if you get deep discounts (1.5 - 2 Lakhs) and free extended warranties for 3rd/4th yr.

[psp62in]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

You should name the Dealer so other's are alerted.

I did not name the dealer because all the discussion was only verbal. The sales guy told me that he could not give further details as instructed by his bosses. In case the info becomes public, they will simply deny and the poor sales guy may become a scapegoat. (To their credit, the dealer atleast did not make attempt to reset the ODO).

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by psp62in

I did not name the dealer because all the discussion was only verbal.

If that's not fishy i don't know what is. LOL.

[puneet8796]

You made the right decision by not buying the so called new vehicles. In all probability they were TD vehicles and they would have been lemon if you would have taken the dealers offer.

In A/T did you try Hyundai Verna A/T. A friend of mine has it and the review is very good.

[srinivas9446]

Originally Posted by psp62in

In August, when I decided to but ANHC, I was in touch with various Honda dealers in Mumbai, to see if any of them had ANHC-AT for sale. They confirmed me that ANHC-AT was not available since 2 months, all of them, well almost!

One of the dealers came back with an offer. He told me that he had two ANHC-AT "new| cars for sale. When I probed for more details, and was told the following:
1. The two cars had run 5000 and 10000 km
2. The first one was early 2009 vehicle and second one late 2008.
3. They were reportedly in immaculate condition
4. Both the cars were still "new" because they were still NOT registered, so any buyer would get these registered as the first(?) owner.
5. They wont explain how these vehicles had run so much that too without registration)
6. For the so many kms run, the dealer was offering a discount of Rs. 35K and 50K respectively on the OTR price.

I did not like the offer, firstly because for the KMs run, the discount was miniscule (coupled with the fact that these two cars must have been come to the dealer at pre-April 2009 prices, which were about 30K less than Aug09 list price) and I was very uncomfortable to see a dealer trying to sell a so called "new" vehicle. And I also realized that with unknown history, I wont have the peace of mind later.

I then decided that even if a higher discount was to be offered, I would not be lured by it. I also decided not to deal with these guys any more. (Ultimately I bought ANHC-MT from a different dealer).

Did I make a right decison? It depends on how you look at it.
For the dealer -- sure he will find some one else to sell these cars to.

But, I am still curious on how a Honda dealer can have the "new" unregistered vehicles in his showroom which are showing a few thousand kms on the odo. How an unregistered vehicle can run so much? And what are the risks a buyer taking if he falls for such a deal.

Hi,

In my sense, Yes you have made a right decision.

But i also appreciate the fact that the dealer offered you and has infact told you the history of the cars. This, to a large extent shows that the dealer is truthful and has tried to be of some service to you. It shows that the dealer has not tried any kind of mischief with you.

what else is required, he has told you the fact, forget what the cars were used for earlier, demo or whatever. Do we really get to know the real history when we buy used cars ?

And again it was not any kind of pressure on you to take the cars he offered. Coming to the discount part, i think he has told you what he could...you could have probably discussed more on this if you were interested.

Finally, i personally feel that there is no need for this discussion when you are done with the buying of the car...Right ! just think over.

[sgiitk]

A very apt title - fishy.

I will just add a couple of words which I think are appropriate - IT STINKS