[ram_hyundai]

ok mohit ,
there is nothing like un marked td vehicles .those are customers vehicles only.every dealer has to have a td vehicle of each model but thats not for every city.it is applicable for each dealer code.so if there is a dealer selling vehicles at x city and he is given a code for that and he is selling in y city too ,he need not have to have a td vehicle at y as he does not have a seperate dealer code for that city.a genuine td car is a car regn in the dealer name and has a normal number plate with demo car stickers on it.all other cars are new cars which would be sold to customers.so next time you are offered a test drive please insist on the demo car and if thats not happening please get in touch with the top management of the dealership so that we can slowly eradicate this problem which is prevailing across the nation.
ram

[gemithomas]

All of you out there can be sure that your car has been driven around by the showroom guys. Now whether they have given it for other customers to use it as TD cars, it depends on whether you give them the chance to do that. THe only thing you could do is to ask for a car from the next lot and get it out of their nasty hands before they get to do nasty things with someone elses car. THe DEMO car Sticker is just a sticker. Even those cars are sold to customers when there is a shortage. And even if the DEMO car is parked right in front of you. THe sales guys prefer to give you a new car to drive since most DEMO cars are very badly maintianed and if you know about cars you would realise how your car would behave after some good running. But believe me. Your car will not be spoilt by a few nasty sales guys of a few TD drivers. Else most of the cars out here would have been giving frequent problems.

[hellspawn]

why not tell the showroom guys that you have changed your mind and dont want a silver car..opt for another colour.this way you might get some assurity.
The other possibility could be that some other customer had ordered for a silver i10 and decided to cancel his order at the last minute leaving them with a silver i10 whch now they will give to you.

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by mithun

Don't trust the Popular guys...That's the only warning that I can give !

When Swift was launched, Indus Motors(Cochin) once gave me a customer's car which was meant for delivery the very next day as the TD car(with the odo disconnected !).

According to the swift service manual, the engine will not start if the instrument cluster is disconnected. Also in the swift the speedo and odo are not driven by cables. They are controlled by the ecu directly. There is only one multi-pin cable that controls the instrument cluster in the swift.

During your test drive did any of the instrument cluster lights work (for eg indicator lights, start sequence lights etc.) If they did then the odo would not have been disconnected.

[mithun]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

According to the swift service manual, the engine will not start if the instrument cluster is disconnected. Also in the swift the speedo and odo are not driven by cables. They are controlled by the ecu directly. There is only one multi-pin cable that controls the instrument cluster in the swift.

During your test drive did any of the instrument cluster lights work (for eg indicator lights, start sequence lights etc.) If they did then the odo would not have been disconnected.

None of the instrument cluster lights was working and also the Tacho !

[gemithomas]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

According to the swift service manual, the engine will not start if the instrument cluster is disconnected. Also in the swift the speedo and odo are not driven by cables. They are controlled by the ecu directly. There is only one multi-pin cable that controls the instrument cluster in the swift.

During your test drive did any of the instrument cluster lights work (for eg indicator lights, start sequence lights etc.) If they did then the odo would not have been disconnected.

I think they need to update their manuals coz both the DDIS ones that i test drove had its speedometer and tacho not working. And they were brand new just to be delivered...and the one with all the demo car stickers were lying just in front of me but they did not let me drive it saying that there was no fuel!!

[HappyWheels]

Guys, why don't we take down the chassis number when offered a car for TD which has its speedo disconnected? Meaning, if we know that the dealer is making us use another customers car for the TD.

every one can use this list to know if their vehicle has been used for TD (provided one of our T-BHPian's did it).

Just a shot at trying ****** these ******* dealers who play around with other peoples car (money)!

[amohit]

Simpler idea, why cant we being responsible tBhpians refuse to TD a vehicle that has its speedo disabled?

Regards,

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by mithun

None of the instrument cluster lights was working and also the Tacho !

Originally Posted by gemithomas

I think they need to update their manuals coz both the DDIS ones that i test drove had its speedometer and tacho not working. And they were brand new just to be delivered...and the one with all the demo car stickers were lying just in front of me but they did not let me drive it saying that there was no fuel!!

Hmm that means these guys know some tricks that the service manual doesnt mention.

[spadival]

Another point is why do people (including many TBHPians) really push the TD car to its limits when they go for TD. I mean what purpose does it serve? I mean, just because its isn't their car doesn't mean it needs to be driven to destruction. No wonder the TD cars with the dealer are in a bad shape and they are sometimes forced to give customer's car for TD.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Quick glance at the plastic covers that come from factory or the floor well trims (check all the 4 sides) will reveal if it indeed was a test drive car.

Thats good to know.. what is "floor well trim"?

[narayan]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Thats good to know.. what is "floor well trim"?

i think Jaggu is referring to the floor carpet..

i agree with what some members have mentioned that we should not accept a car which is not the dealer demo car...but how do u know that ?
do all dealer demo cars have stickers ?
is it practically possible to check the reg papers of the car to check whether its registered in dealers name ?
or can one assume that if the odo/speedo is not working then its DEFINETLY NOT A DEALER DEMO CAR ?

if some experienced hands can say this, I personally would not accept a non demo car for a TD

but its a totally different matter that i will definetly want to rip the car in terms of speed, acceleration because thats an important aspect of the TD..and i dont have any qualms about not doing that on a DEALER DEMO CAR..

im sure dealers are well paid to run demo cars and any other costs they incur towards providing TDs
so maybe if someone specifies how to identify a demo car easily, we could share feedback with the car makers whenever dealers are providing customer cars for TDs
car companies would definetly appreciate this feedback bcos as the consumer gets more conscious, car manufacturers need to be more careful about such problems not recurring

[Sandegov]

I remember one of my friends uncle bought a Qualis which was a TD vehicle and he got a heavy discount on it. I was under the impression that these showroom guys dispose the TD vehicles from time to time at cheaper price.Dint know they deliver it as new cars as well

[VIPER_SRT]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

Hmm that means these guys know some tricks that the service manual doesnt mention.

They sure do! There are so many cases in US for used car dealers tampering with the speedometers (Electronic) before selling them as "low miles" cars. They have a way around craking into the ECU and reprogram it.

[crosscap]

Originally Posted by ram_hyundai

ok mohit ,
there is nothing like un marked td vehicles .those are customers vehicles only.every dealer has to have a td vehicle of each model but thats not for every city.it is applicable for each dealer code.so if there is a dealer selling vehicles at x city and he is given a code for that and he is selling in y city too ,he need not have to have a td vehicle at y as he does not have a seperate dealer code for that city.a genuine td car is a car regn in the dealer name and has a normal number plate with demo car stickers on it.all other cars are new cars which would be sold to customers.so next time you are offered a test drive please insist on the demo car and if thats not happening please get in touch with the top management of the dealership so that we can slowly eradicate this problem which is prevailing across the nation.
ram

Hi Ram,

This was a very useful post. I didn't know all these details. I have booked a a Tata Indigo CS recently in Allahabad from Motor Sales Limited. They were giving me a vehicle which has 602 km on its odometer. I strongly denied to take that car and insisted that a new car should be built for me. They happliy agreed. I had a little argument with the sales manager of that dealer. He argued that as the demand for Indigo CS was too high in UP, he can not arrange for more than one TD vehicle. So sometimes he has sent new customer's vehicle for TD. This particular car, according to him, was sent to their Lucknow office, for some TD purpose. Motor Sales Limited indeed has an office in Lucknow. After reading your remarks, I think the sales manager didn't at least tell me a lie.