[mpuri]

Such is the might of Hyundai dealers in New Delhi that they dare to sell Test Drive vehicles in place of brand new ones.

We are first time Hyundai buyers. We still have Honda and Toyota vehicles and are extremely satisfied with their Customer service and quality of their products. We thought of trying Hyundai this time around. The new Sonata appeared to be a good car. Hence, we got in touch with Mr. Sanjay Kapoor, GM, Sales, Rishabh Huyndai, Okhla, New Delhi.

We got to test-drive the car on 17th June 2012 before booking it on 18th June 2012. Mr. Sanjay Kapoor along with Mr. Akil Khan, both representatives of Sales team from Rishabh Hyundai, came to our residence for the test drive. After the test-drive they explained the various features of the car and especially helped us in pairing our phones using the Bluetooth feature of the car. We were successful in pairing the phones and as a result the car stored our phone names as a paired Bluetooth device.

My parents took delivery of the car on 18th July 2012. I was NOT able to go as I had to leave for Australia the very same day.

Upon returning back home on 04th August 2012 I came to know that the new car was NOT driven at all in my absence. It was driven only from the showroom to our residence. It still had an odometer reading of 150 kms... unusual for a brand new car.

Anyway, out of happiness and curiosity upon seeing the new car I thought of exploring the features and getting my phone paired with the Bluetooth feature of the new car. To my disappointment I found that the capacity of the car to hold paired Bluetooth devices was already full. This was again a bit strange for a brand new car.

Upon attempting to delete some of the paired devices I saw my father's phone name, my phone's name, Mr. Sanjay Kapoor's phone name (Dj Sans), Mr. Akil Khan's phone name (Nokia) and another phone's name as a paired Bluetooth device that the car's memory had in store. It was very alarming to see our phone's name already paired with the Bluetooth feature of what I thought to be a NEW car. This is when I realized that we have been sold the same car that we had previously test-driven.

I realised we were cheated and were lied to all along from booking to delivery by Rishabh Huyndai's Sales Team. After booking I got regular calls from Mr. Sanjay Kapoor and Mr. Akil Khan about the status of our booking, dispatch of our vehicle from the Chennai factory of Hyundai Motor India Ltd. and receiving the car here in Delhi by Rishabh Huyndai. But, this was all a drama.

I suppose "lying to your first-time customers" is a habit of Rishabh Hyundai's sales team members. I called Mr. Sanjay Kapoor on 05th August 2012 and complained about the misdeed they had done. It was very easy for him to obviously deny, initially but, then he called again on 10th August 2012 and agreed that this in fact is the same vehicle that we had test-driven. Mr. Kapoor was not coming to office due to his grand father's illness and so our case was hanging with no one taking responsibility.

I expected HMIL to be a customer-friendly company and I hoped that HMIL will look into the matter. I had emailed HMIL on cr@hmil.net on 05th August 2012 but got no response. Finally, I called there Customer Care number and lodged a complaint on 11th August 2012.

Rishabh Hyundai's, so called, GM Corporate Sales, Mr. Kul Bhushan Malhotra called me the following week and requested a meeting. He wanted to compensate us for their fraudulent act but we clearly refused. After another meeting with Mr. Malhotra, Rishabh Hyundai proposed to replace the car with a new one as an alternative to compensation that we had denied. But, we are not completely sure whether we should accept their offer or just demand to be given our money back. I am skeptical about the level of service they will provide after the sale. If this how to they treat their customers before sale then I cannot even imagine what could be the level of service after the sale.

So much for HMIL not a single call from them or apology email. May be I am expecting too much out of these superficial-customer-friendly car companies. May be Hyundai dealers are not yet trained to cater to customers of luxury vehicles or may be it is the same with all car dealers and companies they just take chances. We were lucky that I was able to find out about the used car. As per Rishabh Hyundai they had completed the sale with their cake-cutting ceremony.

Extremely disappointed!

Mohnish

Car specifications:
Make: Hundai
Model: Sonata (NEW)
V.I.N. - MALEC41DMCM010255
Engine No. - G4KJC4708624
Delivery date: 18-July-2012
Dealer's name: Rishabh Huyndai, E-46/14, Okhla Phase-2 Main Road, New Delhi-110020, Ph: 011-43433000.
Owner Rishabh Hyundai: Mr. Jain
Contact person: K.B. Malhotra, Sanjay Kapoor, GM, Sales, Rishabh Huyndai, Okhla, New Delhi.

[Tapish]

Sad to hear about this Mohnish.
No way you should accept a replacement car. Take your money back, and buy the same car from elsewhere. There is no dearth of Hyundai dealers.
Better still, go back to toyota/ Honda - brands that you trust well.

Cheers,
Taps

[josejoseph]

Hi Mohnish, sorry to hear about your unfortunate incident.

As Tapish mentioned, get your money back, buy car from another dealer and also file a complaint with consumer court. So that they do not cheat another unsuspecting customer.

Regards,
Jose.

[GullwingGT]

That's really shocking that to when some one is buying a premium vehicle,if Hyundai is not really concerned about such behavior of the dealers than they will never establish in the premium segment.I am really unsure about whether they would give your amount without any hassles.Just wait for senior BHPians to answer.

[sagarpadaki]

This is atrocious!!!!! Write a mail to Hyundai and include a link to this thread in the mail too! That should start their lazy bottoms moving! Get a refund of you full money or if you are happy with the car get a brand new piece from factory !!

[Ford5]

If i were you I'd have gone straight into the showroom and drove a new vehicle out leaving behind what was sold to you. For Godsake... Anyways I think your patience has paid off. Demand for a DD from them with all the money you have paid them, and side by side inform them that you've informed your lawyer and are taking his legal advice on how to proceed.

This will probably make them hurry up.

[joshuakeys]

Its better to take the compensation, which the dealer is ready to pay, and cont worry about the after sales, you have loads of hyundai Service centers. BTW why do you wanted to try Hyundai when u have driven the best in the market?

If possible cancel the deal & go back to Toyota. They are the best till date.

[Nitrous Power]

Didn't you ask them for the VIN to make sure that you are getting fresh vehicle? Anyway, I would not accept replacement vehicle and would demand for full refund and settle for something else. If it has to be Sonata then some other dealer. By the way, you mentioned that you are happy with Toyota/Honda service then why not wait for New Toyota Camry? It is right around the corner and is much improved car over last generation. On top of it, it is expected to be CKD. So, pricing should be competitive as well.

[vikramv007]

Get the money back and buy the new Camry. Nothing can beat the Toyota experience be it reliability, *** or customer service.

[suhaas307]

I'm sorry if I sound blunt here, but you can't blame anyone but yourself!

Team-BHP has always advocated the practice of undertaking PDIs. You will often find several threads with this mentioned. In fact, D-BHPian Wildon can even decode the car's VIN-number for you ASAP.

Car companies will always try and palm-off such cars at dealerships. Sure, it's unforgivable. But you must remember, it's a business for them and they will go to great lengths in order to squeeze as much profit out of it as they can.

Being a BHPian, I'm a little surprised that you didn't take these seemingly mundane yet crucial steps. We as a community are known to be more knowledgeable and aware of such things.

No matter. Now is the time to take corrective measures. Follow up with your dealership and take it up with the higher-ups if need be.

There is a lesson to be learnt from this.

EDIT: Looks like Hyundai is ready to make amends. Why don't you accept the new car from them?

[ninjatalli]

@mpuri - let me be very candid out here.

1. You did not do your part completely by trusting the dealer entirely without doing a thorough PDI and other checks. I agree you weren't in town, but the checks could have been managed/planned a few days earlier, or you could have advised your father/friends to do the same.

2. If you believe that all dealers in India do not try to sell of their TD vehicles, then wake up. They do. Some do it upright, mentioning the same to the buyer and providing appropriate discounts/offers, the majority try to take the shortcut. As a buyer, it is our prime role to not to fall in that trap.

3. The dealer has acknowledged his fault and is ready to provide you with an alternate vehicle. And I trust, at no extra cost. This is quite a good step on their part. Maybe what I'm suggesting are w.r.t lower expectations than you, but if you really like this vehicle (model) over the choices in the market, then take up their offer of a new vehicle, ensure a proper PDI is done and get it done.

4. HMIL might not have reverted back to you, but in light of the dealer's actions, I believe they would have contacted them and hence their offer to you.

5. Lastly, if you still feel you can't trust this dealer for after sales service, then go to a different one for service aspects. There is nothing stopping you on that or any rule that states you need to stick to the same dealer!

Hope this helps.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

When you did a TD of a car without designated TD stickers/ badges- didn't you realise it would be sold to someone eventually? Unfortunately in this case, that someone is you.

I would say you are lucky that the dealer has accepted this and is ready to offer a new car. There have been cases where people have not been so fortunate.

[aka_iitd]

I suggest to get a new car from Rishabh Hyundai to close the case ASAP and enjoy your vehicle
Make sure to use BHP's list and VIN number check to ensure every thing is correct
If possible avoid Rishabh Hyundai service center

[sourabhzen]

I have a query to all BHPians. In whose name is the test drive vehicle registered?

I believe it is in Dealer's name as all the TD vehicles I have driven were registered in someone's name.

In this particular case if the TD vehicle was being driven around with Registration plate than the car Mohnish got must have the RC with serial no of owner as 2, making it a second hand car. If it was being driven with 'in -transit' number plates then the dealer was driving the car illegally. Please advise.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

I believe it is in Dealer's name as all the TD vehicles I have driven were registered in someone's name.

Usually such vehicles are driven with temporary / trade number plates.

If a test drive vehicle is registered, it is sold with a discount since RC would show new owner as second owner.