[Salikt]

Hi Bhpians,

Thought to share with you guys the news that I watched on 'Meidaone' TV. BMW Cochin showroom is cheating customers by selling old(2011) cars as new(2012) and saving almost a 1 million rupees on each.

Link

http://www.mediaonetv.in/news/3444/sun-03172013-1720

[junaid12345678]

It seems like all the BMW dealerships do something white collared in the greed to earn more profit or just try to dumb whatever in their hands over the poor customer. Our fellow Bhpian mohandasnikhil had similar experience from Navnit Motors, http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...rs-mumbai.html

[clevermax]

Can't believe these kinds of games happening with luxury car dealers! But one question - can't knowledgeable customers figure it out when they are trying to sell an older model in the name of a new one?

If this is true, it must get a wider visibility in this forum.

[junaid12345678]

Yes, its a fact that the knowledgeable customers can do good for themselves but being
a customer of a premium automobile do they really bother to do so? Here in Kerala most buyers of the premium class won't do so, just making the task easier for the dealers.

[pganapathy]

There is also another concern with CKD kits. The date stamped on it is when the vehicle is originally manufactured at their plant in say Germany or wherever. It is the shipped to India and assembled a few months later so that date can be a bit misleading. You may think you are getting a six month old car but the vehicle may just have been put together a short while back at their Indian plant.

That said, this sounds like a clear case of cheating by the dealers in the pursuit of greed to "get rich quick".

The sad thing is a lot of companies overlook these practices until they get publicized in the media because it is proftable for them. The dealer is successful and so business keeps coming in.

[parsh]

It is quite surprising to see even high rated, renowned automotive manufacturers and their dealerships adopting such tactics even in this age of transparency.

1. While the dealership may be brought to light having doing such things, what about the manufacturers? Aren't they responsible for their dealerships and isn't it apt to term that the respective manufacturers don't care what malpractices happen at their own dealerships in pursuit of profitability? So isn't it the manufacturing company's responsibility in first place to see that such things do not happen at their dealerships?

2. Many on the forum may be knowledgeable about such malpractices and may be able to take pre-emptive measures when they go for vehicles. But it is not the case with many a common people out there who blindly trust into such high rated manufacturers and their dealerships just on the name and end up buying into them only to reveal later that they are cheated, defrauded.

3. It should be apt to expect that the dealership being a direct face and mouthpiece of respective manufacturer apprises the prospective customer of all aspects, manufacturing, importing, assembling and delivery with respect to the manufacturing times so that there is no confusion. This is a customer-centric market where Customer Is The Kind and should be treated like one instead of Seller's market where anything and everything can and will be sold to the customer. The onus should be put on both the dealership and manufacturer and penalize them for any such malpractices strictly treating these as cases of defrauding customers.

4. It is possible that there is lot of time bygone by the time things are manufactured, imported, assembled and delivered to the end customer. But still there cannot be a gross time lapse of 3-6-12 months even, could hardly be a month or two at best.

5. There is strong policing and actions required on such malpractices so that even commoners do not get defrauded by such high rated manufacturers and their dealerships. In such cases instead of just throwing mud at the dealerships and manufacturers, media can help in directing and helping actions properly rather than just publicize and broadcast for own publicity/TRP.

[joybhowmik]

Originally Posted by parsh

It is quite surprising to see even high rated, renowned automotive manufacturers and their dealerships adopting such tactics even in this age of transparency.

Could not agree more. I would think this is a clear case of conspiracy with criminal intent, and if the Indian operations of BMW and the dealers are indeed guilty , suitable penalties including jail-time for the promoters is well-deserved.

At the very least, the respective central and state government departments responsible to issue final licenses to BMW and the dealerships , should immediately launch an enquiry into the matter across the country.

[vb-saan]

IMO, it’s a bit too early to arrive at a conclusion (of cheating) based on this news bit. I believe CKD cars have different build/manufactured date and assembly date. What if the said owner is making a statement without knowing this difference? To get away with a fraud practice like this for 50 odd cars is quite unlikely.

[josejoseph]

My cousin uploaded this pic in his FB album.

[Yeldo]

If true, this is most shocking. The owner of the dealership does not have a stellar reputation; there were many, many complaints about his now defunct Tata dealership. People who buy Tatas are not that rich or influential to fight such a well connected dealer, but to hope that you can emulate the same on BMW owners, is like hoping to get away with robbery in daylight.

In the pursuit of sales numbers and market leadership, are BMW India not holding their channel participants on a tight leash?

[VeyronSuperSprt]

A Kochi based BMW dealer (there is only one) has been found by the transport commissioner selling several old cars as new by altering the year of manufacture in records. The transport commissioner deputed a vigilance team on the basis of a complaint filed by a customer who had bought a BMW X3 through the dealer in June of last year. It is alleged that it was found out later that the vehicle was of 2011 make. The vigilance team had submitted a report that vehicles were sold in a similar manner to several others as well.

While the enquiry was going on, the dealer approached the transport commissioner on November and the minister allegedly issued an order to "stop the enquiry against the BMW dealer without conducting further enquiry". The transport commissioner's order said the enquiry is being dropped on the direction of the minister.

The customer approached the High Court which stayed the transport commissioner's order which said the enquiry is being dropped on the direction of the transport minister.

Watch this space.

Link

[HillMan]

Wow! too bad. Didn't expect high end car dealers to stoop this low. I always thought the cars were imported after the customer placed an order.

[pacman2881]

Things like VIN verification won't help in these cases? Or did the dealer tamper with that too?
Considering this is possible by any other dealer, what are the ways we can cross check?

[deepclutch]

this news opened to media last year. and here is a old thread about this IINM:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...lder-cars.html
another report:
http://www.newindianexpress.com/stat...cle1943054.ece

[VeyronSuperSprt]

The Kerala High Court issued the order yesterday.