[i74js]

Justice delayed is justice denied - when we say this, we are equally responsible for making sure that the incidents are reported and the errant is brought to justice.

- There was a phone call with wrong description of damage followed by ridiculous response from the dealership on the damage, this should have been enough for taking the next step.

- Has it been escalated to Nissan principals in India?

- An FIR and legal notice should also be done parallel; inform the insurance company about the incident and if the insurance was taken from the dealership along with the car, it is even more important

Some observations:

Law may have shortcomings but Consumer Courts are not all that bad in India, things are improving now and people have been happy with most of settlements through consumer courts.

Social Media for sure can do trust damage for Nissan in this case, please use it but make sure that all facts are presented with proof, you have few with you. I am sure Nissan is not looking at something like this, more so I have observed Japanese being less ridiculous compared to Europeans when it comes to consumer satisfaction (my personal view and nothing against anyone as such)

Keep records of all communications written or oral (including telephone calls with numbers from where you received the call, the person who called up, approximate duration and summary of discussions) - your lawyer will appreciate the value of such efforts

Don't loose temper at anyone whatsoever, being calm is the best option after the legal battle is on, it can well be lawyers from the other side

Be open for out of court settlements if it is anywhere close to what you expect, mind it out of court is swift and result driven. Do not pull out from legal resource based on promises, unless things are done / executed in actual.

Cheers

[aaggoswami]

From my experience, companies would just post comment on social media pages like on Facebook, but that will never be concrete, just standard replies. Due to poor judicial system, these manufacturers can sell whatever they want and yet have audacity to act as per their own wish.

Nissan wont help you much in this matter it seems. Ask the dealer to claim total loss for the car, and the only hit car owner takes is so called "Depreciation loss". Nissan would just direct you dealer who is the culprit in the first place.
The car has suffered significant damage which might not be visible to our eyes but the front left suspension seems to have completely collapsed. The monocoque would certainly be affected without any doubt. And do not claim insurance for repairs, go for total loss. If the car was offered by insurance which is offered by dealer, the dealer can help you get "total loss" for the car.

Dont spend energy in fighting, try to cover your loss via insurance, get another car which is reputed to give better service and act more responsibly.
The actual people who are supposedly the one responsible for such actions leading to accident would get away with impunity.

[sagpatel]

your friend simply should ask for a new car. You have mentioned that the car is just six months old, the dealer will have a few sunnys from late 2014 batch (probably december) since sunny is not as fast moving as some of the other brands. This way your friend will not have to shell out extra money (may be some).
And in no way he should agree for repair work as there seems to be a lot of damage which is due to dealer's mistake.

[Amarkarthi]

Originally Posted by chaudh2s

Let me cite an analogy.

Accept it as a normal accident case which can happen anywhere, on the road, at your house, at a garage, anywhere. Get the car repaired and then based upon quality of work done and your own satisfaction level, either keep it or sell it.
This would be my honest suggestion.

I apologise at the first if my reply is being rude. You analogy can be practically okay for a person for whom the car in context is just one another in his life, but can never be for someone who had loved possessing it and I'm also sure the owner of this car can never get to the level of practicality what you are talking as it is just 6 months old.

And also I would never term this as an accident and this is an incident that has happened merely because the service center didn't treat its customer's car the way it has to be treated with. Letting this pass off as an accident and settling it without giving them the required blow either legally or monetarily would turn up supporting their lethargy of handling customers and their cars in the near future, and this is my personal opinion. So all I would suggest the owner is to file a legal complaint for the Service center's reckless attitude (though local Police would push the either parties to settle out of the legal boundaries) and use all the ethical ways to get this to the notice of Nissan which should be easy as the owner hails from Chennai where their plant and corporate business unit functions from.

[rockporiom]

I am not sure about nissan but in Honda and Maruti the slip that they make us sign while giving the car for service clearly mentions that the dealership will not be responsible for any kind of damage that is caused to the vehicle while it is with them. In short it says service at owners risk. That is the reason i never leave my car alone with the service center As far as possible.

The only option is to work with the dealer to declare the car as a total loss And ask the dealer to pay the difference amount. This will reduce their loss and if the car has a 0 dep policy or return to invoice almost all the money would anyway come back.

If your friend has signed the slip he has basically given them a clean chit for any damage that has been caused to the car by the dealership while the car was with them

[ajaypjayaraj]

Originally Posted by rockporiom

If your friend has signed the slip he has basically given them a clean chit for any damage that has been caused to the car by the dealership while the car was with them

Does that mean the customer will simply do nothing when his new car is totally wrecked like this? Can't a good lawyer still fight it out despite of customer signing that document?

[rockporiom]

Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj

Does that mean the customer will simply do nothing when his new car is totally wrecked like this? Can't a good lawyer still fight it out despite of customer signing that document?

Don't get me wrong. The reply that they sent was simply pathetic and this is not the way the situation should have been handled in the first place.

I remember when i had given my dzire for service i had a talk with the manager of the service center about what they do in case a car meets with an accident. He showed a white dzire standing which had its bumper damaged by the service center. The owner of the car had a heated argument but the only option they provided him was that they would bear 50% of the repair cost and the remaining he would have to bear if he didn't want to claim insurance. The document that we sign protects them from such incidents and leaves their liability limited in such an incident.

He also told me about a wagonr in which my service advisor had met with an accident. The car was totalled and the only option for the owner was to claim insurance and declare a total loss. The SA was lucky to get out alive since the car got crushed. The accident was caused by a truck taking a wrong turn or something like that where the SA was not at fault.

[Epic]

Originally Posted by kiku007

Seriously? You are expecting a Car Dealership to refund the Owner's taxi bills? Buddy, he'll be blessed if they don't charge him parking charges after three weeks

Well surprising as it may seem, dealers do refund taxi bills. My VW Polo was at an authorized dealer for repairs for 21 days and since they did not have a spare car, they compensated me with Rs. 1200 per day.

[prithm]

I am not sure if the owner of the car has done anything through legal channels, but

1. He has to hire a criminal / consumer protection lawyer IMMEDIATELY.
2. He has to file an FIR at the earliest in the nearest Police Station and get it in record. (This is for the insurance and court formalities in near future).
3. Go to consumer court and file for damages and negligence on the dealer.
4. He has to ask the dealer for the insurance company that covers them and see if they cover for the damage of property and any liabilities.
5. Should not take this car back from dealer at any cost.
6. Never fall for the sweet talks and intimidations by the dealer.

Businesses now days are emboldened by the fact that people do not have time and resources to fight it out in court. This though is the ultimate truth, should not be taken lightly. Customers now days are treated as beggars. If you don't believe, try visiting one of the middle class restaurants and see the arrogance of servers, they behave as if you are there begging for alms.

Sad, but our legal system works at its leisure, but it does works its charm in few cases.

Best of luck.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by rockporiom

----- the slip that they make us sign while giving the car for service clearly mentions that the dealership will not be responsible for any kind of damage that is caused to the vehicle while it is with them. In short it says service at owners risk.
If your friend has signed the slip he has basically given them a clean chit for any damage that has been caused to the car by the dealership while the car was with them

Not at all. They may write anything they want; it simply does not absolve them from their responsibility. The law will decide the case on its merit rather than the slip you signed.
Here's an interesting thread on this topic:http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...verywhere.html

Regards.

[Amarkarthi]

Originally Posted by rockporiom

I remember when i had given my dzire for service i had a talk with the manager of the service center about what they do in case a car meets with an accident. He showed a white dzire standing which had its bumper damaged by the service center. The owner of the car had a heated argument but the only option they provided him was that they would bear 50% of the repair cost and the remaining he would have to bear if he didn't want to claim insurance. The document that we sign protects them from such incidents and leaves their liability limited in such an incident.

He also told me about a wagonr in which my service advisor had met with an accident. The car was totalled and the only option for the owner was to claim insurance and declare a total loss. The SA was lucky to get out alive since the car got crushed. The accident was caused by a truck taking a wrong turn or something like that where the SA was not at fault.

The Jobcard undertaking that a customer signs is something which can't be held up legally in favour of the Service center to damage customer's car. I had seen a couple of posts in Team BHP which I couldn't locate now where a Fiesta of a fellow BHPian met with an accident while in the service center and the service center finally gave him a new car, though after a legal battle.

I have also had a personal experience though it is not for a car but for my dad's TVS Jive motorcycle which was damaged by one of the mechanics in the TVS authorised service center when he took it out for lunch. The service center gave us two options either to claim the insurance and get it repaired else a 50-50 share. When we objected the same sort of replies citing the job card came and we didn't accept. A legal notice from a lawyer who is a good friend of mine stating that the job card is a no legal document worked in favor of us and they gave us a new bike for which we had to pay just the difference amount (depreciation for 6 months which was the age of my dad's bike).

Probably a common man who doesn't have the patience and will to fight would budge for such Service center's threatening statements like this citing the undertaking.

[rockporiom]

Originally Posted by Amarkarthi

The Jobcard undertaking that a customer signs is something which can't be held up legally in favour of the Service center to damage customer's car. I had seen a couple of posts in Team BHP which I couldn't locate now where a Fiesta of a fellow BHPian met with an accident while in the service center and the service center finally gave him a new car, though after a legal battle.

I have also had a personal experience though it is not for a car but for my dad's TVS Jive motorcycle which was damaged by one of the mechanics in the TVS authorised service center when he took it out for lunch. The service center gave us two options either to claim the insurance and get it repaired else a 50-50 share. When we objected the same sort of replies citing the job card came and we didn't accept. A legal notice from a lawyer who is a good friend of mine stating that the job card is a no legal document worked in favor of us and they gave us a new bike for which we had to pay just the difference amount (depreciation for 6 months which was the age of my dad's bike).

Probably a common man who doesn't have the patience and will to fight would budge for such Service center's threatening statements like this citing the undertaking.

Hmm. So the document holds no legal value as such that is good to hear. So its just there to get an upper hand in a case of an accident to scare the customer And reduce any damge the ASC would have to face? That is disgusting.

But in this case seeing the extent of damage won't the car anyway be declared as a total loss? The engine is the costliest part and if that is totalled the additional parts would just help in making the car a total loss. It would be great if the OP could post some details about the insurance policy as to if it had 0 dep and Return to invoice. If the car had either of this it would reduce the damage to a great extent.

I am not in favour of the dealership giving a new car why would the customer want a car from a company that has treated him so badly. I would rather suggest make it a total loss take the cash and get another car. The dealership should pay the difference amount between what the insurance company gives and what the car costed initially minus the depreciation of six months. They should also pay for the mental stress caused to the customer.

[MS_Auto]

Something that many of us tend to overlook.

Insurance companies evaluate premium keeping in mind their profitability. This in turn is a difference between their costs & revenues. One of the biggest components to their cost is insurance claim.

Claims like these on the vehicle insurers, increase the overall cost base for the insurer.
This has to & will be compensated by increasing revenues...i.e.: premium paid by owners.

While this is just an example, the impact of claims for incidents like these & also the increase in accidents across the board can be easily felt if we compare the increase in premiums over a period of time.

[hemant.kamat]

Originally Posted by rockporiom

If your friend has signed the slip he has basically given them a clean chit for any damage that has been caused to the car by the dealership while the car was with them

My colleague had his 2-year old Honda City damaged by the ASC. Apparently, it fell off while being lowered from the ramp and suffered significant damage to the front (bumper, wheel, drive-shaft) necessitating repairs of around 80k. Honda put the blame squarely on the ASC and absolved themselves of any liability. Initially the ASC tried flouting the waiver he had signed while handing over the car, but my colleague argued that as the vehicle was in their custody and without photo/video evidence and no police FIR, he had no way of ascertaining the facts - whether it had actually fallen off the ramp as the ASC claimed, or whether the damages were from an accident outside the service center due to the ASC misusing his vehicle without his knowledge. He also threatened to publish in the local newspaper and file an lawsuit against the owner of the ASC.

Finally, the ASC agreed to bear the entire repair cost - all damaged parts were to be outright replaced with no bodywork or painting, and offered him a 5 year (Honda) warranty starting from the date of the accident.

[frewper]

Originally Posted by joshguy

Hi All,

This has happened to my friend Naresh Sridhar.....

A vehicle that has been in a crash and has damaged its structure is never safe.
It cannot take another impact very well. The crumple zones are compromised and it cannot be fixed as new.

To explain why a repaired vehicle should not be accepted at all, see this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjxM9chAe1k