[MunnabhaiMBBS]

AFAIK, Hood is one of the portions that cannot be immaculately restored. If you opt for repairs, do make sure that they have not used unfair amount of putty to level the portion. It wont do any good in the long term. Plus, do get your vehicle assessed by an independent assessor post repairs to ensure the quality of repairs. His report can be used in future if required.

[abhi.adrenaline]

If I was in your place, I would have demanded a brand new car (As it is, car is not yet registered) and would have asked the dealer to take over the damaged car and use it for Test drives, display, whatever..

[FuelInjector]

Originally Posted by coolkid

What should I do Team-BHP?

Dude - infuriated, you should feel. To me, a dealer is an ambassador of the product irrespective of whether he manufactures it or not.

When a service guy drove my Honda out of the service bay, he inadvertently brushed my open RVM onto a facade. He immediate stepped out, went inside, wax polished it, buffed and spray painted it to normal. Though it was a minor one, i felt very comfortable than angered.

Let the drums roll and put in your case to the Renault guys. i know in the US that the dealership could get sued.

My sincere request - Please do not have "chaltha hai" attitude that few others might have, as it would embolden such dealers and leave customers at their mercy.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by fiestarry

While I commiserate with the victim and condemn the Renault outlet, I think coolkid should stop sounding so uncool.
Am sure everyone sympathises with the damage to the Kwid, it was certainly not a deliberate act. Negligent attitude of the local SC cannot immediately be ascribed to the Company. Besides, the tyre wear on the Duster isnt the same as being stranded on a lonely highway due to a kaput Duster engine.

It isnt a perfect world and it will never be; rants not withstanding. Get the tyres changed and the Kwid touched up and go on with your life. No one has died...yet !

Far poorer people than us have lost home, hearth, limb and dear ones and borne their loss with more fortitude.

Be cool kid !

Cool Kid, I'm with you. There is no way you should accept a compromise here. A new car must come from the dealership at their expense, if they do not have some sort of insurance to cover this. They can gift this car to the franchise owner to keep.



@fiestarry
Sorry, I don't agree. This is the "chalta hai" attitude that leads to these types of incidents and worse. The workshop should have insurance for this, if they skimped on it - it is the fault of Renault and the local authorities and the insurance company.

Make as much noise as possible, in every forum in the world - make use of technology, why let Google and the NSA, and the like be the ones to benefit from technology.

Right here on TBHP, you'll find many such stories and this is because we let them get away with it. This should NEVER happen again!

[RJ411]

Originally Posted by coolkid

And the Kwid would be restored to how it left their factory with specially trained body shop technicians available locally.

I left with a smile, thank you Renault.

P.S., - Carlos Ghosn! You're the boss, would love to host you in Coimbatore! Or, you host me in France.

That's something nice to hear, and hope the outcome is perfect.

Its time to change your avatar and it should reflect your name Coolkid

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by coolkid

I was offered two new tyres for the Duster as the vehicles in the initial lot faced problems with the tyres and had it replaced. Plus I was also told all the other problems with my Duster overlooked by the dealership would be rectified, more of that on a separate thread.

Our first gen duster got its free pair of new tyres at 32k and those two with the remaining good ones have lasted till 73k kms. What I understand is that there is a difference in the alignment readings of the first batch and the later ones and only the service centers know this. Outside tyrewallahs may/may-not know the exact specs. Hence wheel alignment and rotations for our first gen duster is done at Renault Service Centers only.

[smsrini]

Originally Posted by abhi.adrenaline

If I was in your place, I would have demanded a brand new car (As it is, car is not yet registered) and would have asked the dealer to take over the damaged car and use it for Test drives, display, whatever..

As abhi correctly quoted, if the car does not have a permanent registration, it is technically running on the dealers temp plates ? Is the Road tax paid ? If not, the dealer must take the car back.

cheers

[ReluctantRebel]

Originally Posted by coolkid

I met the ASM at noon, he's very professional and acknowledged their shortcomings. He's being followed by people from France and also the senior management team in India, I had sent an email to their top management across the globe.

And the Kwid would be restored to how it left their factory with specially trained body shop technicians available locally.

I left with a smile, thank you Renault.

P.S., - Carlos Ghosn! You're the boss, would love to host you in Coimbatore! Or, you host me in France.

Happy to hear about the assurance provided by the ASM for restoring your vehicle. However, its sad to see that you have to reach out to Renault as this should have been done by the dealer, as soon as the incident happened. Nevertheless, better late than never. Having said that, it will be wise to be careful when the work is being carried out at the dealership. The reason being that they are loaded with so much on their plate and might tend to do skip something important. Keep the thread updated as and when the work happens.

[coolkid]

Originally Posted by smsrini

As abhi correctly quoted, if the car does not have a permanent registration, it is technically running on the dealers temp plates ? Is the Road tax paid ? If not, the dealer must take the car back.

cheers

It's temporarily registered under my name as my RTO is not in close proximity to the dealership, they weren't ready to travel an extra ten kilometres to my RTO to get my registration done.

I need to wait for the temporary certificates and get the car registered myself within a month.

This equates into paying the amount for registration twice.

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by coolkid

He's being followed by people from France and also the senior management team in India

I was briefed on the challenges they are facing and the rate at which their network is expanding.

I was offered two new tyres for the Duster as the vehicles in the initial lot faced problems with the tyres and had it replaced. Plus I was also told all the other problems with my Duster overlooked by the dealership would be rectified, more of that on a separate thread.

And the Kwid would be restored to how it left their factory with specially trained body shop technicians available locally.

Renault response was professional, prompt, customer centric and more importantly, satisfied the customer.
I would say this is the right approach if they want to expand the way Maruti/Hyundai are now.

Our administrator "Zappo" confirms sad state of affairs at Hyderabad. Let's see if this level of satisfaction can be attained in majority service centres across India.

[Ashdel]

I guess its all about relationship and the dealer willingness to go that extra mile and delight the customer for whatever wrong has happened with the car.
Sharing my 2011 Swift Vdi example, it got rusted badly at around 55,000 kms and my preferred station is Maruti Sales and Service Naraina, since this one is owned and operated by Maruti themselves. They changed the right hand side door (which was rusted really bad) and painted other parts free of cost. Even though they could deny this claim due to several reasons like excessive car washing, rusting not covered under warranty etc. still they took that extra step and did the job well done.

I was delighted with the over experience, however I guess that only came due to my 10 year old relationship with them and most importantly, there were actually willing to help the customer.

[Doge]

Originally Posted by fiestarry

While I commiserate with the victim and condemn the Renault outlet, I think coolkid should stop sounding so uncool.
Am sure everyone sympathises with the damage to the Kwid, it was certainly not a deliberate act. Negligent attitude of the local SC cannot immediately be ascribed to the Company. Besides, the tyre wear on the Duster isnt the same as being stranded on a lonely highway due to a kaput Duster engine.

It isnt a perfect world and it will never be; rants not withstanding. Get the tyres changed and the Kwid touched up and go on with your life. No one has died...yet !

Far poorer people than us have lost home, hearth, limb and dear ones and borne their loss with more fortitude.

Be cool kid !

I don't know what do I make out of this post. Either you work for Renault or you're being insensitive.
Why do you expect someone to remain cool when his car has been dented even before registration and for no fault of his?

This thread is an eye opener for a lot of people who are considering the Kwid as an alternate to Alto. Don't get the point of your unnecessary rant.

[vroomsome]

Originally Posted by fiestarry

It isnt a perfect world and it will never be; rants not withstanding. Get the tyres changed and the Kwid touched up and go on with your life. No one has died...yet !

Far poorer people than us have lost home, hearth, limb and dear ones and borne their loss with more fortitude.

Be cool kid !

Absolutely dismayed at this attitude that festers in my fellow countrymen. The fact that you have been thanked 7 times for this post just goes to show that many subscribe to the disgusting 'chalta hain' mentality that is so omnipresent. This siding with the perpetrator of less than responsible behavior is akin to the Stockholm syndrome. I believe this is a bigger issue in India than corruption due to which dishonest practices like chocolate-for-change, rounding-off-change are rampant today.

The OP deserves nothing less than a brand new car.

[Pal]

Truly unfortunate incident for
1) Owner of a brand new car
2) Dealership
3) Parent company

Like it or not, the popular sentiment of dealerships being run by ruthless hooligans is what really gets me.

I hope this post about a mishap with a new car does not blotch all the hard work of its engineers. Like the owner said in his earlier 'no one buy the kwid or cancel bookings' I mean why? The Nano suffered humongously with reports of it going up in flames, didnt it?

I would feel this post made its true impact if Renault audits the dealership, sets right to the points highlighted, invites the owner to a ppt about the corrective and preventive actions taken and offers a non commerce benefit to the customer (like priority appointments for next 3 yrs) this over and above all the said repairs passed by a factory grade quality inspector!

This and not if the owner got a new car - no that's just arm twisting. And please let me break the bubble. Hardly is there a car produced around the globe that has had ZERO, yes ZERO mfg defects in the factory. Before you even think of buying it , your car may well have been 'touched up' in the factory premises due to an internal mishap on the shop floor!

So would request, or rather suggest to be calm - but not weak - and get this incident work for the betterment of future Kwid/ Dusters or whatever car owners.

Thanks for reading. Best wishes for many long drives with your new car!
-

[charthom]

Not very exciting news about Renault; to sum up ! However will wait for the new Duster-let's see the Auto version.

Kwid-no way! It is good looking but not worth all these troubles :-(