[satya180]

Dear All,

I am posting herewith my experience of dealing with Renault- Roharsh Motors Baner, during and after booking a 2017 Renault Lodgy Stepway RXZ 110 PS. Attached a PDF with my mail to them, for maximum transparency.

Our requirement was-
1) Replacement for our 1.5 lac kms run Ertiga VDi
2) SUV/ MUV body style, as my mom prefers a upright seating position
3) budget was 15 lac on road
4) 100 kms daily run, so safety, comfort and reliability are important

This is my first unpleasant experience with any car manufacturer/ dealer.

I will not play the blame-game, but this experience has left me with a very negative image about Renault- Nissan, inspite of them having some really good products. I doubt that I will ever consider buying any, especially in Pune, as both dealers in Pune gave a very dissatisfied buying experience.

As of now, my booking stands cancelled, and I await my advance paid amount in 1-2 days, I believe.

We have 5 cars in our family, and except the Innova, all of them are used on a daily basis, running a total of 150-200 kms daily. Having one less car (we sold the Ertiga for the Lodgy) puts a lot of unnecessary strain on our functioning and business.

Our hunt for a new car is now open again, and I will post the final choice once decided.

[Rudra Sen]

Mod note: Thread moved to Indian Car Dealerships.

[GTO]

What a bunch of nincompoops. You'd think they would be more interested in selling one of their most expensive + flop cars. With so many inconsistencies, I can't really argue with your decision of cancelling the booking.

However, if you really like the Lodgy, try another dealer. I always say that one has to live with the car, not the salesman / dealer and if you're really sold on a particular model, buy one anyway.

[PetrolRider]

Hi Satya180,

A truly unforgivable attitude by the dealer here.

You have also mentioned that you have contacted Renault customer care, what was their response on it?
I am asking, because it is a well known fact that the 'wannacry' ransomware hampered operation at Renault-Nissan factory at Chennai and their dealer supply network is the worst hit part. This was told by my Nissan service adviser at Pune NASS. As per him and the service head of NASS, the parts delivery is taking almost more than a month as the computerized process for dealer requisition and delivery tracking system is not working effectively.

It might possible that the concerned dealer preferred to hide the fact as this news might scare away a prospective customer and the cover up did not go as expected as the fiasco dragged longer than expected. Might be the reason they are getting the car from the stock of another dealer and not from the factory.

I stand by your decision to cancel the booking as it is not worth to loose sleep over it. But as GTO suggested, if you really like that car, you can try another dealer. You can also drop an email to Renault customer care with the details and reason why you cancelled your booking and also can provide link to this discussion forum.
Alternatively, you can dial up a dealer in some other state, like Chennai and ask for availability of that model and color which can nail Roharse if they are lying.

[carwatcher]

The OP has mentioned dissatisfying service from both the dealers in Pune and also is buying the same variant suggested by GTO, where is the confusion, or am I missing something on the TBhp app.

[wrongturn]

I think this particular Mr. Rizwan Mujawar from Roharsh Motors Baner is trying to sell you a Renault Lodgy which is in stock (read: dead stock) at this particular dealer at Kolhapur. This is the reason why he is pushing for either silver or white color.
Renault Lodgy sales are around 250 units per month so how is it possible that there are only limited color choice and 4 units are available with the manufacturer?
They must have called the other Renault dealerships around the area to check who is willing to share more profit for clearing existing dead stock, hence gave you the absurd options but once you asked for the VIN they could not come with another lame reason to force you into buying the dead stock car.
If the manufacturer can ship the vehicle to Kolhapur, it can indeed ship it 250kms further to their dealership.

[satya180]

GTO- I liked the product mainly because it was one size bigger than the Ertiga it would replace. With just driver and mom, it seemed like the perfect upgrade.
I first went to their PCMC dealership, made an enquiry. The guy turned up for the test drive almost 2 weeks after enquiry. Then too, he had got for us a first gen, base model (steel wheels without wheel covers!) silver Lodgy, with cheap chrome grille etc.
I just walked out of the deal as soon as I saw the car he'd got. Politely asked him to just go and never call back again.
I still dont mind the Lodgy, just that I would not attempt to buy one anymore.

carwatcher You read right. I had a bad experience with both dealers.

PetrolRider Renault Customer Care was prompt with calling me and getting the dealer to call me. Good follow-up too. Cheers to the team.
But it seems like the CC is sitting in a call center in Gurgaon, outsourced. They had no link whatsoever to the management team/ factory, and when they called back for feedback, they specifically asked me to rate their Customer Care calling efficiency. Nothing to do with my issue being resolved. Anyway, i gave them a 9/10.

wrongturn I am pretty sure about that, and was vocal about it too. I was very clear right from the beginning, 2017 car and nothing else. Heck, my cousins picked up a 2015 Stepway in 2016 for a kickass deal, and I was well aware of all of this.
Thats exactly why I made myself clear. But it seems that clearing dead stock seems to be a much higher priority than brand image/ customer satisfaction/ relation building.
Unprofessionalism is something that I just cannot take. If there is an issue, be clear, be transparent so that the customer has a a little bit of confidence.
But when I realised the direction in which things were heading, inspite of several reminders, we decided not to go ahead with the booking.
Painful experience for sure.

And it feels even worse, now that we've enquired with Nexa and Toyota.

[satya180]

Update:

So we cancelled our booking on 28th May 2017. Being a Sunday, R said that we would get our advance returned to us the next day ie Monday. Its one week later and next Sunday today and till date we have not yet been returned our booking amount.
I really love the Renault Pulse as well, and was a strong contender for the Zen Estilo replacement. But Im getting nowhere close to a Renault showroom, ever.

Mom booked a Granite Grey S Cross 1.6 yesterday, 03.06.2017. Nexa being Maruti, the service as usual was better than expected. He (SA from Nexa) did everything at our house, calling, enquiring, following up, and by the end of it, he had himself a booking. Excellent experience with Nexa Baner.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by satya180

Update:
Mom booked a Granite Grey S Cross 1.6 yesterday, 03.06.2017. Nexa being Maruti, the service as usual was better than expected. He (SA from Nexa) did everything at our house, calling, enquiring, following up, and by the end of it, he had himself a booking. Excellent experience with Nexa Baner.

Happy to hear that as I have seen many posts where members had complained about Nexa experience. 1.6 S-Cross is a good choice and welcome to the club

[noopster]

You probably dodged a bullet. The Lodgy is a market dud and with the type of service you May have got from these jokers given their pre-sales shenanigans, you are much better off with Nexa!

Incidentally I saw a brand new "Stepway" Lodgy in silver still on dealer plates being driven in the Baner-Pashaṇ area a couple of days ago