[ChiragM]

Thanks to the Team-BHP fan (he prefers to remain anonymous) who sent this in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP share page!

Car bought on 2 February 2020 - Manufactured in May 2018

Hello,

I bought a Honda Amaze V CVT diesel demo car from the Honda showroom, but the dealer delivered an accidental car with many problems in just 10 months.

The problems are:

• Rust in more than 20 places on the car.
• 2 holes on the back door (repaired after I complained).
• Lot of rust on the front side door (painted on the rust after I complained).
• Lot of rust on the boot.
• Lot of rust under the bonnet and around the engine.
• They gave me an extended warranty in writing but are not honouring it.
• In just 10 months, the car AC stopped working properly. I visited the showroom 7 times but got no solution.
• In just 10 months, the car battery was damaged. I bought a new battery after I got no response from the company.
• I paid extra money for service manual copy.

In short, the company cheated me and I want to take action on the company.

I complained to Honda many times, but they just passed the message to the local showroom. The showroom called me and told me to visit. I visited 5 to 10 times but they did not give a proper solution.

[GTO]

This is why I don't recommend buying a demo car (or even an ex-media car). Demo cars are:

- Treated like trash.

- 10 people drive it everyday. A year old demo car is easily driven by 300 people.

- It's driven very, very badly. By the dealer's drivers as well as potential car owners who think redlining is the only way to TD a car.

- Demo cars are often used as parts cars for customer cars.

- Their odometers can be disconnected, hence you will never know what the true mileage is.

- Repairs are done in the cheapest manner possible.

- Body work too is done with shortcuts. IMHO, the above car has had accident damage + has had quick patchwork.

Because of all the above points, a 10000 km run demo car is equivalent to a 50000 km run individual owner private car IMHO. Think of a demo car as the dealership's "beater" car. Now imagine how it's treated.

The only car treated as badly as a demo car is a self-drive rental from Zoom Car. Anyone who is open to buying a demo is probably the kind who'll buy an ex-rental car too.

[SideView]

Are you sure this vehicle is not flood damaged? Looking at amount of rust.

If he has extended warranty in writing and they are not honouring it then wouldnt it be a case of cheating. ( I am no legal expert)

I wonder why he purchased the car if it had so much issues? (No pre-vehicle delivery check?)

[ashis89]

From the pics, this car looks like a rust bucket, if not more. Surely a piece of lemon or a flood affected vehicle.

For a moment, forgetting this is an ex-demo car, I fail to understand how a couple of years old car can catch so much rust. The rust seems to have spread throughout the car.

What is done is already done, no point arguing over spilt milk. I would suggest writing to Honda and requesting for a full strip and thorough repaint of the car instead of spot fixes.

[rjainv]

Originally Posted by ashis89

What is done is already done, no point arguing over spilt milk. I would suggest writing to Honda and requesting for a full strip and thorough repaint of the car instead of spot fixes.

Isn't this a transaction between dealer and OP for a second hand car... I am not sure what stakes Honda as a company would have in it.

The amount of rust is unexpected and could reflect on Honda quality unless it's a flood affected car, which again would not be a Honda problem.

Extended warranty would again be a dealer level commitment and unlikely to be enforceable at a different dealership. So Honda is out of picture.

[SoumenD]

While battery draining is not surprising at all considering the amount of running a demo car gets but the sheer amount of rust looks like the car was subjected to a lot of rain or maybe flood.

[Durango Dude]

Voted NO. Only advice "cut your losses" and sell it, no point whining. It's a demo car nothing more and this is what you've bargained for: when you wanted to cut two corners and save up on money the dealer has already cut two hundred corners and cut his losses by selling this rust bucket to you. BTW how much did you pay for this??

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by rjainv

Isn't this a transaction between dealer and OP for a second hand car... I am not sure what stakes Honda as a company would have in it.

The amount of rust is unexpected and could reflect on Honda quality unless it's a flood affected car, which again would not be a Honda problem.

Extended warranty would again be a dealer level commitment and unlikely to be enforceable at a different dealership. So Honda is out of picture.

Standard and extended warranty are given by the manufacturer. Think of this as a second hand car which is still within warranty (assuming OP did get valid extended warranty). Honda would be liable for such rust issues (unless Honda explicitly states in its T&Cs that it doesn't cover paint and rust issues in extended warranty!). Even if warranty has lapsed a year ago, it should be covered under goodwill gesture as the car is too new to face such rust issues.

To note, I am pointing out the rust issues only which I feel, has nothing to do with this car being a demo piece.

I remember reading somewhere that OEMs give longer than standard warranties against paint and rust issues. Can't remember where I came across this.

[warrioraks]

This is the most one-sided vote results I have ever seen in Tbhp. Seems no one said ‘Yes’ till now.

My suggestion to OP - You took a risk while buying this car, seems that risk backfired big time. You should consult a lawyer and approach consumer court considering the strong words you used to describe Honda and dealer’s behaviour (cheating, not honouring commitments,, etc). I have heard consumer courts are sympathetic to common man and if one really has a decent case, you can expect the decision in your favour.

Honestly, I am finding it unpalatable that Honda is not honouring the extended warranty commitments.

[Nav-i-gator]

The first car that I bought was a demo/test drive car (you will never know which one it is), a Chevy beat. It had very minimal visible wear and tear on the outside and absolutely none in the interior. When I bought it, it was around 23K on the odo, so you can imagine the kind of abuse it would have gone through. I was a complete novice that time but consider it a good luck that I didn't face any issue with the car. I drove it beyond 1Lakh KM, and he only issue I had was suspensions, which started to have issue well beyond 80k.
Retrospectively, I would say - stay away from such cars. I was lucky, you are not. Most people will be like you. Better to stretch your budget or buy from a known person if you want to buy a showroom car.

Geez, these days, there are so many threads of different cars from different manufacturers that pains me and frighten me as well. Is the overall quality of cars going down or are the dealers across companies are becoming worse than ever before?

[Sanidhya mukund]

There can be two situations:

1. Irrespective of the fact that the car is an ex demo car, if it is under factory warranty or extended warranty from Honda, then they definitely have to cover these issues under warranty. A 2-3 year old car with a galvanised steel body has no right to rust like this, even if the owner lives right beside the sea.

2. If the bodywork and paintwork is not OEM, I.e the car has been repainted due to an accident, then the dealer should bear the expenses or redo the work. But this will only prevail if the cars accidental history/details of body repairs done previously was not disclosed to the buyer, because it becomes a case of fraud/misrepresentation.
But if the customer bought the car despite knowing that it is an accidental car that has been repaired, then I don’t think either Honda or the dealer should be liable to compensate him.

[avdhesh15]

A friend had bought a vehicle which was (ab)used as a demo showroom vehicle about 15 years ago. It was the worst decision he's made in his life! He literally sold it within 3 months.

At that time we were college kids so it was passed as kicks. You name the issues and they were present - rusting, acceleration stopping midway of overtaking, dead battery on the ghats and what not.

If it's cheap, there's a reason to it.

Never, never.

[landcruiser123]

I feel sorry for the OP and the car. It has been abused to the core. There can be a case of cheating when the dealer sells a demo car as a new one, but that is not the case.

Sorry to say - but I think going the legal route is going to be fruitless in this case as buying a demo car would mean signing a separate/additional contract to release the dealer of any liability. Legal cases can drag on for years and you'll be stuck with this troublesome car for many years.

My advise: Sell the car for the highest price possible and cut your losses. Some of us (me included) learn things the hard way and unfortunately, this is your lesson.

[SS-Traveller]

The car has been drowned. It has also been crashed and repaired more than once. Obviously, the car was not inspected thoroughly before purchase.

Get rid of it ASAP.

[Vinod_nair]

This is life, we all make mistakes, and learn from it.
You were tricked into buying a LEMON.
Sell it and move on.
All the best.