[Kochikaran]

In light of the above incident, it makes me question whether registration of car should be done even before physical handover. Perhaps the ways of taking temporary registration in dealers name and then transferring ownership at RTO personally, within a month of delivery, is better.

[Akshay6988]

I wonder if people who are suggesting OP to take the damaged car home, would do the same if they were in this situation. I'm willing to bet, they won't take the damaged car. As for OP, talk with dealership, Kia and get the new car. Don't settle for anything else. Once you walk out of the showroom with damaged car, there's nothing you can do. Dealership will put up their hands the moment you drive out of the gates. Kia has become arrogant with their monthly sales achievements. Make twitter threads and share this thread link there. Also spam Kia's social media handles with this thread link. Bad publicity will definitely hurt them and your issue will be resolved quickly. It's not your fault, dealership should own this as cost of business and replace your car.

[Big Smoke]

Although the dealership is majorly responsible for the unfortunate ordeal, but some responsibility lies on your end as well, Mr. Thaker. I'm saying this as a well wisher, and not to criticise you. Had you held back a portion of payment (say Rs. 75K), you & your family could've saved yourselves all the harassment. It's a thumb rule that I follow & suggest everyone else to follow. Never release all the payment unless the car is in your hands & you are satisfied with everything.

Had you held back part of the total payment, two situations would've risen-

1. Kia & the dealership would've been more cooperative while dealing with your situation, possibly allotting a new car.
2. You could've taken the re-furbished car and not payed the remaining amount.

Please remember, we as customers only have hold over the dealership as long as we have the money. The sooner we part with the money, the sooner we lost our hold.
I too bought a new car this January, and until delivery was completed, I had not released the last Rs. 70000 of the payment.

[Maky]

Originally Posted by Big Smoke

I too bought a new car this January, and until delivery was completed, I had not released the last Rs. 70000 of the payment.

I am not aware of any dealership which would sell a car untill 100% of payment has been released in advance.
I was not aware this is possible, may I ask which brand/car was this?

Thank you.

[ashwinprakas]

What is this?

Are people seriously sympathising with the Dealer?

If I pay for a brand new car I should get a brand new car, end of story.

Why should I pay for shortcuts taken from the dealers end.

If this were MS then things would've taken a very different turn of events, just one email to the right channel is enough to set everyone straight at the Dealers end.

[Big Smoke]

Originally Posted by Maky

I am not aware of any dealership which would sell a car untill 100% of payment has been released in advance.
I was not aware this is possible, may I ask which brand/car was this?

Thank you.

No dealership can deny selling a car without full payment. Yes, they will demand full payment by the time the car is registered, but you can still hold back part of the money until delivery (not a huge part of money though).

Of course there are dealers who will demand full upfront payment & deny selling a car without it, but they're the thug dealers. In such a case, write an email to the manufacturer and they'll fall in place.

Regarding what brands do it: each and every car brand. I personally have bought cars in this manner of payment from Maruti, Ford, Audi & Tata (being the latest).

And here is another BHPian taking delivery of his Hyundai Creta and paying after the car was registered on his name.

[corvus corax]

If this were MS then things would've taken a very different turn of events

Some one I know used to work in one of their dealerships and had once told me how their new cars get damaged in transit and how the dealership used to get it repaired and sell it to an unsuspecting customer. Sounded to me like a standard practice in the industry. Or maybe they never got caught.

On another instance, some ten years ago a brand new unregistered Unicorn collided with my RE near a Honda showroom. The former I suppose was on its way to the showroom from the yard. There was visible damage to the Unicorn's shifter and crash gaurd and I ended paying for the damages eventhough it was the dude's fault speeding through the narrow road. I reckon unregistered vehicles wouldn't have an insurance as well ? I am sure that vehicle was repaired and sold off to someone as brand new!

[Floyd de Souza]

Let me tell you that even Maruti is no better. In fact manufacturers are at the mercy of the dealers. The concept of customer first is sorely lacking in this country, In my view and experience, Toyota is the best manufacturer in terms of getting the most out of their dealers.
Unfortunately, even our legal system is woefully inadequate.
In the west and even in countries like Australia, cases related to customer dissatisfaction/harassment are given top priority and compensation/penalties are very high. This results in dealers being extra careful with ensuing consumer peace of mind. The only downside being that dealing with authorised dealers comes at a higher cost.

[AROO7]

Sorry to hear about this unfortunate incident. I request OP to refrain from taking the car delivery and keep all the facts and evidence intact. Get whatever you can in writing about the incident from the concerned people and fight hard. It's your hard-earned money and you have a full right to ask for a replacement even if the car has been registered in your name. The worst part about this is that most of us can just see the external damage no one knows what has happened inside (as in internal damage while accident and repairing) and to what extent.

As for this:

6. On 27th July 21 - To add insult to injury – and to my rude shock Mr. Derrick Goveas – VP - says, and I quote “That in my 20 years of experience I have seen many such instances. And since the registration of the vehicle is done in your name – we can’t do anything. This is not our fault as we did not damage the vehicle intentionally. You see the vehicle on Tuesday 27th July and you will not be able to see the difference.”

He is just trying to belittle you and you shouldn't budge.

Worst case scenario if OP has to accept this car then I suggest he get an extended warranty, other freebies, and whatever he can coax out of the dealership as compensation. Also, you can post your experience on all social media platforms (especially Twitter and tag all the official Kia handles) with the Team-BHP link attached.

[ArTigor]

Let me draw your attention to another aspect, from your images it can be seen that there are deep chipping of paint at many points, these points need really good workmanship during repair or else you may start seeing rust spots in these location, considering the humid climate.
A colleague of mine bought an ertiga(first gen, just when it was being discontinued). Within 6 months his car started showing deep rust spots near the D panel, hatch and bonet hinges, things looked fishy, on inspecting we noticed around the hatch hinge part and bonet hinge part that the weld looked a bit uneven, it did not look factory fit at all, It looked like a repaired car. We contacted the dealer(he already had a bad reputation), to which the dealer just did not entertain. Later we found out from a source within the dealership that it was indeed a car damaged at the dealership. The dealer repaired the car at his end and waited for the pent up demand to build up for the CNG ertiga just after first gen got discontinued and second gen was going to be launched, as many people especially cabbies wanted to get a hand on the first gen CNG Ertiga in Mumbai before discontinuation, as Second Gen Ertiga in CNG would be launched atleast 6 months later. Eventually the colleague sold of the car within one year of purchase taking up a depreciation of 2.2 lakhs and bought the second gen ertiga.

So an advice would be, dont accept the car! And even if you proceed with purchasing the car after repairs from the dealership, ask them to give in writing formally that any rust spots on the impacted areas in future(at least 5 years), shall be repaired free of cost.

[harwinder]

Very sorry to hear this terrible experience you had to go through. Stick with your stand for a new replaced car and in any case do not accept the repaired car.

Last September had to go through the same ordeal while taking the delivery of my Endeavour. The car had a dent on the driver side door. But only thing that worked in my favor was that the registration was pending. I refused to accept the car and was provided with a new car after almost two weeks. Which again were very tense two weeks with continuous fights with the dealership staff and the hell broke loose when I came to know about the financial condition of the dealership. I had to spend two days at the dealership, one for getting the car and another for getting the registration done.

Hope you get the new car and please do not accept this repaired car. It is dealership's responsibility to handover the new car in pristine condition, anything less should not be accepted.

[AirbusCapt]

Don't accept the car. Send out a clear email. stating that you paid for a new car and will not accept a damaged car no matter what. Send it to the head of the showroom and cc it to the Kia higher management and their PR team. Always quote this email on every followup. Don't take advice, negotiate over phone or in person. Every conversation needs to happen over email.

All the best.

[HP-BHP]

Dear Umang, I can completely understand what you are going through right now. While the mistake on your part (and I understand it was done in good faith) was to do the full upfront payment but bottom line is that you paid for a new and undamaged car and you should get a new car and undamaged car. Period.

Of course, accidents can happen right after taking the delivery but in that case, you have taken the car in your possession but here the car was not even given to you and there was absolutely nothing that you could have done to prevent it.

Choices you have are:

1) Refuse to take delivery, mail it to Dealer and KIA very clearly that you will not take the car and ask them to give it in writing what are proposed solutions which you have. Keep everything very transparent and post it on social media marking all the auto journos, youtube (fanboys can help you a lot here).

2) Send a hard copy of all the communication to all the top management of KIA. Keep the proof of delivery of these letters. While this is not a legal notice but this will make sure that you have chosen all the means of communication with the Dealer and KIA and let them respond.

3) Have patience for few months (2-3 at the minimum) and keep the pace in sending reminders You should also share the links of your tweets/posts at TeamBHP also, you will get lot of retweets/post sharing from here.

[IamNikhil]

Can imagine your anguish and disappointment with a new car experience going sour in this fashion. Unfortunately, Shreenath has consistently had an infamous reputation in Mumbai. Have heard of umpteen friends and family going through unsavoury experiences with this dealer, for Hyundai.

In your case, hope you are establishing all facts on mail and also looping-in the senior management of Shreenath Motors and KIA company representatives. Do not entertain any talk over Whatsapp or even verbally. You are buying a new car with your hard-earned money and you have every right to expect a new car in flawless condition; no compromises! If you think mailing, etc is not helping, don't think twice before bashing them on social media! Always keep KIA handles marked on all posts, let the brand understand that their dealers cannot seek to pull wool over a customer; that's just appalling!

Wish you good luck. Hope the issue is resolved at the earliest and you munch some happy miles with your new ride soon. God bless you.

[aneesh2M]

@ UmangThaker79, very sorry to hear the ordeal, Very unfortunate and frustrating experience for you for sure. New car is something to be a nice and enjoying experience in life but this is nowhere close to it. Now looking at facts, it’s an accident but it’s clear that dealer has done extremely improper communication and badly handled the case even though it is an accident. He could have done way better. Now as the car is already registered on your name it’s very difficult to get a replacement. You may have to go legal way to fight for a new car, which will take time/money and patience. My suggestion is as below.

1) Ask dealer to replace the bumper instead of repairing it as it is very much possible this way you get part without any repairs done (though he will have to paint the new bumper to match your car color) let him repair the tailgate but ask him to repaint it fully and not to carry out spot painting. (also insist on affixing new logos and not to use old ones as normally they would use old ones with some 3M tapes) He can even replace a tail gate but it will involve refitting a glass to the new tail gate which should be avoided as factory fitted glass is always better)

2) Rear quarter panel and roof cannot be replaced easily as it’s a part of body structure so let him repair it to your satisfaction.

3) Push him for a free extended warranty and few freebees along with a ceramic treatment.

4) Keep all this in writing documented and also get a document saying that repainted parts will be warranted against any defect for at least 5 years.

5) Insist dealer not to open a job card in the system for these repairs so that it doesn’t reflect in vehicle history.

I think offering above is very reasonable for a dealer and though it can never compensate your frustration and inconvenience it should be reasonable on your part also. Properly repaired car will retain its