[Dino_juice13]

Got sold a Virtus GT with repainted Panels from VW Downtown

Hello fellow Bhpians. Very honored to be a part of this community. I have been an avid reader for more than a decade. Finally got to be a member, and this is my first post so I apologies for any mistakes I make. Mods please link this to the appropriate thread if its in a wrong place.

My family bought a Carbon Steel Grey Virtus GT in Sept 2022 from VW Downtown Prabhadevi(Part of Shaman cars group), Mumbai. We had booked in Mid June after the pricing announcement and got it in Sept. So the problem actually starts from the delivery day. The delivery of the car was supposed to be on 3rd Sept but on 2nd Sept at 6pm I was told that the "Number plate" of the car still hasn't reached so we will have to delay it by a day or two. Many of my friends and family have taken delivery of new cars and most of them have gotten the number plate on the same day or the next day.

We explained our displeasure to the sales team but they said they could do nothing and don't have any answers. The plate came on 5th Sept and the delivery was the next day. We reached the on 6th at the mahurat time of 4pm. We saw the car parked on the footpath without any cover/ ribbons next to another car. The delivery was very disappointing as there wasn't even space to stand in front of the car as they didn't move the car parked behind it. I had already done a PDI on 26th August at Sewri VW service center but the car was very dirty and they didn't allowed me to open the doors. From outside no scratches just a bit dirty. So on delivery day everything looked fine but due to the excitement I didn't closely inspect the paint and also as it was on footpath under the tree shade I wouldn't able to figure out minor imperfection plus the dim evening sun.

After the delivery within few days some issues started crawling up like rust on drum brakes. Overnight rust on brake disk also. Radio signal never being clear and crisp. Horn leaving tone while honking, sometime only 1 horn will play. Rattling of the parcel shelf. Driver seat cover coming out loose. Driver side auto window issue. And the biggest issue of the Dart vader sound coming out of the A/C plus cooling issue. They had also scratched a line above the body lock mechanism on the B pillar during 1st service. Left rear door not closing properly. I had also noticed some excessive orange peel near the rear right side tyre but as it was at a curve angle I couldn't figure out what it was and thought it might be the fender bend making the paint look weird. And many more throughout the year from which many are still not solved till date. Its a rattle box and I will soon write my 1 year ownership review.

So coming back to the main painted panel issue. While sending the car for the 6 month check up the SA asked why is the car is coming for the 4th time and which panel I had repainted and did I claim insurance. I was confused by this question and I corrected him by saying its only the 3rd time after the 1 month service and the 2nd time sending the car for the seat cover issue and AC issue, and never has the car been painted. He showed me his computer and there I saw that after the 26th August PDI the car was sent for denting painting on 3rd Sept- the original delivery day of the car. I was taken aback by seeing this and it connected all the dots of the late delivery. A sense of being cheated and anger went through me and I decided to go home first and make a sense of the situation.






I tried contacting my Sales advisor but she left the job and didn't pick the phone. Contacted Downtown sales office but there were just making me jump hoops. So the next day I visited the Sewri service shop and confronted the manager Mr. Jitendra Tewari about this and he accepted that there very some scratches before the delivery and they performed denting and painting on a few panels. At that time even he was not sure which panel but he told the rear right side near the wheel arch and some doors. There was no pictures or proper description of the damage and I was not informed about this as it was on the delivery day. They tried to hide it. Mr Tiwari told as he was out of town during that time no one informed me and proper details of the damages weren't taken. Later via mail he confirmed that Rear Right hand Quarter panel near the wheel, Rear Right door and rear bumper was repainted to "remove scratches" from the panel. He also confirmed that the sales team was notified but even they decided to hide it and go on with the number plate story. I was furious and demanded an explanation why no one seemed important to notify the client and before or even after the delivery.



We had a lengthy discussion about the lack of professionalism and the case of fraud from a reputed German brand. I asked him to convey my displeasure to the sales team and also be compensated for being cheated and sold a car with repainted panels.

He told me he will arrange a call back with the respective teams. The whole to and fro went on for a month and no positive outcome. During the whole ordeal Mr Tiwari was the only point of contact who convened all the messages and wishes of the whole downtown team with Mr. Kunal Sakaria( CR head Shaman cars) also on most of the conference calls. No one from the sales team contacted me nor anyone from VW Downtown or shaman cars. The last offer was 2 free service of 15k kms/1 year & 30k kms/3 year which I received via email on March 20. Which I felt wasn't adequate but was tired of going back and forth with VW when they didn't even care.

In April mid week I was contacted by Mr Christopher D'souza from VW CR team after reading my comment about the AC issue on the FaceBook Virtus owners group. I also told him about the whole paint ordeal and he he wasn't aware about this will investigate and get back to me. And again many conference calls talking about the same problem again and again with Mr. Tiwari and Mr. Christopher. After a month of to and fro during the last conference call comes Mr Nikhil Thakkar (Shaman Cars). During the whole conversation he accept the fraud happen but refuse to call it a fraud. Then comes the golden words from him that the if there is some issues in the car before delivery they will not tell the customer about it so not to ruin their delivery and mood. Listening to this is I totally lost it. How can this make any logic and I told him so the SOP of VW downtown is to handover the car and not inform the customer even if its painted or mechanically repaired just so the mood on delivery day doesn't get ruined and keep on hiding the fact you sold a repaired car and not a brand new one. At this point I understood they will not going to budge and not cooperate with me on any fair compensation which I wanted as the car will loose its resale value with 3 panels repainted and I will have no explanation for it. The final offer from their side was 1 exterior refinement treatment FOC. This thing dragged for four months with not so favorable outcome. Plus a very badly build and put together car with rattles more than a 10 year old TATA. I have all of the voice recording and chats with me. I wanted to post it about this but was also afraid that if they vent out any prejudice on the car and me when I send the car for servicing.

Throughout the whole ordeal Mr. Tiwari was cooperative and tried to diffuse the and solve the issue. But took his sweet long time. Mr Christopher from VW CR team was also helpful and listened to the whole issue very carefully and down to every detail to connect all the dots. The disappointing part have been the VW Downtown Sales team who never apologized and disclosed this even though all of them knowing this. I decided to post now after reading the repainted i20 thread and thought people should now about the VW Downtown sales Practices.
It been a roller coaster of a ride with the Virtus. The superb engine + less than mediocre build quality and this type of after sales tarnish the already tarnished VW/Skoda ownership woes. There is a subtle fear while sending the car for servicing that they may scratch up so many panels inside as it creaks and rattles from very corner of the car. Sometime I think its better to forget about the rattles rather than they opening up the whole insides of the car and still not fixing it and just leaving the scratches on the panels.

Soon the car will go for its 1st year full service and I have driven 6500kms. Soon a detailed ownership review of 1 year will be written with all the problems in the car and how it has performed.

I am attaching some photos of the repainted quarter panel- please ignore the small scratch I got in Mumbai traffic, my luck is so bad that the first scratch I got was on the disputed panel. I purposefully haven't repainted it till this issue was solved.







Thank you. Please forgive for any mistakes in this post.

[xander]

Originally Posted by Dino_juice13

Got sold a Virtus GT with repainted Panels from VW Downtown

He showed me his computer and there I saw that after the 26th August PDI the car was sent for denting painting on 3rd Sept- the original delivery day of the car. I was taken aback by seeing this and it connected all the dots of the late delivery. A sense of being cheated and anger went through me and I decided to go home first and make a sense of the situation.

That's a really frustrating experience. But unfortunately, this is commonplace now. As a detailer, I have received many brand new cars for ceramic coating, which have had repainted panels which the customer was not aware of. The brand with which I have had this issue the most is Tata. So much, that when my friend wanted to buy a Harrier, I went with him to do PDI with a Paint thickness gauge.

Scooters are even worse. At least 50% of the new scooters I get have repainted panels. When the customers goes back and complains, the dealer replaces the panel with one from another scooter that is to be delivered to someone else.

[tiagoatrix]

Originally Posted by Dino_juice13

Got sold a Virtus GT with repainted Panels from VW Downtown

Thank you. Please forgive for any mistakes in this post.

1. Escalate your ordeal via email to VW india top management, attach all the pictures and evidence you have.

2.Its close to an year, so best thing you can expect is a good compensation (consumer laws in india are very weak), hold your ground and publicize your issue as much as possible.

3. If I were in your shoes, I'd be asking for maximum extended warranty, complete maintenance package for 5 years and repainting of the panels if required. Good luck.

[vidyanand]

Originally Posted by xander

The brand with which I have had this issue the most is Tata.

I am not surprised now that you mentioned it. I always wondered how skilled or alert the drivers, from my nearest TATA dealer, are they they are able to drive those cars offloaded from trailers and driven like crazy in traffic and still are confident of not getting even a scratch to the showroom. Could be true for other manufacturers but having seen them myself, could be very true.

[Aditya]

VW Downtown sold me a Virtus GT with repainted panels - Posts moved to a new thread.

[low_rider]

Originally Posted by tiagoatrix

1. Escalate your ordeal via email to VW india top management, attach all the pictures and evidence you have.

In the VW/Skoda ecosystem, the dealer is the "Top Management" or dare I say GOD.

I am not sure if you could get any respite (even a verbal apology). But you have done a noble deal for lesser mortals like us to save our hard earned money from falling in bad hands.

I do pray that you get a favourable solution and many miles of happy driving.

[SutilSapien]

Hi OP,
Did you arrive at a favourable arrangement with the Dealer?

This was really shocking to hear.
While I understand minor scratches could happen during transportation, it is the blatant disregard for basic honesty and decency that really irks me. What is the harm in owning up to a mistake and arriving at a settlement with the buyer? Don't dealers have insurance already for all things including transportation - why the hesitancy with dealers in being honest.

It might be just another sales figure for them but for the buyer a car is a treasured possession that majority look to keep for a long time. A premium brand like Skoda/VW getting caught in multiple instances of dealership dishonesty is really bad - the car alone will only take a company so far - sales, service and public perception of reliability and honesty matter a lot and sadly they don't seem to be doing a good job at this.

[Nonstop-driver]

Originally Posted by Dino_juice13

During the whole conversation he accept the fraud happen but refuse to call it a fraud. Then comes the golden words from him that the if there is some issues in the car before delivery they will not tell the customer about it so not to ruin their delivery and mood.

If the dealer accepted it, isn't it a clear case for consumer court?

[SandyBITS]

You should definitely consider going to the Consumer Forum if things don't go your way. A clear case of unfair trade practices IMO.

[mayank4823]

Originally Posted by tiagoatrix

1. Escalate your ordeal via email to VW india top management, attach all the pictures and evidence you have.

2.Its close to an year, so best thing you can expect is a good compensation (consumer laws in india are very weak), hold your ground and publicize your issue as much as possible.

3. If I were in your shoes, I'd be asking for maximum extended warranty, complete maintenance package for 5 years and repainting of the panels if required. Good luck.

I was told by the Ceramic Coating guy that the front bumper is repainted. When I asked the dealership owner, he refused that it happened. Now the Car is Ceramic Coated. Should I make a fuss about it ? I feel cheated but it's not visible and wasn't bothering me at all.

[Newtown]

There seems to have been an incident while transporting the car from the yard to the workshop or then when it went for registration. 71km is about the right mileage one should expect to see on their odometer for the car to be moved from their yard to the RTO and then to the workshop.

This is a huge mess up on their part. However, you may want to end this at some point to get an outcome. Collectively come to a consensus. Perhaps they can offer you a free Service Value Package for 3 years or something similar. Go enjoy the car.

I have had 6 of these so trust me when I tell you that they won't hold any re-sale value. So don't worry so much about it to begin with. Wish you happy times ahead with this very competent machine you have got.

[Sahil00090]

That's really awful to hear, certainly not expected from VW but then again most of the dealers are sailing in the same boat.

Demand some good complimentary service pack or extended warranty pack and never look to them again. As if they have done it to a new car and tried concealing it then I can't even think what they'll do to the old ones.

Also, any expert here who can suggest how to get rid of that horrible orange peel, I too have that orange peel but then service centre did some machine rubbing and it decreased but how to decrease it further?

[xander]

Originally Posted by Sahil00090

Also, any expert here who can suggest how to get rid of that horrible orange peel, I too have that orange peel but then service centre did some machine rubbing and it decreased but how to decrease it further?

This is what I usually do.

Wet sand with 1500 grit, Then wet sand again with 2000 grit, Then machine polish with a heavy cut compound and then polish again with a finishing polish.

Not exactly a DIY job. I would suggest getting this done from an expert painter or detailer.

Before: Heavy orange peel



After: Orange peel reduced and reflections start showing up

[Sahil00090]

Originally Posted by xander

This is what I usually do.

Wet sand with 1500 grit, Then wet sand again with 2000 grit, Then machine polish with a heavy cut compound and then polish again with a finishing polish.

Not exactly a DIY job. I would suggest getting this done from an expert painter or detailer.

Before: Heavy orange peel
Attachment 2513129


After: Orange peel reduced and reflections start showing up
Attachment 2513128

Awesome, so now I need to find some good detailer and I think I might know someone. Thanks for sharing this, that orange peel is bothering me.

[kmaitrey064]

Firstly, my sympathies with you for having to go through this ordeal. As pointed in the forum already, one, you should not think much about the resale value of the car. Two, you need to enjoy that engine/gearbox combo as much as you can.
The forum has already suggested you about what you can ask for 'deal'. I think it's something I'd do if I were in your shoes.
If you're thinking, I'd kindly suggest you to drop any thoughts of suing. Even in the developed countries where consumer laws are strict, suing Mr. Vaggy or Mrs. Three-prongs leads to counter-suits, at the least.
To that effect, I'd suggest you to befriend a competent SA in any nearby service center of your residence. This need not be the SA from the same dealership. A good relationship with a competent SA will allow you to enjoy this machine, while worrying lesser about the rattles/rusting etc., to the extent of practical possibility.
Finally, do not do anything that would allow Mr. Vaggy/dealership to void your warranty, while it lasts.