[Digital Vampire]

Originally Posted by tadukuttan

So I sold them a 3 year old car with the odo at 67,000Kms. They promptly got it down to 27,000Kms and sold for a massive profit. Came to know because a surprised friend saw my "low mileage" car there and called up. That is like a 50%+ reduction on the odo reading!

Odometer tampering is considered a legal offense in many of the developed world...We need that law soon here as well

[Anandg]

We need a complete overhaul of transport policies that, for now, are from British raj that makes dealers find loopholes to do all illegal stuff for some quick bucks.

[honeybee]

Though I have never yet had a chance to buy any vehicle from MFC nor give mine for servicing/repairs to them, I had a chance to visit their Goregaon showroom quite a few times. The behaviour of the sales people was good, I was offered test drives in the vehicles of my choice promptly, and in the backyard I saw some vehicles stripped down for a detailed checkup. So while I would put more trust in their claims about vehicle checks, it also means they are in a position to tamper with stuff like odometer readings. The only solution against it would be to demand the service history of the vehicle.

They do claim to deal with only low-mileage and accident-free vehicles. Also the salesperson I dealt with refused to bargain beyond a marginal 2-3K band. I have recounted an experience with an 8-seater Omni where I tried to catch him at his own game. I believe they must be getting at least 20-30K per car in the sub 3-lakh category.

By the way if you find out the dealer, or anyone else, has tampered with the odo readings of a car, wouldn't you be able to file a criminal complaint against him? Even though we may not have specific provisions terming odo tampering an offence, it should still be covered under the existing laws. If nothing else, the good old Sale of Goods Act should be able to cover it.

Oh yes, when my uncle handed me his old Santro and booked a new i10, the Hyundai dealer offered him 1,65,000 for the old Santro, which he refused. Just on a hunch I asked the MFC guy to give me a quote for the Santro. He took a ride in it and then quoted me around 1,40,000. He also said the suspension was shot and would have to be replaced. It was a ridiculous offer. The car had done about 38K kilometres then. Today it is nearing the 50K mark and still on the same suspension.

[zteg]

3.5l is way too high. I got a used getz 2007 GVS for 3.5l.

If you are keen on Hyundai, try the used car division of Trident or Advaith. I got autocop and sun film free with it.
Also they give discount coupons on service and also 1 year warranty on engine and transmission.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by honeybee

They do claim to deal with only low-mileage and accident-free vehicles.

All marketing talk that's best taken with a pinch of salt. Has MFC ever refused to buy anyones car because it had a prior accident? I don't think so.

If a dealer indeed has to stick by the "low mileage and accident-free" rules, he'll go out of business. Soon.

[zteg]

Originally Posted by GTO

All marketing talk that's best taken with a pinch of salt. Has MFC ever refused to buy anyones car because it had a prior accident? I don't think so.

If a dealer indeed has to stick by the "low mileage and accident-free" rules, he'll go out of business. Soon.

But don't they give in writing that the vehicle is accident free ? I am not very sure. Just heard from friends.

I very much agree their quotes are ridiculous. When I was looking for a used car, i had test driven a swift vdi in MFC. The vehicle had run 45k and he quoted 4.5l. Told him that if i can arrange 4.5l I can arrange another lakh and go for a new one instead.

I had been there another time when my brother in law was looking for a car. He quoted 3.5l for a Getz 2006 GLE which had run 28k. I had actually paid 3.5l for my Getz 2007 GVS run 8.5k from Trident. When i told this to him, he was'nt ready to accept it.
He said i was lying.

[saurabhkum]

Are they still the same in terms of Odo meter tampering or things have changed for good? I was just going through their 118 points check where quite a few things are mandatory for cars done more than 35k. Do they follow the same. My brother was looking for 1 car from them which has done approx 50k so does their certification means car doesn't have any engine, clutch or suspension issued.
Need advice on this from seniors or someone who has dealt with them.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by saurabhkum

Need advice on this from seniors or someone who has dealt with them.

No idea about Mumbai.

But the Bangalore guys who used to operate from around the HSR Lake area were the biggest crooks this side of Tihar.

[Sinner666]

I have a first hand experience of buying from Mahindra FirstChoice, and all I can say was that it was pretty disappointing. I had bought an Esteem Lxi 2005 model with around 54k on the Odo last August from Prestige Autoworld(Near Gurgaon Central Mall). I paid around 2,30,000 for it and since i was planning on getting CNG fitted as well(although I had my 6months warranty from FirstChoice forfeited because of this), I paid around 35k extra to get it fitted though them. What I noticed however was that the FirstChoice cars cost less than an almost same make car from TrueValue. I happen to know this because before I finalised on this deal, I had checked out a 2004 Esteem Lxi with around 50k on the Odo at the TrueValue outlet of Apra. They quoted me around 2,80,000 for it. Don't know which of them had a better quality car but the money factor made me decide on the FirstChoice.
The Experience- Pretty Bad. What has to be kept in mind is that neither me, nor anyone from my family had any experience of buying Second Hand cars, so we just did a usual dekko of the car, inspected the undercarriage etc. and made up our mind. The bonnet had a lot of scratches on it, the kind done by Kids, When I pointed this out to them, they said they did not get it repainted since some people prefer a car with the original paint. On being asked if it could be painted, he promptly agreed and said that they would get it done free of cost, but the delivery date would be pushed a week farther(to let the paint dry plus CNG Fitment). We agreed and paid the advance and left.
Next Week, the car gets delayed by 2 more days, the excuse given being that since it was raining, they did not get the bonnet painted as it would not have dried properly.
2days later, I finally get the car late in the evening and take it for a Ride, Now I notice that water is dripping inside(front passenger well) of the car when I use the Aircon for a while. I decide on taking it to them the next day and manage by switching between keeping a bottle there to collect the water to using the Aircon sparingly. Next Morning the car would not start; this was really heartbreaking for me as this was the first car I ever owned myself. So I call up the TrueValue guys, they come in a Palio(there were a lot of them there) which I had seen at their place with a "For Sale" sign. When asked about it, they said that they have to drive them regularly to keep the battery etc charged. Anyways, the mechanic toys around and then finally says it has to be Push started as the starter motor has conked off. So, we manage to push start it and drive to the showroom. There the guy who is in charge of it looks into it and says they would have to take it to their workshop in Kotla in Delhi. I say fine and I accompany the driver along. Now, seeing the market in Kotla, i was a bit taken aback, if any of you have been there, you would know, it's the typical local mechanics and garages kind of market dedicated to repairing of cars. Not to say that the expertise and knowledge of the mechanics or the people there can be undermined, but just imagining that this is the dark underbelly of Mahindra FirstChoice. I mean, what chance did my car have that it was not built up there entirely from scratch from parts taken out of other cars. Anyways the starter motor is replaced and the water leakage problem(turns out the CNG guys blocked some AC drain pipe) is fixed as well. It is here that I find out that the guy operating the Franchisee of Mahindra FirstChoice in Gurgaon also owns this particular workshop.
The other list of problems is pretty long but the main issues which I came across were a dead battery(within 1 month), Engine oil leakage issues which still persist to some extent, Clutch plate replacement (around 3months down the line) etc.
In all, I would recommend someone to buy a new car instead of going through all these hassles. It makes more sense considering the amount of time and money you can save. I being a student and being interested in cars had the luxury of time and patience to stand in the sun with the mechanics, pushing it around when it breaks down etc. But unfortunately, other members of my family; especially my dad who paid for it by the way does not approve of this and goes into the "I told you so" mode everytime I report a new problem and ask him for money. I am afraid he may actually act on his threats of selling off the car one of these days, and that too after all the time I spent on it.

[tanwaramit]

thats a really sad experience on the First Choice from Mahindra. One of my colleague had bought a Swift from True Value and the car is quite well, he had paid around 3.3 L for the swift. very good deal on the car.

[.anshuman]

I have reviewed my experience with Mahindra first choice here.

[buddha]

I bought a Fiesta from Mahindra FirstChoice last month. Pleasant experience overall. This was the 'superstore' in Goregaon, Mumbai. Salesman tells me this is a company-owned-operated store whereas the others are just franchisees. I believe him when he says its company-owned (should I?) and I think there would indeed be a huge difference between the behavior of these chaps vs the franchisees. Franchisees IMO would just be regular dealers with a badge. My experience was only with the company-owned store in Goregaon btw.

1) Odometer figures are indeed changed. I did see a few cars with genuine-looking odometer readings, but also a lot of others where they were clearly tampered (based on feel of the car, worn out gear levers etc). Good way to check: most cars with high kms would show odos in the 45-48k band.

2) They are courteous, professional etc. Yes they are. Courteous just like new car showrooms chaps would be. Wow. Also, they stuck to all their promises w.r.t. deadlines. I also gave them a list of minor things they needed to do on my car before delivery. They performed almost all of the tasks to my satisfaction. Hence professional.

3) They make life quite convenient. This is the one reason why I chose these guys over even an individual seller. They took my signatures on some forms during delivery, and now will take care of all formalities vis-a-vis RC book and insurance. I dont need to do a thing, and thankfully dont need to visit the RTO. Insurance name will also be updated by them. It can take upto 45 days in all though. I personally dont mind. Also, I can trust these guys when it comes to payment. I paid the full amount and took the delivery the next day. Can you trust anyone (individual/dealer) with your money before delivery? But with a brand like Mahindra you can. I like

4) Not a good place to sell. They should be the last resort if you are selling a car - they will give you dirt-cheap valuations. And then either sell at a high premium or regular premium, in which case buyer benefits. But seller never does, because their model is to transact at less than true-values (pun unintended). That way they expect to see more volumes, plus their risk of getting stuck with a car would be lower I guess.

5) Not a bad place to buy. Apart from the things I liked about them, I thought their prices were also low for some cars. Eg, they were selling Fiestas and Getz for prices lower than the rest of the market! Marutis too were selling at similar prices to Truevalue etc. Was pleasantly surprised with the prices. And all this with a 1 year guarantee to boot. Watch out for the discounts - over 3 weeks I saw that every single weekend had some scheme or the other. Usually in the order of 10-20k, on every single car they are selling. But they dont allow for much bargaining.

Net net I think if you are buying from here, do so on merit. The Mahindra brand does count for something IMO, but there are still a few lemons out there. So do show an informed friend the innards, and check out the body to see how well maintained it is etc.

BTW they didnt give me any written guarantee that the car was accident-proof. And my Fiesta has given zero trouble so far. Godbless!

PS: Not that I wrote much about Mahindra out there, but you could check out my buying thread for more info. And also info on how the Fiesta performs in the days to come.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...atorq-zxi.html

[noopster]

My personal experiences with First Choice have been pretty similar to what @buddha has recounted.

I first encountered these guys shortly after the Automart rebadging when I was trying to sell off my Accent in a hurry in Bangalore. I tried my luck with the retail market, but found the hassle of dealing with individual buyers too painful (they make ridiculous demands, don't commit to the purchase, are clueless about documentatin etc.) Then I contacted a couple of local used-car dealers- they gave me quotes of 1.5 lac and 1.6 lac respectively. It was a bit of a shock,since the carwale evaluation for a 7-year old GLS at the time was between 2.10-2.25 lacs. Finally I spoke to First Choice. They were most professional and immediately sent a rep over for a check and a spot offer (1.70 lacs). I asked if he could go any higher and he said no. I did check if he would handle all the paperwork since I was relocating very quickly and he assured me on that front. Gave me a formal quote with a list of documents that would need to be submitted etc. I thought it over, then called him to confirm and he arranged for the funds to be transferred into my account. And that was that. He drove my baby off and I never saw her again.

Second time- flash to last year, after I'd returned from abroad. I needed a new car desperately without shelling out too much, so dropped into the FC showroom at Goregaon. Realised immediately that it's pretty much a matter of "grab what you can get" if you think the price is right! There was a sporty-looking 2005 red Swift Zxi for 3.35 lac that seemed just right. It had been heavily accessorised by its owner and the salesperson warned me that it would not stay the week. But I was put off by the 70,000+ km on the odo (approx what my own old car had covered when I had sold it)and decided to wait it out. Next weekend when we were in Pune, I went down to the Bavdhan First Choice on the Mumbai bypass and saw a couple of cars I liked: a red Getz and a blue Swift Vxi, both about 3 years oldexcellently maintained and moderately sparsely run. Finally settled on the Swift Vxi 2006 for 3.5 lacs. Again, no negotiation, though the guy did assure me of handling all paperwork related to regn and insurance transfer, took me through some 118 point check that they had done, assured me they don't deal in 'accident vehicles' (which doesn't seem to be true based on what I'v read on this thread) and told me they throw in 2 free services to sweeten the deal. I couldn't delay the buying process any longer, so I went ahead.
My experience:
- The car is a gem. Absolutely no regrets that I bought it. Nothing "fell apart" except the air conditioned but that was after about 6 months of heavy use, so can't really blame them for it.
- They do honour their "warranty". They replaced a faulty suspension bush for free during the 3-month service. However, I didn't much like the interaction I had with their service lead, so never went back for the 9-month service. They never called me back again, so it was Win-Win
- Paperwork follow-up was perfect though (obviously) the urgency they show during the pre-sales process is missing. I got everything I needed within a couple of months (and copies in the interim).
- They offer good options like online transfer of funds etc. which is really convenient for a working guy like me.
- Salesmen are well-trained and knowledgeable. They spend enough time with the customer and allow for a decently long TD. Overall a pleasant buying experience.
- They are definitely more expensive than retail (I was repeatedly told I should not have paid more than 3.20lac for this car). But I really love this car, so like I said- no regrets!

I give them 2 thumbs up!

[Panko]

The interesting fact about the Mahindra First Choice Superstore in Pune:

Most of the Swifts on offer have completed either 48000 or 52000 KM of running. None of them have completed say - 70000 Km or 25000 KM. Does that indicate something?

[noopster]

Panko, you are rading too much into it. I bought a Swift with 30,000 on the odo from the same outlet.