[GTO]

Originally Posted by crazybiker46

Now he is planning to move to consumer court on this matter

Don't bother. He only has an ATM cash withdrawal slip as proof and thus, no case really.

Originally Posted by rr_zen

IMO every car should be insured.

Originally Posted by mb_jg

Per the law, any vehicle driven on the road HAS to be registered & insured by default.

Correct. However, the dealer could have opted for "third party" insurance which well meets the legal requirements.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

in fact, without the reg. no., even a car that is "sold" is not protected by insurance.

Wrong. Dealers usually take insurance cover for their entire inventory.

[mb_jg]

[quote=GTO;2359431]Correct. However, the dealer could have opted for "third party" insurance which well meets the legal requirements.

True!!! That could be the case. In which case the dealer covers the damage of the other person & has a full blown workshop to fix his own car.
I still think the chap should speak with the authorities to ascertain if he can take this forward legally.
What's he got to lose anyways, he already lost the 25k!

[sgiitk]

In the UK they have dealership insurance, and they put on their own plates (Red) for all test drives. Also, you cannot legally sell a car as new if it has more than 50 miles on the odo.

[anujmishra]

Newbies who learnt the car few days or months back are very eager to take test drive (due to high confidence level) on busiest of city roads. This is very dangerous practice and too much of risk involved into it.
Dealer who a moment back would be looking after you for buying that car would be behind you after accident.

I do not know how much people will get to know entirely new car in 10 - 30 minutes of test drive.

Anyway, if anyone taking test drive it is his responsibility to pay for the damage done. Dealers are just facilitators.

[crazybiker46]

Originally Posted by anilisanil

Secondly, he is not liable to pay unless he agreed in writing that he would pay in case of any damage. Third, if it is not his mistake then he can go to the police. In any case paying 22k is too much and should be fought well at the least!

These is exactly my thoughts, 22k is too much and the driver should pay the remaining amount after insurance settlement

Originally Posted by ajmat

They should be insured, especially with the number of people test driving cars. It is a risk which they should cover for. They do need licence details for legal reasons. They should first claim insurance and then negotiate on any issues if your friend is at fault.

Again, they should not have taken money upfront, make a proper estimate and then take things further

he must have been terrified by the situation and withdrawn the money as per the SA's instruction

Originally Posted by StrangeWizard

Each and every official test-drive car MUST be insured. If it meets with an accident then the showroom should first claim insurance and then maybe ask the customer to pay for the remaining amount, at a subsidized cost maybe.
However, its another thing that many showrooms give customer cars for test drives and these cars are mostly non-registered and non-insured.

Case 1:-When we went to Sai service for a test drive they said we don't need to pay even if we damage the car anyhow.
Case 2:-At Ashtavinayak Auto for chevy beat test drive the SA took down the licence details and said we need to pay for all damages incurred, if any.
Case 3:-At SC ford they didn't say anything about this at all. When asked, the SA said we'll decide only after seeing the damages done.

Some manufacturers like Maruti, Hyundai, Tata, Fiat have official test drive cars which have stickering of the brand's name and "demo car" written all over it.
Did your friend test drive an official demo car or was it an unregistered customer's car?

WoW! that is quite some scenarios for test driving a car, need to check with my friend whether he has signed any documents and also whether its an official demo car

Fabia TD car i have seen in trivandrum has "FABIA" written on both sides

[YaeJay]

Just like temporary registrations, dealers do have some sort of a transit insurance, just like workshops do when they take the cars for a test drive, they put on the temp reg over the regno before taking it out for a testdrive.

In the case of demo cars, I think they need to go the complete insurance way. And for all we know if the insurance folks know its a demo car they are going to hike up the price.

A few things that come to my mind right now !

1. If there is a rule that every set of wheels that ply on the roads have to be fit and insured, new or old, are they by passing it?

2. If the dealer says its not insured, its a new car, its obvious he plans to sell it to someone. I wouldn't even want to talk to him again. forget buying from him, I wouldn't trust him.

3. I do understand now why a few manufacturers have the "DEMO CAR" stickers all over the car.

4. Demo cars are misused, the prospective buyers do not abuse them, but the sales monkey + the company driver (another baboon in a different uniform) are the ones that do max damage. From personal exp, had a I10 back right into me all of a sudden and they were just bothered about the scratch on their bumper.


and obviously I think these guys asked the wrong person to pay up for their mistake!

[crazybiker46]

Originally Posted by GTO

Don't bother. He only has an ATM cash withdrawal slip as proof and thus, no case really.

Originally Posted by StrangeWizard

Did your friend test drive an official demo car or was it an unregistered customer's car?

My friend informed that its not the ATM receipt but credit card statement which shows card was swiped at showroom and also no agreement was signed before the test drive

Also the car was an unregistered one and not the usual TD car

I hope he can go forward with the case with credit card statement as proof