[aniketi]

Originally Posted by wanderer4x4

From whatever has been posted by the OP, it does not seem like a manufacturing defect, rather a chain of events that led to the unfortunate outcome....

.... Am just trying to piece together what could have happened based on limited information.

+1. I agree with you. Something similar must have happened as described by you. So no point in blaming Maruti for that. They should have taken the car home after they have corrected it. Use it for few days, see if any problem is there. If nothing is wrong, why to fight. Yes if problem persists again & again & car is having troubles, then definitely go to the court. Looks like the action taken is too harsh. Keeping car idle for 2 years is not a good idea & also keep paying EMI for it is horrible.

[anurag.somani]

Sad to hear, but not really convinced about Maruti's fault.
Few questions for the owner:

The car was driven down from showroom to home. But after a week, it did not start since the battery was drained.

Q: If the battery was drained from the dealership, how did the car start initially? Can we be sure that the drain was not because you may have missed switching off the lights? Who is responsible for the drain in such case?

Maruti technician charged the battery.
Q. Did he bill the owner for that or did it out of courtesy. If out of courtesy; it is good customer-service from Maruti since they fixed the issue irrespective of who caused the problem.

Agreed the techintian may have screwed up and the fuse blew up. Precisely for such misfourtunate incidents, we have a temperature guage.
Q. If the owner did not see the temperature guage and the engine overheated; is Maruti "entirely" responsible for it?

Q. Did Maruti crib about the "different-dealer" stuff or was it from the dealer? Who-ever did it should be held accountable for it.

Q. For one instance of engine overheat why should the entire car be replaced? I do not think Maruti is obliged for that as per the warrenty policy.

Q. Why is the car lying in the garage for two long years? Its a sure-shot recipie for turning a car to scrap.

Disclaimer: I do not drive/own any Maruti vehicle or have any affiliation. The above questions are for greater clarity/detail instead of mud-slinging.

[saion666]

Where is the person who started this thread? There are too many questions that are left to be answered. I guess we have discussed all the speculations and solutions that could be done from the limited information available.

Please provide some more information on
1> whether there were other damages,
2>on what grounds did your friend win the case and what was the verdict before maruti went to challenge the decision again.
3> Why is the car lying with the dealer? is it a court verdict or the choice of your friend's father
4> Did your friend's father move court after a discussion with the dealer and maruti customer care on suggested resolutions or he demanded a brand new car straight away.

I suggest we continue discussion only after these questions are answered.

[valhallen.282]

WHOA!! This thread went nut! Apologies I am in the middle of switching jobs and the loss of a machine to work out of plus the ever dreadful job hunt has caused me not to reply here!

Response from Friend to most questions. Will add more later today>>

1> whether there were other damages,
A>There were no other damages that we know of. Since after the car was taken away, we havent seen it again and the dealers have not shared any information.

2>on what grounds did your friend win the case and what was the verdict before maruti went to challenge the decision again.
A>The court ruled in our favor since it was confirmed that it was a manufacturing defect. The engine had not shown any signs of over heating, etc. when we drove it .
Maruti had also sent a team a week after purchasing the car for a check and they had declared it in good working ondition as well.
The court's verdict was that Marurti provide us with a new car, and register it with the same number, etc.

3> Why is the car lying with the dealer? is it a court verdict or the choice of your friend's father.
4> Did your friend's father move court after a discussion with the dealer and maruti customer care on suggested resolutions or he demanded a brand new car straight away.

A>We waited 6 months before we moved to court. We asked the dealership to replace the car or the engine so we do not face the problem again. But they said they would not do that. They offered to change the fuse and charged the battery, which they did after which they asked us to come pick up the car. My father didnt want to pick up the same car since our own mechanic had said it was faulty. Since we didnt pick up the car, they shifted it to their godown

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by valhallen.282

Response from Friend to most questions. Will add more later today>>

Since we didnt pick up the car, they shifted it to their godown

Hi buddy! What is the current status of the case and the New car arrival?

Waiting for an update as I am seeing Maruti fighting a case for such a stupid issue and not accepting the defect that they have given to a customer.

Why is Maruti bound to spoil their reputation that they have made with so many efforts.

Has there been any contact from the dealer or Maruti post the verdict from court?

Cheers,
Anurag.

[audioholic]

Moving to the consumer court within a short ownership term was maybe not a good idea. When one is fighting against an organisation, little do they really bother about such legal issues. The story of Harish in this forum itself is a proof to that. The organisation can push cases and fight along. Given it is Maruti, or any other large scale manufacturer, they just handle this case to the legal department and sit, letting their lawyers do what not. After all, they need to give some work to them right? The end result is that you dont get to enjoy your possession.

From what I see of this issue, ie electrical fault and engine overheating, you could have shared more details with us here, regarding what the diagnosis was, what exactly was offered by the company/dealer etc. What is put down here is a brief description. At least, you could have let them repair the car with complete replacement of parts and later if the problem existed, you could have done all this. The advantage is that you will have much more proof, in the form of the warranty invoice to show that the car is indeed a lemon. That would have given stronger grounds for both courts as well as Maruti itself to offer you a better solution. In this forum itself, they had replaced a Swift which had stalling issues which couldnt be rectified. Just negotiations got him a replacement car - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post2583744

Let me share my own experience. My wagonR had water seeping into the headlamps from the day it was purchased. I instructed them to look into it. The car was picked up, and the headlights were opened up and dried. They returned the car. But problem still persisted. I myself took the car to the dealer, and informed the SA of the issue. I had pictures of the water droplets and also the bill of the last repair(when they dried it). Within two hours, I returned with a new pair of headlight assemblies, each costing Rs. 1800 replaced without further questioning. In fact the condensation was noticed in one side only, whereas they replaced both assemblies.

Perhaps, you could have let them do their job, and in case they had failed you could have gone a step deeper. Anyways now that you have taken the step, best of luck and hope you(friend) will get satisifying results, be it a replacement WagonR or full refund of money.

[k2max6]

Sad to hear the case. It hurts a lot when a brand new car turns up on its owner like this, every owner want's a replacement of the vehicle. I would also.

But we must also note the the vehicles don't come with replacement guarantee but with warranty which entitles us for a replacement only if repeated attempts do not cure the vehicle.That too after fighting them.

My friend bought a Zen Estilo in 2009. By the end of 2010 at approx 11k kms both brake discs had been changed, so was the clutch plate and some work was also done with the engine head. All under warranty. But if he visited court, the court would have ordered him to get the repairs done first. Yours is a different case though. Hope it works out.

Though the stuff is changed under warranty the manufacturer doesn't care the time one has to take out to get these jobs done as well as the cost in reaching the service centre, also the feeling one gets while taking a brand new vehicle for repair.

We should get atleast 6 months replacement guarantee for atleast some specific failures . Wishful Thinking