Team-BHP - Factory seconds

Today me and my pal were running around looking for a new car for him,when all of a sudden we came across what looked like your every day grocery store with a few new indica's,a safari,a indigo outside[all without any registration plate].So I thought this was some tata dealer operating from a one room shop and was curious to pay a visit.

But we were in for a suprise the guy was actually selling rejected pieces from the factory/official tata dealer.The indica had a reduction of 50k,indigo and safari [reduction was in lakhs].I wondered who actually purchased these cars but to my suprise the safari and indigo were sold out,and he told me that the indica's too were on the verge of being finalised by a party and that his business is doing quite well.The guy even offers 3 free services,no warranty though. If I waited for a week he could get me whatever I wanted for a special rate.I thanked him and left the place[I am never going back there].I had heard of this with regards to clothes but cars.

The indica was closest to me and in one glance I noticed that the indica had huge panel gaps,the headlamps were not properly fixed in ther slot and there were huge gaps,There were some scratches here and there on the bumper,the door looked like it had been repainted.The fog lamps too were not correctly fitting.The safari looked kind of okay maybe it had been repainted could not make out as it was far away.

What? you found a factory seconds shop for cars?! :confused: I had no clue such a concept even exists... factory seconds. I thought it was only restricted to clothings and shoes!

Considering that manufacturers here are loathe to accept responsibility even when directed by the courts this whole business sounds very fishy to me. Will be a sure shot recipe for disaster, IMO.

I have a Considerable gap, in the Rear Left Side Tail Lamp and Bumper..!

Since the Orignal Car alloted to me had a Scratch, I just picked a new one which had just been unloaded from the truck..!

The Guy says that some gaping is there in almost every car since the edges are plastic molds, It just depends where the gap is and visible..!

One of the other threads RKS was quoting a Civic with some Defect in the edge..!

But seriously I don't think Tata or any company has yet begun a Seconds Shop for cars..! Although Factory Test Machines are available for some time now..I remember reading some Ford Thread here for the same..!

I dont believe that these are "factory seconds" - that strategy being a legal disaster for the manufacturers. More likely accident vehicles with accidents upto a certain level- being touched up and sold under the guise of "factory seconds". Either the people who are claimed to have bought them are seriously dumb or they dont care.

Factory rejects have silently existed in India, for as long as the industry. Its a known practice but there is a lot of hush-hush around it as no manufacturer wants to be associated with selling defective products. Its not only limited to the manufacturer but even the dealerships. Accident / body damage cars are the most common you will find in the "seconds" market.

However, there are some "honourable" manufacturers who use the factory rejects only for their employees.

Quote:

Originally Posted by theMAG (Post 423570)

Either the people who are claimed to have bought them are seriously dumb or they dont care.

I think they don't care - most of the buyers are taxi operators and to them, all that matters is the huge discount they get on these models. I think that apart from the Tata Indicas, a lot of the Ambassadors also go this route - and they are not always accident vehicles but probably ones that would fail QC tests.

By the way Wolfie, it wasn't RKS but Ram AFAI remember who pointed out about the Civic bit

I have heard of the concept of selling Factory Test Cars to the company employees and preferred vendors for a considerable discount. The way it works is every employee depending on the grade is given Two Pin numbers every year and they can visit an yard where these vehicles are stationed. They may then tag vehicle of their choice for purchase. I think it is reserved for the employee for a set number of days while they negotiate their finances.

The cars are usually test vehicles or fleet cars used for company uses. The cars usually had 15K (in Miles) or lesser on the odo.

The other thingh on similar lines are rental cars being sold by the rental companies themselves like Hertz, Budget, alamo. From what i know in US you cannot sell cars rejected by the Q.C of a car company as irrespective of being sold in second market they come under the perview of Lemon Law and the car maker can be sued for a considerable hit both on finance and credibility.

I hope to believe that the present case being presented in this thread is done without the knowledge of the Car company (Tata in this case) as the hit for negative image would be too much considering the loss they would take for scrapping a few cars.

well i have never heard of...I worked for an indian OEM, yes QC rejects do happen, but they are never out in market.

well in my ex-company there exists a rework deptt. for the QC rejects, they skillfully & systematically replace the defective aggregate/parts(note: never a repair is carried out, parts are replaced with new ones).

Then the vehicle is made to go through FVI(Final vehicle inspection) again before being dispatched to market.

For the vehicles damaged beyond repairs on test tracks(it do happens, i have seen it), they are simply sent to company's junk yard. Whenver junk is sold for recycling the aggregates are crushed/shredded to avoid being sold in grey market.

But most of the times rework is possible, even engines are replaced if found defective.

If some-one says factory rejects being sold, he is fooling.

There may be some test vehicles which are not disposed off, but mostly used by company itself for employees.