[fogg_23]

Hello Everyone,

I would like to share my recent PDI experience. I booked TATA Nexon XZ+ (HS) Petrol Manual on 31st October 2022. SA allotted the vehicle on the same day, sharing the chassis and engine number over email. I requested PDI before the final payment, and he agreed. We reached the stockyard on Monday (7th Nov) around 11 AM.

The location is KHT Prime in Whitefiled, and we can see not just TATA but Jeep and Fiat vehicles coming here for service. The 4 storied building hosts hundreds of vehicles. Our PDI vehicle is on the rooftop. The journey to the rooftop from the ground floor is not easy. Three massive service elevators can hold the Jeep compass easily in them. The SA was surprised to see 2 of the three elevators don't go to the top floor (one of them is not willing to close the doors. don't know why). After a good amount of waiting, he took us to the 3rd elevator, which already had a Jeep Compass. The elevator went down first, an employee entered, and now the lift doors close and open again (10% open), and they try to close and bounce back. The SA and the other employee started calling people, asking them to come and open the doors. After 5 minutes, someone cleared the debris in the way of the lift doors so they could be closed. Thankfully, the lift started going up. On the 2nd floor, suddenly the Jeep Compass comes to life with the engine revving. My wife got scared that the car might run over us inside the lift. As soon as the 2nd-floor lift doors were opened, we jumped out of the lift and let the huge compass roll away for service. We are back in the lift and reached the rooftop.

So many vehicles parked nicely, and we found our white Nexon guarded safely with 4 other vehicles on 4 sides. First I checked its VIN, which matched the one in the Allotment mail. It's Oct 2022 make. I looked at all windows and the numbers, and they all matched. So good, so far. We started looking at the paint, looking for scratches and dents. I found a crack near the left headlamp. I took photos of anything which felt out of place. I got inside, and SA started whining about finishing the PDI, how everyone wants to see the car before purchase, and how it's becoming a problem for them. Without minding him, I looked into the glove box and found a red mark on the inside. The beige fabric has some dirt marks on all sides. And here comes the big show, SA gets inside, turns on the engine, and opens the sunroof. It nicely opens, then he presses the closing button, but it doesn't close. It nearly closes and bounces back. He struggled to make it work for the next 15 minutes but couldn't.

The sunroof is not closing. It's bouncing back


The crack near the left headlamp


It wasn't a surprise; I have seen this in a few review videos. I continued looking for more out-of-place stuff. The ODO is just 9km. I slotted all gears, 6th gear is not bouncing back; that's a good thing. I was able to put the reverse with ease, and the rearview camera is working fine. I bought a 12V adapter a day before and used it to test the 12V front socket; it's charging my phone. Apple car play is working, we played songs, called people from the infotainment unit, and people on the other side are happy with the mic quality of Nexon. SA started calling people, complaining about the sunroof, and asked us to leave, as some service people would come and check the issue. I checked the headlamps, fog lamps, indicators, and vipers (front and back) and checked if seat belts were bucking in at all 5 slots. All good. Now I go back and open the boot, and I find the spare tire holding metal section has some white coating at the edges.

Red mark inside the glove box


The 9km ODO reading


We were puzzled by the white glue/paint/cream near the edges


As it was very sunny, and we also felt like we had checked almost all the major stuff, we left the place; I sent all the photos to SA, asking him to resolve them. My BIL, co-brother and friends told me the crack in the front near the headlamp was not paint fault, its certain damage, which was not covered up well. Everyone suggested we reject the car, and I felt it was unsafe to go with the car, which had damage right in the front.

[Aditya]

I rejected a car during the pre-delivery inspection | Have you? - Post copied to a new thread.

[condor]

Hey @Fogg,

did you check this ?

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ght-sonet.html (Did you ever reject a car in the PDI? I rejected a Nexon & bought a Sonet)

[Small Bot]

The facility shenanigans at the dealership can be shrugged off, as they're not your headache any longer. But rejecting the car when something clearly looks wrong is absolutely the correct thing to do.

There was even a recent Supreme Court ruling that said: not delivering a new car or delivering a defective vehicle despite full payment of sale consideration can be said to be "unfair trade practice".

So even if you had paid the full amount, you could still fight your case. However the best practice is to not pay anything beyond the booking amount until you've thoroughly inspected the car and found nothing beyond acceptable limits. You're also completely justified in saying that unless you're alloted the car you want with no defects, you're going to escalate to the appropriate consumer forum and highlight over social media.

The key thing is to never lose your cool and never be pressured by the sales folks into making a stupid decision.

[audioholic]

While I'm really not a fan of Tata QC, in this case I believe you have blown the issue up by a fair bit. The corner of the bumper has those inconsistency due to the edges of the plastic mould after which it has been painted. Its not damage that has been covered up badly. Second, it is normal to find some pencil marks especially on non visible areas which also can be just wiped off. The cream you see in the spare wheel well is nothing but seam sealer that has been applied. Normally manufacturers used to paint these areas earlier but most manufacturers have avoided painting these areas which leave the seam sealer exposed. Again this will be common across cars which you can check and verify.

However the other issues like non working sunroof return(which might just need calibration) and dirty upholstery is something that is not expected since the seats should arrive with their plastic covers on. So rejecting such a car is definitely okay, but just wanted to reassure you that the other issues might not be specific to this vehicle alone.

[GTO]

Big believer of PDIs and I know of a lot of bad cars that have been avoided this way. That being said, I agree with audioholic. You blew the issue up a bit too much, especially for a car from Tata, a brand known to have production inconsistencies.

Most of these issues were minor or easily fixable.

[shabash]

When I bought my scorpio way back in 2009, the first car that was allotted was rejected by me due to issues with the bonnet not closing properly and also alignment was an issue. I told them that I am not happy with the vehicle. They tried to convince me that this is something that can be fixed in the first service. I told them if they are confident, then I can give them 2 days to fix and show me. They started giving excuses like a new allocation will take another couple of weeks or can cause further delay etc. When I was not ready to budge, they agreed and said they will arrange another car. This one was perfect and I drove it for 4.5 years and covered 76K kms before switching to the duster.

The dealer was Sireesh auto and I must say that they were very professional in handling the situation and I was very happy with the overall process and even the service later during my ownership.

[Kln]

Originally Posted by audioholic

While I'm really not a fan of Tata QC, in this case I believe you have blown the issue up by a fair bit. The corner of the bumper has those inconsistency due to the edges of the plastic mould after which it has been painted. Its not damage that has been covered up badly. Second, it is normal to find some pencil marks especially on non visible areas which also can be just wiped off. The cream you see in the spare wheel well is nothing but seam sealer that has been applied.

Bizzare to me that he has to 'adjust karlo thoda' with cracked paint? No, I would be blowing my top off if a 13 lakh+ car had these issues. Good on him for rejecting the car.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Kln

Bizzare to me that he has to 'adjust karlo thoda' with cracked paint? No, I would be blowing my top off if a 13 lakh+ car had these issues. Good on him for rejecting the car.

Sorry that's not cracked paint. I have explained clearly what that is and looks like you just ignored that. It is still a 13 lakh rupee car and that too from Tata if you know how superior their QC is. Check the link in the post by Condor where there is another Nexon with the exact finding. Either conclude that this is normal for the Nexon or Tata is consistently delivering defects. It is just plastic excess from moulding which has been painted over. Rejecting is fine but for issues that are specific to this car. Not if it's present on all cars which means it's better to change the choice of the car itself.

[pedrolourenco]

I rejected a car long before I joined TBHP. Had to go through a lot of trouble which would have been avoided if I knew about the TBHP checklist then.
When the Fiat Uno was launched I booked one. Like any normal person I expected a new car to be delivered. So I took the papers and got the car registered. At the time of delivery I noticed the following:
1. Rear left wheel was badly scratched.
2. Bottom of the car was coated in muck and cow dung.
3. Odometer reading was around 100 km or so. All other cars in the showroom had 20-30 km.
4. There was glitter sprinkled in the boot (It was just after Carnival).

I asked the SA why my car had more kms. She said it was testing done by the factory. I asked why my car was tested more than other cars. She had no answer. Then I asked where the testing was done. She said in the factory. I asked if the factory has a mud and cowdung floor. She was baffled. I said look at the bottom of the car. How did mud and cowling come if testing was done in the factory.

I refused to take the car. The manager came and said that since the car is already registered nothing can be done. They will paint the scratched wheel and thoroughly clean the car. We had a short argument and I threatened legal action and left. Next day the owner of the dealership called and said they would replace the car but I had to wait 2 weeks and I would have to go to RTO and cancel the registration. I said I can wait for 2 weeks but I will not go to RTO again. After another short argument and a threat of legal action he agreed to get the RTO work done. After two weeks I took delivery of a brand new car. Registration number was the same but the engine and chassis number were different. I had made sure to check these on the old car as I suspected they would clean the old car, paint the wheel and turn the odometer back and deliver the same old car. Even though I didn't have the TBHP checklist, I had my own mental checklist (covering 25% of the points in the TBHP checklist).

Ever since that day all cars purchased by me, family members, friends and colleagues have been done using the TBHP checklist.

[Tgo]

The sunroof bouncing back happens if the battery is disconnected, which could be, during transport. You have to do a recalibration procedure. Lots of videos online. Process to close it without the recalibration procedure is to pht it in manual mode where it closes in steps and you have to push the button repeatedly for it to progress through the step till closed.

It looks unfinished, but the boot has the seam sealer applied in a rather ungainly manner on all Nexons, and that area is neither painted properly. Looks odd compared to other manufacturers but it’s starting to become a norm to cut down on paint in areas like these.

I would be mad at the cracked paint, sure.

But for everything else I would be okay. Also depends on how long I can wait for the next car to be allotted to me.

[kaps454]

Originally Posted by fogg_23

We were puzzled by the white glue/paint/cream near the edges

Quite a detailed PDI, the only thing out of place is the sun-roof not closing. Always wary of buying cars with sun roofs anyways, hope they are practical in b'lore. (delhi, either too sunny or too polluted to use them).
The red paint in the glove box, the dealership with wipe away with a solvent, the crack or damage or whatever it is, is unlikely to be an accident unless it happened during loading and unloading as the odometer shows only 9 kms, it is your call whether to accept it or not. I was in Narayana Hrudayalya for 2 years, and knowing b'lore traffic, you'll accumulate bigger gashes soon enough (just for perspective).
Have had a lot of TATA vehicles, that paint/glue/cream is a sealant over the weld line, it is there in a lot of TATA vehicles that I have owned, so don't need to worry about that.

Wishing you many joyous miles and congrats on your purchase, regards kaps454

[Spaced Out]

Interesting comments here on this thread. Maybe a sweeping generalisation by me but this convinces me that Indian hardware manufacturing will take decades to catch up with the Chinese, forget the West.

I will be willing to accept kind of suggestions the OP has received for an OLX bought second hand product (say a BTWIN cycle), not for something that I have spent over Rs 10 lacs for.

[sandeepmohan]

I assume KHT Prime are the same chaps who used to sell Fiat cars.

A PDI is important but I would not reject a car for things like a red pencil mark in the glovebox. Panel cracks are a different story and for your car, it looks more like a paint crack than the actual bumper that's cracked. Not saying this is acceptable but if the dealer is supportive to your comments and can sort it out for you, I may still consider the car. The Nexon is a car that moves so you can always opt out and look at another unit.

It also depends on the car your are buying. When I was shopping for a Fiat Linea T Jet, I did reject the first car as the dealer said the car was less than 6 months old and when I finally saw the car in the yard, it was 8 months old. I was already pushing it with a car that was sitting in a yard.

Later down the line, Fiat India decided to throw in a 1lac discount for the T Jet model. For the next PDI, I found a door lock that was not working and a missing temperature senor cover on the dashboard. Both of which the dealer (I shifted to Prerana) attended to promptly and without making a fuss. With a discount like that, a car purchase that was purely from the heart, I was willing to let go some missing bits provided it was not critical to the operation of the vehicle. The odometer read <200km and had the "H" symbol (Unique to FCA cars), which means a legit <200km run vehicle.

In the end, and learning from the forum, my Fiat was made in a TATA factory and going by the experience of owners who went down the road buying a Fiat, I made peace that the car isn't going be screwed together like a VW (In the end, it did feel as well put together).

[epiccross]

Originally Posted by Spaced Out

Interesting comments here on this thread. Maybe a sweeping generalisation by me but this convinces me that Indian hardware manufacturing will take decades to catch up with the Chinese, forget the West.

I will be willing to accept kind of suggestions the OP has received for an OLX bought second hand product (say a BTWIN cycle), not for something that I have spent over Rs 10 lacs for.

This. And I'm quite surprised to see how there's a tone of 'live with it' here, for god's sake, is there no value for our hard earned money? When I buy a new car I intend for it to be fairly pristine as it'll only depreciate from that point. Common sense, I'd have thought.