[Livnletcarsliv]

I own a "LEMON" Tata Harrier purchased in 2019 December. Registered in Jan 2020. Manufactured in May 2019. Few of the reasons why I call it a "LEMON" is due to the following.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ernatives.html (Unhappy Tata Harrier owner | Looking for advice & alternatives)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...am-fed-up.html (Clutch pedal problem with my Tata Harrier | 3rd time now & I am fed up)

The car is now around 48K on the odo. Some of the issues like steering noise, belt noise, left pulling, and rattles, are not fixed yet in spite of multiple visits, while the clutch issue was given a temporary fix (sleeve cover over the fluid hose) as mentioned in the other thread. Also, some of the other (not mentioned) issues are - rusting at multiple locations, brake noise, etc.

Now, I have come to the mindset about the situation I am in, that, I will have to live with a defective product until I am ready enough to let go of the car with an appropriate replacement - I will not be ready at least for another few years due to other financial commitments (The EMI is still running). So, I am thinking to take the legal route based on a pursual from a couple of my friends. So please advise me on the following.

1. Even though I have made up my mind to continue with this LEMON car, I am using this legal route as the last resort so that I don't regret later that I did not even try.
2. Is my understanding correct that all the processes are online now and we can do it all by ourselves?
3. Is this the right portal to proceed further - https://edaakhil.nic.in/edaakhil/faces/index.xhtml. If not, what is the right one?
4. Can anyone guide and help me on taking this forward - for eg - the claim value, opponent (Dealer or Tata Motors), etc?
5. What will be the outcome if I pursue this? - Best case scenario, worst case scenario, in-between scenario?
6. Is my understanding correct that the cost incurred will be minimal (a couple of thousand) if I do it online?
7. Is there anything else that I should know or follow before I proceed further?
8. Some of my friends told me about stories where it took only a few (6-7) months for the final verdict whatever the outcome. I was thinking that it will take many years to know the final verdict. What is the reality?

[audioholic]

I am not a legal guy so apologies in case I am misguiding you. But if I were in your situation I would exhaust all other means of escalation with Tata. First thing to do is to set your final expectation.

• Do you want a refund?
• Do you want a replacement Harrier or any other Tata vehicle itself?(Really?)
• Do you want them to take a detailed look into the issue and fix it for good?

Based on this, you should begin the battle. First of course would be to reach as higher up in the management as possible and negotiate for your expectation. My personal choice would be a refund which would be a dream and if not, a replacement vehicle. However, I would just sell that replacement vehicle and then get whatever value it fetches, since that would be equivalent to a refund. The third option I think is a useless one since if a product has fundamental issues, thats not something which can be fixed by a bunch of mechanics, which has been evident in your experience.

Only if escalation is fruitless, then I would suggest going the legal route. Even then, make use of any opportunity for an out of court settlement and dont be insistent on the legal course unless forced to.

[Livnletcarsliv]

Originally Posted by audioholic

• Do you want a refund?
• Do you want a replacement Harrier or any other Tata vehicle itself?(Really?)
• Do you want them to take a detailed look into the issue and fix it for good?

The third option I think is a useless one since if a product has fundamental issues, thats not something which can be fixed by a bunch of mechanics, which has been evident in your experience.

I have done enough escalations and social media posts (also mentioned in my previous threads) but in vain as the only reply I get is "We will take the vehicle and try to solve the issue".

As you rightly said, my order of preference will be 1 and 2. I don't want 3 as an option at all.

[Mustang_Boss]

I am very sorry for your experience on a 20 lakh + car. People seek peace, comfort and reliability from their expensive purchases, but your case was painful.

Let me try to answer based on my experience from this route as much as i can.

Originally Posted by Livnletcarsliv

1. Even though I have made up my mind to continue with this LEMON car, I am using this legal route as the last resort so that I don't regret later that I did not even try.

Try it. There is nothing wrong. your expenses will run anywhere from 10K-50K depending on the choices you make.

I wouldn't recommend this route if the car cost was <10 Lakhs. But in your case, its much expensive and as per your explanation, if you can spend some time, maybe one morning once a month, you can take this route.

3. Is this the right portal to proceed further - https://edaakhil.nic.in/edaakhil/faces/index.xhtml. If not, what is the right one?

This seems to be the common portal. Better to check with one of your local lawyer for finer details. There is nothing wrong in approaching a lawyer friend. You might have to approach one during the whole process.

4. Can anyone guide and help me on taking this forward - for eg - the claim value, opponent (Dealer or Tata Motors), etc?

Claim Value = Investment cost + 10% (or) Bank Interest rate from the date of purchase to the date of filing + Compensation of 50 K - 1 Lakh for expenses.

5. What will be the outcome if I pursue this? - Best case scenario, worst case scenario, in-between scenario?

The key here is,
- Check all the documentation you have. If you have all bills/Job cards/papers and if your complaint is perfectly filed around your documentation, you will get some justice. Mostly a replacement (25%) or cash compensation + Repairs + warranty (50%) or a complete repair(25%) with some warranty (probabilities mentioned in Braces).

If you are fine with any of the above and if you have all papers in readable condition, proceed further. Sometimes, the service centers provide details on paper, where the text gets faded in days, so plesae check once.

6. Is my understanding correct that the cost incurred will be minimal (a couple of thousand) if I do it online?

You have options here. you can hire a lawyer or you can do it yourself. If you have the courage to deal with our bureaucratic system and if you can spend some time, you can do it. I did it.

7. Is there anything else that I should know or follow before I proceed further?

You need to do your home work. Do you have all the job cards, invoices, parts changed bills and all other service history in readable format? If yes, you can go ahead.

Narration is the Key.
You need to narrate your story in understandable way, with supporting bills + repair details & followup service / repair bills.
The reader should come to a conclusion just by going through your case with details.
They deal with 50 odd cases everyday, so, Clarity is the most important factor. If you can narrate and provide proofs, you will get something faster.

Earlier, we had to file official complaint on the Brand with all details, bills and other proofs. The manufacturer will file his version of the details with supporting documents.
- The case gets heard based on the documentation. There will be 3-4 subsequent questioning sessions and some postpone requests. After that, the court arrives at justice.

Once you file your case.. say after 8-12 months, you got some justice, be whatever it be.
The case doesn't end there often. They will file a plea again in a higher court. You might have to fight there too. This used to be the system earlier. Now, is it the same or different? needs to be checked. The brand which has its own lawyer will not resist. Because, they own their lawyer and will try to induce as much pain as they can. if your complaint is genuine and supportive, they will hesitate to take things further. So, your narration again is very important.

8. Some of my friends told me about stories where it took only a few (6-7) months for the final verdict whatever the outcome. I was thinking that it will take many years to know the final verdict. What is the reality?

This varies from state to state. Earlier, it used to be state wise and you will go to the nearest consumer court and it will be taken up there. The number of cases being heard at this location should be considered to evaluate the time till closure.

[Kosfactor]

Option 1.

If the vehicle is in warranty - send them a detailed email, ask for an appointment, have the dealer test drive the vehicle and add all the details into the job card.

Now allow them reasonable amount of time to address each one of the issue, make sure you are satisfied with the outcome.

Option 2.

Legal route with the above evidence.

Option 3.

Forget the money, consider the EMI as a lease\rent, when the exchange value of the car exceeds the pending EMI - exchange it for something else. Remember a vehicle of this sort in the end was supposed to take you places and help you experience the world in the comfort it affords, not trouble you with its unreasonable upkeep.

[Livnletcarsliv]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Option 1.

Option 2.

Legal route with the above evidence.

Option 3.

Forget the money, consider the EMI as a lease\rent, when the exchange value of the car exceeds the pending EMI - exchange it for something else. Remember a vehicle of this sort in the end was supposed to take you places and help you experience the world in the comfort it affords, not trouble you with its unreasonable upkeep.

Option 1 - done multiple times. Overall, in the last 2 years and 10 months of ownerhsip, my car was there in the workshop for approximately 1.5-2 months in total.

Option 3 - I cannot afford an appropriate replacement even though the balance loan amount is lower than the resale value. Total spend will be approx. 27L (including the loan interest, maintenance, and a few cosmetic spending) for the last 4 years, and say the resale value will be (worst case scenario) 10L, I still lose 17 lakhs for no reason, no tax saving, and most significant is that I don't have a car to use.

[EV NXT]

Originally Posted by Livnletcarsliv

I am using this legal route as the last resort so that I don't regret later that I did not even try.

This is not reason enough to go the legal route. Have you done any legal recourse before? It can be extremely frustrating, demoralizing and will lead to loss of peace of mind from the minute you receive their response.

Postponement of hearings, inaccurate points raised by the manufacturer, blame games, additional expenses and the probability that you may lose the suit are not pleasant situations.

My suggestions:

1. Try getting it repaired with a reputed FNG at your cost.

2. Escalate to the highest level - Group Chairman’s office and seek a resolution. (This has worked for me in another area of Tata)

3. Sell it after repairing it with an FNG.

I will not advise legal recourse, unless you have the stamina for long haul with potential ups and downs along the way or have had the experience of filing (and winning) suits.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Livnletcarsliv

I own a "LEMON" Tata Harrier purchased in 2019 December. Registered in Jan 2020. Manufactured in May 2019.

So, I am thinking to take the legal route based on a pursual from a couple of my friends. So please advise me on the following.

If you don't want to live with a defective product you should get rid of it asap and stop spending money (fuel, service & up-keep, insurance) and time on it. Foreclose the EMI, sell the vehicle, and buy something else on a fresh loan.

You will get better resale now than when you sell it a couple of years later if you wait for loan period to get over. Legal cost + EMI doesn't sound like a sound combination (unless you very badly want to take Tata and its dealer to court). The court may rule in your favour if you have a valid case, but when?

[sreerknair]

Knowing the inefficiencies of the legal system in Inidia, and that the manufacturer has a dedicated legal team to handle cases such as these, and you are own your own, I would strongly advise you to NOT take the legal route. Your best bet is, either sell the car as is and buy another one. Or get it fixed from a FNG or another dealership and continue use it. Of course you will take a financial hit if you sell it, but trust me, it will be less painful than the mental torture you have to go through once a legal process is initiated. This varies from person to person, and not applicable if you are a lawyer or has enough means (time, money, thick skin, and no hyper tension) to teach these corporates a lesson.

[anjan_c2007]

The legal route could be arduous, agonising, uncertain, time consuming and even a costly option. The defective SUV is already three years old (Dec 2019) and has done 48 K kms. The date of purchase will be relevant as it is presumed that it was being used by the owner since its date of purchase.

There is a law of limitation called The Limitation Act, 1963. This law comes in handy for the car maker. Under this law, there are specific limitations of time for seeking legal remedies by the applicant/s from the time the alleged wrong or omission has been done by the non applicant/s.

It is presumed here that you are intending to seek refund of the cost price/depreciated cost price as on date for your SUV.

If there is a spillover of the limitation period, the reasons for such delay in filing the civil suit is to be recorded citing valid points. These points are to be cited in a separate application for condonation of delay that has to be filed, referring to the main civil suit. If there are invalid reasons, the condonation of delay application can be dismissed by the court. The main suit is then rendered infructuous.

For your SUV, the most legally acceptable limitation period under law was within 12 months after your purchase. Any delay will be difficult to be justified. Moreover, the non-applicant ( car maker) under notice will send their lawyer to argue saying that the reasons are frivolous for delay in filing the civil suit, saying that 36 months exceeds such limitation period by 24 months. It can only be justified if your SUV was in the workshop of your authorised dealer for 24 months.

The law is clear. If a party is tolerating injustice for a longer period than whatever is cited or prescribed in the Limitation Act for that particular wrongdoing, the said party is presumed by the court to be sleeping over its rights.

Hence, please try to get over the matter by settling/foreclosing your loan and selling the SUV at its market price. Thereafter you can go for a new car of your choice.

Just digest the whole episode as a bad dream and try to forget about it.

[Dry Ice]

I would urge you to consult a lawyer at the earliest with all facts of the case. He/she will be able to provide the best advice for your specific circumstance.

As a layman, I have seen many threads on this forum where members have taken a legal stand against the manufacturer. Unfortunately, most of them end with an out of court settlement after a protracted battle, so the finer details never really come out. It’s difficult to predict the outcome or timeline once you go legal.

[RedTerrano]

Though I have no idea about consumer courts, I do have some (ahem!) experience with the regular court system.

I can summarise it in three words:
Time.
Money.
Frustration.

Keeping this in mind, if you still want to pursue the legal avenue, I would suggest you talk to some lawyer first before making your final decision.

Originally Posted by Livnletcarsliv

As you rightly said, my order of preference will be 1 and 2. I don't want 3 as an option at all.

If your vehicle is three year old, I don't know how much success you can realistically get for option 1 & 2. Again, a lawyer would be best suited to evaluate this.

I wish you the very best in whatever course you decide.

PS. Purely from the financial perspective, perhaps you can also consider selling the current vehicle off to minimise your losses. Of course you will have to battle the moral conundrum, whether to inform the prospective buyer about the lemon aspect.

[CliffHanger]

When making decisions like these, you have to look at from all angles including the mistakes you made.

If you had spent some time in the forum, you will know every senior Bhpian will be repeating not to buy a Tata or Mahindra in the first couple of years from its launch. Even the famed Innova Crysta had issues in the initial year. Also, if you have the read the forum carefully, you will know Tata as a brand is not worth more than 8 lakhs of your money.

Sell the car and move on and take the loss as the cost of your mistakes. Though legal fights are very likely to be successful in cases like these, the overall outcome will only be the lesson for the mistakes you made. Now that you already know your mistakes, just sell the car and move on and do not waste your time, energy and money further.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by CliffHanger

If you had spent some time in the forum, you will know every senior Bhpian will be repeating not to buy a Tata or Mahindra in the first couple of years from its launch. Also, if you have the read the forum carefully, you will know Tata as a brand is not worth more than 8 lakhs of your money.
.

These statements are way too general and sweeping and cannot be cast in stone.
For example, I booked the new Thar on the day of launch. I received it in about 18 weeks time. Its been almost two years now and it has been behaving perfectly nicely. I ve only been able to clock 17000 odd kms though until now and I certainly intend to clock many more!
The point is, a fault or faults can occur at any time or stage in any product’s life cycle. Sometimes its just a concatenation of luck and circumstances.
Thing is we need to deal with it as best we can.
In this case, serious escalation through this forum and all possible other means might be the best way.

[CliffHanger]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

These statements are way too general and sweeping and cannot be cast in stone.
For example, I booked the new Thar on the day of launch. I received it in about 18 weeks time. Its been almost two years now and it has been behaving perfectly nicely. I ve only been able to clock 17000 odd kms though until now and I certainly intend to clock many more!
The point is, a fault or faults can occur at any time or stage in any product’s life cycle. Sometimes its just a concatenation of luck and circumstances.
Thing is we need to deal with it as best we can.
In this case, serious escalation through this forum and all possible other means might be the best way.

Don't agree. When we are spending 20+ big ones it's better to be safe than sorry. I would rather go with the norm(Harrier, Safari, XUV 700, Kushaq, Seltos DCT, BS6 Diesel cars, etc) than the exception(probably your Thar).