[VW2010]

I am a paranoid person when it comes to these kind of situation. When i booked my Jetta I asked for the date when the Car will reach the Yard. It reached around 15th. Believe me or not, i went past the showroom everyday from 15th till i took a delivery. Its not a real requirement but its just me being paranoid.

Personally I will stick to my morals to not even sit inside a delivery car. I hate to see someone sitting or driving a car that i am about to take delivery and I will apply the same rule to any delivery car.


Tata is notorious for bringing customer vehicle for Test drive. They got a safari that came for service. I rejected it and asked them I wanted a test vehicle and not a customer vehicle.

The next day the same showroom got a new safari that went for registration. The salesman said he wanted to show the new car. I said its either a test vehicle or "No Safari" for me. Finally he got the test drive car.

Can you avoid such instances? I dont think so. But atleast you can stick to your morals and dont do what some customer does to your car (Waiting for delivery)

[misquitas]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Tata is notorious for bringing customer vehicle for Test drive. They got a safari that came for service. I rejected it and asked them I wanted a test vehicle and not a customer vehicle.

I voted for the fourth option -- No, I have refused to drive such a vehicle. I was rather dismayed that 31 voters (so far) have opted for the first option -- "Yes, I have and its not my fault and the dealer should take care."

Not only have they test-driven a customer vehicle, they appear to have absolved themselves of the act and have even gone to the extent of pushing the blame on the dealer. In my opinion, both parties -- the test driver and dealer -- are guilty of the crime, especially when they are aware that the "test" vehicle in question is, in fact, a customer vehicle. I would be interested to know the reaction of these 31 voters, if their brand new vehicle were to be given to another potential customer as a "test" vehicle.

By the way, I had a similar unpleasant experience at a Tata showroom here in Goa. I have documented my experience in my rather-long ownership experience of my I10 1.2 VTVT Magna. For those who would prefer to skip these details and go straight to my unpleasant experience at the Tata showroom, kindly open the below link and proceed to the second half of the "Tata - 2" sub-heading.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2181271

Thanks,
Melvyn

[vipul_singh]

Just saw Times Drive on Times Now. They have been driving a Honda City and a Vento for a month now. I was amazed to see that the Vento had a red TC plate. Who's to say the car would not be sold to an unsuspecting customer after being thrashed for a month by journos?

I think both VW and Times Drive may be at fault here.

[predatorwheelz]

Went through the entire thread over the last half hour. There seem to be a lot of idealistic people living in this country . I agree with you guys that giving out a ready to deliver car for TDing to other customers is unethical, and probably also illegal. But thats the way the business has run for ages.

Before buying my Verna, I took a TD of 9 cars. Only 3 of these were actual TD cars - The Verna, the Accent and the Aveo 1.4!!. Here are the various reasons cited:

1. The Ford Fiesta 1.6 S was just launched back then and they claimed not to have an S model TD car.

2. The Fiesta Diesel TD car apparently had gone to City centre for a demo.

3. The Mitsubishi Lancer and Cedia were both stock cars. In fact, I was surprised at the guts of the Salesman. He showed me a glistening blue Cedia standing on the shopfloor with 87 kms on the odo. The next day he brought along THAT SAME car to my house for a TD. I was quick to identify the car and the odo mileage. When I pointed it out, he blatantly lied saying it was a different car.

4. The Optra Magnum AND Aveo 1.6 were both top models. They said "Sir aap hi ne to bola tha top model ke saare features dekhne hain." I skipped explaining to them that I could just TD any model, and then go to the shopfloor and check out features of the top model.

Point is, this is a malady any potential car buyer will have to live with, especially when you're buying a slightly higher spec car. What can you do to prevent such a lemon being sold to YOU? As VW2010 said, nag them for the date of delivery and be physically present at the showroom/stockyard that very day. Take immediate delivery to ensure the car isn't TDd around.

[mpksuhas]

Just now read another thread in the forum which explains somewhat a similar issue. TD car being sold as 'new' car. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post2234840

[asdfvinay]

I bought a Indigo LS in 2008 at Concorde Motors, Hyderabad. This was the time when all the demo cars were CS(the compact one) models.Till the last minute we were undecided on the colour and whether to go for the CS model or the normal LS. When we decided on the white colour and the LS model it was late evening and the dealer said they have this model/colour ready for delivery. I asked them to make all arrangements for delivery before I reach and they did so. After reaching the showroom I noticed that the gear lever and seats were a little dirty. Looked like the car has done a couple of kilometres, say 50 or 100. Though I was not convinced with the dealers answers, I had no other option as my family was waiting and it was an auspicious day. So I took the delivery. On taking it and driving home I noticed that the speedo/odo was not working, aka disconnected. The dealer came and connected the odo cable after some time, but this made it clear to me that the car went for a couple of test drives. Otherwise, why should they keep the cable disconnected?

I believe Concorde Motors is company owned showroom unlike other showrooms. If this is how Concorde is, god knows what it is with other showrooms. The companies themselves should come up with stringent rules against this practice by showrooms.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by asdfvinay

Though I was not convinced with the dealers answers, I had no other option as my family was waiting and it was an auspicious day. So I took the delivery. On taking it and driving home I noticed that the speedo/odo was not working, aka disconnected. The dealer came and connected the odo cable after some time, but this made it clear to me that the car went for a couple of test drives. Otherwise, why should they keep the cable disconnected?

Tough luck man!

You should have been more careful while taking the delivery.

Do bring this to Tata Motors' notice.

[richie4u]

Well as fellow team bhpian misquitas has quoted about his experience at the Tata dealership in Goa, I too was very careful, actually insanely careful before getting my vehicle from that same Tata dealership.

When I bought my Safari VX, I bought a cycus grey color. The good thing about going for that color is that it is a rare color here so the local Tata dealership does not have stock and gets the vehicle only when they receive an order. Well this proved to be very good for me as I got all the information about the date and time when my vehicle is going to be delivered to the showroom. I was present when the car was unloaded from the truck and was brought to the showroom. Well to ensure that nobody touches it after that for any purpose I got the car cleaned, polished and brought inside the showroom and got it locked and warned the Manager of anybody touching/seating in the vehicle before delivering it to me.

Well I guess my warning was taken seriously as I had sent a couple of my friends just to inquire and in the pretext seat in my car but they were not allowed at all inside the vehicle and it was kept locked properly until delivery.

I do not know if others can try this, but I felt this is right thing to do when after all you spend your hard earned money and the dealers use them as TD vehicle.

[GTO]

This thread just made me realise, I don't remember the last time I test-drove a car from the dealer. Of course, the single reason behind that is I test cars for Team-BHP and thus, they come straight from the manufacturer. But even if you look at my recent purchases:

- Preowned Honda Civic : Tested only used examples.

- Tata Indigo : Bought without a test. Had driven plenty earlier.

- Merc C220 : Bought without a test. Had driven it earlier (though, more of the C200 CDI).

- Mahindra Classic : Bought without a test. Only driven CJ340s earlier. Loved them, the Classic was an improvement. I don't even think Mahindra had any demo Classics.

For each of these 4 cars, I was very sure about what I wanted. Thus, there wasn't even any cross-shopping involved!

[Rajeevraj]

I wanted to post something I observed at a Royal Enfield dealership. Could not find a suitable thread. Also could not find any thread related to Bike Dealerships (Apart from posts in the buying experience/Initial Ownership reports threads). So decided to create a generic thread for anything related to bike dealerships.

MODS: If similar threads/topic exist elsewhere please help do the needful.

The dealership mentioned here is the Royal Enfield Dealership at Bangalore- Iblur (Sarjapur Road/ORR Jn). I had been there today for some test rides and to my surprise I noticed that they do not have dedicated Test Drive Bikes. So they were offering the test drives on any bike that was there (either for service or repair). Is this something common across Enfield Dealerships and is it something common across all bike dealerships? I have not done a lot of bike test drives in the recent past, but I do recall TVS had dedicated test drive bikes for all their models.

I felt this was not a good practice. Firstly, it is someone else's bike, Secondly-the bikes are there for service and repairs and may not be in optimum condition (The Electra I was given Had a non existant rear brake) and finally the people coming for test drives may be newbies to Enfields (Like me) or newbies to bikes itself.

In any case, I did not have the heart to do my test drives on someone else's carefully looked after bike. So once I realized it was not a test bike, I left.

On a side note, there is a new Bajaj Dealership opening at Belandur on ORR (After Coffee Day). Its a small place. Looks like a Satellite dealership.

[ArizonaJim]

So, as I understand it, in a hypothetical case I take my loved and babied new Royal Enfield into this dealer for its first oil and filter change at 500 km and leave it.

Some dude that has no experience on a Royal Enfield comes in off the street, climbs aboard my bike with the dealers blessing and proceeds to take it out and rev it up to the rev limiter in the first 3 gears, then downshifts to second gear greatly over-reving the engine and slows to a stop so he can do it all again?

Returning it to the dealer, the dealer lets it cool a bit, does the oil/filter service, dusts it off and returns it to me with a smile?

Totally disgraceful.

[am1m]

Totally disgraceful indeed! Thanks for sharing this information Rajeevraj. Even though the dealer that I go to has bikes on display, I'm even more thankful now that I own an older bike; not much chance he'll be giving that out for test rides.

RE dealerships are becoming a bit high-handed, methinks. I have 3 bikes and I get them serviced at the respective authorized service centers. The service itself is good enough so I don't switch, but invariably I get the worst customer service at the RE dealership, as compared to the other two brands.

A consequence of the high demand for the Classics, I guess.

[Rajeevraj]

Mods, thanks for merging into an appropriate thread.

Originally Posted by ArizonaJim

So, as I understand it, in a hypothetical case I take my loved and babied new Royal Enfield into this dealer for its first oil and filter change at 500 km and leave it.

Some dude that has no experience on a Royal Enfield comes in off the street, climbs aboard my bike with the dealers blessing and proceeds to take it out and rev it up to the rev limiter in the first 3 gears, then downshifts to second gear greatly over-reving the engine and slows to a stop so he can do it all again?

Returning it to the dealer, the dealer lets it cool a bit, does the oil/filter service, dusts it off and returns it to me with a smile?

Totally disgraceful.

Exactly. In fact when I went on Saturday, they said they cannot give Test Drive after 5pm. I was wondering why. Yesterday I realised. Because the owners can land up at any time . One of the Thunderbirds had been test driven by another person I talked to there. That one was the exact case you mentioned. 500km, first service.

Originally Posted by am1m

RE dealerships are becoming a bit high-handed, methinks.

I got the same feeling. Although the sales guy was reasonable, his whole attitude was-It is a Royal Enfield, why ask questions. Similar to my experience in a couple of Honda dealerships-Its a Honda, what more do u want!!!

[man_and_machine]

It happened to me in the VW showroom, BLR, after the facelift, the SA said if you want to really feel the actual car then I need to try it. I drove the non-facelifted version instead, as I insisted on it. But then, I would not take the delivery of the car if it has done a lot of kms on the ODO and if the tyres show usage.

[shankar.balan]

Basis this thread, we guys on the Forum need to be responsible and decent enough to NOT take such a vehicle for TD even if offered. We need to act, based on how we would feel if some halfwit were to take our beautiful brand new car for a spin without permission.