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I'm in a halfway home of sorts currently, an in-betweener, in terms of car purchases. I do have a car that is 6.5 years old but I am not looking to buy anything immediately.

If I were to dab my feet into the shark-infested waters of today, I'd look to do so only amongst certain species of sharks. The sharks I would try to dodge would be Ethanol-ization of petrol (and now diesel too), the need to use specific grades of petrol for turbo-petrol engines and DPF issues with BS6+ diesel vehicles.

Let's talk about petrol cars since DPF issues in diesel cars are a strict no-go (that's a megalodon for me), as of my current frame of mind at least. What we increasingly hear on the forum is that if we use some grades of petrol in turbo-petrol cars, the engine will get ruined eventually. So turbo-petrol cars seem to me like a 15 foot great white shark in the water, so out I go scampering from the water.

Now we only have to contend with E20 petrol being used in naturally aspirated petrol cars. Cars that comply with BS 6.2 standards and onwards are okay with ingesting E20 petrol. So this is a cute little bamboo shark to me. I can totally swim with it past the corals and butterfly fish with utmost pleasure and peace of mind.

That's the exact frame of mind with which I view the Honda Elevate these days - a Naturally Aspirated car which will pose no troubles by design. I won't have to worry about what grade of petrol I need to fill her up with nor will I be forced to run it over distances purely to avoid DPF issues.

Not only is the 1.5 litre IVTEC here an atavism to the easier BS2/BS3 era when fuel was cheaper, cars were cheaper, roads weren't as clogged and global warming hadn't been realized as a "thing", it is probably one of the last trouble-free options available to us right from the outset, with no strings attached and with no "ifs" and "buts".

I still see some problems with the Elevate though, viz the lack of outright shoulder-room in the 2nd row and the lack of a middle seat headrest in the 2nd row. Besides, I would much prefer to have it in the guise of an occasional 7 seater, which some media outlets keep saying is an Elevate upgrade that Honda is planning for India. Let's see.

Could someone who has had any issues / problems, solved by Honda help me with this? My delivery is for tomorrow, not sure what to do about the dash cam.

Get a dashcam of your choice and power it using the car’s USB port. No cutting/ tampering of wires involved. No warranty issues. Best part- It’s completely reversible and you can install it all by yourself.

And congratulations for the car!

Just echoing what saket77 said. Forget about the dashcam for now. Enjoy the process of taking delivery of your new car, ensure you check everything against the checklists, bring her home, and then open TeamBHP to finalize your choice of dashcam. Plug it in the USB port and that's it.

If they say plugging in a different dashcam to the USB port will give warranty issues, are they going to sell Honda approved phones, tyre inflators, and a whole lot of other things that you will eventually plug in there? Just trying to extract whatever possible, that's it.

Congrats on your ride!

I had asked same question via email and had as well specifically asked for hard wiring of dash cam. They had mentioned to me anything which is plug and play would not void the car warranty.

Guys had one of the most pathetic days, sorry to rant about this.

I'm just 28, and this was the first car I was purchasing for my parents from my hard earned money. I didn't know the experience would be so terrible, would never buy a new car if I did.

I bought the Honda Elevate ZX CVT (top model), non-R variant (February 2024 manufactured) for a discounted price of 18.5L without any accessories but including all insurance, zero dep, RTI, extended warranty etc.

I bought the car from Viva Honda (Chandivali & Santacruz - both are associated and you can pick from any of these) in July 2024.

My first delivery was due in 1st week of August, which got pushed due to registration and other procedures. So my mom decided for an auspicious day, and chose 19th August.

I saw quite a few videos, and learned that PDI should be done before taking the delivery in order to check the car is nice, and doesn't have any issues.

I booked a person from Zekardo, and chose the date to be 17th August (T-2 days from delivery).

The PDI guy found quite a few faults, but the only major one being that there a dent on the bonnet. I got furious, and quite a few of the Honda people came and observed the same when the PDI guy showed this.

30 minutes later, one of the Customer Service Managers Anju Rai <crmsales@vivahonda.in> steps in, and sees that there is indeed a dent in the bonnet.

She further assures not to worry, and that to give her few minutes. She gets on a call and comes back saying "Sir, since you'r car is already registered, we'll do one thing, we'll swap this with an original Honda bonnet and you will have no problem"

I didn't know what to do, but I got online and saw that I should refuse delivery, but later on after a while I spoke to the PDI guy and a friend, and they said if they are swapping it with an original part, take it - it shouldn't be an issue, since the fitting of an elevate is not that complex and simple.

After a while, I agree to take the swapping of a new bonnet from a different car they have in the stock yard. They mention, that your delivery is due on Monday, 19th August but we would need at least till Tuesday to get this arranged.

After all this, I have put all the problems in the car mentioned by the PDI guy on the Whatsapp group they had created, with 9 other members. I also mentioned, that clearly the bonnet is to be swapped as mentioned by Miss Anju.

I said no problem, please give me the delivery on 23rd August (another auspicious day, my mother recommended)

Tuesday, I get a message on the whatsapp group they made that the car is ready sir, and if you'd like to install any accessories please let us know. I inform them about the step illumination etc.

Cut short to today, my delivery was at around 2:30pm. Excited about it, I reach the showroom, again calling the PDI guy for my sane - to which he comes and first thing he checks and says, the bonnet has not even been removed.

He literally just opened it, and said by the nuts itself, he can see that the bonnet is not removed. But surprisingly, the dent was removed? To which he removed his meter, and not a surprise, but the Bonnet was repainted. They had repainted the whole bonnet, the meter read counts of 600+ instead of the less than 120 it should be.

The worst thing that happened then was, he noticed that even the quarter panel next to the bonnet has been repainted - when there was no issues, but a minor scratch to which he had pointed out at.

He said this is a big problem, since the quarter panel cannot be swapped now without removing the door, and the bumper.

I had someone removing video footage of every conversation I had with everyone, the general manager was not there but I even took a voice recording where he mentions - it's a big f up on their end. The bonnet was supposed to be simply swapped, Miss Anju has used her brains, which she doesn't have and took these decisions on her own.

He literally mentioned, how the team has gone ahead with this stupidity and done things without anyone's approval.

I mentioned to him, I was ready to take the bonnet swap, since there was no option as the car was already registered. But now he is offering me a swap for the quarter panel and the bonnet both.

This completely spoils my factory finish of the car, doesn't it? Removing the doors, bumpers, just to swap the quarter panel?

I've had a terrible day, I called up a consumer court lawyer from who I found on google, to which he said, since the car is registered - they aren't going to bulge, and the consumer court would cost you 1-1.5L and also go on for 2 years (he mentioned a similar case is not done after 18 months yet)

I'm so bummed and have a headache lol. I have videos of one of the employees who was present there, mentioning "Miss Anju had promised for a bonnet swap, why has she gone and repainted the bonnet?"

Now, when I try to reach out to Honda care, on twitter or their email, they connect me with the dealership? How am I supposed to reach out to any of the corporates mentioning this scam is happening by the dealer itself?

The dealer is saying, sir give me 2 days, let me look into this and think of a solution - but be rest assured, we cannot change this car and give u for another one.

The only option is, I can give u these parts replaced in front of you, from another car in front of you. I don't know what to do, should I let the repaint be as it is, to avoid any factory finish / no problems of doors rattling etc?

Should I swap out the parts?

Would really appreciate if anyone has a great hook with a Senior Honda person, or guide me on what to do. Again, I probably has 45 minutes of footage with Viva Honda executives including the General Manager agreeing on their fault, and stupidity.

It would be completely draining to go to consumer court, fighting for 2 years, blocking my 20L or so all this while - and the worst, being without a car all this while.

Sorry for my rant guys, would really appreciate a response.

Two ways you can go about it.

1. The 'scorched earth' approach. You're only limited by how far you're willing to take this, really. Do keep in mind it'll be time and resource intensive. All well & good getting knickers in a righteous bunch in a huff but the grind really grinds, and the remedial process can get more aggravating than whatever pissed you off to begin with. Know what you're getting into before, not after, jumping into it.

2. The 'practical' approach. I only suggest this because the damage is purely cosmetic and relatively easily fixable by part/panel replacements. I'd feel very differently if there were mechanical issues involved.

Get everything replaced with fresh panels (no repairing, and no swapping with another unsuspecting customer's car), the entire process documented at Honda level (not just dealership), ensure it doesn't go on your car's service record as damage/accident repairs which hurts your car's value later, get your car and never go back to this particular dealer again.

Weigh your options, and pursue the path that works best for you.

Good luck getting this resolved, and try not to let this sour your ownership experience. It's a great car, idiot dealership notwithstanding.

I sincerely empathize with your situation. Unfortunately, this is the state of Indian consumers and pathetically the consumer laws.

Now the car is registered, it is your responsibility. Period. The only thing you could have done is to inspect the car again after all the work is done before the registration. Since the damage is already done, now decide on what you want. Taking the consumer court approach will NOT yield any positive result at all. Instead, you will lose money, energy, and time.

The first thing you MUST do is to involve Honda immediately in all your next-level discussions or communications. These dealers will always play the blame game and beat around the bush. Hear what Honda has to say and take it from there.

The only way forward I can see is to get the work done from Honda or at least get the necessary part from Honda and get the work done from a reputed FNG and move on.

Sorry to hear what happened with your brand new car. Keeping the car at dealership for longer time leads to these issues, you should not trust them to take care of your car like you would. Same is with service centers when you leave your car for longer duration to resolve issues.

The drivers and workers mistreat these cars, drive them rashly and generally don't care about dents, scratches.

The practical solution for you is to follow what is suggested by Chetan_Rao

Similar thing happened with me at Espirit Toyota in Noida, and I understand how bad you must be feeling. You can read about it here https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ota-noida.html

You should also create a separate thread of your ordeal so people are aware about tactics of this particular Honda dealer.

This will hopefully be the first of many car purchases you will make in your life. The main lesson to be learned here is that you ought to do the PDI before paying the full amount to the car dealer and completing the registration of the car. That way if the PDI turns up issues, you can simply walk away from the car and ask for a new one. Once registered, the car and its problems are yours to bear.

The other key takeaway here is that you should get anything promised by anyone at a car dealership written, stamped, and signed as proof. Be it discounts, free/discounted accessory promises, parts replacements - whatever. Any other format can be disputed and dodged cleverly. For example here, the offer of the bonnet replacement ought to have been acknowledged with a signed document.

This is sound advice and you should seriously consider option #2 from Chetan_Rao. Look at it from a different angle - what if you had wheeled out the car and a day later a coconut landed on your bonnet and dented it? Would you not get the bonnet replaced with a fresh part and get on with life?

Fix the car up, go on a lovely trip with your family, and make some great memories. We'll await your ownership experience. :)

Yeah the thing is, I don't see myself having any options now, do I?

Guess I got to take a damaged car, so much for consumer rights in India lol.

The only question now is, to accept both the bonnet replacement and the quarter panel replacement (both official honda parts) or, just get the bonnet replaced and keep the quarter panel repainted as they have done so.

I don't want them to open the quarter panel, for which they will have to unscrew the door and bumper both, for me to a year later face problems with a lose door or some other bullshit.

Does repainting of the quarter panel only cause a terrible hit on the value of the car? Is it not explainable while selling it of maybe 5 years later, that this was officially done by Honda, and I have it on video evidence?

Sorry for your ordeal sir, PDI should be done before the full payment or you should have informed the dealership that don't send the car for registration until I don't do the PDI. Anyways, you can't do anything as the car is now registered, going the legal way is totally waste of time and money, infact you will be in stress until the justice served.
Bonnet, Bumper and the side panel are just plug and play type of parts, they will just remove the repainted parts and will swap them with new ones, but get this work done in front of your eyes, infact you should thank god that there is no any machanical damage in the car like we have seen in so many Tata cars, get some accessories as compensation and move on.
As you mentioned the dealership name, now one should ignore this particular dealership to get an Elevate ZX CVT, coz the dealer swapped the repainted parts with another unregistered Elevate, which will be sold to another guy.
Overall the Elevate is a no nonsense car, take delivery and enjoy your ride, Good luck:thumbs up

As much as I empathize with your situation, I'd recommend that you get the replacements carried out (maybe in your presence/ ask for video evidence), and enjoy the car.

I highly doubt a replaced bonnet, quarter panel can cause any niggles. The door isn't going to get loose because it was removed :uncontrol Maybe get a written confirmation that the dealership is liable for any consequences of removing the door/ panels including rattles/ damages if any, if this helps with your peace of mind. Of course this isn't ideal, but it'll cause you more distress if you don't put this behind.

Get the bonnet and panel replaced, and ask them for a complementary extended warranty and a ceramic coating package as a compensation. They should oblige.

What is the quality of the repaint job? If it's not discernable to the naked eye and can only be detected by the paint thickness gauge, you can skip the panel replacement. They probably thought they were doing you a favor by painting it to cover the minor scratch that you had pointed out earlier for brownie points.

Get all this documented officially (on the dealer's letterhead) and put it in your records for future reference.

Over 5+ years, the car will have to withstand a lot of rough conditions on our Indian roads, so I don't think that a repainted fender will do considerable damage to the resale value of a vehicle. What the repaint was done for is usually what causes the drop in resale value, such as a bad accident which may have damaged more things than the paint. In this instance, since it was a minor scratch that was corrected with a repaint, that evidence should be good enough to allay the fears of a reasonable future buyer.

Frankly, I think you should not worry about resale value. In India, most cars get scratched eventually and most caring owners usually get a repaint done at some point.

That said, my take is that if you're comfortable, get the bonnet and panel replaced with original Honda parts and follow BHP-ian Tourer's advice here.

Quoting Chetan_Rao again: