[autobahnjpr]

A businessman was so fed up with the quality of his car and persistent problems - it spent 200 days in a year in workshop - that he finally donated it to a gram panchayat on one condition - that the car be used only for garbage collection.

The incident happened near the town of Kota in the state of Rajasthan.

Please find the entire story at http://topyaps.com/renault-duster-donated-rajasthan

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Its a Renault Duster!

Wonder what could be the issues reported for this popular car? Can someone good in hindi translate and update this please?

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Its a Renault Duster!

Can someone good in hindi translate and update this please?

The main part -

Car had issues in electrical system & with its AC. car was at the workshop for 200 days in a year. Still, workshop could not solve issues.

Not so main part -

The owner had already got the car badged as - Garbage pick up vehicle. And had requested the Village head to use it as a garbage vehicle only and that too in a meeting.

[Passiautonate]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Its a Renault Duster!

Wonder what could be the issues reported for this popular car? Can someone good in hindi translate and update this please?

Translation - Car having electrical problems including faulty AC since purchase in 2012 to the extent it spent 200 days in year at showroom.

Car donated to Village Panchayat on the condition that only garbage will be collected on this vehicle. He also embedded "Garbage collection Vehicle" on the vehicle. Villagers were surprised on the request seeing the luxury car in place.

Situation resembles what happened with Maharaja who used Rolls Royce for garbage collection.

[anujmishra]

As per article, out of 365 days car spent 200 days in workshop due to fault in Electrical System & Air Conditioning, which workshop people were not able to rectify. He purchased this Renault Duster in Year 2012 after spending Rs. 10 Lakhs.

He himself stickered car as "Garbage Car" on bonnet. His only request is that Village Panchayat should use it as Garbage Car.

[akshay4587]

So he thinks he is Maharaja of Patiala
On a serious note, he could have taken up with Renault rather than donating it as a garbage pick up vehicle. I wonder how the dealer/Renault is going to react to this episode.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by autobahnjpr

it spent 200 days in a year in workshop

My friend's Rexton must have spent 100 days in workshop, still the issues remain. Let me pass on this idea

[Sheel]

Sharing few more pictures which came as WhatsApp forward from a close friend.

[i74js]

I am loving it, reflects poorly on companies who have been extremely sensitive to quality and consumer concerns in several countries overlooking concerns of Indian buyers.

Why can't they institute the system employed by Toyota, wherein every dealership is required to report repair status to the company if it goes beyond the number of days suggested for rectification at the time of job card preparation.

This raises alarm at the manufacturer level automatically and the escalation happens by default.

Not too difficult for every serious manufacturer to apply in India. Else, we will have these funky mobile waste bins available from several players.

Renault should do something - fix the car and apologies to the customer at the very least.

Cheers

[Turbo_asd]

I just came home from a (very boring) geography exam only to find that a Duster has been converted into a trash can

People do have their ways of getting the message across, don't they?

On a serious note, I haven't heard of too many niggles related to electrical systems with the Duster, so is this a one-off case? The Duster seemed to be a fairly reliable car that would last atleast half a decade.

Whatever the problem, the way Renault handled it was just terrible. They surely have the expertise to fix their own car. Informed potential Duster owners certainly won't be too happy to hear about this.

[sudeepg]

Originally Posted by i74js

I am loving it, reflects poorly on companies who have been extremely sensitive to quality and consumer concerns in several countries overlooking concerns of Indian buyers.

Sensitive to quality and consumer concerns? I guess you meant insensitive.

I am in agreement that most companies today do not really care about the quality and complaint issues raised by customers. Maruti and Toyota are exceptions.

In this world of social media being so active, it's easy to get negative publicity easily. Many companies do not realize that it is very hard to build back the trust once it is lost.

[kadanaJ]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

On a serious note, he could have taken up with Renault rather than donating it as a garbage pick up vehicle. I wonder how the dealer/Renault is going to react to this episode.

Assuming he did take it up with Renault, and they did not rectify his problem, I think it's a brilliant way to deal with such an issue. The negative publicity would definitely hurt the brand.

If a lot of people follow this trend, we may see a lot of Skoda "garbage trucks" also

[prakhar1998]

Well, I am sure its the Modi effect. Swachh bharat abhiyan in all its glory.
Well, we can't be sure of the news that it was in the workshop with an unresolved issue for 200 days. But, if it is true, its not unexpected. Renault ASS is nothing great. They are incompetent.

But whatever the case, this isn't the right way to resolve an issue.

[ajaypjayaraj]

Originally Posted by sudeepg

Sensitive to quality and consumer concerns? I guess you meant insensitive.

What i74js meant is, these companies are sensitive to quality and consumer concerns in other countries, not India. I think the insensitivity you meant is for India.

[carwatcher]

We all are aware that all Car companies follow T-BHP keenly, so Renault is having good amount of negative publicity and it would be really interesting to see how they react.

Have to say that Renault has found their match. I am sure that the owner would be having other cars at his disposal so that he can take this bold step. Otherwise like most of us, we would have been at company's mercy with no alternate car to fall back on.

It would be really good to see that if car breaks down again and the Panchayat issues Renault a warning that they are unable to collect the garbage and ask for a temporary alternative for the time being.
If someone thinks of it, the owner has taken the right decision as AC and Electricals won't be required for Garbage collection job.