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Brought home a Jeep Meridian: Pre-delivery chaos & initial impressions

2nd May 2023, 16:23 by Ananth Iyer

The car is overall a very rounded product and the perfect package.

BHPian Starwar19 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Buying a Jeep Meridian- Worst experience, great car!

Pre-Delivery Chaos

(This post is going to be very long, please bear me. I need your help in finding any blunder I may face in future.)

I was in the market for buying a Premium SUV with a Budget of 40 Lakhs. In this price bracket there are very less to none options other than Meridian, Fortuner, Gloster.

Fortuner didn’t match our Profile and Gloster felt very huge SUV for daily commute.

This new car would be a complete Family car for long drives and also for city drives. I will give a detailed comparison some other day.

Coming to Meridian

Meridian is an instant Hit among our Family. We loved everything about it. The premium and luxury interiors, the way it drove and the Looks. I was head over heels for the Car. To make the deal more sweet, Meridian was running with lot of Offers and Discounts before the OBD Norm would kick in.

We were very eager and excited to buy the Jeep Meridian. We confirmed about our Purchase to the Dealer on Friday evening. The SA started to push us for Full Payment by Monday so that the Car could arrive on Wednesday as a Container was to be dispatched from the Factory and my jeep would be dispatched immediately and my family was okay with it as we could get the Car on a “Shubh Muhurat”.

As planned we completed the whole payment on Monday and were happy. Everything was smooth and fine until there was a twist. I received a call from the SA on Tuesday evening stating that due to OBD norm, the bookings for new car has stopped and the Container was not fully loaded, so they would arrange the Meridian from Factory by Road to the Showroom. The Factory is in Pune and I live in Kolhapur. The distance between Factory and Showroom was 319 Kms. I asked for all the positives and negatives to the SA for which he assured me that showroom will take all the expenses and responsibility and that they had brought a lot of cars in the same manner. He assured me that my car will be brought with proper care and caution.

I agreed to it and requested him to send me all the VIN number and Photos of the Car from Factory. Along with the Factory ODO reading. He obliged. He also said that our drivers will leave tonight only and would get charge of the car by next morning that is Wednesday morning and drive it the same day. The car would arrive at the showroom on Wednesday night and it would be available for me to check and do the PDI on Thursday morning.

As planned the showroom guy gave me all the photographs of the Car, interiors, Vehicle tyres and ODO meter reading. The odo was standing at 28 kms. Everything looked fine and in place for me. The car arrived at the showroom late night.

I went to check out the car on Thursday morning after I got a call from the SA, for the PDI.

I went to check out the car with a printed sheet of TeamBhp PDI checklist. As given in the sheet, I checked the car on all possible parameters and the car stood out excellently at all front. The noose from the engine was very smooth and I compared it with the Test Drive vehicle available at the Showroom. The car was fine but I found 2 Red Flags.

The Car had no smell of being new. Heavy leather and soft touch Plastics were used but the Car didn’t smell like new. (I was utterly disappointed in this regard as the car didn’t smell new.) As buying it new from showroom, I can’t compromise on the car to not smell new and give that typical fragrance.
The ODO meter reading in the Showroom was 208. (This was also a major red flag as the SA and General Manager committed that the car would leave from factory. The distance between showroom and factory is 319 Kms. The car already had 28 km on the ODO.
A minor observation was, the Engine oil was very less in the Car. (This was a minor observation and so didn’t considered it in red flags)

Apart from this two red flags, the car had passed all the tests according to the PDI list.

I asked for explanation on this by the SA.

SA said that he was also puzzled as to why the car was not smelling new. He accepted that there is a particular fragrance and it was not to be found in this car. We also checked out 2 new compass in the back yard and found that particular smell of a new car but this was missing in my Meridian.

I asked him to take me to the General Manager.

He took me to the GM and I explained him all the problems and scenario.

He got pissed at me and started yelling the you have problems right from the start of this deal. You asked for the factory photos and no customer has asked us till now. I cannot tell you why the car is not smelling new and you have to trust us. If you have doubts in your mind, lets cancel this deal and I will refund your whole amount once the car is sold. The car was bought in a container till Akurdi, Pune which happens to be the stockyard of Pune dealer. The car was then drove from the stockyard to Showroom.

Seeing his reaction I was fuming and asked the Manager to not yell. I politely told him that I’m buying a Car which costs me big 40 lakhs and I will verify and be cautious in every sense. You being a premium brand answers me in this way makes no sense in buying the car and your attitude makes it worse. He said that cancel the deal.

The SA requested me and asked me to meet the MD.

(I loved the vehicle and this purchase was very close to my heart and I didn’t want to let go the Car)

The owner listened to all the scenario and started explaining in a very calm way.

He said that, he has sold 750+ cars in 5-6 years and no customer has any problem with their cars. He assured me that the car was new and not used. He explained me lot of parameters like the date of invoice, a mail from Jeep Company stating that the Car was new along with its month of manufacture and assuring me that the car was completely new and nothing was wrong with the car.

On the fragrance, he said that the drivers drove the vehicle from Pune to Kolhapur with windows down. He requested me to give some time, he will checkout the vehicle personally, clean it, switch on the AC and keep it in Sunlight which will bring the fragrance back.

To this I countered that, we own multiple vehicles and they retained their new smell till 6 month at the least. He replied that we keep AC on and windows off all the time.

He requested me to give some time and he will take measures which will clear all my doubts.

The MD even apologised for the behaviour of his Manager.

I was somewhat satisfied with the reply and waited for him to check out the car and get the car ready for me to inspect.

When I returned from his cabin, I again went to check out the car and sat inside. This time there was somewhat 20% fragrance of a new car. I forgot to mention, the car had all the packagings and plastic covers on it. So after getting the 20% smell, I was convinced though not completely but was sure to go with the purchase.

The MD made all the arrangements and asked me to visit the showroom in the evening for final inspection. But in the mean time, the showroom people had already done the RTO registrations which meant I will have to go ahead with my purchase. I didn’t object and let the remaining process be a little smooth.

I went in the evening to inspect the car and the car had same 20-25% smell and everything was neat and clean. (They didn’t let me drive the car out of the stockyard)

I gave them a positive signal and went ahead with the Purchase.

The Delivery experience was good but the pre delivery experience was pathetic and nothing less than a nightmare. I was looking at the positives and was happy that I was getting a great Product.

We took the delivery of our Car and the SA explained all the features of the car in details. Everything went normal and smooth.

Twist in the story, Next morning I took out the car for a short drive with my relatives, the rattling saga started to appear from the doors and windows. This was a creaking sound from all four doors. I kept calm and didn’t wanted to bother the Showroom guys, called my SA and informed him the same. He asked to immediately get the vehicle to the Service centre.

The head service manager came to inspect the vehicle and instantly found that this sound was coming from the rubber of the doors and the rubber cushioning on the body. Both the rubbers were creating friction and were making that creaking sound. He asked me to wait for 15 minutes and will get the sound rectified.

He applied some polish to all four doors and told me that this polish will go off in 2-3 days and the sound will completely stop. He also said that there is a minor sound from the door but it will be gone completely in 2-3 days.

I accepted it and left the Service centre with my car. (They should have rectified it in their PDI)

I kept myself positive and convinced myself that some minor mistakes happen.

Some good part-

I took the car for a 800+ Kms drive the next day after returning from the service centre.

My observation about the car:-

Likes:

The car is phenomenal to Drive and the gearbox is same as harrier or safari but the Fiat 2L engine is charm to drive. Though it is shared with harrier and safari the tuning of the vehicle is very different. The car doesn’t feel underpowered in any circumstances. The car is just charm and take it on a open stretch, you will be utterly satisfied with its driving pleasure
The seats are bit hard in last two rows but provide very comfortable experience. The car was loaded with 7 people and after driving it for whole day covering 800 kms, every one was relaxed and comfortable.
The interiors are a very happy place and it immediately wows a new person sitting in the car.
The music system is excellent. You feel like sitting in a concert.
The lights of Meridian are very powerful and give a great throw.
The suspension is properly tuned and it gives a very cozy and enjoyable ride on all three rows. Though last row feels a little bumpy as seats are directly on the floor.
Bridgestone all weather Tyres that come as stock are very capable and confidence affirming. The car doesn’t roll in any tight corner. The handling of the car is unmistakably Jeep and this made me accept why people Love Jeep and why its called King of SUVs.
I love this in my Meridian but its a double edged sword. THE NOISE INSULATION! The car is very hushed inside the cabin. Till 100 kmph you do not hear any noise or sound from the outside world. Its just so silent but it maximises the rattles in the car!
The car feels very rugged and has a great road presence. Due to low sales, people don’t often see this car. I feel like this car is a limited edition and people easily mistake it for a very expensive car.

Dislikes:

Rattling right from the first day. I cannot live with this. Literally I cannot bear this. The doors started to make creaking sound. The service centre, tried to stop this rattling noise, it is reduced but still there. There is minor rattling from Mirror and dash board.
The Gearbox is bit lazy for sudden overtakes. It takes its good sweet time to downshift and give the power. (The car is in no way underpowered)
No paddle shifters at 40 lakhs!

The car is overall a very rounded and perfect package.

The chaos and worst pre-delivery experience has left a mark on me. I’m always cautious about the car and have doubts.

Please help me in identifying a blunder that I may have missed.

Thank you for Reading.