[Resolved]  Tata Motors — Misinformation and Delivery of Defective car

Address:

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

My experience with a company which considers “values are stronger than steel”.
In the month of January 2011, I visited Kulathunkal Motors, Trivandrum, the authorized dealers of TATA Motors order a SUMO GRAND. I was shown a car of 2010 October make which was readily available. When I requested the sales staff to clarify the month of manufacture it was categorically stated that it was an October 2010 made car.
Convinced about the assurance given by the sales man I paid Rs.2000 on 20th January 2011, as advance for which I was given a voucher. On February 1, 2011 I paid the entire balance amount. No receipt was issued for this payment and instead the cheque amount was just hand written on the previous voucher. My signature was taken on a few unfilled forms with only my name and address saying that the vehicle details will be added only after verification. On 17/02/2011 when I came to take delivery of the vehicle it was found that the defects which were promised to be rectified at the time of delivery remained un attended. As the registration and Insurance were already done I had no other way but to take delivery of the car. It was on the date of delivery that I was given the documents related to the vehicle and the original bill. It was shocking to realise that the make of the car was January 2010 and not October 2010 as explained to me at the time of fixing the deal. I.e. the car has been manufactured more than one year back. The promised discount Rs.100000/- was reduced to Rs.88000. Had I known that it was a Jan 2010 make car I would have never settled for it because these days a car one year old is only worth nearly half the price in the market. Knowing clearly that no one will go for a year old car, what ever discount is offered, TATA Motors dealer deliberately misguided me by deceitfully stating that the vehicle was an Oct 2010 manufactured car. The bills and relevant documents of the vehicle were given to me only on the date of delivery. These papers were prepared much earlier and were not shown to me till delivery of vehicle. They took maximum care in concealing the real manufacturing date of the vehicle. Otherwise the original bill mentioning the date of manufacture of the vehicle and the actual discount given would have been handed over to me at the time of payment itself. This, I think is a clear case of cheating.

The way in which I have been cheated made me take the vehicle to an expert to verify what all problems it have due to its more than an year long exposure to sun and rain at the yard. There were flaws in many parts of the body. It was found that all the rubber parts have become brittle. Some of the parts inside and outside the car are either missing, damaged or coming off. One utility box cannot be opened. Rust has started accumulating in some parts and they have been covered up by applying paint. One side of the front portion is out of its alignment and repainted which indicates a possibility of a crash. Rear view mirror is malfunctioning. It was also found that certain parts will need replacement in the near future. Due to its long exposure to sun and rain the quality of rubber inside the seats would have deteriorated. Now both the arm rests are sagging. The car seems to have been used extensively in a careless manner. I had already taken the vehicle to TATA service centre thrice to repair the faulty AC, Power windows and Head lamps.. Now they are saying that the wiring is tampered so it will not be covered under the warranty. One of the head light assembly is shaking and is cracked as well. The Teflon coating and underbody coat which was an offer is done in a very crude manner. Same is the case of the sun film. The film is pasted without even cleaning the glass. Some letters written with chalk is still visible beneath the film. Visibility of Front wind shield during rain is poor due to some sort of white patches spread over the glass and bad performance of the wipers. TATA Service centre has already recommended to change the wiper blade. Day by day problems are arising one by one. When the AC is on smell of smoke is emitting inside the cabin causing uneasiness which I think is a health hazard for the passengers. For a lay man like me with limited knowledge about automobiles these aspects were not noticed. The reputation of TATA Automobiles and its dealers made me believe whatever they say was true. I never had the remotest thought that a reputed firm like TATA would cheat its customers.
I have written a complaint to TATA motors after which I received a telephone call from them enquiring my complaint. I requested them not to ask me to take the vehicle to Kulathunkal Motors as I have completely lost faith in them. I requested that a person from TATA motors may be engaged to inspect my vehicle. Inspite of agreeing to this I received a call from Kulathunkal asking me to take the vehicle to them for inspection which I rejected. It is already a month since I have heard from TATA.
I decided to buy a new car only to avoid the hassles of maintaining a used car. Due to the mental agony the deal has caused I am unable to use the vehicle with peace of mind. It was my lives saving that I have invested in the car. What ever promises TATA has made is been violated. The dealer has abused the trust I had in them as a dealer of TATA Motors. The date of manufacture of the vehicle was wrongly mentioned to me and the vehicle was not at all in proper condition when it was delivered. All these are clear violation of the sale agreement. And I don’t want my money to go waste on a second hand quality vehicle. I want the car to be replaced with a new one or my money returned back.