I recently bought a 2006 model of Santro(35, 000 mileage) from Prestige Autoworld, Gurgaon, a dealer of Mahindra First Choice Wheels. This dealer is located near Grand Central Mall on MG Road. I thought that they operate in the same fashion as the Maruti True Value dealers but I was in for a rude shock. Here’s my analysis:
Pros:
If you don’t have too much time or don’t know a lot of dealers or don’t trust unknown second hand car sellers, you can visit Mahindra for a large variety of cars. They keep all sorts of vehicles in their inventory.
Generally, they do some level of checks and repairs on the car. They CLAIM that they don’t buy accidented cars.
Cons:
The dealers operate independently and have no links with other dealers of Mahindra. In essence, these dealers are regular car dealers of used cars, but they have just been branded under Mahindra’s name.
Within 2 months, the back tyre of my car burst on highway. I don’t know what kind of quality checks these folks do. This tyre had manufacturing date of Oct 2005 and burst in July 2009 with about 35, 000 miles of use. They had promised guarantees, etc when I was buying but ofcourse they backed out later. When I approached them, they gave me the invoice of the tyre seller and asked me to directly contact the tyre seller in Khan Market, New Delhi for replacements!(They had put 2 new tyres+ tubes when I had bought the car - see note 8 below)
The car has still not been transferred in my name. The dealer keeps making new excuses each time I call him.
Cars are mostly over-priced. But you may find good deals once in a while.
Website - has limited inventory listed. Doesn’t even list all its stores. I had written for an information request on their website and no has contacted me in the past 4 months.
Very unfriendly practices - You have to buy insurance from them(reliance) and if you want to get the car financed you can only choose HDFC since it is their partner. If you want a 3rd financer, you will have to get it approved by the bank in 10 days or they will forfeit your token amount.
They don’t even show you a record of all repairs/ modifications made to the car. Maruti True Value provides you a list of all repairs/ paint job done by their quality check team. I doubt if the 118 point check claimed by Mahindra has any sincere effort behind it.
8.(Updated Sept 11, 2009) When I bought the car, the front tyres+ tubes were brand new. However, one of front tyres kept losing air pressure and I had to get air filled periodically. I got the tube valve changed 4 times and 2 punctures repaired since purchase. Today, I got 3 punctures repaired in the tube. All these punctures were very fine and very difficult to detect. I finally decided to replace this tube and the repair person told me(a) the new tyres were of goodyear but tube was of bridgestone(b) the tube belonged to INDICA car and wasn’t even meant for Santro. [Tube markings 155/65/R 13, instead of santro that requires 155/77/ R 13]. I still haven’t discarded this tube - kept it as evidence!
FACTS:
I made the final payment on my Santro on 5 May 2009. The cheque was cashed by them on 15 May 2009.The Mahindra First Choice agent had requested 25 days to register the car. However, I finally received my RC on 18 July 2009 that was signed by the RTO on 03 July 2009.
As a contrast, I bought a new car on 01 July 2009 and the RTO inspected my car on July 20, 2009 for chasis number/ engine number. I expect to get my RC by July 25, 2009.
OVERALL - Make sure you don’t get fooled by Mahindra brand name. Each first choice dealership operates independently with little or no control by Mahindra. BUYER BEWARE. Buy from these guys based on your own due diligence and condition of car. Compare the value quoted by them to independent website such as https://carwaale.com or https://gaadi.com. Don’t think Mahindra will provide you any additional service or guarantee. You are simply buying a used car for JUST ANY OTHER used car dealer.
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POST SCRIPT: I sent a compliant email to the Company and they gave me a contact # at Delhi. They did not care to follow up with me for over 2 weeks. I called the Delhi contact # and the gentleman was very polite and receptive. However, he said that he can’t help me in any way in my case, which he claimed to be very unique. I told him that customers should get the 118 point check list and he declined stating company policies against disclosing the checklists.
POST SCRIPT 2: On the day our 3 month guarantee expired, the car failed to start. I checked and found no water in the car battery. 118 point check - really? I must have driven the car about 4, 000 kms since purchase and I acknowledge that wear and tear happens. But the battery had NO water absolutely - this has never happened to me in my 15 years of owning and driving vehicles.
POST SCRIPT 3: On Sept 11, 2009, I got a call from their Delhi representative asking to hear my complaint and offering to take feedback for improvements. They assured me that Mahindra wants to create a good buying value for customers and they will look into reasons for my dis-satisfaction.