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CHENNAI: Luxury carmaker, Jaguar Land Rover India, has been ordered by a city consumer forum to pay Rs 42.7 lakh compensation or fit a new engine besides a compensation of Rs 55,000 to a top textile showroom owner in the city.
It was the case of S Ramesh, managing director of Pothys, that he had bought a premium luxury diesel car — XF 3.0 L — from VST & Sons showroom in Ethiraj Salai in Chennai for Rs 61 lakh in January 2016.
In March 2018, when he was on a personal trip to Bengaluru, the car seized in the middle of the road with a heavy cranking sound. The engine had failed though the car had clocked only 22,400km and it was still within the warranty period. With great difficulty, the car was towed to a showroom in Bengaluru. Since this happened within the three-year warranty period, the service centre replaced the engine for free.
In the following year, the car once again seized in a similar manner but this time VST & Sons refused to replace the engine for free as the vehicle was no longer covered by warranty. For more than a year, the car was idle at the service centre and was not returned. Therefore, Pothys filed a complaint against them with the Chennai (South) District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission for selling an ‘inherently defective’ and ‘faulty’ car.
VST & Sons, in response, said the car was subjected to excessive use, deployed for commercial activities, and improper maintenance led to unusual wear and tear of the engine. The showroom attributed the delay in returning the car to Covid-19 lockdown.
Jaguar Land Rover India, based in Mumbai, argued that Pothys did not produce a shred of evidence to claim that they manufactured an ‘inherently defective’ car. Though the showroom offered to replace the engine at 50% of the invoice value (approximately Rs.42.2 lakh), Pothys intends to unjustly enrich itself by demanding a new car, the carmaker told the commission.
Rejecting their contentions, the commission ordered either the penalty or replacement of the engine, besides Rs 55,000 as damages.
It was the case of S Ramesh, managing director of Pothys, that he had bought a premium luxury diesel car — XF 3.0 L — from VST & Sons showroom in Ethiraj Salai in Chennai for Rs 61 lakh in January 2016.
In March 2018, when he was on a personal trip to Bengaluru, the car seized in the middle of the road with a heavy cranking sound. The engine had failed though the car had clocked only 22,400km and it was still within the warranty period. With great difficulty, the car was towed to a showroom in Bengaluru. Since this happened within the three-year warranty period, the service centre replaced the engine for free.
In the following year, the car once again seized in a similar manner but this time VST & Sons refused to replace the engine for free as the vehicle was no longer covered by warranty. For more than a year, the car was idle at the service centre and was not returned. Therefore, Pothys filed a complaint against them with the Chennai (South) District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission for selling an ‘inherently defective’ and ‘faulty’ car.
VST & Sons, in response, said the car was subjected to excessive use, deployed for commercial activities, and improper maintenance led to unusual wear and tear of the engine. The showroom attributed the delay in returning the car to Covid-19 lockdown.
Jaguar Land Rover India, based in Mumbai, argued that Pothys did not produce a shred of evidence to claim that they manufactured an ‘inherently defective’ car. Though the showroom offered to replace the engine at 50% of the invoice value (approximately Rs.42.2 lakh), Pothys intends to unjustly enrich itself by demanding a new car, the carmaker told the commission.
Rejecting their contentions, the commission ordered either the penalty or replacement of the engine, besides Rs 55,000 as damages.
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