[Sail]

Sharing my experience on importing weather-tech floor liner from Europe. This might be helpful for car enthusiasts like me who blindly love their cars without justifying the money spent.
Remember stuff sold here is only for international model cars.

BHPians staying at Delhi, Mumbai & Bangalore, you will be having vast options in car accessories. But scenario in Kolkata is different. You can’t get any good stuff here. Also could not locate any satisfactory stuff on any online shopping portal that time.

What I like:

• Laser measured, result: perfect fit
• Light weight & durable.
• Option of selecting front row or rear row.
• Mud won’t stick to it. One wet wipe or vacuum and all gone.
• Front two sets are having retaining ring to keep it in place with spare ring/clip, just replaces the OEM rings / clips.
• Rear one is full set over the hump, can’t move at all.
• All sides are well raised, no chances of dirt roll over
• Never gave any foul odours inside the car, which you normally get after placing new floor mats.

What I don’t like:

• Price: Very Expensive. Costing 11,000/- on website, but after customs & courier charge it is 21000/- inside the car!
• Hassle with customs, you have to be after the courier company to complete all necessary docs. Else, items will be lying inside their warehouse and warehouse charges will be levied from you.
• Two years guarantee on the product is useless here.
• Not a complete solution, it is a floor liner, you still need all weather / carpet mats on top of it.

How it started:-

When I booked my BMW 3GT with beige floor carpets, I immediately decided that, I need to do something to protect the floor carpet. I am using 3D floor mats in my Honda City, but still find some amount of dirt always at the corners of the floor. I was looking at something else, but don’t know what. BMW India does not have any floor liners. They only sell mats (all weather & carpeted). Asked most reliable accessory shops in Kolkata (Glix), they simply replied they can’t supply anything on 3GT, they can arrange something for 3 sedan if order is placed!
Started searching over internet and found Weather-Tech USA website and floor liners. After reading various reviews, decided this is it, floor liners will solve my problem which I was looking for. You have three color choices: black, grey & tan. I liked the tan color as it closely matches with the floor carpet. Other than floor liners, they sell few other interesting things also.

Since customs, air freight charges are involved, one needs to communicate with them over email or call them to finalize the amount after courier charges. Custom duty will be levied by Courier Company.


Order Process:-

Took the operation in hand and in excitement completely forgot US cars are left hand drive . So front row floor liners will not fit in my car (you can clear the doubts from pictures). Their customer cell saved me & informed me to contact their European counterpart who sells for right hand drive cars. Got saved on my first importing venture.

Item was chosen from Weather-Tech Europe website & contacted them. Unfortunately only black color was available. After few email exchanges, it was a smooth operation, card details were given over phone for security reason. Shipment arrived in India within 4 days. Then the problem started.


Long waiting:-

Shipment got stuck at Mumbai Airport in customs warehouse for 8 days. Every day I was checking status on their website & jumping at home. There was no communication from courier company, only I can check status on their website against my waybill no. Managed to communicate with them on phone and emails. After receiving confirmation from me, courier company employed a clearing agent from their side. Shipment was cleared from customs after several phone calls, email exchange, submission of declaration, authorization letter, identification docs etc. through Courier Company.

One more pain was inter-state tax, managed it with one more email. Item was delivered at door step, and very much satisfied with it.


Hole in my bank account:-

Cost breakdown explained below:-

Floor liner 1st & 2nd row: £115 / 162 €
Shipment to India with UPS: £43.
Above two charges was paid by card.
Customs duty: close to 6500/- (can’t remember exact fig, it was collected by delivery boy against a paid receipt).

Contact details Of Weather-Tech Europe:-

Ms.ALESSANDRA MARTIGNETTI
Responsabile Commerciale Francia –Belgio – Lussemburgo
Area Sales Manager France – Belgium - Luxembourg
PARMA-ITALY
Division of MacNeil Automotive Products
1, MacNeil Court – Bolingbrook, Illinois USA
www.weathertecheurope.com
(+33 182881641)
OUT OF OFFICE: +44 2036081598 NOT REQUIRED IF IN OFFICE

Bank account details:

IBAN: IT 45 U 01030 66220 000001764757
SWIFT/BIC: PASCITM1304
Bank: Monte Paschi di Siena
Agency: Campegine (RE)
Account holder: WeatherTech Europe srl
Pay Pal address: pbrighenti@weathertech.com

To pay with credit card, following details are required:
Card number:
Security code (CVV):
Card type
Expiration date:


Conclusion:-

After spending a bomb for a mere floor liner, I still feel nice whenever I have a look at it. It is serving the purpose & exceeding my expectations, no sign of any wear & tear even after one year. A well-deserved accessory for my beauty. Let the photos do some talking.

P.S. Pictures were taken randomly by mobile, not at par with Team-BHP standards.

[GTO]

Great review, thanks for sharing!

Expensive, yes, but what matters is:

After spending a bomb for a mere floor liner, I still feel nice whenever I have a look at it. It is serving the purpose & exceeding my expectations

As long as you are happy !

I personally prefer the carpet look & feel (for mats + flooring). OEM carpeting is super durable by design - it'll easily last 10+ years without tearing or damage. Just got to be particular with cleaning.