[COMMUTER]

Originally Posted by SnS_12

How not to drive your brand new Polo after taking delivery

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

Kia Carnival crashed into the wall right after the delivery. Airbags deployed

The main reason behind this might have been that that the driver would have taken a driving class in manual cars and immediately gone ahead with purchasing the automatic after that, without even a test drive. The lack of automatics among the test drives might have been a contributing factor.

It is a deception that the automatics are easier to drive than manuals. They might involve imperceptibly lesser effort but mostly are different not necessarily easier. They require their own set of tricks.

[saum1230]

Originally Posted by DrCar

What is up with owners of Volkswagen Polo?
They are hell bent in breaking the car before the car breaks down on them after years of ownership.
Few months back, there was a Polo accident in which the car jumped off the flyover. Now this.

Not to judge Polo drivers, but I too think Polo drivers are a bit more rash than others on empty roads. :

If you have ever been to a VW showroom, before they even offer you a glass of water, the salespersons go gaga about how sturdy VW frames are and how safe these cars will keep you in the event of an accident. Maybe a psychologist can explain this better, but I think this kind of conditions the buyer (if they are inexperienced) to think they can be rash and careless while in these cars.

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

Kia Carnival crashed into the wall right after the delivery. Airbags deployed

Guys, have you noticed that the driver side airbag explodes for the second time with a loud noise @0:22 seconds.

[BenjiRoss]

With the Kia Carnival, although the distance is short it looks like the acceleration actually resulted in an accident speed that may be higher than what we expect. The wheelspin at the instant of the accident shows that the accelerator was still pressed at the time of impact.
At the end of the video the car is actually driven off into the main road!! Was the owner still taking it home?

[Viv3k]

Took delivery of my first AMG last October. The local Mercedes showroom took a lot of effort to make me understand the power and capabilities of the vehicle (I had a 200HP Audi before this) based on my Audi’s experience.

In addition, the Top Speed on AMG is locked until you complete additional training and track hours.

I cursed them then, now I understand the intention. Nobody should go through the heartbreak of crashing a brand new car :(

Then again, I am happy it was in enclosed, private space and not on the road risking someone’s life.

[Flyer]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

Guys, have you noticed that the driver side airbag explodes for the second time with a loud noise @0:22 seconds.

Yes you are correct. Just took a second look at the video. To me it looks like the passenger side airbag deployed right on crash and driver side airbag took few seconds before it got deployed.

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss

At the end of the video the car is actually driven off into the main road!! Was the owner still taking it home?

No. The showroom staff is taking the car to their workshop.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

Kia Carnival crashed into the wall right after the delivery. Airbags deployed

God please forgive me for enjoying a hearty laugh at this yokels expense. I promise God I won't do it again. Ok, God one more laugh and then I'm done.

Holy smokes. A quarter of a crore can't buy you common sense or driving skills or most importantly the wisdom that your driving skills are not at par for a long, heavy and powerful automatic.

[Old_Salt]

Looking at both the Polo and the Kia incident, sincerely feel the showroom owners should make some sort of policy that the car keys will only be handed over to the owner once the car is on the open road / or a clear area.
The SA should actually help drive the car off their premises.
Some showrooms which are also service centres are jam packed with very tight spaces and manoeuvring large vehicles especially brand new ones can be tricky.
Novice drivers can not only injure people, but also damage own car and others cars.
You really don't want to call insurance without lodging your first KM.
If in doubt, take someone with you for delivery who can safely drive the car and make it back to your home, with the airbags still intact!!

[JojyKerala]

Very embarrassing to be in the position of the Polo or Carnival owners. A car is bought for the family and not to be the butt of jokes on social media. Both these videos are probably the most widely circulated non-political videos of the past week.

Got to feel sorry for the owners - also hope their cars are restored to their former glory in quick time.

[fhdowntheline]

First of all, as pointed out, this is NOT the ideal delivery spot for a 5+ metre long MPV. This mistake can happen to even the dealership staff. Then there were bikes parked on either side of that narrow passage. Even if the poor driver had managed to turn the car, he would have scraped the bike. Apart from the driver fault, its a shame on KIA for allowing dealers to use sub-optimal location planning.
I have mentioned in a different post/context that such 5+ metre cars like Carnival, Isuzu V Cross and an upcoming MG MPV design are all pushing it in terms of legit private passenger vehicle size in the Indian context. This is a clear example of the issues that may be encountered.

[alphahere]

The Kia Carnival owner looks like he is not used to clutch-less driving. People have the idea that automatics are easier to drive than manuals. Which is definitely true for a first time driver. But we forget that we are animals and we have basic responses that are tuned by our usual surroundings. People used to manual transmissions cannot manage their foot reflexes correctly when driving an auto box at the first go. It takes getting used to. Specially with the creep when all feet off the pedals AND the tendency to clutch-in to shift up when the car reaches 20kph or so AND the tendency to clutch-in while coming to a full stop. This person clearly missed to see the car edging forward and when he realizes he mashes the a-pedal instead of the brake.

Also what kind of showroom is that which provides such congested delivery spaces and lets customers drive themselves out of the building? And the showroom personnel should take due care to avoid mishaps like this. Either the car should be switched off or always in P. Keeping the parking brake on also would have avoided this but this Kia may have had an electronic parking brake that would not have helped this situation in any way. It would have disengaged itself the moment the driver touched the a-pedal.

The BMW Steptronic tries to be a bit safe in that it shifts itself to P if the car is at low speed and the driver door is opened. It also gives loud audible and display warnings if the driver shifts into D with the door open. Might be the same for other comparable makes and models as well. The Tata Nano AMT disables creep if the driver door is opened in gear. They have even taken care that the car will not start to creep if the driver leaves it in gear and exits the car and closes the door. After the door is closed in gear the creep will be enabled only if some input is provided through the A/B pedal. But there is only so much that technology can achieve. No technology can match ignorance of man which seems to be what has happened here.

[sparky@home]

Got these photographs as a forward, the registration is for a kerala car, so i guess it is probably in kerala. It is a Nexon, and parivahan shows it to be a last year delivery. The engine appears to have popped out on impact, i have no idea on the occupants condition.

[Flyer]

Originally Posted by Old_Salt

Looking at both the Polo and the Kia incident, sincerely feel the showroom owners should make some sort of policy that the car keys will only be handed over to the owner once the car is on the open road / or a clear area.

Showrooms should continue to deliver cars in their premises only. Imagine these kind of accidents happening on the open roads, it can kill people. Instead they should make policies to ensure the drivers talking delivery of the car have the required driving skills before handing over the keys.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Flyer

... they should make policies to ensure the drivers talking delivery of the car have the required driving skills before handing over the keys.

Whilst it sounds like a good idea, it is something that can't really be done in practice. We all know that a driving licence is no indication of competence whatsoever, so what else can the dealers do? They can't test each buyer. There is no practical method. Tactful enquiry as to whether the vehicle should be driven out by staff is likely only to offend the mistakenly-over-competent: only the careful will accept.

Let us also keep this in context: it just happens that we've seen two delivery disasters in a few days. Sure, they are not the only two, and they won't be the last. But it is not really a frequent problem.

[HTC]

Looks like clear case of first time auto box drivers.
When i was in USA i faced similar problem. After taking Avis rental car, realized how i was not sure of where to place my left foot. Initially thought right on throttle and left on brake. But something didnt feel right. Just parked car inside their yard and googled. Thats when i got to know left foot rests all the time and right used for both.
Reached hotel carefully and practiced in the hotel parking lot for sometime to get hang of it.
Indian showrooms need to have a checklist before delivering automatuc cars to findout if the buyers are used to driving automatics. This way atleast then can make sure such untoward incidents can be avoided.