[TrackDay]

A month ago, I was having dinner at a restaurant with some friends. No sooner did we arrive, the waiter tended to us & took our orders. Within a short period of time our food was ready and on the table. Must have been some time record. Over the dinner our conversation led to how they could prepare the dish so fast, which usually takes some period of time to cook. I conjured it must be an old dish, just reheated but nonetheless didn't taste bad or gave any bad appearance. No sooner an hour after leaving the place most of us had an upset stomach
Long story short, how often are we served bad cars ? Nope that is not the right question. How fast do they prove to us that it is defective. There are some increasing number of threads in hot threads sections about vehicles failing way too soon after delivery. I am not talking about crashing the car during delivery. That can be the owner's fault and is being discussed here. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...-delivery.html (How NOT to crash your car while taking delivery)

Instead the focus is on a brand new vehicle exhibiting symptoms of a lemon within days or even hours of taking delivery. Mistake that lies on the part of the car. The following are examples :

Originally Posted by shuvd

Force was mocking my gentle inputs on the accelerator. But, I controlled my urge and kept on driving lightly. After about 7 kms, the Check Air Bags light suddenly came on. Was not greatly alarmed. Parked the Force on the side of the road and switched off. Waited for a minute before cranking up. The light stayed on!

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...tml#post536434 (A very bad day: New Optra magnum damaged on delivery)

Originally Posted by 13thpsycho

There was very little fuel in the car so the first thing was to go fuel up. After about 2 kilometres of driving there was a ding on the instrument cluster. The check engine light came on. I thought it is going to go away after I stop and fuel up. The petrol pump was close so I decided I will stop and check there. On reaching the pump I noticed white smoke coming out of the front grill. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I quickly called up the showroom and informed the sales team of this trouble. They got me connected to the workshop and soon I was driving back to the workshop. So I got the car delivered to me, filled petrol and gave it back to the company.

While driving back to the workshop a few more things started cropping up. The instrument cluster lit up with traction control, hill hold/decent control, engine check and cruise control lights. The car wasn’t moving over 50-60 km/hr and was stuck in one gear at around 2000 rpm. Apart from this the gear indicator on the MID was blank in manual mode. The car refused to shift up or down. The AC wasn’t working as well. Blower came on but there was no cool air from the AC.

How is it possible that within a couple of kilometres from the showroom the car electronics start going crazy?

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post5009775

I own a Tata Harrier XZA+ bought from Indrajit Tata Motors, Bhayandar. Its 2000 km driven and I had my 1st service on 28th Dec 2020.

I decided to go on a road trip with my family to Shirdi. On 17th Jan, we left early morning and at a few instances, we felt something is not right with this car. We stopped the car at a dhaba and checked. We were shocked to see the fuel tank nearly touching the ground!! What would happen if the tank touched the road while we were cruising at 100 km/hr.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...below-car.html (2000-km run Tata Harrier | Fuel tank bolts missing, dangerously hanging below the car)

I am from Raipur, Chhattisgarh. I bought a brand new GLE300d in December, but Mercedes India delivered a vehicle with a defective engine to me. Since the day of delivery, the SUV is with the Mercedes Raipur Showroom and they haven't rectified the defect yet. We are having a major dispute with Mercedes-Benz India.

1. First of all the vehicle was sent to the showroom on the second day of ownership. The Mercedes team coordinated with Germany for a week and sent the vehicle back saying it's just a sensor fault.

2. It has been one and a half months that the engine issue has not been resolved.

3. Being such a major issue in a brand new vehicle of a brand of this stature, they didn't even provide me with a courtesy vehicle .

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...-5-months.html (Brand new Mercedes GLE300d | Oil pump failure | Unusable since 1.5 months)

Originally Posted by gobarboss

THE ROOF LEAKED (Hardtop variant) after the first car wash at home, the roof unit is divided. And there is a gap in the middle from where the water seeped inside and while the car did some turns it trickled onto my hand, happened twice during a 20 min ride (shocking!!!).

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...solutions.html (2nd-gen Mahindra Thar | Niggles, Problems & Solutions)

Originally Posted by sachin_cs

It is unfortunate to inform that our new Tata Altroz developed an oil leakage within the first month of ownership and it was repaired under warranty and we were assured that this problem won't resurface in the future. Well two months after the repair, the engine bay is again showing signs of oil leak from the head.

B. First incident:

It was not even a month into the ownership and we observed traces of oil in the engine bay when we were on a trip to our natives and immediately we took the car to the service centre on 02nd December 2020 for the checkup and 1st service. I was in talks with the service team throughout the process and they said something of this sort has happened for the first time in Altroz and we will repair it under warranty, which they eventually did and delivered the car on 3rd December, wasting our entire day (keeping our mental agony aside).

C. 2nd incident:
The oil leak again resurfaced from the engine head and it is hardly two months since the last repair. As of 17th February 2021 13:30, while writing this post, the car is in the service centre and my brother is waiting for someone senior to look into the issue.
[*]We have started getting a feeling that we were delivered a lemon
[*]Three weeks into the ownership and oil leakage was first observed

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ta-altroz.html (Oil leakage in a new Tata Altroz)

Originally Posted by bobbyaxelrod

Nightmare ownership experience with KIA
I took delivery of my 2020 Seltos GTX+ last month on 26th July. After 3 weeks, and merely 350kms driven, the car broke down. I was driving on a flyover and while coming down from it the car stopped accelerating. I came to a halt and these icons popped up on the cluster. The car refused to start again for a few minutes but after that I was able to pull over to the side road. The car then broke down again and refused to start.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...it-solved.html (Nightmare ownership experience with Kia Seltos GTX+! Fuel pump failure & breakdown. EDIT: Solved)

Originally Posted by SKODA_RS

We bought a Skoda Laura 1.8TSi..but to my horror it got breakdown within 8 days from the delivery..!!

But then some hope came as i had a call from skoda and they said its a minor problem as its only a pipe leak...i was like only????
He said he has ordered the pipe as this kinda problem in such a new vehicle is rare.and would be getting it in 2-3 days.
So our Brand new laura is lying in the showroom eating dust.

Guys please help me out if i should take anything in writitng from them that such a kinda problem will not occur.
i will ask them tomo is its a manufacturing fault.

Also help me what all i should do in order to build a stong case in consumer court if required.

Date of delivery:24 Dec 2009
Date of problem when it arised:1st Jan 2010.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...-tsi-back.html (Bought New laura1.8TSi breakdown within 8 days from delivery! EDIT: Got TSi back!)

Originally Posted by sgm

First failure
I start the car, move a few feet forward and stop for family members to enter and I hear a grinding noise from brake and a slight movement while in brake hold mode. I ignore this and started from the showroom. A few meters and we are at a signal and I apply brake-hold and it gets engaged. I notice that about 15s later, there is grinding noise, brakes get automatically released, the car moves 3-4 inches and again stops automatically. This repeats after 10-15 seconds. We start as it turns Green but before crossing, the signal turns Red, I apply brake-hold. The engine stop-start kicks in this time, so engine turns off. Now in another about 30sec, engine fires again as the AC was ON, the car moves about ½ a foot and stops automatically. Now I’m extra careful at signals, turn the car to Neutral instead of drive and don’t engage Brake-hold to reach home safely. I reported this on the same day night to SA and contacted MB helpline on Saturday, on 9th Nov. I was given a number of the dealer support network and I contacted them. I got a call from one of the technical person with a promise to visit me soon. Nothing happens till Monday the 11th and after repeated calls, on 13th Nov the car was diagnosed and fault codes were found in Electronic braking systems. The car was picked up on Friday, 15th Nov, and it took a week to come back (Nov 21st) after replacing the ECU.

Second failure
I used it again for 3 more days without trouble, and then on Nov 25th Monday evening, it started giving ABS warning/error. I shared the screen shots with the CRM. When the warning is ON, brake hold, eco start/stop etc won't work at all. The issue suddenly disappeared on Tuesday morning while waiting at a signal.

Today being Nov 28th, and being registered on 4th Nov, I have admired the car only for 4 days without trouble. More than half of the days, the car has been with the dealer.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...-page-3-a.html (Problems in my brand new Mercedes C220d. EDIT: Solved (page 3))

It was the 17th of August 2020, when I took the delivery of a black Mercedes Benz GLE 450, however my happiness and delight lasted only for 2 weeks.

Below is the chronology of events that followed, which have caused me nothing but pain, mental distress and embarrassment.

- 01st September 2020 - Parktronic malfunctioned and the issue was resolved on the same day, the reason provided was a loose connection in the socket and sensor of the right front bumper.

Same evening, there was an engine malfunction indicator light on the dashboard screen.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...gle-450-a.html (Engine failure in brand new 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE 450)

Originally Posted by TROOPER

Later on D Day: Was excited. So went for a drive alone around 10.30 pm. Air con off and no music. Windows rolled down. Everything is great. Hit a patch of rough road and I hear some squeaks from the dashboard! You have to roll up the windows to hear it. I try to ignore. Thinking its a figment of my imagination. But no, it's there. Even on undulating roads, not just bad roads.

Day 3: Spray WD 40 on door handles and they smoothen out. On hinges too. They're smoother now.

Day 4: Go for a 70 km drive. Notice a heartbeat feeling while depressing the clutch. (Rogue flywheel?)

Day 5: Have a chat with the GM of Inderjit TASS. He asks to come over. Prepare to leave for TASS to fix the squeaking issue. Start the car and the drive mode selector lights up like a christmas tree. Check engine light is on!

Originally Posted by TROOPER

As I write this, our Hexa, delivery taken on 9th January 2020, completes 9 days, lying idle at TASS Mangalore out of 20 days of ownership period.

Post taking delivery of our Hexa on 9th January, we planned a week long trip to Mangalore, starting from Mumbai on the 16th. Enroute, I noticed delay or a slight roughness while starting the car. The troubled starts would be accompanied by a rattling from underneath the car. Zero rattling on smooth start up. We had a family event at our native village on the 19th and planned to visit TASS to rectify this issue post that.

Enroute to the event on the 19th, couple of relatives in tow, the car failed to start. Finally started on the 4th or 5th attempt. No drama post that for 24 hours.

On the 20th, the car failed to start. After a couple minutes, probably on the 5th or 6th attempt it started without any drama. We called up customer support and RSA was at our place within 45 minutes. They said its a faulty starter motor, probably the teeth missing the flywheel, and the car starting up only when they're properly aligned. They also said the flywheel could be collateral damage.

It's amazing, how the fact that a 2 week old car, lying at TASS for 9 days has failed to raise a single eyebrow back in Pune. This is how Tata has decided to treat the customer of their 2 million rupee car.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...-resolved.html (Brand new Tata Hexa won't start! Lying at dealer since 9 days EDIT : Resolved.)

Originally Posted by WhiteSierra

Hey guys, here is the story of My Yamaha Fascino, which I received as a lemon on the day of delivery itself, I perceived it to be a lemon in the initial days of ownership itself as multiple service centers, service advisors, mechanics failed to rectify the issue even after multiple part replacements on my brand new Yamaha Fascino which I bought in October 2017, the issue was finally solved in December 2019.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...-lemonade.html (My Yamaha Fascino Review - Story of turning a lemon to lemonade)

Originally Posted by mayanksabharwal

Yesterday, I had taken the delivery of my Jeep compass at Mahesh Motors Guwahati. On the way to Duliajan near Nagaon, the car broke down. The co-passenger side's front wheel with drive shafts came out from the car and I somehow managed to stop the car. It's a serious safety issue! Multinational companies are selling such poor quality products in India which may cause fatalities. I drove the car for just 3 hrs / 172 kms. Looking forward for your suggestions on what to do!

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...-replaced.html (Suspension failure on brand new Jeep Compass. EDIT: Vehicle replaced)

There are more out there. As one can see without exception almost all brands have a chair at this table. The wait is to see who is the first out of everybody to reach in to get the food. There are cars that have had issues merely minutes from the showroom or a few hours. Other have been lucky and gotten a day or two. For some it can be within the first 3 months.

Only a few get a lemonade from the lemon. In the end most are repaired, some are replaced and others will have to live with it. Cars will fail. Even the most reliable ones. But the point I am stressing here is premature failings. What is your view on this ? Does it shake one's faith in the brand. Also new cars are a thing of joy and an object of pride. No one wants to brag to their neighbors how their brand new expensive car failed on day 1. Also it is painful to see you new car being taken away even before you started enjoying it.

Should there be some kind of law to protect the customer especially in the early days of ownership. Did you have any experience in which the cars exhibited signs within a record time ? Do share your views.

[TROOPER]

Originally Posted by TrackDay

In the end most are repaired, .... Does it shake one's faith in the brand. ......

Should there be some kind of law to protect the customer especially in the early days of ownership. Did you have any experience in which the cars exhibited signs within a record time ? Do share your views.

Since my experience with the Hexa has been quoted, I'll explain my POV limited to how I felt during the whole initial two week experience.

In my case I wouldn't say that my car is a lemon. It was an electric component going kaput which had a mechanical damage as a collateral. So I can't stress how much a lemon law would help in my case.

Post that, my Hexa has now run 10k+ kms with no issues, and is going strong. Touchwood. No complaints.

Although some law is definitely needed which punishes pathetic customer support and QC practices. Cause boy oh boy, Tata can definitely work on giving a second thought for their customers. Not a single person from their customer care felt that a courtesy call was due for a customer with a two week old car. Simply pathetic. No two ways about it.

As far as Tata as a brand, for anyone thinking of buying one, be mentally prepared for a service center visit with a week's time from delivery. Because Tata's QC is worse than their customer care. So you will definitely experience a minor niggle to some major issue. Anything in that range. I know Tata has a 3 month service interval for a new car, but they should consider replacing it with a 10-14 days post delivery interval.

Here's the list of QC issues my car came with.

- Suspension bushes brushing against the chassis. Needed service center visit.
- Steering rack cover had to be shut tight on the LHS. Done by myself. (Forgot to take a pic)
- Rear HMSL cover loose. Needed service center visit to replace the clip.
- Wiper cowl drain rubber stop missing on LHS. Needed service center visit.
- Starter motor going kaput damaging flywheel in the process. Hexa had a nice staycation at TASS, for 10 days.
All of the above in 1st month of ownership.

Yeah, I can hear all the Toyota owners grinning, " I told you so!"

[aargee]

What I'm thinking is 13 cars being reported as lemon versus...versus how many new cars that have worked well during the same time period that's reported here? 10%? 20%? or 1%?

Point is, unless we fail to see the whole big picture, we cannot conclude on the percent & fall into the narrative fallacy of having a tunnel vision on the lemon cars.

[Kosfactor]

Here is the JD Power Initial quality survey from 2019.

Overall it says very very less engine and transmission problems, so breakdowns are rare.

Link to article



I have owned / had several cars including Maruti, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, Tata, Mahindra and knows first hand having dealt with VW/ Skoda, Chevrolet, Fiat etc.

All these brands are good when new as well as during normal scheduled maintenance, it is when something out of the ordinary happens a brand with good after sales support across the country is priceless.

I'm a frequent traveler to the country side and I'm going to stick with brands the locals buy.

[sachin_cs]

Great thread TrackDay, instances like these definitely leave a sour experience in the ownership and it kind of takes away that wee bit of trust with your machine when on the road. I was wondering, lately, we have started seeing many instances of niggling issues with new cars which are being reported here, but what about those cases which went unnoticed or unreported on forums or other such public platforms, I'm sure there are many, its high time that manufacturers don't take customers for joy rides for their own sub-par engineering practices. Hope a transparent, efficient, bureaucratically enforceable, financially viable and technologically feasible lemon law comes soon.

[lonetraveller89]

Cars will fail. Even the most reliable ones. But the point I am stressing here is premature failings. What is your view on this ? Does it shake one's faith in the brand. Also new cars are a thing of joy and an object of pride. No one wants to brag to their neighbors how their brand new expensive car failed on day 1. Also it is painful to see your new car being taken away even before you started enjoying it.

Whether one would apply for a divorce following an unfavourable incident during their honeymoon would depend upon the nature of the incident, the support from the spouse's parents and most importantly, the attitude of the victim. At the end of the day, we all have to live with our decisions, however good or bad they may have been. Let's always hope for the best!

[V.Narayan]

Given the size of our automobile market, in numbers if not value, the time for a lemon law is here. The industry lobby shall of course oppose it. For those afflicted there could be many optimum routes to redressal from the patient and reasonable to the Twitter attack to the Consumer courts. What route is chosen will depend on the circumstances and the consumers need/willingness to go the distance.

Those of us who have worked in or run an engineering businesses would know that quality cannot be 'inspected' into a product it needs to be first designed right and then manufactured right to start with. This quality culture and way of living has to be stitched into the DNA of the organization's very fabric from top to bottom. Some like Toyota have mastered it. Some like Mercedes used to have it till circa 1990s.

Originally Posted by aargee

What I'm thinking is 13 cars being reported as lemon versus...versus how many new cars that have worked well during the same time period that's reported here? 10%? 20%? or 1%? Point is, unless we fail to see the whole big picture, we cannot conclude on the percent & fall into the narrative fallacy of having a tunnel vision on the lemon cars.

In response to @aargee - this cannot be counted in percentage terms that only 1 in 100 are lemons so why get harried about it. Because for that customer it is not a 1/100 situation it is a 1/1 situation with his life savings in it. Having run an engineering business on machines far more complex than cars I believe you can get it right each time certainly getting to a 1 in 100,000 or 1 in 150,000 is not impossible. Here, in the cases above it is not just the car being a lemon but the subsequent service and attitude being a worse lemon. If fuel tanks fall off or brakes jam or axles breaking or cars breakdown irretrievably in weeks then it reflects a deep malaise in the entire production - supply chain - training system {note I am not even touching quality control}.

The list made by the OP in post #1 interestingly does not contain Maruti. All said and done, whatever some may say about "tins cans" their cars deliver reliable service, their dealers dare not misbehave wit ha customer over a lemon and you don't wait weeks for a part to arrive. That is why they have 50% of the market.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

All said and done, whatever some may say about "tins cans" their cars deliver reliable service, their dealers dare not misbehave wit ha customer over a lemon and you don't wait weeks for a part to arrive. That is why they have 50% of the market.

Whenever someone calls Maruti a tin can I feel they really don't get Japanese cars at all. Subsequently they don't get that when it comes to cars or even motorcycles less weight the better.

Here is an article from drive tribe about Mazda's weightloss program for its sports car.

Link

Quote " "IT SEEMS THAT PERFECTION IS ATTAINED NOT WHEN THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO ADD, BUT WHEN THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO REMOVE"

[aargee]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

In response to @aargee - this cannot be counted in percentage terms that only 1 in 100 are lemons so why get harried about it. Because for that customer it is not a 1/100 situation it is a 1/1 situation with his life savings in it

Yes sir, this is another point of view. Considering the statement below, I'm taking the stance from the manufacturer's point of view & so was my post

Instead the focus is on a brand new vehicle exhibiting symptoms of a lemon within days or even hours of taking delivery. Mistake that lies on the part of the car.

Had it been from customer's point of view, yes, your point is also right. Like I said above, from manufacturer's point of view, the success rate differs as our perspective changes. All the remaining points agreed & no questions.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

The list made by the OP in post #1 interestingly does not contain Maruti

I remember reading a thread in here, not a lemon, about a Maruti dealer showing a new car, but registered an older model to customer.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

The list made by the OP in post #1 interestingly does not contain Maruti. All said and done, whatever some may say about "tins cans" their cars deliver reliable service their dealers dare not misbehave wit ha customer over a lemon and you don't wait weeks for a part to arrive. That is why they have 50% of the market.

Absolutely, more than right. That is precisely the reason why I couldn't get confidence with Ford, VW, Mahindra or even Tata & stick with Maruti; Lakhpath or Cape Comorin, Tawang or Thoise, I'm assured to have one ASC & not just that, Maruti takes customer very very seriously right from Jagdish Khattar days.

[TrackDay]

Just to make things clear. The subject is in terms of signs of a defect or issue of some form that makes itself visible to the owner or has been noticed by the owner within a very short period of time from purchasing the vehicle . I have set the bar from several hours to even up to 3 months. It can even be longer if you feel so. The issue is not about whether it can be fixed or not. Also not about brands and their reliability.

Originally Posted by TrackDay

Instead the focus is on a brand new vehicle exhibiting symptoms of a lemon within days or even hours of taking delivery.

Originally Posted by TrackDay

There are more out there. As one can see without exception almost all brands have a chair at this table. The wait is to see who is the first out of everybody to reach in to get the food. There are cars that have had issues merely minutes from the showroom or a few hours. Other have been lucky and gotten a day or two. For some it can be within the first 3 months.

My intent is not to call the cars as a complete failure and I apologize if the post by me seems to indicate that to anyone. I was just quoting how a few customers felt when faced with such situations. It can be something as simple as a the glovebox not staying shut close, USB drive not working or something like a leaky roof, software glitches, alignment etc. Things can also get very serious with loose critical parts to mechanical failures. A car with a defective glove box or a leaky roof will still run perfectly fine and that issue can be fixed. But it is a sad thing to the owners to face an issue in a product from which the new car smell has yet not gone away.

Originally Posted by TrackDay

Only a few get a lemonade from the lemon. In the end most are repaired, some are replaced and others will have to live with it. Cars will fail. Even the most reliable ones. But the point I am stressing here is premature failings.

In some cases, Manufactures have replaced the car And in others, the issues have been resolved by repairs/part replacements. But the ordeal is not a good thing. It doesn't depend on the severity of the problem. Fact is, there is an issue at the end of the day on a brand new product and it failed prematurely. It is a different thing for something brand new to have an issue versus a 5 or 10 year old car to have some failure.

Originally Posted by TrackDay

Did you have any experience in which the cars exhibited signs within a record time ? Do share your views.

[gkveda]

Good thread. If the thread contains full story summary in two or three paragraphs, like below, it would give some sigh of relief to people who would have got the lemon

1. What was the symptoms? car details, With in how many days symptoms showed up

2. What are the steps taken by owner to resolve the issue?

3. What was the dealer response, within how many days, the issue was resolved.

4. Post resolution, how is the car response.

Summary of the above from multiple owners will help the new owners to handle the situation better.

[bhargav2015]

I too agree that despite failure rates being 1-2% from a manufacturer's perspective, for that 1-2 individual(s), it becomes a make-or-break moment w.r.t that car and its respective brand. The word-of-mouth BAD publicity that it entails will far exceed the $£€₹ (moolah) that these brands will spend on Marketing to contain and redress the damage. From a purely capitalistic perspective, it would be more than worth the money to set aside manpower and budgets, to remediate these faults.
A good customer may or may not bring more customers to the brand, but a customer with a bad product will drive away prospective customers every single time.
Above all, what these companies need, is EMPATHY, towards a person who has trusted your brand and invested his hard earned money. It is your foremost duty, as a manufacturer, towards your customer and towards your trade.

[AKSarkar1]

I personally related very much to this thread. All German cars that I have owned until now have had some sort of a problem shortly after deliveries. Not that I would call these cars lemons because the faults were minor at best. I yet wonder why this has been the case...

Ironically, all other non-German brands have offered me more peace of mind over the past couple of years.

[NevGin]

Call this thought crazy but indulge me in this if you will. Reading and hearing about new car failures like this makes me wonder - On the price list of a new car, dealers have columns for various things, Ex-Showroom, Insurance, Registration, Extended Warranty, etc.

How about having one to do a PPI (POST Purchase Inspection) at the buyers cost. Scan tools of all kinds, visual inspection and a few more standardized processes would in my opinion help towards this. I'd pay towards doing this if I had the option. Also can become a good revenue stream.

[NiInJa]

In my opinion, failure rates also shoot up with new technologies used in cars. To take Maruti's example, they have been using the same old engine blocks for decades with some add-on tech like smart hybrid (Note: This tech had some quality issues too with Ertiga recall). The automatic transmission they use is from 1980's. When they launched the 1.6 Multijet in S-Cross, it had its fair share of issues, which lead to its immediate removal (along with low demand), Similar is the case of Toyota, they have been using engines and platforms which are too old (in a positive way) but offer excellent reliability.

Now, if we see other manufacturers, many are switching to a completely new platforms (Tata Harrier, Mahindra Thar), new turbocharged petrol engines (VW, Kia, Hyundai, Tata, Mahindra, Renault) and complex transmissions like DCT. Add Quality control issues arising due to high demand and we have just too many cars that have some or other defects.

Given how suddenly our market is filled with tech-loaded cars, Lemon laws are needed now more than ever. Until that does happens, unfortunately we buyers will be used as Guinea pigs. People who don't want to be the test specimens can stick to older NA engines and tried-and-tested platforms which Maruti Suzuki offers.