Mahindra XUV500 given for service, missing from dealership

Mr P. Jayaram, a Mahindra XUV500 owner based in Thane has reported that his Mahindra XUV500 crossover, a vehicle that was given for service at Global Gallarie Agencies, Manpada, has gone missing. The vehicle, which was given to Global Gallarie for routine servicing on the 29th of August, 2013, went missing a day later. Consequently, the vehicle wasn't returned to Mr Jayaram, with the dealership instead claiming that Mr Jayaram's driver had already collected the vehicle. 

This prompted Mr Jayaram's driver to register a first information report (FIR) at the nearest police station, which is yet to trace the SUV. The dealership officials haven't been able to explain as to how a vehicle that was taken in for routine service, has made it out of the dealership without any gate pass. This incident does raise questions about the level of security at Global Gallarie, a Mahindra dealership at Thane. 

According to Mr Jayaram, the Mahindra dealer in question has not been responsive about the incident, prompting the former to approach Mr Anand Mahindra, the Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra. Upon Mr Mahindra's intervention, the dealership has offered Mr Jayaram a standby car. The dealership is said to have told Mr Jayaram that compensation, if any, would be paid to him only after the insurance claim settlement, which will take about 90 days. 

While most dealerships in India have strict policies in place to ensure that new cars or those given for service are not misused by dealership/service center personnel, some dealerships don't seem to be following the standard procedure of issuing a gate pass before allowing a vehicle to roll out of the dealership/authorized service center premises. A similar case panned out in case of an Audi Q7, an incident that was settled quietly by Audi India through closed-room meetings.

The presence of rogue elements/lack of proper security in some car dealerships means that car buyers/owners have to take additional precautions about their rides. One such precaution would be that of going through Team-BHP's comprehensive Pre-Delivery Inspection thread. Also, car owners must make it a point to drop their cars off only at those service centers that insist for a gate pass for a car to be released.

Team-BHP Tip: First observe whether the security guards at a dealership/service center insist for a gate pass from cars leaving the premises, before deciding to drop off your car for service at that dealership. Going through Team-BHP's Indian Car Dealerships sub forum to read reviews about dealerships would be another useful step before choosing an after sales service center for routine service and other car maintenance activities. 

Source MumbaiMirror