Why I rejected a Tata Nexon just before making the final payment

We have now decided to go ahead and buy the 5th-generation Honda City V CVT.

BHPian fogg_23 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello Everyone,

I would like to share my recent PDI experience. I booked TATA Nexon XZ+ (HS) Petrol Manual on 31st October 2022. SA allotted the vehicle on the same day, sharing the chassis and engine number over email. I requested PDI before the final payment, and he agreed. We reached the stockyard on Monday (7th Nov) around 11 AM.

The location is KHT Prime in Whitefield, and we can see not just TATA but Jeep and Fiat vehicles coming here for service. The 4 storied building hosts hundreds of vehicles. Our PDI vehicle is on the rooftop. The journey to the rooftop from the ground floor is not easy. Three massive service elevators can hold the Jeep compass easily in them. The SA was surprised to see 2 of the three elevators don't go to the top floor (one of them is not willing to close the doors. don't know why). After a good amount of waiting, he took us to the 3rd elevator, which already had a Jeep Compass. The elevator went down first, an employee entered, and now the lift doors close and open again (10% open), and they try to close and bounce back. The SA and the other employee started calling people, asking them to come and open the doors. After 5 minutes, someone cleared the debris in the way of the lift doors so they could be closed. Thankfully, the lift started going up. On the 2nd floor, suddenly the Jeep Compass comes to life with the engine revving. My wife got scared that the car might run over us inside the lift. As soon as the 2nd-floor lift doors were opened, we jumped out of the lift and let the huge compass roll away for service. We are back in the lift and reached the rooftop.

So many vehicles parked nicely, and we found our white Nexon guarded safely with 4 other vehicles on 4 sides. First I checked its VIN, which matched the one in the Allotment mail. It's Oct 2022 make. I looked at all windows and the numbers, and they all matched. So good, so far. We started looking at the paint, looking for scratches and dents. I found a crack near the left headlamp. I took photos of anything which felt out of place. I got inside, and SA started whining about finishing the PDI, how everyone wants to see the car before purchase, and how it's becoming a problem for them. Without minding him, I looked into the glove box and found a red mark on the inside. The beige fabric has some dirt marks on all sides. And here comes the big show, SA gets inside, turns on the engine, and opens the sunroof. It nicely opens, and then he presses the closing button, but it doesn't close. It nearly closes and bounces back. He struggled to make it work for the next 15 minutes but couldn't.

The sunroof is not closing. It's bouncing back

The crack near the left headlamp

It wasn't a surprise; I have seen this in a few review videos. I continued looking for more out-of-place stuff. The ODO is just 9km. I slotted all gears, 6th gear is not bouncing back; that's a good thing. I was able to put the reverse with ease, and the rearview camera is working fine. I bought a 12V adapter a day before and used it to test the 12V front socket; it's charging my phone. Apple car play is working, we played songs, called people from the infotainment unit, and people on the other side are happy with the mic quality of Nexon. SA started calling people, complaining about the sunroof, and asked us to leave, as some service people would come and check the issue. I checked the headlamps, fog lamps, indicators, and vipers (front and back) and checked if seat belts were bucking in at all 5 slots. All good. Now I go back and open the boot, and I find the spare tire holding metal section has some white coating at the edges.

Red mark inside the glove box

The 9km ODO reading

We were puzzled by the white glue/paint/cream near the edges

As it was very sunny, and we also felt like we had checked almost all the major stuff, we left the place; I sent all the photos to SA, asking him to resolve them. My BIL, co-brother and friends told me the crack in the front near the headlamp was not paint fault, its certain damage, which was not covered up well. Everyone suggested we reject the car, and I felt it was unsafe to go with the car, which had damage right in the front.

Update: The PDI happened on 7th Nov, 11 AM - 12 PM. We noticed the problem of the sunroof not closing around 11.30 AM. We mailed all the photos wherever the issues were found. For 2 days there is no reply from the SA. On the 9th Nov, evening SA shared a video of the sunroof closing. We decided the sunroof is too big a feature to handle, as we have seen a 2.5-day service time required (that too before selling the car). We do not want to risk purchasing a car whose sunroof might not close, and we have to go to a nearby service centre and leave it there for a few days. What if this happens when we are on a trip? Mechanical problems can be resolved by roadside shops in a few hours at max. But the high-end features like the sunroof don't seem to have easy solutions. We rejected the vehicle, as there is no response from SA regarding the other issues we raised.

We started looking into more reliable cars and found the Honda 5th gen V CVT to be a very comfortable car. We are going ahead with the Honda City.

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