Unhappy owners to sue Qatar car dealers for fraud
Some car owners who were sold repaired cars as new are planning to sue dealers and their parent companies even as the dealers are trying to settle the issue through suitable compensation, The Peninsula reports.
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce, last month, had closed the showrooms of Dodge, Nissan and Honda for trying to cheat buyers by passing off some repaired vehicles as brand new.
The Ministry said that companies have begun to find satisfactory solutions for the customers. They are working on several options like return the money, replace the old car with new ones or provide any other kind of compensation agreed upon by both parties.
The Ministry said it has forced the violating companies to find solutions for the customers through the forced closure of the showrooms.
One of the car dealers, Domasco - Honda, responded to the closure with an official statement.
The Ministry is keeping a close watch on the compensation process for the customers who are affected by the closure of these showrooms.
Affected customers said that they are planning to approach the court because of the financial loss caused to them. According to the customers, taking the legal route was a good option if car dealers failed to settle the issue amicably.
The customers said some of the car dealers have refused to replace their old cars with new ones and even didn't agree to return their money. They said they have received the full support of the Consumer Protection Department, which took strict action against the car companies and supported the demands of the customers.
The Consumer Protection Department is expected to continue and widen its campaign which will force dealers to desist from indulging in illegal and unethical practices. [Source: The Peninsula]
Car dealers in Qatar need to be more transparent with customers...All that sweet talk and courtesy when buying a new car is not seen when taking it for periodic services. I took an appointment and dropped my car at Nissan for service early in the morning and when I went to collect it late in the evening, to my surprise they had not even started on it. When I asked them they just rudely told me that they have a lot of pending cars from the day before and there was still a couple of hours till my "promised delivery time". Now I doubt if the car dealers really have enough time to check each car coming for a major service or they just do a routine check, replace everything in the car required or not and charge an exorbitant fees. And I don't understand why they over book themselves and cause inconvenience to their own customers. BTW next step by the authorities should be to regulate the prices of the spare parts!
Scratches & Dents can happen any time or anywhere, during shipping or storing. In my opinion, this is all exaggerating. Fixing scratches in brand new cars, under supervision of the dealer and according to the standards, is normal and all dealers in the "world" perform this operation "without" informing the end consumer, actually this is the dealer right as they can not leave the vehicle un-repaired, also the vehicle remains brand new and can still be sold as brand new.
However, The Ministry should have closed all the dealers in Qatar, for this case.
@Arkb: As mentioned in the official statement, we have reviewed and revised our internal processes and have initiated remedial actions to ensure such incidents do not happen in the future.
@zackm - No I wouldn't. But you missed my point. It's two very different situations. Minor repairs after a few scratches or used cars having crashes, being repaired and then being sold off as new.
@HondaQatar - how can we be sure that any new Honda that rolls out of the showroom hasn't been repaired after "minor scratches"?
@Luketurner: That was the shortcoming in our process and we rectified it and contacted the 11 affected customers and resolved their concerns and issues.
@HondaQatar and by that i mean BEFORE they bought the car!
@HondaQatar, so you told the customers this right?
@Arkb & @Dohasoccerguy: We would like to confirm that they were brand new cars which had minor scratches/dents that occurred in the stock yard or during shipping.
@Zackm: We do confirm that these were very minor scratches and there was no severe damage at all.
arkb you must be joking, would you by new cars with scratch repairs? Some of these cars are costing around QR 80,000 and above and you don't mind the scratch repairs? I am sure these cases was brought up, due to severity of the previous damage caused to the cars and not small scratches here and there.
So just to understand - the cars were new, but had scratches?
The way it was first reported made be believe they were selling old cars as new!
Not such a big deal if the cars had minor scratches and were fully repaired before being sold on. However, if the cars were involved in accidents and then fixed up and sold on as new, then that's a major scandal - wonder what Honda has to say. Would be good to hear from the car manufacturers themselves as it's their brand that's suffering.