Mercedes Fined for Selling Used Cars as New

Although it sounds a little bit shocking because we're talking about Mercedes Benz, the German manufacturer has recently been fined in India because it sold an used car as new. The story sounds, as we said, surprising but Mr. Reddy, Managing Partner, Techno Mukund Constructions, Chennai, will probably go for another brand in the near future.

In just a few words, the Indian division of Mercedes Benz sold a demo car in Chennai as new, although the vehicle suffered an accident and was affected by several technical problems. Of course, the guys over at the dealership fixed the car and handed it to Mr. Reddy who ordered it in 1998.

Soon after the acquisition, his E 250D, bought from Mercedes' Tran Cars India store, presented some malfunctions, not only to the audio system, but also to the exterior paint that started peeling off, as Rush Lane wrote. He thus contacted Mercedes Benz to replace the car but the only thing he got was a definitive "no".

Mercedes was thus fined Rs 2 Iakh (that's slightly over $2,000) because the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission claims that "selling of used demo car without the knowledge of the customer amounts to an unfair trade practice within the Consumer Protection (CP) Act.”

"Any false representation of rebuilt, second-hand, renovated, reconditioned or old goods as new goods, for the purposes of promoting sale thereof, amounts to an unfair trade practice and the victim deserves to be compensated," Justice R K Batta, NCDRC Bench said according to the aforementioned source.