Skoda Slavia is currently sold at a starting price of Rs 10.69 lakh (ex-showroom)
A woman in Kerala, Deepika Susheelan, has lost Rs 12 lakh after paying for a Skoda Slavia sedan. Based on the claims of the lady in a video shared by Youtuber Baiju N Nair on his channel and Cartoq's report, Susheelan made the reservation in April 2022 by paying the said amount for booking the sedan. The consumers initiated the booking through Skoda India's official website on April 4th. After generating the lead, the details were passed on to the nearest dealer of the brand-Malayalam Motors located in Trivandrum, Kerala.
As per the video, the Skoda Slavia was supposed to cost around Rs 16 lakh, which Deepika Susheelan wanted to pay in the form of Rs 8 lakh in down payment and Rs 8 lakh in car loan. Initially, a booking amount of Rs 25,000 was paid, following which Malayalam Skoda reached out to the lady. At the time, the representative of the dealership allegedly said that some people had already paid the amount and were still waiting for deliveries. With this, they asked her for Rs 5 lakh, adding to the Rs 25,000 booking amount. Following this, Deepika paid another Rs 3 lakh after the conversation.
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Eventually, her car loan of 8 lakh was approved. The amount was deposited to the dealer within a day. However, the dealer had yet to communicate any expected delivery schedule! As a result, she had already spent 11 lakh on the car and now she would begin making EMIs for that amount.
Later on, an executive from Malayalam Skoda contacted her and recommended that she cancel her booking and retrieve her money since the 'waiting period was increasing significantly'. She declined the suggestion as she was comfortable with the wait for the car. From that point on, the situation took a significant turn. The bank (HDFC) promptly began collecting the EMI (approximately Rs 12081). It soon notified Deepika about a potential misunderstanding/crisis with the dealer partner.
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Deepika quickly brought the matter to Skoda's attention. The brand replied by stating that 'Malayalam Motors, our dealer partner, would resolve your issue'. However, the dealer took no action. She subsequently wrote to the dealer, requesting to cancel her booking and receive a refund. The dealer later promised that the refund would be processed by the end of August, which ultimately did not occur.
In September, the brand reassured Deepika that Malayalam Motors remained the dealer partner and would resolve her issue. However, when she contacted the dealership owner for her money, he was unable to help. By February 2023, with Malayalam Motors shut down and PPS Skoda taking over, Deepika took her case to consumer court. The legal battle continues, as Skoda stated, the dealer partnership ended in July 2022.