BYD Sealion7 Customer Refuses Delivery Of SUV Citing 'Repainted Demo Car' [Video]
BYD launched its fourth all-electric product in India- the Sealion 7 SUV in February this year. Deliveries began in March. The Seal-based electric SUV has a starting ex-showroom price of 48.9 lakh, and comes in two variants- Premium and Performance. The latter has an ex-showroom price of Rs 54.90 lakh, here. Though the e-SUV managed to impress with its packaging and powertrain specifications, one of its owners recently had a bitter purchase experience. A BYD dealer reportedly sold him a ‘repainted demo car’ after he paid for a brand-new Sealion7. This customer then refused to take delivery of the vehicle and spoke to the media explaining his bitter experience...
What Really Happened?
This incident is from Chennai’s Ambattur. Vasanth, the customer in this case, paid Rs 54 lakh for his ‘new Sealion 7’. The dealer here was BYD Kun. Speaking to the media, this buyer stated that he had made the full payment for the vehicle, and on the delivery day, arrived at the showroom together with his family. What unfolded there left them all shocked.
The delivery event was set to commence in the evening. As the family reached the dealer, they saw the staff hurriedly ‘cleaning’ their ‘brand-new’ car. It had dirt and mud on its bodywork. The vehicle had already been registered and was all set to be handed over. According to reports, the staff continued to clean it more vigorously.
Upon closer inspection, Vasanth found out multiple issues with the Sealion7’s body panels. He says that he found scratches, dents and even signs of repainting. The front bumper, he says, looked freshly painted. It was likely damaged in some accident and eventually had to be replaced.
Based on these findings, Vasanth concludes that the dealer tried to sell him a demo car that was refurbished after getting involved in some incident. He emphasises that he had paid for a brand-new car, and not a refurbished one. This was completely unacceptable.
Vasanth questioned the staff and expressed his disappointment with the experience. In their initial explanation, the staff said that the damage may have happened while the vehicle was in transit and added that they were completely unaware of the same. They even offered to get them fixed or swap parts from another car.
Vasanth refused to accept this, saying that someone who’s investing Rs 50+ lakh in a car, should not ideally take home a refurbished or repaired unit. He refused to complete the paperwork or take the EV home.
Vasanth also clarified that the dealership had registered the vehicle without his consent, and before he could do a proper PDI (Pre Delivery Inspection)- again, unacceptable! He then demanded that the dealership deliver a fresh car instead of this one, at the earliest.
This incident is another wake-up call for buyers who tend to overlook PDI opportunities on their newly-bought vehicles. Ideally, the customer should be allowed to do an in-depth pre-delivery inspection before making the final payment for his/her new vehicle. This will give the buyer enough leverage to address any defects found during inspection.
Sealion 7 Specifications
This SUV is underpinned by BYD’s e-Platform 3.0 Evo. The Seal sedan is also based on the same. The Premium and Performance variants feature the same battery pack- an 82.56 kWh unit that uses Blade cells. The ‘Premium’ variant comes with a single-motor setup that produces 313hp and 380Nm. It has a Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) layout and can do the 0-100 kph sprint in just 6.7 seconds. The claimed range in this case is 567km per charge.
The ‘Performance’ variant has 530hp and 690Nm on offer and can do the 0-100 kph run in just 4.5 seconds! The NEDC range in this case is 542km per charge.