In a first of its kind incident, a man from Bengaluru has filed at FIR with the local police as he complains that the new Jeep Compass which he bought recently, did not give the required mileage as was promised by the company dealership.
This incident has occurred in Bengaluru where in a 52 year old businessman has lodged a complaint with the JP Nagar Police Station against Jeep India. He asserts that the car in question did not give the required mileage and that the automaker should either given him a new car or a refund.
The complainant, Shashikumar of TMCS Layout in JP Nagar, had earlier approached Jeep India with his complaint. The car was bought in November 2018 and according to the buyer. To his surprise, it did not give the required mileage as promised right from the start.
Failure to get any positive response from the Jeep dealership from where he purchased the SUV and from the company itself, Shashikumar then approached the local police. However, this sort of complaint has left the cop astounded, as this is the first kind of complaint that has been registered.
In November 2018, Shashikumar approached the Jeep India showroom located at Yeshwantpur in Bangalore. He wanted to buy a new car, and gift it as a present to his daughter on her birthday. He took a test drive and the sales personnel explained all the features of the new Jeep Compass Petrol AT and also assured him of mileage of 16 kmpl.
However, once the car was presented to his daughter and when she started asking for more money for fuel, Shashikumar, who had paid Rs.26 lakhs for this vehicle, checked the car mileage to find that it only gave 5 kmpl.
This was followed by repeated visits to the company showroom along with a stream of emails sent to the company head office to register his complaint. The company dealership claimed that the car was capable of the promised mileage.
However this 16 kmpl fuel efficiency could be achieved only on a free road line NICE Road and highways which again Shashikumar states was not true. This is what resulted in him filing the FIR and seeking police intervention into getting him some action.
Shashikumar is not the only one who has complained about low mileage. Inder Bajaj from Mumbai, also has a similar complaint. His Jeep Compass (MH01CT7267) also gives 5 kmpl mileage. According to Inder, he has spoken to other owners of Jeep Compass AT; and all have similar complain of low mileage.
Jeep Compass petrol automatic is offered in five variants, which are priced from Rs 19 lakhs to Rs 22 lakhs, ex-sh. All are powered by a 1.4 liter petrol motor, which delivers 160 hp and 250 Nm. It is mated to 7 speed DCT. Claimed mileage is about 14 kmpl.
In normal driving condition of day to day life, a car can rarely deliver what is claimed on paper. This has created issues many a times between owner and the vehicle dealer. It is always advisable to not rely on the manufacturer / dealer claims about performance, mileage etc. Owner should do their own research by asking around existing owners of the car. Hopefully, the body which delivers the claimed mileage figures in India, may take such instances into consideration, and update their methods of certifying mileage.
