Test drive? ID please, says Merc dealer Amar Sheth

Sometimes, when a potential buyer asks to go on a test drive with a luxury car, he might take the dealer for a spin. At least that was the case in July when a man, pretending to be a customer, drove off with a Rs 35 lakh Mercedes-Benz at Mumbai's Shaman Wheels.

Three months on, Shaman Wheels owner Amar Sheth admits that it is easy to pass for a genuine buyer these days.

At a charity art event curated by Krsna Mehta that featured three MercedesBenz cars, Sheth spoke to ETPanache about what his dealership learnt from the incident. "Frankly, if someone has an intention like that, we might not be able to stop it," says Sheth."For example, if there is more than one buyer and they use force during the test drive, what can one do?" In the Shaman Wheels case, the accused asked for a test drive and drove with the sales rep to a hotel. He then asked the rep to wait for him inside the hotel but never came back with the car. The car was later located but the culprit was a repeat offender. "We have now installed GPS in our test cars. Also, we allow test drives only after keeping the buyer's identification proof with us. It is returned once the trial drive is over," says Sheth.