Recently, a car owner in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, encountered a problem with his new car, the WENJIE M9, during the inspection process. He found that the adjustment key for the rear seat was not responsive and was informed that it might need to be dismantled for repair. The owner refused to accept a faulty car and requested a refund, sparking discussions online.
On May 9th, Mr. Zhao, the car owner in Shijiazhuang, filed a complaint through the Pengpai Quality Observation Platform, stating that after waiting for half a year, on May 8th, he went to the Hongmeng Zhihang Authorized User Center at the Shijiazhuang International Automobile Trade Park to inquire about the new car, the WENJIE M9. During the inspection, he discovered that the adjustment key for the rear seat was not responsive.
After a thorough check by the on-site staff, the issue was not resolved. “The staff said we need to wait for the manufacturer’s repair, and the car cannot be delivered. The technicians even mentioned that the car body might need to be dismantled for repairs.”
Mr. Zhao expressed frustration over the situation, as the car had not even left the delivery center before being sent for repairs. He hoped to return the car and get a refund.
According to Mr. Zhao, in October 2023, he paid a deposit of 5,000 yuan on the Huawei Mall, pre-ordering a large SUV, the WENJIE M9, jointly developed by Huawei and Sailes. On the day of the WENJIE M9’s launch on December 26th of the same year, based on the recommendation of the salesperson, he upgraded the order to a confirmed order, with a promise of delivery before the end of the year.
He had paid a total of 10,000 yuan in intention fees and deposits for a WENJIE M9 extended range version with a cruising range of 1402 km.
Sales staff had informed Mr. Zhao that he could pick up the car in February of the following year, but he did not receive any updates. During this period, when they expressed their desire not to purchase the car at the vehicle delivery center, they were informed that cancellation was not possible.
On May 7th, Mr. Zhao received notification from the salesperson that he could pick up the car the next day. On that day, he paid the full amount for the vehicle. On May 8th, he and his family went to the aforementioned automobile trade park to pick up the car.
The invoice indicates that the vehicle type is a plug-in hybrid multi-purpose passenger car, with a brand and model of Sailes SKE6520SSHEVAS, with a total price including taxes of 524,800 yuan. The invoice was dated May 7, 2024.
On May 10th, the staff responsible for vehicle delivery at the automobile trade park told Pengpai News that they had been following up on the matter and communicating possible solutions with the customer. Regarding whether the vehicle has been repaired and the specific reasons, that would need to be answered by the technical staff.
This incident has sparked discussions among netizens.
Netizen “MacGongXing” commented, “The car manufacturer’s procedures are not standardized. Normally, the car should be inspected before payment and invoicing.”
“QUIZER17” said, “Isn’t it the standard practice to inspect the car before making full payment? The process seems to have been reversed and manipulated.”
“CaribbeanWave” added, “The process is wrong. The car should be inspected first, then payment made for temporary license plates and subsequent procedures. By issuing the temporary plates without inspection, the car has already been registered at the vehicle management department. If the owner decides not to take the car, it can only be handled as a used car, resulting in significant losses that no one wants to bear.”
“HuanLeMa” commented, “If there are quality issues with a new car, customers should not bear the consequences! Even when buying things on Taobao, returns are possible.”
“QiuTianDeTuDou” expressed, “No one earns money easily; if a defective product is purchased, it should be returned or exchanged! Moreover, the fact that the customer had to identify the problem instead of it being discovered during factory inspection, store testing, or pre-delivery inspection, highlights deficiencies in the brand’s entire process.”
“XiXi” shared, “I also just picked up a WENJIE M9 all-electric version and found an issue with the voice ‘turn off low-speed alert’. It only worked once; the rest of the time, I had to manually operate it on the screen. When I asked customer service, they said it should be manually turned off with the car running, but did not explain why the voice command had worked once.”
“ForwardProgress” expressed, “So-called new energy vehicles, meaning electric cars, have not undergone the test of time. I definitely won’t buy one. Even for gasoline cars, after years of development, there are still models that fail, let alone electric cars that have only been around for a few years.”
“Ni DaYe YongYuan Shi Ni DaYe” stated, “I also come from a manufacturing background. Many products made in China are rushed to market without undergoing various considerations (such as reliability testing), and some are even sold without quality inspections. This common practice of installing and repairing new equipment simultaneously is prevalent in domestic manufacturing. This is currently a widespread issue in the domestic manufacturing industry.”
This incident has drawn attention to the challenges and consumer rights issues in the automobile industry, prompting discussions on the need for better quality control and customer service standards to protect consumers’ interests.