Buying a new car is indeed special for most people. Dealerships these days work towards making the delivery as 'special' as possible. Many customers love the delivery day to be documented on video as well. Everything from them receiving keys to the vehicle being driven out is filmed in most cases. This also means that the clip will have any possible mishap or glitch that is likely to happen during the delivery event. One such video shows how a brand-new Skoda Slavia had a close call while being driven out of the dealership, after the owner took delivery of it. It (almost) drove off the ramp, but was saved by the high ground clearance.
Share on the channel ‘Deepak Cars World’, the video opens by showing the owner receiving the keys to the vehicle. A White-coloured Slavia can be seen behind him. The clip then shows a full walkaround of the sedan. We can see its exterior design and the cabin. Then, the owner tries to drive it out of the showroom floor.
Like many other facilities, this Skoda showroom has ramps placed on either sides of stairs. Customers who walk in can use the stairs, while vehicles can take the ramps, which in this case, do not have a steep gradient. As the vehicle moves out, we can see the driver losing his judgment. Suddenly, he steers to the left, and the right wheel drives off the ramp and ‘falls into’ the stairs.
This apparently makes the driver panic. It took him some time to realise what was going on. People around can be seen warning him, and further, asking him to keep the wheel straight. It is too late and the left wheel falls off the ramp, onto the ground.
In this video, a concrete structure (which looks like a half-wall) can be seen near the vehicle’s right wheel. This may have confused the driver. He was probably trying to avoid scratching against it when he lost judgment and drove off the ramp.
Thankfully, the car took no damage in this incident. Its high ground clearance (of 179mm) saved the day. The driver’s timing also helped in keeping the car safe. Things would have been worse if he had applied the steering input earlier.
When it was first launched, many criticised the Slavia for having a ground clearance that was comparable to those of many sub-compact SUVs. Sedans, they said, should stand low to drive well. In the time that followed, we saw how well the Slavia drives. And the controversial ground clearance indeed turned out to be a blessing for this customer!
We have recently come across more instances in which new car deliveries went terribly wrong. Previously, we saw a brand-new Nissan Magnite that crashed soon after getting delivered to the owner. The owner was seen crying, looking at the car, and his wife was seen consoling him.
More recently, a video from Delhi’s Nirman Vihar showed a brand-new Mahindra Thar ROXX that fell off the dealership floor, located in the first floor of a building. A hydraulic ramp was used to get the cars to the ground floor.
The delivery went wrong after the SUV’s female owner reportedly pushed the accelerator slightly aggressively. The vehicle then smashed the glass doors and fell off the building. It even flipped over. The occupants seem to have suffered minor injuries, but are all safe.