The Chinese owner of a Maserati Quattroporte worth $423,000 paid three men two smash it with sledgehammers at the 2013 Qingdao Auto Show, because he was disappointed with the way the car dealer had fixed it.

The man known only as Wang told Chinese media he had bought the car in 2011 and was forced to bring it back for repairs only two months later. He said the dealer charged him for new parts, but they really replaced the faulty components with second-hand ones. Later, the staff failed to fix a problem with the car door and even managed to scratch it. That was apparently more than Wang was willing to take, so he decided to deliver a loud and clear message to Maserati. He waited for the Qingdao Auto Show and tipped off the media to show up for an unforgettable spectacle. On the day of the show, he brought in his luxury car draped in a banner accusing Maserati of poor service, and paid three men to smash it with sledgehammers, in front of hundreds of onlookers. They shattered the car’s windscreen, headlights, grill and mirrors, and left some serious dents in its metal body. “I hope foreign luxury car producers acknowledge clearly that Chinese consumers are entitled to get the service that is commensurate with the brand,” Wang said.

China world’s largest car market after overtaking the US in 2009, with many of the country’s super-rich spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury brands. But Wang is not the only owner who feels international car companies have failed to bring their famous high-quality service to China. Two years ago, another dissatisfied owner smashed his Lamborghini Gallardo in public, to protest against expensive brands ignoring the interests and rights of Chinese consumers. Another Chinese businessman made headlines after he used  two donkeys to tow his faulty Range Rover back to the dealership, and raise awareness to the poor quality of their products.

 Source: Auto World News