Introduction: How did XPeng Motors turn a loyal customer who supported their purchase into a disillusioned one? "Even if it gets fixed, I won't dare to drive it again." The broken trust reflected in this statement is alarming!
"It's been over 20 days. I've had personal matters to attend to, so I haven't followed up with them, and they haven't contacted me either…"
After all this time, when I reached out to Mr. Xu, the owner of the XPeng P7 involved in a series of rear-end collisions, and asked, "Has there been any progress with your XPeng P7 accident?" this was his response.
Mr. Xu's XPeng P7 was involved in a rear-end collision on the evening of August 13th.
Honestly, I was still quite surprised!
Despite my previous understanding of XPeng Motors' after-sales service attitude and quality through follow-up reports, looking back now, it’s almost been a month since the accident occurred, and Mr. Xu's car is still quietly lying in XPeng's direct sales store in Shenzhen...
There's no need to hide it—Mr. Xu's accident experience is bound to refresh my perception of the after-sales service attitude of new car manufacturers, like XPeng, once they reach a certain scale and size!
Indeed, when a young man grows up to slay the dragon, nine times out of ten, he becomes the dragon himself. The new car manufacturers that once treated users as family and friends, boasting about being "user-centric" companies, have become no different once they grew in scale and size.
At least, this is the impression XPeng Motors currently gives: customers mean nothing, even if you’ve spent over 260.000 yuan on a XPeng P7. Even if you experience consecutive rear-end collisions due to brake failure over two nights...
For detailed information about the brake failure incidents leading to Mr. Xu's rear-end collisions, you can refer to our previous reports, which include a clear timeline, photos, and videos.
Communication Record with Mr. Xu, the Car Owner
More than 20 days have passed, and the accident vehicle is still parked in XPeng's direct sales store. Mr. Xu is busy with his own affairs and has no time to follow up, while the XPeng store in Shenzhen and the national after-sales service headquarters continue their business as usual, letting the matter slide without addressing it.
With this in mind, today, I want to focus on discussing the following issues:
First: As consumers and onlookers, how should we view Mr. Xu's unfortunate experience?
After our previous follow-up report, some (though now it seems a small number) suggested that Mr. Xu might be making a fuss and using the accident to cause trouble for XPeng Motors. Is it unreasonable to publicly claim that the XPeng P7's brakes failed without going through a third-party assessment?
In my previous report, I clearly stated my personal views and stance on this matter:
Mr. Xu's experience deserves sympathy and continued attention. In contrast, the attitude and approach displayed by XPeng Motors are disheartening to customers and alarming to potential buyers like us...
Let me ask, if you were in Mr. Xu's shoes, would you want to experience such rear-end collisions, especially on two consecutive nights? On the more severe night of the 13th, his wife and four-month-old baby were in the back seat.
The rear-end collision caused Mr. Xu’s wife to suffer minor injuries with bleeding from her teeth.
In fact, after the incident, the car's front end being smashed is secondary; what’s more concerning is that Mr. Xu's wife suffered a minor injury with bleeding from her teeth, and the baby was also frightened.
Therefore, this essentially rules out the possibility of Mr. Xu "staging the accident." In other words, who would wish for such a tragedy to happen to themselves?
Given this, Mr. Xu's unfortunate experience is certainly worthy of sympathy.
After the incident, his attitude and reaction—strongly questioning the safety performance of XPeng Motors' braking system and demanding a refund from the XPeng store—may or may not be legally supported, but his feelings are understandable.
If you were in his position, can you guarantee that your first reaction wouldn't be even more furious, with demands more severe than a refund?
It’s important to point out that regarding Mr. Xu's request for a refund, when I first contacted him, I shared my understanding: whether he can get a refund depends on whether his XPeng P7 indeed has safety hazards like brake failure.
If the vehicle indeed has problems and its quality caused the rear-end collisions, Mr. Xu wouldn't even need to say it; the law would grant him the right to not only get a refund but also demand compensation, including for the lost wages and emotional distress suffered by Mr. Xu, his wife, and baby.
Secondly, if Mr. Xu, the car owner, is not "staging the accident" or being unreasonable, then how about the handling and after-sales attitude of XPeng Motors' direct store and official channels? Is it reasonable? Does it leave customers feeling angry and disheartened?
Since Mr. Xu experienced consecutive rear-end collisions in Shenzhen, and he strongly suspects that his XPeng P7's brakes failed, XPeng Motors' handling of the matter is crucial and tests the after-sales service quality of this new car brand.
To date, XPeng Motors' official attitude and handling methods have been mentioned in our previous reports, with the core approach being—passing the responsibility to the direct store and "cold processing."
So far, according to Mr. Xu, XPeng's Guangzhou headquarters has never directly communicated with him, which is one of the most incomprehensible and disheartening points for him. They boast about being a user-centric company when selling cars, but once the car is sold and an accident occurs, they turn a deaf ear.
Frankly speaking, if someone can afford to spend over 260.000 yuan on a XPeng P7. they are at least a middle-class family. Even if they have to pay for repairs themselves, 10.000 to 20.000 yuan isn’t unaffordable, not to mention that the car is insured, so repairs wouldn’t require out-of-pocket expenses.
In essence, many car owners, including Mr. Xu, who experience similar unfortunate incidents, are looking for an explanation from the brand manufacturer. What they want is an attitude and service.
Even if things happened differently, if XPeng Motors' official channels and the Shenzhen store had approached the situation with a caring attitude from the start, considering the issues from the customer’s perspective, offering timely comfort and concern for the car owner and their family;
And later, if they had provided solid backend data and analysis, reaching a consensus with the car owner in terms of understanding, and even if there were disagreements, striving for mutual understanding and compromise, how could the situation have escalated to this point?
"I supported and trusted you by buying your car. When something goes wrong, you can’t just immediately say it’s not the car's fault and that the problem lies with the owner!"
Mr. Xu still feels deeply upset because XPeng Motors' official channels and store have not provided him with convincing data and evidence to prove that there was no problem with the vehicle's braking system. Instead, they initially shirked responsibility, claiming that their XPeng P7's brakes had no issues and suggesting the owner seek a third-party assessment if they didn't believe it.
This attitude—"There's nothing wrong with my car; if you, the car owner, have a problem, go find a third-party agency to test it"—is clearly apparent.
How similar this is to the arrogant attitudes of traditional gasoline car giants like Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and Toyota in dealing with their customers!
Le Do Observer:
"My wife feels the same as I do—she won't dare to drive the car again, even if it's repaired…"
This straightforward and simple statement from Mr. Xu made me reflect deeply: where exactly did the problem arise?
How did XPeng Motors turn a loyal customer who supported their purchase into a disillusioned one? "Even if it gets fixed, I won't dare to drive it again." The broken trust reflected in this statement is the most critical issue.
It’s worth noting that the reports of XPeng P7 "brake failures" have not been limited to Mr. Xu in Shenzhen.
Cases like Mr. Zheng in Fujian, who "couldn't stop the car" and crashed into a pillar in a parking garage, or the fatal high-speed rear-end collision involving a XPeng P in Ningbo, have also garnered public attention and coverage.
So, does XPeng Motors' official channels and the always "straightforward" He Xiaopeng really know nothing about these repeated "bizarre" accidents, or do they think that now that XPeng Motors has become powerful, they can afford to ignore and dismiss their customers?
Setting everything else aside, although we haven't contacted other involved car owners, we will continue to follow up closely on the August 13th incident involving Mr. Xu's XPeng P7 in Shenzhen.
