Car repairs & maintenance : Ignite Garage (Chennai)

[yzfrj]

Already a thread exists here.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...e-4-8-5-a.html

URL- >:::: IgNite-Index ::::

Contact Person -> Raghav 98419 55158

+ Honest and transparent
+ Petrol head friendly environment.
+ Explains the problem and fix in detail (educating the customer)
+ Quality of service
+ Attention to detail
+ Expertise in trouble shooting problems
+ All brand service under one roof.

- Location a bit hard to reach.
- Turn around time from service at times its a bit too high, having said that I've always got my car "on time" as promised.
- No approximate service cost "estimates" as in M.A.S.S

Highly recommended especially if you have a so called "premium" car as the quality + cost is unbeatable.

[Surprise]

I tried out Ignite once for my Swift. Locating the place is very easy as its right on ECR road. Unlike other sheds, the place looks very neat. Nicely done lounge has lots of car magazines & TBHP stickers

During my first visit, as soon as I entered the showroom, Ragav immediately attended to me to hear my Swift's problem. One of the major complaint was that some noise from front suspension at 100 kmph speeds while getting through even the slightest of dips on roads. He suggested for few suspension parts replacement.

Once he opened up, he found that there were lots n lots of rusting, where even with a small tap you could see the places getting lots of rusted pieces deposited around. He insisted that I should take a look before we initiate the discussions (+). I was explained on the seriousness of that problem & promised that he has got a wonderful tinker who could do a professional job.

Delivery of the car got delayed as its understood that he has to depend on a third party. Final bill was too on high side than the estimated one, but again it took some extra work for the third party (I guess its around 15 or 18k which is the highest in my 4 yrs Swift experience). AC gas recharging was one of the item proposed. When I took the delivery of the car, chillness from AC throw was not there. There were confusion among themselves whether it has been charged or not. I told them its not a major issue, I can get it charged later. I settled the bill & walked downstairs to take the car only to be found that gas is getting charged. Another 20 minutes, which could have been done when the car was there for almost 2 weeks. Expect that it was a nice experience for the first time

For the first time in 4.5 yrs, the swift got stuck in the middle of the road with Check-Engine light ON when my family was on their way out. They left the vehicle in a local garage...later I explained the situation to Ragav & he promptly towed the vehicle from there in no time. Also I have found rusting in few other places & asked him to check it out. He suggested for replacing the radiator, attending to the rusts + few other stuffs..the total estimate came to 20K . I decided to sell my car as I was not confident of arresting the rusting problem once for all. Ragav told me that the radiator leak has been arrested & tested throughly. But he also warned that it could not be guaranteed & suggestion is to replace it.

As I went couple of kms on the ECR road, the temp started to shoot up. He promptly came there along with a mechanic & it seems that they had forgot to connect the fan. The same thing happened in next 2-3 kms..this time I decided not to disturb them. It took me 1 hr to cover next 12 kms & only to found that they had failed to fill up the coolant . Got it filled & there no problems till a dealer took my car.

This could be a 1 off incident..as pointed out in the first thread, its also the distance which puts me off

Edit: On charges, it has more to do with my car. Even some other garage would have quoted me on similar levels.

[yzfrj]

It was time to get my new (old) toy serviced.
Thanks you "you know who" for pointing out this excellent example of a Vtec.

2003 OHC Vtec

Routine service.

Oh man I got to say these guys can work magic.

I had given a huge 23 point list to Raghav and the gang and just around 14 hours to do the work. Raghav prioritized and got almost 95% of the work done. He called me up well in advance and informed that brake pads will take a bit of time as it was not available and said he give it back next day (Saturday). Since I needed the car informed that we will do it off later.

Promised delivery time was Friday around 6pm

Raghav informed except for the pads/air filter (spare not available) all is well and I showed up at 4:30 and car was done and gleaming.

Took for a short drive and car felt nice. Then I was off to my office.
Raghav made sure that I knew how thin the pads are and probably told me 4-5 times to take it easy on the brakes and even asked me if I can wait till next day.

I promised that I'll be nice and come to think of it he is too worried about "not" getting it perfect on a customer's car. That is Raghav for you. He always wants things to be perfect and done to his and his customer's satisfaction.

Now to look from a layman's perspective. (My better half)

Wow the car feels really silent now, interior is really clean the exterior is gleaming.

The to Bro, he cranks it up - Then asks me has it started yet ?
I looked at the rpm meter and said "Yup its running"

For a perfectionist's view (my dad)

Car feels good, feels a bit strained at medium-high rev's (I said have't replaced air filter). Brakes are ok not that good (Pads yet to be replaced).
Clutch need a bit of adjusting.

So approved by dad too.

Later in the week I went and replaced the pads and machined the rotors.
Asked Raghav to adjust the clutch

he asks immediately " Riju why you want to shift at half clutch ?"
I said "I can't press it all the way so please a little adjusting."
Riju its not good, clutch is now perfectly adjusted and any more will not be good.
I know Raghav, but please.
He tries one more time to convince me and fails .

I'm loving it, these chaps (especially Ragahv) loves cars. Where better to get you car serviced.

So there is Ignite for you.

Keep up the good work guys.

Originally Posted by Surprise

there were lots n lots of rusting, where even with a small tap you could see the places getting lots of rusted pieces deposited around.

in my 4 yrs Swift experience).

Edit: On charges, it has more to do with my car. Even some other garage would have quoted me on similar levels.

How old is your car ?
How come there is lot of rust ?

Have you by any chance see this thread ?

Anyway I can really say these chaps know what they are doing.

My Zen (2000 Carb, 96,600Kms ) was also being serviced by Ignite and suspension, clutch, steering rack etc were replaced. I've sold the car now for 1.25L so its around 15-20k more than the market price. So just goes to show how good the work was done.

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by yzfrj

How old is your car ?
How come there is lot of rust ?

Have you by any chance see this thread ?

Anyway I can really say these chaps know what they are doing.

My Zen (2000 Carb, 96,600Kms ) was also being serviced by Ignite and suspension, clutch, steering rack etc were replaced. I've sold the car now for 1.25L so its around 15-20k more than the market price. So just goes to show how good the work was done.

It has served me well for a 75k kms in 4 yrs..I have posted in that thread too.

[cnaganathan]

Here are a few:

1. Last year I took my uncle's Getz for a Clutch overhaul and some other repairs. I had forgotten to tell them that I had replaced the wiper blades just a few days earlier. When I went to collect the vehicle, I noticed that I was billed for Wiper blades. When I pointed out to him that they were new and did not need a replacement, he said they had changed it as it was just before the rains. He removed the item from the invoice saying that they should have checked the condition of the wipers before replacing them - tell me where can you find such a place in today's world?

2. Recently, my Indigo's AC failed on a hot Chennai evening. A trip to Concorde motors and I was told that the A/C radiator fan control relay was faulty and had to be replaced. Concorde Ambattur did not have the spare and said I will have to wait for a few hours while they try with others. couple of hours later, they tell me that the spare is not available with any of their branches and I need to wait for 10 days. I called up Raghav and he promised to check it out. Vehicle went to him the next day by which time he had sourced an OEM relay from some other dealer and the job was done in 30 minutes flat.

[yzfrj]

The History and the update of the problem can be found in this thread (*Yikes* Brake fade / No Brakes - Cause and Solutions)

It seems only fair to note down my experience here.

The brake fade has been playing spoil sport on the last 2 track days.
Every time (and some more in between) before and after the track day car was checked up.

Raghav is one patient chap, every time I show up we go for a test drive.
Couple of times we open up each corner and see if its doing what it should.

To be fair how many Garages will entertain when you say something nutty like brake not so good when I'm braking from 140+ (On track)

The easy way out for Raghav and me (apart from the $ bit) was to replace the rotor, pads and what not.

Raghav did mention about the Hawk pads a while back I was't that keen then. Enough time was not given and until last time I did not leave the car at the Garage, that made it that much difficult for the folks at Ignite.

Finally Raghav told me that he needs atleast a day to look under every bolt. How could I say no, so I gave him 2 days.

Soon after I left the car, got updated that the caliper has jammed (left side) that seems to be the cause for the ruined pad.

Replacement pads are not a off the shelf item especially for the OHC.
Pads and the necessary spares were sourced on the same day and work was on. I visited the place the next day to see the extend of the damage track (or rather me) has caused. I was lucky not to warp/crack the rotors.

The cracked pads



Rotor - The shiny area was the "contact" patch.


Screwed up pad - See the uneven wear on the bottom


The "New" Pads (Ceramic)




Bedding-in was done by Raghav. I'm taking it easy for the next 250Kms as advised.

Site says this, that seems to be the reason.

Note:
Properly bedding-in new brake pads results in a transfer film being generated at the pad and rotor interface to maximize brake performance.

The effort and the no-nonsense approach taken by Ignite to sort this out is really commendable. .

This is one petrol head friendly Garage.

[joshguy]

yzfrj how much did the brakes cost you? can it be fitted to swift?

Today i did 215kms drive from 4.30am to 7 am and there were 3 instances where lorry guys just came joined the highway with out even looking at the road.(1 was almost a death trap for me)

and i felt the need for better brakes in swift vdi very much.in another indecent a dog running before my car when i was doing 130 !

if possible les us know the cost

[yzfrj]

Originally Posted by joshguy

yzfrj how much did the brakes cost you? can it be fitted to swift?

What I got is Performance Ceramic (PC) cost me 6.5k+

Indecently I saw Hawk HPS (High Performance Street) pads for the Swift at Ignite.
This would be probably a bit cheaper compared to PC
I'm not sure about the cost for Swift.

I've also seen a skoda with these pads @ Ignite.
Raghav also mentioned about a BMW with these things fitted.

[joshguy]

Originally Posted by yzfrj

What I got is Performance Ceramic (PC) cost me 6.5k+

Indecently I saw Hawk HPS (High Performance Street) pads for the Swift at Ignite.
This would be probably a bit cheaper compared to PC
I'm not sure about the cost for Swift.

I've also seen a skoda with these pads @ Ignite.
Raghav also mentioned about a BMW with these things fitted.

I heard that Ignite specializes in skoda ,is that true?

One of my friend told me that they source skoda spares easily even if it not available in Gurudev.

What will the approximate cost of general service for an Esteem? any idea?

Thanks

[yzfrj]

Originally Posted by joshguy

I heard that Ignite specializes in skoda ,is that true?

What will the approximate cost of general service for an Esteem? any idea?

Its a multi brand garage.
I've seen Jeeps, Fiats, Maruti Suzuki, Ford, Skoda, Honda, Chevy, Merc, BMW and couple of imports.

I don't have a clue about the service cost.
Please get in touch with Raghav his number is given in the site below www.ignitethegarage.com or visit the place and let him check out the car.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by yzfrj

Please get in touch with Raghav his number is given in the site below www.ignitethegarage.com or visit the place and let him check out the car.

The link above is throwing a message "Invalid Forum specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator". I guess this is the right link. I guess the above link is taking to the URL http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/www.ignitethegarage.com/ not sure why.

[yzfrj]

Originally Posted by aargee

The link above is throwing a message "Invalid Forum specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator". I guess this is the right link. I guess the above link is taking to the URL http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/www.ignitethegarage.com/ not sure why.

I see that now. Trust me it was not so when I posted it.
I copy pasted :::: IgNite-Index :::: straight from Google.

Thanks G

[aargee]

Originally Posted by yzfrj

I see that now. Trust me it was not so when I posted it.
I copy pasted :::: IgNite-Index :::: straight from Google.

Thanks G

No problem buddy; infact, I need to Thank you.

I've a big issue with the front apron on my WagonR & have tried at 2 different M.A.S.S. One of them gave me a totally different picture on the issue & the other one fixed the issue but I'm not that happy. There're host of other things that I need to get fixed in addition.

First, I need a honest opinion on the issue, followed by the cost to fix the issues. I was under the impression that only the "class" cars could be taken to Ignite until you pointed out the site which clearly says they accept WagonR's too. Tks.

So you can expect a review of mine as soon as I take it to Ignite.

Issue posted here - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...er-change.html (Suggestion Req - WagonR bumper change)

[yzfrj]

Originally Posted by aargee

I was under the impression that only the "class" cars could be taken to Ignite

Ganesh,
Can you define a "class" car ?

I need a honest opinion on the issue

This is the main reason I went to Ignite.
M.A.S.S guys are full of bull.

I've even got friendly "warnings" when I went to change a blown fuse to change the Clutch in my Zen after I got them fixed at Ignite.

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by aargee

I was under the impression that only the "class" cars could be taken to Ignite

Very true.
Only classy people are allowed.