Bosch Car Service - Oriental Automobiles, Delhi

[tsk13]

Hi all
Got my Santro Xing serviced from Oriental Automobiles, Y-34, Okhla Phase-2, New Delhi today.

The service details are as follows:
Oil Filter(Bosch) - Rs.110
3.5 Litres Engine Oil(Bosch) - Rs.645
750 mL Gear Oil(Bosch) - Rs.130
Engine Tuning (Air Filter cleaning, Spark Plug cleaning, Battery terminal coating etc.) - Rs.200
2 Litres Coolant (Wurth) - Rs.360
Brake adjustments (rubbing the Disc parts with Sandpaper and rear Drum adjustments) - Rs.100

TOTAL - Rs.1,545 (excluding taxes)

No proper washing done (Rs.300 is the charge) as the car was washed yesterday at MGF Hyundai, Okhla as it had a running repair. But post the oil changes, he washed the front of the car and the engine.

During the whole process which lasted just 1.5 hours, I was standing their with the car getting a first hand knowledge of the service. The center is small, not as huge as the ones you see of Hyundai and others, but the good thing is that you get to see what is being to your car.

The mechanics as per the owner have been trained by Bosch, but I didn't find them that impressive, can be on account that my car had no extraordinary job for them to solve. The owner also mentioned the labour issues he faces which can be a cause for my belief.

The guys were quick in their service, owing to the fact that my car was the first for the day. The mechanics quickly switched over after one's work was complete. I was told by the owner yesterday that they'll deliver the car at about 2.30 PM on receiving at 9.30 AM, but it seems no other daily service outstanding and my personal presence sped up the things and the work scheduled by them for 5 hours lasted 1.5 hours.

At the time of delivery, the tyres were cleaned using silicone and a tissue box provided. Moreover, one wierd thing was that the mechanic didn't make the effort to remove the car from the hydraulic lift bay and I had to do it, which was quite attention demanding and I had to request the mechanic to help me reversing out rather than he making a move.

The center had an Accent standing for some accidental and electrical repair, an Innova for painting, a Palio for some accidental and regular service and another car.

They have a paint booth with a huge fan underneath and an exhaust overhead. A recently painted Innova was parked inside and the guy told me they use Du Pont paints.

On asking about wheel alignment and balancing, they told me that they have the facility in the vicinity.

Overall experience has been good , won't say excellent. I was expecting some international standards as seen on TV, but what I got was not what I saw on TV, but according to me better than my experience with Hyundai.

In Hyundai, you'll see a more professional approach in how they :
1. Receive the car with a proper job card (including accessories in the car, fuel tank level, scratches and dents marked on job sheet etc.)
2. Deliver it (making your car's dashboard shine with Diesel, which gives me a headache and polishing the exterior plastics).

You usually don't get to see what's being done to your car in between so no comments on that. I have had an experience of having water filled with coolant at MGF 3rd free service and Hyundai Motor Plaza damaging the headlamp with water droplets being formed whenever it rained. HMP had to replace it eventually after finding no physical damages in the headlamp assembly. In another case with MGF Okhla, the new bumper and fender (car was bruised from the side by a school bus and repairs were handled by insurance) on the car were painted in a different shade of Real Earth colour, which MGF guys admitted and repainted upon the fact that there are 10 shades in Real Earth colour, and Real Earth shade in Santro Xing (models prior to GL and GLS such as XK, XL, XG, XO, XS etc.) is darker than what is coming now on Santro Xing.

In Bosch, you have the advantage of:
1. Supervising the work personally.
2. Some better spares and components available at your disposal.

Over here, the old Garage thing still exists owing to the fact that this particular Center was operating as a garage before associating with Bosch. The Job sheet only has details of work to be done and nothing is mentioned regarding the scratches, accessories, other components in the car like Hyundai. You will still find things lying wherever they are but you have the satisfaction of getting your car serviced before your eyes.

These are my views, I won't be penning down pros and cons in concrete terms with respect to Bosch v/s Hyundai as my views will be a bit vague so I request you to form an opinion with reference to my experience mentioned above.

Warm Regards
Tanveer Singh

To Mods: I saw threads on different franchisees of Bosch Auto Service, but could not find for Oriental Automobiles, Delhi. If required, please merge it with an existing thread.

[ankur_gupta10]

Nice post, i was looking for some feedback on the workshop. I like the rates too. Did you feel any difference with their oil and spares?

[tanwaramit]

nice review, was looking for such kind of shop. How crowded is it on Sundays ? as I cant spare one day during office days.

[tsk13]

Guys, well the name Bosch Service to me had created dreams of a USA styled workshop, but sadly it wasn't so. You may say my experience was good (not excellent) only because I was there personally next to the car. The workshop is small and they don't have a proper setup, which I believe should not be the case with Bosch.

I've heard Wheelforce, the Rajouri Garden center has Scanning facilities which indeed was missing from Oriental. But in future, I'll take my car to MGF or any other good Hyundai Service Center. Prior to this, I'll get my car's scanning done from a 3rd party center.

[sgiitk]

Looks good. I am a bit sceptical about the idea of using sandpaper in the brake parts!

[tsk1979]

Actually even in Tata authorized service centers, sandpapering brake pads is the way used to clean them

[phamilyman]

Yeah that's the same even at bajaj

[tsk13]

What's the alternate to sandpaper rubbing? I always knew this method, as local mechanic did the same earlier to servicing at Bosch.

Santro is not having power brakes, and I never found any noticeable improvement in braking post sandpaper rubbing. Does it make any difference or simply a money making gimmick?

[Eddy]

Sandpaper @ Maruti too !!

[Fortuner71]

Anyone been to Motor smiths - Bangalore , its near Ragigudda , Jayanagar 9th Block ?

Any experince will be helpful .

[greenhorn]

I think their owner is in team bhp, and that they are the subject of some epic threads here. Just search for motorsmiths

[sgiitk]

No sanding. Just clean with a cloth and put them in. why do you need to 'key' the pad surface. Proscribed in for the past decade plus, never had a problem.