Chennai Ford, Vellore

[MAS]

Hi Guys,

You never know when life pulls out surprises on you!!

Took my Fusion to Vellore today morning. At Ranipet, while waiting for a colleague to join, i noticed a small stick/small tree branch like thing hanging from the portion in between the front tyres of the car. Assuming it to be an external object, i continued my journey for another 15 kms (Melvisharam, for people who know the area).

After meeting one of my customers i noticed that the twig was still there! I bent down to pull off the twig and to my surprise, i found a strip of the alternator belt, which seems to have shaved off. Opened the bonnet and found that the alternator belt running on its last legs.

I was slightly upset and only a couple of weeks back, i mentioned somewhere in this forum that my Fusion has never let me down.

Quickly called Raghav (IgNite) and my contacts in Ford. Got to know of Chennai Ford in Vellore (Katpadi Road). Reached there about 3.30 pm (limping at 50 kmph). Was asked to meet Mr. Magesh, the SA of Chennai Ford. This workshop is a part of VST Motors and is located the same compound (Chennai Ford belongs to the same group which owns VST Motors). This gave a chill to my spine as i had heard horror stories about VST Motors. The infrastructure was just about adequate, but was pleasantly surprised at the efficiency and service capabilities of this small workshop.

The car was taken for inspection immediately and luckily, i would repeat it, luckily, the spare parts were available. The belt along with tensioner pulley and pulley assemply was replaced in 45 minutes straight and vehicle was test driven . The service bill added up to Rs. 4681/-.

Mr. Magesh, in particular was very friendly and courteous. I found him to be a very straight and frank person with a lot of ideas to improve customer service levels. He could be contacted on +91 95000 11176. I would recommend this workshop for all Ford owners get into a sticky situation in and around Vellore.

The only sore point being no Credit Card was accepted.. Had to pay cash!!!

I also wanted to change one of the wheel studs on my Right Rear wheel, but the spare was not available.

[abhi1309]

Nice, good to hear good things about Ford service, don't you have any pictures explaining exactly what all was replaced.

[MAS]

Hi Abhi,

I did not take any pictures. Was in a hurry and just wanted things to be done. But i was told that the TDCI engines need the alternator belt change at around 70K kms. So, if your Fiesta is hovering around that kms, change the Alternator belt as a preventive measure.

[nairrk]

This is one point - if you are travelling through small town places, better you carry sufficient cash as most of these places you will not be able use your plastic money.
Alternative is to use ATM kiosk's and withdraw money to meet your urgency. Otherwise what will one do like this emergency situation arises.

@MAS

Good that you got a good service centre in between to solve your problem.
Overall report is that FORD service centre's are fast improving?
Thanks

[MAS]

@nairrk,

Yes, it was an eye opener for me as i generally do not carry much cash with me as i use the plastic card extensively. Luckily, i had good amount of cash with me at that point of time... otherwise i would have been

[Chillout]

Still you would have been saved, as Vellore has a lot of banks and quite a few ATM's. I am sure someone would have offered you a drop to an ATM. But if the same thing happened in a smaller town, yes u could have got stuck

My experience with Chennai Ford has been mixed, I had them paint one of my doors and they did not do a good job.

Originally Posted by MAS

@nairrk,

Yes, it was an eye opener for me as i generally do not carry much cash with me as i use the plastic card extensively. Luckily, i had good amount of cash with me at that point of time... otherwise i would have been

[MAS]

Yes, i was lucky as i do not carry much cash with me. This is a lesson i have learnt and would carry some cash all the time as i undertake a lot of long distance driving.

There was an ATM bang opposite to the Chennai Ford Showroom, so i could have not been in much trouble.

Actually, whenever i enter a Ford Workshop, i expect the worst treatment (leave alone servicing the car). Everytime i took the car for service, my car came out worse .

As this small workshop at Vellore was good, i was pleasantly surprised that Ford could also have a good service centres

[esteem_lover]

The Ford belt is a single one which runs all the pulleys, right ?

Originally Posted by MAS

The service bill added up to Rs. 4681/-.

[MAS]

Yes. It is the single belt which runs a number of pulleys.