Is Maruti going downhill in overall quality?

[Zappo]

Guys... offlate I have been alarmingly noticing the complains that tbhp-ians are posting regarding their new/reasonably new cars. And the one regular culprit seems to be Maruti or its dealers.

I thought this ultimately brings us to the query, is Maruti service and its customer satisfaction level going downhill with time? This is a paradox when you consider that they top the JD Powers every year. Yet facts are there to see.

The zen and its teething trouble (when tbhp and its clout forced RNS to do something about it). The Problem with a fellow tbhp-ians Esteem and the harassment mated out to him by Bimal. And now the Swift problems, which if you read the thread (10000 KM report on the Suzuki Swift - updated to 20000km)appears to be a very common problem with most Swift owners.

And the irony is that Tatas who were so well known for these kinds of problems are actually getting better everyday!

[DCEite]

Its not the overall quality, rather its the outdated fleet of models that troubles me more. Cars like Zen,Esteem,wagonr,800 and even Baleno are terribely outdated, and no longer sold anywhere else. Its a different thing that the Engines of these cars are gems. Thats why these cars keep selling. Thats why tbhpians buy Zens, Balenos, Esteems.. its because of sheer driving pleasure and Maruti's tried and trusted After sales service.

Product quality and after sales service are two different aspects. We cannot combine the two and come to a conclusion. Yes, Swift has some issues with rattling noises and some electrical problems. But tell me any other small car manufacture which does not have these issues. Indica V2 electricals are the worst, as far as i know, and some owner of Getz recently posted about his bad experience on buying a new one when he found the car to be sluggish and had to do ecu remapping in the first day itself!..

So After sales service, Maruti is at par with Hyundai and Tata (if not better). Product quality wise, they are no better than their competitors.

[Ajay]

Originally Posted by dceite

Product quality and after sales service are two different aspects. We cannot combine the two and come to a conclusion. Yes, Swift has some issues with rattling noises and some electrical problems. But tell me any other small car manufacture which does not have these issues. Indica V2 electricals are the worst, as far as i know, and some owner of Getz recently posted about his bad experience on buying a new one when he found the car to be sluggish and had to do ecu remapping in the first day itself!..

So After sales service, Maruti is at par with Hyundai and Tata (if not better). Product quality wise, they are no better than their competitors.

Tell me about it, Our Indica V2 would stall once the A/C is switched on. All 3 dealers in B'lore could not solve the issue - always citing bad fuel as the cause.

[sbasak]

Its not the overall quality, rather its the outdated fleet of models that troubles me more. Cars like Zen,Esteem,wagonr,800 and even Baleno are terribely outdated, and no longer sold anywhere else.

That's the point! However, if the probelm is with Swift, then it is serious!

[mclaren1885]

Very interesting topic .. Yes the service seems to be fine from RNS now .. Dont know how much of a difference tbhp has made, but ever since i have been getting excellent service from them .. Almost celebrity kind ..

Its not that its only maruti thats having these niggling problems .. I have seen hyundai , tata , toyota and to that effect even skoda customers complaining of extrememly poor service .. For this the parent company like MUL cant be blaimed , but its the lack of commitment by the dealerships .. With the number of cars and the number of employers increasing in every showroom at times a customer might get stuck with the wrong set of people making things very hard for him .. Yes , with the kind of numbers they are selling right now they at times do get negligent .. And this can be expected from the best of best, heck we have seen this happen even with the merc showroom regarding one of our members car (was it GTO ??) .. However with a dedicated and committed community that we are having here , we can surely keep these guys hanging onto the tip of their toes if anything goes wrong ..

To all the maruti stable owners on the forum from bangalore , i request u guys to go to RNS for whatever reasons or problems pertaining to ur car that ur facing with other dealerships .. Their service will only get better the moment they know ur a tbhpian ..

[BUSA]

Damn Yes, Maruti has started to take people for granted. It took whole of 14 calls to get a ZXi Swift for a test drive and to get a L n K just one ( Skoda themselves called for the appointment)
@ 6:30 When i asked them their car was supposed to come at 6, he(sales manager) said oops i forgot i was busy with someones delivery. @ 7 a Vxi comes - I blast him and next day after repeated reminders a Crystall Gold Zxi arrives.

[Zappo]

Yes that is true. Any car can have problems. Even a Merc can for that matter. However I felt in the last couple of months or more all of a sudden I am seeing a spurt of people who felt that the Maruti service is not upto the mark.
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Have you seen the case with the Bimal guys? Our TBHP-ian mate even tried reaching the Maruti regional office but to no avail. In fact that is where my concern stems from. When the company treats the issue as a non-consequential issue they basically play with the emotions of a person who has invested his hard earned money with them. And if this happens frequently with quite a few people then it starts like the start of a trend.

And this is not only limited to the cases we hear in this forum. I have seen a few others locally as well. I feel when you are a market leader and claim to be so good that you top the JDS every year then you need to be doubly sure that these things do not happen. So, you having too many customers can not be the reason to be lax. If anything that only should egg you on to be more vigilant.




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[jat]

Old models quality may be going down due to wear down of production line machines and dies etc for manufactering parts.

Do you know that M800 has been sold in Europe. The guys driving it there says that it is good city car with less parking hassle, good FE and no safety ;-)

RK

[v1p3r]

If you guys are referring to overall fit and finish levels, yes, the old Zens and 800s had way better finishes than the new ones. I think the moulds and dyes are starting to wear out or something...

But so far, Maruti's *** etc have given me no cause for complaint. I hope it stays that way!!!

[mohit]

But so far, Maruti's *** etc have given me no cause for complaint. I hope it stays that way!!!

Lately I have been constantly pissed off by the attitude and service of these MASS guys. Leaves a lot to be desired. Hyundai is way ahead in terms of ***. They may not have as many service stations but their overall attitude and work quality is top notch.

[kvish]

I have had a better experience with Solar, (not a good one with Sagar automobiles ). Basically you can make out the quality of service in the first 100 meters of driving. From Sagar, it looked like the car was given a good wash...thats about it...

There are some " authorized service centers" which are alright. (definitely better than some dealer+service centers). The people there are quite knowledgable. In all, my experience in Authorized service centers is better than the service centers attached to the dealerships.

I have observed quality of interiors reducing in Maruti cars. The plastics are much thinner...and loose ends hanging around. (refering to 800 in particular).

[SLK]

They always took customers for granted, whether they had competition or not! Have you been on the work floor of a MASS?, I have been into a few, and there are some common things I notice;

1) No ONE is dedicatedly working on a single car; a task that should take 5 mins takes 15 for no reason.
2) They drive our cars as if they are all rally drivers.
3) They think the customer knows nothing and they are the boss. (in fact they just know how to repair/ set things but they are not capable of deciding what exactly to repair)

I don’t really bother about interiors, so the plastic quality is not a problem for me, till its all in one piece.

The overall quality and reliability of cars has been going down ever since the company started in 83/84.... And the period 1995-97, was the worst in terms of quality of 800s.

After the attacks from the competition onto Maruti's market share, they have come back a bit (no I am not talking about the plastics - they don't count).

Looking at Maruti in isolation, they really aren't doing much good with quality and especially with consistency of quality.

But if you look at the Indian scene as a whole, they are right in the industry average as ‘dceite’ put.

[BUSA]

Originally Posted by pioneer

Yes, they have simply started taking customers for granted.

I understand what you mean. You must be visiting Automotive manufacturers?

[sajo]

It could be just me, but I think the 'feel' of the interior plastic from a 1997 Zen is better than the one in 2004. Maybe they just changed their supplier. And yes, some authorised service stations are better than service stations attached to dealerships, in my experience.
@jat : check these out : http://www.carsurvey.org/model_Suzuki_Maruti.html
They even have them in Israel!!

[jat]

Originally Posted by kvish

There are some " authorized service centers" which are alright. (definitely better than some dealer+service centers). The people there are quite knowledgable. In all, my experience in Authorized service centers is better than the service centers attached to the dealerships.

Yeah, I also feel the same. The authorised service centers concentrate on maintenance and get trained guys, while dealers concentrate on selling cars (maybe cars have higher profit margins than service).

RK