[Parth46]

2nd consecutive bad experience with Carsmith motors.

September 2018 : annual service of my Honda City petrol at Carsmith, based on generally positive feedback from this thread.

One challenge was they don't allow you to carry your own spare parts, and anything you need is to be ordered via them a few days in advance of the service. I specifically asked for Mobil 1 5W30 fully synthetic and what was waiting for me was Mobil Super 3000!!!

They had not even noticed that, were even about to pour it had I not stopped them at the last moment.

That day being a public holiday, I had to wait for a few extra hours for this problem to be solved, and Vishwas simply refused to acknowledge the issue by saying it's the supplier's fault and not his! We finally managed to get SHU 5W40 from a nearby bunk, and had to pay the full MRP price.

When I raised this issue of a lot of extra time being wasted due to this, and the fact that I'd had to unnecessarily shell out a much higher amount than needed, his response was that I should not worry about a few extra K here and there as my car was getting quality attention and service.

Decided not to pursue this further.

During that same service, front link rods were found to be due for replacement and I gave them my confirmation to procure those.

I had to follow up for months for the link rods, and was told in March 2019 that new link rods are finally available and I can come and get them fitted. I was travelling at that time and overall availability was pretty limited. What followed was a series of calls and what's app messages asking me to come for fitment ASAP.

I went there today for fitment, and the staff, including Vishwas, suddenly realized that the TRW link rods they'd ordered were NOT the correct model, and that I'll have to come again some other time after they manage to get the right variant.

When I expressed my disappointment to Vishwas, I was again told that it's not their mistake but the mistake of the supplier who had sent the wrong parts, and it's perfectly understandable since these days there are so many models and variants of Honda City, and cars in general!

When I asked if no one from the team actually checks the parts received to ensure they're exactly what was ordered, I got no answer.

I'm not sure if my experiences are more the exception than the norm. Genuine mistakes happen, but what really pissed me was the overall attitude of how it's not their fault at all, and I'm blaming them for no reason!

While I certainly appreciate their hands-on approach overall, these two instances have surely left a bad taste in my mouth.

[Parth46]

While the above post may seem like a negative review, I'll add that Carsmith remains a great place overall, with good attention to detail.

Vishwas went the extra mile in ensuring that the annoying dashboard rattles, which multiple Honda guys couldn't solve, was addressed to my satisfaction. Those rattles have not returned yet.

Both of us are in touch since my previous post went live, and I'm hopeful that pending issues will be resolved soon.

[speed kills]

It had been a while since I dropped into Carsmith Motors and in my quest to convert my uncle mobile to an uncle-with-swag mobile I decided to drop off the E at Carsmith for an alloy makeover.

The experience was more or less fuss-free like my initial experience. I had booked an appointment to drop off the car on Tuesday & I was promised delivery on Thursday.

Since the last time I visited them, the one thing I noticed was the sheer number of European cars there for service or body repair. On speaking to Vishwas he confirmed the same, he was telling me how they wanted to cater to the European car market. Since the E is due for its Service C, I think I might give Carsmith a go this time around.

[KMT]

I tried Carsmith last week and had brake pads replaced on my F30 320d.
On a whim, I also had Rogerab installed to prevent bottoming.
They appear to have done a satisfactory job on both.
The prices were appx 30% odd of what one might expect at Navnit Motors.
Other cars were an S class that was having air-suspension work done, a Laura, Passat and an X3.
In addition there was a project of sorts going on in the corner to give a Tata Xenon 4x4 amphibious capability.

Overall a good experience.

[Unknownsatan]

I had picked up a pre-owned Laura TSI a while back that was painted in a custom colour. There was a small knick on the runner board which I wanted to get rid of.

I was skeptical of giving the car to any garage as this colour was a one off. In my search for a reliable bodyshop, I came across Carsmith Motors in Koramangala. I spoke to them over the phone & explained the issue faced, they seemed confident of matching the colour & fixing the running board.

They took a couple of days to fix the dent.

They did a neat job, I must say! I’m very happy with the results.

[anshumandun]

It was time for the Q3's 4th service at 52,000 kms. Audi was quoting 40k+ for regular service. Since the car was out of warranty, decided to take it to Carsmith.

The biggest challenge was to get the car there since I stay in Yelahanka and driving to Koramangala is no easy feat. Called up Vishwas and he offered free pick up and drop service. They have partnered with DriveU for pick up and drops. I wasn't very comfortable giving the car to a driver but decided to go ahead due to scarcity of time.

Servicing was completed in one day. Throughout the day I got regular updates on whatsapp through photos and videos of the different tasks being carried out. This was the best part of the service since I got to know at every point whats happening with the car. All my queries were also promptly answered.

A couple of images received while the work was being done.




There was a problem with the fuel lid that I wanted to get fixed. The fuel lid won't lock even when the car was locked. They opened up the lock and found that it wasn't working. New lock was quoted for 3.5k and I gave a go ahead for that. The part was ordered and received the next day and the car was delivered back in the evening.

The total bill was around 21k. In terms of breakup, servicing cost is 7.5k (50 point check-up and all labour), 3.5k for the fuel lid lock, 2.3k for Ceratec engine protector and the rest for the filters and oil.

The service was done 2 months back and the car is running good. With this kind of experience, I don't see a point in visiting Audi service center unless there is something that only they can fix.

[ajmat]

Have been using CarSmiths on and off over the past few months. Together with Nirmal (Greenz Car Care, nee Keystone), they sorted out my Polo over here (Reward of a Risk - Reviving a VW Polo 1.6 Highline!)

They did a spectacular job with the paintwork and later on the brakes (more below!)

I then took my wife's uncle's Etios to CarSmiths. He was getting irritated with the nicks and dents due to autos etc.

Front and rear fenders were badly dented




Crease on the bonnet




Carsmiths sorted it out with 3 days.







Then came the next challenge, another one of my wife's uncles clobbered his Polo on the TenderSure Bollards when exiting the Church, to cut a long story short, he is losing some cognitive ability. He refused to get the car repaired claiming the dents were small. Kept on cribbing the VW will take weeks and loads of money to sort out. His wife felt pretty ashamed to being driven into the Club with what looked like a hammered jalopy.

I stole the car from under his nose and handed it over to CarSmiths, it was over Eid so it took a week as a call was needed to be taken on whether to source used doors and paint or dent-out and paint. They took the latter path but made it clear that the result would be 80% of factory finish.






You get regular status updates





Within a week, I got the car back



My aunt is happy. My equity with the in-laws is enhanced

Moving onto mechanical work, the brakes of the Polo were dismantled were displayed and a quote given






Not shown but pad condition was also sent

The procured parts and the box (close up of box not shown here) are then sent to you so that one can compare the new with the old.


What you will like:

• Clean, spacious airy premises
• Quality of work and timeliness - very little waiting
• Transparency of the transaction, invoices and quotes are emailed/whatsapped to you
• Sweet Great Dane in his cabin
  
  

What you might not like:

• Don't expected to be fawned over and expect Vishwas to spend time on small talk. He will listen to your requirements and then get straight into the operations. He's polite and to the point, that's what I like but many folks may not.
• Location is bordering hell (Sarjapur) but not in hell, getting through Koramangala is another grind!

PS - Till 1 hour ago, Vishwas had no idea that I was a moderator and thought I was a normal customer until I wrote about my Polo

[Vid6639]

I've been visiting Carsmiths as well. First it was for old man (Rudra Sen) Optra to get it detailed through Keystone (Now Greenz car care).

Then last month, my company CFO's Audi Q3 which I had got for him (used) started giving AC trouble. It went to Audi who gave some 1.5L quote for new AC compressor. I took the car back and sent it to Madhus to get AC gas checked. It was empty. Had it refilled and it worked fine for a couple of weeks. After that again no cooling.

My CFO lost patience with me and contacted the old owner who was suggesting some place. I told him I can't coordinate so far away so try Carsmiths as it is nearby. I called Vishwas and he told me to get the Audi Q3 down. Not much chit chat as Ajit said and he was to the point.

He messaged me the next day saying they were suspecting the valve which is common and not the compressor. That's not to say compressor is fine but first thing to change is valve. He said same valve is used in Skoda and he will procure OEM Skoda part which will work without any issues.

Being Dasara holidays, the valve took a week to arrive and I was kept updated. Car was ready and Vishwas confirmed it was working fine and if there is any issue after few months then compressor needs changing as it's a known Q3 issue.

Car was picked up by CFO driver and been a month almost and it's cooling fine. CFO happy.

Total bill was just under 9K.

I have some body work needed on the Ford and I'll be giving it to Vishwas once rains subside.

[ghatotkatch]

Since VW after sales is generally about fleecing people with unwanted/overcharged service/labour items (like ac disinfection, brake removal and refitting, interior cleaning etc), and since my Jetta is a manual TDI, devoid of any DSG worries, I was considering taking it to a local garage for annual servicing.

Given preferable location of CarSmith motors, and favourable reviews so far in this thread, I decided to take it there. My expectations were - better attention to the car, no unwanted charge heads or parts replacements and reasonable service charges.

Service at CarSmith

Vishwas, the owner/proprietor, received the car for service. I had mentioned a weak grinding noise coming from steering column as the only possible issue that needs attention. I was told the service charges will be 4k + taxes, spares and consumables (like oil, filter etc) extra.

By the afternoon I got a few photos on the progress and a message that windshield washer spray wasn't working. I was pretty sure I had used it that morning itself, yet decided to let them have a look and come back about what's wrong. I guessed it could be some debris in the nozzle that could have clogged it up.

Engine oil suggested to me (some liqui moly variant) wasn't VW 505 01 compliant, and I insisted on Top Tec 4100 only. Since it wasn't available I decided to come another day for oil change.

I had dropped the car in the morning, at 10am, came back to the garage from office by 4pm, and was handed the car over at around 7:30pm. Only wash happened in these 3-4hrs as far as I noticed. I remained patient, since a stormy weather wasn't helping anyone.

Came a week later for oil change once Top Tec was available. The engine was flushed using liqui moly engine flush, filter changed (some aftermarket one, I didn't pay much attention to) and engine oil changed.

Service Highlights

• Before taking delivery of the car, I asked him about how he perceives general condition of the car, and all I got was a blank stare. He didn't know. It became clear the car wasn't paid much attention to, beyond the mundane 'servicing' tasks.
• Engine oil was charged at MRP! So that means what's available in market for 5k, was charged at 6.7k! His reasoning was more ridiculous than the price.
• Same story with the flush and oil filter. All together, I am pretty sure I overpaid to the tune of 2-3k.
• I had to remind him multiple times for the invoice of the total amount charged.
• When I received the invoice, I noticed a charge of Rs.750/- against consumables, that he couldn't/didn't explain for couple of days. He finally got around to refund that amount with some lame excuse - that too, not before me having to remind him multiple times.

So at the end of the day, I paid about 12-13k for a regular service, where only oil and oil filter were replaced.

Comparison with VW Service

Just to put the cost in perspective, the last service I had done at VW Rajajinagar, I had paid about 16k. Apart from oil and filter change, it additionally included -

• air filter replacement
• cabin filter replacement
• diesel filter replacement (this itself costs about 2.5k)
• interior cleaning and dashboard polish
• engine bay cleaning and probably diesel wash (maybe not diesel, but something safer)

I wasn't very happy with the cost I had to bear at carsmith motors, for a barebones service, but let it pass.

Issues and Troubles

I didn't take the car out much afterwards since the battery was dying and needed replacement. Couple weeks later, when I finally found some time in my schedule to replace the battery, I mistakenly dropped a tubular socket on the floor (on the engine and sump guard floor) while fitting it. When I went to remove a front wheel to recover that socket from behind the wheel well cover, I noticed wheel nut caps on all four wheels were missing!

To my further disappointment, sometime later, I also noticed the windshield washer jets weren't functioning. And the grinding noise in the steering column wasn't attended to either; it is still there.

All in all, I had paid ~13k for a wash and an expensive oil change, apart from losing wheel nut caps and having one working part less than before.

Enough was enough, next day I drove straight to his garage to have it addressed. He got couple of his mechanics to take a look at the washer spray - and they seemed to zero in on the combination switch, since the washer pump, wiring and fuzes were all working, and OBD scanning didn't reveal any error codes either. The combination switch wasn't checked, since he decided enough time was spent in diagnosing the issue, and rest of the diagnosing can happen some other day.

As for the wheel nut caps, first some unrelated caps were brought and fit on the nuts. I insisted on the ones that were removed from my car (ones with the hole, that can be pulled using the cap puller in toolkit). So they were reluctantly made available - some of them loose, some broken - I insisted on replacing them. I am not very sure if they really are the ones removed from my car, since one of them is still half broken, but it has left a very bad taste in the mouth overall.

What left me incredulous was his mumbling before handing the car over, that - I should check all around the car once, and that he "doesn't want to hear later that this is missing and that is missing". That tone and language didn't suite someone whose lack of due diligence had resulted in him hearing this in the first place. And he had the audacity to say this to a paying customer, who, despite all these misgivings so far, had kept the tone and language civil and decent.

Caveat Emptor!

In all my service experiences at VW service centers, nothing in or on the car had gone missing. The problems that I had reported, were either addressed or accounted for in some way. Never once, neither in VW, nor in Honda, nor in Fiat service centers had I come across an attitude like this before.

Anyway, I realised he probably has one customer too many, and I shouldn't be increasing his workload with any of my cars further.

Since I fairly know the internals and can work on my cars myself for basic stuff, I am increasingly feeling that henceforth I should just source the parts and do the servicing myself, rather than trusting the car to someone else, and getting disappointed.

[KrisTvpm]

With my Ford's service approaching, was considering this garage - as I am royally dissatisfied with the lousy service at Elite Ford and reluctant to try out another Ford service.

But now with all these negative reviews, and a general feeling that only if you're an acquaintance of the owner, you & more importantly your car would be taken seriously -- guess one needs to seriously reconsider using this service.
I may be harsh/wrong, but would better be wrong now than sorry later.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by KrisTvpm

With my Ford's service approaching, was considering this garage - as I am royally dissatisfied with the lousy service at Elite Ford and reluctant to try out another Ford service.

But now with all these negative reviews, and a general feeling that only if you're an acquaintance of the owner, you & more importantly your car would be taken seriously -- guess one needs to seriously reconsider using this service.
I may be harsh/wrong, but would better be wrong now than sorry later.

Why don't you just go to PPS FORD in domlur? I have had fantastic experiences with them. There is no need to try someone independent as long as PPS ford keeps up their good work.

[KrisTvpm]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Why don't you just go to PPS FORD in domlur <snip>.

Thanks for the suggestion, was considering "JSP Ford" kudlu-gate based on opinion posts in T-BHP. The one you suggested would be much nearer to me than the other, shall definitely give a try.

[anandtheleo]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Why don't you just go to PPS FORD in domlur? I have had fantastic experiences with them. There is no need to try someone independent as long as PPS ford keeps up their good work.

I second it, have had fantastic service from them for my Fiesta.

[KrisTvpm]

Originally Posted by KrisTvpm

With my Ford's service approaching, was considering this garage - as I am royally dissatisfied with the lousy service at Elite Ford <snip> But now with all these negative reviews, <snip> you & more importantly your car would be taken seriously -- guess one needs to seriously reconsider using this service<snip>

As the T-BHP forum doesn't allow retract/edit of posts, I'm appending this note in continuation to the musings about "Carsmith".

When we read positive or negative comments from other forum-members, it has definitely an impact on our decisions as well -- infact many of my vehicle related decisions have been finalised based on T-BHP members' opinions!
But it is never my intention to hurt somebody personally or bring harm to their business/honest efforts.

Reason for this somewhat long prologue is to bring my post about "Carsmith" in context. The proprietor Vishwas sent me a personal note clarifying his position, and I find merit in what he says - so I'd like to offer an apology to him/his business for posting something that I've not had 1st hand experience on.

As we T-BHPians take our big-boys'-toys and their upkeep very seriously, one wouldn't want a sub-standard service for these; which prompted me to write somewhat harshly about the said garage. Some day when I have personally experienced the garage, I will come up with my own personal note on it. Till then, I'll remain neutral.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by KrisTvpm

Reason for this somewhat long prologue is to bring my post about "Carsmith" in context. The proprietor Vishwas sent me a personal note clarifying his position, and I find merit in what he says - so I'd like to offer an apology to him/his business for posting something that I've not had 1st hand experience on.

Could you share some of these points for the benefit of the forum? I dont mean for this to end up in a messy he said, she said scenario but if there are some details that can help the forum members see a different perspective on certain issues that were highlighted, then it will only help Carsmith in the long run.