[laluks]

If you had been following my SCross thread, you'd have read my note that one of the Service Managers at Suraksha, Girish, who had been taking care of my cars for the past 15+ years had quit and was starting a venture of his own. He and his friend and colleague Lokesh has started Swastika Auto Centres, a few months back.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit them for the 80K service for my Swift.

I reached the Service center by 10:00 and was promptly attended to. Me and Lokesh went for a test drive and diagnosed what all needs to be done and agreed. Immediately job card was opened and spare procurement and service process started.

Jobs done :

1. 80K paid Service
2. Gearbox overhaul - there was a lock nut missing, and oil had drained out. As a precautionary measure we checked the gear box and alignment
3. Throttle Body Cleaning
4. Caliper Pins replacement
5. Clutch change
6. Dickey Balancer replacement
7. Rear Shocks replacement
8. Brakes cleaning

All jobs were done by evening, and it was a great experience at the workshop.

Please find the cost details of spares and jobs carried out.






There were more than 10 bays with a dedicated Washing bay. Paint shop is coming up soon in two / three months, and also Wheel Alignment and Wheel Balancing setup is getting readied.

I am completely satisfied with the work done and would visit again for my needs.

Its always great to visit a Service Centre, run by people whom you know and trust.

Address:
Swastika Auto Centres
N0.289/3, Begur Main Road,
Near India Oil petrol pump
Bangalore 560068
https://goo.gl/maps/SnruRh6YRN82

Phone
9513789955 - Girish
9513789966 - Lokesh

Note :
I know Girish since 15 years, and my interactions with him is strictly wrto service needs of my car and his professionalism in dealing with me as a customer. I wish them all the best for their endeavor.

[adithya.kp]

Is the price inclusive of GST?. The invoice doesn't seem to mention GST.

[paragsachania]

Good to see a dedicated thread for this FNG Lalu. I recently got a major service done for my WagonR here and had posted details here.

Like you know Girish, I have known Lokesh and that was one of the reason I visited this place only because of my earlier interactions with him for both my WagonR and Ertiga. Not to forget the fact that the 2 partners comes a long way when it comes to their association with Maruti for nearly 2 decades where each of them would have handled every type of role - Right from Washing Supervisor to higher management within the ASCs. One of the reason why both of them have "Hands-On" experience in dealing with cars that they won't hesitate a bit of that elbow grease.

Posting few images that I had clicked when I visited this place during that service. At this stage, they seem to have got most things right - Number of bays, Hoists, Washing Area, Customer waiting lounge and the right set of mechanics to work on the car. My was was attended by a mechanic who was earlier associated with a Maruti ASC.

Originally Posted by adithya.kp

Is the price inclusive of GST?. The invoice doesn't seem to mention GST.

Was the same case with mine too. I was told that they have applied for GST.

[laluks]

Was there yesterday to get the outer mirrors fixed, the bikers of Bangalore were in love with them and had lost an outer cover to their lust



Sorted out a leak issue with the wiper water tank, and replaced the faulty brake switch.

Here's the expense sheet.

[Captain Slow]

You dont get a GST invoice?

[neil.jericho]

Its nice to see professionally run alternatives to the company service centres come up. How are their labour rates in comparison to the authorized SVC?

O.T - am I the only one to find their name and logo ummm unusual?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

How are their labour rates in comparison to the authorized SVC?

I found them nearly comparable to ASC rates and posted the details here.

O.T - am I the only one to find their name and logo ummm unusual?

The plural of Center-->Centers is due to the numerologist who suggested to make it plural that would signify growth over the years and they multiply into many more "Centers" .

[NPV]

During the last service of the Dzire (Dec 2019) at Surakshaa, I also wanted to get the timing belt work done, but couple of parts like Tensioner spring and Damper weren't available, so I decided to get it done later. The clutch had also started feeling a bit hard, so I was planning on getting it replaced along with the timing belt work. Checked with the SA if it was ok for me to get the buy the parts and get the labour done there and he said that was fine. This would also give me a chance to ensure that all necessary parts were indeed replaced, rather than skip a few due to non-availability at the dealer service centre.

I visited the MGP store and after repeated follow ups, they placed an order and got the Damper for the tensioner spring (a SGP item) shipped from Delhi.

Around end of January, I called the SA and asked him when we can get the timing belt + clutch work done and he said he will need to talk to their service manager to get the approval since I had bought the parts myself. I spoke to the service manager as well and he said he will need his regional manager, etc to approve it. Next day, the SA called me to say Surakshaa will not be able to carry out the work if parts are bought by the customer.

Called @Parag and he suggested Swastikaa Auto Centers. I had heard a lot about Lokesh, so called him, explained the situation and scheduled the appointment.

The only issue we ran into was the Timing belt tensioner spring being too long as compared to the OEM one in the car. Lokesh called Essar automotives and scheduled Dunzo pickup and drop of the part. After a botched first attempt, received the part after 3-4 hours but the spring length was again too much. Since spring tension was fine in the old one, we decided to use that but change the Damper inside that I'd bought from MGP.

Clutch replacement work went on fine and by late afternoon the work was completed. We did a test drive around the service centre that had a mix of good, narrow, bad roads and were satisfied. However, after we returned, Lokesh asked the mechanic to make a small adjustment to clutch play in the engine bay.

I headed back home and found that the gear shifts weren't too smooth and clutch felt hard. Lokesh asked me to drive for a couple of days and then call him if the problem persisted.

During the 4-5 days after the work was done, Lokesh called me a few times to enquire about the clutch and I really appreciate his customer centric approach.

Gear shifts just got worse, to the point that I dreaded driving the car in heavy traffic, but then decided to try one last time on a weekday commute to work and I barely managed to reach office and park the car safely. Spoke to Lokesh and he said he will send his mechanic that afternoon.

The mechanics arrived in the afternoon and with a tweak of the clutch play and a spray of Rustoleum, the clutch problem was gone and the car was driving like a new one with soft, easy clutch and precise gear shifts

I had bought the parts from MGP dealers that came to about Rs.1500 for the timing belt and related parts and about Rs.6000 for the Clutch related parts. Thanks due to @Leoshashi for patiently answering my questions and providing details of all necessary parts.

Labour charges at Swastikaa came to Rs.4500 in total which i think is very competitive. I was also very happy with the work carried out in my presence and the very good customer focus. Will happily recommend this place - both Lokesh and Girish, each have about 25 years of experience and it's nice to work with knowledgeable folks like them who know so much and will frankly tell us if a part really needs replacement or not.

Ready for the work to be carried out


Hoisted up during the lunch break


Work done and all set to drive out

[NPV]

Another happy, satisfying service experience at Swastikaa, this time for our WagonR Waggy®.

Details in my ownership thread here (Our 2016 Glistening Grey Maruti WagonR VXi - Waggy® meets Dizzy®)

[unk9ja]

The front suspension on my Baleno is on its last legs and I took it to Swastikas for an estimate of parts required.
Reached here as scheduled and was attended promptly. The vehicle was hoisted and the suspension was checked thoroughly. The rear wheel bearing on both sides have play and are bit rough during running. Although this was not told, the guys checked it and suggested replacement. The guys did a good job after suspension work looking for any lost bolts holding the bumpers, the play in the bonnet, greasing the steering joints and such. Now I am awaiting the parts for replacement after which I need to visit them again.






The car had returned from coastal town and so looks dirty. Please ignore this part. Need to get it pressure washed this weekend.

[unk9ja]

The parts ordered on 21st August arrived by the end of month. However due to my work commitments, I could drop down by 10th of September.
Dropped down on 10th morning and the guys took over immediately. They pressure washed the underbody on my request and started the work.
It took them an hour and half to replace the lower arms, rod ends for the stabilizer and the mounting for the dampeners. There was a minor hitch when they found a worn out rubber bush. Lokesh himself went out and got the part from Essar, the over the counter MGP store.
After a trial ride over some bumpy Bengaluru roads to ascertain the work, I was off.
I would definitely recommend them.

[ninjatalli]

An overall good service experience at Swastikaa for our S Cross 1.6.

Details in my ownership thread here

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

An overall good service experience at Swastikaa for our S Cross 1.6.

Details in my ownership thread here

Now this is a surprising turn of events. After the service, the car was standing unused till this weekend (~1 week). We finally embarked on our 1300 km road trip starting last Friday. The first few hundred kms, the car felt fine. But once we switched from 4/6 Lane highways to single lane roads with potholes and bad surfaces, a weird rattle started coming from the front right tire. We couldn't identify the source of the noise so took it to a Maruti service center enroute.

Turned out the brake caliper pin wasn't bolted at all (or the bolt had loosened up and fallen off). Thankfully the service center were able to source a spare bolt and got the job done.

https://youtu.be/aW--00Eu0ZI

rattle noise source identified

Either way, this now doesn't bode a lot of confidence in the overall work by Swastikaa. Sharing this here to garner more feedback from other bhpians.

[sagarpadaki]

Damn. That is careless act from the service center!
The bolt might not been tightened after they removed the caliper for whatever reason? Brake pad change or Caliper slide pin greasing.

You are lucky that the bottom bolt of the caliper came out. Had it been the top one, things would have been much worse

EDIT - Just saw the bill details on your ownership page. There is an Item for Front and Rear brake overhauling and caliper greasing. Guess they forgot to tighten the bolt and it eventually came loose. As a precaution, hope you get all the remaining calipers checked for loose bolts?

[SideView]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Now this is a surprising turn of events. After the service, the car was standing unused till this weekend (~1 week). We finally embarked on our 1300 km road trip starting last Friday. The first few hundred kms, the car felt fine. But once we switched from 4/6 Lane highways to single lane roads with potholes and bad surfaces, a weird rattle started coming from the front right tire. We couldn't identify the source of the noise so took it to a Maruti service center enroute.

Turned out the brake caliper pin wasn't bolted at all (or the bolt had loosened up and fallen off). Thankfully the service center were able to source a spare bolt and got the job done.

Either way, this now doesn't bode a lot of confidence in the overall work by Swastikaa. Sharing this here to garner more feedback from other bhpians.

Did you reach out to owner to highlight the issue.If not please do so. It could have been an honest mistake.
So that they can atleast put in put some pre-delivery checks in place now.

This could have been fatal if brake failed, you can thank your lucky stars.


I was going through the review to check if I should consider this place or not thats when I noticed your post.Thanks for sharing between.