[CowlFlap]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

As a bhpian i strongly appeal and urge to Honda owners bhpian or otherwise to stay away from Solitaire Honda Andheri especially Mr Satish Patel who works as a SA there.This particilaur person would sweet talk you to fix things that may not be necessarily wrong in your car and would also give you a inflated bill much more than estimated one.

After spending close to 25K on repairs my car still seems to have the same issue that it had before i had given the car for repair.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Please read my below posts for details

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post2857950


http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post2858800

sumeethaldankar, thanks for the heads up mate. Have you tried the Borivali service center of Solitaire?
Regards their Andheri branch, not sure about their service, but a close friend had a very bad experience while booking a vehicle with them. They make false claims, and do not honor their word. Also, be prepared for a runaround in case you've been promised accessories.

[sgiitk]

I bet they get customers by offering the best discounts / deals.

[CowlFlap]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I bet they get customers by offering the best discounts / deals.

Their offers and discounts are pretty much in line with what other dealers provide. The problem is, they twist their own written terms and conditions 'verbally', to get that booking going. Never trust what they say. Take it in writing, or walk out!

And that, for a brand such as Honda, is not the feeling with which a potential customer would like to walk into a showroom; or any product/service provider for that matter.

Integrity, or rather the lack of it, comes at a price.

[sumeethaldankar]

Another couple of things i want to mention about Solitaire's incompetent service.

1- My Civic's Horn was not working and was running just on a single tone.Solitaire wanted to replace the horn with a new one costing around 2.5K.My mechanic fixed the same for just 100 bucks and it's working just fine till now.

2-My car's remote was not working properly.The button's had to be pressed several times for the door to lock/unlock.When i had gone to Solitairelast time their advisor told me that the remote would have to be replaced costing around 4-5K.I didn't bother at that time and continued using the same until few days ago i got frustrated with the remote.

I decided to open the remote to see if i can fix it mysled.I used a small screw driver to open the remote and found that the plastic frame on which the remote's circuit board sits has come off it's bracket.I gently snap it back into place and put the screw back and lo behold the remote starts working perfectly as good as new.

Now you guys decide whether you want to trust your car in the hands of such incompetent people.

[sumeethaldankar]

Found this older post related to solitaire (andheri) workshop malpractices.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post2296563

I hope posts like this are enough to dissuade people from visiting Solitaire's Andheri workshop.

[salunkhe.vizz]

Visited Solitaire Borivali last weekend for my first service on my 2006 Civic V-AT used car that I have recently bought. Below is my experience:

1. Reservation:
+ves:
- Called them up on Thursday for a Saturday booking, booking was confirmed on the spot
- Got a call back on Friday to confirm if I am indeed coming at the promised time
- When I walked in to the workshop, they wrote down my name and made me wait in the lounge with 8-10 other customers. However I was called in first as my appointment time was earliest (thums up for this !)
Even Better If (EBI):
- On both calls, they kept referring me by the old owners name. This inspite having changed the name in my initial call mentioning that this was a re-purchase.

2. Workshop Location & Infra:
+ves:
- It is located centrally between east and west and hence easily accessible for customers in north west suburbs (Dahisar to Malad radius)
- The customer waiting lounge is average (small in size) in terms of facilities, the Honda two wheeler waiting lounge I visit for my ceeber is much bigger. But, it serves the purpose !
- The vehicle parking area and service area is quite big and the capacity is bigger than other workshops I have seen with crammed places and cars virtually stuck together in hoardes
EBI:
- The place is slightly difficult to find if you dont know the area very well, and the people handling the phone are not that helpful with directions either (tried three calls, finally a mechanic at nearby sai service centre showed me the way)

3. SA Communication
+ves:
- The SA saw service record of my car, of not being serviced for a year and recommended me the 60k major service (my odo was 48.8k). Since this included a lot of basics like engine oil / filter / wheel rotation / alignment etc - I went for it.
- He was prompt to write down all things I wanted to check / repair / service and even personal requests like 'no solitaire stickers' was added to job card
- He called me 3 hrs after I logged in the car with a report of initial honda assessment. He first listed the long list and added for each that most of these (door beading's / plastic cladding in wheel well / glass buffing for the small scratches,etc) were not necessary. He mentioned price for each and asked me to take a call.
- I asked him for synthetic oil, but he convinced me not to change it from the Honda OEM as this would last equally longer and would serve the engine equally well.
EBI:
- I had asked to check one of my fog lights which was not working, SA told me Honda wont touch this as it was after market fitment (this i find weird as I was ready to pay for whatever was wrong with it or even change the unit if required - my guess is this was not in stock)
- I had asked to fit in the back panel on front left seat that had come loose, he told me this will need to be replaced and this is currently not in stock
- I had asked the rusted nuts on alloy wheels to be replaced, he told me this is - guess what - not in stock
- I had asked for an AC service center sticker at the back to be removed, they forgot to do this and I found out only after paying the bill and while taking delivery. The SA promptly called for the cleaner and asked him to do the job. Instead of using a thinner, he scratched the wordings out in front of my eyes with a blade - when another colleague was repeatedly telling him to not use it . Luckily he was good at what he did and there were no paint scratches.

4. Quality of Service
+ves:
- The car feels different / smoother / quieter than before. I think it desperately needed oil change
- The brakes were not working well and I had highlighted this to SA, he just worked on greasing the brakes within fixed service cost and assured me nothing was wrong with pads or assembly etc. He was right ! They work well now
- The fuel efficiency has jumped from 5.8 (from my first tankful) to 6.9 kmpl (in the second tankful post service) - in same amount of traffic / full ac / driving style
- The water spray was not working, the pump was replaced for less than 600 and it is working well now
EBI:
- There is a lot of noise (not sure if its suspension or chassis) on uneven roads - this was not detected or repaired in their assessment

5. VFM
+ves:
- I am not complaining, since a 10k all inclusive service cost for a major 20k interval service is much lower than what I used to pay for my Ritz VDi.

Total damage was 12K+ where 10k+ was fixed and rest were things I chose over and above (like glass buffing among other things)

Overall, I am a bit concerned as they don't seem to have most of the civic parts in stock. Since this is now a discontinued model, I am worried if it will be easy to source parts without having to wait for a long pre-order period for smallest of things !

p.s: If anyone knows other non-Honda garages that sell OEM Honda parts in Mumbai, do let me know (Our directory does not mention any Honda specific places in Mumbai)