[anupamsinha]

I really like the gesture by Bosch. Seems like they are actively following you, at least online. I think they did not ask you to remove this thread or anything.
At least the intention is correct, maybe over time the Service centres will improve as well. Looks like they care (not like our government) for their brand.

[ravigop]

I had a smiliar experience in Bangalore "Bosch car care" check this message i posted in March 2012. Even a DIY'er these days knows how to pressure test a radiator to check for leaks. These guys are still old school, they run the car until thermostat open to see where the coolant is leaking. After changing the radiator hose had he pressure tested the system at 16 psi pressure it could have saved me a lot of time & effort (leave alone money).

Originally Posted by ravigop

They are fit for nothing. I took my Swift there for fixing radiator lower hose leak and AC cleaning. As stated earlier by one of our forum members a guy who can hardly speak any language showed up to note down the problems. I didn't tell him anything as i felt i couldn't speak anything that he will understand. After sometime another "gentlemen" showed up. He started diagnosing the leak in radiator & concluded that its the problem with cracked radiator lower hose. Later he drove the vehicle a bit and complained about suspension noise in front left suspension. He took the vehicle to the nearby mall where the same owner owns a castrol pitstop and put the car on lift. Checked the vehicles and reported that the front passenger side bearing is worn out and there is excessive play in the wheel hub. He didn't notice a leaking rear shock absorber but always insisted that we need to overhaul the front suspension. He said all the components like strut, mount bushings, lower control arm bushings, tie rod ends & ball joints have to be replaced all in pairs. I asked for an estimate and he quoted over 20k. I replied him to stay put and asked him to just fix the bearings & radiator hose. He promised delivery by 5pm and left the car & took a bus back to my home.

At 5:30 pm i reached the service centre and he was still working on my car. He took 1 hr more and finally presented a bill. I was shocked to see the bill around 2k. He charged me for 2 liters of distilled water and 2 liters of coolant, labor of filling coolant etc etc .. i agreed and paid the bill and took my car delivery.

Now here comes the final chapter ..

On driving near Jail road ( relatively an isolated area) the cars ignition switched off in all humps and i restarted everytime thinking that its just my problem of handling clutch. One time even the car didn't start after several attempts and finally i noticed whats the issue. The problem is the lower radiator hose is blown off and all (believe me all .. ) coolant was drained down the road. I got so upset and called him to report this but nobody answered my call. I was stranded all alone in the road and approached a shop to get some water for radiator. Whatever i poured in came out almost instantaneously as the lower radiator is open. Not knowing what to do i drove the car for 5, 5 mins with stop overs for engine to cool down & finally reached home. The valve cover gasket, spark plug o rings & CKP sensor gasket all got blown due to excessive engine heating. I jacked up the car & went down the vehicle to reinstall the radiator hose & installed the clamp using giant pliers i borrowed from my apartment plumber. The issue was that mechanic stretched the radiator lower hose in the connection end on engine block hence it pulled from the radiator bottom end.
Having spent around 1k already on this repair i again went out to buy radiator coolant 2.5 litre and 2 lit water to fill the radiator with coolant.
I'm just sharing my experience to save ppl from these centers. They always try to rip off customers by saying all sort of things. I remember the mechanic telling me that my vehicle needs braking bleeding, AC clean up and all that. They operate with huge margins. The charge more than MGP rate as well. Better stay away from these centres and stick to A. S. S.

[hrshnarula]

Hi All,

I will share a month long ordeal with you guys. This ordeal has not only taken a toll on my savings, but a solid toll on my time as well.

To start with, Xpert Car Solutions is a Multibrand Service Station. They are located in Sector 39, close to Unitech Cyber Park. My problem started with one unlucky day 31st March 2015, when I reached home just to find that my Skoda Fabia's radiator wasn't turning off even when I had turned off the car. With the keys in my hand, the radiator fan was running freely.

I'm very clumsy with automobiles so I thought I should just disconnect the battery so that the fan gets switched off. I removed the battery and pushed my car into the parking. I was really worried about the expenses, keeping in mind it's a Skoda, and it was month end. In haste, I probably take the worst decision of my life. I call Xpert Car Solutions (Bosch Car Service, Gurgaon sector 39). They attend my call very courteously and ask me to drop the car to their service station.

Early in the morning 1st April 2015 I go to the service station and drop the car and demonstrate them about the issue. They promise me to arrange a drop to the office and say that we will check about the issue and get back to you. When I tell that my office is in Udyog Vihar, they plainly refused to arrange a drop for me. Anyway, I hail a cab and reach office. Around 11:30 I receive a call that we are still trying to figure out the problem and will take some time. I take a cab back home and they assure me that it will be repaired by tomorrow evening/

Thursday morning I receive a call that there is some problem in the wiring and the relay of the radiator fan and they will repair it and it will all be done. I ask them to do some petty repairs in my car as well. They happily do it and the bill gets sorted to a mere 3000 bucks. I leave the service station, a happy customer thinking about how I saved a fortune by not taking my car to Skoda service.

On 7th April 2015, I was coming back from office, suddenly the air conditioner stopped working. The car started showing me that it has become over heated. The red LED starts blinking and I just park the car in front of MDI gate. I call the people at Bosch and they tell me to get my car to the service station. I refuse, as it was during the rush hours of traffic and it wasn't safe enough to drive another 4-5 kms in peak traffic. I suggest that I will park it at my friend's place and they can get it picked up in the morning. They suggest that it is not safe for me to drive the car as it may cause some damages to the engine. So its better that I get it towed. After a long discussion, I agree to get it towed (That too on my charges), and they tow it away first thing in the morning.

On the afternoon of 8th April, I receive a call from Mr. Balram saying that my Radiator fan assembly has blown and I need to get it repaired. Cash strapped as ever, I ask him if there are any chances of getting it repaired, he said "Sir the motor is damaged, you need to replace it". I asked what is the price of the motor, he says "It's 9000 rupees Sir". I was livid! I said that if you had done your repairs properly the last time, my motor wouldn't have gone bust. He however assured me that it had no relation to the repairs he did last time. I could connect the dots though, I knew that the wiring they had repaired might have been sending more voltage, which roasted my radiator fan. And he just said that it may be a coincidence. I mean really?

Now whatever happened has happened, they gave me some discount and the bill was settled to 8000 rupees. So I have spent 11000 rupees on a minor defect in just 3-4 days. This shook my entire monthly budget and I had to cancel a trip just because I had to get my car repaired by some people who were technically incompetent. Even during the delivery of the car I asked for assurance that I hope I will not receive any more problems again. Mr Subodh (General Manager) assured me that if there was some problem with the Radiator Fan, he would not charge me for any repairs. He gave me a warranty that I will not face any problem again.

Not even a month later, I faced the same problem. Yes, AGAIN. This is on the evening of 1st May, I had gone to pickup my sister from the metro station, which was just 1 km away. The car started showing the same problem. The air conditioner stopped working and the car got overheated. I called them and they said please bring your car tomorrow morning 10 AM and we will check it. I had severe stomach infection and high fever, but I was worried about my car. The fever was definitely because I was worried sick about the expenses these guys will give me.

Today morning in the midst of high fever and severe diarrhea I went to the service station to report the problem. 2nd May morning 10:10 AM I leave my car there and request them to look into it and tell me why am I receiving the same problem every time! Even when I was sick, I was looking around for Mr Subodh who was missing from the scene. I wanted to confront him to remind him of the assurance he had given me 20 days back. But apparently he as a really short memory. He flatly refused that he gave me any such assurance (This means there is NO SERVICE WARRANTY?!). I was asked to go home as I was really not feeling well and I would be given a resolution soon.

I waited for their call till 3:30 PM when I called them up, Ms Rachna asked me to have some patience and she will arrange a call from the executive. I received a call from them to hear another grim news. The relay had got spoiled and I need to pay another 8500 rupees to change the relay. Seriously? The relay costs 8500 rupees? Do these guys have any regard for a person's hard earned money? If they would have changed the relay in the first time, couldn't I have saved the 8000 rupees which I had paid? It could have easily saved my fan. This was the same problem, I had received on the first visit. I asked Mr Subodh to share his senior's number but he plainly refused. He shared me an email ID on which I'm supposed to send an email to get a response.

Only questions I have are:
1. If the relay was repaired/changed in the first time, wouldn't I have saved a fortune?
2. He admitted constantly that the fan got spoiled the second time because of faulty wiring. What was done in the first time then? Faulty wiring damaged my fan!
3. Is it justified to keep on calling back customers by providing only a partial solution to the problem?
4. If they were not competent enough to resolve the problem, couldn't they refuse to repair in the first place?

I would definitely like to hear some response from the upper management because the treatment, which we are getting is poor. I hope someone hears me out and tries to help me, because I seriously do not have enough dough to spend 20000 rupees on a minor repair with no guarantee of repair whatsoever. Moreover, I do not think they are competent enough to handle repairs of these cars. I know I own a Skoda, but it doesn't mean I have money to blow off on repairs which do not even function properly.

[prakhar1998]

I am sorry to hear about your experience. But a radiator fan running post switching off the ignition is not a problem in VAG cars. It happens in my Polo and Octavia as well. Its actually a feature, that helps cool the car more rapidly after shutdown.

I think you should've called Skoda first and asked them if it was really a problem in the first place. I think these incompetent Bosch service people are taking you for a ride. They have probably managed to ruin your cars electricals causing the problems. I recommend you to not take your car to them anymore and get it sorted at Skoda for once and for all.

In fact, you should've avoided going to them after the first mishap itself. Anyway the harms done now, you should strictly avoid dropping your car at their place. Maybe they used spurious parts, or even replaced parts in you car.

[nik0502]

Hi Harsh,

Felt really sorry after hearing your story. These Bosch outlets are all over in all the Metro Cities. But so far I have not come across even one which has competent mechanics and deal with the cars the way they are supposed to. I became friends with the in charge of a Bosch workshop in Gurgaon. And that is why I can say this on this forum. DO NOT SEND YOUR CARS TO THESE WORKSHOPS. The work practices are not ethical at all. I have seen my friend billing the cars for regular service from his regular clients and he never used to service them. Instead he used to get the car washed and keep it ready for the customers for delivery. We have another thread on our forum where the member had a Hyundai Verna and was sent to Bosch and the car was not fixed. These guys claim they use ORIGINAL parts etc but they buy the parts from the local market and they prefer buying non OEM parts to save the cost and increase the margin.

nIk

[Jeroen]

Sorry to hear about your story. I don't think the wiring and or relays problem would have caused the problem with the fanmotor perse.

Faulty wiring doesn't send more voltage, if anything if the wiring goes wonky/short circuit you have less voltage left at the fanmotor.

So it's unlikely. It does beg the question what did cause it to coink out. Again, an unfortunate story of very incompetent car mechanics or maybe worse a very elaborate rip off.

Hope your car stays sorted now.

Jeroen