Ramkay TVS has been a popular dealer for TVS two-wheelers in Chennai since a few decades. My late dad had TVS Scooty bought from them and serviced by them many years back. Even now, I buy TVS chain lube spray for my Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500 from them.





Now, Ramkay FIAT have their FIAT exclusive dealership opened at Velachery East and workshop at Perungudi. While, I have not visited their showroom, my Linea visited their workshop on 13 July 2013 for a health check-up. Later, she stayed there during 17 - 20 July 2013 for the sixth service. The details are here.





Ramkay FIAT's workshop is very spacious with 22 bays. With only FIATs coming for servicing and repairs, it results in huge per-capita availability of space for each FIAT, which is the major attraction for me as compared to other cramped FASS. Even Concorde Motors, Mysore Road/Dairy Circle, Bangalore, where my Linea was serviced five times, were cramped due to presence of Tata Motors cars. Even their customer lounge used to be full most of the times. But, at Ramkay FIAT's workshop, I like the ambiance both at the work station and also at the customer lounge.





When I was checking availability of spares for the sixth servicing of my Linea, they patiently checked their stock and returned my calls. They ordered timing belt, which was not available at that time, got it within a few days and confirmed to me. Both Sukanya, CRM and Arun, SA, constantly updated the status of my Linea's sixth service. I was given 10% discount on the spares and consumables and 20% discount on the labour portion as my Linea attended their check-up camp. The labour charges are very reasonable. I paid the bill by my credit card without any extra charge.





I am fully satisfied with the customer-friendly Ramkay FIAT.

Ramkay FIAT did not reset the service reminder after the recent sixth servicing. The details are here.

Yesterday, my Linea visited Ramkay FIAT for some general repair works. The details are here.

I found a lot of difference in the front office, the customer lounge and the workshop. The service station was a beehive of activity with more FIATs, technicians, mechanics, SAs and CRM staff as compared to my last visit. Customers were freely allowed inside the workshop to stand by their cars and watch the repair works' progress and click photographs. I found the service centre fully stocked with spares and accessories. I gave a rating of 9/10. The only downside I experienced was that the labour charges were on the higher side. Otherwise, I would have rated 10/10.

[Aceman82]

I agree with Ravi Sir that Ramkay Fiat is brilliant both in terms of sales and service.

My Linea had an issue with right boot hydraulic arm got lose and hence came out of the socket when boot was opened (I would guess that the nuts were not tightly fastened during manufacturing). When I took the car there the best case , I expected was that they would screw it back once again and would give the car back.

Weirdly they offered to replace the boot hydraulic arm's to prevent any future issues and more weirdly they actually had this part in stock and whole thing was done in 2-3 hours.

If Fiat's service centres can maintain the same level of commitment going forward then things might turn out to be better for them after all.

[scopriobharath]

I am penning this review on behalf of a friend / office colleague. He was supposedly the first person in Chennai to take delivery of the Fiat Punto Pure.

In Short - don't buy a fiat in Chennai/India, If at all you wish to, avoid Ramkay by all means. RDC might be better.

Below I am using simple to understand terms to describe their roles (may not be what official designation they would have on their offer letters). Example "Claims Manager" of airlines is none other than call centre customer care executives with absolutely no decision making power. The term manager suggests decision making but in this case we need to steer clear.

We dealt with Sales exec Mr. Nivas who was guiding us through the booking process. It was later learnt that he works out of porur branch and he nominated Vincent who supposedly is his colleague working there.

We had booked a punto pure on 2nd March 2016 by paying a sum of 10,000/- as and advance booking amount. Till now, it was professional and they even gave in writing, what all freebees that are offered. We paid the nominal advance / booking fee and got a call after three weeks days that the car has arrived at the yard. As TBHP suggests, we took off for a pre-registration PDI checklist at the yard.

All was fine - we checked each and every bolt and found it to be as expected.

Next - they asked for full payment and so we handed over the bank cheque to them and full payment was made on 26th March. When we told them that we will pay 10% on delivery, they said its not in their policy to accept it. Full payment needs to be done before registration. No amount of arguing helped and we had to pay up up-front.

Pe-Registration / Pre-Delivery Nightmare
Now start the nightmares - The date they initially promised was April 2nd and once we made the payment, there is absolutely no follow-up from their side. When we call, we get tactical/diplomatic answers and we will get back in 2 minutes types, but no one really calls back even of days. What to do, we were getting all responses like what can we do sir, RTO is not registering, RTO officer is not in station, you are the first punto pure customer sir, so the hiccups.

Again - I am okay with the hiccups, but these things should have been told during payment / handing over money. They assured a two day delivery and refused to give anything in writing. As a customer I am paying the dealer and they should take full responsibility. We were told that the RTO work is outsourced to an agency and they are not responding, what to do. Now, assuming even this is true, why/how should a customer be bothered with this. At the end of the its dealer's responsibility.

There was more than two-weeks delay from their side, WITHOUT any intimation to the customer. We had to call them everyday, all to get a tactical answer or to get we will call back in two-minutes sir.

Delivery Day Nightmare
on 18th April - We are at the dealer two hours before the delivery time to do the PDI. The car was parked in the shade (Stilt parking) and we requested to park in the sun. We were told that Chennai is hot, there is so much heat why do you want to park it in the sun. We said - that is okay, please park in the in sun - we want to see the paint.

Voila - There is a damage on the paint - The paint on the bonnet / hood has cracked and it was appearing blackish. I knew that there is no solution other than to repaint it, they were telling we can fix it sir. I have a habit of allowing someone to do something incorrectly and not behave like a manager and prevent them from doing it. The staff said that rubbing can fix the paint crack. Even-though I knew that it wouldn't work, I allowed them to do it and try. It was about an hour and everyone from security to car cleaner to manager tried their hands but failed.

We were around 7 of us, with a small baby (My friend, his sister, his brother in law, his father and mother and a small baby & of course myself)

At last they confessed they cant do anything and were telling ignore it sir, it is visible only from an angle, we will re-paint and give it. Now why should we accept re-painting in a brand new car. We asked to replace the bonnet from another car, that too they denied, that is not their policy.

We called up fiat customer care and lodged a compliant on this matter and how superbly the customer care handled it and made us think why we chose fiat over others - They immediately forwarded the compliant back to the dealer , which further hit their ego. Now - they should have someone with decision making power talk to the dealer and address this amicably in favor of the customer. These guys should seriously work with Hyundai / Mahindra / Toyota / Maruti-Suzuki and know what customer service is.

There was a person there Nagasubramanian who literally told nothing can be done, do whatever you want. Then someone else (Karthik) came and spoke and told the same thing in a pleasant tone. We finally asked for some compensation like audio system / speakers but again they said it is not in Ramkay's policy to compensate.

This is really an absurd policy folks - when the car is damaged between Pre-Registration PDI and delivery, when completely handled by Ramkay, Ramkay wont compensate the customer for any damages but customer has to compulsorily accept the damaged car. What a friendly customer service and they expect to get more business through word of mouth.

Goof-up
Another minor goof-up was they promised wheel caps, which they did not receive till delivery. The said they cannot give in writing that they have missed wheel-caps and they will re-paint the bonnet in a couple of days. This was seriously disheartening, but we were expected to sign the delivery slip telling we have taken delivery of the car. It was constantly being told why are we bothering about the small paint damage. We were told to ignore it and go.

We took delivery as we were cornered and had no choice.

Missed courtesy:
There were two elderly people (parents) and a baby(less than one year old). Since the dealer had goofed up, he could have offered some lunch / refreshments at least considering the age of people. Not even juice/cool drinks were offered. Full meals at a roadside shop costs Rs 40/- so 40 X 6 Adults is just RS 240/- . Ramkay did not offer lunch too.

Third lie:
finally we took delivery and after a couple of days they took the car for installing the wheel caps and they re-painted the bonnet. They claimed that the bonnet has been "replaced" with a new one, but one can clearly see bubbles and paint imperfections at many places. also - only the top has been painted. If one removes the bonnet, one can see spanner marks and paint scratch marks on the bolt that holds the bonnet. It was clear as good as factory finish - no way - I don't buy it. Bonnet hasn't been removed for sure.

Fourth Lie
We requested that Wheel caps be installed at the customer's place. My friend lives pretty far away (40 kms one way) from the workshop. We were told wheel caps can't be fit at customer's doorstep it has to be done at the A.S.C only. Seriously ? If I encounter a flat-tyre, should I tow the car to A.S.C on a flat bed and they would remove the wheel caps with some sophisticated alien technology? Wheel caps are held together by those four wheel nuts and the spanner that comes with the car would be more than enough to remove and re-install them. I agree they arranged a driver to pick and drop the car but again fuel was ours. Secondly, the driver did NOT give any acknowledgement that he has taken the car to Ramkay and did not even show a Ramkay badge/ID. On another note, Hyundai HMP driver showed a temporary ID Card and gave a receipt for my santro (coupe of years back when I engaged their towing services).

I regret that I am a common man. Would the dealership dare show this kind of attitude to someone with a political/police or rowdy/goon background?

General Disclaimer: Through this write-up all I intend to share is our delivery experience. It was bad for us and leaves a bitter taste of owning a fiat product and spending 7+ lacs of hard earned tax paid 100% white money. I do not intend to offend or post bad remarks about anyone or any place. The customer as an individual is free to decide his view after reading this review.

[JohnKT777]

Ramay Fiat Chennai has finally closed down dear friends. They ended their association with Fiat as well as Jeep this month (March 2019). The development was an unexpected surprise and caught even the in-house staff members by surprise. Both their service centres at Kattupakkam as well as Perungudi are closed. Its curtains for this fine Fiat service experience in the city. Ramkay has exited its Jeep portfolio as well. Fiat owners in the city have now only 1 service centre (RDC Fiat- Ekkattuthangal) to get their vehicles serviced.

[Crazy_Eddy]

Has anyone taken over the old Ramkay Fiat workshop at Perungudi?
The Kattupakkam one was taken over by VTK Fiat.

[JohnKT777]

Ramkay has closed down on March end 2019. RDC Fiat has shut down it's only shop at Ekkattuthangal in Nov 2019. Now there are only 2 service centres, VTK Fiat in Kattupakkam (Where old Ramkay had its office) and Expert Spanners in Sholinganallu (A private workshop, but authorized Fiat Service Centre).

I visited both joints and I'd like to share the experience.

VTK is pretty bad. I can tell this on the strength of both my visits there, first in Aug and then in Dec. The first time around, they billed me Rs. 1400 in excess for parts which weren't changed. I found this out only after a workshop technician showed them to me. I had to ask for a refund, which they declined politely, saying that they'll be happy to 'adjust' it in the next visit. I had to follow up for 23 days, after numerous complaints, when Fiat HO finally asked them to refund the money. The incident left a bad taste in my mouth. Also the parts I wanted replaced weren't done in full. This, despite my giving them the actual part numbers.

The second visit was equally bad. This time my car had the CEL lit up on the Dashboard. These guys didn't do an error code check. They kept it in the workshop for 4 days, after which I cancelled the appointment to collect the vehicle. Their service advisor, one Balaji is another type. He locked my car with the key inside, and then got the breakdown crew to break open the lock to open it later. This left the door rubber strip which runs along the window permanently deformed, and the door lock broken. I ended up paying Rs. 420 for inspection charges (Talk about irony!!!!- 420!)

I left that place on Dec 7th and drove to Expert Spanners the same day. Google Reviews of Expert Spanners was good. Also, their service centre got positive reviews in BHP. So I'll share that part of my story in the next post....

[JohnKT777]

Fiat is now a part of history, ever since the stopped production of their cars at their Ranjangaon plant back in 2018. Each day, there are lesser cars on the road. Same story goes for their dealerships too. From 134 at its highest back in 2015, now the list of dealerships are not even mentioned in the official Fiat India site. We're just given a call centre number, and service is pretty bad to be honest.

I could not see any reviews of VTK Fiat-Jeep service near Kattupakkam in Chennai between Iyyampanthangal and Poonamallee, off the highway. Apparently, I'm the only one who has written about this place. In connection with my comments above, I'm appending the bill that the service advisor Pramodh gave me for parts they replaced.

I was fraudulently charged for the plastic partition panels with part numbers 59116975 and 59116984. I paid for the part and the labour. They also didn't give me the old part which was replaced- making me doubt if it was changed at all. When I asked the reason for the changing, they said 'fungus'. This is impossible- it is right aside the radiator. Fungus won't grow in such temperatures. They could have just pressure washed the components. Since the old part wasn't returned, I am doubtful about their work. Also, this was not authorized by me. I asked them to change 2 other parts- 59064277 and 59064255. This was not done. I was simply cheated by the dealership and made to choke up cash.

[JohnKT777]

I had another recent bad experience with VTK. Pramodh Rajendran has now become the CRM Manager. The service advisor was one Premkumar. I approached them in August 2022 regarding a spare key (non-remote) as I had kept one key back in Kerala, and was in Chennai.

The key was ordered and I was asked to bring my car. Delivery of key after ordering with Fiat took close to 12 days. I paid 2639 for Key alone (From Fiat in Puna). I paid another 1800 for programming (Labour).

I finally got my old key from Kerala in October end. Now, the old key from Kerala does not work. It can only open doors and trunk. The new replacement key and the other old key can provide ignition. I contacted VTK, and Pramodh was very indifferent. So I contacted Selvakamatchi of Stellantis, and he arranged a call-back via Sukanya of VTK Head Office.

I found out that Premkumar, the earlier Service Advisor had left. A new service advisor named Sanjeev was now handling my car. He called me after 2 days and said that the pairing code for the old key was inadvertently deleted while programming the new key. He said they tried twice, but with no success.

When I went to collect my car (not billed), Pramodh said that only 2 keys can be paired to ignition at a time. I was not convinced. Still, I collected my car and was thankful they didn't charge me. A service advisor tried to bill me for jump-starting, but my Exide battery was in excellent condition, and not drained. Don't know why.

I called my old service advisor Sudheesh from Hyson Kochi (Now closed). He said any number of keys can be paired, and is not restricted to 2. He told me that most likely, during the programming of the new key, they deleted the old key code. Now that old key is useless. The code has been lost forever. It can only be used to open doors/ trunk. Sudheesh said that if this happened at Hyson, the concerned advisor has to take responsibility and pay for a replacement from his pocket. I think Pramodh was trying to avoid this. So he simply cooked up an excuse to evade any responsibility. Still, it was wrong.

I am now in a bind. I contacted Selvakamatchi who has asked for time to check and respond. I don't know what else to do. The old key is pretty much useless by all accounts. Nothing can be done for a disaster recovery. Maybe someone can help?

Also, I wanted to tell all that the VTK Google reviews are not authentic. I checked and believe that many are fake reviews intended to push up the dealer rating. Many of the reviews give 5 stars with a single word description. Looks like a hack job! Anyone visiting this dealership should be careful.