[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Rambler

I would request all the forum members to list down some of the most common scams being practiced across the dealerships. That would help unsuspecting and ill-informed users
Being aware of service tasks listed down in owner's manual is the ultimate step to guard against such malpractices.

Look at the below threads:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...-overhaul.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...oad-taxes.html

A compiled lists of the Scams!

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/owning...ompendium.html

One needs to be attentive, that's all!

[ananthkamath]

Guys, these are not scams, it is just capitalism at work! I.e., the strong preying on the weak (I.e. less knowledgeable). Knowledge is power. By being active on a pro-consumer forum like Team-BHP, you are doing yourselves a service, everyone who is here needs to spread the word to your less enlightened friends. The reason that these services exist is because people are naive enough to buy them. Once that stops, they will vanish from the market, perhaps to be replaced by another "scam". That is the magic of free market capitalism. Educate yourselves!!

Oh and BTW, the HVAC filter is a serviceable item that is well-known in enthusiast circles as something to replace every two years. And that is in a first-world environment. In Indian conditions I would assume every year is a good idea. All cars may not have a filter, especially low end cars. But the difference in air quality inside the vehicle is night and day after you do this. I've done it in every single one of my cars and it's worth it just for the difference it makes to the blower speed.

[Grace]

Hi Folks,
I have come across some people dong a 'steam cleaning of AC ducts' is the same as disinfection? Is it worth getting it done as it promises elimination of 'foul' smell from the ducts?

Thanks for your replies

Andy

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Grace

Is it worth getting it done as it promises elimination of 'foul' smell from the ducts?

Switch on the blower at maximum, keep the temperature knob at fullest heat (red area) for 5-10 minutes. This will generate enough heat to kill the spores of mold forming microorganisms.

No point in getting all these costly treatments done.

As a regular practice change the cabin air filter.

[Deepak K Gupta]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

I make it a point ALWAYS to switch the A/C off a couple of kms off before reaching my destination and allow the blower to run w/o AC at max speed for a few minutes before cutting the ignition (not on heater mode though)

Have not had any of the foul smell complaints folks keep talking about

Agree with Hothatchaway, being doing so forever and no smells. It is because the smell is coming from mould and mould generates over wet surfaces.Running the blower without AC dries up the moisture and consequently does not allow mould build up.

[ISO]

Thanks for this information. This spray is nothing but some cheap scented chemical. Will it kill bacteria inside the duct is questionable.

[mahesh_sn]

Damn! This thread should have come earlier. It would have saved me 900 bucks. Having learnt from this forum, I usually strike out many things from the job card including decarbonization, engine flushing, fuel additives etc. This time, the SA advised me to go for AC disinfection during 40K service three months back. Although there was no bad odor as such coming from the AC, I gave him a go ahead thinking it would be some sort of cleaning with the disinfecting chemical. Some chemical odor was there for a couple of weeks and then it vanished. Now I realize it is just another scam. I will be more careful next time.

[rsm97]

I had similar experience while dealing with Hyundai. While in Mumbai, almost every time I was suggested undercoating & paint sealant coat which I resisted. While in NCR, more than once advised decarbonization & AC ducts cleaning. I must admit that the way decarbonization benefits were conveyed after around 35k running, I agreed and actually got it done. Don't really know if car benefited indeed. Refused same thing though when again suggested post 65k.

Its ideal that customer gains knowledge and protects himself from sharp practices. The fact however remains that a common customer depends heavily on service-center rep to help him take right decision.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by finneyp

What about the A/C disinfectant treatment done by 3M Car care?

Do they do a proper cleaning OR this is also scam?

Originally Posted by Vid6639

At 3M centre it is you who can opt for it. It's not usually forced upon you as being compulsory. I'm not sure how much they charge and what they exactly do.

There's no dashboard opening and all. You need to clean the aircon filter, spray all AC vents with the foam and also spray the evaporator coil with and have it cleaned. That is called AC cleaning/disinfection.

What the service guys will do is spray small quantity in AC vents and charge you the same rate as one bottle plus labour for 1.5 hours.

Got the Ecosport Interior Cleaning done at 3M last week. They call it Germ Clean and it cost about 2800 with taxes. They have a Germ Clean Plus where they disinfect the AC and it cost about 3550 with taxes for the EcoSport. Selected that option as the vehicle had been through 1.5 years without any such cleaning.

They as described by others earlier empty about 1/3rd of a can into the AC vents.

So effectively one pays about Rs. 700 including taxes for the AC vent cleaning at 3M though the material cost is 1/3rd.

I found the De-pollination service from TATA for the same to be most cost effective. Used to get this done in the Aria in 2010-2012 time frame and it used to cost just about Rs. 430 + taxes. And the Aria did have double the AC vents of most other vehicles - 10. It left the car feeling fresh and the dust around the vents would be gone.

One can always buy the 3M can and do it oneself for a cost effective clean.

It is not a total waste of money but yes can be done for much lesser amounting to about Rs. 250 per clean if one did it oneself. And yes it is definitely the easiest of DIY that can exist.

It is not a total waste of money - leaves one feeling good - just as interior cleaning does but yes paying a 1000 bucks for it is too much. Frankly the amount 3M charges for it is also too much. It takes them only 15 mins for doing this procedure at a leisurely pace.

Other Scams

Hyundai -
Brake Servicing - (Even if the car has done just 5000 kms over a year.)
Throttle Body Cleaning - Hyundai, Skoda & VW.
Skoda Plenium Chamber cleaning - Rs. 2000 - to remove the dry leaves from the ends of pipes that exist from the Sunroof - if not cleaned one gets water in the car in the monsoon. Agreed needs to be done but Rs. 2000+ for a 10 min labour job?
Brake Pad change at 5000-10000 kms even if after 2 years attempted by Hyundai for the i10 was a scam.
Alignment & Balancing - Once in 10,000 kms is OK in my view but NOT once in 5000 kms for a car with not noticeable irregular tyre wear that is driving straight. Hyundai tried that as well.
Felt TATA with all it's poor service reputation never did attempt to sell me something like this.
What TATA guys did try was to sell me Diesel Additive for vehicles where it is clearly mentioned that this is not advisable in the manual.
Skoda used to try to bill me for VAS scanning for minor servicing when it was never used. Yes there are times where these charges are to be added but not for each visit. Infact at times they attempted to bill me when the machine itself was not present in the workshop on the day.
Engine Bay coating tried by almost all- I felt that to be unnecessary.

[prithm]

My thought about this whole scam is the lack of knowledge among car owners about the functioning of HVAC system. I too belonged to this segment for a long long time, but then I researched for a week after office hours and found that it is one of the most critical system which has direct relation to occupants health if not maintained properly.

India is a tropical country (believe it or not). We live in dusty environment no matter where we live in this country. This combined with our habit of driving without caring about the artificial air circulation system , we are potentially putting ourselves in harms way by caring less.

Having said that, we need experts from this forum to provide small snippets about DIY cleaning of these parts:

1. A/C ducts interior. Most of the dust is clogged and layered with patches of dust and lint from carpet and dust.

2. Blower fins. These have powdered dust and fine particles and in some cases, the metal fins are corroded or pitted. Plastics is all together a different topic.

3. Air inlet duct from engine well. This is the main source from where HVAC draw air from outside. This is hard to reach location in almost all cars.

4. Condenser coil in engine well. Most of us have to do search and recon trip to find one in our cars and are not easily accessible. What are the best practices to maintain/clean them.

Feedback from senior members on these topics will help many of us to properly understand what we need to do before summer is upon us.

[pixantz]

Originally Posted by prithm

My thought about this whole scam is the lack of knowledge among car owners about the functioning of HVAC system.

Feedback from senior members on these topics will help many of us to properly understand what we need to do before summer is upon us.

Please check out my post post #16 (Scam alert : A/C Disinfectant) earlier in this thread. Hope this solves most of the queries related to the topic.

[AkMar]

Our car too had the problem of foul smell when AC is turned off. Learnt about the heater on full blast trick through this thread, and I was eager to try it out. Finally got that opportunity yesterday, and did this on our car. Worked like a charm - the smell is gone I will definitely be doing this regularly from now on.

[pixantz]

Originally Posted by AkMar

Our car too had the problem of foul smell when AC is turned off.

We're missing something out here. If your car is smelly when the ac is turned "OFF", then logically it's got nothing to do with the ac. Maybe your carpet or some other thing is damp and letting out a musty smell. If its the ac then you should be able to smell it only when you turn it on in the initial moments of use or if only blower is used. Your use of the heater hot air must have dried out the damp stuff and helped. Anyway, you're happy so all is well....

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by pixantz

If your car is smelly when the ac is turned "OFF", then logically it's got nothing to do with the ac. Maybe your carpet or some other thing is damp and letting out a musty smell. If its the ac then you should be able to smell it only when you turn it on in the initial moments of use or if only blower is used. Anyway, you're happy so all is well....

I am sorry for not being clear enough in my previous post. We used to get foul smell in the scenario highlighted in bold above - i.e. AC off, but blowers on. The air thrown out by the blowers with the AC switched off used to have a smell. That smell has gone away now.

[prithm]

pixantz
Please check out my post post #16 (Scam alert : A/C Disinfectant) earlier in this thread. Hope this solves most of the queries related to the topic.

Thanks pixantz. I have indeed read through your inputs and gained knowledge. Thanks again.

AkMar
The air thrown out by the blowers with the AC switched off used to have a smell. That smell has gone away now.

AkMar, smell doesnt just go away from your car. Check if it was seasonal. If the smell was pungent during monsoon, then its most probably a fungal growth in carpet or A/C vent. The problem in modern cars is that we no longer use the old multi layer (metal mesh + sponge) version and have moved to more cost effective paper mesh (read that recycled) cabin filters. Some cars (even highend) do not come with a cabin filter.

This is just utter nonsense. How can a auto manufacturer send a HVAC system to customer without a filter ? This is against the norm and scientific reasoning.

I apologize, if you feel I am ranting my brains out. But, this is VERY true. Last week, I went balistic on my dealer who said A/C filter is a EXTRA accessory for my car. Its not a jewel that I want my car to adorn but its a jewel that will save me and my family from harmful respiratory syndromes and infections.

My humble suggestion to every TeamBHPian is to check their A/C system immediately and get a filter installed ASAP. I am not fear mongering, but educating novices like myself who just depended on the dealers for their car maintenance. Being a biker I like grease and dust under my finger nails. And that has saved me thousands of rupees till date.

I still remember what my mechanic (guru) told me. Keeping car and motorcycle filters clean is like keeping your nose clean. I laughed when he told me that when I was a kid, but today I realise those were pearls of knowledge.