[dZired]

Bosch has inaugurated its first Company Owned Company Operated (CoCo) car service centre in Bangalore. The centre will be providing service-related facilities for cars of all major brands. Bosch is also aiming to add 700 new car service centres across the country under its franchisee model in the next 5 years.

The Bosch car service centre in Bangalore is located on the NH-7 at Electronic City Phase-2. It is spread over an area of 20,000 sq. ft. and has 14 service bays. Bosch has equipped the service centre with service-related equipment like wheel aligner and balancer, tyre changer, nitrogen tyre inflator, headlight aligner, 2-post and 4-pole lifts, KTS (ECU diagnostic scanner with ESI software for vehicle diagnosis and troubleshooting), AC service machine and automated car wash. The Bangalore service centre is also equipped with an accident repair facility, including collision repair system, paint booth, etc.

Additionally, the service centre also houses a customer lounge where owners can wait while their cars are serviced. This longue is equipped with working docks, information kiosks, free Wi-Fi connectivity, TV and other amenities. Bosch will also be providing pick up and drop facilities to customers.

Currently, the Bosch service centre in Bangalore is offering services like routine maintenance, ECU diagnostics, brake service, clutch overhaul, suspension system, aggregate repairs, body repairs and painting, wheel balancing & tyre service, AC diagnostics and service and car wash & detailing. Bosch is also aiming to provide value added services in the near future. These include 24x7 roadside assistance, pre-owned car inspection, certification, extended warranty, etc.

Bosch aims to use the fully-owned Bangalore service centre as a model workshop to issue fresh guidelines in order to upgrade its existing and new franchisee workshops.

Link to Team-BHP News

[anandkumargb]

Would they be able to procure OEM parts of Skoda and VW?
I get my cars serviced from Cartisan. For my celerio, they come home and service the car and bring along with them Maruti OEM parts but for my Rapid they take the car to Vinayak skoda and get the parts replaced there.

[Turbanator]

Given the size of our country and the challenges in logistics/real estate/manpower, they stand a better chance if they go with franchise model, don't know if it's already in place or not. They have many OE parts and given their relations with OE can get parts which are not in their range. There is a dearth of independent garages in this country.

Even there is a large space for retail part sales which is mostly with small traders, something like Decathalon for Auto parts has a huge potential in India.

[Snehal Sekhar]

It looks like I was one of their first customers.

I took my Indica Vista sometime in November, before they officially launched, for an annual service and minor dent removal/repainting. They did a good job on removing the dent and repainting the front fender. They even did a plastic welding job on the connecting joint of the fender which Tata ASC said was not possible. I was pretty impressed by the quality of work.

The only flaw on an otherwise good experience was that they didn't bother to do the balancing and refill air in my spare/stepney tyre even though they said they did it.

[Vid6639]

Oh this place is next to my office. Never knew it was Bosch owned and operated.

I might try it out for small stuff on the Corolla. Wonder if they paint alloys.

[GrammarNazi]

Might try them for my Linea this week. Hope they can procure the air filter assembly for it.

Could anyone share the Google location link to the workshop, it'll be helpful so I'm not doing rounds of I miss it.

[Snehal Sekhar]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Could anyone share the Google location link to the workshop, it'll be helpful so I'm not doing rounds of I miss it.

It isn't showing up on Gmaps. The best I could do it this: https://www.google.co.in/webhp?sourc...0!2i778!4f13.1

The Bosch COCO workshop is around 100 meters before the Audi Service Station if you're coming from Hosa Road. It's on the service road and is not difficult to miss.

[McLaren Rulez]

I am also curious if they can get OEM parts from VW. The service procedures for cars like the Polo are quite simple, so I'd have no issues going to Bosch if the parts were OEM.

[deehunk]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

I am also curious if they can get OEM parts from VW. The service procedures for cars like the Polo are quite simple, so I'd have no issues going to Bosch if the parts were OEM.

We can ask them about a Catalog for OEM and Competitor parts, this will have the OEM part numbers and their equivalent non-OEM parts.

[zulfi hansi]

Are they capable to handle full service and repairs of MB, BMW, Audi etc? If yes it will be fantastic for these car owners. I am surely enough of MBASS for sure. Especially their prohibitive costs of spares and labour.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by anandkumargb

Would they be able to procure OEM parts of Skoda and VW?

Yes they can. A colleague got his front bumper and fender replaced (VW Vento Tsi) from Sri Ragavendra Motors, Hoodi. This is not a direct Bosch outlet but a very capable garage. They give you the option of sourcing your own parts and coming there only for fitment. Very flexible to work with and a competent garage.

I had to replace the lower arm and complete disc brake set up on my Fiat Linea T Jet. I opted for after market Brembo brakes instead of stock. I sourced all the parts and they did the fitting. I was charged only labor and it was reasonable.

For this particular garage, I have seen all kinds of cars coming in for service and major repair. BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW, vintage Fiat's, Jeep's and Isuzu's.

To summarize, part sourcing is no problem at all and they are well connected to the extent that they always manage to stay equal and at times better the price compared to company authorized service outlets.

A month ago, I got a the starter motor armature replaced at Bosch, Hoodi. This was for a 72 Fiat 1100D. You can't trust most garages for work like this. Off course, they did not carry out the actual repair. They got the work done through Lucas TVS. However; I was saved from all the hassle and they did a excellent job.

They also have a excellent paint booth, dent repair facility too. If there is a problem I must highlight, they are over loaded with cars.

A company owned outlet should be even better but its down to who owns and runs the facility.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Given the size of our country and the challenges in logistics/real estate/manpower, they stand a better chance if they go with franchise model

Bosch is primarily in the franchise model for its workshop network. This company-owned one is supposedly a 'model workshop'...an example for the others to follow. It'll also allow Bosch to learn & experiment, the results of which will benefit the other franchisee outlets.

From the car owner's point of view, it's good news. I'd any day prefer a company-owned workshop than one run by an independent.

[zulfi hansi]

Originally Posted by zulfi hansi

Are they capable to handle full service and repairs of MB, BMW, Audi etc? If yes it will be fantastic for these car owners. I am surely enough of MBASS for sure. Especially their prohibitive costs of spares and labour.

I should first thank dZired for creating this thread.

I am so delighted and happy to have visited this place. Just to make sure I had some work to be done on my car, to visit, I decided to buy a part over the counter from Sundaram Motors, which was long overdue to be fixed in my E280 CDI, and took that to get it fixed at Bosch Car Care [Company owned and operated] all the way to electronic city. While going it was a breeze but while coming back I got stuck in the rush hour and it took me 1hr 45 mins to come from there to Vittal Mallya Road and another 1 hr to go home, I sat in my car for almost 3 hours but still I am happy. It feels like I have achieved nirvana from the clutches of MB-ASS

To begin with, it's not too big or small and I feel assured that it will be full with cars in no time. They can work on 20 cars at a time. They have a state of the art wheel alignment system which cost them 18 lakhs and no one else has that in Bangalore. Further they have a paint shop and assurance that the quality will be at par with MB. Also a hi-tech machine for body re-shaping which gives readings in millimeters to get the exact shape of the car in denting etc. And a mechanized car washer, which is not a rarity now.

They have started their operations about 3 months back and now they have officially launched it as they were not in full competency mode [some technicians were still on training etc.]

The person who put me to absolute ease is Mr. O. Vasanthakumar [Head Service Operations], he heads the place. He introduced me to one of their technical team members who sits in to source everything and to find solutions to every problem. Basically there is no automotive problem they cannot solve. What I most appreciated about Mr. Vasantha is that he was there on the shop-floor sweating it out like a works supervisor, which he is off course proud of. He has worked with MB-ASS for about 6-7 years before he came to Bosch, he has been in Bosch for a while and now he is made in-charge of the entire business here.

The mechanic could easily replace the break switch [below the steering wheel], it was a simple job, yet. They also have diagnostic software to clear the MID errors after fixing the new part. And this holds good for any car sold in India and may be more as they are getting tech support on global footing. Their reach is beyond Bosch India. They can source any part needed and they also give option of OEM parts! Yes they are big and they have thrown around their weight with the car companies. All car companies have agreed to supply OEM parts to them in India [reluctantly though]. Thanks to our Courts making it mandatory for counter sale, but they get it directly from the car companies and not from the local dealers [internally more cost effective for them as they get their margins on MRP]. For any part their first point of source is Bosch parts bin [unless the customer wants something else]. And for the luxury cars they give options of OEM as well as original imported parts [which work out to almost 35% to 50% of the OEM part cost]. Their costs are not cheap but reasonable. I paid Rs. 552 labour charge to get the break switch replaced and the MID error erased, he did not charge me for the scanning, I hope it remains that way since I would have paid about Rs. 2000 at MB-ASS for the same job, and if they charge me for the scanning and erasing of error the cost will come close to MB-ASS. But in service in the regular sense, to give an indicator of my E280 CDI, a regular service with oil change, air filters etc, costs me 35-45 K at MB-ASS [after haggling a bit and getting pittance reduced]. Here it will cost me under 15 K.

They are not at all like the franchisee of Bosch car service, they are much more in every aspect. Surprisingly I saw more Japs then Germans there, and even some taxies. For quality service this is the place.

BTW my car was their first Mercedes Benz they worked on, and Mr. Vasanth was super delighted. His passion and energy really puts a smile on your face.

Great, so now I can have a really peaceful experience looking after my beloved, otherwise the relationship was not working out lately

[Nalin1]

Hello guys,

Did anyone else visit this centre or had any kind of work/service done here?
If so please do post your experiences as I am planning to get my Terrano serviced here in the next month or so.
I did make a visit and met Mr. Vasanthakumar. I had a brief chat with him about the services offered and other things in general. But since I have never had any kind of experiences with a multi-brand service centre earlier, there is a little bit of confusion/apprehension in mind and looking to gather as much as information as possible before going ahead.

[Nalin1]

Just got a service done here. Will narrate the complete experience shortly.

For an introduction, they do know their job and if anyone is pondering whether to get anything done here just go ahead

The easiest way to get there from silk board is to take the elevated expressway and after paying the toll in the end, take the first left onto the service road (a U-turn) and it is on the right after about 100 metres.