[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by NPV

True, the keywords are "trusted FNG"
It does take some time to find the right place, I guess word of mouth (friends and family) and our own team BHP directory are good places to start with. After one or two experiences, one can easily figure out how good the garage is. In my case the "FNG" isn't even in my neighborhood and is quite far but I trust them and have been going there since last 2 years. The owners are experienced Maruti service technicians themselves with each having 20+ years of experience.

I used to trust a FNG here in Chennai. I went there based on positive opinion and reviews from several BHP-ians. And my experience has been very positive too, initially! All the complaints were addressed well and the service costs were same as A.S.S. So it was like paying the same for better experience, but during my last visit to this FNG, they ripped me off and trusting them too much, I did not even check for prices from A.S.S. later the same issue recurred and was fixed for 10% the cost he charged me at A.S.S. ! That completely shattered the trust I had built in that FNG over 5 years

So greed gets to everyone, it is up to us to stay diligent and save our hard earned money

[shibujp]

These are common modus operandi that is followed to varying degrees across dealerships. Are the brands also complicit. Definitely. This is something that they know of, just that they pretend it does not exist till a complaint with irrefutable evidence reaches them at which point they pile on the dealership for a show to the customer.

What they should be telling the dealership is not to repeat it but what they are infact telling them is how stupid of the dealership to get caught. Look at Maruti's response to the dashcam saga. They dutifully ensure that dashcams are disconnected. Does the Nexa workshops have their much advertised video record of services or live feeds for customers. Yeah right! You wish.

I am not sure if margins are so hard to come by that they need to resort to such underhanded practices to meet them. Another less understood factor is the abysymal levels of pay that technicians receive. After a certain point the only career progression available to them is that of a service advisor. This also has an impact to the work performed and it's quality.

Drive on,
Shibu

[ramsudhir]

I too had some bad experiences with the VW dealership. I was getting my Vento serviced at the same dealership even after the warranty expired hoping that they will do a proper service of the vehicle. I observed that post my warranty period, the servicing amount was steadily increasing every year and they were suggesting me to replace some parts every time I gave it for a service. They kept the replaced part in the boot and when I checked them, I always felt that they could be used for some more time. Whenever I asked them about it, they just used to say it is as per VW service standards. Even the labor charges were way too high compared to other companies. I maintained the car for almost 8 years getting every service done at the ASC hoping that they will do a good job but in hindsight, I feel I should have gone to a good FNG once the warranty expired.

I really liked KamilHarris's idea of TeamBHP workshops at least in the main cities. We know our vehicle will be in safe hands

[bullitt1]

This practice is standard across many dealers. This is not limited to dealers but also the leasing companies who try to save maximum on services. Got to know from SA off the record, how these companies advise them to skip on servicing.

[Neversaygbye]

Service centers are pretty much the same everywhere. They will cut corners here and there. However, billing for work that has not been done is nothing but fraud.

Most service centres I know buy a lot of the consumables such as coolant in bulk and wholesale rates but charge the retail rate on the bill. Interchanging parts is a very common thing. Also cannibalizing written off and accident repair cars for parts is part of the game. If you have a good relationship with the service advisor sometimes they will tell you about these practices and at least in a couple of cases with my old Matiz (for which parts were hard to come by) the SA admitted that they had put in second hand parts from another car that had been in an accident since they could not source new parts.

I have no doubt that my car must have been used for similar purposes as well - towards the end of its life it used to spend at least 50% of the time at the service centre. It had become so unreliable that I was afraid to take it anywhere for the fear of getting stranded.

I didn't have a choice then as it was the Matiz which was end of life then, but the OP does have an option when it comes to Maruti and Hyundai. My suggestion would be to raise a stink on social media and tag Maruti and Hyundai.

[subhro1988]

I have been visiting the same MASS for the past few years and the Service Advisor knows me since I was one of the few customers who used to be with the car the entire time the required job was done. During this pandemic, I gave the car for service and asked the service advisor to take a video of all the jobs when they were being done and forward it to me. He did the same and I was satisfied. I do not prefer to go to Dealer MASS since they do not allow me to stay inside the workshop. I go to B category MASS and MSMs who allow the same.

I recently heard that Nexa workshops have a glass barrier through which you can monitor the jobs being done while sitting in the lounge. I am yet to try the same.

[iamahunter]

Now why am I not surprised!!

Wait, I've had this experience too; long back in 2011, when I had got the Swift VDi.

The service center literally tried to fool me and was caught red handed. Bill was reduced from 12k to 6 k.

They had charged me extra for EGR cleaning and Radiator cleaning. Of which Radiator was still full of dust and cleaning EGR was not possible in 3 hours (I had opted for express service and was waiting there)

When questioned the SA about radiator, he pointed to engine cover and told me this is radiator and its removed and cleaned. Pointing at the radiator, I then asked him, if you call the engine cover a radiator, then what do you call the radiator?.
Long story cut short, later the supervisor apologized and removed both the charges.

They tried a similar thing the next time, and I simply lost trust in the SVC.
Post these experiences, I never took the Swift to the SVC for servicing.

I only did these things in every 6 months from a local shops.
1. Oil and Oil filter change.
2. Air filter cleaning(6 months)/replace(1 year)
3. Wheel rotation.

The car ran flawlessly for years, from 2011 to 2020, covering total distance of 1 lac 10 thousand kms.


IMHO, you should always get the car serviced in front of your eyes or find a trustworthy local garage. And I think Marutis and Hyundai's don't have any major issues if kept running and regular basic maintenance.

[PioneerNB]

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...p-myth-55.html (Maruti Service is cheap - A myth!)

This is so similar to what I have experienced at the MASS in Pune, have documented in the "Maruti service cheap myth" thread, in the name of PMS they did not do anything but a test drive and I was present in person. Integrity is being lost totally and people are literally being taken on a ride. I did my homework and prevented any additional expenses, still they managed to pull of a quick one on me.

[Satishtv]

My Baleno is coming up for service. The car is no longer under warranty. Can someone suggest a good service center in bangalore South? Not sure I want to take the car to ASC. I was not satisfied with the service at ASC last year, Thanks!

Mods, if you think this post is not relevant to the topic please feel free to delete it. Thanks

[amarprusty]

Never Ever Trust ASS blindly as they are dealer franchisee with heavy targets to milk out money from car owners as service is the only way to make money once cars are sold in hyper competitive Indian car market

Having used a Fiat Palio Stile Multijet for 10 years and now a Suzuki Baleno CVT since last 2.5yrs we have to be around in the service center to get good quality service interacting with SA and service center manager

ASS have pickup and drop facilities for busy owners and they can put anything on the bill based on their monthly targets

[atnyia]

Despite all the points against ASS, sometimes going by a book helps us to avoid breakdowns or some other hazards. For ex, during a PMS, Triumph Hyundai found a slight leak in the brake master-cylinder which would otherwise haven't been caught by my FNG.
My sister used to drive that car on GC-Ghata-Faridabad Road and I can only imagine the difficulty she could have been in, had this actually caused a brake failure.

As the car would run a lot, I would take it to ASS to alternate/every-third service.

[AB737Max]

I had a similar experience in servicing my car (swift). Lessons learnt were:

1. Always be available in service centre while giving a car for service, so that when they want to change/ replace anything, you are there to take a look at the existing part.
2. Service (especially for MSIL) is best done on weekdays due to less crowd.
3. Activities like - Engine oil changing, AC servicing, wheel balancing/ alignment etc. should be carried out through specific shops outside. They are much cheap and reliable.
4. And lastly, try to find a 'trusted' service advisor and every time give your car to him. Talk to him before giving your car. Trust me it helps big time.

[nikhilck]

Threads like this and my own experiences make me question the state of our people as a whole and also the economic system.

We cheat because we all want to get rich, we all want to buy SUVs, have lavish parties, buy expensive smartphones etc...

Nobody cares about doing a quality job anymore. Nobody is happy with their salary and the only way to make more is to cheat. We take no interest in finding our passion. Our only passion is money. How do we make our people less money minded and more quality and passion oriented?

[abhi7013]

Originally Posted by Trust_In_Thrust

I just got our Hexa XTA serviced for 36months service. It has run 30000kms . The earlier service was at 23000kms in July 2020. I have been charged 25k Inr for just done service . On reaching home I analysed they have charged me for egr cleaning in this and earlier service approx 2000Inr each time . They have also charged me approx Inr 1500 for injector cleaning and I do not understand what was need of these jobs . Further based on exhaust manifold gasket replacement i got done both injector cleaning and egr cleaning requires extensive dismantling from engine head which I am sure has not been even done . I am visiting them tommorow to understand modus operandi and how they can bill for things which are not required and in my case not even done .

Hi, any updates post this? I have a 48 months service scheduled this Saturday where oil change is required and am pretty sure they may try pulling off something of this sort.
Did you approach them on this subject? How did you know that the said works were not done?

Don't mind me asking because am weary of TATA guys now and don't want to give them any chance. Though their skills on servicing the Hexa are satisfactory, their labour and parts charges seem to be all over the place.

[speed_edge]

Suddenly we see the rise in the number of cheats reportedly done by authorized service center. Credit goes to DashCam.
But wait, these guys are now got smart, simple wire disconnect and they are done. Difficult to know what all they must be doing in absence of any checks.

I really fail to understand why Maruti and Hyundai need to do this. They must have enough volumes to generate cash. Except greed, there is nothing I can see which needs this malpractice.

Regards
SE