[A_Basu]

This is an appreciation post because the personnel at PPS Ford, Maddilapalem, Vizag helped me out of a sticky situation.

I was driving from Bangalore to Bhubaneswar (I've described it here (Bangalore - Vijayawada - Vizag - Bhubaneswar : Route Queries)), and got a burst tyre. I drove the car on the stepney to my hotel, and then took a cab to the Ford workshop. It was about an hour before closing time, and I wanted to book an appointment for the next day. The next day was, however, a holiday at the workshop on account of Eid. I explained to them I was an out-of-towner, and couldn't wait for 2 days. The lady at the reception immediately contacted the supervisor, who asked me a few questions to determine the state of the vehicle. He then summoned a mechanic and asked him to go with me to the hotel, do visual inspection and checks on the car, and then help me get tyres replaced. The mechanic carried his tools and a few consumables in case they were needed, did the inspection, and then we went to a tyre shop where the tyres were catered to. The entire process took about 4 hours (and INR 1000, which Ford charged as roadside assistance), but now I at least had a car that I could drive on to my destination.

I regret not asking their names, else I could've thanked them here but I'm extremely thankful for their kindness. I would've been stranded in a new city, otherwise.

[ike]

Any decent tyre shop would have been able to help with a new tyre, why involve the RSA/A$$ at all? RSA ideally should be used/activated when one is stranded with the car in an undriveable condition. I'd have driven the car to Ford rather than taking a cab if at all I was visiting Ford for this.

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by A_Basu

The mechanic carried his tools and a few consumables in case they were needed, did the inspection, and then we went to a tyre shop where the tyres were catered to. The entire process took about 4 hours (and INR 1000, which Ford charged as roadside assistance), but now I at least had a car that I could drive on to my destination.

Great that you got the service from the concerned Ford service at Vizag and you had a positive experience with them. Just curious, was your tyre replaced under any sort of warranty from Ford ?

I am asking since usually tyre burst cases are handled by the tyre manufacturers and not the auto companies. So that brings the next scenario- if your tyre burst was not covered and if you had to buy a new tyre from a dealer (which is what normally happens unless the tyre burst was due to a manufacturing defect and which itself depends on the service engineer report) and which is likely to have happened in your case, then you might have just lost 1000 bucks by using the RSA when you could have easily gone to the concerned tyre dealer and changed the same !!

Tyre problems can happen anytime and the simple solution is finding a reputed and authorised tyre dealer and get the tyre replaced. I have seen people getting their tyres replaced under warranty in a different city as well without any hassle. Appreciate you taking time to thank the good folks though. Not many people do that either.

Happy motoring

[A_Basu]

Originally Posted by ike

Any decent tyre shop would have been able to help with a new tyre, why involve the RSA/A$$ at all? RSA ideally should be used/activated when one is stranded with the car in an undriveable condition. I'd have driven the car to Ford rather than taking a cab if at all I was visiting Ford for this.

True! However, my intention had been to get a multi-point check done on the car by Ford (plus, of course, tyre replacement). So, had gone there to get an appointment for the next day. (Hadn't anticipated that the next day would be a holiday.)

Before this long trip, I had already got the car serviced at ASS, Bangalore, and had specifically told them about the trip. Seeing as they never warned me about the tyres, I didn't want to take any more chances (not knowing what else they'd overlooked), and had therefore wanted a second checkup at Vizag. I had driven it to Vizag from Vijaywada on the stepney, and things had seemed fine, but then, I'm not a car expert!

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

you could have easily gone to the concerned tyre dealer and changed the same !!

Yes. Plan B was that indeed! Just, had wanted a car checkup too.

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

Appreciate you taking time to thank the good folks though. Not many people do that either.

[nareshtrao]

Originally Posted by A_Basu

This is an appreciation post because the personnel at PPS Ford, Maddilapalem, Vizag helped me out of a sticky situation.

I regret not asking their names, else I could've thanked them here but I'm extremely thankful for their kindness. I would've been stranded in a new city, otherwise.

In general PPS Ford is culturally like this everywhere. I regularly visit their 3 locations in Bangalore and I have seen the same level of empathy and eagerness to support.

I recall once headed to Kabini I had an issue with brakes and the car started making loud sounds. Called PPS who in-turn called Cauvery Ford Mysore to help me. Similarly once the wiper fluid stopped pumping and I was passing by PPS in the city on a festival holiday. Some guys were sorting some leftover paperwork and the workshop was closed. They happily opened the workshop shutter, got on to the floor, opened the engine bay and slid under the car and fixed it in 20 min and did not even charge.