[abhi_tjet]

Felt sorry for this clearly unwanted ordeal @viXit.

This is the reason I never recommend Tata cars to anyone who asks me despite being having them in the family since early 2003. I further strongly object against Tata cars to people who are not at all car enthusiast and just want a fuss free vehicle.

As an owner of FIAT, I understand completely that mechanical problem can occur in any car but the attitude and professionalism of dealership/service guys definitely matters more.

[FalconRed]

What a shame.

I got a very good deal to purchase a second-hand well-driven Tigor but the only reason I put off purchasing TATA is because of the ASS horror stories like this.

MS, Hyundai, and Japanese twins are miles ahead in ASS.

[adityak7]

Every time I get enticed by the design of TATA cars, I force myself to come to TeamBHP and read the complaints posted about their ASS and automatically step back from considering TATA cars for the next purchase.

I understand that there could be lakhs of people using TATA cars without any issues, but would I stake my money on luck? - NO

[som9729]

Originally Posted by viXit

But I knew better than that. This is just how the SVC functions. I got angry, frustrated etc. etc. But reminded myself of the Hanlon's razor and called them again.

Nothing new here.
I used to own an Indigo VX (or something Diesel) from 2004 -> 2007 purchased from Malik Cars Banjara Hills
And subsequently, I purchased an Indigo XL Dicor from them in 2007, which I somehow kept till 2014

The Dicor always had turbo issues which they never managed to fix. Ultimately it felt like I was driving an auto. Absolutely no pickup.

And some or the other issue coming up was a part of life with Malik.
I used to give lotsa complaints, after which they used to fix some stuff.

But they never managed a good job of the whole thing.

Looks like nothing much has changed!

[puneetakhouri]

The moment I read the title, I rightly guessed it that it would have been TASS. Because recently I purchased a Safari Storme (link (Used Tata Safari Storme Review | From a Maruti Suzuki Baleno to a Tata Safari Storme)) and sent it to the TASS for all fluid changes just for my satisfaction.

And as you mentioned, the car went in the workshop in a better shape than it came out
For starters, just like your case, the car would start all security alarms 10-15 mins post locking it, it caused a little panic for me when it started the alarm at 2:30 at night when everybody was sleeping. I kept the car unlocked for 2 days till TASS decided to pick it up.

Apart from that they also dropped the brake oil/coolant on the right fender just beside the bonnet which led to paint corrosion

The only silver lining in my case was that TASS admitted to its fault and agreed to fix all of the issues. They kept my car for a day on Wednesday and fixed the security alarm issue. I also ordered some spare parts through them and they said that whenever you come back for getting those fitted, we will take up the paint work as it usually takes 2 days to fix that.

I would suggest that you talk to them over email and keep cac@tatamotors in cc. Just mentioning cac to the CRM of that TASS changed her tone and she was ready to fix everything ASAP. And to their credit, they fixed everything, including the small niggles that existed apart from the paint work in that single day.

I hope your problems get resolved but from what I can understand, if you own a Tata Safari, you have to be your own mechanic and know a lot of mechanics outside who can work on the vehicle. Like this mechanic can work on the suspension, that can work on electricals and so on and so forth.

P.S.
Having come from a Nexa ownership where these incidents usually do not occur, I was discussing with a friend of mine who was at Tata Motors earlier (but drives a Maruti himself) as to why this happens. At Maruti, you might tell the MASS to do 10 things and they will do only 5, but your car will not come back with some new issue altogether. Why does Maruti have such a tight control over its dealers whereas these Tatas and Skodas have so little control.
So he mentioned that usually at Maruti, the servicing recovers almost 115% of the cost of running a dealership. So essentially they are making 15% profit just by running the workshop, and the sales is everything above it. And since they have good margins, Maruti has better control over them as it is the one giving them such good profits. But in case of Tata, the service recovers around 60% of the cost and they have to rely on both service + sales to be able to operate the dealership successfully.
Further at MASS, they could handle over 2 vehicles per bay per day comfortably due to part availability, part sharing, all vehicles being mechanically same, etc, but a TASS usually handles less than a car per day per bay. Hence the gap further widens.

[BrakeDancer]

Even reading this made me feel a level of anger and frustration that I, for sure, would have unleashed on these incompetent and dishonest chaps. Props to you for being this patient with them. Further motivation for me to never put my money into a Tata or Mahindra ever. Buying a car is more than just about the car. A terrible after sales support can make the whole ownership experience very, very sour.

[Ashtoncastelino]

Heartbroken to see this happen to your Storme buddy. I know how much this car means to you. Still shocked on how TASS can be so careless even after receiving so many complaints, I'm sure if it was Maruti Service in this situation, the outcome would be definitely positive!

I could definitely feel your anger and frustration by reading the thread. I Hope this thread reaches TATA and they take strict action against Malik Cars.

Regards
Ashton Castelino

[viXit]

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

Brilliant cars ruined by absolute dog-crap poor "service", this seems to be the rigmarole for many an OEM in india.

Couldn't have said it better myself, Helix!

Originally Posted by vredesbyrd

All I would say is sell it off asap. Your ownership of the Safari just too a very steep nosedive and recovery seems difficult. Nobody should face this with a modern vehicle.

You can ask the forum for replacement suggestions and we can definitely do better than ask you to get another Tata.

There's a thread that GTO has, about how a bad dealership must not steer you away from a car you love. I think it's quite similar a situation for me here. I love the car and don't think that a reasonable upgrade can be found in even 2x the initial budget. I'll just have to stick to maintaining it outside. There is nothing on the car that I or tata can't fix for it to be fantastic for another decade. It's just that they don't care. Which is precisely the problem with this brand. Sale done? end of discussion. Don't care about upkeep anymore.

Originally Posted by SupMeteorStorme

@viXit - if you are up for it, try contacting Vara Prasad (+91 99087 95637) at Mallik Motors service centre at Shaikpet.

Mallik Motors is known for giving back cars with extra dents in doors and then claiming insurance for repairs on the same without asking car owners. They are similarly careless with the interiors of cars. But the Storme is such a comfortable car to ride that I am unwilling to sell my 8 year old car and put up with their substandard service experience.

I sure is a fantastic car for my use case. And Malik cars is just another bad apple in the basket TATA shelters under their bulletproof sarkari attitude umbrella. Thank you for the contact. But I doubt I will ever go back to a TASC even if they offer to service it for free. I'm likely to spend 10x the amount on fixing their F ups later.

Originally Posted by where_to_next

This is my experience every time I take my Harrier for scheduled servicing.

1. They lie about fixing all the mentioned issues
2. They add new issues to the vehicle

Love the vehicle. Hate the service experience.

Deal with it as long as you have warranty, then identify FNGs/workshops to maintain your cars. This seems to be the only way forward with cheats like these in place.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Man, reminds me of my ownership experience with kulathunkal in Trivandrum. Thank God they have been shut down. People point to a several cars being serviced at some good dealers without issues and claim Tata service is good these days. The challenge is that when things go wrong, there is no effective escalation path, and you are left at the mercy and incompetence of your particular dealer, and Tata customer service will write eloquent apology mails but are incapable of effecting any sort of governance on the errant dealers

This is something that troubled me quite a bit. I repeatedly requested for an escalation and contacts at TATA, but I was constantly redirected to Malik motors. The problem is that the complaint is closed as soon as I take delivery. Despite me being unsatisfied. But there are issues that cannot be fixed while the discussions happen on mail while the cars sits gathering dust and scratches at the SVC. So I took the car home, and was forgotten about because the complaint is closed as soon as I take delivery.

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

Felt sorry for this clearly unwanted ordeal @viXit.

This is the reason I never recommend Tata cars to anyone who asks me despite being having them in the family since early 2003. I further strongly object against Tata cars to people who are not at all car enthusiast and just want a fuss free vehicle.

absolutely.

we also own 2 Hondas, a Maruti and a Hyundai. None of those service centers have given us a single issue ever. A simple message to the Service Advisor would take care of everything.

As an owner of FIAT, I understand completely that mechanical problem can occur in any car but the attitude and professionalism of dealership/service guys definitely matters more.

100%
As the Safari completes 9 years, A part or two was definitely going to fail. But how it snowballs into something catastrophic like this is mind-boggling to me.

Originally Posted by FalconRed

What a shame.
.
.
.
MS, Hyundai, and Japanese twins are miles ahead in ASS.

Absolutely
I have had only one complaint ever with Hyundai, and they were very prompt in fixing it as soon as I called the CRM. Honda redid an entire side paintjob for me as I was not happy with the finish, with no questions asked.

No one needs extra time/money spent by the dealership to make the customer feel nice. Just value what we paid for and do justice to what you earn. How hard is that? apparently VERY.

Originally Posted by som9729

Nothing new here.
I used to own an Indigo VX (or something Diesel) from 2004 -> 2007 purchased from Malik Cars Banjara Hills
And subsequently, I purchased an Indigo XL Dicor from them in 2007, which I somehow kept till 2014

The Dicor always had turbo issues which they never managed to fix. Ultimately it felt like I was driving an auto. Absolutely no pickup.
.
.
Looks like nothing much has changed!

We owned the Indigo too for quite a few years before replacing it for the Fiesta and then the Honda city. Their engineering back then wasn't great.

Luckily they are now leaps and bounds ahead of their past selves in that department. But the SVC ensures that the overall experience remains as bad as it was earlier

Originally Posted by puneetakhouri

The moment I read the title, I rightly guessed it that it would have been TASS. Because recently I purchased a Safari Storme (link (Used Tata Safari Storme Review | From a Maruti Suzuki Baleno to a Tata Safari Storme)) and sent it to the TASS for all fluid changes just for my satisfaction.

And as you mentioned, the car went in the workshop in a better shape than it came out
For starters, just like your case, the car would start all security alarms 10-15 mins post locking it, it caused a little panic for me when it started the alarm at 2:30 at night when everybody was sleeping. I kept the car unlocked for 2 days till TASS decided to pick it up.

Apart from that they also dropped the brake oil/coolant on the right fender just beside the bonnet which led to paint corrosion

The only silver lining in my case was that TASS admitted to its fault and agreed to fix all of the issues. They kept my car for a day on Wednesday and fixed the security alarm issue. I also ordered some spare parts through them and they said that whenever you come back for getting those fitted, we will take up the paint work as it usually takes 2 days to fix that.

I would suggest that you talk to them over email and keep cac@tatamotors in cc. Just mentioning cac to the CRM of that TASS changed her tone and she was ready to fix everything ASAP. And to their credit, they fixed everything, including the small niggles that existed apart from the paint work in that single day.

I hope your problems get resolved but from what I can understand, if you own a Tata Safari, you have to be your own mechanic and know a lot of mechanics outside who can work on the vehicle. Like this mechanic can work on the suspension, that can work on electricals and so on and so forth.

Thank you. That is the plan, I have identified a few places to take care of mechanical/electrical work. Congratulations on your Storme. It is a great vehicle let down by the After Sales Support. Luckily Tata offers over the counter spare part sales. So we can have a trouble free ownership without them in the picture.

[chaith.turbo]

A honest 'Hats off' to your patience

My suggestion would be to sell off the car as soon as possible.
I wouldn't keep a TATA car for 10 years, they simply are not build to last that long.
Plus, given the fact of their incapable ASS. It's even better to stay away from their products.

[wooka]

Definitely go put this on that Prateek's YT channel.
He's escalated many a matter and has mildly entertaining sad videos I watch every day.

Why entertaining (before someone gets me for it) is because I have seen enough on Indian roads that when I see something beyond my comprehension I'm mildly taken aback.

https://youtube.com/@PrateekSingh0522

[avinash_m]

Originally Posted by viXit

I have decided never to send any of our cars to TATA for maintaining them or repairing them.
I have not had a single good experience with any of the Tata workshops.

Man - that's quite an ordeal you (and the car) had to go through!! Hats off to your patience of dealing with these guys for so long, never imagined it to be this bad when you first mentioned in the group. And guess what, I was actually thinking to head to the Mallik TASS near Hafeezpet, for my next service!

Reminds me of the incident, on my 3rd service which I'd done at Venkatramana, I deliberately went a little earlier than usual to check on the car. When I reached, the car was being washed; looking at how they went about it, decided never to get it washed in TASS again. Anyway, the car is driven back into shed and all of a sudden the remote key is found not working; even manual lock-unlock via keyhole. I start getting restless, they open the driver's door panel and the electrician starts checking, finds the entire latch mechanism dripping wet, essentially its shot! Thank God for the AMC, and the fact that they'd one in spare, replaced it without any questions. I happened to notice on the box, that entire mechanism was around 7K probably. After that the way they dealt with the AC issue, I gave up on Venkatramana and went to Thejaswi. The only difference was the place seemed bigger, but the cavalier attitude was the same! These days they are renovating but the sheer quantity of cars they handle on any given day, is unbelievable. I am just about getting the essentials done by them, forced to go there as the few nearby FNGs I tried out for small jobs (oil changes) also weren't good either.

Do share the FNG details if and when you get a chance to try out. I am planning to replace all the rubber hoses/parts in the next service, seriously scared to take it to TASS, not sure what might they mess up!

Cheers!

[viXit]

Originally Posted by chaith.turbo

A honest 'Hats off' to your patience

My suggestion would be to sell off the car as soon as possible.
I wouldn't keep a TATA car for 10 years, they simply are not build to last that long.
Plus, given the fact of their incapable ASS. It's even better to stay away from their products.

I would love to take you for a spin in my Storme sometime. It will be 10 years old now, and has done 1L+ kms. And I have never had an issue with how the car runs or drives. I believe that it is from the best few years of indian automotive scene. Simple no nonsense cars with greatly improved fit and finish /quality compared to it's predecessor. I think I will eventually make it my mission to show people how it's not a big deal to maintain cars yourself if you have a good product to begin with.

Originally Posted by wooka

Definitely go put this on that Prateek's YT channel.
He's escalated many a matter and has mildly entertaining sad videos I watch every day.
https://Youtube.com/@PrateekSingh0522

Thank you for the reference. I have mailed him from the contact link on his YouTube channel. I will definitely let you know if it yield something.

Originally Posted by avinash_m

.
.
.
looking at how they went about it, decided never to get it washed in TASS again. Anyway, the car is driven back into shed and all of a sudden the remote key is found not working; even manual lock-unlock via keyhole. I start getting restless, they open the driver's door panel and the electrician starts checking, finds the entire latch mechanism dripping wet, essentially its shot! .
.
.
.
The only difference was the place seemed bigger, but the cavalier attitude was the same! These days they are renovating but the sheer quantity of cars they handle on any given day, is unbelievable. I am just about getting the essentials done by them, forced to go there as the few nearby FNGs I tried out for small jobs (oil changes) also weren't good either.

Do share the FNG details if and when you get a chance to try out. I am planning to replace all the rubber hoses/parts in the next service, seriously scared to take it to TASS, not sure what might they mess up!

Cheers!

Thanks Avinash.
I think this is the same latch that was replaced in my car. I think I had visited a bad car wash the first time my key wasn't working too.

About the rubber parts, your car is a lot younger than mine, and I have had only one coolant leak, that too very very miniscule. The part was changed at Malik without any issues albeit at a time when there was far lesser traffic. I think the Shaikpet workshop of Malik is better equipped to deal with the Storme. Bowempally mechs keep mentioning that storme parts and tech guys are usually all at Shaikpet.

All the big Workshops like Man&Machine, CheckEngines etc. seem to service only luxury/international brands.

I will rely on a garage Varun suggested, Teja motors for basic stuff like oil changes and brakes. Luckily I haven't had electrical issues, but Mazda motors seems to be good at addressing and diagnosing those. Paintjobs are going to be handled either at New Mars or United Motors @ Tad bund from now. I have visited all of them or have someone there that I can trust with my car.
So I am sure that good work will ensue.

[SN88]

This experience is a nightmare of real sorts!!

Though your patience is commendable but wouldnt it make more sense to simply take the hit the first time and just move to a FNG and get the work done. I believe if the ASC is not proactive the first time, they will never be. All complaints raised will simply be met with semi fixes just to close the case. Tata, Skoda, VW are all notorious for this.

I have dealt similarly with VW in the past and i just moved on to a trusted FNG. Been 4 years and very happy with the car.

If we have a good product but lousy support, lets enjoy the product and workaround with the support/ service.

Good luck!!

[SupMeteorStorme]

Originally Posted by viXit

I think the Shaikpet workshop of Malik is better equipped to deal with the Storme. Bowempally mechs keep mentioning that storme parts and tech guys are usually all at Shaikpet.

They do have the parts. The technicians are another thing though. They are lazy and just want to upsell car washes and denting/painting jobs. Rajesh at Bowenpally used to be a service advisor for Storme at Shaikpet till 2020.

I have had them "miss" a cracked tail pipe after doing a 30-point inspection. Luckily I was in the service bay and pointed it out to the technician when he tried to give an all clear on the inspection form.

[AZT]

I would say I've been lucky in Mumbai. Worli service center has surprisingly been a good experience. Used to be Concorde (owned by Tata) and now it's Puneet motors.