[benbsb29]

@snaronikar : Hope your concerns are addressed amicably. Be firm with your demands, and looking forward to hearing a more positive reply the next time.

[snaronikar]

Sorry Guys. Could not visit Cauvery Ford today. Urgent work came as some visitor is coming on monday (from US). Will update as soon as I get it rectified. You know, works comes first then the other things. :-(

[Nikhilb2008]

Cauvery Ford is closed now, but did you finally go and get your issues resolved?

[snaronikar]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Cauvery Ford is closed now, but did you finally go and get your issues resolved?

Nope. I went to United Motors near my house (just a km away). The probloem is more or less rectified.

[svsantosh]

Hi Snaronikar, I cannot understand why you still rate them "3"/10 - is that being thankful for giving your car in one piece???

too bad about ur experience, looks like Cauvery was having a sinister idea to clear out their spares warehouse before they shut shop!!!


-----------Edit-------

are you a infyian? - signature??

[kb100]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

too bad about ur experience, looks like Cauvery was having a sinister idea to clear out their spares warehouse before they shut shop!!!

I will never buy a Ford vehicle. In my experience theirs was the second worst customer attitude I have had the misfortune to endure - the absolute worst, of course, was/is/and may well continue to be - Skoda!

It is about time the manufacturers started taking responsibility for the laxity of their dealers!

[vikram_cl55]

Hello BHPians.
This post should've come out a long time ago, sorry for being late.

My uncle owns a ford fiesta TDCi, the first model. 2 years ago the AC broke down and the obvious remedy he thought would be to get it repaired through cauvery, the dealer he bought the car from. As you all know, they took the car like always and inspected it. Exactly 30 mins later he said, 'there's a problem with the compressor and has to be replaced'. My uncle and me didn't buy his story, so we put the project off for a year. Within a year the power steering pump started leaking. So now we had two problems, a AC not working and a steering that just won't budge.

Enter cauvery ford, this time, his reply 'sir, the power steering pump is damaged, we have to replace it and for the AC, the compressor has to be changed'. So we finally decided to pay and get it over with. For a second I thought if I could do something with the power steering pump, I mean, ultimately it's basic engineering. So I popped the hood, took a 17mm spanner and tightened the pump's fluid outlet nut. And voila, no problem since then. Then we thought, since you're anyway paying, we could at least change the service center, so we tried metro ford, dasarahalli, bangalore. He found the exact problem of the AC to be the evaporator and replaced it quite fast. The cost came up to 5000 I believe. We explained to the manager about our past experience at Cauvery. He even threw in a free car wash. He also said, he personally can't warranty the steering pump 'NUT', his exact words by the way. MY question to him, 'you can't guarantee a simple aluminium nut, that's been thread rolled, probably on a CNC machine, at ford of all the places?, then what can you guarantee?' , this made him return a blank glance !

For 2 years continuously we gave the car for service right there at metro ford. WE both were out of town and asked our driver to give for service, he stupidly gave it again to Cauvery. We came to Bangalore, sat in the car, it was washed nicely, vacuumed thoroughly since we have a dog. But surprisingly the rear reading lights wouldn't work. And not the bulbs in them alone, even the spring that hold the switch in the 'ON' position had mysteriously disappeared . When questioned, they started behaving like goons. I'm quite sure it's the same old, 'change a few parts from old cars and they won't notice' logic they follow over there. Finally We gave up !

END RESULT : The engine on the car is fantastic, the stability, the mileage, all good factors. We're now planning to sell the car, which brings me great sadness. All thanks to the bad service, illegal activities and Rowdy ish behaviour of the Cauvery ford staff.
Please Fellow ford owners, after your free services are complete, switch to some other service, something like bosch service, but DON"T go back to Cauvery ford.

By the way people: I didn't know what an evaporator was, till I experienced this. Also, check weather your rear reading lights are working, if the bulbs are gone, replace them, whatever the cost, if you feel the switches are loosely dangling around or won't sit in any position, question your service manager/advisor/center ASAP, because, these switches won't spoil unless you bang a hammer on them, or you use them 10 times day, or if you have tried to pry them open with a screw driver.

[motorguy]

@Vikram - I have had similar experiences at Ford service centers with my Ford Ikon (2001 model) - notably but surprisingly Metro Ford was quite incapable of diagnosing a loose tie-rod nut problem (have mentioned it on the forum someplace) by saying that the entire power-steering assembly has to be changed.

Cauvery Ford did their bit in trying to make money by claiming that my wheel bearings were gone (at 8000 km) - checked it at an independent repair shop - and no problems whatsoever.

And, to add to your reading lights issue - instead of just the bulb, the whole assembly on one side disappeared one day - they claim it was never there - which was nonsense - I made a scene there and the assembly materialized (probably from another car as well)....

And - at Kottayam - Kairali Ford (described on this forum as well) - height of incompetence in their inability by taking 2 hours to change a fog light bulb (and claiming that the whole assembly has to be changed!)

And - to add- Cauvery Ford quoted Rs. 2800 for each wheel bearing - the same bearing (SKF brand), was available for about Rs.600 each.

Mod Note: Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another on the SAME THREAD.

[jeeva]

Lathngi Ford (Bannerghatta road) is not far behind the list though.
Incompetent nincompoops they are. I was once charged ~2000 bucks for replacing the central lock remote battery. When I was still lingering around, I saw them taking the battery from a brand new remote unit (from the store room) and putting it back to mine.
After all this, when asked for the bill, they say that their billing systems are down and instead gave a hand written bill. When demanded for the real bill, they were like I would have to wait for an indefinite time and without showing the bill, I can't get the gate pass.
I really wanted to whack that fellow, but then sense prevailed, I paid the 2k or whatever and left the place, cursing them and promising myself that I will never ever buy a Ford again in Bangalore.

Second time, I wanted the rack assembly for dad's Ikon, which could be sourced only through any of these ASC's. Lathangi said they had the part in stock. Went there, inspected the part (they could go to any extent to cheat, considering my past experiences), and found out that it was either a used one or perhaps, as the guy admitted at last, a damaged piece. Initially, they were not even willing to open up the packing, citing some "factory-packing-nothing will go wrong-once opened, no guarantee" stuff. Pathetic people to deal with.

[vikram_cl55]

People, what Im sayin is, there is some amount of cheating done in every business, fuel, machinery, and every other industry. But then, where do they draw the line?. Putting in 90% genuine oil and 10 % used oil I think a little bit OK, but not changing it at all?

We pay so much, such huge amounts to get a little decent service from so called 'MNCs'. In the end we get
1. Bad service
2. Our own car damaged further
3. Overcharged parts?

This has gotta stop.

[shalini_g]

I am also in the same boat. Have a 8 yr old Ikon whihc I took to Lathangi Ford (Bannarghata road) for service. I am never satisfied with their service. Most of the time , I need to take the car again to service center once I get it from them.
Even if you give the car at 8.30AM, they will return the car after 6PM and will be in a hurry to pack you off. Once after the service, I took the car back to my home. As per service sheet, air filter, fuel filter, oil filter etc was changed. I just opened the bonnet and check the oil filter, it was full of dirt and we can identify that it was not replaced. Took the car next day morning to service center and showed it to service manager. His comment " The dirt is due to washing the car ". I asked him to remove it and check. It was an embrassing situation for him as oil filter was not replaced. Couple of times I lost wheel cups and once floor mat. Recently, I went there as there was an issue with central locking. While explaining this to the service person, I mentioned about the AC coolant level going below normal and asked him to top it up. To my surprise he said, no need of topup with coolant, you can add normal water. I am not sure whether this is the practice followed by service centers. Now scared to go to any these "FORD service centers". Looking for a pvt one.
I was palnning to buy a new car and Eco sport was in my mind, but will never again buy a Ford just because of the pathetic service in BLR.

If Ford listens this and address the after sales issues, it will be good for them .

[Equus]

There is so much scope for independent service shops that provide VFM service. I am amazed that nobody (not even Jagadish Khattar) was able to tap this and delight customers. What makes this so hard?

[gr8guzzler]

Originally Posted by Equus

What makes this so hard?

I think the main issue is parts availability of different brands and local reach. The whole of Mumbai has just one Carnation outlet. That does not work well.

[suhaas307]

Our experience with Cauvery Ford several years ago, wasn't a great one either. Our 2001 Ikon 1.6 ZXI was the real victim. I don't even know where to begin! The official accessory boot-lid spoiler came undone like it had been stuck on with spit and paper-glue. Each service left us with a huge hole in our wallet. The exhaust pipe rusted and literally fell off the car! They had even removed the K&N panel filter that we'd purchased / installed and replaced it with the regular paper filter. The car was knackered 5 years into its life. The coffin was sealed once the car had become a victim of Mumbai's infamous 26/7 flooding.

[Kaumad]

Everytime I read a post / thread on incompetency of authorised OE workshops, I feel like asking this question but for some reason, refrain from doing so. Not this time.

I have always wanted to understand one thing. We have innumerable posts on being conned by OEM workshops or being quoted ridiculous prices for parts swap even before diagnosing the problem correctly. End result - car owners complaining and whining about OEM workshops taking people for a ride.

My simple question - why on earth do you go to authorised OEM workshops in the first place? - especially for vehicles which are out of warranty!
Why dont you find a good competent independent workshop / garage which can do a top-class job for maybe a fraction of the amount being quoted by the OEM workshop?

Does it mean, there are no competent independent workshops around your place? - highly unlikely since I see many thread-starters are from metros! I am very sure there are a couple good ones if not more, in your city. Sure, they might not be close to home but hey, wouldnt you be wiling to travel that extra distance if you knew the job done would be good and you wouldnt have to worry about being conned?!

Just trying to understand the rationale behind the complaints. I simply dont get the complaining, especially when there are alternatives.