[carbookie]

Gave my Baleno for service. While giving the car for service the "Total KM range" was showing as 280 km on my car. Pratham service center took photos of the odometer etc. as well.

While taking delivery, I found that Petrol gauge is showing lesser reading, and the "Total Km range" of the car has come down to 160 Km.

Complained to Pratham service station guys. They refused to accept the theft. I challenged them to show the photo that was taken at the time of giving the car for service. Very conveniently for them, the photo had disappeared due to technical reasons....

I asked to speak to service manager, who missing or choose not to speak to us.

I asked for a complaint register to officially register my complaint. They told me that they maintain no such register. After I started recording their video, they produced a complaint register.

For now I have registered my complaint in the complaint register.

Has anybody else faced this issue in service centres? Still shocked that this can happen at a authorized service station...

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by carbookie

Gave my Baleno for service. While giving the car for service the "Total KM range" was showing as 280 km on my car. Pratham service center took photos of the odometer etc. as well.

While taking delivery, I found that Petrol gauge is showing lesser reading, and the "Total Km range" of the car has come down to 160 Km.

Complained to Pratham service station guys. They refused to accept the theft. I challenged them to show the photo that was taken at the time of giving the car for service. Very conveniently for them, the photo had disappeared due to technical reasons....

I asked to speak to service manager, who missing or choose not to speak to us.

I asked for a complaint register to officially register my complaint. They told me that they maintain no such register. After I started recording their video, they produced a complaint register.

For now I have registered my complaint in the complaint register.

Has anybody else faced this issue in service centres? Still shocked that this can happen at a authorized service station...

Did they not mark the fuel gauge position in the job card when it was given to you? What does the reading say?

Also, sometimes the vehicle might be on for a considerable amount of time, for example my scross was on for around 45 mins or so when they were doing the Android Auto update, check with them if any such thing was done

[libranof1987]

What was the odometer reading before/after the service? You don't need a photo, it is on the service check-in slip, a practice almost every A.S.S. follows, irrespective of manufacturer.

Secondly, check the register at Security, they log a car's odometer reading every time it goes in/out, especially for a TD.

Not that the range info can be completely relied upon, a 120km drop is high. Couple of possibilities:

1) the car would have been idled for a long time during some service task
2) above + a TD, which odometer reading can confirm

If you are absolutely certain there has been theft, drop Maruti a note. That'll get Pratham to find the photos and respond. I'd be terribly surprised if a theft indeed took place.

[ksameer1234]

Not sure about the cars but years ago with bikes' servicing, it was a norm to lose a few hundred ml petrol during the service. No this wasn't because of test drives or theft, but because the mechanic would generously draw petrol for cleaning air filter, other greased parts and then to royally wash hands! Seeing this happen in front of my eyes would make me wince in pain.

In this case though, I doubt service center would siphon off fuel, simply because I can't think of any convenient way of doing this other than putting a tube in fuel tank and sucking out the fuel!

[greenhorn]

If i recall correctly, DTE is, not simply fuel left in tank * some constant fe multiplier - It is fuel left in tank * most recent fuel consumption - so if they were racing the car/driving aggressively (usually done during services - not necessarily an indicator of rash driving - the mechs do need to check your car's throttle and braking response etc ), the DTE might go down significantly without a correspondingly big change in fuel levels
More info here
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...nce-empty.html

[carbookie]

Just to clarify questions of people here...

The odometer reading has not changed. So the car was not driven unnecessarily.

The fuel in the car (as measured by "Distance to empty") seems less and hence the suspicion that fuel vanished without car being driven. Earlier it was only a doubt. But when they reported that pictures of dashboard taken have vanished, it turned into a firm suspicion.

Unfortunately for me, it is just my word against theirs now.

[paragsachania]

I only suspect that they disconnected the battery terminals during the service and hence the Range got reset. Has happened to me quite a few times after each service. You say that the Odometer reading hasn't changed so as to suspect foul play. So In all probabilities It could be a simple case of resetting of parameters.

The Range is often based on the most recent data. If that is reset (Battery disconnected), it assumes standard numbers and here the drop is from 280 to 160 which I don't consider as a major drop in such cases. Reset, let crank car couple of times, let the idle for a while, do short runs within the service center and the range is likely to decrease sooner than usual.

Few more details from you on the Current Odo reading will tell us more about what could have been done as part of routine service and hence more indications on whether this is plain case of reset or indeed fuel theft.

[carbookie]

Update to case:

The workshop Service manager came to my house. He told that driving the car for 5 Km will reset the value to correct one (280 Km). We drove for 5-6 Km. But the DTE stayed at 160 Km.

Workshop Service manager was insistent that they did not steal petrol. He seemed very sincere and very apologetic. He even offered to show CCTV footage.

At the end, I am pretty sure DTE dropped from 280 from 160. There is a suspicious case of photos going missing that showed DTE was 280 km when I gave the car for service.

But I decided to accept manager's apology and offer of reimbursing the stolen petrol. I think lessons learnt for me is that I should also take photos of the car while giving for service. And i should take these photos in front of Service guys so that they are also aware that cheating will not be accepted.

[get2bid]

Apart from the Odo reading, the amount of fuel remaining in the card is also noted on the job card. Did you note the number of points remaining in the car at the time of handing over the car?
I am saying this because just the DTE reading is not reliable proof of fuel theft. So even if they find the photos of the DTE reading, it will not suffice. If there is a considerable change in the amount of fuel (determined by the points on the fuel meter), then maybe, just maybe, there is something fishy.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Did they not mark the fuel gauge position in the job card when it was given to you? What does the reading say?

Also, sometimes the vehicle might be on for a considerable amount of time, for example my scross was on for around 45 mins or so when they were doing the Android Auto update, check with them if any such thing was done

+1. This could be one of the reasons.

BUT a 1.2L idling car would hardly burn 1L of fuel in an hour. The DTE dropping by ~100 kms would mean about 3-4 litres have been consumed (if FE is ~18-20 kmpl). That said, DTE can fluctuate for a variety of reasons.

Do match up the KMs the car ran while in the dealership rather than trying to figure out the fuel lost. Unlike the fuel, it is definitive and easy to deduce.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

DTE can change based on the recent driving conditions. For example - If they have idled the car during service, DTE will change.

Cars show instantaneous FE from between 5 to 50 kmpl for some cars and the DTE will fluctate a lot too. When switching from city to highway use, Ive seen the DTE varying all the way from 500 to 800 kms without refuelling, just because the driving changed.

[tud]

Originally Posted by carbookie

At the end, I am pretty sure DTE dropped from 280 from 160.

DTE depends entirely on the fuel inside the tank along with driving behavior as well as the speed and idling duration of the car for a considerable amount of time.

You must have been driving in a sedate manner which resulted in a good DTE of 280 kms.

Not everyone inside the workshop would drive like this, there are Schumachers and Hamiltons and this would have resulted in the ECU calculating the DTE to 160 kms albeit no fuel was taken out with a wrong intention. Also add the duration of car being on idle with A/C on full blast for our Schumi at the service station.

Going by this school of thought, I'll give Pratham the benefit of doubt. If the fuel gauge (needle or bar) has a drastic drop, then you may conclude that fuel has been taken out because this gauge directly corresponds to the fuel in the tank.

Within the city, I always go to my regular bunk to tank up my Punto. After filling it to the brim the DTE is usually between 666 - 705 kms. On a highway, when I've driven for a couple of hours and I stop to tank up, the DTE is usually 1000 - 1200 kms.

[Thermodynamics]

Originally Posted by carbookie

Has anybody else faced this issue in service centres? Still shocked that this can happen at a authorized service station...

Which service center is this? I have a similar experience with Pratham service center at Bellandur.

Once I noticed the range of my car had significantly reduced post service. Initially, I ignored it because I thought the range is a function of moving average fuel consumption and therefore, if the vehicle has been idling for some time, it might show a lower range. But I have a habit of meticulously logging the data. Every single fueling, date and odo are recorded in a log book. The moment I fueled her after the service, I knew something was not fitting my curve. According to my calculations 9-10 litres of Diesel (equivalent to a range of 160 km) was missing. The calculation did correlate with observed mismatch of range.

I can think of three possibilities,
a) Fuel stolen
b) Left idling with AC on for a long time, perhaps it served as a nice haven for power naps
c) Odometer disconnected and the vehicle was used elsewhere

I did give my feedback but I am not rigorously following it as I feel it is probably not worth it.

[carbookie]

Originally Posted by Thermodynamics

Which service center is this? I have a similar experience with Pratham service center at Bellandur.

Once I noticed the range of my car had significantly reduced post service. Initially, I ignored it because I thought the range is a function of moving average fuel consumption and therefore, if the vehicle has been idling for some time, it might show a lower range. But I have a habit of meticulously logging the data. Every single fueling, date and odo are recorded in a log book. The moment I fueled her after the service, I knew something was not fitting my curve. According to my calculations 9-10 litres of Diesel (equivalent to a range of 160 km) was missing. The calculation did correlate with observed mismatch of range.

I can think of three possibilities,
a) Fuel stolen
b) Left idling with AC on for a long time, perhaps it served as a nice haven for power naps
c) Odometer disconnected and the vehicle was used elsewhere

I did give my feedback but I am not rigorously following it as I feel it is probably not worth it.

Exactly same case with me. Every small detail is logged in excel. A drop like this immediately noticed by me. My car was in service station for hardly 5 hours. I don't think it was taken outside or driven. Either stolen fuel or it ran for 5 hours on idling.

As for DTE numbers varying, I have decided to not refuel and note how long the car goes on till reserve light comes on. This information based on my excel data will immediately tell me if fuel has gone missing.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by carbookie

The fuel in the car (as measured by "Distance to empty") seems less and hence the suspicion that fuel vanished without car being driven.

This is completely incorrect way to measure the fuel in the car. Other members have explained it already so i won't rewrite it.

Originally Posted by carbookie

As for DTE numbers varying, I have decided to not refuel and note how long the car goes on till reserve light comes on. This information based on my excel data will immediately tell me if fuel has gone missing.

Again this won't give you anything correct. Because you are not replicating the same conditions.

If you really want to confirm, then you have to make sure the car has the same level of fuel remaining(as shown in the fuel gauge) as there was when you left it for service AND("And" is the keyword here) the same DTE(280). From that point of time, let the car idle and check the duration after which the DTE drops to 160. If the duration is more than 5 hours(duration for which your car was in the service station), then there has been fuel theft. If not, your suspicion will be proven wrong.