[sajo]

Oil + Filter change (mineral)+ labour - 2200 rupees
I let myself fall for brake pad "overhaul" <saar very dangerous saar> - 1100 rupees.
Checking for rattles - 1000 rupees + Parts.



These are the estimates I received today morning.

Never going back to MASS again. FNG , here I come.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I think it is a myth being perpetrated by the dealers. Honda are on 6 months/10,000km and 12 months with a synth.

It seems quite possible the dealers are behind this 3-month service interval, similar to MSIL dealers insisting on a 5K / 6-mon service, while Suzuki recommends only 10K / 1-year service interval.
And I think they possibly use the free-service interval specified by Honda as a ruse to convince customers. Following is the free-service schedule for the Jazz from the owner's manual. The approximately 5K / 3-month interval between each free service might be used by dealers to "convince" customers, that it is the norm going forward too.

1st free service @ 1month or 1000kms
2nd free service @ 3 months or 5000kms
3rd free service @ 6 months or 10000kms

The 4th paid service is at 12months / 20K kms and every subsequent service is at 12 months / 10000kms interval, which is on par with other manufacturers. But while others specify oil (mineral) also to be changed only during the same 12-month / 10000km interval, Honda strangely insists on oil change at 5000km / 6-month interval (but oil filter only at 12-mon/10K kms). This means that just for getting the oil changed, you anyway need to go to the ASC every 6-months, resulting in a service cost every 6 months, while other brands need it only once a year. Plus the extra for the oil every 6-months compared to 10K for other brands.

Could they not have made the oil change interval also 1-year/10K kms, thereby needing only an annual visit to ASC ?

Also, from as far back as I remember, the oil & filter change was a combo job ie. if you changed the oil, you need to change the filter too. Not sure if any other manufacturer does this, but Honda is the 1st time I heard where oil is changed sans a filter change.

Anyway, atleast for the Jazz and maybe for other Hondas too, the 3-month service interval is a hoax perpetrated by the dealers to make money. Stay clear.

[Gansan]

I have observed that the MSM people recommend and carry out certain jobs (like gear oil change, brake overhaul, coolant change, spark plug change etc) at the interval specified in the manual, even if the car has not run for the specified kilometres. It is not cheating, and I am OK with that.

I just write "NO ADDITIVES" on the job card before signing it!

[CPJ]

Voted Yes. IMO Maruti service is anything but cheap.
My Estilo had gone for regular servicing at 40,000Km and the bill came out to be 7100/-
I fell for the Brake overhaul, injector cleaning and throttle body cleaning which made up for the majority chunk of my bill
Next time I'm going to put my foot down and make sure I'm not ripped off in the similar manner.

[2000rpm]

I think Maruti Strategy (my speculation) is that

Provide low maintainence costs for Alto / Wagon-R, thus strenghtening the low maintainence brand image and attracting the first time buyers. This helps them to convert these customers, who vouch for Maruti Low Maintainence, for their next purchase (mostly upgrade to Swift or Dzire). However the premium maruti cars are serviced at a premium, thus generating more revenue for them.

This is just my speculation, some one who has had the following upgrades, please comment
800 -> Swift / Dzire
Zen -> Swift / Dzire
Alto -> Swift / Dzire
Wagon-R -> Swift / Dzire

[thoma]

Originally Posted by drsingh

Service is maruti's new growth strategy.

http://m.timesofindia.com/business/i...w/19572336.cms

Last week, my friend had to pay 880/- against the ~800/- for the usual paid service that mostly consists of just checking the fluids and other things and giving the car a wash. A 10% increase in the recent times as per the SA. This was for the petrol Swift.

Is this considering the above news?

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

I think Maruti Strategy (my speculation) is that

Provide low maintainence costs for Alto / Wagon-R, thus strenghtening the low maintainence brand image and attracting the first time buyers. This helps them to convert these customers, who vouch for Maruti Low Maintainence, for their next purchase (mostly upgrade to Swift or Dzire). However the premium maruti cars are serviced at a premium, thus generating more revenue for them.

This is just my speculation, some one who has had the following upgrades, please comment
800 -> Swift / Dzire
Zen -> Swift / Dzire
Alto -> Swift / Dzire
Wagon-R -> Swift / Dzire

Well we kinda did this upgrade but to an SX4 which I feel is a steeper one. Let me put out my observations.

Labour charges increase as we move up the line. But that increase is not steep and somewhat a hundred or two more than my wagonR for servicing. Other costs vary by 10% or so and not very considerable. That is acceptable because as we go up segments, obviously everything gets expensive. When it comes to spare parts, here also the same difference exists. Due to many parts being shared across vehicles, cost is still cheap. The only parts that are expensive are some imported parts which weren't localised but today, most of the parts are locally made so their prices have drastically come down. The accel pedal costs Rs. 5k when it is imported. Now, locally manufactured, it is just Rs. 1200 .

Also, one cannot compare servicing cost of an entry level hatch to a sedan. Rather compare the service cost of a C segment sedan with another. In that terms, maruti is still cheap. The only plague that they have got is from hyundai, that is to bill unnecessary add-ons. A careful customer can avoid these things also, which.will bring down outstanding bill by a considerable margin.

Lastly, I was on chat with a Works Manager and here is what he said - "People cry about quality when costs are low. When quality is improved and costs rise, they cry about costs. Bascially it is the image that maruti must offer everything at a low price, and yet the quality must match the competition is what customers expect."

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by thoma

Last week, my friend had to pay 880/- against the ~800/- for the usual paid service that mostly consists of just checking the fluids and other things and giving the car a wash. This was for the petrol Swift.

A paid service at 880 bucks @ MASS is a steal IMO. If MSIL is indeed looking carefully at containing service costs at its service-centres, it is a good thing.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by CPJ

Voted Yes. IMO Maruti service is anything but cheap.
My Estilo had gone for regular servicing at 40,000Km and the bill came out to be 7100/-
I fell for the Brake overhaul, injector cleaning and throttle body cleaning which made up for the majority chunk of my bill
Next time I'm going to put my foot down and make sure I'm not ripped off in the similar manner.

Why did you accept all things that were perhaps unnecessary? The owner's manual clearly lays out what needs to checked/replaced/tightened at what km/odo interval. Anything beyond that is not necessary unless there is a problem.

It is like going to a saloon for a hair cut (Rs. 40) and then opting to get a head massage (Rs. 80), facial massage (Rs. 100), shave (Rs. 40) etc. in addition to the hair cut and then complaining that the hair cut was expensive.

Not fair in my opinion.

[bluevolt]

Maruti service is cheap? No way!

My WagonR's 30K and 40K service cost me 7.7K and 6.2K respectively (details on my car's ownership thread).

[audioholic]

Sir here is a quote of your labour charges:

Labour

Paid Service – Rs. 1150
Engine system flushing – Rs. 675
Fuel injector cleaning – Rs. 550
Throttle body cleaning – Rs. 700
Brake bleeding – Rs. 350

TAXES – Rs. 720

The charges for Flush, injector cleaning and TBC itself come to more than Rs. 2k taking taxes to consideration. As we have discussed in this thread itself, these are extra services that are nothing but fleecing methods by dealers. In case you had refused, your bill would have been 33% lesser, ie 4k rupees. Please do not opt for such services unless you have a problem with the related part. We have a WagonR LPG in the family(not mine) which has done 52k kms in roughly two years and not even once has TBC, injector cleaning and flushing been done. It runs as good as my two year old 10k km run WagonR.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

Maruti service is cheap? No way!

It is, relatively speaking!

I feel happy about my Alto's service bill (though I expect a bill of around Rs 6 - 7k for my 48 month service scheduled next week), when I see the bills of my neighbors' Vento and Rapid!

My Splendor, when left for service at the A.S.S., never gets a bill below Rs 1.2k, so what can we expect for a car!

P.S.: I recently saw a news headline which went "With sales figures falling, Maruti expects future growth to come from service!".

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

Maruti service is cheap? No way!
My WagonR's 30K and 40K service cost me 7.7K and 6.2K respectively (details on my car's ownership thread).

If the 30K and 40K services were just the normal routine scheduled services, then the rates are indeed high. I would suggest you check with tbhp-ians in your area/city for a reliable private garage, where the same service should cost you 40-50% lesser.

Also, the relative cost of the 2 services seems odd to me. I would have expected the 40K service to cost more because for Suzuki cars, the 20K/40K/60K/.. services are more comprehensive (and costing more because some fluids/parts have 20K replacement schedule) than the 10K/30K/50K/... services.

Also would help if you posted the breakup here.

[paragsachania]

We always jump the gun here without even verifying the complete details of what one paid during that service.

Wouldn't this completely depend on the running of your car(s) too rather than 1 year old car or a 5 year old car?

• For a Vehicle that hardly clocks anything on the ODO it would end up with all free Services for 1 full year whereas someone who takes the car on long drives almost every weekend with a daily usage of more than 50kms is likely to spend on paid service within the first few months of ownership!
  
• Secondly: Synthetic Vs Mineral Oil play a major role in the overall annual expense on service too due to the reason that Synthetic oil change intervals are longer (as perceived) and no one would give the car for a Paid service if it doesn’t involve regular fluid changes (At least I don’t ).
  
• The ODO reading also is very important factor on what one spends on service
  
• At 20k on the ODO, you will spend on Coolant and Gearbox oil and as well get the brakes serviced - You then pay separate labor for front and rear brake cleaning!!
  
• A relatively new car run less than 40,000 kms may not need any parts (Eg: Brake pads, Spark Plugs etc) to be replaced.
  
• Somewhere after that,comes the Clutch replacement (Petrol cars mostly) depending on your usage and driving style that will again drill a hole in your pocket. If you get this Clutch job done along with your regular paid service interval you will invariably pay at least 1100 more for just the Paid Service part Plus separate labor for clutch job.
  
• A car which goes for a 80k service will need replacement of all essential belts as well. Not to forget the Alignment & Balancing of tires every 5000 kms - I get the alignment and Balancing done only when needed and mostly between 7500-10000 kms if I feel a drag or wobble or notice uneven tire wear.
  
• Closing in on 1L kms on the ODO, suspension parts start to ask for a replacement too (can happen before this depending on how you have used/abused your car.

Best questions that we all ask each other will be:

• How much you pay for a “PAID Service” with just the regular oil change (Engine and Transmission)
  
• How much you pay for usual wear and tear parts during each service (Beyond 40k on the ODO).
  
• How much would the suspension and clutch job cost (Labor+Parts separate)

Note: All the parts wear accordingly with their usage - Which can be plain usage, abused usage or very well driven use. So change intervals of many essential wear and tear parts may differ on car(s) and Driver(s) too.

Most of the times its the ASC that fattens the bill with unwanted tasks and the famous comparison begins.

Injector cleaning, Throttle body cleaning, Alignment and Balancing (Can be done outside for cheap), Upholstery cleaning, Engine bay cleaning, AC blower cleaning (Many ASCs charge 150-250 to blow air into the AC Coil below glovebox!!) are things that really inflate that final amount.

You feel the real pinch only when PARTS are costly. So its wiser to compare cost of parts between manufacturers too.

Most brands charge almost similar amount for service for similar class of car.

They also charge almost same labor for jobs which can also be compared.

[Mohan Mathew A]

I have a swift and have been servicing my car at maruti ASS for the last more than 7 years. I have especially noticed that they have become quite expensive especially in the last 2 to 3 years. I recently went there to check on some non critical issues and asked for a quote and they gave me a quote which was ridiculous. So finally after 7 years i got it done from an outside workshop and it cost me far far less. Even a normal service has become quite expensive. I believe service cost of ford (atleast figo) is a lot cheaper than maruti. Maruti needs to pull up it socks otherwise their biggest USP will be no proposition anymore.
My feeling is that post Jadhish Kattar's exit the customer focus has been diluted (It is just my personal opinion)