[dineshnan]

I'd purchased my Innova in last August from Shinrai Toyota, Worli. Initial experience was good. Since it was my first car purchase I thought of buying all other accessories from showroom only. Ten months down the line I realized that showroom charges so heavily and that too for nothing. They are only after money and not giving proper service. On my new purchase I paid 45000/- Rs for skirting, 7000/- Rs for rear sensors (they quoted 12000 Rs for rear view camera) and so on.... I also made a year contract of car polishing for approx 6000/- Rs that includes three polishing. First was done at the time of delivery. I have a suspicion that they did not do it. Why would they do it for a brand new car? I did not think on it much until my recent experience with Shinrai Toyota service station. When I took my car for second polishing, they refused to do it saying it is not covered!! I had to talk to manager and convince them to do it.
Two weeks ago I gave my car for internal cleaning (surf wash) and polishing from outside to get rid of one color mark and few scratches. Again I had to talk to their manager to get the third polishing approved. They asked us to come in the evening to pick up the car. When we went there, they informed us that it is being done. At 9:00 pm, we understood that nothing has been done!! After three days when we received the car, no internal cleaning no polishing was done. All the dirt marks were there just like before. We insisted that the job was not done at all but they forced us to take our car. We were cheated. I know how car looks after polishing, this time it wasn't done at all. I paid 6000 Rs for just one polishing.
They quoted me 5000 Rs labour charges just for replacing my stock ICE unit. I got that done in 350 Rs from outside. Rear sensors are available just for 3500 Rs and rear view camera for 1500 Rs.
Such a bad experience with showroom people. I'll never take my car to them again.
I would say stay away from these cheaters at Shinrai Toyota, Worli.

[vinaydas]

well don't judge a service by the accessories they sell.
in Bangalore Ravindu Toyota has an Independent accessories department and not related to the main service.
Most probably shinrai has a independent accessories department.
And most people recommend not buying anything from a showroom except the car of course.
the accessories are sold with a heavy premium.Your polish thingy. I think you have gone in for the Teflon coating. As most people don't see any difference before and after the finish.

[dineshnan]

Originally Posted by vinaydas

.....Your polish thingy. I think you have gone in for the Teflon coating. As most people don't see any difference before and after the finish.

I don't accept this point. I've seen my car after polishing. It is nothing less than brand new car look!

[dineshnan]

After lodging complaint to their website I was called for the problems. They picked up my car and also delivered after the necessary service. The car now looks cleaned. Glad.

[cooldude1988765]

That is a pretty bad experience. First time i am hearing a bad service experience about toyota.
Like vinaydas said you should never buy for accessories from the showroom.
I hope this is a one off incident.

[gautam109]

I am all for giving benefit of the doubt to people, but there is really something rotten at Shinrai. I got under-body coating done and paid for only to find out that it has been done only on the wheel wells (where it is visible from outside) and under-body has been left bare. I only found out because I insisted on checking the coating for myself, despite every assurance by them that it is not needed. I believe it was only carelessness and not deliberate cheating - still it was quite shocking. They immediately offered to correct this lapse, but didn't seem the least bit embarrassed or apologetic about it.

Secondly I have been after them for getting a serious vibration issue fixed in my car - twice they took my car, fiddled with it and said it is fixed. Both times I find the issue is same as before. Both times, when I challenge them or ask for details of how it was fixed, they revert to saying that this level of vibration "normal" and has to be accepted (If so, how come they claimed to have fixed it earlier?).

Their people tend to be polite and attentive in demeanour, but not sure how actually bothered they are about doing right by the customer.

I don't want to use Shinrai anymore. Can anyone recommend a good Toyota Authorized Service Centre in Mumbai?

PS: Hope its okay to bump up this old thread. Felt it was more appropriate than starting a new one.

[manishk123]

I sent my Toyota Corolla for a routine paid service to Shinrai Toyota, Mumbai last month. The car was running perfectly fine before I sent it to the service station. The routine service cost me around Rs. 9000. When the car was returned to me I noticed the coolant level was extremely low and there was a squeaking sound coming from the steering everytime I turned it.

When i asked the service station how is the coolant level low after a service and what is the purpose of a service if they don't check such basic things, I was told that they did not change the coolant since I had not specified it!! Although, they changed engine oil, filters etc they wanted specific confirmation for changing the coolant!!

Regarding the noise from the steering they asked me to send the car back. My driver took the car back to the service station and waited while they made some adjustment to the steering. They asked him to leave the service area as outsiders are not permitted there so he was not aware of what work they did.

On getting the car back, within two days the steering became absolutely hard to turn. It was almost like the power steering was not working at all. Again I complained to the service station and I was told to send the car back. On checking the car they now told me that the gear assembly and pump had failed and would have to be replaced at a cost of Rs.75000/- !!!

I was shocked to hear that my 60,000 kms run car which was running perfectly fine before being tampered with at Shinrai Toyota, would require so much expense. On asking the manager and service incharge there how such a thing could happen, they had no response.

It seems service stations like these are either mishandling the cars or tampering with them to increase revenue for themselves. Pls beware of sending your cars to this service station. They are a bunch of crooks!!!

[Luv_Jaiswal]

Originally Posted by manishk123

I sent my Toyota Corolla for a routine paid service to Shinrai Toyota, Mumbai last month.
=========
It seems service stations like these are either mishandling the cars or tampering with them to increase revenue for themselves. Pls beware of sending your cars to this service station. They are a bunch of crooks!!!

Hey Manish.

Very sad to hear what has happened.
This clearly is a case of tampering as far as I see it. My advice to you would be to not let this matter go out of hand. Before giving the car for service you or the driver must have been given a diagnostics report in which everything would have been stated very clearly.

It is very common and such instances are literally on the rise wherein the A.S.C. folks hand out bills worth thousands and lacs of rupees right after a normal scheduled service is carried out on a car.
I too found myself in a similar position a while back with my Merc.

If necessary, write to the higher ups regarding this.

Luv.

[Swapnil4585]

Originally Posted by manishk123

When the car was returned to me I noticed the coolant level was extremely low and there was a squeaking sound coming from the steering everytime I turned it.
.
On getting the car back, within two days the steering became absolutely hard to turn. It was almost like the power steering was not working at all.
.
On checking the car they now told me that the gear assembly and pump had failed and would have to be replaced at a cost of Rs.75000/- !!!

What all works did they do in the servicing? Whether you had any steering related issues prior to giving it for servicing? The pump will not go kaput all of a sudden and will show signs of its ailments over a period of time, like the oil level will deplete slowly, the car will not stay straight and will swerve to a side even if the tyres are perfectly aligned, etc.

I guess they removed the power steering oil, bled the system and poured fresh oil and while doing that due care must not have been exercised and that may have cause the oil to leak. Did you see oil leaking? A better option is to consult a friendly garage. If your car's steering was behaving normally prior to the service, then I don't think that the pump has gone bad in just 2 days.

It's a good practice to inspect levels of all fluids weekly, and before and after giving it to service, especially if you are giving it to the dealer.

[manishk123]

Originally Posted by Swapnil4585

What all works did they do in the servicing? Whether you had any steering related issues prior to giving it for servicing? The pump will not go kaput all of a sudden and will show signs of its ailments over a period of time, like the oil level will deplete slowly, the car will not stay straight and will swerve to a side even if the tyres are perfectly aligned, etc.

They only performed a routine service and changed engine oil and air filter, top up fluids where required. The car was running perfectly before giving it to them. There was no complaint at all regarding the steering.

[da_lowrider]

Hey Manish, ok, I have faced something eerily similar - at around 64k kms - and Millennium Toyota at Andheri wanted to replace my steering rack at a cost of round about 70k. Got it checked outside, there was only one problem - One of the pipes carrying PS fluid has sprung a leak. I dunno how it happened, maybe cause I'm too close to the sea, long story short. It could just be one of these pipes, the symptoms are exactly the same. Just check if there's PS fluid in the reservoir currently, that should tell us a bit.

Originally Posted by Swapnil4585

I guess they removed the power steering oil, bled the system and poured fresh oil and while doing that due care must not have been exercised and that may have cause the oil to leak.

They shouldn't have had too if a service centre told me too do it, I would refuse. Things like PS fluid nd transmission fluid(which are essentially the same) should last the lifetime of a vehicle unless there is a leak. The problem is precisely that - where do you drain it from? That's pretty tricky. I still think there's a leak somewhere nd that pipe needs to be replaced. Just hope they haven't tampered with the steering rack(don't imaging they would go that far).

Mods kindly merge it with previous post. This was created as a separate in error. My bad.

[Swapnil4585]

That points to a possibility of some loosely fitted hose / clamp. Did you notice any leakage after the service? I don't think that the pump has given up. You will have to locate the leak point and fix it. Approach a friendly garage instead of Toyota. Bring the mechanic at home and get it checked.

Originally Posted by da_lowrider

They shouldn't have had too if a service centre told me too do it, I would refuse. Things like PS fluid nd transmission fluid(which are essentially the same) should last the lifetime of a vehicle unless there is a leak. The problem is precisely that - where do you drain it from? That's pretty tricky. I still think there's a leak somewhere nd that pipe needs to be replaced. Just hope they haven't tampered with the steering rack(don't imaging they would go that far).

That's correct in theory. However, it is a better preventive maintenance to flush and replace the fluid periodically. The power steering oil is subject to contamination from the wear and tear of the internals of the pump itself. A change in the colour of the oil (from red to black) is one symptom which should compel a flush and replacement of the oil. I believe that in the given case, Toyota may have gone pro active in flushing the old fluid and adding new one, and while doing that they may have left some fitting loose.