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Old 23rd August 2005, 19:12   #31
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aseem, what did u actually meant by peace of mind? Did sahil had peace of mind when this incident happened?If he's paying that much money, he deserves the treatment he should get from the so called MB guys.They are taking advantage of the trust sahil puts on them.Sahil, why dont you move to the consumer court?
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Old 23rd August 2005, 19:23   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kphilip
aseem, what did u actually meant by peace of mind? Did sahil had peace of mind when this incident happened?If he's paying that much money, he deserves the treatment he should get from the so called MB guys.They are taking advantage of the trust sahil puts on them.Sahil, why dont you move to the consumer court?
I dont want to debate further as my good hearted advise has been interpreted wrongly. But Sahil is not paying MB (Mercedez Benz not Maruti Baleno) guys anything, rather he is going to local shops to repair his AC etc. So he is not getting the right treatment and is irritated at the MB dealers. The fact stated by another BHPian is that repair of MB and BMW is very expensive. In US also the labor for the repair of MB and BMW is more costly than the part itself. So the owners have to retort to repairing the cars themselves or going to local mechanics or driving out of town to Pune. Since people want the class and the social status associated with MB but are not willing to put up with high maintaince cost made me recommend to Sahil that he should consider a true VFM and no nonsense car MB (Maruti Baleno). That way he wont join a forum to learn to repair his cars himself.
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Old 23rd August 2005, 19:26   #33
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Not a nice experience to hear about - thank god you checked mate, otherwise things coulda been pretty nasty. What happened to GTO's thread? Looks like you could (potentially) do the same thing... Merc, aluva sudden, seems to ahve got a very bad name, even with non-MB owners. Did you tell the guys at AutoHanger that the car was OK, and ask them what the charge was for?
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Old 23rd August 2005, 21:17   #34
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Allow me to be the devil's advocate. What Autohangar gave was an estimate and let's assume it was given based on
similar cars that had come in with flooding and had conked their ECUs. Their mistake is that they gave the estimate
based on some assumptions and did not perform a diagnostic.

Like the name implies, an estimate is just an approximate figure of how much it can cost........the final total might be higher and
in some cases (rarely) lower.

Let's say that after they start working on the car, they find the ECU to be OK.........................now what do they do?.......they
can either rip you off by claiming it was indeed gone OR they can be good samaritans and tell the truth and charge
you a couple grand for diagnostic charges. We cannot accuse them based on an estimate.

But, I have a feeling they would have done the former.....simply because theyknow that Merc owners are businessmen with lots
of money and no time and most of them charge petrol/service bills to a company account.The fact is that do get away with this
9 times out of ten. I am sure they probably dont like informed, nosey customers like Sahil.

As far as Aseem's comment, buddy your advice is well taken, but why would a guy who can afford a C-class buy a Baleno. Instead lets
talk about cars in the same bracket.... 3 series, Audi A4, Skoda Superb, Prado, Pajero. You are right about some Merc customers will pay
for the peace of mind and never take it to an outside shop. At the end of the day, its Autohangar laughing all the way to the bank.
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Old 23rd August 2005, 21:47   #35
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Dude Aseem, if you go to a local Rs 20 theatre, if someone whistles and chucks popcorn on you, you will bear it. If the seats are torn and the spring poke you in the ass you will bear it. If the attendants are rude, you will bear it. If the movie is interrupted for lack of electricity, you may bear it.

Would you bear any of that at PVR?
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Old 23rd August 2005, 22:18   #36
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wonder what CLS 55 AMG has to say about all this,he works their right¿
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Old 23rd August 2005, 22:35   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aseem
I dont want to debate further as my good hearted advise has been interpreted wrongly.
Yeah true and very true. But did you take the trouble of explaining your points properly?
After spending a packet for a car, one expects the right kinda support from a well known dealer...that's his crib!!

Can't make out how a Baleno getting in this picture!
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Old 23rd August 2005, 23:20   #38
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@Mpower - I had requested autohangar service manager Rishikesh to inspect the part properly as it was immossible that the water had reached even 1/4 till the level of the ECU and Front SAM. The got back to me after a week saying he tried everything from drying to repair but the parts are totally dead.I agree the estimate is just the initial cost, belive me aalot more would follow once the work started on the car. All the towing charges etc were not a part of the estimate, i dont understand how they can justify charging 8000rs to tow the car from Bandra(BKC) to Andheri whereas Millenium sent a towing van from poona to bombay and towed my car back for just 6000rs! Thats like almost 10 times the distance cover.

@Vandan... CLS 55 is a smart guy, he always keep away from such post, he did so even on GTO post butchering MBIL. But no offence to him, just he is the only person representing autohangar its not fair for him to sit and justify something thats no in his hands as he doesnt even work in the service dept if i am not mistaken he is into the sales part.Eitherways he indivualy has done nothign wrong, he just works for autohangar and ever wrong deed of theirs is not his fault.

@Rudra - The reason why Baleno came into the pic is coz aseem seems to be their brand ambasedor...a very good one i must say......if it were for him every car one of us woudl be driving and MB ...nah not mercedes benz but Maruti Baleno...that his version of MB :laugh:
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Old 23rd August 2005, 23:38   #39
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sahil
@Mpower - I had requested autohangar service manager Rishikesh to inspect the part properly as it was immossible that the water had reached even 1/4 till the level of the ECU and Front SAM. The got back to me after a week saying he tried everything from drying to repair but the parts are totally dead
Either these guys are complete idiots who cannot diagnose the car (unlikely since its done by scanners), or they are shameless cheats. Here's another consipiracy theory, the ECU dried itself in the breeze on the way to Pune. (I'm good at this devil's advocate thing aint I?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sahil
he always keep away from such post, he did so even on GTO post butchering MBIL. But no offence to him, just he is the only person representing autohangar its not fair for him to sit and justify something thats no in his hands as he doesnt even work in the service dept
The fact that CLS is not agressively defending Autohangar means that he acknowledges their modus operandi and is powerless to change it. Like I said, when it works 9 times out of 10, why should management bother.
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Old 24th August 2005, 00:15   #40
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oh man..hearing all this on this thread,I'm wondering - whether Ichibaan Honda,Kalina is ripping off their Honda City customers by giving an estimate of Rs2,10,000 on all their NHC flood related repair vehicles !!
Anyway,my vehicle is with them for repairs and should be getting it back within 10 days or so..hopefully !
Sahil-Aseem is right on the part that you should always get your stuff done from the authorised service people..be it any car,from Maruti 800 to a Phantom..they are the ones who'll do the proper job..(ofcourse with more charges than local unauthorized people)..but if the dealer "cheats" people,like you mentioned on starting this thread,then you should surely take up the matter with MBIL,as well as other agencies like WIAA,Auto magazines,press/media,and try to get the issue out,which will surely put a really bad name over the dealer..
best,
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Old 24th August 2005, 00:19   #41
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man this guy cracked me up. aseem dude u are on fire....

@sahil: sad to hear abt what happened? as a MB [Mercedes-Benz ] customer you deserve the so-called Peace of Mind which was snatched outta ur hands courtesy AutoHangar. You should really do something against those guys. But I agree with u somewhat on the whole MBIL quality issue. Lately I have been hearing a lot abt the problems that are occuring with these Legendary rides. it seems that the whole assembling in India isnt stringent enough as those CBUs imported from Germany [BMW].
i would also like to know why the hell were the towing charges so much. i mean 8k was a lot for bringing a car from a 20 km [my guess] distance!


@Mpower: couldnt agree with u more dude...why will a person who can afford a three pointed star be interested in a Maruti Baleno. He isnt concerned with cheap spares, fuel efficiency etc. what he wants is pure transparent hassle-free support from its dealers. which i must say AutoHangar has clearly failed to provide.

@v1per: absolutely right. when u are paying 150 bucks at PVR Cinemas you would obviously want to see the whole movie without any disturbance like cheap whistles and/or powercuts. u are ofcourse paying a premium and i dont completely support this fact but 9.5 out of 10 times PVR cinemas do provide that. thats why they are successful.


@aseem: i dont know where you work, man, but if the Maruti guys are watching this thread you surely are gonna get a hi-fi marketing appointment with them....and thanks for making this thread all the more interesting....no offence meant!
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Old 24th August 2005, 00:26   #42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amitverma
i would also like to know why the hell were the towing charges so much. i mean 8k was a lot for bringing a car from a 20 km [my guess] distance!
sahil - mention about the towing charges difference between autohangar and millenium when you complaint to MBIL dude..
shows how Autohangar people are trying to rip off their customers when customers are in need of repairs..instead of giving free towing services to customers who've paid them lakhs and lakhs,they just wanna have more and more..really sad to see this kind of selfish and ill-minded attitude spreading throughout all fields..

sr
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Old 24th August 2005, 00:27   #43
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Sahil, do something that GTO has done ( I donno what )
Maybe they might offer u a exchange of yr C180 with a C220 CDI for at a 30-40 % discount under the guidelines "GOODWILL"
Threathen them , show all yr records. Publish in every possible mag.
This is the only way , u will be taken seriously.
If the dealer cannot provide u "complete satisfaction" in terms of service and product quality, he has to pay for it , and so the company also has to coz of not being strict with the delaers. Or Maybe the company dosent care.

BottomLine : Fight , and as Ajmat said : consumer court(if the need be).
Its time consuming , but u may get yr reward in due time.
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Old 24th August 2005, 01:45   #44
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sahil
-The fuel tank leaked in the middle of the road...all the petrol dropped .... just thank my stars that there was no fire around or else this would be MAJOR!!... i dont even expect this to happen in the worest of cars.

- Once on my way to nasik i pressed the clutch to shift up and the clutch refuse to come back out....it just got stuck in .... i was luckily at just 30km/hr and hence managed to control it to a hault somehow! Called the MBIL helpline and they are like yaa such things happen when the oil in the clutch gets heated, just turn the car off for a while and the oil will get a little thin so u can use it then. The car was not even overheating!
- The AC just stopped cooling one day ...took it to the service center they gave an estimate of 80,000 as some major part had conked off.....i instead took it to my local ac guy and filled up the gas and the ac was back to perfect! Again this time they tried to cheat me. For a minor problem of gas filled to an 80,000 component!!
- Electronic braking system started failing.... I was driving down marine drive once, enjoy my car and suddenly the screen flash ABS fail!! BAS Fail!! Imagine at 120km/hr the car just tells u that the major braking systems have jsut conked off !!
Goshhhhh !!! The series of such major problems you ve faced is an eye opener to everyone .
Not in my wildest of dreams i would recommend Merc to anyone(not even to my enemy , if any) and if i were you ,i would ve sc**** up the autobahn and DCIL people , after all its the matter of our lives
Though, i must salute your bravery that you are still driving the same car !

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sahil
i have faith that BMW wont make me visit the service center as often apart from servicing so that reduces the chance for the dealers to cheat us.
All we can do is HOPE !
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Old 24th August 2005, 02:31   #45
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dipen
Sahil, do something that GTO has done ( I donno what )
Maybe they might offer u a exchange of yr C180 with a C220 CDI for at a 30-40 % discount under the guidelines "GOODWILL"
.
I dont think i will even take a merc for free now Maybe i am being a little hypothetical but who knows the amount I spend on the free car to maintain it with the dozen of problems it will come up with would be as good as me buyin one myself .....They have definatly lost me as a customer thats all i got to say. I was going to pick up the E 270 verrryy soon as i had been planning for a along time but i kept delaying it coz i was losing faith in MB coz of the problems my car was giving and this time it just crossed the line. Someone please tell me when BMW will start production in India.... i cant wait for the new 5 series to be launched here...Maverick- please give me some good news buddy!?!

@srasania... I get all my cars work done at the MB service center itself... i have never given it to an outside garage...but for small thiings liek filling gas i dont think there is a need to do it from the service center its like saying you must change your tyres from the service center. Besides filling the AC gas no other mechanic from outside has ever touched my car.

@Mpower.... Well you arent quite the devils advocate yet ... I went to autohangar 10 days back when i was sure that they were cheating me and got the ECU and Front SAM out myself and had it sent to pune to millenium to check up. So there is no chance that it dried on the way haha.
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