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-   -   Maruti launches 'Service on Wheels' doorstep car service (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/212591-maruti-launches-service-wheels-doorstep-car-service.html)

Maruti Suzuki has launched a new doorstep car service initiative called 'Service on Wheels'.



According to Maruti, the vehicles used for this service are equipped with all the tools required to carry out repairs and regular service of all Maruti passenger cars.



Service on Wheels will offer both paid and free services similar to those offered by Maruti service centres. The vehicles will carry out repairs, under body inspection, oil change, filter cleaning on petrol, diesel and CNG powered vehicles.

According to the carmaker, this service will help boost its existing service network of over 3,600 workshops across more than 1,800 cities.

Link to Team-BHP News

Why does it sound like "if you do not bring your car to service station, we will force the service down your throat at your place?"

I think we should expect to see more of this in slowing market.

They must have lot of those Super Carry's left in their stock

Is it not convenient for us, in case of a routine service? It can surely take care of oil and filter change, air filter cleaning / replacement, tuning, spark plugs etc. No need to drop the car and pick it up in the evening.

For the dealer, it scales up the business without adding the rent for the space.

By the way, Maruti authorized service stations already offer free pick up and drop if the car is registered in the name of a lady.

Quite a good thing IMO!

Right now - for a routine services, the TO-and-FRO travel time to the A-S-S for me is a lot more than the actual time spent by the mechanics on the car for work.

So for scheduled service activities like filter change/cleaning, oil change & basic checks - this is far better & practical. I'll readily pay a bit more for this service as it saves a lot of time + fuel!
This is also a slight indication that the workshops are smaller than they should be, are getting overcrowded and MSIL is finding a way to keep cars away from the workshop where possible. Also saves effort and money on the stupid "waterless washing" that they have to do at workshops.

Its a win-win!

Just that the housing societies / apartment complexes may object to such work being carried out in-campus, especially if these Suzuki Carrys are driven recklessly inside the societies causing menace to the elderly / kids.

I had a Nexa service van visiting my house asking if I need service. They parked their car at the end of the street (a lady in a suit & 2 mechanics) and visited all the houses that had a Maruti asking if they need servicing. I think Nexa service centers are unable to heavy volumes still because people are under the impression that they work on only Nexa cars.

This is being done by some dealers for quite some time now. Back in 2014, my car was serviced at my home in Bhubaneswar. You can see some images in the post below:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...ml#post3686424

While booking the service, they ask you the service interval (20k km service or 4th year service and so on) and any complaints you might have and bring the necessary consumables with them. However, during the service, if they find anything amiss then they don't have the spare parts ready with them.

This certainly is a very good step my Maruti. As others mentioned, it saves your time and fuel. Very useful for a regular service. Another thing that I liked that of Maruti is that they are also available on Sundays. Question is, will they charge extra for this? How will they manage if they notice something unusual and some parts are not readily available with the service vehicle?

Thumbs up as it is a very nice initiative for people who prefer getting their cars serviced at authorised workshops. One can avail pick n drop as well but there is always a risk of how the driver would handle my car en route and also the way Maruti workshops are overcrowded, i would prefer getting my car serviced for basic things like oil, filter changes etc at my doorstep. There is less downtime and i do not need to worry about pick n drop.
Providing good service is a pre requisite for any car manufacturer to sell their products in our country and its nice to see Maruti working on improving it.

Convenience is one of the way we can look at it.
With convenience will come the menace of oil and filter disposal. I am not fully convinced they will take all the waste generated from servicing process for disposal. As individuals or apartment societies we are not equipped to deal with this waste.

Maruti already offers free pick up and drop for cars no matter the owner's gender. This may be a localized experience.

Expense/Investment: Even for the service vehicle they have to invest (probably lower than rental on longer term).Add to that, having few (minimum 3) workers on road for so long stuck in traffic not doing chargeable work for the service centers.

When there is pick and drop service available, I did be happy to send car to showroom where all tools are available.

Seeing the Swift on cross jack gives me scare enough. I did rather send car to service centre to use a proper lift during service.

They will take away the waste. The filters / spares are sold in scrap. The oil drained from the cars is sold at around Rs. 25 per lit and it is used as mould oil. And anyway, MSIL won't have a SOP of disposing the oil in open.

Maruti Carry costs around Rs. 4.75 lakhs. This cost can be divided over 10 years (3000 working days). It comes to around Rs. 160 per day, which shall be around Rs. 30 - 40 per routine service of car. Naturally, they will assign only the routine service (oil, filter, sparkplugs, tuning etc.). So it shall be cheaper. In fact, if the routine service is carried out at the customer's premises, the costlier space at the dealer workshop can be used for the more complex / more revenue earning jobs.

Also if the local situation permits, the dealers are going to use the roadside outside their workshops (or nearby free public space) to park the Carrys and service the cars!

IMO, the basic idea of MSIL will be to overcome the space limitation in scaling up the business. And by the way, it will be cost effective too.

I find this very useful. Always had to spend a full day at MASS for regular service. Had to use MASS over the period of extended warranty so that no question arises during warranty claim in future, otherwise I would not have done any regular service at MASS .

Any problems that needed workshop attention always happened between regular service periods. So for those I can visit them, otherwise for regular oil/filter change service this is good. Since there would be no water-wash, the cost may be low too.

It was time for First free service of my XL6, and I decided to avail this Service on Wheels facility. Booked it on NEXA Service app. It gives you option to choose your preferred dealer, service advisor and any demand jobs if needed. I had no issue in the car, so I thought it was a mere formality.

-The Customer care manager(CCM) of the selected dealership called me in morning and confirmed the address and time

-The guys arrived in time

-They first began by spraying sanitizer on all touch points of the car like handles etc.

-One chap started cleaning and vacuuming all mats. Since only driver side mat was dirty, he was done in less than 5 minutes.

-The Mechanic meanwhile did all checkups like Electrical, fluids including battery electrolyte, PW movement, door movement etc. He also cleaned the Air Filter and Cabin air filter.

-They asked if I had any complaints. There were none.

- I feared they may push consumables like windshield fluid etc, but it was all optional. I did stock a couple of sachets since it was politely asked, and its anyway a useful commodity.

-I requested them not to wash the car, as I was planning to myself do all the cleaning later that day. However they were sweet enough to give me a free wash coupon which I can avail anytime I wish.

-They gave me a sticker which had details of escalation matrix. I have kept it in my glove box.

-They saw me looking at the van curiously, so offered me a detailed tour of the same.

-It took less than 30 minutes for the entire job.

-Another brilliant initiative for transparency was the customer initiated job card. While this was a simple checkup service, it will ensure only approved work later during major services.

In all, a brilliant initiative by Maruti and its specially a great convenience in these times. :thumbs up clap:

Pics:















The hydraulic lift stored below:







The online job card approval system:

Damn, that looks like a full fledged workshop!
The way Maruti prioritises the customer and service aspects is what others can learn to succeed in India. Kudos to them.