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Old 15th July 2011, 15:40   #196
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

Damn, my car makes its official entry onto this thread. Despite all its problems, the C220 never broke down. Until last weekend, that is. Engine stalled while driving in traffic at Breach Candy. Wouldn't start no matter what. Called Auto Hangar who had it towed via a flat bed.

Reason : Crankshaft position sensor failed, along with the Hall sensor for camshaft.
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Old 15th July 2011, 16:01   #197
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

GTO I think you now offically have a lemon.

Understand your frustration, there is a limit one can endure for the pleasure of the drive when things are fine.

maybe the smiley is inappropriate.
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Old 15th July 2011, 21:45   #198
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

Holy Cow! A C220 packing up on you? What's with these Germans? Why so many electronics? Simple mechanical is better than tricked-up electronics.
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Old 17th July 2011, 12:04   #199
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

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Originally Posted by GTO View Post
Damn, my car makes its official entry onto this thread. Despite all its problems, the C220 never broke down. Until last weekend, that is. Engine stalled while driving in traffic at Breach Candy. Wouldn't start no matter what. Called Auto Hangar who had it towed via a flat bed.
Commiserations GTO. So, is it getting time to sell off the C ? On the plus side, it happened in the city, not 100km out of it.
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Old 17th July 2011, 17:03   #200
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

Don't worry GTO, our Skoda just made its official entry into this thread as well yesterday.
The clutch got stuck, and the gears were hard to engage and were making noise. Tried getting her back to our office, but the car broke down half-way through heavy traffic near Mahalaxmi Station.
Ironically, this happened the day-after it was returned from a 4 day servicing with JMD, where a service was carried out, along with them solving a water leaking problem. It still had to go back for a few other jobs, but due to unavailability of spares we were using it till the spares arrived. Looks like the car grew impatient and was eager to go back.
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Old 17th July 2011, 23:51   #201
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

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Don't worry GTO, our Skoda just made its official entry into this thread as well yesterday.

Ironically, this happened the day-after it was returned from a 4 day servicing with JMD, where a service was carried out, along with them solving a water leaking problem. It still had to go back for a few other jobs, but due to unavailability of spares we were using it till the spares arrived. Looks like the car grew impatient and was eager to go back.
Skodas seem to be among the most impatient Germans. (pseudo germans)They have a special attraction for the service centre. Expecially the Laura generation. Mine has as yet not used a flat bet yet though it did require to be towed once from home for a blown turbo.
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Old 22nd July 2011, 00:04   #202
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

21st afternoon around 1pm, a flatbed breakdown service truck arrived in front of our house and guess what?? A black Micra which belongs to a friend of my neighbour climbed on it's back and was whisked away to the service centre!

I was not there in the afternoon, so no pics unfortunately, but my parents asked the driver and he said it was some problem with the engine, it wouldn't start. I have seen this black Micra often when the person used to come to visit my neighbour. Are the japanese going the wrong way too?
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Old 22nd July 2011, 00:19   #203
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

@GTO

I see your car everyday at worli auotohanger , whats the stain on your driver seat?

and I think the sensors come from germany thats why the long wait.
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Old 24th July 2011, 01:03   #204
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

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Engine stalled while driving in traffic at Breach Candy. Wouldn't start no matter what.
Think of the silver lining, at least it did not happen at a really inopportune time.
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Old 24th July 2011, 01:13   #205
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

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Originally Posted by GTO View Post
Damn, my car makes its official entry onto this thread. Despite all its problems, the C220 never broke down. Until last weekend, that is. Engine stalled while driving in traffic at Breach Candy. Wouldn't start no matter what. Called Auto Hangar who had it towed via a flat bed.

Reason : Crankshaft position sensor failed, along with the Hall sensor for camshaft.
Just saw this post. Rush, I think its time for you to sell, and get whatever you can out of it. In the meantime upgrade the suspension on your Civic so you get the Merc stability too. And then find a replacement, maybe that 20-30l thread of mine got you a bit interested?
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Old 24th July 2011, 15:30   #206
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

GTO,

Like others said, the brighter side is it did not happen in a remote area, when I think of Mercedes I only think of the past which truly were the worst customer experience with a product ever, do consider move to BMW as of now it has been a wonderful experience (touchwood).

Or perhaps wait for Infinity, will offer a good balance of dynamics + Japanese reliability!!

Hope all is sorted soon no matter what you decide to do.

Regards,
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Old 24th July 2011, 15:41   #207
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

I always yearned to own a german car. After viewing this thread,maybe I will stick to the japanese, at least till the time I have a really fat wallet.
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Old 24th July 2011, 17:17   #208
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

Quite some time back about 16-18 months back, I was reading one of the auto magazines where in the author had tested one of the German / European SUVs Vs our Indian SUV (if I remember correctly, it was the humble Bolero) to see do these SUVs pass the muster when it comes doing cross country with some amount of real dirt track (read: swampy conditions) thrown in.

What I remember is that the European SUV got stuck in the middle of the dirt track and when the driver wanted to get out - he could not because the Electronics won't function and there was no mechanical means to open the door. And, I think, other issues also cropped up. But because it was a driven with a specific purpose the team was ready with back ups and were able to call in the towing service.

But the humble Bolero didn't wince once in doing all that and yes, it did not get stuck anywhere.

The conclusion was that under Indian conditions, better to stick to Indian vehicles which rely more on mechanical means to operate.
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Old 24th July 2011, 22:47   #209
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

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Originally Posted by W.A.G.7 View Post
Are the japanese going the wrong way too?

Correct me if I am wrong but, isn't their a French ( read renault ) engine under the bonnet of Micra?
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Old 25th July 2011, 16:52   #210
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Re: PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

hi
well something new a German 20 year old car audi 100 towing my 1 month old Chinese suv hover because the clutch died in just 5000 km
This old audi 100 has run 500,000 km without any mechanical changes not even clutch is changed ever and now is used as a tow car by this chinese small town mechanic
narry
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Last edited by Amartya : 2nd August 2011 at 05:32. Reason: Corrected the typos. Kindly write in full and proper English for the benefit of the forum members.
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