[deehunk]

Originally Posted by hserus

The one key difference it states is a reduced low temperature viscosity compared to regular dot 4 but I have my doubts as to just how relevant this part of the spec will be unless you’re driving in the Himalayas.

That spec is roughly equivalent to “DOT4 Super“ so this brand might actually work and is an OEM for quite a few high end Germans.

I recall an internal project that was assigned to our team in my ex-company, the requirement was to develop and test a concept to preheat the oil before it flowed through the engine components. The customer was facing problems with low temperature oil circulating through the engine and turbo components.

[Ayson]

Thanks for your reply.

Originally Posted by hserus

....The one key difference it states is a reduced low temperature viscosity compared to regular dot 4 but I have my doubts as to just how relevant this part of the spec will be unless you’re driving in the Himalayas.

Like you said, the "low temperature viscosity" will not affect us much in Indian weather conditions. But the entire fluid is low viscosity specifically designed for the smaller bores in the electronic brake systems. Also the VW specs have a higher wet boiling temperature. This does affect us in the tropics.

Originally Posted by hserus

...

https://www.amazon.in/Pentosin-12041...dp/B00JMAPS6U/

http://www.pentosin.net/specsheets/pentosin_dot4_lv.pdf

The Pentosin site link points to a compatible fluid: PENTOSIN DOT 4 LV. The amazon link is for a different fluid. Anyway, the Liqui Moly SL6 you mentioned earlier, is much cheaper and has confirmed compatibility.

Originally Posted by hserus

Now for the coolants ...

https://www.amazon.in/GLYSANTIN-G30%...dp/B079M3L7K4/

https://www.blauparts.com/vw/vw_flui...ne_fluid.shtml

I already have G13 in my car. Like you say, anything below G13 is only taking me backwards in terms of protection, including the GLYSANTIN G30. (I had pounced on the GLYSANTIN products as soon as they appeared on amazon, but sadly not G13). If it were a situation where I needed full volume of coolant after a repair, or it were an emergency, where the vehicle was unusable without a product, this option could be considered. But in my specific case, I wanted to do a coolant replacement because it is about 4 years old. It doesn't make sense for me to dump my G13 for and older variant. Incidentally, the manufacturer, IIRC, says the coolant is good for the lifetime of the vehicle. But that is the maximum warranty period as far as they are concerned.

I wish these 3rd party manufacturers would start supplying in India! Ravenol, Febi, Meyle, Swag, Motul, etc. all have G13 coolants. Just not in India.

Thanks for the time you put in to research even though you are not a VAG guy (from your profile).

[rdst_1]

Originally Posted by Ayson

Hi everyone.
Like the title says, I was looking for a place to get genuine VAG parts. Can owners / users / anybody point me in the right direction. I've tried asking at a VW and Audi dealerships but they outright refused to sell parts to me. Not tried a Skoda dealership yet, but I expect the same response. I also tried a local German car parts shop.
.

Do give Skoda a try. In Chandigarh, one of my friends who owns a Vento wasn't able to source parts/liquids from VW OTC, while the Skoda guys happily sold him whatever he wanted to buy.
I specifically remember him picking up extra bottles of Gear Oil and coolant as prices were cheaper than VW and were going to further increase after GST.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by Ayson

Thanks for the time you put in to research even though you are not a VAG guy (from your profile).

Yeah the thing is, I recently helped a friend source a BHPian owned GT TDI that, though at 4 years and 40k km, was already a second owner due to corporate lease being transferred to the seller.

If the chap gets transferred abroad as is likely in a couple of years or so, guess who ends up with the car? . Even if I have to pay road tax afresh in TN and go through the usual pain of interstate transfer from Bangalore, it should be a worthwhile bargain.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Ayson

Even the Toyota site does not have brake fluid and coolant listed, but maybe they don't have specific requirements.

Dealers have fat margins on spares but looking to increase utilisation of the labour force to enhance their profits further.

Yes, the fluids are not listed for some reason but over the years I have bought 6 litres of coolant, 5 oil filters, an air filter element, 2 battery clamps, Iridium spark plugs, 1 litre of brake fluid (this month) and an earthing cable from Toyota dealers right here in Pune. On top of all that I've even ordered some rubber grease for brake caliper pins.

My car always goes to the ASC for its annual check up so the parts are stored just in case I want to do a DIY in the future. BTW the dealers resist initially but one call to TKM generally sorts them out. I also need to prove I own the vehicle by sharing the VIN & registration #s.

You will need VAG India's support to get these dealers to cooperate. Hope that's forthcoming

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by rdst_1

Do give Skoda a try. In Chandigarh, one of my friends who owns a Vento wasn't able to source parts/liquids from VW OTC, while the Skoda guys happily sold him whatever he wanted to buy.
I specifically remember him picking up extra bottles of Gear Oil and coolant as prices were cheaper than VW and were going to further increase after GST.

Now Skoda will handle VW across India. Details are sketchy but seems that this has been decide.

[Ayson]

Originally Posted by rdst_1

Do give Skoda a try. In Chandigarh,...

Will try, thanks. Damn, I was in CDG around the time I started looking for these parts, but I had to fly back.

Originally Posted by R2D2

Dealers have fat margins on spares but looking to increase utilisation of the labour force to ....You will need VAG India's support to get these dealers to cooperate. Hope that's forthcoming

Yeah, these guys want to squeeze customers too hard. I would think selling parts would only get them more business.

I remember loosing an alloy wheel centre-cap on my Vento on the way back after service. The SC wanted some INR 150 labour charges above the price of the part. 150 bucks to take it out of the packet and push it on the wheel! Something they didn't do right when they had the car for service.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Now Skoda will handle VW across India. Details are sketchy but seems that this has been decide.

Could you elaborate. I didn't fully understand what you mean.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Ayson

I remember loosing an alloy wheel centre-cap on my Vento on the way back after service. The SC wanted some INR 150 labour charges above the price of the part.

Rip off? It's nothing new. I paid about Rs 110 including tax for an ASC tech to insert two wiper rubber squeegees into the wiper blades, a job that takes about 5 minutes flat.

But I get such jobs (including a recently replaced under-hood insulator) done by the ASCs. It keeps them i.e. the service advisors and the dealership in good humour making them more cooperative whenever I want to buy spares from them. The most recent being brake fluid and the still on-order caliper/rubber grease.

[sumzup]

Originally Posted by Ayson

Will try, thanks. Damn, I was in CDG around the time I started looking for these parts, but I had to fly back.


Yeah, these guys want to squeeze customers too hard. I would think selling parts would only get them more business.

I remember loosing an alloy wheel centre-cap on my Vento on the way back after service. The SC wanted some INR 150 labour charges above the price of the part. 150 bucks to take it out of the packet and push it on the wheel! Something they didn't do right when they had the car for service.


Could you elaborate. I didn't fully understand what you mean.

Skoda has been made the primary principal company in India now and VW may gradually handover the operation control either totally or partially to Skoda. This was in the pipeline for sometime as the image of VW taking a beating worldwide. In India, it adds more weight due to the dismissal performance of VW which might have added to the misery. So, it also means that Skoda will now get the much needed impetus both on functionality and development wise. (BTW, Skoda does give parts out for fitment outside their ASCs as experienced by me in Bengaluru). Cheers

[Viraj.515]

How can a customer purchase service manual of a car from the spares counter of an authorised service centre?

I asked the service manager of the nearby Honda dealership for the service manual via email. He replied me that Honda’s standard operating procedure does not allow them to sell the manuals. Higher authority at Honda India explained him that it is their personal property and it can’t be sold to the customers.

[ashwinprakas]

Hi Guys,

Thought of sharing an ordeal we faced at the following Maruti Suzuki Authorized Outlet;

Hercules Automobiles,
Vazhayila, Trivandrum.

Yesterday around noon we had approached the ASC to buy the following spares;

1. Air Filter
2. Oil Filter

For a 2012 Maruti Suzuki Swift VXi and was denied of the same, when asked for a reason it was quoted that Over-the-counter sales was prohibited.

So today we decided to escalate the issue and called MS's helpline number:



though you may notice the talk-time to be over 23 minutes, about 19 minutes of the same was spent on hold, during the remaining time we were speaking to an unenthusiastic call center personnel who was audibly yawning and moaning, he was kind enough to provide us with the customer support email which was already provided in their website and asked us to send an email so that the respective team would pick it up.

Hence without further judgement, we sent out the following email:



While we anticipate a reply, I would like to know if it is possible for a company to deny us sale of spare parts as such, reason for doubt is because I've faced a similar situation ordering KTM spares in the past.

When searching I did stumble upon this post: How I got Honda to sell me spare parts over-the-counter


Which served as a motivator for creating this log.

Please share your thoughts and experiences on the same.

Regards,
A.P.

[Leoshashi]

I am not sure whether it's actually prohibited by Maruti for OTC sale of spares from ASC. But the usual arrangement I have seen is that they need to open a job card to issue spares. Job card means you need to take in your car.

For direct sale of spares, Maruti has their MGP stores. They are authorised to do counter sale to any customer or FNG. MASS and Dealer workshops need to open a job card for the same, hence they avoid direclty selling.

Regards
Shashi

[kozhissery]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

Hi Guys,

Yesterday around noon we had approached the ASC to buy the following spares;

1. Air Filter
2. Oil Filter

Which served as a motivator for creating this log.

Please share your thoughts and experiences on the same.

Oh I thought that Service centers cannot sell the spares via OTC, that's why they have dedicated spare shops like the one in Ullor (I had got spares for my swift some couple of years back and I hope that it has not shut the shop). If I remember correctly it was run by Popular group and the search in internet threw the following result

[paragsachania]

What Shashi mentions is true. Many times I have walked into a dealer workshop to pick parts (due to lack of MGP dealerships those days), the dealer always refused to sell the parts because they need to open a job card. These days things are easier to buy from MGP outlets.

Another instance was with Chevrolet. My relative's Spark needed wheel covers as they were stolen. The dealership (one and only in Bangalore) denied selling them over the counter. I had to tell them that the car was not in Bangalore and I can't drive it here to merely replace the wheel covers. Finally after noting down the Odometer reading and opening a job card I could buy these covers. In fact if a dealer workshop is selling you the parts over the counter, it is more likely that they would also ask you for the Odometer reading of your car to open that Job card and link it to a part that is sold.

So the issue is not just with Maruti. I guess most manufacturers don't sell parts over the counter. Thankfully today the situation is better with alternate options where one can buy OE parts.

In fact, while searching for my own posts about the above 2 examples, I found out a related thread here:

Originally Posted by paragsachania

No they do not and you can purchase these parts only from MGP outlets.

I recall very well when I went to Pratham Motors, Bellandur in Bangalore to pick the left hand side Mirror assembly for my WagonR and they asked me to get the vehicle as they dont sell parts OTC.

Second incident I recall was at Sundaram Motors, A Chevrolet dealer then to pick Wheel caps for the Spark and they asked me to bring the vehicle too.

However, I also have heard cases where folks have purchased parts OTC from Dealer workshops as well.

[aerohit]

Just locate an MGP shop and go there

http://mgp.co.in/#section-2