[ajmat]

Your car was parked next to mine in a basement in a medical centre in koramangala this morning. No sign of you though!

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Your car was parked next to mine in a basement in a medical centre in koramangala this morning. No sign of you though!

Correct Ajmat.
I went for a dental appointment and was subjected to much prodding and poking and pain under local anaesthesia.
I slunk quietly out at 12ish once I was done and came home to lick my wounds!

[shankar.balan]

Just as a matter of interest, the Skoda Service Calculator gave me an estimate for my second service, of Rs 13934/- including the cost of one set of wiper blades.

As it happens, my service bill was 15700 odd including the set of wiper blades.

I had of course, opted to go with the more expensive grade of VW recommended engine oil rather than the normally used one, so this in itself adds an extra 1000 bucks odd to the bill.

Need to check the bills when I find time, to see what the other differences are.

Main thing here is that the whole system appears to work reasonably accurately and some amount of variance has to be accepted I guess.

Cheers

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by milu2fast

Hie, I got an offer of 1L off on 2013 model elegance from kochi showroom (otr 2158000 includiong skoda shield) ,anybody think I can get a better deal??

That seems strange because I paid 18.47 or thereabouts when they had a 2 lakh discount (including Skoda Shield), from the same city. How come your quote is 21.58 after a 1 lakh discount?

[milu2fast]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

That seems strange because I paid 18.47 or thereabouts when they had a 2 lakh discount (including Skoda Shield), from the same city. How come your quote is 21.58 after a 1 lakh discount?

Well we bought it anyways. The actual otr was 22.3-22.5 range and immediately after we took it it reached closer to 23 following the dollar rupee fallout. We opted to take shield at 1st renewal and our price was 21.15.
Have put my review too. BTW when did you buy your dream??

[Demonhead]

Thanks for sharing as i head into my 30k second service Shankar! My insurance is up for renewal as well and i got a similar qoute - just wanted to reconfirm if your zero dep cover is with Bajaj Allianz (Drive assure)?

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

My vehicle is back from its second service.

I got the all the standard things done and the oils etc changed as per the recommended grade(a).
Also got the Pollen filter and the engine air filter changed.
Since the wiper blades were aged and beginning to expire we got them also changed.
Else it was all the standard stuff that needed to be done.
The bill was a good bit. Around 16000/- including all taxes etc.
The insurance is also coming up now for renewal and including zero dep and engine protector, gearbox protector etc the premium is 32 odd thousand.
The vehicle was picked up by the. Instal guys and dropped back while I was travelling Monday and Tuesday.
All well so far and it feels very nice indeed to drive after it's second service.
I realize I am hardly doing 9000-10000kms per annum and at this rate I am going to simply follow the time-led service pattern rather than the odometer- led pattern.
Also, at this rate I hope I shall be able to enjoy this vehicle for a reasonably long time into the future.
Cheers.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Demonhead

Thanks for sharing as i head into my 30k second service Shankar! My insurance is up for renewal as well and i got a similar qoute - just wanted to reconfirm if your zero dep cover is with Bajaj Allianz (Drive assure)?

I just renewed my insurance at 32000 odd. Zero Dep is with Bajaj Allianz and I paid some 15k. The actual insurance premium was 17k ish.
IDV 13.5 ish I think. 2 years old vehicle.

[shankar.balan]

Something I wanted to share.

I visit Oasis mall often to go to Auchan.

While taking the ramp up to the 4th level, I just enter the ramp in first gear and point the Yeti in the right direction with just the right momentum.

Believe me, with my foot completely off the accelerator, the vehicle's sheer torque, grip and power enables it to climb quietly, efficiently and easily all the way to the top.

All that I do is to steer it carefully around those hairpin bends on the ramp. The torque takes the vehicle easily over the little speed bumps which appear on each floor etc.

On the reverse journey, the Hill Descent Control works just as brilliantly where I literally coast down in first gear with my foot completely off the accelerator and braking only very occasionally.

Amazing vehicle indeed, this Yeti is! Am truly glad, two years on, that I took the plunge and bought it!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Something I wanted to share.

I visit Oasis mall often to go to Auchan.

While taking the ramp up to the 4th level, I just enter the ramp in first gear and point the Yeti in the right direction with just the right momentum.

Believe me, with my foot completely off the accelerator, the vehicle's sheer torque, grip and power enables it to climb quietly, efficiently and easily all the way to the top.

All that I do is to steer it carefully around those hairpin bends on the ramp. The torque takes the vehicle easily over the little speed bumps which appear on each floor etc.

On the reverse journey, the Hill Descent Control works just as brilliantly where I literally coast down in first gear with my foot completely off the accelerator and braking only very occasionally.

Amazing vehicle indeed, this Yeti is! Am truly glad, two years on, that I took the plunge and bought it!

The uphill thing holds true with most diesels I think. I do the same with my Punto 90 when I visit Oasis mall.

However, sad part is- Punto doesn't take the ramp corner at one shot. Requires 3 point turns at most of the turns there.

[sameerg001]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

The uphill thing holds true with most diesels I think. I do the same with my Punto 90 when I visit Oasis mall.

However, sad part is- Punto doesn't take the ramp corner at one shot. Requires 3 point turns at most of the turns there.

Exactly, even i do same in my figo diesel, infact even with 3 people and bit of luggage on board, the car went on ramp easily without any accelerator input.

[shankar.balan]

So I was away for a month and the Yeti was parked under wraps at the time.

Coming back I drove it two days then travelled again for a day and then last Sat when we were doing some errands the AC was blowing warm air at us.

Checked on the forum with Sameer (Behemoth) who long distance diagnosed the compressor.

In the meantime was in correspondence with Akshay in Bombay on some other matter and even he mentioned the compressor.

Called Vinayak Skoda, sent them a mail and asked for the vehicle to be picked up on Monday to attend to the problem.

Told them as usual to take their time.

Well, I got the vehicle back just an hour back and the Ac is working beautifully.
The whole compressor and its attendant fiddlybits have been replaced under warranty. I understand the total cost of parts replaced to be in the region of Rs 75K.

Thank heavens for the extended warranty!

I am having to pay only a tiny amount towards car wash and pickup/ drop charges.

As per my usual experience with them, I got prompt, courteous and good quality service from Vinayak. Am happy.

[xplorauto]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

As per my usual experience with them, I got prompt, courteous and good quality service from Vinayak. Am happy.

Lucky You!!! I wasn't half as lucky though with a similar problem.

A few weeks back on an uneventful day of moving around in the city in my Yeti, the A/C suddenly started blowing hot air into the cabin. I called up Aiyanna, the GM of service at Vinayaka and he asked me to bring the car down and meet Prem, the service adviser. So the following day I took her for troubleshooting and repair.

After I explained the problem to Prem, I stood waiting for the car to be taken into the repair bay for inspection. While the car was being moved into the work area, I observed that the under chassis of the car gently scraped an awkward undulation. However, the rub was so gentle that I casually complained and asked the driver to be more careful.

So the inspection began and not before long, Prem pointed out at a spillage mark. On closer inspection it turned out that the high pressure hose carrying the compressor gas has a puncture and clearly one could tell that the area around has been eroded away due to friction.

So the pressure hoses had to be replaced and clearly since the car was under warranty, I assumed the costs would be covered. The first shock came when Prem said, that rubber parts are not covered under warranty. When I argued back, he changed his stance and said that he would need time to access the cause of the puncture.

I waited at the customer lounge for close to an hour, when Prem came and told that the rough road protector under the chassis has scrape marks and that meant this was an accident. I immediately told him that there was no under chassis impact that took place before the A/C stopped working and pointed out the incidence of the light scrapping that took place while the car was being removed by one of their drivers into the work area. Obviously that was flatly denied.

Now, something that was even more unbelievable was the fact that a gentle scraping on the protector plate could cause a friction puncture of a rubber part almost about 2 feet up inside the engine bay while the rest of the parts which were much low down close to the under chassis protector were in pristine state.

Left without an option, I said if the damage were indeed due to an impact, I should be able to claim insurance on it. If not, it should be under warranty. So I filed and insurance claim with ICICI Lombard and left the car for repair as a backup. Aiyanna promised that he would pursue the warranty claim in parallel.

Next day, the insurance surveyor called me to inform that the part damaged cannot be due to a scraping of the under chassis and hence the claim cannot be approved. So, I went back to Aiyanna and team with the insurance report and asked him to chech on the status of the warranty claim.

To my dismay, I was astounded to discover that the claim information report was written in a tone so as to establish that the failure of the part was because of an external impact. As feared Skoda disallowed the claim. As for me, I had to pay 26K from my pocket. For someone, who was such a proactive advocate of how rugged a car the Yeti was and how helpful the folks at Vinayaka and Skoda were, it was rude wake up call.

I cannot fathom how, without any external impact before the A/C stopped working, a puncture can develop on a part 2 feet within the engine chamber and when clearly one can see that the part gave away due to friction over a considerable period of time. Even with a scrape on the under chassis rough road protector, such a failure is practically impossible.

The only way that kind of failure could happen if during assemble the hose was not set in proper position and that kept on rubbing with another metal part in the vicinity. Over a period due to frictional erosion the rubber would have thinned down and given way causing the fluid and gasses to leak out.

So, as for Skoda and Vinayaka, whether you would be treated right seems to largely depend on how many customers you have referred in the past. I have had about 3 referrals who went on to buy their Skoda cars from vinayaka but apparently the numbers where not good enough for them to deliver a fair deal to the customers.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by xplorauto

So, as for Skoda and Vinayaka, whether you would be treated right seems to largely depend on how many customers you have referred in the past. I have had about 3 referrals who went on to buy their Skoda cars from vinayaka but apparently the numbers where not good enough for them to deliver a fair deal to the customers.

While I can empathise with you, I do not endorse or appreciate the implication that I only get good service because of the referrals given.
I only refer a customer to any service or brand if I have had a good experience wit the said service/ brand.
So far I have no complaints with either Skoda or Vinayaka and well, I am happy that my car and i are looked after properly by the dealer.

[shankar.balan]

Another piece of bad luck today.
In HSR after stopping briefly at the ATM and slowly moving off, a parked white volkswagen suddenly turned right out of his parked position on the left side just as I was passing. I swerved slightly to the right to avoid him. At the exact moment a speeding biker cracked into my right mirror and right front fender, went flying and created some deadly collateral damage on two auto rickshaws which were coming in the opposite direction.

Huge commotion, much abuse and really bad behaviour on the part of the white volks driver who was a low life, albeit with two ladies in the back.

I was quite stunned but stopped and went to help the biker who had cut himself a bit etc. Applied disinfectant on him by which time his pals turned up and at first started speaking roughly. At the time, the volks ran off.

The auto drivers started kicking up a ruckus too as usual. Everyone in India on the streets, thinks that this kind of situation is a chance to make money off some hapless soul. Disgusting third rate behaviour.

So I called one of my pals who knows a senior cop at the Madivala traffic police station and we kept the cops informed. I also called HSR Layout cop station but despite assurances they never came.

Meantime I was just calmly explaining that it was a pure accident and it really was no one's fault except the dirty little runaway volkswagen driver's.

Cutting a long story short, I invested two hours and some effort with a local garage and a lot of convincing. Finally the bikers friends coughed up some Rs 3K and I did the same just to ensure that the poor auto driver was not badly financially hit.

I do not mind helping people but I hate being extorted from.

Unfortunately here, I was the guy with the most expensive vehicle so I guess as per Indian street laws, I had to take the hit.

My Yeti right fender is hurt. A dent has appeared right at the wheel arch. No paint loss. Two scratches on the upper part of the fender. The mirror had completely folded the other way out but luckily did not break.

I drove to Trend Auto and asked them to assess the damage. They said not to worry and it will get fixed up in a couple of hours time. Only, they are going away for ten days from this weekend and I am travelling for a week from tomorrow, so it looks like I can only get this car done after I return. Probably around the 15th or so.

I am certainly looking at another small pile of cash at least, worth of repair costs for my car. Five minutes flat, one mistake on the part of a third class driver and a hurrying biker and bang...there goes ones peace of mind and there goes more of my money right down the drain....the price of living, working and paying taxes in this blighted god forsaken place with its skewed laws, priorities and disgustingly badly behaved, venal, greedy people.

Really unhappy but I have to be philosophical and accept the inevitable.

[iTNerd]

@Shankar, that is indeed bad luck! but good that you were in control over your emotion and things didn't get out of control. Sometimes, you just need to let it go and make peace. I hope the bigfoot gets fixed soon.