[jkdas]

Originally Posted by suman

The odo read 30,003 as I climbed out of the beast this morning at work. The 30k service was done a couple of weeks ago & did cost quite a bit compared to the earlier ones. Will update later.

I seriously need to get the alloy wheels balanced now that 30k kms are over & the wheels have been rotated twice (once at the 15k kms service & now again at the 30k mark).

The workhorse continues to serve me well & keeps me insulated from the chaotic NCR traffic - thanks matecheers:! I have used the left rear door as a OSRVM strength tester for an Esteem & an Indica - I observed that the Indica's sticks out more & the Esteem's one takes a little more rubbing compound to get off the door but more on that later

.

Waiting for the updates.

[suman]

Completed 33.6k kms & have just remembered that I hadn't updated on the 30k service, so here we go (please excuse the long post)

Most times, the service schedule is like - rush in on Saturday morning, hand over keys to the Advisor & give him a list of things to attend to, rush out, rush back in the evening & collect the car. With a behemoth of this size, it does help if one gives the workshop a bit of time so that they have room to breathe (specially if the schedule of things to be done is a lengthy one). So, this time around, there was a request from my Advisor to leave the vehicle overnight so that he could ensure meticulous attention to all aspects. Since I had a day off on the 7th of March, I left the car with them (odo reading 29,366) and also gave them a long list of all that I wanted them to attend. Apart from the regular stuff, the following were to be done -

• Left front door & front passenger seat were rattling (the effect of flying low over the wonderful undulations on MG Road) - Fixed
• There was an irritating tick-tick coming from the dashboard, more pronounced on turning the steering to the left - an earthing wire had come loose inside the engine, fixed
• On high speed braking, there was a rear brake noise - hand brake cable was adjusted & one wheel speed sensor was replaced
• The clutch was a little hard & gear shifting was hard in cold conditions - to my mind, all that they needed to do was to remove & service master & slave cylinder & refit. But the Advisor insisted that "Sir, clutch replace kar dete, warranty mein. Maaza aah jayega gaddi chalake sir". I wasn't keen on this but since it was under warranty, I agreed. So, clutch changed, lol!

Apart from this, it was the usual oil & filter change as well as the Fuel Filter Assembly change (which is due at 30k as mentioned in this & other threads). I'd exhausted my quota of free services (labour) so this was a paid one. Total bill was Rs 6.8k, consisting of -

• Engine Oil (Mobil 1 10w40 - 6.2 ltrs) - 975
• Oil Filter - 214
• Fuel Filter (Delphi) - 2163
• Bardahl treatment (Flush & additive) - 1120
• V belt (for AC, normal wear & tear) - 508
• Bush ball (seat lever) - 21
• VAT on above items - 625
• Labour charge for Service (incl ST) - 1191.

Took delivery of the beast on the 8th of March, spick & span & spotless & one hell of a light clutch, so had some fun squealing tyres on the way home. Over the next couple of days, did some extensive testing & wasn't happy because there was a slight judder while reversing in a half-clutch kinda situation (you know, when you are reversing very slowly into a parking slot or something) & when inching forward in bumper to bumper traffic. I could also feel a vibration at speeds in excess of 120 kmph. The beast also seemed to be struggling a bit post-130 kmph to reach 140-145. Called them up & kept them informed & also told them that I couldn't bring the truck in for a couple of weeks. Did take it back a couple of weeks later, they reopened everything & refitted it (this being a 4x4, its one hell of a job getting the clutch attended to as it involves removing & refitting two gearboxes - the regular as well as the 4x4). They also changed one of the rods that link up the gear lever (was slightly out of alignment, may have happened while removing or refitting) & balanced the front wheels (was also overdue, just hadn't been able to get down to doing it).

About the sluggishness post-130, the Senior WM told me to stop using Premium fuel & switch to Regular (without additives). He told me the mileage would go up by around 2 kmpl & the sluggishness would go away. He also advised me to decrease the tyre pressure to around 28-30 & this would help nullify the effect of the undulating roads on the squeaks & rattles.

Post this visit, the clutch judder went away but I still wasn't happy about the slight vibrations that remained at high speeds so I decided to take it for balancing myself. Now, alloy wheel balancing is a major issue as I have found from my past experience with my Fiesta that they muck it up big time if you are not careful. So, after a lot of deliberation, I took it to Chanakyapuri to one of the most famous alignment guys in Delhi (thought they'd do a good job of the balancing too). Both alignment & balancing were done & to cut a long story short, I was still not happy with the balancing (vibration was more pronounced at high speeds). Finally got that done to my satisfaction day before yesterday at the same tyre shop that I'd purchased my Fiesta Michelins from (Ishan's contact). Spent a good half an hour there, the guy took a lot of pains to ensure that the balancing was perfect (I hadn't liked the machine at the Chanakya place - didn't seem to be giving accurate readings but I had no way of verifying that). Tried out on the NH8 the next morning, no vibrations felt till 130, let it go thereafter.

The sluggishness? I think it was one batch of bad fuel. I'm still running Premium fuel though & haven't switched to Regular yet. I'm OK with the 10 kmpl that I'm getting & am just a little apprehensive that switching to regular will cause smoke & injector clogging issues sooner or later so why disturb the beast!

The experiment with lowering tyre pressure? Yes, tried it out for a week but went back to my normal 32-35 because my FE went down a bit & I was convinced that part of this was due to the tyre pressure being lowered. The vehicle did jump a little less when flying over bad patches but I thought, what the hell. If I'm so concerned, I need to stop flying over them, right?

Other observations - giving them time to do the work does help. I can see this time around that some of the noises that used to come back after 5k kms or so of regular abuse are yet to make an appearance this time around (close to 4k kms completed already). The vehicle is very silent even when running empty.

God, that was one hell of a long post. Gotta go now guys, will update once the 35k kms service is done, which should be in about 2 to 3 weeks from now. Till then, I'll just meander along in my rattle-free (yeah) monster that has given me thousands of kms of trouble free & reliable motoring! Honestly, as I was telling Ashthedivx the other evening - there is simply no alternative at this price point & unless something comes up in the next couple of years, it looks like I'm destined to buy another Safari VX when the next replacement becomes due. And you know what? That may be a little boring (as in "yawn, not again") but speaks volumes (to me at least) about my faith in TATA Motors. Not that I've been a lifetime fan but as I said, its all about a combination of VFM & reliability. Which I trust them to deliver.

Of course, they must tighten up their 3rd party QC while they are at it - would be good for all of us.

Cheers guys & (shake, shake for all who've fallen asleep)

[benbsb29]

Suman, was about time you had updated your ownership threads, specially considering the amount of running around your vehicles do.

[suman]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Suman, was about time you had updated your ownership threads, specially considering the amount of running around your vehicles do.

I know Benny, the other bird's already completed 5k kms after fixing her new shoes, I think I owe at least Ishan an update on that one if not anyone else

[tsk1979]

Suman, you sure have a nice service advisor. Its Dhingra motors gurgaon, right?

[suman]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Suman, you sure have a nice service advisor. Its Dhingra motors gurgaon, right?

Yup. Good Advisor, backed up, of course, by the Senior WM

[harjeev]

hey suman, where did you get the service done for your beast. My service buy is Ok but I am not very much convinced about their professionalism.

[suman]

Originally Posted by harjeev

hey suman, where did you get the service done for your beast.

Harjeev, as mentioned by tsk, I use Dhingra Motors workshop in Sector 14, Gurgaon. Have been using them since Day One. You hear a lot of stories about them as well but I think it all depends on the relationship.

They handle a HUGE volume of cars so I guess it does help to have a relationship with a few people out there. It ensures that I receive individual attention whenever my car goes there - this may not necessarily happen for all cars that go there.

Apart from that, the Senior Works Manager is a storehouse of knowledge as far as the Safari is concerned - comes from years of outright practical experience. And he's one hell of a nice guy

[harjeev]

thanks for that info suman. I really appreciate it

[extreme_torque]

Hey Suman... Nice Report.
A clutch change @ 30k's kms under warranty... I need to learn some PR skill from you!

[suman]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

A clutch change @ 30k's kms under warranty... I need to learn some PR skill from you!

And the best part was - I didn't want it! All I said was that the clutch was a little hard & could they do something about it

Anyways, I shouldn't be complaining I guess - I did fry it a bit once in Kasauli & one more time during a small 4x4 excursion over a sandy divider!

[simply_sunny001]

Originally Posted by suman

And the best part was - I didn't want it! All I said was that the clutch was a little hard & could they do something about it

thats real nice on dealer's part.and you are lucky to stay in GGN.

I am also looking for such a dealer in this side of NCR as having lot of problems after closing of Nawab Motors.

tried 2 dealers and they suck big time.

[extreme_torque]

@sunny...Why dont you go to Dhingra only? Agreed its far from your place but then you dont service your car everyday.

[simply_sunny001]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

@sunny...Why dont you go to Dhingra only? Agreed its far from your place but then you dont service your car everyday.

looks like most sensible decision right now after reading all these good things from Suman.

[kpzen]

Wow!! the truck has reached 30k in no time...

How much thread left in the tires?


Nice update!