I went to TAFE for my third service a couple of weeks back. It was a simple oil and oil filter change. As usual, I had taken the oil myself. Motul Xcess 8100 procured from the distributor in Bangalore.
Mr Vineeth from Motorcycle House was excellent to deal with. Last time, a friend had bought it from him on my behalf. This was the first time I was dealing with Mr Vineeth. Very prompt responses and just 3 hours after I spoke to him, I had someone collect the oil and it was done!
If buying locally was this easy, Amazon would go out of business! Amazon's price was marginally lower, but I preferred to deal with this gentleman. I paid Rs 3900 for 5 Litres. I had a spare 1 litre bottle in my boot.
This time at TAFE, my usual friends werent to be seen. Mr Venkat or Mr Shankara Narayan. However, their presence was felt as they had informed their colleagues that I was expected.
The only "hitch" was that TAFE's booking system failed a bit. I had originally taken an appointment for 9:30 on 21st April, Saturday Morning. I called TAFE on Friday and spoke to a Customer Care Executive and changed my appointment to 2:30 pm. However when I landed up at the service centre, they were confused and they told me to wait as they service advisor was busy. I was ok waiting for a bit but then it was getting late.
The problem was simply that they hadnt updated my appointment leading to the confusion. After I spoke a bit firmly, the service advisor did attend to me and got things moving.
He was new to me and my crazy behaviour. So, when I told him that no one drives my car but me, he was a bit taken aback. However, he didnt object and I took my car inside and parked it in the assigned bay.
The mechanics were quick to loosen the oil filter holder and raise the car and start the job.
As the oil was streaming out, I just touched it and felt it. It was a bit more than 7,500 kms since the previous oil change and this time a large part of the running was harder than the previous few months. It was also summer and the car had been driven hard in very high ambient temperatures. I was curious to see if the oil felt any different.
I was happy to see it was still quite thick and viscous. Looks like the Motul oil is able to cope well with our conditions. I still wouldnt follow Skoda's 15k kms oil change interval though.
As the mechanics continued to drain the oil and go about their work, I decided to closely inspect the underbody of the car to find the battle scars inflicted by Bangalore roads.
I found quite a few scratches on the plastic cladding that covers most of the car.
The below two images are taken of the left and right sides of the car. I dont know why but on the right side, the plastic piece is bent downwards. On the left side, it is bent upwards. It makes no difference to me, but many times, I can see something hanging down from the right side of the car. I always wondered what it was and now I know.
I tried twisting it and pushing it back into shape but it was quite hard and I was not successful in bending it to my will
I just left it as it is after that.
I noticed the front bumper was quite badly scratched. It is not visible from a normal viewing angle but when I was under the car, it was clear as day.
What this shows is that even though the car has just enough ground clearance for normal driving, it is pushing the limits of what is possible on Bangalore roads. Boy, am I glad that we didnt get the Euro-spec Sports Suspension which lowers the car by another 15mm or so.
Do keep in mind that I drive a lot. If the car is going to be babied around, then I guess all the "stanced" cars can manage. For my kind of usage where the car is loaded quite often, the standard height is absolutely critical.
I recently drove to Chikmagalur with a full load of luggage and 3 passengers + me in the car. There were a few diversions along the route and we had to do some minor off-roading and had to handle some bad speed breakers along the route. My car made it easily but more than a few times, there was a huge scraping noise as the car dragged itself over the speed breaker or the mound of sand and rocks. It was quite clear that I wouldnt have been able to make it with a lowered car. I may have had to ask my colleagues to gt out of the car and then cross. With the stock height of the vRS, I made it but I'm sure the underbody has picked up many more scratches.
Anyway, once the oil was drained, it was time to fill it up with fresh engine oil and apply the finishing touches.
They also sprayed their Würth battery terminal spray to ensure no rust forms on the battery terminals.
Post this, it was time to pay the bill and leave.
The work was done in about an hour and the billing was faster than earlier.
Billed amount was Rs 1554/-. Not bad at all. I'm quite happy with the service costs.
Overall, yet another pleasant experience at TAFE.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karvel Hi Nikhil,
Wow. Just like out the NFS game. This was taken during the VRS rally done sometime back?
How are the MRF Perfinza's holding up? Do you have a separate thread for the update on the tyres? Request you to share if any. Thanks. |
Not a vRS rally as such. Just a bunch of friends meeting up and going for a drive.
There is a separate thread for these tyres. It's there in the Tyre and alloy Wheel section.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nerd1200 No points for guessing who won the #SkodaTribe contest on Instagram. 😊 |
That was a fluke! I saw everyone using the hashtag on Instagram and I used it as well. Didnt know there was a contest going on!
Whatever gift Skoda gives me, I shall be passing it on to the deserving photographer!
