[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by chittybang

I take my car to bhavana ford nerul for service and until i had my warranty they were courteous and always on time but on my very first paid service since the warranty they didnt even clean my car properly. there was extra charges on my bill which i took up with the representative only to be informed that they had done some underbody coating without my permission. it wasnt part of the 40000 schedule. a week later my A/C isnt cooling and I went back to them. they tell me i should leave the car there and they will check it. WHen i asked him if he will look into it today itself he tells me he isnt sure and that there arent any technicians around as of now. So i took a chance and showed it to a car A/C specialist at Palm beach marg. He immediately checked the gas levels with a guage and informed me that there must be a leak in the coil and he is the one who informed me that its common in fiesta. He was willing to get it ready in a 3 hrs max. He also gave me an option of temporarily filling the gas and running it till the weekend. If its a small leak it will stay fine till then. My dissappointment is that the guys at Bhavna ford couldnt do this much for a customer. Infact they were very slack in their behaviour.

This clearly shows that Ford service is not uniform across the country---even in Hyd I've heard of similar stories about Fortune Ford's A.S.S.
Luckily I've had no issues so far with Mody Ford.

[zen91]

[quote=vnabhi;1378872]Yup, will surely do. Brajesh has modded his car with a custom filter, so he does have an advantage!!
Venu Sir, the K&N filter that I have in my car is a replacement filter and not a custom filter.You need to remove the original filter and put in the replacement filter, just a regular job. The advantage that I see with this filter..the engine breath's slightly better and needs to be serviced once in 25 to 30K Kms depending on the conditions that you drive your car.Would recommend a similar filter for your car too.

[vnabhi]

[quote=zen91;1385740]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Yup, will surely do. Brajesh has modded his car with a custom filter, so he does have an advantage!!
Venu Sir, the K&N filter that I have in my car is a replacement filter and not a custom filter.You need to remove the original filter and put in the replacement filter, just a regular job. The advantage that I see with this filter..the engine breath's slightly better and needs to be serviced once in 25 to 30K Kms depending on the conditions that you drive your car.Would recommend a similar filter for your car too.

Thx, I was gonna ask you that question when we meet next, and luckily you brought it up! May I ask where you got it done, and how much did it cost you?
If you ask me, I don't even know where my air filter is located---see the pic below:

[GTO]

Hi Vnabhi, As is the case with most new cars, you'd need to open the black (plastic) engine cover to access your air filter. Should be only 3 - 4 screws worth of work.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by GTO

Hi Vnabhi, As is the case with most new cars, you'd need to open the black (plastic) engine cover to access your air filter. Should be only 3 - 4 screws worth of work.

Thanks GTO! I was really kinda perplexed when I opened the bonnet for the first time, as I could not spot things I was familiar with this long!

[vnabhi]

Yes folks, I had to spend Rs 2700 on an accident claim owing to a darn cat that darted across my car, when I was taking a sharp left to go up a ramp leading to my complex's stilt parking.

Well, this is how it goes:-

I had a very long day at work on July 15th, starting from home at 830 AM, dropping my wife at MindSpace, working till 430 pm, picking her up and dropping her at Gachibowli, returning to work and finally leaving for home at 830 PM. The entire 15 km drive was event-free, and I'd already turned left into my complex's main gate.

From the gate, I needed to go 100 feet ahead to take a sharp left on a 15 degree slope that leads to my parking lot. So, as I'd done hundreds of times, I took a small right to get a better approach angle between the sharp pillars, and was confidently turning left, while mildly accelerating to climb the slope (from around 15 kmph) Another 4 seconds and I'd have reached my parking place next to the WagonR.

But at that very moment a darn cat darted across the car, and my instinctive reaction was to veer left. I thought everything was fine till I heard a loud thud and my car jerked, and I saw the wipers on at full speed---Luckily I could control the car , but thought the electricals were screwed up by the wall hit, but soon came to and moved the stalk back to normal position (the unexpected jerk on the steering wheel had caused my right hand to hit the wiper stalk).

Preparing for the worst, I got down at my parking lot and inspected the rear left---I actually thought the rear most part hit the sharp edge of the pillar, but was surprised to see that it was the bottom portion of the rear left door that had 4 deep scratches, and a big dent on the lowest portion of the wheel arch, just near the door.

I cursed myself the whole night and felt that this was perhaps the only accident that I should blame myself for, despite driving cars for 20 years. So I went to Mody Ford the next day and gave it for repair. I decided to claim insurance becuase they said the whole door would need to be painted, and also the quarter panel. They also said that the chrome coloured plastic beading on the rear door would need to be replaced, and in the worst case even the door.

The service advisor explained clearly what I needed to pay ( I was aware because of my earlier claim in Oct, 2007) and that ICICI Lombard might say that I'd need to pay 15% of the amount as it was a 2.5 year old car. So I was preparing mentally to cough up around 4 K (1000 for claim, 550 for 50% cost of beading, and the rest for consumables and ICICI's mercy).

The car was promised to be delivered on Tuesday, but things really turned out better than I'd expected, such as:-

1. ICICI Lombard sending their surveyor within 2 hours of my call.
2. The surveyor called me at 2 pm on the same day and said they will help me to the max extent.
3. Mody Ford informing me on Friday that they were trying to give me the car on Saturday itself. However on Saturday evening I was informed that they'd give in on Monday morning after giving it a free wash.
4. The total damage was 2700 on my wallet, out of a total bill of Rs 11500 approx (That darn cat did not even stop to say 'thank you')

[vnabhi]

I forgot to mention in my post about the competent and professional service rendered by Mody Ford in getting my car fixed. I'd expressed my concerns to the service advisor about paint getting smeared on the alloys or on the door beading, and also about the fuel in the car---the DTE was showing 195 kms when I gave it to them.

None of my apprehensions held true due to the competence of one Mr Kiran Reddy, Service Advisor. When I got the car back, the DTE showed 175 kms, and I am quite satisfied that no pilferage has taken place. The car was driven for about 6 kms, and the new reading on the DTE was within the normal range of fluctuation.

I am also happy with the thorough wash of the car, done free.

[benbsb29]

Vnabhi, any pics of the damage? I personally feel based on your post that the door didnt need replacement. A tinkering job would have solved your problem. However, i shall reserve my comments till i see the pics of the damage.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Vnabhi, any pics of the damage? I personally feel based on your post that the door didnt need replacement. A tinkering job would have solved your problem. However, i shall reserve my comments till i see the pics of the damage.

Sorry, in my anxiety to get the car fixed, I did not click any pictures. But the door was not replaced---they tinkered/ dented it back to shape, and also the wheel arch that took the max impact.

The most expensive part was the painting of the entire door and quarter panel---it was very neatly done and one can't make out anything now. Had the door been replaced, the bill would have been much higher---I was told the door alone costs 17 K.

[mobike008]

Sorry to know about this incident Venu. However as Benny said, even i feel that the A.S.S folks have valuated the damage on the higher side since you are claiming from insurance ( it happens all the time).

Had you got it done from outside it may have gotten fixed within 5K ( AFAIK, any medium segment car dent and paint of an entire door doesn't cost more than that).

Anyways, you got it done and see that your a happy man. How about the cat? Did you think of making it as your pet?

[Ravveendrra]

Ouch, that hurts - self-inflicted wounds hurt the most as one cannot blame the 'other guy'.

Forget making it a pet as Avi suggests - are you sure you have not shot the cat?!

Cheers,

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

Forget making it a pet as Avi suggests - are you sure you have not shot the cat?! Cheers,

That exactly was my query ( you missed the grin...LOL). Was ensuring no harm has come to the poor soul and was also wondering if venu had a change of heart and is consider taking him onboard as a pet

[vnabhi]

Guys, the cat vanished into thin air, and could not spot it so far----I guess it is afraid of being sued----must be knowing that Ravvs is my chum

I know that getting it done in a local shop would have been cheaper, but I am not all that sure if the colour matching would have been perfect, especially because the colour is dark red. I got a local job done on my WagonR and it came out good---though not perfect. Since the colour is light blue, one does not easily spot it.

[rajeshvin]

Hi Sir,

How I missed your thread, after reading your name in other Fiesta threads, I searched your thread and went through it in one shot, beautiful presentation, as and when required I would like to take your help for my Fiesta.

Thanks

[vnabhi]

Guys,
As usual, my car's boot is inspected every morning at the Ascenda's IT park gate. But on Sep 2nd, when the security guard finished his inspection and closed the boot, I started driving into the premises when he alerted me that the boot had not closed!
I looked at the dash and found the door/boot unlocked light glowing. So I stopped and let him do it again, but still it did not. He then banged it a bit harder, but still the same issue.
So I drove in a bit to allow vehicles behind to proceed, and wanted to check the boot myself---but at that point of time, it started raining heavily (yes, the same heavy rain at 930 am that claimed YSR's life).

So I drove cautiously to the parking lot on the 3rd floor and parked in my slot. I alighted and tried to close, but the same obstinate problem, and the cabin light was still glowing which shuts off when the boot is closed.
I was intrigued.
Then I went to the dash and pressed the boot release button and heard a click sound. I then went to the boot and closed it, and it closed tight! I repeated the opening and closing 3 times and there was no issue.
I wonder what went wrong. I suspect the security guard's hand must have touched the lock button when he was closing it, and that could have caused the issue.
Any ideas, guys?

@rajeshvin---you are welcome to seek any info anytime.