Today Predator completes exactly 3 years from the date it rolled out of the showroom. It has done exactly 15K kms since its last birthday. The experience has been largely stress free, though the first large service bill was encountered in August (more on that later). Lets get through with a chronological explanation since the last birthday:
In the last week of
December 2010, the car went for the Great East Coast Drive. My family was a little hesistant as it was just my wife and I. But the car served flawlessly throughout the trip. More details of the trip can be found here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-2300-kms.html
We came back from the drive on 1st
January 2011. 3 weeks passed but I didn't take it for service. Though I had to go out of Kolkata twice in the interim, but to be truthful I was also procrastinating a little!
On 23rd January I was returning from a Bombay trip. It was a late night flight and a Sunday, So I'd asked Dad to pick me up from the airport. He left the house well in time for the flight. Unfortunately, just as he was turning left on to the main road, a Government bus side-swiped Predator from the right and disappeared! The front RHS fender was damaged, as was the paint on the RHS front bumper. Thankfully the damage wasn't under the skin, and dad was able to pick me up from the airport and go back home.
As a result of the accident, Predator finally made a visit to the showroom (nearly 9K kms since the last service) the next day. Here are pics of the service workorder and bill. Note that the engine oil (Mobil Delvac MX) was bought by me from outside, so it doesn't appear in the bill.
Accident repair workorder and bill:
2 salient points about this service. The bass horn was again giving problems (going completely silent sometimes), which they tuned. The service guys also warned me that the rear disk pads were on their last legs and should be changed during the next service. Alas, I should have paid heed to this advice sooner!
After this the car ran flawlessly till May 2011, when it completed 40K kms and I put up and update. In
June 2011 a small altercation with a concrete pillar left the LHS mirror looking like this:
Here I again got proof that HASS, unlike some other companies, does not want to fleece you everytime I go with a problem. I took the car to Spring. They found out that while the glass was broken, the motor inside was working perfectly. So instead of changing the LHS mirror assembly (which costs 3K plus) they suggested I change the glass only (which was just 180 bucks). It was one of those instances when you go expecting a financial jack, and come back surprised
. Naturally I chose the latter, and the mirror is working perfectly till date.
In
August 2011 a Shantiniketan trip with my in laws and their extended families was planned. 2 cars - Predator and my FIL's trusted Qualis RS. 10 people - 5 in each car plus loads of luggage.
By this time Predator was already on 42.7K kms. I gave a thought to changing the rear pads before we leave, but since Shantiniketan was only 205 kms away, decided to give it a miss.
Bad decision. The roads in West Bengal have been washed away in the monsoon, and repairing them certainly isn't on the agenda of Didi and her new government! NH2 is privately maintained and smooth as a billiard table. But first on Kona expressway and later on the SH between Panagarh and Bolpur - which, believe me, is completely gone - a fully loaded Predator groaned its way through. I could realize that the brakes were taking a lot of load. It took us 5 hours to reach, contrary to 2.5 hrs it took last year in September! By that time, there was a clanging sound from the underbody everytime the brakes were pressed.
The next day I looked around for repairs in Shantiniketan. Unfortunately there is no HASS there, and I didn't find a shop selling Hyundai Genuine parts. Called up my service advisor, who suggested rather than fitting spurious parts I should come back to Kolkata and get it done here itself.
Bad decision again. While coming back we chose to take the Burdwan-Guskara route. Saved us 30 kms, but the village roads were flooded and broken. The clanging sound kept getting worse and worse. I was glad to make it back to Kolkata in one piece.
The very next day I decided to give it for a service. Didn't have time to go and buy MDMX this time, and certainly wanted the brakes sorted out before driving it any more.
The check-up was a shocker. The rear brake pads were gone. So were the front pads (which had been changed at 27K kms) and the front discs. I guess driving a fully loaded car over highways and bad roads over the trip had put a strain on the front brake set, which was the only good set anyway!
The total service bill came to 12K. Beside the brake setup, other items included engine oil, the regular set of filters and a coolant change. The advisor also talked me into getting the silencer box anti-rust coating done. I forced them to change the bass horn (which was again giving problems) and not charge me for it.
That is it for now. I'm looking forward to completing 50K very soon. Will keep you guys updated.