[shankar.balan]

Guys,

Some advice from the experts please!

My Dad has an Indica DLG Turbo 2006 April Model.

This last 18 months he has had to burn close to 40 grand on maintenance and repairs on that car and I am wondering if he is getting ripped off by the Tata After Sales chaps.

I understand that first the Fuel Pump died and the cost of replacement/ repairs hit 20 grand - however since the car was still under extended warranty the cost was mitigated to about 13 grand.

Then again something else flipped and he was stung with another fat bill.

Again last week he had a bill of about 10 grand! Apparently the Tata fellows claimed that his brakes were gone bad and that they had to replace the disc brakes in front on account of rusting etc and un-jam the ones at the rear etc.

I know that the car is parked in their covered car park and is washed and cleaned every morning without fail. It has never gotten waterlogged and so on where the brakes could have rusted to the extent that the service guys claim.

That car is used very lightly in the city of Madras - Dad and Mum do about 600-700Klicks a month including their occasional drives to Bangalore and back etc.

The car has clocked about 27K Kms so far in the 3 and half years that they've had it with them and my dad is an extremely careful person who absolutely dislikes giving his car to a driver or anyone else to drive around in, other than myself of course! He hates the way the drivers never use the right gear and gets terribly irritated when any vehicle is driven incorrectly.

This is why I am at a loss to understand why such a carefully looked after vehicle should cost so much to maintain in the relatively short time that he has had it with him!

He is sending me the scan copies of the bills and I will post them here for your expert views as soon as I get them!

Thanks!

[greenhorn]

I've aslo been getting a few fat bills lately, but thankfully, my car's covered under extended warranty.
Isn't yours?

somewhat related thread
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...r-costs-3.html

[jkdas]

I was surprised at how much one has to shell out for an Indica's 30k or 40k service. IIRC, TASS service engineer told the car guy that it would cost 8k or so. I haven't paid more than 5.5k for my Safari's service ( 2.5k or so was for fuel filter).

Whatever car one buys, use it. Keeping it idle and shelling our money for its 6 months/one year service just for the sake of it is torture.

Green: labor isn't free right?

[ph03n!x]

Can you give us the split of the bills - each item and the associated charges? That should tell us if this is a rip-off or not...

[mathewpn]

I really dont think all the tata service centers are doing this. The max bill i got in the 43K ownership was 10K, that too when I replaced full clutch assembly ( due to driving mainly at the peak traffic in bangalore everyday for almost 35K kms ), brake pads, 5th paid service ( added engine oil additives ), wheel alignment, interior polishing.

I feel, yours may be an odd one out here...

By the way I do the service is Emm-Emm motors , Banaswadi.

[dinar]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Guys,

Some advice from the experts please!

My Dad has an Indica DLG Turbo 2006 April Model.

This last 18 months he has had to burn close to 40 grand on maintenance and repairs on that car and I am wondering if he is getting ripped off by the Tata After Sales chaps.

I understand that first the Fuel Pump died and the cost of replacement/ repairs hit 20 grand - however since the car was still under extended warranty the cost was mitigated to about 13 grand.

Then again something else flipped and he was stung with another fat bill.

Again last week he had a bill of about 10 grand! Apparently the Tata fellows claimed that his brakes were gone bad and that they had to replace the disc brakes in front on account of rusting etc and un-jam the ones at the rear etc.

I know that the car is parked in their covered car park and is washed and cleaned every morning without fail. It has never gotten waterlogged and so on where the brakes could have rusted to the extent that the service guys claim.

That car is used very lightly in the city of Madras - Dad and Mum do about 600-700Klicks a month including their occasional drives to Bangalore and back etc.

The car has clocked about 27K Kms so far in the 3 and half years that they've had it with them and my dad is an extremely careful person who absolutely dislikes giving his car to a driver or anyone else to drive around in, other than myself of course! He hates the way the drivers never use the right gear and gets terribly irritated when any vehicle is driven incorrectly.

This is why I am at a loss to understand why such a carefully looked after vehicle should cost so much to maintain in the relatively short time that he has had it with him!

He is sending me the scan copies of the bills and I will post them here for your expert views as soon as I get them!

Thanks!

Most of the items replaced can [ and would be repaired] including the discs, unless the disc have worn out more than the specified thickness.[which was not the case with you], the procedure used by service center usually [with people they know will catch them] is they take the disc and get them reconditioned on lath [slandered procedure]. As for the rear brake Jamming it would be possible with so little use, and will need a brake kit costing not more than 500/ a piece, usually contains rubber bushes.
At 70,000KM TATA recommends FIP service [recalibration] should cost around Rs 2000/- and a bot more if anything needed replacement. But at 27,000KM a slandered service is what they do if the need arises that's it.
May I ask what was the problem for which the fuel pump was changed?
Most of the time the fuel filter case is tighten wrongly and hence the fuel line suck in air , this cause a irregular idle.

[shankar.balan]

I am awaiting the bill copies - will post them in scan form once I get them

meanwhile -greenhorn - so is my dad's car under extended warranty - but now I think that is expired.
and dinar - I believe the fuel pump change occurred because it was blocked on account of adulteration of fuel - I cant understand why because my dad fills premium diesel from one good bunk in madras where the whole family have been filling gas for years.
Pho3n!x - yes I will share detailed breakup as soon as I get the bill copies!

thanks again guys!

[dinar]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I am awaiting the bill copies - will post them in scan form once I get them

meanwhile -greenhorn - so is my dad's car under extended warranty - but now I think that is expired.
and dinar - I believe the fuel pump change occurred because it was blocked on account of adulteration of fuel - I cant understand why because my dad fills premium diesel from one good bunk in madras where the whole family have been filling gas for years.
Pho3n!x - yes I will share detailed breakup as soon as I get the bill copies!

thanks again guys!

SO it could have been fixed, TATA while testing had Indicas [both petrol and diesel] running on mixer of kerosene and other stuff to test the fuel systems , So i do not think one need to replace the pump for blockage, even if the pump had blockage due to gumming of fuel it can be cleaned.
If that was the reason given than I am sure the pump was not replaced.
Plus looking at the figures posted by you 20,000 for pumps and than the discount. I think they repaired it as the pump cost is Rs 30,000+ taxes.

[rpmx1000]

I had an Indica Turbo April '06 too and recently sold it. did 43500 kms on it. And twice the car has been through knee-deep water. No issues with the brakes like rusting etc.I think about the brakes at least these people are taking your dad for a ride. In addition some oversmart service reps try to fleece people thinking they do not check. Being a senior citizen , I do think they have tried to take advantage.

[vijaythacker]

there's surely a ripoff from TSS regarding this higher billing to your dad.We need to see the copy of that bill to see what is he charged for.I am having my indica V2 NA, 2005 clocked around 32K,havent needed to change mines brakes till now.

[MileCruncher]

I have a good feeling that finding your dad has a nice gentleman, the SA would have unecessarily changed parts when they could have been fixed/repaired. This happens all the time with my FIL so I take care of the servicing of his cars as well.

[phamilyman]

+1 to MC.

My swift clocked 13k in the first 30k km of ownership incl balancing and minor repairs. Considering its a complicated setup - I would think Tata should be cheaper!! I think you need to visit along with them once and set them right the delhiwala way

[abhinav.s]

Our Indica V2 NA is a 2005 and has done close to 60k kms. The fuel pump is still good for another 50k kms as per the mechanic. So I see no reason why your dad's car's fuel pump had to be replaced so soon. And as dinar has pointed out, even if it was clogged, it could have been fixed.

Somthing fishy going on with TASS i guess!

[Zappo]

Shankar, it is a rip-off. take it from me. I have already raised this issue earlier in a previous thread. The SAs have a commission based salary where the major portion of it is composed of commissions on the billing they generate. So their only motto has become how to generate inflated bills. That is all that they do. I also am aware of a few other unholy things they indulge in.

Having said all that I can tell you though that all that money your dad has paid has gone without a reason. I have a reasonable experience with Tatas and specifically Indicas. Between the 2 in my regular use now I think the distance covered will easily reach 1 lakh mark (roughly 50k each). And yet, both the cars together have not costed more than 30k in repair till date. I have had experience with the FP in both the cars. In the first case I was within the Extended Warranty and hence the cost of repair (approx 15k) was borne by the company. In the second case it had to be paid as there was no warranty (extended or otherwise) but it costed me around 8.5k. So that 20k thing and then a discount on it despite having the extended warranty is all a load of bull and the SA needs to be kicked for this. The extended warranty book very clearly says what are the things covered and that includes the entire fuel supply system.

Similarly, one of the cars in my case had a chronic brake problem which got sorted out after some 5 claims on the extended warranty and each time it involved replacement of the master cylinder and other assemblies (nincompoop service mechs). Finally though one smart mech figured it out on his own even though the car was not in that time for a brake related problem. But the baseline is that all these 5 or so replacements of vital brake system assemblies was covered by the extended warranty to the full.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Green: labor isn't free right?

I was billed for just one item - FIP OH/Recalibration. That, i was told is covered in the extended warranty.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

meanwhile -greenhorn - so is my dad's car under extended warranty - but now I think that is expired.

Depends on the ext warranty you have. there is a 3 year and 4 year extended warranty. If you had the former, too bad. Check the dates on the booklet