Buying
Structural problems, quintessential of all 118NEs, commenced in Nov/Dec 2004, the front mounting was giving way, minor cracks which need to be welded to be strengthened, my mechanic mentioned. It was probably time to look for a new car.
For some odd reason, even though the daily running was a measly 24Km it had to be a diesel. It all boiled down to three simple options maruti esteem diesel, fiat palio multijet and the great game changer in the Indian cab scene - refreshingly new indica V2. Indica V2 DLS seemed to offer the biggest bang for the buck. Paying 30-40 grand extra for DLX which offered power windows and some other thingies seemed to be unnecessary to me.
Jan 2005, saw the car in a couple of dealerships, enquired about discounts. Haggled a bit, got a 5K discount, went ahead and placed an order for citrene gold Indica V2 DLS without even having driven it once!
Transferring the insurance of 118NE to Indica V2 helped save a few grand.
Delivery
Took delivery of MH02-XX-6994 on 05-02-20 05, a Saturday. Drove couple of kilometers, realized that that odometer was not working, took a u turn and headed back. I knew the morons would have disconnected the speedometer cable to keep the starting kilometers under control.
A 5 minute job, headed back, halfway home, could hear a not so loud grinding sound from right back wheel. It was too late in the evening to head back to dealership, headed home.
Monday, 07-02-2005, took the car back to the dealership. Couple of folks test drove the car, agreed that there was something amiss. Rear right brake drum was dismantled, a clip or something had come loose and it was grinding against the brake liner. The brake drum assembly was replaced on the first day of ownership. Started wondering if PDI was ever performed in earnest by the dealership?
The RC book arrived after month, surprise surprise, the registration number read MH02-XX-7016. I blew my top; I had been driving with incorrect number plates for nearly a month. The dealership was courteous enough to give me new number plates but that was last time I visited the dealership.
The great deluge - 26 Jul 2005
Like so many others who also endured the wrath of nature on the 26th, water was well above the window level by the time I got to my parked car in the building.
The car documents were in the glove compartment. Water receded the next afternoon, took out the documents, everything else seemed to be in a mess. I didnt know much about cars then but I knew one thing - don't try to start the car when it has been submerged.
As the city limped back to normal over the next week finding a tow truck was impossible, and if one could be found the charges ridiculously high Rs 500 for 1 Km tow. I said no way, bought some good nylon rope, tied it to a relatives indigo marina and off we went.
The service center was a sea of cars, literally a sea of cars. The service advisors were a grinning at the prospect of making a killing from people affected by the deluge. Somehow we managed to get the car pushed inside the service centers compound. The compound was already overflowing with Tata vehicles of all shapes, sizes and colors. Most of the headlamp assemblies had copious amounts of water in them reminiscent of tears that welled up in eyes of people saddened by all the happenings during those days.
Regular evening rounds to the service center over the next week and some coaxing ensured that service advisor agreed to take a look at the car. He said no estimates could be provided till he opens up the engine, mentioned that the cam shaft can be damaged, the piston rings can be damaged etc, basically scarred the hell out of me. I kept wondering if I havent started the car how can all this happen.
Three weeks later, the SA called up, said things not that bad, a bunch of electrical components and regular oil changes need to be carried out
Electrical
Field coil 01 Rs 850
Needle bearing 02 Rs 180
Solenoid switch 01 Rs 780
Micro relay 05 Rs 300
Fuses various Rs 236
Flasher unit 01 Rs. 205
Wiper Controller 01 Rs 608
Oil & Filters -
Engine Oil - 4 L Rs 464
Gear Oil 3 L Rs 360
Oil filter 01 Rs 95
Air filter 01 Rs 228
Diesel filter 02 Rs 288
Labour charges - Rs 7500 (no split available)
The total estimated cost of repair would be around 13K. What could I have said but go ahead! Got the car back on Sep 6, after a full month, I thought a month was too long but after I heard that people had their cars out of commission for 3 to 6 months for lack parts etc, I realized that despite the poor customer handling skills of the service center, my car was at least back with me and functioning fine.
Service
Frankly the car hasnt travelled the distance in all these years, it will complete 6 years in the next few days and all that it has travelled is around 32K Kms. Of the 32K Kms, more than 10K has been in the last year.
Despite limited usage carried out the regular oil changes every six months during the first three years of ownership to keep the extended warranty intact. And boy, it was a wise thing to do so. Looking back the service records the following items were replaced under extended warranty
24/02/2006 6521 KM
o Taper roller bearings-outer -02- Rs 370
o Outer bearing 02 Rs 350
25/04/2006 8444 KM
o Ball Joint LH Power Steering 01- 264
13/10/2007 12515 KM
o R/R - Power Steering Rack & pump Overhaul - 4500` (EW)
The suspension parts seem to be covered only under initial warranty i.e. initial 18 months and not under extended warranty. So needless to state I had to shell out.
25/09/2006 10170 KM
o Ball Joint RH Power Steering 01- Rs 264
o Ball Joint LH Power Steering 01 Rs 264
o R/R Lower Link Ball Joint - Rs 300
o Gasket for cylinder head cover - 01 Rs 181
o Oil seal camshaft rear 01 Rs 22
o R/R Gasket, Rear oil seal Rs 150
13/10/2007 12515 KM
o Taper roller bearing outer - 01 Rs 204
o Outer bearing 01 - Rs 230
o R/R Rear knuckle bearing Rs 300
o Gasket Cylinder head cover - Rs 199
o R/R Renew Cylinder head gasket Rs 130
o Oil Seal camshaft rear Rs 25
o R/R Camshaft rear oil seal Rs 125
24/01/2009 17189 KM
o Oil Seal Camshaft rear Rs 25
o Gasket for cylinder head cover Rs 219
o Renew Cylinder Cover gasket Rs 250
o R/R Camshaft rear oil seal Rs 350
o Front suspension bush kit Rs 367
o Lower arm bush kit replace Rs 550
o Lower arm bush kit pressing done Rs 240
19/03/2010 - 23500 KM
o Valve cover packing Rs 247
04/05/2010 - 24341 KM
o Inner ball joint for gear - 02 Rs 641
o Outer ball joint -02 Rs 490
o Replace both steering inner ball joint Rs 420
19/06/2010
o Centre silencer Assembly -01 Rs 2050
o R/R Silencer assembly - Rs 450
16/09/2010 28290 KM
o Ball joint RH Power Steering 01 - Rs 304
o Brake Pads kit (front) 01 Rs 682
o R/R Disk cutting - Rs 240
o R/R Install brake disk Rs 600
o R/R Lower link ball joint Rs 120
04/01/2010 31604 KM
o Glow Plug Beru set of 4 - 1321
o R/R Glow plug Rs 150
Based on the above data some of the salient points to note include
o Suspension parts i.e. ball joints, inner, outer, lower seem be pain areas and prone to failure.
o There is something fundamentally wrong with the camshaft oil seal and cylinder head gasket, they been replaced three times. Interestingly the labour charge for the first time was 150, second time was 130+125=255, third time was 350 + 250= 600. Obviously I have been swindled by the authorized service center.
Had the most wonderful start to the new year 01/01/11 11 am , had a parked flat and then the car will crank but wont start. Couple of attempts at jump starting it got it running but then it literally had to be coaxed every morning. I knew it was the glow plugs or a fuel line issue, checked out at one TASC glow plugs 1400 , Labour 450. Second TASC glow plugs 1400 Labour 150. Road side market glow plug Rs 75 per piece.
Going through the service records I observed that in couple of oil changes, I have charged for 4.5 litres instead of the routine 4 Litres, the capacity for a non turbo indica DLS V2.
After each suspension job I have had my wheels meticulously misaligned by TASC for Rs 300, Rs 350 and Rs 300. The last misalignment improved handling a great deal, the body roll had mysteriously disappeared. A month later I realized so had the rubber on outer side of one of the front tyres. It was a case of incorrect toe and incorrect camber settings. Doesnt make sense to pay and misalign wheels at TASC.
Both diesel filters are replaced at every service, though the service booklet states that the diesel filters are good for 10K Kms. I guess it is just a money making racket.
One gets a SMS when the car is ready after service, a independent service quality body calls in a couple of days after the service enquiring about service quality at the dealership. Car wash quality has improved over the years. All steps in the right direction to improve service quality experience but overall service at TASC is extremely consistent about being inconsistent. As can be seen if you dont pay attention to the line items in your bill chances are that you are being ripped off.
Driving and living with it
The car is underpowered, 53 bhp is a little less. Though 0-60 kmph is reasonably quick it takes ages to reach 100 Kmph.
One really needs to get used to the power delivery & gearing combination, start in first and quickly shift to the second, keep the engine revving between 2K 2.5 K and one has a responsive vehicle. Ideal vehicle for a learner, one can never rear-end another vehicle when starting off at a signal.
Overtaking on a highway without a divider, with oncoming traffic, has to be a planned affair with lots and lots of margin. It simply wont respond.
Difficult to accelerate, maintain speed on a gradient. There are stretches in the Mumbai Pune expressway where it wont go faster than 70 kmph even if one floors the accelerator. Put in a new air filter, TASC recalibrated the fuel pump couple of times but it remained the same as ever.
Regular dosage of System D helps keep the engine responsive. Couple of times when the engine had become real sluggish probably due to bad fuel or fuel injector clogging i.e. wont accelerate past 70 kmph, System D came in handy, improvement became apparent gradually over 50 to 100 km of driving. System D does not improve fuel efficiency.
The electrical system seems to have developed a few quirks. Over the last year four times I have got stranded in the middle of traffic i.e. wont crank and wont start up without a push. Couple times it happened during heavy rains and heavy traffic.
Diagnosis at the first TASC, alternator is not charging. I asked them to show me the voltage readings. It showed 14V on idle, 13.76 with AC, 13.2 -12.9 with AC & head lamps on.
Went to second TASC, same diagnosis sir, alternator needs to be overhauled will cost around Rs, 8000, when I confronted them with the voltage readings the Service Advisor mumbled, grumbled said he will tighten the connectors and if it fails again we will see.
Took it to lucas tvs, diagnosis alternator seems be ok and charging is fine, not sure of why the problem occurred. This continues to be a mystery till date.
I drive sedately, home to work and back is a 15 Km stretch which on an average day takes 2 hours to complete. Fuel efficiency in the city is around 12 to 13 kmpl, on a couple of occasions it has dipped to 10 Kmpl. On the highway I try and maintain a speed of 90 kmph, it has returned me anywhere between 22 kmpl to 18 kmpl depending upon congestion and other factors. These values are based on tank full to tank full method.
Engine oil has been Castrol GTD over the years. Couple of times the service center poured in the more expensive Mobil 05W40. I could not find any perceptible change in engine performance, sound etc which others at teambhp seem to have got. The car started sipping more oil than previous. The next oil change was at BPCL petrol pump, 4 L of MAK Diamond, and oil consumption is back to normal.
Extraordinary circumstances
Jan 2010, while reversing in a hurry at a suburban hotel I missed seeing a pillar protruding. Bang, rear bumper and rear dicky smashed. The rear glass however was left intact.
What followed at TASC was straight out of a comedy show. They struggled to get the parts. After painting dicky and bumper when they tried to affix the glass to the dicky they realized it was a similar but incorrect dicky type. I wanted the car back, said cant leave it for another indefinite period till they sourced the parts and painted it. So I drove around with a temporarily fixed glass for a couple of days. They got the new door, painted it and then called me re-fixing it. When I got the car back, the horn stopped working and so did the ICE. Got a new horn from them but it is pathetic. Paint job seemed ok but the paint started peeling off from the bumper within a couple of months. They repainted it for free, after 6 months it started peeling again and they have offered to repaint it again. It is just that I am not convinced to give them one more chance to try out their painting skills.
Feb 2010, my sister misjudged a truck bumper, left fender and headlight smashed. Back to TASC, needed my vehicle as soon as possible so skipped insurance procedures. In any case I was yet to receive confirmation on my previous incident just a month ago. The circus at TASC continued, even after me repeatedly telling them to ensure that they get right version of head lamp they somehow managed to source and fit the wrong version. Drove around with dissimilar headlamps for a week, till they got the right version. The paint job on the fender was shoddy, the fender itself doesnt align well as the original may be they took the wrong version of the fender as well. But I didnt have time or the patience to deal with them.
Total damage of 15K + 9K within the first two months of 2010. A biker rear-ended in Dec 2010 and took some more paint off the rear bumper. I now have to get it painted.
Overall
Indica V2 DLS does have its set of short comings but overall it offers immense value for money. The service centers are notoriously consistent of being inconsistent, I have seen 4 different service centers in the last 6 years. More often than not the service advisors try pulling fast one. If caught, they usually admit and then try to make amends.
One of the side effects of owning a Indica is that one has the opportunity to gain immense practical knowledge on the mechanical, electrical and other innards of a car. Reading team-bhp only helps in reducing the associated costs in acquiring that knowledge.
Thanks to tsk and other indica owners for sharing their ownership experiences in this forum, it has always been a pleasure to read and of immense practical help.
It has been a learning experience but then it came at a price.
I dont mind paying for getting work done but getting ripped either intentionally or due to sheer incompetence of the SC does leave a sour after taste.
One of the motivations in writing down my thoughts was to tell folks 'read your bill' and you may be in for a nasty surprise. e.g. Charging for 4.5L of oil in vehicle with a capacity of only 4L is downright cheating. The affair with cylinder gasket and rear cam oil seal points in a similar direction, look at labour charges on the three different occassions 150,255,600. It took me a while to figure that one out and hence lost the opportunity to take the SC to task.
This problem seems to cut across brands. I am facing issues with a Ford fiesta too. I am sure others too will have similar tales to tell once they analyse a bunch of bills.
The car drives ok, takes me work and gets me back :)
42000 Km Update, Actually it is a 41800 Km Update.
Time has flown since the last time i updated this thread and so have the kilometers, this is fastest 10000Km in my approx 7 years of ownership.
Two long distance trips Mumbai - Hampi - Badami - Mumbai in late April and Mumbai - Bangalore - Mumbai in Oct accelerated the odometer.
Travelled through the infamous NH13/SH63 section between Khoppal and Hospet in the dark, to add to the bad roads and truck chaos it started pouring. Never experienced such a heavy downpour, couldn’t see a thing, not even the sides of the road, net result just couldn’t risk pulling over. Just followed the lights of trailer truck going at 30Kmph till we hit tungabadra circle, it was the first place i could safely pull over. Thankfully i had just serviced my jammed wipers at lucas-tvs for Rs 350. It was worth every paise that night.
Had just serviced the car before setting out on the trip. Properly drained and replaced oil, Castrol - GTX-D, (under strict supervision) does not turn black immediately. Even after running 800 Km, it still wasn’t completely black though it had darkened significantly. Also, 4L is enough to get to max mark and not 4.5L as many TASC do. The engine also does seem to run a bit cooler with Castrol GTX -D, the temp gauge spent more time at the 11o'clock position rather than the 12o'clock position.
While travelling in some real interior roads and sparsely populated places en-route to Badami, misjudged a innocuous looking bad patch and managed to bend the balance rod. All it took was a couple of whacks with a hammer by a mechanic in a small village at Yelbarga set to it right all for the princely sum of Rs50/- and a genuine desire to help a fellow traveler on a beautiful Sunday morning.
Back in mumbai got the balance rod replaced outside, Rs 360 + Rs 50 for tightening two bolts.
Early July the Left wiper started slipping, TASC diagnosis and solution: replace the entire wiper assembly, motor, linkage et all. total expected damages - 3000 odd.
Local reseller diagnosis and solution: replace linkage - 850/- + labour.
Went back to lucas tvs, diagnosis - the welding of the pivot in the linkage may have come off. Total damanges - 300/- inclusive of welding and refitting.
The power steering rack developed a leak in July, first TASC gave an estimate for 12000/-, took a second opinion from another TASP - 5000/-. Both actually get the work done from authroized RANE-TRW workshop and offer 6 month warranty on the repair, no clue why the difference in pricing. Needless to state i got the work done at the TASP, net setback - Rs 5184 -
3750 - power steering repair kit,
950 - Repair & refitting rack
234 - ATF fluid
250 - Wheel alignment (at my regular tyre shop)
Total: 5184
The wheel alignment carried out after the power steering job seems to have been improper because shortly afterwards i noticed the insides of the tyre wearing out faster. Went back to my tyre shop, toe settings were incorrect, also tyre shop mentioned that there was some amount of play on the left wheel, which could be due to either a bad bearing or lower ball joint.
Gave it to TASC the next day, TASC didn’t have an empty hoist to raise the car and I didn’t have time to stay and check for myself. Net result TASC replaced the inner ball joints and lower ball joints (LH). The inner ball joints had been replaced barely an year ago. Net Damage 1270/-
Got the wheels aligned from my regular tyre shop, Nice guy, did it purely on goodwill and refused to take anything. He knows how to cultivate a customer.
Drove down to bangalore 15 hours 1050 Km, that was a new first for me from an endurance and enjoyment standpoint averaging 70Kmph a far cry from the 7Kmph my average speed to office. It was 6000Km since the last oil change/service, the car drove well, except for vibrations on the steering column once you hit 90kmph, I think this has something to do with the rims more than anything else.
Had some trouble with the headlight connector when returning back, one of the contacts had kind of melted away, used some insulation tape to hold it together. This was a ceramic connector which was replaced at TASC previously, so much for quality.
After returning to Mumbai, i observed that the uneven tyre wear continued, i went back to my tyre shop, he checked everything toe and camber both seem to be ok and the car drives fine. Now I am perplexed and not sure if the uneven wear is continuing or am I living with the past damage. Suggestions and comments welcome on this.
Last week, suddenly, the car started to stink inside as if something was rotting, may be a rat, turned the cabin upside down, couldn’t locate a thing, checked the bonnet and boot couldn’t locate anything. Decided to take the car for a full body wash last saturday. Whew, it is difficult to get an appointment for this at the petrol bunks, the one at lokhandwala had 10 people waiting in queue at 8:30 in the morning. Checked out 4 others, all were full by 9:15. Never realized this was so hard. Anyway got an appointment for 1 pm; decided to get the oil changed since it was around 8000 km from the last change. Bought a MICO-BOSCH Oil Filter and picked up 4X1L packs of MAK CI-4 at 265/L and headed to the petrol bunk.
As part of the oil change, the guy recommended an interesting engine flush procedure. After draining most of the old oil he took some loose oil 1.5L of - MAK 20W50 which is used by CNG engines and poured it in. Idled the car for around 5 minutes and then opened the drain plug and passed compressed air through the oil filler orifice and the dipstick orifice. This is supposed to get rid of any accumulated carbon. Seemed to be as risky a process to try as any other snake oil compound for engine flushing. So went ahead with it anyway.
The underbody wash was thorough, the body and engine wash was ok, the insides were just dusted and wiped with wet cloth. All for Rs 360 , 90/- for diesel and 270 for labour (including oil change/flushing)
Buttt, the malodour is still there. Have been driving with an incense stick for the last few days.
The car continues to chug along, the wear and tear happening at an accelerated rate courtesy the bad roads and the impossible traffic situation. Probably it is time for new beginnings but then I wonder what’s the point it will still take me an hour and ten minutes to cover 7 odd Km. :Frustrati
Happy Diwali to All!
Its been a year and few months since i last updated this thread. The last 15K Kms have seen a lot of repairs/replacements and expenses.
Tyres - Replacement
After 45K Kms replaced my bridgestone S322 with what else? bridgestone S322. I did consider MRF and Apollo but then finally stuck to bridgestones. If i remember correct i paid 2900 per piece, one of new tyres - front left - went limp within 15 days, the sidewall tore vertically and vehicle just plonked, grace of god that i was at a very slow speed within the confines of the colony. Shudder to think what could have happened if I was at a higher speed elsewhere. Tried following up with the dealer and bridgestone, even sent them an email but alas no one cares. My guess is that the dealer knowingly sold me a bad piece, which i missed to detect when the tyres were installed. Tried following up for a month and then gave up, cant be running around without a spare, picked up another bridgestone from a different dealer. So far so good, they are noisy at speeds.
Total : - 12,000/- (approx)
A/C
The A/C cooling effectiveness and blower speed had decreased, decided to get the AC serviced. Got it done locally, realized that the condenser fan was jammed. Cleaned up, Filled up the refrigerant but delayed putting in the new fan as the guy quoted a pretty high figure - 2600/- for the condenser fan.
The delay in putting in the new condenser fan probably resulted in the radiator fan getting overworked and finally going bust, first the fuse blew, when we replaced the fuse the fan had developed a significant wobble and when technician checked he said that the fan motor is out and needs to be replaced. The technician at TASC could not get the motor out (it is independent of the fan assembly) so had to replace the entire assembly.
Condenser Fan - 1000/-(approx) Pasio
Radiator Fan Assembly - 3000/-(approx) - BEHR
The A/C cooling is still not what it used to be, it takes a while to cool down. Not sure what the problem is.
Alternator
Without warning, one fine day on my way to work, the alternator went kaput The battery light came on while driving. There was no other symptom. My car had a mico/bosch 65 amp piece - unlike lucas tvs which is present on most other indicas.
Mico/Bosch - 5900/- (approx), If i remember correctly lucas TVS was for 7200/-
Suspension
My car seems to have an unique issue, the suspension parts - ball joints, bushes never last long. Had to replace all front lower suspension bushes. Got this done at FNG, replacing them at TASC didnt do any good for all these years.
Steering knuckle, bearing - 2000/-( at TASC if i remember correctly)
Front bush kit - 450/- parts 600/- labour total - 1050/-
Summary
So, all in all, as you can see it has been a pretty expensive set of repairs. To add to it, a swift rear ended my stationary vehicle atop the mulund flyover. The impact was such that i hit the manza standing ahead of me. Rear hatch, bumper and front bumper were damaged. Repairs and repainting cost me Rs 14000/- out which i got back 11000/- from the insurance folks. Incidentally, this is my fourth rear bumper :Frustrati
The last oil change - Shell Helix 15W40 - seems as good as the others.The car runs ok, 0 to 60 kph is fine, however it struggles to accelerate after 90 kph on the 5th gear and takes its own sweet time to reach 110/120. Did a longish 3500 km road trip couple of weeks ago - mumbai - bangalore - mysore - guruvayur - salem - bangalore - mumbai. Driving through bandipur, mudumalai and nadugani and the narrow roads in kerala was an experience in itself. The car behaved properly but i did feel the lack of power in the ghat section. I replaced the air filter on my way back from bangalore - the car responsiveness did improve. Got an average of 18 kmpl in mumbai - bangalore section, the average was much lower in the ghat sections - 16 kmpl.
Some snaps. my ride, some roads traveled - the good, desolate, bad and ugly
and a couple of shots from my hampi-badami trip.
Tungabadra dam
Inspiration for parliament?
Dashavatar?
Looks Familiar?
@ Cyberwhizs, good to see you using your car to the fullest and updating this thread religiously. I used to have an V2 DLS earlier which was with us for around 8 years and was not used much. Got a good exchange deal and sold her in 2011 for the New Vista QJD.
