[madmaxvistian]

It seems that the Kwid has brought in more numbers for Renault and has boosted its sales figures tenfold year-on-year to 12,972 units in August 2016 (Source: http://auto.ndtv.com/news/august-201...estive-1453074)

[wadewilson]

Just reached home a few minutes back from the next city. While we were there, I took the opportunity to visit Renault Nagaon and update the ECU and also fix some body noise. The technician (pardon my usage of the term, I forgot the correct term) who worked there knew about Team-BHP, and he was the one who actually suggested upgrading the ECU firmware after I told him about the sluggish engine. Even though I gave them the car around 3 pm, and didn't book an appointment either, they got to work immediately. Around 6 of them were working on the car, 4 of them at all times. and by 6 pm, the body noise issue was gone and also ECU was updated.

The car seems so much smoother now and pulls cleaner as well. Earlier when I'd slow down, then press the accelerator, there would be no response from the engine and many times it used to stall. Also while driving with AC on, the car's engine used to feel strained and it didn't pull smoothly. But after the ECU firmware update, I tried slowing down and then accelerating and voila, the car didn't stall. While coming back, on the highway as well, the car didn't feel strained at all. It seems so much better from before.

About the bonnet rattling which I mentioned earlier, the technician told me that, it is due to a loose hinge on the bonnet or something which will be replaced on my next visit there.

Thank you to our dear members who suggested a visit to the service centre for an ECU firmware update

[RavenAvi]

The small wonder crosses the 10,000 sales mark in a month for the first time in it's career, with 10,719 units sent as dealer dispatches for the month of August 2016. (link)

[amalji]

Originally Posted by wadewilson

Thank you to our dear members who suggested a visit to the service centre for an ECU firmware update

Glad that Renault promptly addressed this issue. Maybe, the others who are facing the same issue should get their ecu firmware updated.

[wadewilson]

Originally Posted by amalji

Glad that Renault promptly addressed this issue. Maybe, the others who are facing the same issue should get their ecu firmware updated.

Thank you amalji for the suggestion. Being my first car and that too such a basic one, I thought Renault might not bother with updates for this car but I was pleasantly surprised on hearing about the update. Thankfully, the Technician was also very understanding and helpful. Last time that I visited as well, he immediately found out the source of the body noise and fixed it in record time.

However, one incident went unnoticed by me which I want to share here with our members. It seems that one of the mechanics didn't screw on the black cladding back properly (they had taken it out as per my suggestion to check for the source of body noise). So, today, as I was cleaning my car, I saw the front fender body cladding to be missing a nut. Not surprising as we live in a hilly area and the roads are very bad, it could have gotten loose and fallen off while driving. Anyway, I called up the service center, and they said they will fix it during my next visit there. For now, I took an old plastic nut, wrapped a lot of Teflon tape around it and hammered it in with my hand

Sharing the images. By the way, the Second photo for some reason shows sideways no matter how I formatted it. Dunno why :(

[ashutoshb]

Test drove the Kwid 1.0 today. To tell you the truth, I wasn't impressed by it at all. I was looking for that 97 bhp per tonne acceleration, but couldn't find it. Maybe it was the test vehicle.

I test drove the Tiago last month. In comparison, the Tata baby is miles ahead, rupee for rupee. The engine's performance is much better. Heck, I even found it better than my Chevy Sail. The Tiago XM is just 13k more than the Kwid 1.0 RXT. And I get rear power windows, Internally adjustable ORVMs and much more in those extra 13ks.

Another interesting thing, the Renault salesperson included the extended warranty in the On Road Price. When I asked him, is it not an option? Then he says, "If you do not opt for the extended warranty, the waiting period will be three months. If you do, you will get it by October." To me, this is just dealer trying to milk the customer, the hardest he can.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by ashutoshb

Another interesting thing, the Renault salesperson included the extended warranty in the On Road Price. When I asked him, is it not an option? Then he says, "If you do not opt for the extended warranty, the waiting period will be three months. If you do, you will get it by October." To me, this is just dealer trying to milk the customer, the hardest he can.

Not speaking for every manufacturer, but the ones I've seen tend to include the extended warranty (EW) in the OTR price on the price sheets they hand out. I know for a fact that Ford do this, and it was the case when I purchased my EcoSport.

I personally don't mind the inclusion of EW all that much, it gives an added level of reassurance. And Team BHP itself recommends taking extended warranties.

If you want to take offence at something in the on-road price, target it at the "handling" charges (which are illegal) and dealer provided insurance (which is overpriced).

[v_safari]

The following incident or series of incidents were faced by my cousin brother Mayank from Delhi.
He recently purchased the Kwid 800cc, and has since then faced a lot of troubles.
The text below is copied from his facebook post, as he asked me to spread this word amog the enthusiasts. He's also one TBHP fan.
His fb profile: should anyone want to contact him.
https://www.facebook.com/mayankverma88?fref=nf
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With a lot of enthusiasm I brought home a Renault Kwid on 29th February 2016. The journey has been downhill since then. I have driven the vehicle for only 2700 kms & have been to the service centre multiple times, every time with a new problem.

Recently, I had given my car for repairs at NCR Renault to resolve the water logging issue. Now the most recent problem that I have noticed is that the "Engine immobiliser" check light keeps on blinking. I forcefully called up the service centre again & asked to bring the vehicle in for a checkup yet again. First of all I'm highly dissatisfied with the quality of service provided by NCR Renault & above all taking the car to the same place again & again(almost every alternate weekend) for repairs is a big pain for me. Is this what the French car maker has to offer to the Indian market? A car which loves to visit the service centre so damn frequently? Did I spend my money buying a car or a piece of metal?

I had been to the service centre last week on 28th August 2016 to get my issues resolved yet again. The service Manager for NCR Motors, Mathura Road was on leave. After a telecom with him he assured that all my issues would be resolved that day itself & I won't leave dissatisfied. My issue for "Engine Immobiliser" was resolved by changing the accelerator peddle. I fail to understand how can a new vehicle face so many issues? My major concern was my clutch issue. It has been checked TWICE & lubricated by the so called "Service Advisers" but I haven't gotten any solution. The Service Manager, Mr. Ayam assured me over the phone that he would escalate the matter to Renault & get a resolution for the same.

After waiting for a week, I called him again on 4th September 2016 asking if I could bring in the vehicle to get the clutch issue resolved. He again replied "We need to escalate the matter to Renault to get a solution". For one whole week what was done? Why wasn't the issue raised to Renault? Why is there such casual attitude towards a client? Why is NCR Renault Mathura Road not able to resolve my Issue? Would my issue be resolved once I send a legal notice?

Most recently, I noticed that the coil in the front passenger seat is coming out. How can this happen? I drive the car without any co-passenger. This is outrageous.

I have had it with Renault & their poor customer service. Their service is so damn poor. The drivers in the service centre bumped my car twice into another car in front of me. Would any other client tolerate this? They damaged the wiring of my Amplifier, they damaged my Glove box. Do I take my vehicle there so that it can be damaged or bumped into other cars? I have brought myself a piece of Crap which has really tested my patience.

[Natt1948]

Very annoying, I was considering, buy Renault kwid ATM, after its release. I better put it on hold till other similar vehicles are released.

[m3_07]

Originally Posted by v_safari

Most recently, I noticed that the coil in the front passenger seat is coming out. How can this happen? I drive the car without any co-passenger. This is outrageous.

The drivers in the service centre bumped my car twice into another car in front of me. Would any other client tolerate this? They damaged the wiring of my Amplifier, they damaged my Glove box. Do I take my vehicle there so that it can be damaged or bumped into other cars? I have brought myself a piece of Crap which has really tested my patience.

I can feel the pain, my friend. Every investment is made with hard earned money & there is lot of sentiment involved. Looking at the number of trips made & the kind of issues seen, this is a lemon sold.

The company guys are thick skinned - you will have to hit them where it hurts. Social media/ consumer forum (very valid case) are some of the avenues that will need to be considered hard.

On a side note, there aren't any saintly service centres around across the spectrum of manufacturers. Why did he have to go to the same service centre all again & again??

[SPARKled]

Here is what I feared about the sales success of the Kwid. Renault just seems to be ill equipped to handle all these sales. Unless they pull up their socks and work towards customer satisfaction, we may soon see the Kwid losing sales once their incompetence in handling after sales becomes a public perception.

[redcruiser]

Originally Posted by v_safari

The following incident or series of incidents were faced by my cousin brother Mayank from Delhi.

I would advice you to refer him the below thread.
https://www.team-bhp.com/advice/what...efective-car-0

[crdi]

Can you please elaborate about the water logging and the immobiliser check light. Not very informative of anything except that he had to make multiple visits. I belong to the minority who is not on Facebook.

[anjan_c2007]

Sad to hear of your friend Mayank's plight. A friend of mine was enthused with the Kwid monthly sales figues and he being a non-car person was asking me about a month back as to whether he should change over from a Maruti to a Kwid. I had told him to allow this product to be in the market for at least two to three years before I can suggest the car to anyone. Maybe I was right.

They do all these hidebound acts in our markets, where the poor consumer is at the receiving end in a majority of cases. They dare not play such gimmicks in the Western markets, where their product is to face more scrutiny and thereafter more consumer centric laws and an upright media at the grassroot level.

[wadewilson]

Originally Posted by v_safari

The following incident or series of incidents were faced by my cousin brother Mayank from Delhi.
He recently purchased the Kwid 800cc, and has since then faced a lot of troubles.

Really sad to hear how your cousin has been facing such problems with his brand new car. Could you elaborate further on what the water logging issue is? Was PDI done before he got it? Because it seems like a case of a lemon car. About quality of service, have to agree with your cousin brother, Renault needs to get its cards right on after sales service. However, the current preferred Service Centre I visit provides very good service to me and I'm satisfied.

This might seem a little OT, But since we are talking about the car and Renault's poor dealer after-sales support, I'd like to share my experience as well. Because, I had the same pathetic experience as well when I took my brand new Kwid (Just 800+KMS old) to the dealer's service centre, and told them about this body noise that had been present since day one, when I got the car. They said they will fix it, so me and my friend waited for 3 hours for this issue to be resolved.We had to request time and again for them to hurry up as we had to drive another 300+ Kms to reach our town and it was getting late. Finally, we got the car as night was falling, and as we were about to hurry off to our town we realised the body noise issue hadn't been fixed at all. Instead,I could see new minute and some deep scratches all over the right side of my car's dashboard and the car's interiors were blackened. When I confronted them about it, they said - Sir, it is natural. Scratches and marks like these are bound to happen naturally when you bring them in for servicing. Fuming with rage I left, as it was already 5 PM, and we had a long trip ahead. The entire way back I was cursing my luck for buying a Renault.

A few days later, I had to go for my 1st service. I decided to try Renault Nagaon whether the experience there would be any different. I didn't book an appointment as I didn't have their number but was pleasantly surprised when I got there. The SA immediately came out to meet me, greeted me warmly, and I told them about my 1st service which was due. I told them I didn't have any appointment either,to which they said - No problem Sir, We will fit you right in our schedule. I was introduced to one, Mr. Bhaskar, a very knowledgeable guy who also is familair with Team-BHP.

The SA, Pallabi Saikia, explained my problem to him and he got right on it. Within minutes he found out the problem, where the body noise was coming from, and replaced the offending part with a new one. 1st service done, I headed back home as happy as I could be. I have been going to them only, the second time to fit alloys, the third time to fix body noise and upgrade ECU which they did in good time.

Overall, while I was really disappointed with my Service Centre experience at my Dealers place, Renault Nagaon brought back the smile. In the end I'd just like to add that, I am happy I bought the Kwid, with all its flaws, its pretty good VFM for a Post-Grad student like me living in the hills where crater sized pot holes are aplenty.