[ashutoshb]

This has become a routine for me at every service. Every time MG service personnel will share a proforma, which will include various 3M add-ons. Every time, I will ask them to remove them. And they will always give me gyan that all these are necessary. Here is how the conversation took place, this time.

Me: Please remove all 3M items.

Service Advisor: Sir, but these are necessary.

M: If I look in the car's service manual, will I find them?

SA: No, sir. But we recommend you to get these done.

M: No, why are you recommending them if the manufacturer does not recommend them? Remove them, please.

SA then sulkily removes all the items. In all, items worth 14k were removed.

Experts, please have a look, was there something which I should have included? (I am hiding the name of the dealer).

[mgastor2022grey]

Originally Posted by ashutoshb

Experts, please have a look, was there something which I should have included? (I am hiding the name of the dealer).

Nope, all these are just fancy items that the service center adds just to inflate the bill amount and extract a huge sum of money from the owner. It has happened with me too, and for you it was 14k, me it was 23k. The ASC added tire dresser from 3M for Rs. 7000 and snow foam from 3M for Rs. 2000 (approx.). I now routinely put this in the message that I forward to the manager every time I let my car for service.

Only for the first service did I let them use all these, including AC disinfectant, but trust me, I bet they would not have even used this, as when I got the car back, it was still smelling the same and there was no difference in the cooling of the AC, considering the car was just 1000 kms old.

[nimbus1]

So this time when I went for the 30K service for my Hector, I simply went to the service advisor and told him that " You will only do what ever is mentioned in the service booklet and no VAS (Value added service) to be added". To my surprise the guy did not even tried to convince for any VAS. Result a zero paisa bill thanks to MG shield.

[ads295]

Originally Posted by ashutoshb

This has become a routine for me at every service. Every time MG service personnel will share a proforma, which will include various 3M add-ons. Every time, I will ask them to remove them.

This stinks to the high heavens! Reading each line item, it looks like he's actually selling you a bouquet of 3M products while the last few words of each line conveys something else entirely! 3M MG Delight = "Programing and Flushing"? 3M GermKleen = "Throtel Calibration"? Ridiculous. What a scam!

[ashutoshb]

Originally Posted by ads295

This stinks to the high heavens! Reading each line item, it looks like he's actually selling you a bouquet of 3M products while the last few words of each line conveys something else entirely! 3M MG Delight = "Programing and Flushing"? 3M GermKleen = "Throtel Calibration"? Ridiculous. What a scam!

Since, this has happened to me more than once, and at different dealerships, I am pretty sure this directive comes from higher ups at MG. Not cool.

[anti21]

God, luckily for me they don't add or push anything. I just get the internal foam cleaning added because it doesn't hurt once a year. I know I can get it done cheaper outside, but I just don't have that kind of time. Even internal foam cleaning they are like are you sure you want it? I asked them to replace wind shield wiper, and he said we cleaned it, and it should last till next monsoon and no need to replace. And then after some conversation even suggested you can get it replaced cheaply outside.

This was today at 2-year service. Even in previous service, they never pushed anything explicitly. Just one comment on 3M polish at 2k because there are lot of scratches by kids playing in the vicinity. I said I have the wax, so he said get it done outside somewhere where they have machines. Your car will look good.

[ashutoshb]

Mini update on some warranty claims.

Headlight LED blinker not working.
Since the car is still under warranty, I sent the driver to one of the Delhi service centres. The service advisor there misguided my driver. Told him that this was due to external damage and that a new headlight would cost XX rupees. The car never met with an accident. Both headlamps were fine. The front bumper was fine. Even DRLs were working fine. How come damage was done only to a chip for the blinker?

When I spoke to him over the phone and confronted him, he changed his tune and told me that he had placed an order for a new headlight and I should send the car in two days for a replacement. Then he never picked up the call to confirm whether the part had arrived and never replied to my messages. Their customer care called for feedback, I explained the situation, and she apologised, promised to call back and never called back again.

Then, I sent the car to another service centre. They inspected the car and changed the headlight without creating any fuss.

Rear Camera's output is dark.
The reverse camera was pretty dark. At night could not see a thing. The service centre says this is external damage, and can't do anything under warranty. Charge me 1800 rupees as inspection charges. The car comes back to me, I take a look at the car, looking where the damage is. There were four scratches around 4 inches from the camera. No damage to the camera, bumper, or anything.

This time I visited the service centre and had to argue with them. They tell me all kinds of stories. That, when a bumper takes a hit, the internals of the camera get damaged. I told them, first there was no damage anywhere, and they should open the camera and show me the damage. They start opening the bumper, and in the process, we find out that it was just a case of loose cable. And they had charged me 1800 rupees for not doing anything.

Pale LED DRLs.
I knew the DRLs had turned pale, they never bothered me that much. But, when one headlight got changed because of the blinker, it looked horrible. One white, one pale yellow. I asked them to change the second one too, under warranty. They refused, citing minor scratches on the other headlight. They were really minor. Had the headlight been damaged, I would have paid for it without any fuss. I again had to argue, how are the scratches related to the LED turning yellow. They finally gave in and told me that they had sent a mail to the company and awaiting a go-ahead. The go-ahead came around 30-40 minutes later and the other headlight got changed too.

--

At Tata, in all these years, I never had to argue over a warranty claim. At Skoda, I haven't claimed any warranty yet, so can't say. However, I can compare the parts used with MG. MG parts, though look good, have given me quality issues. No such problem with Skoda till now.

Flat refusal, without even looking at the problem, should not be the default attitude. Since I faced this at two separate service centres, it shows the culture of the company, not the service centre. They should know the difference between genuine cases and freeloaders. I never asked them to refund the 1800 rupees they charged for warranty defects, but charging me in the first place was wrong.

On a related note, when I visited another dealership to check out the Windsor, I was told that test drives are being given first to those who are booking the car. Never ever have I heard this crap anywhere else .

[mgastor2022grey]

Hey everyone, I have reached a point where I have run the car for 51K kms and the tires have started balding quickly and as mentioned in my previous post, I have to change it. There has been significant loss of traction in cases and hard-braking does not inspire confidence anymore. Tire noise too has increased significantly. Now, here comes my dilemma.

My current set of tires is the 215/55/R17 stock alloys and stock tires (The UC6s are phenomenal, just that I have approx. 3-4 punctures every month ). I recently stumbled across a post where a BHPian had changed a Kushaq's tires to 225/50/R17 and the looks were really pleasing. I know many owners who have touched 50K kms are planning to upsize.

1) Can I fit 225 profile / 235 profile tires in the Astor with the same set of alloys? Note that this is purely for the butch stance it would provide and the improved ride and handling.
2) Which tire brand should I go for and which model? I am considering of changing the brand, since the UC6s are very prone to punctures.

Thanks in advance!

(Link to Kushaq's upsize post: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...eview-234.html (Skoda Kushaq Review) Post number: 3497)

[Sidban85]

Originally Posted by ashutoshb

Mini update on some warranty claims.


Flat refusal, without even looking at the problem, should not be the default attitude. Since I faced this at two separate service centres, it shows the culture of the company, not the service centre. They should know the difference between genuine cases and freeloaders. I never asked them to refund the 1800 rupees they charged for warranty defects, but charging me in the first place was wrong.

On a related note, when I visited another dealership to check out the Windsor, I was told that test drives are being given first to those who are booking the car. Never ever have I heard this crap anywhere else .

MG used to be good when I bought my Astor in January 2022. Pulsehub used to be responsive and follow up.

Last 18 months or so, things have gone downhill. I guess since their overall volumes never picked up, especially with Astor and Gloster, the dealers don't care.

My car front suspension was making noise when turned and going over bumps. They charged me INR2200, could not explain what exactly they did and noise returned in a month. Pulsehub was useless.

Like you said, quality superficially looks good but service is bad. I think their leadership in India is useless. It is the same guy who was head of GM India and we know how it went.

[ashutoshb]

Originally Posted by mgastor2022grey

Can I fit 225 profile / 235 profile tires in the Astor with the same set of alloys? Note that this is purely for the butch stance it would provide and the improved ride and handling.

One size up i.e. 225 should not be a problem with OEM wheels. But, the lower the tyre profile, the worse your ride quality is going to go. Additional grip by wider tyres will help in handling, for sure.

Originally Posted by mgastor2022grey

2) Which tire brand should I go for and which model? I am considering of changing the brand, since the UC6s are very prone to punctures.

I went for an unpopular choice, the Ceat Secura Drives. Not many tires can beat UC6's ride comfort. The Ceats are roughly 13k cheaper for a set of four. For the price, they have been really good, but obviously, not in the league of UC6s.

[souvikjana83]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Any owners of the 1.5 normally aspirated manual version of the car here on our forum? Is the manual transmission a slick one? Are the ratios well matched to the motor? I recently discovered what a potentially good deal the lower variants of the Astor are. Sounds like it might be a good choice for my parents. Unfortunately none of us have the time for a test drive so was hoping to get some inputs from owners on the forum before actually taking the time out to visit the showroom.

Unfortunately mainstream media and auto journalists have not extensively tested the 1.5 NA manual powertrain it’s all either about the turbo or the 1.5 NA with the CVT. I hope there are some owners of the 1.5 manual with insights here.

I have the Astor 1.5 N.A in manual top model. Driven around 11k in 15 months. Let me go through the pros and cons of this in detail:

Cons:

1. The engine of the car takes time to get used to. It takes its time to build revs which means 0-40 is not as quick as you will get in Creta/Seltos. It will feel more underpowered if the AC is running at 17 deg. To get the best drive, it is better to switch off the AC for sometime while starting from 0 (even at signal) or keep the temp around 22-24 deg.

2. Recently getting a squeak sound from the sunroof on uneven roads at slow speed. Need to check that at service station.

3. I feel that the seat padding could have been better for under thigh support. Creta and Seltos has very good seats in that matter.

4. The elephant in the room which is the mileage of Astor which every one talks about. On bumper to bumper traffic with AC on at around 24 deg, I get around 8 kmpl. But in normal traffic it improves to 11-12 kmpl. On highways, it gives around 15-16 kmpl. It has only 5 gears so I feel a 6th gear would have been great on highways to keep the revs under 2.5.

5. Very poor resale value.

Pros:

1. Astor manual top model in Hyderabad cost ₹18.5L on road whereas Creata manual top model cost around ₹21.5L on road. On top of it I got a discount of ₹1.35L from the dealer making it a sweet deal. I think no discounts is offered on Creta or Seltos. That's saving of ₹4.35L upfront.

2. My overall average comes around 12 kmpl with 50% city and 50% highway driving. If I assume Creta / Seltos gives around 15 kmpl in mixed driving, this means it cost ₹9 per km to drive the Astor and ₹7 per km to drive the Creta / Seltos. Which means at this ₹2 per km difference, the Creta owner will have to drive more than 2L kms to break even my upfront cost savings. And if one takes a loan on car then more kms.

3. One might have to wait for few months to get Creta or Seltos after booking but you can get Astor in just few days after booking.

4. The base model of Astor comes with all 4 disc brakes, wiper and defogger on rear and even 60:40 split in the back seat making it an extremely VFM car under ₹10 lakhs ex-showroom. It is even more VFM than the mid variant of Brezza at the same price point.

5. The build quality of Astor is amazing as compared to Creta or Seltos. Astor gets 5 star safety while Creta and Seltos has 3 star safety.

I feel the Astor is a great car especially the base model if one looks at all the features it gets at that price. Definitely take the test drive and that too a thorough one to make your decision.

[PNTEN]

Hi folks,

My family and I are looking for an SUV under 19 lakhs in Chennai. After some test drives, we've narrowed it down to three cars:
Creta SX
Seltos HTX
Astor Sharp Pro

All of these are petrol and manual variants within our budget.

However, there's some confusion around the mileage of the MG Astor, as different owners report varying figures. My family is particular about mileage, and we need a car that consistently delivers at least 9 kmpl, even in dense traffic (I live in Chennai). Because of this, we’ve ruled out the Taigun and Kushaq. (The Hyryder and Grand Vitara aren't in consideration due to their smaller boot space.)

It would be really helpful if any Astor owners could share their city and highway mileage figures.

[souvikjana83]

Originally Posted by PNTEN

Hi folks,

My family and I are looking for an SUV under 19 lakhs in Chennai. After some test drives, we've narrowed it down to three cars:
Creta SX
Seltos HTX
Astor Sharp Pro

All of these are petrol and manual variants within our budget.

However, there's some confusion around the mileage of the MG Astor, as different owners report varying figures. My family is particular about mileage, and we need a car that consistently delivers at least 9 kmpl, even in dense traffic (I live in Chennai). Because of this, we’ve ruled out the Taigun and Kushaq. (The Hyryder and Grand Vitara aren't in consideration due to their smaller boot space.)

It would be really helpful if any Astor owners could share their city and highway mileage figures.

Bumper to bumper mileage of Astor comes around 8 kmpl. But you probably will get 9-10 kmpl in Seltos/Creta in bumper to bumper traffic. However maybe the discount on the Astor may make Astor more VFM.

Also I think you should also keep Honda Elevate ZX MT in your options. The only thing you won't get is the Panoramic Sunroof.

Take test drives of all the cars and choose whichever you feel is the best.

All the best.

[mgastor2022grey]

Originally Posted by PNTEN

My family is particular about mileage, and we need a car that consistently delivers at least 9 kmpl, even in dense traffic (I live in Chennai).

The Astor is not for people looking for a mileage-oriented city car. I have a CVT, which gives as abysmal 5 km/L in heavy traffic and 9-10 km/L in highway cruising. These are for the Sharp(O) CVT.

My friend has an Astor Manual, which gives 7-8 km/L in dense city traffic and 12-13 km/L in the open highway. Though, must say, we both are heavy-footed drivers.

I would suggest that you go ahead with cars such as the Creta and Seltos if mileage is a deciding factor. My uncle has a Seltos 1.5L IVT and it returns 11 km/L in city traffic and more than 19 km/L in the highway. He is neither a sedate one nor a fast one.

Cheers!

[PNTEN]

Originally Posted by souvikjana83

Bumper to bumper mileage of Astor comes around 8 kmpl. But you probably will get 9-10 kmpl in Seltos/Creta in bumper to bumper traffic. However maybe the discount on the Astor may make Astor more VFM.

Also I think you should also keep Honda Elevate ZX MT in your options. The only thing you won't get is the Panoramic Sunroof.

Take test drives of all the cars and choose whichever you feel is the best.

All the best.

Thanks for sharing the info and Elevate was my family's top priority because of Honda's reliability and high ground clearance but after test drive my family rejected it for the following reasons:-
1) Gear lever was very hard, not even as smooth as as our current car ( Xcent MT )
2) Seats were hard compared to seltos and creta
3) Noisy cabin
I even cross checked with other Honda owners regarding the hard gear shifter and they said it's common across all models.