[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

If I get alignment and balancing done locally, I should ask them to rotate the wheels. What is the recommended order of rotation?

This depends on whether your spare is a full size rim or a rim that's one size down. If it's a full size, include it in your rotation.

[noopster]

Seems to be a major spare parts shortage at VW. Alternator on my 7 year old Vento needs changing and the car is sitting at VW Pune West (BU Bhandari) for over a week now. They first said 3 days then "confirmed" delivery by Saturday only to do a vote face claiming the alternator belt was not available anywhere in Western India and is arriving from Gurgaon this week.

No loaner car either. Earlier they said they would give one of this extended beyond 3 days. It's been 10 days now.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by sunsetorange

... ... ... For front wheel driven vehicles, the rear tyres are shifted to the opposite front and the front tyres are shifted to the corresponding rears.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

This depends on whether your spare is a full size rim or a rim that's one size down. If it's a full size, include it in your rotation.

My spare is the works! Full size and matching alloy

But it has not been included in the rotation during previous services, so I have four 3-year-use tyres and one unused tyre. What to do?

Originally Posted by noopster

Seems to be a major spare parts shortage ... ... ...

One of our members could not get a rear wiper, which is about as basic consumable as it gets. Hope we are not seeing a running down of VW service, which I have had no troubles with at all over past six years so far.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Thanks.My spare is the works! Full size and matching alloy
But it has not been included in the rotation during previous services, so I have four 3-year-use tyres and one unused tyre. What to do?

Lucky you! I don't think there are any issues using one new and three used tyres but best to get a second opinion on that. It does annoy my sense of OCD very much. Assuming it's all okay, you'd want to keep the spare on and rotate the others in and out until those four wear out completely. Your current spare can go till the end of your next set of tyres (at that point, replace all five).

I know you're thinking, but will I keep the car for that long? The answer is yes, absolutely you will. In fact, many many more sets of tyres later, your well maintained Polo is a cult classic amidst a sea of soulless self driving appliances. Heads will turn every time you roll down the street, as the mighty diesel roars amidst the hushed hum of an all electric society. Small children will look on in wonder and knowledgeable fathers will tell them, oh so wistfully, about the days of yore when the Polo was all the rage, setting hearts on fire everywhere it went. You will glance casually at the admiring crowds from behind your dark sunglasses, nod in acknowledgement, blip the throttle as you downshift, and drive off into the splendid sunset.

[Ketan T]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

One of our members could not get a rear wiper, which is about as basic consumable as it gets. Hope we are not seeing a running down of VW service, which I have had no troubles with at all over past six years so far.

I have not got the radio antenna for my Polo. It is broken from the base. They do not have the base in stock. They have the antenna. I have been trying for two years now. It is not available outside in any shop either.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Lucky you! I don't think there are any issues using one new and three used tyres but best to get a second opinion on that. It does annoy my sense of OCD very much. Assuming it's all okay, you'd want to keep the spare on and rotate the others in and out until those four wear out completely. Your current spare can go till the end of your next set of tyres (at that point, replace all five).

I know you're thinking, but will I keep the car for that long? The answer is yes, absolutely you will. In fact, many many more sets of tyres later, your well maintained Polo is a cult classic amidst a sea of soulless self driving appliances. Heads will turn every time you roll down the street, as the mighty diesel roars amidst the hushed hum of an all electric society. Small children will look on in wonder and knowledgeable fathers will tell them, oh so wistfully, about the days of yore when the Polo was all the rage, setting hearts on fire everywhere it went. You will glance casually at the admiring crowds from behind your dark sunglasses, nod in acknowledgement, blip the throttle as you downshift, and drive off into the splendid sunset.

Beautiful! Until you zoom in to the 90-year-old in the driving seat!

Yes, I hope that I will keep the car that long. I much prefer your reasons: mine are that, when I am 75, in a mere ten years, the bikers around me will still be in their teens and probably worse drivers than they are today --- and I don't think I will have the senses or the sense to be able to handle it. So, floods allowing, I bought this car feeling that it will outlive, not me, but my ability to drive. On the other hand, my mum drove until a few months before her death just three weeks short of 90, so I won't rule out a few more sets of tyres!

Originally Posted by Ketan T

I have not got the radio antenna for my Polo. It is broken from the base. They do not have the base in stock. They have the antenna. I have been trying for two years now. It is not available outside in any shop either.

So is the situation that there is nothing wrong with the base except that it has a broken-off antenna screwed into it? Shame on your A-S-S if they cannot handle the removing-a broken-screw scenario! Perhaps you might find a real engineer-mechanic at an independent!

Or is the base itself broken?

.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by noopster

Seems to be a major spare parts shortage at VW. Alternator on my 7 year old Vento needs changing and the car is sitting at VW Pune West (BU Bhandari) for over a week now. They first said 3 days then "confirmed" delivery by Saturday only to do a vote face claiming the alternator belt was not available anywhere in Western India and is arriving from Gurgaon this week.

Got me wondering why they (BUB i.e. BU Bhandari) need to replace the alternator assembly. What alt. part failed? Wasn't repairing/replacing the affected part an option?

At 7 years old I guess your Vento is out of warranty and this replacement will put a dent in your wallet.

PS: My musings are from the fact that most alternators can be repaired. They aren't complicated machines..mechanically or electrically speaking.

[Ketan T]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

So is the situation that there is nothing wrong with the base except that it has a broken-off antenna screwed into it? Shame on your A-S-S if they cannot handle the removing-a broken-screw scenario! Perhaps you might find a real engineer-mechanic at an independent!

Or is the base itself broken?

.

The base itself is broken. They do not have the base in stock.

[vishaljawahar]

I have a concern regarding recent experience at the same service center--VW Rajajinagar Service Center, Bengaluru. Thought this would be the right place to discuss it and get some inputs. A bit long post but I think it's needed.

I got my GT 10 days ago. Since the stock horn on the GT sounded really bad, I decided to have the dual horn installed. So I called up the service center on 20th June and asked for an appointment for the next day. The lady on the phone replied that they have already had full appointments for the next day and could give me an appointment on 23rd or later date. I was ok with it and told her that I would come on 24th and gave all the required details. She told me that I would get a reminder call on 23rd and we ended the call. I didn't get any reminder call until 23rd evening so I called them to confirm myself. To my dismay, I was told there was no appointment in my name for the next day. The lady on the phone told me that I would get an appointment on 26th as they were really full on 24th. After few minutes of convincing the lady on the phone that I had an appointment on 24th and assuring her that it's only a horn installation, she asked me to come on 24th morning by 10:30 a.m. so that they could complete the work as soon as they can.

I went to the service center which is more than 15 kms from my place at 10:40 a.m. Well, there was still no appointment in my name! After the entry was made by security, a mechanic was assigned by I-don't-know-who after like 30 minutes; I told him my requirement. He took my car's VIN and went inside and came back after 10 minutes and told me that the horn would cost 4k ( ) and isn't possible to do it that day since they were full and creating history for my car would take 45 minutes. By this time, I was getting annoyed with the way things were handled. I narrated him the entire story of appointment and told him I had come all the way for a horn and he cannot say no now. He said he can't do anything about it! I went to the receptionist (I don't know why I didn't do this as the first thing after visiting the SC). Again I had to prove the receptionist that I had taken the appointment showing her my phone call log as proof. She said she would make some arrangements and asked me to wait in the customer lounge. After more than 40 minutes, by this time it was 12:40 p.m., a service advisor was assigned. He asked my requirement, took the vehicle in and said they have a lunch break until 2 and therefore would start work after 2 p.m. and he'd deliver my car by 4 p.m. In my view, a horn installation from 10:40 a.m. to 4 p.m. I wasn't happy with the time he claimed; sensing it he said he would deliver the car ASAP. I went out for lunch and came back by 2:30. I met the SA again and he said the car would be ready in 10 minutes and finally delivered my car by 3 p.m. Total bill was around 2.5k (still wonder what made the mechanic quote 4k for the job).

Now comes my concern. Even though SA took less time than he claimed and I'm ok with his work, I wasn't happy with the overall experience. So, when I got the feedback call today, I told them about this and gave a rating of 2.5 out of 5. After few hours, SA called me to inquire what was wrong from his side. I told him that I was quite ok with him but the overall experience was bad and that I conveyed the same on the call as well. He said he understood my concern but a bad rating on the case will be entirely upon him and he was helpless for whatever that happened before he was assigned. So, he wanted me to give him a better rating in the next feedback call I'd get in next few hours.

While I understand his concern, what am I supposed to do in this case? A less rating will make the SA a victim for little to zero mistake of his and a high rating will make the service center get away from such pathetic service. Any advice is highly appreciated.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Surely the "feedback" (I hate this scripted tick-list krrp-management-happy-with-the-statistics stuff) is for the entire experience?

If this is not the case: VW's problem, not yours. And, ethically, I don't think a member of staff should be calling you with emotional blackmail. That's wrong. Lower the rating!

[noopster]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Got me wondering why they (BUB i.e. BU Bhandari) need to replace the alternator assembly. What alt. part failed? Wasn't repairing/replacing the affected part an option?

The alternator belt apparently has a recommended replacement interval of 80,000 km for petrol cars. They did inspect it in the 90k service but said it would go on for a bit. There was a clack-clack noise coming from the engine bay, which I had reported then and they said it was something to do with the AC unit play. Good thing is that the noise has now gone away with the alternator belt replacement.
Additionally they also replaced the master fuse and the battery itself (which had got totally discharged). I checked if I had the option of replacing the battery myself (would save me a couple of grand) but since teh car wasn't starting, it would be too much hassle so I told them to go ahead and do it.

At 7 years old I guess your Vento is out of warranty and this replacement will put a dent in your wallet.

21k

PS: My musings are from the fact that most alternators can be repaired. They aren't complicated machines..mechanically or electrically speaking.

You are spot-on. VW does not belive in repairing ANYTHING. It's just replace with them. But in this case, I took an opinion from a third-party garage owner that I trust and he said to get it done from the ASS itself.

Originally Posted by vishaljawahar

I have a concern regarding recent experience at the same service center--VW Rajajinagar Service Center, Bengaluru. Thought this would be the right place to discuss it and get some inputs. A bit long post but I think it's needed.

I've moved your post to this thread since it is more relevant to your query. Please search the forum before raising a query in future.

While I understand his concern, what am I supposed to do in this case? A less rating will make the SA a victim for little to zero mistake of his and a high rating will make the service center get away from such pathetic service. Any advice is highly appreciated.

VW and other carmakers conduct these surveys for a reason. Please be honest and fair in your assessment, is the only advice I can think of. You are not obligated to protect the SA just because he called you and requested you not to give him a bad rating, which in my opinion is unethical in the first place.
Having said that, from my experience, VW will take a minimum of a day for even the most basic fixes because of the sheer load on each of their ASS dealers. A city as big as Pune has only 2 ASS. It is really inexplicable and,coupled with recent reports of parts shortages, it will just worsen the service image of the company.

[Thad E Ginathom]

1.6 TDI 3rd Service

I told them to leave out all optional cleaning, 3m treatments, etc, etc, apart from specifics specified by me which were...

1. No emissions update
2. Replace rear wiper (rubber was actually torn at tip)
3. Check tick-tick noise from ventilation/AC fan

On top of this, I agreed that they could try to remove a bad ding in the windscreen. Pessimism was acknowledged on both sides. Yes, it was somewhat of a waste of money, but they have lessened it, and rest of windscreen has, of course, benefited from being polished. For-information estimate for new glass was 10K.

For-information estimate for removal of tailgate dent: SA said the same as Ignite Garage, 6K, as whole panel would have to be painted, and I should probably live with it unless or or until something worse happens.

I did not get around to local-guy wheel alignment etc, and thought, never mind, let them do it, one-stop-shop even if it costs a little more. SA told me that with only 6K mileage, it was not necessary. I think I'll get the alignment checked locally, as I don't feel this is mileage-dependent: a little too much speed through just one unnoticed pothole can put it out.

I could have quibbled a couple of things. I did not want AC squirt, which I regard as useless anyway. Surely, if it was to do any good, they would have to put it in the ventilation inlet?

Those whose dealers could not get rear wiper are lucky. I paid almost twice the price of the Amazon wiper!

I forgot to ask for the low-tone horn. Never mind; spent enough already!

Last year, I refused external treatments, but they polished the car anyway . This year I was not so lucky, but it was thoroughly cleaned, which is nice. SA pointed out that paint finish is in need of polish/detailing: I agree. Will get it done elsewhere. Bad marks: they put that wretched shiny-gloss stuff all over the dashboard. Why do they even do this? New cars do not come like that. Now I have to get it off! Of course, I should have complained at the time, and I suppose, if I make feedback complaint, they will ask me to bring the car back.

They advised that nothing was wrong with the car. The cleared some leaves out of the AC fan. They adjusted the handbrake properly, which was not done last year, so now I don't have to work so hard when parked on a slope, eg at home.

I suppose I find it a bit shocking that it costs 1k a month just for annual service. It seems like really a lot of money, but I wonder what a dealer service for a car like this would cost in UK? I suspect I would be shocked. It was more than this when I last looked, over a decade ago.

[NBpolo]

Hello, pardon me if I'm posting in the wrong thread.
I own a 1.2L Polo MPI.
I have been getting EPC light, an unstable idle and hesitation while cold starts for a few months now. Got the throttle body cleaned thrice by the dealership, but in a few weeks, these problems come back again. Feels like they just clear the error codes and give the car back. Thus, I am posting here and trying to get some advice from the community.
I have noticed a pattern (don't know if this is related to the EPC warning). I use our Polo for my daily commute to the office, which is about 60-90 minutes. EPC light shows up most often when the fuel level drops below 1/4. After about 30 minutes, the Check Engine Light comes up. When I fill the tank up, within a day or two the Check Engine Light turns OFF and the EPC light also doesn't show up (Check Engine Light comes only if EPC Light is ON). Could this problem be related to pressure in the fuel tank?
Any light on the problem would be of great help!

[aneezan]

Took my car for the 3rd service last week(45,000km).
Details below. This has been the lowest service cost so-far of all the three
Nothing specific was mentioned apart from the brake pad replacement, which I was told was good for the next 5000KM.


As usual, the only grouse was keeping the time commitment, but that is always the norm with them.

[pratika]

I went to VW's Mira Bhayander workshop for my Polo's 2nd service about a month back. Although the service went fine, they couldnt give me a tax invoice because "their system was down". Instead they gave me a cash receipt and gate pass to get the car out. Though, the SA promised to courier the tax receipt, I didnt get any such mail. On enquiry after 2 weeks I was told that SA has left the job. So I called up their service manager and she was to follow up with this courier. Unfortunately, this is still pending and now I'm wondering whether it was worth trusting them in good faith.

Next time you go to this workshop keep a watch for such antics.

As against this, I've had consistently good experience with JMD Skoda workshop at Kandivali (W). So far.