[rugsrags]

Since the car has now completed 71000 kms i'v just now opted for the 2 year mahindra shield extended warranty that extends the warranty cover to 5 years and 150000 kms. My original warranty of 3 years and 100000 kms was getting over in June.
The amount charged for it is 37162/- and its available either online through the withyouhamesha portal or through the dealer.

The car was sent back to the dealer for the above shoddy job and the paint has been reapplied to the scratched parts so at-least it doesn't look that bad.

The latest issue i'm seeing cropping up is the ac display screen is fading towards the right hand side as if a bulb has gone kaput in the unit. The dealer as usual has recommended a battery check and given a letter to get the battery checked by an authorised exide shop since at their end they could'nt find any fault in the battery.

The other followup i had to do was to do with the alignment since i haven't managed getting it sorted since day one with the steering perpetually offset than at the centre. Spent the entire day yesterday at the workshop trying to get it rectified but with no success. The alignment shows correct but on the test drive the car is either pulling on the left or right on having the steering at the straight position. Iv been requested to send the car again in which they will address the issue as best as they can.

Anyhow on a different note with the new endeavour out it's sad to see that nobody is taking the rexton into account in any comparison. Not any auto magazine and sadly not even team-bhp itself Just my luck to have gone and got myself a car that even through its small niggles and issues has been serving me well but with no recognition whatsoever elsewhere.

Hope to hear some updates from fellow rexton owners sometime.

[.anshuman]

^ My friend also opted for the 2 years extended warranty package which was announced just days before his original warranty was to expire. The warranty package is much needed in this SUV, which is trouble prone(atleast my friends car).

Prior to warranty extension he was worried about the warranty expiry, he said he could not even sell it so early as the resale is poor.

[rugsrags]

Ah well the notorious Mahindra service bug bites again. All this while I was having a happy experience with the new Mahindra dealer but tragedy struck when yesterday I had to send the car for its periodic 80k service. Heavy rains and the new dealers workshop being a little low resulted in a little water logging and so service couldn't be carried out since the car had to go out of station soon decided to send the car to the other dealer. How was I to know it would be a ridiculous mistake.
So I'm told in the morning today that the suspension needs work and the rear brake discs and lining and pads all need to be replaced. Total estimated expense Rs.65k. Mind you this is from a perfectly running car. Shot a mail off to the customer care for an explanation and the customer care though pro active in replying resulted in a even more warped issue as it seems. The Gm service tells me that I didn't have to get in touch with the customer care since now they're after the dealerships life and we could have discussed before you shot off a mail. But other things not withstanding this work will anyway need to be done and won't be covered by warranty as it is running items. Since the parts aren't in stock they've ordered them in the meanwhile they've serviced the car and returning it. Since Iv already shot the mail I think that the parts they've claimed aren't working have chances of being changed to ensure that the dealership can claim that those are the parts.
Iv asked the Gm service to give me the requisites in writing including the fact that discs that were previously changed in warranty at 35k Kms have again worn off at 80k inspite of brake pads being changed on time. Guess this is one time I'll be fighting a losing battle. Waiting for the car to return right now will update what happens next!!

[rugsrags]

So i got the vehicle back. Only the service was completed as some of the parts required to be changed as per the dealership weren't in stock and have been express ordered. I have also received a mail from the dealer telling me what all needs to be changed. The rear disc brakes/pads/lining estimated cost 28k and suspension Lower and Upper arm of both sides estimated cost 35k. The car while driving pretty much fine before sending for service has deteriorated a lot post coming back. The suspension is definitely making a lot of noise now and the brakes feel a lot weaker than when sent for service.

The car was returned from service late at night and so it took the dealership one and half days to service the vehicle. Unfortunately i had written to the customer care when the first call came for the breakdown of parts and i just hope the dealer isn't that low down in their tactics of changing parts to sub-standard ones to prove their point. They could not identify the vacuum-modulator noise and I was told theres no noise and an OBD scan will be done inspite of me mentioning the issue since iv had it replaced atleast 3-4 times in the lifetime of the car and so know the exact cause for it. The very next morning it was persistently coming on switching off the vehicle and iv taken a video and sent it to the dealer and customer care to prove that it is there. I'v also written to the customer care and accepted the issues now since they are now present in the vehicle though iv mentioned this was not the case 3 days back when the whole fiasco started.

I'v requested the customer care to send a technician from the factory as iv lost faith in the dealership post my experience as i don't think the dealership is equipped to do this work when they can't even diagnose a problem before it resulted in such a severe breakdown. For e.g. when they changed the front brake pads couldn't they have changed the rear ones too inspite of me specifically asking them to take a look and confirm if they need to be changed and thus prevented the discs from being damaged. And during the service couldn't they have seen the condition of the suspension and changed bushes to prevent damage to the suspension arms as has been diagnosed now? The car has never been taken off-road is used only in the city and the only highway run it sees is Kanpur- Agra- Delhi which if anyone has travelled offers the best road condition available now. (including the Yamuna Expressway)

The latest issue that has now cropped up is that last evening the airbag check light has also decided to switch on and the rear view mirror has gotten loose when the car was returned from service which again seems to be a result of misuse at the dealership but of course i'm sure the dealer will as usual put the blame on me. The GM service was kind enough to send their technician to my house to look at the airbag issue but of course they couldn't do anything and have asked to send the car to the workshop which i'm not doing till the time i don't hear back from the customer care and a senior technician is not present personally supervising the repairs.

In the mean-while iv grounded the vehicle to prevent any other mis-haps. The service bill of around 14.5k along with the repair estimate means an expense of around 77.5k and now the air bag light would result in some more expense as i'm sure even that won't be covered by warranty. Why buy extended warranty when the dealership isn't equipped to do preventive maintenance.

I'm still a fan of the car and hence will foot the bill of course as nothing bothers me more than a car with issues and since i was anyway looking to upgrade soon wouldn't want to sell a car that turns out to be a lemon for somebody else. The only outcome would be that maybe I now hold out the sale for a little longer especially after the huge expense.

Lets see how this entire story ends and the only silver lining is the hope that the car begins to run like new post this episode.

[rugsrags]

The update now is that I had a long conversation yesterday with the Mahindra CCM based out of lucknow. Hats off to him for being one of the best orators i have come across and an expert of flattery and changing topics. lol.. To cut the long story short i got it from him in-between the lines that mahindra will not intercede and that such repairs are running item repairs and hence nothing can be done about it. The best part is that he very smoothly hinted at me doing this after seeing the big expense and that all my thorough research in going through previous bills etc. which nobody else does is only to avoid the bill. Well Mahindra... you have a very capable employee in Mr. Hasnain your CCM in Lucknow who has just got yourself a customer who always bought your vehicles to being an ex-customer for the future. Nothing against the man personally but he is just very pro-dealers and covering up their faults is something i wouldn't have expected.

The car will be sent to the dealership for the necessary repairs tomorrow just because of the insinuation that my hard earned money being spent was the reason for me to raise the issue so much and totally side-lining the real motive and that is carelessness of the service centre in not diagnosing the issue on time and hence preventing pre-mature break down of parts.

I'v also sent a copy of my communication along with my experience to autocar india through which i do hope others can know what practices are being done by the dealerships here. It might be a small issue but is insulting to a car enthusiast like myself to be ridiculed this way as if i'm a newbie with no experience in driving and owning cars!

The newer issue that has now come up is the display of the air conditioner to stop working on one side. It never rains but it pours. I don't know what has gone wrong all of a sudden. Issues galore from a vehicle that otherwise was running all this while perfectly fine. Guess it heard when i said i'm soon going to replace it

[.anshuman]

My friend's Rexton had a minor accident in first week of June, the car has been waiting in the service center since then waiting for arrival for spares, expected to stay there for another 1 month, that will make a total of 3 months for a minor accident.

Mahindra's support for Rexton is terrible, spares take ages to be sourced, mechanics are not trained enough to fix this car, most dealers do not service/repair this car. All in all an ownership and depreciation nightmare.

[rugsrags]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

My friend's Rexton had a minor accident in first week of June, the car has been waiting in the service center since then waiting for arrival for spares, expected to stay there for another 1 month, that will make a total of 3 months for a minor accident.

Mahindra's support for Rexton is terrible, spares take ages to be sourced, mechanics are not trained enough to fix this car, most dealers do not service/repair this car. All in all an ownership and depreciation nightmare.

Wow...atleast iv not had to wait for parts this long ever. The longest i had to wait was when the brake discs were to be changed the first time and even then they were express couriered and were with the dealership in just 2-3 days. The suspension arms in the current scenario is in house only the brake lining was not in stock which was also again express couriered and is today in stock with the dealership as per the dealership.Only the display unit for the ac which iv informed today might take longer as i haven't heard any update yet but then its a minor part and not something important enough for the vehicle to get grounded.

You're right about it being a depreciation nightmare but i still vouch for the ride quality and overall comfort of the car though it is now slowly turning into an ownership nightmare too.

[rugsrags]

Just an update. I visited the workshop today to check on the work being done. I was shown the damaged disc and the broken/torn suspension bushes. They are getting changed tomorrow while work on the airbag light has been completed and the vacuum modulator has been replaced with some upgraded part.

Now the manager under trust took me to the side and informed me that the handbrake lining had not been changed by the workshop during the previous service which has resulted in the leather being worn out and the metal rubbing against metal to create the scratches on the inner side of the disc. This was admitted to me as being carelessness and he said he's informed the Mahindra CCM about it. Also the bushes could have been changed at the time too to prevent damage to the arms and that is the reason they might have to change arms but will only get to know once they open suspension which is due for tomorrow.

On hearing this I spoke to the CCM and politely informed him that i had visited the workshop seen the damaged parts and that there has been carelessness during the previous service but he just told me that from next time they will ensure a stringent check to prevent further bills and expenses for me. He also said that he's thoroughly gone through the service logs and nothing of the sort was found to preempt the breakdowns.

I don't think it's a very satisfactory response and maybe the CCM thinks that it may be a interdealer rivalry at play here since the previous service was done at a different dealer.

Whatever the reason I'm the one facing the brunt of it.

[rugsrags]

The final update. Got the car back yesterday. Pending work is the ac display unit and noise from the rear seats. Both these things will be addressed in a few days.
There is now a sound from the rear left wheel on moving will need to get checked hopefully it's not the brakes though it sounds like the new setup could be the culprit. The handbrake though is harder than i'v ever felt it to be with no play at all. There is also a noise from near the steering or maybe the front suspension when going through bad roads.
The total damages were around 65k including service. Hopefully soon the car will be running flawlessly.

[rugsrags]

Update yet again... The noise from the wheel stopped on its own. The car was returned to the service centre for the change of the ac display unit. The airbag light came on again and was reset again. The noise from the steering has been diagnosed as a play in the steering rod and a replacement has been ordered from the company. The reason for the same has been attributed to the worn out bushes at the front suspension and the change of the arms etc. has brought out the play which wasn't there before since the steering rod had probably adjusted to the older suspension setup.

The modulator was acting up again and this time the modulator along with the entire modulator assembly has been replaced. Lets see how long it holds this time round.

The rear bench seat were creaking and the entire seat was removed and then re-attached with some insulation etc. and that's been addressed too.

Thank god for extended warranty whew!! Checked the repair bill earlier online and apparently for the 65k that i had to shell out apparently the parts replaced were for a lac themselves. Hopefully the car has now been returned to its former glory. It definitely is driving a lot smoother than before.

[rugsrags]

Has anybody been contacted regarding the below mentioned recall??
http://auto.ndtv.com/news/id-1443757

[rugsrags]

So I shot off a mail to the area manager regarding the above mentioned recall and i was contacted by the dealer post that. My car is covered under the recall and its some torque bolts that have to be changed for the rear driveshaft. I don't know what their purpose is but the parts are now enroute and should get replaced by the end of this week. The steering column and not the rod is already with the dealer and he's going to change the same along with the rear driveshaft work.
On a lighter note I seem to have hijacked this thread and if I had the patience or the know-how I could have probably started my ownership thread myself especially seeing the number of posts and updates Iv made sadly with hardly any views.. Lol

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by rugsrags

So I shot off a mail to the area manager regarding the above mentioned recall and i was contacted by the dealer post that. My car is covered under the recall and its some torque bolts that have to be changed for the rear driveshaft. I don't know what their purpose is but the parts are now enroute and should get replaced by the end of this week. The steering column and not the rod is already with the dealer and he's going to change the same along with the rear driveshaft work.
On a lighter note I seem to have hijacked this thread and if I had the patience or the know-how I could have probably started my ownership thread myself especially seeing the number of posts and updates Iv made sadly with hardly any views.. Lol

Hi rubsrags

Just my thoughts, it is not like no one is reading this thread, just that Rexton owners are far and few and prefer to reply only if the issues are relevant to them. I just hope you manage to get pending issues rectify at the earliest without burning a big hole in your pocket. Good Luck.

[rugsrags]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Hi rubsrags

Just my thoughts, it is not like no one is reading this thread, just that Rexton owners are far and few and prefer to reply only if the issues are relevant to them. I just hope you manage to get pending issues rectify at the earliest without burning a big hole in your pocket. Good Luck.

Well you're probably right. I do think i have one of the most exclusive rides around. Regarding the rectification of parts all of the remaining parts are now covered under warranty so i don't think i'll be shelling out any more amount. For my 65k billed to me for the suspension and service i saw the bill and apparently the dealer has billed around 144000 for parts alone mind you this excludes the labor cost etc which must have been borne by the company too for the replacement of the warranty parts. And once i send my vehicle for the steering column work and the driveshaft bolt recall this will just go up. Now i wonder if Mahindra ever made any money on the Rexton.

[rugsrags]

The car has just been returned after the steering column and driveshaft recall related work. I couldn't send it earlier due to prior commitments and finally dropped it off day before in the evening. It has been returned today but i'm yet to drive it to see the difference in the drive. Will update the current condition post driving it for a while.