[carmayogi]

It is unfortunate that you have faced such troubles with your car. As GTO said, none of these issues would afflict a small hatchback.

The biggest problem here is the attitude displayed by car companies towards Indian customers. Make no mistake, they are all equally bad. They use the excuse that low volume cars do not justify local production/assembly - fine. However, this does not justify a) not having parts locally and b) not having trained technicians. It is an insult to suggest that Indians cannot be trained thoroughly to repair a 'world-class' product. This is just shameless cost cutting.

I am in the automotive business, I used to work with an equipment supplier. I have seen how technicians working at a Maruti dealer are promoted, without training, to a BMW workshop because the dealer simply can and the company does not bother to complain about this.

Finally, another point. I was recently meeting with the owner of an SEZ outside Mumbai which is a custom-bonded area, i.e. you only pay duty when you take things out of the area. This gentleman had offered Volkswagen space in the warehouses so that their parts could be kept, duty free, and released as and when required. The VW rep replied "Our customers will manage with the present waiting times. We do not think the extra expense is justified." Remember, this is a place where VW could have dumped container loads of parts and re-shipped any to other Asian markets if required without additional duty.

This is an industry-wide cancer, make no mistake about it.

[arup.misra]

Thank the heavens that you are safe. With the kind of near misses you reported, you my friend, are a blessed soul.

On your issues, mate I feel very bad for that awful experience. I sincerely hope they are able to get your LR road worthy soon. If I were you, I'd put it in the market the day I get it back road-worthy. I do understand the financial implication is high but no amount of money can be worth you. Get yourself a T-fort. Maybe it lacks the gizmos but it will not fail you in the middle of nowhere.

I earnestly hope this just remains a one off case and doesn't turn into a JLR death knell.

[rahul4321]

Forgive me; but i find this error analysis incredibly stupid and downright foolish. Somebody correct me if I am wrong but this is the way i see it

1- Steering locked itself with a warning sign saying 'Steering Column Locked'
2-When the car was switched on and off, the steering unlocked itself and Mad Monkey was able to drive it to his destination

(a)This implies; and once again- correct me if i am wrong; that the Steering was locked 'electronically' as a preventive measure by the car and the warning message was an intimation to the driver telling him that the car has locked the steering.

(b)It was NOT a 'mechanical' lock which had happened inadvertently and the warning message being just intimation to the driver telling him what had gone wrong (what happens in most cars)

To summarize- "It was a deliberate act done by the car!"

Isnt this criminal? Foolish, Stupid, Psychotic and dangerous? You lock up a steering so that the car's components (suspension or whatever the fault was) dont suffer additional damage but you risk killing the passengers and whoever else is unfortunate enough to be in front of the car.The car basically gives itself higher priority than its occupants! Sacrilege! Volvo's engineers would be aghast if they read this!!!

I would be more than glad if someone pointed out that I have misunderstood this. If i havent; somebody should throw the JLR's engineering authorities in jail

[fine69]

I read this and love my 3 year old Swift DDiS all the more. I would get envious thinking what fun it would be to drive the likes of Disco up to Spiti & Ladakh where my humble Swift had a tough time but its better to be in a less capable car and reach your destination (with extra effort) than to be stranded with a 1 Cr+ JLR SUV!

I have one question for Mad Monkey, why do you still have this car? I reckon its your unconditional love for the Discovery but when a car spends close to a year in workshop in your overall 3 years of ownership what's really the motivation to keep it?

If its totally a heart issue then nothing would change your mind but still, wouldn't a Land Cruiser be a better trade-off?

PS: I never thought my signature could ever make sense in a team-bhp thread.

[getsurya]

Mad Monkey, I am glad that you are alive and kicking to report this out! What a scary experience it would have been for you, with the steering locking itself on a turning!

Phew...JLR, this is not done after one spends so much money. This is a Lemon by itself and needs a full new car replacement!

[Steeroid]

Glad you're safe, Yuvraj. Dump the vehicle, am sure you are more than capable of getting the compensation out of them.

[Oranger]

Good to hear that you are safe. After reading all the stuff there's one question that comes to my mind: Is this the Tata Effect?

[Guderian]

Sorry to hear of this Mad Monkey. Glad that you are safe and wiser for the experience.
And to think that saw this machine during our Rajmachi trip and it did very well for itself.
Yet another case of a product being ruined by ASC's incompetency. Or is the product itself a sorry story ?

Good luck and hope that every works out well in the end...

[i74js]

I am sure we all look for exclusivity and wow factor in what we drive (although reliability is something that we expect as inherent feature of the machine we own). We do spend a lot of money beyond VFM for that wow factor and if something like this happens even after spending the money is not nice on the part of the manufacturer / service provider.

- Even if these high end products are CKD / CBU, there is no way out for the manufacturer to provide a sub-standard service / product quality in territories where it is not locally manufactured / produced. If JLR or any one does it, it should be held responsible for the same.

- The law enforcing agencies should figure out a way to ensure proper behaviour of these companies in India. If IRDA can control insurance companies and if RBI / Banking ombudsmen can check banks, why is the government not setting up agency to control mismanagement of these so called high profile international manufactures that have created a ruckus in India? For how long one has to wait for justice in such circumstances. Is the system only here to collect duties and taxes from automobile buyers?

- Why are the buyers tolerating incompetence of dealers and their service staff, laid back approach of dealers in even entertaining a legitimate claim? Because paid repairs means money for dealer as well as manufacturer for part replaced whereas warranty claims means no money for manufacturer and limited / pre-agreed payments for dealer for repair (by manufacturer) very similar to what they get from manufacturer for free services (with new vehicle).

- Why the non-existent / untrained staff at dealership cannot be challenged in the courts for delay in service, poor service and even damage to vehicles?

Come on Tata JLR, don’t make people move away from your vehicles.

[noopster]

This is truly shocking. How in God's name can a car give up on you mid-drive and lock its steering up? That is every driver's worst nightmare. Madmonkey, please check with your lawyers if you can sue the pants off JLR in consumer court. Hell, they should be held criminally liable in this case. What if there had been casualties?

Originally Posted by fine69

I read this and love my 3 year old Swift DDiS all the more.

You said it man. I have so much more love for the Japanese and Koreans after this!

I have one question for Mad Monkey, why do you still have this car? I reckon its your unconditional love for the Discovery but when a car spends close to a year in workshop in your overall 3 years of ownership what's really the motivation to keep it?

The market must be limited for a crore plus vehicle to start with. Add to that the troubled history and you will have even less takers. In any case, it isn't relevant. As long as Monkey is the owner he is fully entitled to a trouble-free experience. Which JLR is clearly not providing!

[malgudi]

Hah, typical of the Tata's - unwilling to even open their eyes and see what wrong they are doing (reminds me of cat drinking milk with closed eyes and assuring itself no one is looking at it). Tata's did this to their premier products like Safari & Aria and they are doing the same with JLR as well. Sooner or later JLR would go the same route as other tata products.
Mad Monkey, I really think there is no way JLR is gonna change and you should sell the vehicle as soon as it delivered back and cut you losses (however passionate you may be about it). It is simply not worth risking your life and limb for it .

[lurker]

My feeling is that these car companies take Indians to be suckers who have bought into their advertising and are desperate to make a social statement via their 'prestige brands'. their behaviour is not as if they are dealing with serious customers who deserve excellent support for these products. The way they go about support show up Maruti & Toyota as exemplary organisations who can't do a thing wrong. So unless they are afraid that the potential customer can hold them to task and is equal to their ability to do mischief at the expense of the other, they will only go about this in a non-serious and casual way.

This means there is no process in place at these luxury brands which can address these issues satisfactorily. And what exactly is Tata doing here, do they think that they have just sold a 1 and half crore Indica.

[vnabhi]

OMG, those were harrowing incidents indeed! That too from a vehicle that costs a crore and a half rupees!

If my memory is right, a few years back you had similar issues with your Ford Fiesta. Looks like your share of bad luck with lemons is undue.

Thanks for sharing this saga. We wish you come out of your ordeal soon.

[lamborghini]

Oh wow!
These incidents are downright risky and I can't even think of what would be going through your mind at that time. JLRs are very desirable cars in their segment, especially the Land Rovers which command much respect on the roads.
What is more bothering is that these issues aren't a first off in India. IIRC there have been some famous personalities, including a popular actor who was put-off with JLR's service and lack of reliability. This is really worrisome given the dismal sales these cars have in India.

Thankfully, their sales team is just about as pathetic, as I discovered over 2 years of visiting their showrooms for various family and friends. Glad they were never interested in selling their cars - maybe their way to keep such PR under wraps

[Seventhgear]

One must say Madmonkey is a very patient soul.After spending 1.5 cr on a supposedly tough SUV ,He certainely doesn't deserve the pushing around from one service centre to another.I guess most people would have given a good piece of their of mind to the ASCs.

But i have noticed that once in a while, one vehicle (among all car manufacturers) does come among the whole batch of cars, which tends to break down often.That vehicle would be konking up for no rhyme or reason and would be a headache for both the owner and the dealer.

I have also failed to understand why the manufacturers don't pay any attention to the issues when they crop as afterall its their brand name which is at stake.We have a long list in India right from the Fiats,Skodas,Tatas etc.They simply refuse to learn i guess.

Just hoping Madmonkey is able to sort out the issues amicably before it gets out of hand.