[kutts]

Bought a Tiago Petrol and the car was delivered on 24th Jun 2021. Had driven only short distances due to lockdown and used to have a burning smell at times once we got out of the car. Did not observe anything unusual and thought it might be the brakes bedding in even though the car was never driven hard.

After an extensive week of lockdown during which the car was completely stationery I saw to my horror a pool of oil . This was on 21st July and the car had covered only 242km by now. Oil level seemed fine and no flashing indicators.




Called up the dealer Derik Motors and they promptly picked up the car. I knew the SA since he was handling my older Nano and had a good rapport with him since a couple of years now. The fault seemed to be due to a drive shaft oil seal which was replaced and the car given back a couple of days later. His opinion was that the burning smell could have been due to the oil getting in contact with the silencer.

The very next morning noticed a couple of drops of oil. I was advised to drive around for 50km since it could be due to the residual oil that was not cleaned up properly. But unfortunately the issue persisted the next day. Once again back to the workshop floor.



Got the car back on 28th Jul, this time with drive shaft oil seals once again replaced. But if I remember correctly, this time both seals were replaced whilst last time only a single seal was replaced.

The ordeal continues the very next day! Vehicle given back to me on 6th Aug with the input shaft seal replaced. Drove for another day, hardly 10km more and once again I see drops of oil.




This now had me quite very upset and angry . It was the 3rd time the issue was repeating. My SA friend was also taken aback. They had been test driving extensively each time and my odo stood at 700km with 90% of that done as test drives.

A close friend who used to be an automobile engineer suggested that the gear box milling may be having a minute error which is causing these. Contacted Tata Motors Kerala CRM directly since this was beyond a 1 in 3 lakh odds of having an oil seal leak 3 times in a brand new vehicle and I dint want this to be taken lightly anymore. Subsequent calls revealed that this was now taken up at the Tata Motors factory level itself after the 2nd time the leak was observed and the input shaft oil seal replacement was also done under the direct guidance of Tata Motors engineers.

The SA called me a couple of days later and informed that they have received authorization to replace the entire gear box assembly which would take about 2 weeks to arrive from Pune. Though I had not put forward any suggestions on replacing the gear box assembly, it came as a pleasant surprise that Tata Motors was not playing around with the situation. Even though the leak was not observable by now since they changed the input oil seal once again, they wanted to ensure that there was absolutely no chance of it occurring in the future.

Been couple of weeks now since the vehicle is back after the gear box replacement. So far looks okay and no leaks till now. It might be a psychological effect, but I don’t feel the butter smooth slotting of gears. Anything to watch for?

Received a 1 year extended warranty as good will and an additional one more year warranty for a nominal amount. So now I presume it’s a peaceful ride for next 4 years atleast.

Overall, though I was paying my EMIs for a car which spent most of the time in the dealer yard (during a booking fiasco related to own insurance v/s dealer insurance) and workshop, what I appreciated the most was how professionally Tata Motors and Derik Motors came together to resolve the issue without me having to escalate or make a large noise.

[abhishek46]

Tata ASC has done a good job here, by getting entire gearbox replaced.

While we can blame Tata for yet another QC miss, the prompt solution to a customer's issue is commendable.

[__.gxr.__]

I'm glad to hear that Tata proactively took up the issue and resolved it.

My father has a 2016 Tata Zest which was bought from Trivandrum Motors. After delivery, the headlight corona ring would turn on and off intermittently when the headlight is switched on. It was probably a loose-connection issue but they replaced the entire headlight unit! My dad was okay with the service from the dealership until the last one in 2020 when they changed the timing kit for the 20,000 km run car and overcharged for the service. Also, they never wash the car properly. From your experience, it seems like Derik Motors' AS.S. might be worth giving a shot.

[kutts]

Originally Posted by __.gxr.__

From your experience, it seems like Derik Motors' AS.S. might be worth giving a shot.

I had used Trivandrum Motors earlier for servicing the Nano Twist. Was never really happy with the way they tried to fix things. Derik seem better. Don't expect miracles. The Tiago had minor body scratches each time it left the workshop showing it's not handled with care. I would immediately call it out and was promptly polished and corrected in the next visit.

[SulemanP]

Being a first time TATA customer this is a good news for me. My purchase experience was good, the way dealer did the follow up till the time they handed over the car was also good. They had even called me for PDI when the vehicle was unloaded but due to workload couldn't make it, i was happy the way dealer took care of the entire process.

[gkveda]

Good show by Tata. Accepting the mistake and compensating for the mistake is the highest level of maturity that can be shown.

At the same time, if they can correct their manufacturing process to ensure that the mistake does not recur in future, their name and reputation start growing up in the industry.

Kudos to Tatas for this righteousness.

[Apratim_Choudhu]

Tata Service Centers are improving a lot over the last few years especially in the bigger cities. Owning a Nexon 2020, I have personally experienced similar experience in Mumbai. But the biggest issue I feel is poor QC at factory. Is it due to the sudden surge in production due to huge demand or poor workmanship by Tata employees, Tata should seriously figure it out.

[Big Smoke]

Very happy to hear that Tata Motors authorised the replacement of a critical component such as the gearbox, on its own, without the customer having to break his head. At least they're not harassing the customers. This kind of an act instills some confidence, because I too am a Tata car owner.

[Ravi Parwan]

wow,
I can not help but compare the manner in which the OEM is handling the issue to the way other OEMs treat such issues. That is when you start feeling good about our Indian manufacturers.
Till the time you realize, you never hear such horror stories about Maruti! And that is the most prominent reason for their success in India.

[aneesh2M]

Great to know the way TML has handled the issue. even though the image of TATA after sales support is not so good, IMO TATA has always been supportive in attending customer issues. be it recalling the INDICAs for few issues or planning a nation wide retrofit for Nanos. in earlier days what goofed up TATA is few design issues to which even they didn't have the immediate solution to be offered at dealer level and random niggles to which TATA was clueless what to do. but i have never came across any case TATA denying a solution to a customer when they have a solution. (and yes dealers took some time to come at par with other Passenger cars manufacturers as earlier it was more of commercial vehicle and taxi background).

[Mohd595]

Glad to know that TML has replaced your gearbox. Which variant was your car? I personally know another case with a similar incident on a Nexon XZA.

[sumeethaldankar]

Delighted to read that not only Tata changed the gear box on their own but also provided extended warranty on the car. Kudos to Tata here.

I know about a case of a Hyundai owner where a brand new car's gearbox was replaced for the owner due to a defect but Hyundai refused to give any extra warranty for the car as a goodwill inspite of the owners request to do so.

This shows how Tata is determined to conquer the market whereas the likes of Hyundai are just taking their customers for granted.

[mac187]

Great to hear that your issue was promptly resolved without the need for social media escalation.

Kudos to ASC and TATA motors. Just shows that diligent coordination between ASC and manufacturer goes along way in resolving these issues before they get escalated. The day this becomes a norm there will be more people queuing up at TATA showrooms. As recent events have shown, global manufacturers are packing up and moving out, we need more support the rest of the players to make it more sustainable for them to bring world class products.

[gururajrv]

While the ordeal was taken care of, I believe few factors worked in your favour:

1) your proactive approach of reaching out to the CRM directly and passing a subtly stern message.

2) your SA friend whom I believe might have influenced behind the scenes to make this work to an extent

3) luck that was by your side I say this because you know how many disgruntled customers are out there to have their bigger cars like Safari / Harrier fixed.

Nevertheless, im happy that your car is fixed and wish you a lot many happy & safe miles

[dsuman]

Happy for you that your brand new car is back on road. Wishing you miles of happy motoring.

Kudos to Tata for acting swiftly. It shows that Tata Motors is proactively working to improve their image. They could have easily made you wait some more time but No. This gives a huge confidence boost to a first time Tata owner like me.

During my recent purchase I could see their eagerness to satisfy customers. Keep up Tata.

Mahindra and Tata - the two Indian brands are working hard to reach Maruti levels of customer service