[Arayan5614]

Sometime back I shared my experience (Preowned Car Experience - Chevy Sail UVA) of the pre-owned car,

After driving the very same car for about 9000 KMs and owning it for a little more than a year, it was time to service the car.

As you would know GM / Chevrolet had exited India but luckily the brand had a trustworthy ASC in Bangalore - The trident Chevrolet

Sad news for Chevy owners, the service centre is closing from 15th Jan,22 :(

I had the following options for servicing the car

1. Take the CAR to the ASC Trident and get it serviced there
2. Get it serviced at Spinny since I bought the car from them and it has been
almost a flawless experience with them
3. Go to multi-brand service centres like BOCH, GoMechanic etc
4. Source spares and to get servicing done with a small scale auto mechanic

So, which one option did I choose?

I did a quick calculation of the cost of servicing at all these options




I had the following criteria for the servicing:

A. Original Spares as much as possible
B. Full synthetic oil
C. As economical as possible

My priority was Trident ASC, given the good experience I had with the team there, BUT the ASC didn't have the air filter so I had to look for some other options


My obvious next move was to reach out to Spinny
for their estimate, they quoted around 5k cost for blended oil, but at the same time I estimated the cost of sourcing original spares


Cost of Spares Image



Cost of Engine of oil from Amazon



Cost of Engine Flush from Amazon

So the total cost of spares is (Airfilter, Oil Filter, Engine Oil) - INR 2,765 (688+1713+364)

After estimating the cost I realised there could be more than 100% markup on the service offered by any of the branded / ASC service centres


Anyway I continued to look for organised/branded service centre and stumbled upon 'Automovill' - their service packages are unbeatable and gave a feel that, this is the brand which is going to disrupt the service segment



They offered a comprehensive service for 3400 and in a conversation, they promised no original spares and when I was just about to give them a pass someone from their office called and assured original spares

The next day I took the car to their garage when I reached my first realization was Automovill is an aggregator like Swiggy who just aggregates garages and your service quality is dependent on which 3rd party garage your car lands to

They took the car on priority and started servicing the car - while the mechanic was servicing the brakes someone brought the Airfilters and Oil Filters, but it wasn't the original spares which I specifically I had asked for,
I insisted on the original spares but after some time, they told me about unavailability in the market and assured me of the quality of spares, given the time I already had invested I thought let's go ahead with the spares and get it serviced

While the mechanic was still servicing the brakes I asked about the engine oil they are going to use and he showed me a tin drum of Shell oil, when I looked at it closely the oil was 10W-30 and my car needed 5W-30 - informed the same to the team and it was news for them

Now I was wondering, had I opted for a FREE car pick up and drop they would have very well poured in the same 10W-30 oil in my car.

Now the associate promised to source 5W-30 but now I had lost my trust and opted to take the care back, they charged me INR 450 for brake servicing and almost made the brake as hard as possible - I drove it for 5kms and went back to the garage to get this fixed

After this unpleasant experience, the first thing I did in the very same garage is I place online orders of spares from Boodmo and oil from Amazon

It took 7 days for the parts to arrive:



package from boodmo





package from amazon

Also, I ordered Castrol engine shampoo to flush the engine, it cost me another 364


Now it was time for action:



It took about 90mintes of my investment and INR 450 to get the job done to my level of satisfaction


Learnings from the whole incident:

A. Car schedule service isn't rocket science and you don't need space scientists to do this simple job.

B. Invest a little time and understand what all job is needed in the particular service of the car
C. Don't just trust any garage just because they offer you free pick up and drop, they might put in spares that suits and convenient to them not good for your car in the long run
D. Invest time in your machine - Most of the cars need once a year service, invest one day if it takes so that you can drive it for the next one year with the peace of mind knowing what all job is done and what is put in your car
Don't compromise on spares quality

Final Servicing Cost: INR 3565
1. Spares + Oil = 2765
2. Fee to Automovill = 450
3. Charges to Local Mechanic = 350

About the mechanic:

Muneer Car Garage - Gunjur Varthur road opposite Prestige Lakeside Habitat, Bangalore

[Bhupesh_2628]

Hi Arayan5614,

Thanks for sharing.

In addition to your experience, I thought about it one day & want to list the following points that we may have to keep in mind if any manufacturer exits (like when service centres are shut):

1. Study about yearly car service requirements from the Service Manual book.
2. Write down list of parts to be Cleaned, Lubricated, Replaced, Repaired.
3. Buy original spare parts from Authorized Service Centre counter or Boodmo or Amazon etc. - Ourselves to buy or let mechanic buy?
4. Research about Neighborhood garages in the following ways:

• Look up Team-BHP Directory in your preferred state.
• Check & read threads of those garages that have been visited & reviewed by BHPians.
• Seek help from BHPians in case that thread is outdated in order to know the latest updates.
• Take address, phone number of owner, mechanic & give reference of BHPian.
• In case we do not find any garages that have been discussed/reviewed here, then search on Google & go for reviews (but beware of fake reviews) - Make an excel sheet for comparison just you did here.
• Shortlist 2-3 garages in case we want to take 2nd opinion from another garage & not satisfied with the first garage's opinion/diagnosis.

5. Bringing our own spare parts is 'peace of mind' - no worry of usage of duplicate spares.
6. In case we are not able to procure original spare parts ourselves, then let the garage folks order themselves but keep an eye on the originality like you did here.
7. To be present at the garage during servicing at all times to keenly observe the work being carried out.
8. Final Bill to be received from the garage for all the work done.
9. Keep the Service Manual book during services also in case any mechanic has any doubts regarding the service or parts whether to replace/lubricate/clean/repair etc.

Additional task 1: In case procurement of original spare parts is not possible in any way, then we need to build contacts with car scrap dealers/multi-garage who may help in finding one from accidental/unrepairable/total loss cars in the scrap yard. In some cities (if not all), there is 1 place where these parts can be procured.
For instance, in Delhi there are multiple places like Mayapuri, Mangolpuri etc.

Additional task 2: If experience is positive, then we can do the following:

• Create a new thread to share garage details like name, phone number, address, owner/mechanic name, Pros, Cons, photos, types of work that can be carried out etc. = Only if that garage has not been reviewed before in the forum.
• Or write down our experiences about this garage in its preferred thread (already created in the directory) to share latest experience.

Additional task 3: Create/Maintain a list of spare part names, spare part numbers from the website or from spare part counter folks. It would be really helpful if they can give this list either in hardcopy or excel format.
Also, we can ask them with what all cars does our car share its parts with?
For instance: Figo, EcoSport, Aspire etc. share some common parts. Procuring parts from either models will help.

Additional task 4: If in any case, there's a possibility & a chance of buying original spare parts in 'bulk' from the counter.

@All BHPians, if there are any points that you feel I may have missed out, please share & update.

Hope this helps.

[hserus]

Don’t use engine shampoo or flush, your engine isn’t a toilet that it needs flushing and all. Just change engine oil regularly.

[Arayan5614]

Originally Posted by hserus

Don’t use engine shampoo or flush, your engine isn’t a toilet that it needs flushing and all. Just change engine oil regularly.

Not sure why would you say that, from my secondary research after a certain time there are deposits in the corners of the engines and if that gets removed through flush it improves the engine performance

Also it's recommended in forums/by mechanics to flush when you move from mineral to synthetic oil

From my experience after the flush and using synthetic oil I can feel more power, for example I couldn't take car out of basement parking without pressing the accelerator in 2nd gear, now the car can easily from the basement through ramp in 2nd gear without even touching the accelerator pedal

Also the idle RPM has come down

Originally Posted by Bhupesh_2628

Hi Arayan5614,

Thanks for sharing.

In addition to your experience, I thought about it one day & want to list the following points that we may have to keep in mind if any manufacturer exits (like when service centres are shut)...

...Hope this helps.

IMO this absolutely makes sense,

[hserus]

All that any "flush" does is to dissolve a lot of grease etc deposited within an engine. And then that circulates elsewhere within the engine, causing more blocks in other places.

Mechanics will recommend stuff in order to sell expensive additives and increase their profits.

Some people on forums keep recommending additives because some other guy used it and recommended it.

Regardless of if you use mineral oil, synthetic oil or melted 24 karat gold in your engine, change the oil regularly on schedule, change oil, air, fuel filters. That is more than enough.

Any oil at all where you have changed it fresh will possibly feel more smooth and powerful than old / used oil. You need to drive it over say 8-9 thousand km and check its performance over that time. If you use mineral feel free to change oil say around the 6000-7000 mark, that's fine.

Originally Posted by Arayan5614

Not sure why would you say that, from my secondary research after a certain time there are deposits in the corners of the engines and if that gets removed through flush it improves the engine performance

Also it's recommended in forums/by mechanics to flush when you move from mineral to synthetic oil

From my experience after the flush and using synthetic oil I can feel more power, for example I couldn't take car out of basement parking without pressing the accelerator in 2nd gear, now the car can easily from the basement through ramp in 2nd gear without even touching the accelerator pedal

Also the idol RPM has come down

[Arayan5614]

Originally Posted by hserus

All that any "flush" does is to dissolve a lot of grease etc deposited within an engine. And then that circulates elsewhere within the engine, causing more blocks in other places.

Mechanics will recommend stuff in order to sell expensive additives and increase their profits.

Some people on forums keep recommending additives because some other guy used it and recommended it.

Regardless of if you use mineral oil, synthetic oil or melted 24 karat gold in your engine, change the oil regularly on schedule, change oil, air, fuel filters. That is more than enough.

Any oil at all where you have changed it fresh will possibly feel more smooth and powerful than old / used oil. You need to drive it over say 8-9 thousand km and check its performance over that time. If you use mineral feel free to change oil say around the 6000-7000 mark, that's fine.

Shouldn't the free floaters be trapped in the oil filter/ filter in the oil sump?

I thought the deposits when get loosened up, most of it gets drained out with the old oil and what remains gets circulated with the new oil and gets trapped in filters.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by Arayan5614

Shouldn't the free floaters be trapped in the oil filter/ filter in the oil sump?

I thought the deposits when get loosened up, most of it gets drained out with the old oil and what remains gets circulated with the new oil and gets trapped in filters.

You’re trusting your filters especially the cheap ones used in small hatchbacks a lot more than they should be trusted.

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing! Have moved your thread to the Tech Stuff forum. It will go to our homepage later this week .

Agreed with you. Car services are just a one-time annual affair. Pay attention to the quality of parts + labour, and your car will reward you handsomely.

Am with hserus. Just change the engine oil on time, I am no longer a believer of flushes.

[Kosfactor]

It is a good idea to source your own parts and get the job done under your supervision at an FNG - for vehicles like this without ASC support now.

However please keep in mind that servicing a vehicle is not limited to changing a few consumables, I hope you have access to the OEM recommended service schedule for the number of kms \ years the vehicle has done.

Like others have mentioned, avoid engine flush, fuel additives etc, they are not required.

[condor]

@Arayan,

What you could do is: Get your oil changed at any Shell bunk. Oil change is free when you buy the oil right there. They normally keep the regularly moving filters, but may not have stock of Chevy stuff. If they dont, or as back-up source the filters from Boodmo.

The other items you could get it done at a good FNG.

[nitin_knw]

Originally Posted by Arayan5614

Not sure why would you say that, from my secondary research after a certain time there are deposits in the corners of the engines and if that gets removed through flush it improves the engine performance

Also it's recommended in forums/by mechanics to flush when you move from mineral to synthetic oil

From my experience after the flush and using synthetic oil I can feel more power, for example I couldn't take car out of basement parking without pressing the accelerator in 2nd gear, now the car can easily from the basement through ramp in 2nd gear without even touching the accelerator pedal

Also the idol RPM has come down



IMO this absolutely makes sense,

After driving some 24K and 6 year on my sold Wagon R I went for a engine flush, purchased 'Liqui Moly' and went to a nearby mechanic and got it flushed as per instruction, the drained oil definitely seems to be more on black side but does not guaranteed a flush of deposits until a lab proof's that, did not find any change in driving dynamics, my 2 cents is to flush every 5 year or 30K and religiously follow oil change interval. I do see a point to flush it at first time when changing to synthetic oil.

[BhayanaV]

Originally Posted by hserus

You’re trusting your filters especially the cheap ones used in small hatchbacks a lot more than they should be trusted.

I had read through the forum discussion on engine oil flush, diesel additives, costly air filters etc. and realized it is concluded to be majorly a placebo effect.

[ramnaresh_2000]

An eye opening post. I paid 17k for 30k kms service for my Jeep Compass. When they gave me a quotation, I specifically asked them to remove AC cleaning. The SA insisted it was mandatory, as I had driven 3 hours in the morning just to get it serviced, I backed down as I wanted to get some rest. Once my warranty expires, there is no way I am going back to them. I found an experienced local mechanic who is very close to my uncle, and he charges very nominal amount for servicing.

I can easily source all the air filters and oils from FCA or boodmo/Amazon. 300 bucks for windshield liquid and 950 bucks for AC disinfectant really got my nerves

[sagarpadaki]

Whenever any SA tells me something is mandatory, I ask to show that in the user manual. That is sufficient for them to back off and not pursue further

[Arayan5614]

Originally Posted by nitin_knw

After driving some 24K and 6 year on my sold Wagon R I went for a engine flush, purchased 'Liqui Moly' and went to a nearby mechanic and got it flushed as per instruction, the drained oil definitely seems to be more on black side but does not guaranteed a flush of deposits until a lab proof's that, did not find any change in driving dynamics, my 2 cents is to flush every 5 year or 30K and religiously follow oil change interval. I do see a point to flush it at first time when changing to synthetic oil.

In my case, I might be getting the extra power and engine smoothness from the synthetic oil used

Also have got an STP fuel injector cleaner which I'm yet to pour in