How to tell whether they really serviced the car Two experiences first which will give a background on the nature of my question
1. I always used to get my car serviced from TASS till it hit around 70K mark. Oil changes (Castrol GTD) and filters etc., Apart from 500rs labor charge I had to pay for oil and filters. Then one day I went to roadside mechanic. I gave him Oil filters(OEM delphi) + Engine oil (Shell mineral oil, same as GTD) and asked him to clean air filter by compressed air.
It was a revelation! The car was much smoother, the "service" took mere 30 minutes and 100rs in labor, and I had never felt such smoothness from engine ever before, even after the TASS guys keeping the vehicle for whole day. At that time I had a suspicion, that what if the authorized dealer was draining the engine oil, putting in 1-2 liters of old engine oil and then putting in 2-3 liters of brand new oil. Since mineral oils can last easily for 10K inside a sedately driven indica(more so for long drain oils which trucks use) it won't really do much of a damage. Since engine oil in a diesel car turns black quickly, you can't really check if the service center has taken you for a ride.
Anyways at that time I thought that I was being a little too paranoid, until a couple of days back
2. A collegue of mine was lamenting how diesel engined cars become rough etc., after 50-60K of use and have to be thrown away. He was telling how he gets his car serviced after every 5000kms from authorized service station and still it sounds so rough, and it overheats too. I asked him to go to sector 16 Automobile Engineers workshop, and buy oil and filters himself and give to that fellow. He goes their gets the oil changed, and also gets the fan motor replaced, all for 100rs labor charge, and comes back happy "My indica has not felt this smooth in years(4 year old indica)"
The car runs so smooth now, the engine noise is lessened.
After this incident doubts have started creeping in. For example when I went to Automobile sterling saying the car is missing at top revs, the service advisor was trying to prepare me for a Fuel Pump overhaul(7K job, big money for service station). It turned out to be a leaky hand primer. Now when their aim is just to make money, why wouldn't they mix old oil with new oil in 20-80 ratio and make that extra buck.
After all the petrol pumps also do adulteration, right?
Moreover they do not allow you to bring your own oil, and do not allow you to be near the vehicle when they service it.
So is there a way to catch engine oil adulteration. I will never be going to TASS ever again after all their attempts to screw up my indica. But when I buy a new car, I am at the mercy of the authorized service stations! |