[Oil_leak]

I recently convinced my family to take a 700 km round trip in our trusty 2004 santro xing. The only problem being the car was neglected for the past 6-7 years since my family was planning to get rid of the car but never did and there was only 3 days to get the car repaired.
Took it to a fng and asked him to fix the suspension part, all 4 wheel bearing, and an engine leak. Should have pushed back on engine oil leak for now and got the other 2 fixed, but the fng told the front wheel bearing can be replaced later (1 st mistake) and will do the rest of them.
3 days pass by and I get the car by the evening and had to leave for the trip the next day morning. Test drive the car and realised the mechanic had forgotten my complaint about front suspension work.
Things that got repaired in 3 days -
1. Rear wheel bearing both side, this was a quick job done on the first day itself.
2. The other 2 days was to fix the oil leak from cam and crank seal . There's no oil leak now but the mechanic tightened the timing a bit more so there's a belt noise at lower rpm.
Since I had to leave for the trip the next morning I thought of letting things go and started the journey as planned.

Started from Mangalore in the morning everything was going well till we reached Bhramhavara, Udupi. When my ignorance about the front suspension work backfired. There was a clicking sound from the front and took it to a garage nearby. Even they got confused and after checking the car for almost 1 and half hour they zeroed it down to clutch release bearing. As we were on our way the mechanic told it won't give further problem and can be taken till hubli (around 300kms). We continued on our journey and reached hubli safely. This turned out to be the happier side of the journey.

In Hubli the tires started to screech when turning and braking took it to a alignment shop got it aligned and the sound went away for around 10 mins for it to return, so there it was our holiday turning into a trip to fng where we have no idea about any mechanic, took a chance and left it at a random fng who decided to go change the brake pads for no reason and replace Hyundai branded brake pads with one that has no name came to know about it only after they started rubbing and sticking to the disks on our way back to Mangalore. So had no other option since it was night and all shops were closed so drive it till Mangalore with engine braking mostly and avoiding all situations of braking.

Lessons learnt:
* Never neglect a cars maintenance let alone take it on a long trip.
* Postpone the trip if the vehicle isn't completely repaired.
* Not to trust online Google garage reviews blindly


Currently the brakes are making noise while braking and while at low speeds, yet to have the brake pads changed since the last time I went to the fng and saw the no branded pads it was late and they asked get it back next day and couldn't due to my schedule.

P.S : Happy to be a member of the forum. Sorry for any mistakes on my first ever post.

[GTO]

Frankly, a 20-year old econo-hatchback or sedan is pretty much at the end of its life. Best only for local runs, and certainly not suitable to 700-km road trips. More than the maintenance, who knows what parts have worn out and to what level (you haven't mentioned the odo reading).

If owning such an old car, best to:

- Hire a self-drive rental for long road-trips

- Use the old car for local in-city runs only

Too many things that can go wrong. No manufacturer today designs a car to last 20 years.

[MT_Hyderabad]

My learning would be: Do not take a car for such a long drive just after major repairs. Minor repairs like coolant change, engine oil change, air filter replacement etc are ok. But Timing belt! Oil leak! Wheel bearings! Not at all.

More the number of major repairs you get done, more is the probability of one of them giving you trouble during the journey.

You were lucky that timing belt did not break.

[boniver]

OP, I hope you've realized that the tantrums thown by your car can only be attributed to its poor maintenance upkeep. This shouldn't dampen your spirits and prevent you from taking roadtrips in future (in old cars or new), provided you've maintained them properly.

Honestly, as an ex owner of a 2004 Santro Xing myself (we just sold the car last October), I can say that the car doesn't even demand a lot of maintenance. The bare minimum is enough to ensure that it performs well, and that's the least we can do for our cars anyway.

Originally Posted by GTO

Frankly, a 20-year old econo-hatchback or sedan is pretty much at the end of its life. Best only for local runs, and certainly not suitable to 700-km road trips.

Numeous instances (from this forum itself) plus my personal experiences suggest otherwise. Let us agree to disagree.

who knows what parts have worn out and to what level

The owner of a well-maintained car would know, even more so when it's old because he's spent enough time with it to understand what's performing optimally and what's not.

[Samfromindia]

So you just made your forum name taking inspiration from a issue faced on a 20yr old car ! Well that will be a first

[raptor_diwan]

Well, at least now you have a thrilling story to tell at family gatherings instead of just boring them with tales of smooth sailing on the road! It's just too risky to travel with the entire family in a 7-year-old vehicle that hasn't been well maintained. Thank God that nothing serious happened! Don't do it again.

Interesting profile name! I'm guessing you might be a proud owner of a classic 350 too

[Roy.S]

That was an entertaining read! You came out of it relatively unscathed.
I can understand why you would try such a thing having done something similar myself. This was 25 years ago in a 2 decade old Premier Padmini which left us stranded in the middle of a Naxal infested zone. We managed to get out of that situation without any major disasters.

[HereticHermit]

I don't think age of car is a problem but things can go wrong due to self negligence even with a relatively new car.
I wonder how poorly your attitude has been towards maintainability that you nearly put your family to perils. It has to be said that Santro doesn't demand much, yet you could drove her to ground. I have a 2011 Santro and it drove nearly 12000 in just 1 year (2021-22) exclusively on highways. My last trip was 3000 km and she doesn't even sqeak. I am responsible for my own and family safety.

[Oil_leak]

I finally got time to get the car checked by my regular FNG in Mangalore. Turns out that the problems I faced after getting it repaired were relatively easy fixes.

- Sound from the front end even after all the bushes changed was because of a nut that was JUST HAND TIGHT on the TIE ROD END!!!!!. Now, that I think about what might have gone wrong, it chills me.

- The sound from the brake was due to brake rotors not being skimmed after the pad change.

Originally Posted by GTO

(you haven't mentioned the odo reading)

Odo reading during the trip was 1.37 lakhs.

I wonder how poorly your attitude has been towards maintainability

It was previously decided to sell/scrap the car in 2024 when the fitness expires and not to get it renewed. Hence all the suspension work was ignored.

[BeemerBug_06]

Originally Posted by Oil_leak

Lessons learnt:
* Never neglect a cars maintenance let alone take it on a long trip.
* Postpone the trip if the vehicle isn't completely repaired.
* Not to trust online Google garage reviews blindly


Currently the brakes are making noise while braking and while at low speeds, yet to have the brake pads changed since the last time I went to the fng and saw the no branded pads it was late and they asked get it back next day and couldn't due to my schedule.

That was a good quick read. Glad to know that the ordeal was an eye-opener for you. I always believe that if you plan to keep a car, you keep it well and maintain it as it should be maintained and it should be alright. It is also important to keep the car in use and run it locally as often as possible or at least do a few pre runs in it before taking it for a long trip.

The Santro is an extremely reliable and simple machine so poor maintenance is about the only thing that can mess it up. But don't let the age of the car come in the way of anything. 20 years is no big deal. I myself use a 26 year old Carbureted Maruti Zen daily and it sees the highway every now and then too

Look after the car and keep it running and you should be fine!

Another important thing you must keep in mind is that you should find an honest and reliable FNG and only give your car to them to look after. Giving it to multiple different mechanics will not help your cause because remember "too many cooks spoil the broth"