[jaysmokesleaves]

Originally Posted by hrag

A few good men still exist at service centres.


I repeat - it is very easy to get carried away with the Safari on bad roads.

Edit: the TASC (or any service centre) will only look at standard checks. Unless we tell them about strange behaviour, they will not ordinarily look into it.

Its true and you are a lucky one.
It certainly does pamper you. My 67yr old dad will vouch for that after driving through Spiti.
Yes, you have to tell them about specific behaviour so they can look for a problem.

[suman]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

exactly! this is a 10 month old vehicle which is supposed to go off roading. if this is the case, how will it survive bad terrains? i still feel it is a sad point of TATA, either quality of manufacturing or service.

Yes, only you would keep harping about "quality of manufacturing" when the distance covered is 35,000 kms. It doesn't matter whether the vehicle is 3 days old or 3 years - its the mileage that counts for suspension & other mechanical components.

Also, FYI, you don't need to go "off-roading" for the vehicle to be put through harsh wear & tear. For example, going through mud & slush or sand for 5 kms at a speed of 10kmph or less in 4L will not stress the suspension components even one-tenth of what it would if you went over a two km stretch of broken road every day, at 40-50 kmph.

Finally, before we turn this into another Safari bashing thread, remember, the so-called "sad point of ...., either quality of manufacturing or service" is not restricted to TATA alone. I remember a T Bhpian noticing his vehicle's rear wheel overtaking him on the Mumbai-Pune expressway not so long ago. Now, wasn't that a M-Hawk?

[nc1bad]

hey,my safari just came back from 30,000 servicing,the service center guys told me that suspension work is required (11grand worth) at around 45,000 kms. I think suspension damage/wear and tear is expected at around 40,000. Anyways glad u are ok.About warranty i doubt because the tyres and alloys arent standard. Tatas will take up this point as "external modification" which voids all warranty. Insurance claim may work out

[raj_5004]

@ suman: yes suman, that was a mHawk and so dont you remember me "bashing up" mahindra for its poor quality service in that thread?
i would still stick to my point about the poor quality knowing that his vehicle has been driven 35k kms, its not a big enough deal for such an incident to happen. if it was in such a bad shape, tata A.S.S. should have replaced it when it came for services.
there are lot many vehicles on this forum itself which has been driven or abused more but are still in good shape.

hey srini bro, waiting to hear from your side though about the outcome of this incident.

[suman]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

its not a big enough deal for such an incident to happen. if it was in such a bad shape, tata A.S.S. should have replaced it when it came for services.

On the one hand we (including yourself) are all talking about level of "service", on the other hand you say that TATA A.S.S "should have" replaced it. Have you read the full thread - what is everyuone saying about all A.S.S?

Its not about which vehicle has been abused more - its about timely maintenance & the workshop raising the flag (provided they are carrying out the checks) & replacements being made when required. That is what keeps a vehicle in "good shape" - not "Bhagwan Bharose" alone.

[raj_5004]

even i am saying the same thing dude! but i am taking both, the quality of the components as well as the quality of service into consideration.
infact, where service is concerned, both TATA as well as mahindra has the worst A.S.S. in the country.

[suman]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

even i am saying the same thing dude! but i am taking both, the quality of the components as well as the quality of service into consideration.

Raj, I hope you know that the suspension components are not manufactured by TATA - in fact, you'll find that TATA & Mahindra (and a host of others) source suspension components from the same manufacturer

For example - Tie rod ends are supplied by Rane, one of India's most acclaimed TQM suppliers

[raj_5004]

but buddy, most of the manufacturers outsource them. then how come one is more reliable than the other? toyota follows the sigma 6 policy in which they check the quality and sturdiness of each of the outsourced parts, hence they have achevied the title of reliable car makers.
if TATA feels one particular vendor is not suppling quality products, they can very well approach another. because ultimately its their product which will be blamed and their brand value which will suffer, dont you think so?

[Steeroid]

Hey will you guys stop turning this into yet another Scorp/Safari arguement and wait for bglsrini to update us?

Suman - resist the temptation. Its not worth it.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

even i am saying the same thing dude! but i am taking both, the quality of the components as well as the quality of service into consideration.
infact, where service is concerned, both TATA as well as mahindra has the worst A.S.S. in the country.

To put it simply, no matter how good or bad the quality is, if unattended it will fail sometime or the other. And 35k is a lot of mileage given the Indian road conditions and things you can do while you drive a Safari.
Some people use their SUV's more than just taking them to expressways and testing the top speed and you need to understand this.

[raj_5004]

@ extreme torque: so if its unattended even after srini visited the tata A.S.S. and did the scheduled services, whose fault is it? TATA's or srini's?

@ steeroid: hey buddy, where is this a scorpio-safari battle? its only and only about the tata safari, its quality and details. infact i mentioned that toyota beacuse of its reliabilty, nowhere does the scorpio come into picture!

[sudev]

Again looked at the pictures of sheared bolts and the relative position of the linkage which is failed.

It seems that the fatigue fracture would have happened only due to up / down movement. With the link fixed the forward/backward forces would not have transferred to the bolts. More so since the broken faces are in opposing direction.

This means that the fracture would have been either stress induced up down motion - going over a speed breaker (or similar) hump at a speed. OP has not described any such incident? He did say there was a "thump" but not described the reason.

Or the failure is age induced which is very dangerous thing to happen. This would be then happening in lot of similar vehicles. Is that why 45k suspension replacement interval? Tata guys can look at history and share knowledge with owners.

Whatever be OP is very lucky that there was no falling vehicle or that the tyre did not force the vehicle off path (probably the weight of vehicle prevented this). I remember a car of my cousin (amby ~1970's) meeting with an accident on a single lane highway and dashing against a tree on the opposing side of the road. Fortunately no body got injured but there was extensive damage. The cause turned out to be a broken tie rod end.

Looking forward to Tata A.S.S. analysis from OP

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

@ extreme torque: so if its unattended even after srini visited the tata A.S.S. and did the scheduled services, whose fault is it? TATA's or srini's?

I think you have been harping about poor quality all the time in this thread ignoring the car had already done 35k kms. 35k kms is too long a time for a quality defect especially in the suspension to show up.

[gd1418]

Precisely for this reason I don't go to ASCs. They don't allow you to enter the service bay to see what is happening to your vehicle. At every service of my two trucks at my FNG, the mechanic takes a TD, ramps up and inspects minutely and then the work is undertaken. No issues till date so far.

90%. you must be joking. I would rather keep the figure around 99%

Originally Posted by tsk1979

The reason is that we expect the service center to give the vehicle a full checkup.

But sadly, most service centers(including others, not just TATA), think a service is oil/filter change followed by a wash.

With the coming of the ECU, things are worse. Mechanics are starting to think that you connect computer to engine, and by some magic it will tell you all thats wrong with the vehicle. But sadly thats not the case.
You need to take a TD. You need to listen to the machine.
Every slight change, every component on verge of failure gives warning(except electricals of course). Suspension going bad shows up as frequent misalignment, brake shoes going bad show up as weird braking behavior.

This is the story at 90% of the service centers.

Originally Posted by anupmathur

I'd give an arm & a leg to know the ten percent that are different!

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

True, but one would not expect this sort of failure in a 10 months old vehicle!

But then we also have people with older vehicle jumping around bad roads like Kangaroo's and still going strong!

And what TSK has mentioned is the ground truth that is pretty much seens at all service centers. Wash - top up - deliver!

My Safari is '98 4x4 and done 70K kms. No issues till date. Only shock absorbers, fan, ps and timing belt changed.

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

I think you have been harping about poor quality all the time in this thread ignoring the car had already done 35k kms. 35k kms is too long a time for a quality defect especially in the suspension to show up.

i do know that his safari is 10 months old and has covered 35k kms. i think you have not read my earlier posts, hence the comment.
i have clearly stated the fact that 35,000 kms is not a big deal for the tie rods to break or any suspension parts to give away. i myself own cars which have travelled many kms, both on rough as well as smooth roads, none facing such an issue. and thats the reason i claimed about the poor quality, even if its outsourced. let me ignore even that aspect, but i even said that TATA A.S.S. should have replaced the parts when srini took it to them. why did they leave him on his fate? and again such an issue would not resurface if tata does some quality checks both at their manufacturing plant as well as the level of service at their A.S.S.