[esteem_lover]

Depends how old the tyres are. Find out the date of manufacture.

[Mr_Bean]

I am fed up with the handling of my car. I am going to remove the spacers & the mud flaps today, lets see if there are any issues with 185/70 R13.

[mnhegde]

Originally Posted by Mr_Bean

I am fed up with the handling of my car. I am going to remove the spacers & the mud flaps today, lets see if there are any issues with 185/70 R13.

Sorry for digging up an old thread. I just wanted to know how the car is performing?

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Mr_Bean

I am fed up with the handling of my car. I am going to remove the spacers & the mud flaps today, lets see if there are any issues with 185/70 R13.

My colleague's Esteem VXI is running fine with 185/70/13 Bridgestone Potenza tyres, no spacers added. We went and bought the tyres together.

This info might be too late, but may be useful if someone's looking.

[pannags]

Originally Posted by Sankar

My colleague's Esteem VXI is running fine with 185/70/13 Bridgestone Potenza tyres, no spacers added. We went and bought the tyres together.

This info might be too late, but may be useful if someone's looking.

Thanks Sankar - this is reassuring indeed. I am planning to change the stock JK tyres on my Esteem VXi Mar 2006, which has clocked 49k - the tyres need urgent replacement. BTW, I found the Potenzas to be above average all-rounders, though there seem to be others with specific strengths.

[anandpadhye]

Hi,
Posting on behalf of one of my relatives.
He owns a used Esteem (1997) and needs to get all body work (dent, paint, interior, door panels, basically entire body work) done. He has lost faith in Maruti authorized service centers and needs a reliable independent workshop who can bring the car back.

Any contacts?
The car is in Thane.


Thanks in advance!

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear Anand Padhye - please send me your contact number by PM. I can guide you in totality.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Dear Anand Padhye - please send me your contact number by PM. I can guide you in totality.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

Thank you very much.
Just PM'ed you.

Sorry for the delay - as I did not get any reply for a couple of days, I sort of gave up and checked the thread just today.

Best regards,
Anand

[nik0502]

Hi Guys,

I am in some serious trouble. Need help from you all. As my signature says I have a Ford Fiesta, a Maruti Esteem, & a Gypsy. Esteem is my daily drive and is fitted with CNG and my monthly usage is above 2000 KMs. Fiesta is not used much. And Gypsy have not been used at all in last one and a half year.

Now the problem is as its very common problem with Esteems (My carb Esteem had same problem) the under body of the car is quite rusted and the Aprons have given up. Because I had the similar problem with my earlier Esteem and I had got the car fixed from FNG the work done was not satisfactory and I had quite a trouble dealing with the car and had to finally scrap it and I had so much love for Esteems that I bought another one.

So to cut the long story short I gave the car to Prem Maruti Gurgaon Last week for both the Aprons and Dash panel change as they had promised that they would do MIG welding and not the Gas welding which does not last on these parts and that is why I had trouble with my earlier Esteem. The estimate given was approx 25K. And the SA said he will be able to give me the exact details of the expenses post the engine is removed from the car. I left the car there.

Next day I got the call from SA and was told that expenses would be approx 30 K as they need to change some more parts. I gave a go ahead to the SA. Now next day i again get a call from the SA that the entire floor also needs to be changed and the estimate would be 35K plus. I was surprised as the floor of the car was absolutely fine. Still I gave a go ahead as I thought it would make the car as good as new as the engine is already rebuilt on this car. So to ensure things are in place I called up the Manager of the body shop and asked him if he can manage the entire work under 35K. As I inquired from Alva motors myself and the total cost of the spares does not go beyond 20K. He promised me that he will look into it and will call me back. Which never happened. I called him the next day and to my surprise now he quotes me an estimate of 90 K to get the car repaired. I asked him why it has shot up to this amount he asked for my email address and told me he will send an email with the description. Its been four days I am waiting for their email and every time I call him he says he is not able to send me emails as every time he is sending me an email it is getting bounced on both my email IDs.

Now I have asked them to return the car in the same condition and also asked them that there should not be any charges for the same and I have to drive 70 KMs on petrol because of this car being with them for so many days without any subsequent result. To which he told me that he will call me back in half an hour. Its been more than 24 hours I have not got my car back. and He is not answering my calls neither he is replying to my messages.

What shall I do to ensure that I get my car back in the same condition as it was and to ensure that there are no charges for the same. The was was not giving me any problem before. There was no alignment problem. However I could see a crack in the lower part of the Apron. That was the reason for giving the car to MASS. As I Wanted to keep this car for the lifetime as is the case with other cars I have.


Problem 2

What do I do when I get the car back from MASS. Shall I get the patch up work done from outside and use till it lasts. I am sure it will not last long. I also thought of getting the Fiesta converting onto CNG. But so far I have not seen even a single Fiesta running on CNG. I have seen Merc E Class, Octavia VRS at the CNG station but not Ford Fiesta. And it is famous that fords are not compatible with CNG. I am not in position of buying another car as of now. And I don't want to sell Fiesta or Gypsy, As Fiesta is in quite nice condition plus I have something for this car in my heart. And I have plans of restoring the Gypsy in coming few months. It does not need major work mechanically but I could not stand the ride quality plus it has Ply rating tyres not radials that makes the ride even more stiff. I am planning to get CFLs in front and back Gas Shocks and new tyres. May be in six months time.

At this moment I have a perfect weekend car (The ford fiesta) a near perfect 4*4 but don't have a daily drive:(. I am confused what shall be my next step now. My running goes upto 3000 KMs in some months but its never below 2000 KMs. 80% of the usage is highways. Esteem gives me a FE of 30 KM per kg of CNG and is very economical. I can't drive fiesta on petrol with such a high usage.

nIk

[IshaanIan]

Rush to the service center immediately! Something smells fishy and you had better go there instead of being so patient and getting more worried.

[dark.knight]

Any dealer/workshop that keeps wavering and hesitating to explain the reasons for their charges/change of charges is trouble. A detailed, well classified email would've been a written proof of the work they'll do which you could've used as a form or verification after the work would've been done. Since they're hesitant to send emails and have revised their quote 4! times without offering ANY form of work-order its almost certain that they are trouble. The only option left now is to ensure that they put back everything just the way it was when you handed it to them and drive it away, cut the losses & time.

The next option you have is to find another reputed Maruti workshop or trustworthy FNG and take a 2nd opinion, if you find them satisfactory you can go ahead and give the Esteem for body repairs there. Do not jump to converting another car to CNG until you know the status of this car. If there is no other option but to spend close to 6 figures to repair the Esteem then you can decide accordingly. Either-way this will take time to sort out. My opinion is that the current authorised garage isn't honest at all.

[Rajeevraj]

Anything preventing you from going to the service center yourself to get a first hand look of what is happening? If not, I suggest you rush there personally and make sure you get the car back as you want it. To me that is the biggest priority. You can think about what to do next after you get the car back.

[mayankk]

This is apart from getting to the service center el-pronto.

CNG/alternate fuel on a petrol fiesta is to be avoided.At all costs.
Its a finicky procedure, and and will make you a psychological mess. I explored this, when I was doing 2-3k a month in mine sometime back, and I drove a "forcibly converted" one(the owner forced the CNG guy to do it) and it was HORRIBLE!! And the whole character of the car was finished, which is the worst thing to do to a car.

Why not sell off the esteem, and get the gypsy fixed up with the income?

[HimuraKenshin]

Originally Posted by nik0502

Hi Guys,


What do I do when I get the car back from MASS. Shall I get the patch up work done from outside and use till it lasts. I am sure it will not last long. I also thought of getting the Fiesta converting onto CNG. But so far I have not seen even a single Fiesta running on CNG. I have seen Merc E Class, Octavia VRS at the CNG station but not Ford Fiesta. And it is famous that fords are not compatible with CNG.....

Fords are compatible with CNG. any car can be converted and fords are quite easy to convert. Given that the retrofitter has the knowledge and uses the right equipment.
You can and should only fit a sequential kit.

regards,
s

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by HimuraKenshin

Fords are compatible with CNG. any car can be converted and fords are quite easy to convert. Given that the retrofitter has the knowledge and uses the right equipment.
You can and should only fit a sequential kit.

regards,
s

This is quite contrary to what I faced.
The 1.6 Duratec is like a rotten egg to most of the established installers in Delhi/NCR.
Also, when my car used to go to A.S.S for service, I was informed by ford that CNGd vehicles are not allowed in. I dont know about the veracity of this as a directive, as it just an SAs verbal communication. This was about 3 years back.