I own a Baleno_Lxi, which turned 5 years old a couple of weeks ago. The 5 years of ownership have been perfect with a reliable car, FTD and FE too. And I could not have asked for more.
Yesterday, I got stranded on my way home from work and had to leave the car by the side of the road all night at Perungudi on the IT corridor, since it was too late (midnight). Luckily, a colleague and friend stays nearby and he gave me his i10 so I could get home without a hassle.
I have always valued "Reliability" the most in my car and believe that any decent car of today worth its name should not have any problem that leaves you stranded for a minimum of the first 5-years, if not more. Looks like my car was just waiting for the 5-years to get over.
Coming to the problem, since the past 2 days, I knew there was something not just right in the car. Every time I shifted gears, I would hear a slight thud kind of sound. A variation of which would also be heard, when I stepped on the gas. Over the days, this sound started getting more audible and got me worried.
The odo was reading 38350 and I thought this is something to do with the clutch play (since sound came on shifting gears & releasing clutch) and made a mental note to point this out at the 40K km service.
But what happened yesterday (9-Apr-10) blew me off completely. I had my friend with me and I stopped at Perungudi to drop him and then the car would not move in any gear. I depress the clutch, engage the gear, but even on fully releasing the clutch, no movement at all. With nothing much to be done at midnight, I go home.
Today morning, I go to Electra Automotive and they send a mechanic along. He investigates and says the RHS drive-shaft could be bust, due to which power is not getting transmitted to the wheels.
They tow the car to the workshop and say that they will get back to me after detailed investigation. Since it is anyway due for 40K service, I ask them to do that also.
They call me in the evening and say that the drive-shaft is indeed gone and would need to be changed along with the bearing. Cost of these components alone being 15K. Due to being SGP ? Anyway, I ask them to go ahead - what else to do ?
My questions for the experts :
1. If I had taken the car to the workshop 2 days ago itself, when I started hearing the "thud" sound on changing gears, could it have saved the drive-shaft ?
2. Is the life of a drive-shaft just 5-years ? I mean, we changed the drive-shaft on on our M800 after like 15 years or so.
3. Does a Baleno drive-shaft indeed cost 15K ? What about comparitive cars like OHC, Ikon etc ? I remember a drive-shaft of our SS80 being 3K or so, some 5 years ago.
4. How does the drive-shaft get damaged ? With our SS80, I used to drive it for many weeks/months, though it used to create a racket every time the car steering was turned to one side. But here it was kind of like without a warning.