3rd Free Service Report: (4333 kms)
Availed - 01st October, 2012.
Work done -
Complete suspension check (including bushes & rubbers),
Wheels Alignment,
Central Locking not working,
Engine Oil NOT to be replaced,
All jobs for the 3rd free service,
Touch-up jobs for minor scratches,
Exterior washing and interior cleaning/polish.
Time Spent - roughly 5 and ½ hours.
Charges - Only for the Wheels Alignment, everything else free.
Tanked up and did all the checks on Sunday evening. A small thunderstorm and drizzle on Sunday night made things a bit apprehensive but I had pretty much decided to leave on Monday morning so that was that.
Left home at 4:45 AM on the morning of the 01st October (Monday), and drove without any stops to reach Raipur at 9:15 AM. Traffic was light again (there isn't much traffic till one reaches Dhamtari, anyway), but the road had really worsened (definitely due to the rainy season) from the last time I had gone to Raipur.
Decided to do a bit of experimentation - I did not touch the 5th gear at all, and drove through the distance in the 4th gear mostly, except for where I had to slow down. Maintained speeds of over 80 kph for most of the trip, touching 90-95 occasionally and even 100 once, all in the 4th gear. I wanted to see how the "ECO" indicator behaved for these speeds and RPMs (the RPM meter pretty much stayed over 3000 for the entire trip).
Interesting to note - the "ECO" mode was quite infrequent and came on only when I eased off on the accelerator, which indicated that RPMs over 3K in the 4th gear is pretty much the worst phase for "ECO" driving. For the 310-odd kms I travelled onward, I got an overall FE of
16.9 kpl, which I can safely say is one of the worser FEs achieved for this stupendous i-VTEC engine on the highway.
As I was pretty early and reached the workshop by 9:35 AM (roads entering Raipur are the worst, except for that wonderful Raipur-Nagpur expressway) I was the earliest in booking a slot rightaway. I had called up the Workshop Manager earlier on Sunday, I was already expected.
I asked for a thorough suspension check because of the condition of the roads I drive in, and also suggested that they do an alignment check as well. My regular SA hadn't arrived yet, so another Service Advisor came over and noted down his stuff, and the jobs I listed.
As usual, I took all my my stuff out (the USB drive, CDs and RC/Insurance from glove compartment, water bottles and my bag) and handed over Pegasus to the SA. I was really tired and had got only a couple of hours' sleep in the night, so promptly headed to the customer lounge, cranked up the AC, and stretched out on the couch, to catch a short nap for as long as possible.
I was blessed with a nice little deep nap for about 45 minutes, before others started entering and started the TV and turned the volume high. Got up and heard their conversation to realise they were drivers, sent by their
seths to get their cars serviced. No wonder.
I peered into the workshop from the glass separating the lounge from the workshop hangar, and was pleasantly surprised to see Pegasus up on the ramp, getting his wheels aligned and two mechanics really busy with a close inspection of his entire under body.
Then I headed out to check out the
Brio Automatic. (Details here -
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post2920713)
When I returned, my SA told me that all jobs had been completed, and Pegasus had been sent to hit the showers and get his interiors cleaned, and only the Central Locking job remained to be completed. My apprehensions about the suspension were laid to rest - the SA said that all bushes/rubbers were fine, and the front driver's side wheel was slightly mis-aligned.
They had called the official Autocop guy from the city, and he was due to come in soon. I would have Pegasus back by 3 PM. Good, because I wanted to cross the ghats while there was still daylight available, and since there has been so much rain this year I wasn't going to take chances during the night, specially because of the state of the road and the bad weather.
The Autocop guy arrived just as washing was over, and he tinkered around with the driver door for at least 1 hour before getting the thing fixed (according to him a second lock, a really short one which controls all doors, had got jammed and he had to replace it with a new one). As I was under warranty, nothing was charged, not even labour charges. He greeted me and left, after reporting to the workshop manager.
I then went in to tell them to prepare the gate pass, while the boys came over to give Pegasus a nice little interior polish job. Boy, was it impressive or what! Black suddenly turned into glossy black, seat covers dazzled as if newly fitted, mats were superbly clean, and Pegasus looked as good as new from the inside. Absolutely nice interior detailing work I must admit.
One of the boys had left some smudge prints on the rear seat which I promptly noticed and called them back. They got busy with it quickly and polished it off, and I was satisfied now. Got the bills and Gate Pass issued, paid Rs.550/- for the Alignment job, and left the workshop.
Drove to the nearest HP outlet and filled up again. Left Raipur at exactly 5 PM. Traffic had become heavier (more so due to the
jhaankis of Lord Ganesha which were headed out of the city), so drove moderately till I got out of city limits, before pushing Pegasus up to 80 kph in the 4th gear again.
Severe bolts of lightning lit up the skies in the distance as I arrived at the mid-point of my journey back (a town called Kanker, just before the Keskal
ghats). Strong gusts of wind followed, which brought a sudden wave of heavy rain pouring down. The rains stayed for about 30 minutes and by the time I entered the
ghats, the rains subsided.
I noticed another thing which I had overlooked - the wipers had gone bad and were misting the glass upon their sweeps! I had reminded myself to get them replaced during the service, and had completely forgot about them. Oh well, I promised myself to get them done first thing tomorrow in my city itself.
After crossing the
ghats, rest of the way passed by uneventfully, except for the stupid bus drivers who absolutely refused to dim their high beams, despite my frantic signals. Thank god for truck drivers in this regard - much more mature than bus drivers.
Here I must admit that the stock bulbs in the headlamps of the City are absolutely pathetic, woefully inadequate during dusk time (when the day has passed on and the night hasn't completely kicked in), and even more so during the night. The low beam is average, not great by any standards. Big thanks to the fog lamps for keeping the road immediately in front of me illuminated, which helped me negotiate over the sudden small speed-breakers lined up before the small villages throughout my journey.
For the return journey, I again stuck to the 4th gear ONLY and drove at almost a constant speed of about 90-ish. RPM meter stuck to around 3200-3300, and the overall FE for this entire journey was
16.3 kpl, confirming my observations from above.
Overall, a good experience this time around. Work was done quickly and efficiently, all jobs were completed on time and even the outside job of Central Locking was completed quickly. Add to it that fantastic interior job and I was left impressed this time by the Honda A.S.S. team.
Before leaving, I informed the Workshop Manager that I would be availing the 1st Paid Service only after 6 months (in March) since my running wasn't much (I am averaging about 600 kms/month). He readily agreed and said it wouldn't affect my warranties as well. Thank God for small favors. (or big, in this case)
The i-VTEC is a fantastic engine. No other engine offers the best of both worlds right now - sheer performance and superb FE. Till now, there hasn't been even a single niggle with Pegasus yet (touchwood!), except for the after-market stuffs, which does not count. It's just been driving, driving, more driving and driving bliss!
Planning to gift Pegasus a couple of things come March 2013 (on his 1st birthday) - better rubber (Michelins) and better eyes (NightBreaker Plus, hopefully).
I didn't take any pics in the workshop this time either (was busy snapping pics of the Brio AT's interiors and exteriors), but I leave you with a few random shots.
Current ODO reading -
The trip -
FE achieved -
Jobs listed -
Billing -
Battery readout & Receipt -