[Neil Roy]

Originally Posted by swiftdiesel

Spotted your car and probably you on 20 March, Wed, around 2 PM on the national highway near Tindivanam, on the way to Chennai. I was driving on the other side in my Ertiga to Theni. Your silver-red livery was a giveaway!

Yup. That was me on my monthly trip down south.So what's your verdict on the silver - red livery in flesh? Head turner or eyesore?
One a different note, completed 23000 Kms and still loving it

[Neil Roy]

Just now completed 28000 KMs on the ODO.A minor issue regarding the life of philips x-treme vision bulbs. As reviewed by many in the internet, the life of these bulbs is not really that great, especially considering their cost. My Dim bulbs( read H7) both gave up their ghost within a week of each other at the start of this month.
Maybe it is because my Duster looks hot as hell in the jungle


On a serious note, any other options? I dont want to mess my OE wiring. That leaves me with just OSRAM night breaker plus. Unfortunately, the life of OSRAM also seems to be suspect, going by reviews. One thing is for sure though. The light output is excellent. So Iam in a dilemma.

[rajneeesh]

Neil Roy,

Went thru your ownership report at a stretch. It gives a pretty good idea of what to expect. Thanks for the regular updates. The Service costs mentioned by you are pretty reasonable.

I am looking for a replacement fro my SX4 and the Duster is one of the vehicles I am considering. One thing that has prevented me from taking the plunge is the high price. Hope the same changes post the Eco Sport is launched. There is no reason why a 110 RZL should cost Rs 13.2 lakh ( onroad). Renault is really charging a fat premium on the higher end models ( making us pay thru or noses formust haves like ABS and Airbags which are now becoming standard fitments on most newly launched cars ,viz Amaze and the Ertiga)

[GoSlow]

Hi Neil - excellent thread for prospective owners. Thanks!

The Service bill indicates the cost of Parts but no charge for Labour? The only charge for Labour is for the wheel alignment/balancing. Is the car still under free service?

What is the Labour costs for a Full Service?

[Waxeloquent]

Fortunately did not have to personally change tyre in last 20+ years in small Maruti 800 or mid size sedan Accent/Verna; though started the process couple of times, always a good Samaritan came around and helped me out. But do not want to count on luck too much. So want to understand a little more on how to handle this if a situation rises. I drive 110 RxZ Diesel and on highways frequently; is 2T hydraulic jack an important accessory in addition to the stock one? where do I get one in Bangalore, what brand and approx cost? how hard it is to learn the use of it? Any advise most appreciated. Cheers

[Neil Roy]

Originally Posted by GoSlow

What is the Labour costs for a Full Service?

To be honest, I dont have an idea as to what the labor might be once the warranty period is over.All Dusters come with a 1,00,000 Km 4 year warranty I think. So getting the actual cost of service might be a little difficult. I have given my Duster for 30000Km service. I'll get in touch with the service advisor and get back to you.

Originally Posted by ravee_nk

............So want to understand a little more on how to handle this if a situation rises. I drive 110 RxZ Diesel and on highways frequently; is 2T hydraulic jack an important accessory in addition to the stock one? where do I get one in Bangalore, what brand and approx cost? how hard it is to learn the use of it? Any advise most appreciated. Cheers

Hydraulic jacks are the easiest to use and very intuitive too. I have a disc prolapse condition and I personally prefer the hydraulic jacks to the scissor jacks that come as OE. Always go for any reputed manual hydraulic jack. The shelf life of motorised hydraulic jacks is always suspect.
Check out the following links for further details

http://www.vtechhydraulic.com/manual...ottle_jack.php

[GoSlow]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

To be honest, I dont have an idea as to what the labor might be once the warranty period is over.All Dusters come with a 1,00,000 Km 4 year warranty I think. So getting the actual cost of service might be a little difficult. I have given my Duster for 30000Km service. I'll get in touch with the service advisor and get back to you.

Thanks Neil.

The warranty on my Innova is 3 years/1 Lakh kms. But this does not cover costs of servicing.

The first 3 services are free and these cover the costs of labour only, hence my question.

What are the free services available with the Duster?

Look forward to your feedback!

[Waxeloquent]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

To be honest, I dont have an idea as to what the labor might be once the warranty period is over.All Dusters come with a 1,00,000 Km 4 year warranty I think. So getting the actual cost of service might be a little difficult. I have given my Duster for 30000Km service. I'll get in touch with the service advisor and get back to you.



Hydraulic jacks are the easiest to use and very intuitive too. I have a disc prolapse condition and I personally prefer the hydraulic jacks to the scissor jacks that come as OE. Always go for any reputed manual hydraulic jack. The shelf life of motorised hydraulic jacks is always suspect.
Check out the following links for further details

http://www.vtechhydraulic.com/manual...ottle_jack.php

Thanks Neil Roy. I have sent an inquiry to them if they have a 2 or 3 Ton one in stead of the 5T listed in their website. Yes, I was going to look for a manual one not an electrical one. Similar issue with my back and I hope that I will be able to use it when the need arises. Thanks again, cheers

[Neil Roy]

Originally Posted by GoSlow

Thanks Neil.

The warranty on my Innova is 3 years/1 Lakh kms. But this does not cover costs of servicing.

The first 3 services are free and these cover the costs of labour only, hence my question.

What are the free services available with the Duster?

Look forward to your feedback!

Hi Goslow,
I am attaching my 30000 kms service bill below. You are right about the free service part. Labor charges for the first three services are free. This being my fourth service, labor is chargeable.I think the rates are reasonable. I have not done the wheel balancing and wheel alignment in the company because I have customised alloy wheels.

Originally Posted by ravee_nk

Thanks Neil Roy. I have sent an inquiry to them if they have a 2 or 3 Ton one in stead of the 5T listed in their website.

If I may suggest, go for a 2 ton hydraulic jack. More than 2 tons capacity for a 1800 Kg gross weight duster being amply supported by the other three tyres is an overkill.

[thalavoy]

Wow. 30k in what 10 months? Great going Neil. I am still < 14k after 9 months. I have to do more trips then
On my side, the slight rattles on both front door windows are back. I complained during the 10k service and it was silent for less than a month. Don't know if I should take it and get fixed or ignore the bit noise and enjoy the drive.

[Neil Roy]

Time to update my thread with my latest DIY.
Mileage on the OD is reading 38650 Kms.
If there is one thing that all Duster owners will agree upon, it is that the doors close with a lot of clatter. It feels and sounds cheap and flimsy. In continuation with our fellow team bhpian Himadri's DIY to address this issue which can be found here ,
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post3081450

I have also tried quite successfully to solve this issue.
Items used.
7 mm dia solid rubber cord - 7 metres for front door
6 mm dia solid rubber cord - 11 metres for rear and boot door.
Talcum powder.

Sorry guys for not posting work in progress as I did not know how this will turn out.
I first removed the entire beading from the body of the Duster. The term door beading is an oxymoron in this case since the beading is mounted on the shell. apply a liberal dose of talcum powder onto your hands and try to push the rubber cord into the outer hole of the beading as shown here.Remember, talcum powder on your hands should coat the outer contact surface of the rubber cord.


If you notice carefully, you will see small holes along the lining of the beading as shown here.


these holes allow for trapped air to be released when you close the door. at intervals of three holes, pry out the rubber cord inside the beadings using a screw driver to the desired length. Then, insert the rubber cord into the beadings into the opposite direction for the next three holes. With proper lubrication of talcum powder and application of intuitive presence of mind, inserting the rubber chord for the full length of the beading should take around 15 minutes maximum using 2 people.
This should be the end finish


Then refit the beading and close the door and feel the difference.The following things are bound to happen.
1) Door will not close as easily as before.
2)When the door lever is pressed to open, the feel is more springy.
3)The door itself will feel heavy.

After this exercise, I took the car out for a spin and the difference is enormous. I finally feel that Iam driving a car/SUV worthy of atleast 80% of what I paid. The noiselessness combined with the stability of the Duster made me smile end to end. Just to convince myself that I am not in fool's paradise, I took my Duster to the Renault service center in chennai for their expert opinion. I must say they were impressed.
One important thing to note is that this suggestion was given by one person who did not want to be named inspite of my insistence. Anyways, a big thank you for making my ride infinitely more pleasurable.

So, guys try it for yourself if you are willing to take the following risks.(Disclaimers - in legal parlance)
1)Improper/amateur workmanship will definitely damage the beadings. In the process of trial and error, I too had made certain air holes into air tear pockets. These in itself should not be much of a problem, and hopefully rain water will not seep inside as this is on the outer edge, but do not say I did not warn you.
2)Life of the beadings may come down.
3) The beadings may not be designed to accommodate any foreign insertions and might tear quickly.
Recommendations
Try to use a 5 mm dia rubber cord for all doors.I feel that the present size that I am using is an overkill.Now the cost aspect. Per metre of 5 mm dia rubber cord costs Rs.25/- in chennai. So a maximum of Rs.500 for material + talcum powder.And yeah, OE door beading full set costs Rs.6000/-(Just to know the risk involved).
Advice
If possible, engage a door mechanic to execute this exercise under your instructions. They may do a better job.

[himadrimondal]

Just fantastic, this is indeed a great find.
I don't think this will reduce the life of the beads.
With the noise totally gone, the ride must feels all the more solid as resistance will make the locks hold on to the body in a better way.
Hats off to that person and you. Enjoy the new fantastic, solid ride.

[ank.nsit]

Hi Neil,

Duster is one of my contenders for the new car, so I started reading your ownership thread from post 1.
As I started moving to next pages, the rate at which your ODO reading was increasing made me think, that by the time I finalize on a new car, you might have even crossed the 1 lakh mark & sold your car.
Everything about your car was acceptable including the tyre burst, but the labor cost of 4760 + taxes seems to be quite high.
Maybe, you could have discussed about this cost with the Service Exec. & he would have provided with you some discount on that.

PS: It happens in Maruti Service centres for sure.

[::CMS::]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

Hi Goslow,
I am attaching my 30000 kms service bill below. You are right about the free service part. Labor charges for the first three services are free. This being my fourth service, labor is chargeable.I think the rates are reasonable. I have not done the wheel balancing and wheel alignment in the company because I have customised alloy wheels.
Attachment 1095631

Few doubts on the 30K service bill, could you please clarify:

- In the parts list they have mentioned "PAD-FR BRAKE LI : 2500/-", I think its for the brake pads. Is the kit includes the front 2 and the back drumplates too or is it only for front brake pads (both L & R)?

- Are these the labor charges just for cleaning and changing the brake pads? if not, please mention what are those charges?
> "3043 GO REPLACE FRONT BRAKE PADS : 210/-"
> "BRAKE FR & RR BRAKE CLEANING & ADJUST : 1000/-"
> "DISC DISC FACING BRK : 2500/-"
If the above is true, then its day light robbery, 3710/- labor for just the brake servicing even w/o brake fluid changing.

- "PMS Periodic maintenance : 1050/-", Since they charge everything separately, are they charging 1050 for just washing, air filter and oil change?

Any idea, Is there any implication with the warranty if we do the rest of the servicing outside except the oil change and wheel balancing and alignment from the service center?

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

....The noiselessness combined with the stability of the Duster made me smile end to end. Just to convince myself that I am not in fool's paradise, I took my Duster to the Renault service center in chennai for their expert opinion...

Guess Duster owners are turning out to be the most intuitive ones!

What noise does this cancel out - The wind noise or something else?

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

Just now completed 28000 KMs on the ODO.A minor issue regarding the life of philips x-treme vision bulbs. As reviewed by many in the internet, the life of these bulbs is not really that great, especially considering their cost. My Dim bulbs( read H7) both gave up their ghost within a week of each other at the start of this month...

How much did these lights last? Mine lasted a full year with quite a few 600+ kms / 10 hours trips with at least 6-7 hours of continuous driving with the headlights ON.

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

...Attachment 1086101...

Between, That's a beautiful pic.