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-   -   Toyota Innova: My Pre-worshipped Black Workhorse (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/158625-toyota-innova-my-pre-worshipped-black-workhorse-12.html)

Today morning as expected I received the feedback call from DSK Toyota customer service. The lady over the phone asked me if I was satisfied with the service and any of my requests were unattended. I told her politely but firmly that though the service was good and car delivered me before promised time, I had two major grouses.

1. When it was decided that the front wheel bearing would need replacement, I was told that I would have to leave the vehicle at the workshop itself as they were closing @ 03:30pm for the DSK Toyota Annual Day function. I said that if I was pre-informed about this function and the changed timings were communicated to me well before hand, I could have planned my car's service for some other day. Also such a big workshop like DSK Toyota dont have the facility to remove bearing from the hub and they have to outsource it was beyond my understanding.

2. Though car servicing was done within one hour, car had to wait for washing for 2 hours. I was told that out of the two washing bays only one was functioning. This has lead to my increased waiting time. Though I am not completely unhappy with the delivery time of my car, I told they need to improve upon these two areas and strengthen their process of customer communication.

Washing n cleaning does take time at DSK.
For bearing removal n placement, one requires a press, Per my understanding, the equipment and the expertise is a costly affair, hence DSK or in other cases, the dealers/service centers contract it out.

I agree that , the equipment and the expertise is a costly affair, but then given the volumes of cars DSK handles day in and day out they can easily afford to set up one. Nevertheless I will have to find out one more day to get this addressed.

Other than this I am completely satisfied with the servicing.

On a side note hope you are aware of the new engines coming in the 2016 Innova. Further details in the below link.

http://indianautosblog.com/2015/05/t...+Autos+blog%29

Did an impromptu trip of Bhimashankar today. This is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas off NH50 (Pune-Nasik highway). Actually yesterday night sister and nephew came home for their summer vacations. So today morning decided to have a one day return tour. There were two options 1. Bhimashankar and 2. Nighoj (near Shirur, famous for rock formations). Bhimashankar was the unanimous choice. We had our breakfast at home, packed some snacks, water bottles and started from home @ 11:00am. This was pretty late in the day. Took the NH50 and then left diversion from Manchar. Had some slow moving traffic due to the weekly bazaar at Manchar. From there on it was no traffic whatsoever.

At around midway, took a break to have some cane juice. A cute little puppy was lazying around. Took some snaps there.

Black Workhorse taking its first break resting under the mango tree shade


The cute little pup staring at the camera


My kid instantly mingled with the cutie


The seemingly hungry chap digging his nose in the ground


After a couple of kms we crossed Ghodegaon and then came across the wall of Dimbhe dam. From there onwards the ascend and the winding ghat roads started. To my utter surprise the road was well laid. I was enjoying the ghat road, but wondering why my nephew was tight lipped. I asked him why he was quiet and pat came the reply, he was feeling giddy, signs of motion sickness. I immediately pulled the car off the road and allowed him to relieve himself. I took this opportunity to clock couple of pictures.

Wall of the Dimbhe dam as seen from a distance


BW pulled off the road at the motion sickness point


A scenic view of the surrounding hills and valleys


BW taking some rest while climbing ghat


Look at the well paved road (hard to believe isn't it?)


Fog lamps were ON for most part of the ghat roads for ease of spotting


After my nephew felt better we started the onward journey. In the last leg of the journey, just before couple of kms before the destination, you cross though very dense forest area. Trees are so dense that even in the blazing hot afternoon sun, the sun rays were hardly able to make it to the ground/road. Finally @ 03:00pm and after 110kms, we reached our destination. I was zapped to see the rush and number of cars at the holy place. I could not find a parking spot in the designated parking space. I had to go all the way back and park my car almost in a ditch. We proceeded to the Jyotirlinga for the darshan. Unfortunately it was the time for afternoon pooja and doors were closed. The long winding queue indicated that it would take at least 3-4 hours to get to the sanctum-sanctorum. So we decided to take the kalash darshan and start our return journey. Some snaps clicked inside the temple complex.

Kalash of the temple complex


Another view of the temple (Long winding queue not seen here)


Monkeys feasting on the snacks provided by pilgrims


Temple surrounded by jungle on all four sides


After spending about an hours in the temple we started our return journey. Since we were very hungry we dropped by a hotel called Natraj Restaurant some 8-10 kms away on the return leg. Some snaps taken around the restaurant.

After a good lunch at the hotel we started our return journey. While we were descending the ghats, we got a good view of the Dimbhe dam on our left side. Parked the car at one of such spots and too some more snaps.

BW having a long look at the Dimbhe dam backwaters


My kid anxiously staring at me from the last row


When we got onto the plains the Bhima river was playing hide and seek with us. It would emerge at one point and then vanish at the other. Finally we got a good spot where it came very near to the road and even the waters were very shallow. Then what it was time to get the feet wet. Kids had a gala time in the waters and were reluctant to get out from there. Also the setting sun behind the hills, gave a good opportunity to capture the reflections in the water.

First glimpse of the river from a very close distance


The sun setting behind the hills


Family enjoying the Bhima waters while BW looks on


BW staring at the setting sun


Another view - BW staring at the setting sun


Family enjoying the shallow Bhima waters


Reflections of the day gone by


Searching for the fish


Mee too took a chance of testing the waters


The parting shot


Thus came an end to a very short and eventful trip. Total distance of the round trip was 217 kms. Reached home @ 09:30pm. I have decided that if I have to take peaceful darshan of the shivling next time, then I will have to start from home at least by 06:00am, reach there by 09:00am, take darshan and spend the day lazying around the Bhimashankar sanctuary.

While leaving the place, talked to a localite and came to know that tomorrow being "Somvati Amavasya" pilgrims from Maharashtra and other neighboring states have thronged the temple. Now I could understand the reason behind the mad rush today.

Friends, glad to inform you that after a long wait of 6+ months, finally the Black Workhorse has been transferred on my name. Yesterday through Speed Post I received the Registration Certificate, indicating my name as the owner. However it is such a pity that RTO has stopped issuing the smart card and now it is just a paper base RC. The print too is hardly legible. This shows the apathy and attitude of the State's Transport Dept.

Meanwhile the BW is performing its duty silently. Clocked 12K kms in 6 months.

That's strange Deepak.
But anyways, Congratulations on the RC. As you said that you will overtake my kms. I think you are close to it now.:)
I just had a Mahableshwar trip of 3-4 days. Will share pics later.

Now this is surprising for me and something not good in terms of overall legibility.

Can't understand what will the RTO benefit by issuing such paper based RC books rather than smart cards?! Things are compact, clear and love lasting as compared to paper based RC's.

BTW, congratulations for legally and fully owning the BW. Have a long long peaceful, less costly ownership.

Thanks for sharing the travelogues. I am amazed at how rich the paint on the BW looks even after all these years. Are you doing a weekly/monthly wax and wash or any such good practice. It seemed kind of dull in the pictures which show the innova when you bought it.

Great to know that. Pl share the snaps asap. I am planning for the Mahabaleshwar trip in the first week of June. Your post would be of great help to me about the road conditions, good spots and other generic stuff.

Absolutely agree:Have some insider info that the contract of the company which was manufacturing the smart cards ended some time back. That is the reason why these paper based pathetic RC now. I am thinking that RTO might have defaulted on payment to the company and that could be why it might have stopped supplying cards to RTO.

Thank you for those wishes Anurag. I really hope that the BW will serve me faithfully for years to come. In fact I daily pray to God that my car be ultra-comfortable ultra-reliable and ultra-low cost of ownership (I guess you can make out where the "ultra" effect is coming from lol:

Very true joshiviv. When I brought the BW home, it was very boring, dull to look at as if it had lost all of its charm. When I gave it to my trusted mechanic for denting and painting job he kept the car with him for 7 long days and charged me 8K, but all that was very much worth the job he did. The polishing and waxing job completely transformed the car. It was brought back to its lost glory. Every day I just wipe off the dust with the Jopasu duster and once in a week or 10 days I wash it with water, that's it. No other special treatment. This daily routine has helped me retain the gloss. I have now decided to do the polishing and waxing at least once in a year, preferably after the rainy season.

I guess once new tenders and contracts are filed, the smart card system shall be restored. Not to worry but not sure when that will happen though.

In Jan 2014, when I had registered my Swift ZDi, the same problem was going on in the RTO that my car has been registered to. After 3 months got the card for the RC after the issues were sorted.

BTW Waxing is best done before/during rains as it prevent rain water and muck from sticking to the surface and keeping the car clean. Of course doesnt hurt to do it after the rains either.:)

I doubt the daily job of using the duster is a right thing. The brushes though they are soft , can make some minor scratches in the surface.

agree: with your concern bbhavan, but then tough I am the new owner of this car, the car itself is a 6.5 years old. So I don't bother much about the minor scratches. The Jopasu Duster does its job rather well. The thin layer of dust on the windows, bonnet and the doors is removed effectively in just one swipe. With my earlier car, daily I used to spray some water (with the Colin dispenser) and wipe off the fine water droplets with a cloth. But now no water, just a single swipe does the job and I am very happy with it.stupid:

Hi friends, I hope all are doing good.

Deepak, there has been no updates since a month on your black workhorse V. I am writing V because your innova is a V model and mine is model G.
But anyways, with all the ups and downs in last one month, I too was busy both professionally and personally. Love for my vehicles never reduced.
Finally after 5 months had my innova polished at home using Auto Glym products. They are great and easy to use. One of my cousin has a kit, so borrowed it for a day.
As usual, it took a day for me to get the car to a sparkling shape.

I have clicked the pics during this polishing process, but unfortunately they are n my laptop. I will share them sometime in my later post.
After burning out calories, i had long 3 trips in my WorkhorseG to Aurangabad(2) and one to Ahmadnagar. Except for one trip(driver), rest all were great.
The third trip was when one of y cousins driver had to go Aurangabad to get my parents back to Pune. Unfortunately he met with an accident, wherein a motorcycle bumped into him when he was standing n a line of 4-5 cars. The impact of the motorcycle was such that the rider fell off on the Rh door after smashing the front right end of the bumper, fender.The pillion rider flew off and bumped onto front and the rear door. But thank's to Allah, the riders were safe though they had some bruised on hand and leg. The village people who were already standing to help some other people who had met with an accident couple of mins before my car reached that spot, rushed in and helped the poor guys to get up. The impact was such that the fender pushed back restricting the door to open. Somehow the driver got out and helped the others to get the guys on their toes. After questioning if they wanted to visit hospital for first aid, they negated and said they are doing good. Being said that the driver was standing and the villagers were witness to it, they let my driver go. He picked up the broken mirror and fog lamp and proceeded towards aurangabad.
I came to know about it later as the driver had called my cousin first to inform.
I was nervous till the time my parents returned, just considering their safety.

I will post some pics later showing the damage. As of now the car is in DSK for insc claim. I am planning to visit the service center this Saturday.
Will also share the details of the repairs and the procedure.