[skanchan95]

07 August 2020 : 2nd Free Service (6 months/ 5000 kms)

The car was completing 6 months on August 07, 2020 with us and was due for its 2nd Free service. The car had clocked around 3600 kms.

I booked an appointment for 07 August 2020 at 10 AM using the Toyota Connect App on the previous day. The app gives you an option to fix you appointment date & time and Vehicle Pickup/Drop.


Within 5 minutes of the booking the appointment on the app,I got a call from United Toyota to confirm the appointment date & time.

Next day, I reached the workshop at around 10 AM. They were taking all Covid related precautions - My temperature check at the gate & sanitizer for my hands. The Service Advisor allocated to the car was Mr Deekshith Bangera. Apart from the regular check up as part of the 2nd service, I reported the following niggles

Complaints:
1> Engine Coolant level less than half
2> Clicking noise from Clutch pedal when pressing the clutch pedal (a little over half way to fully depressed)
3> The Horn was dragging a bit
4> Android Auto in the Infotainment system hangs randomly(has happened three times) - Was any software update available ?

The coolant level:


Wheel alignment was not needed as it was done recently in June. I was asked if I wanted interior sanitization to be done(Cost Rs 279 + taxes)

Before taking the car inside, they sanitized the car's touch points like door handles, steering wheel, door and centreal arm rests , gear lever etc were sanitized and a plastic seat cover was installed on the driver's seat.

I waited in in the hall outside the customer lounge(which was closed) where single sofas were placed as per social distancing norms.

At around 12 PM, the car was ready after a wash. The bill amount was Rs 326.

Complaint Resolutions:
1> Engine Coolant was topped. They checked for coolant leaks and found none. The SA said while the coolant level wasn't critically low, low usage might be the cause for the coolant level to drop to that level in the tank.

2> Clutch spring was lubricated- the clicking sound is not longer heard

3> Horn Dragging - Adjusted

4> Android Auto Hang up - No s/w update available. It does not seem to happen all the time and could be an issue with my phone. So, I have deleted and re-installed Android Auto app and changed the USB cable as well. Let me see if it hangs now. Will report.



Fuel Efficiency Figures
As for the FE, I think it somewhere between 16 and 17 kmpl (with A/C on all the time). although the MID FE shows 19+ kmpl most of the time. The Last mileage reported by the Fillup Mobile app was 16.3 kmpl in May (when I tanked up after the lockdown was first relaxed in Karnataka). Haven't tanked up since - been filling fuel in the Rs 500-1000 range considering how the fuel prices have shot up and in the hope that the prices drop!!!

[skanchan95]

Tanked up today and that gave a chance to find out the FE(as calculated by FillUp app). The average FE showed was an astonishing 17.9 kmpl. It is slightly better than I had expected and about 1 kmpl less than what was being shown on the MID - 19.2 kmpl).

[skanchan95]

The car has clocked 5557 kms so far in 8 months(Feb 2020-Oct 2020).

No issues or rattles to report so far. The FE figures had been steadily increasing steadily before dipping slightly in the last calculation - that's probably because I drove the car rather spiritedly in the last highway run, not caring about the FE figures.

The FE figures calculated so far (as per FillUp mobile app)
08/05/2020 - 16.37 kmpl (1467 kms)
14/08/2020 - 17.92 kmpl (3898 kms)
31/08/2020 - 18.61 kmpl (4447 kms)
03/10/2020 - 18.11 kmpl (5544 kms)

Screenshots from Fillup app:




Waxed the car yesterday using Formula 1 solid wax and the results were deeply satisfying.

[BMvW.Rajat]

I feel that for any damages where the amount of claim is going to cross 20k, it's better to claim the damages. Below that, it would be better to pay it from your pocket. If you have 50% NCB, you'll have that carried forward to the subsequent years, whereas if you claim it now then the next year will be 0% and the year after that will be 10-20% depending on your insurance provider and so on. So every year, there will be a loss in terms of the NCB percentage. Again, I'm not factoring in the premium amount, the 20k I've mentioned is based on my personal experience.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by BMvW.Rajat

I feel that for any damages where the amount of claim is going to cross 20k, it's better to claim the damages. Below that, it would be better to pay it from your pocket.

I had taken a zero depreciation policy from the dealership for three years. Losing the NCB was a major factor when I decided to pay for the alloy rim from my own pocket.

The other major factor was that this had happened just about when the lockdown was first relaxed in Mangalore. Had I chosen to claim insurance, I would've had to leave the car at the workshop for a day(for insurance survey formalities) and come back to two days later to pick it up. The workshop is quite far away from my place and considering the CoVid situation, I was scared(still am) about using public transport or a taxi to commute from the workshop to my place unless it was unavoidable.

[skanchan95]

January 31, 2021 : 3rd Free Service (12 months/ 10,000 kms)
The car completed an year on January 31, 2021 (which was the billing date, the Delivery date was February 07, 2020). The car had clocked 9349 kms in the year.

On January 29, 2021 (Friday), just as I was about to book the service with the Toyota Connect app, I received a call from United Toyota that the 10K service was due and when was I likely to drop the car for service. I asked for a slot for February 01, 2021( Monday). To my surprise, I was told that they were working on Sundays and they can service the car on Sunday(January 31, 2021). I asked for the appointment to be booked for Sunday at 9:30 AM.

On Sunday, I reached the workshop sharp at 9:30 AM. Apart from the regular jobs to be done as part of the 2nd service, I reported the following niggles/extra jobs to be done.

1) A minor but irritating rattle from the parcel tray/ boot
2) Clicking sound when the clutch pedal is pressed
3) A Noise while opening the driver's side door
4) Wheel Alignment/Balancing & Tyre Rotation

For points no. & 2, the technician asked me to sit in the car with him to show what the exact sounds were during a short TD inside the workshop premises.

1) Parcel Tray/Boot Rattle - The technician sat in the back during the TD constantly probing and trying to figure out where the rattle was coming from, till he found out what the exact sound was and where it was coming from. Not all technicians go that extent to fix an issue, which was relatively minor.

2) Clutch Pedal noise - He sat in the driver's seat, pressed the clutch pedal 4-5 times and said it was the sound of the Clutch switch

The car was then taken to the workshop floor.

A good feature with the Toyota Connect app is that the Repair Orders/ Bills are visible on the app.

The Repair Order/Job Sheet with an estimate of Rs 2291.84


There were hardly 4-5 cars for service that day (another Glanza, a couple of Innovas and a Fortuner).

The car was ready for delivery by 11:30 AM and all jobs were done. The clutch sound was no longer there, neither was the rattle from the parcel tray/boot.

Total bill came to Rs 2704/-


Happy that all issues were addressed, I drove back home.

After parking the car in the porch at home, I noticed a bad scratch on the left passenger side front alloy rim, which wasn't there before handing the car to the workshop. To my horror, I found all four rims had similar dents/ scratches on them. Extremely annoyed, I called the SA to report the issue. He asked me to send photographs and said he will look into it. I also told him I will be coming to the workshop to have it inspected.

The damage noted on all four alloys:








The next day I drove to the workshop and met the SA. After looking at all four rims, he claimed they were not scratches/ dents but stain marks that could be cleaned off. I did not want to get into an argument at that point of time and the car was taken inside and I was asked to wait.

After nearly an hour of waiting, I was old the issues were "fixed". This is what the result of the "fix' were- Light Scratches and dents on the rims remained as it is. The baddest and most visible scratch on the left front rim, I suspect was buffed & polished and the sheen that existed before has faded in to dull and hazy shade of silver.

Not convinced with the explanation of the work done and seething with anger, but maintaining my composure, I told them it was the carelessness of their technicians that this had happened while they were doing the tyre related work on the car. They defended their staff saying they take utmost care and this damage on all four alloy rims probably happened much before today and that they are ready to show to me the process they follow at their workshop. I told them I take all possible care of the car myself to avoid such damages on the road/parking and that I clean the alloys every 2-3 days. The alloys were cleaned the previous evening an no such damage was noticed at that time.

I also told them that similar damage/scratches, which did not exist previously, were noticed on the old alloy wheel rim that was changed in June last year and handed over to me, which I had pointed out to the SA then. Had they taken it seriously then and taken corrective steps, probably these damages on the rims would not have happened!!!

The old rim changed in June 2020 (Details here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...ml#post4812325 (Super Hornet: Our 2020 Toyota Glanza V MT)).


Our other car is a Hyundai with diamond cut alloys and the Hyundai workshop never even put a single scratch on them. Still they were insisting that they were taking all possible care and their technicians did not do it , but that they will certainly take care of this aspect in the future.

I saw no point arguing about it and said I will not be getting any tyre related job ever again from their workshop. I resigned to the fact that I have no option but to live with it and think that this happened randomly on the road, instead of the workshop where they are "supposed" to have trained technicians who should be taking extreme care around the car

More Lapses
Three days later, as I used the windshield washer and wiper to clean the windshield, I noticed the spray contained plain water only!!! After the service, I was billed for two pouches of windshield washer fluid and had they filled it in the reservoir, the water from the spray should have been a little soapy. I also noticed there were dirty grease marks under the driver's side door handle, which I managed to clean with water & bathing soap water, but it left light brown stains on the door and looked as if the grease reacted with the paint to leave those stains. I checked he windshield washer reservoir and fund that no water was visible and that it was nearly empty - which made me wonder what kind of checks & checklists they followed during/after the service of the car and had they even cleaned the engine air filter & changed the engine oil during the service!!!

Extremely angry, I called up United Toyota to report these issues and ask for the Area Parts & Service Manager's number. I was put on hold for a couple of minutes and was given a mobile number and told it was the Works Manager's number and that they cannot give the APSM's number. I cut the call after saying that I wished to escalate this to Toyota as I felt cheated by giving the car for service to them and that I will find out the number. As I was searching for the Toyota helpline number in the manual, I got a call from the Works Manager asking for some time to investigate the issues I pointed out an to send him the photos. I did as requested and Ten minutes later, I got a call from him apologizing for the trouble and asked me to come to the workshop and that he would fix the issues.

Couple of days later, I went to the workshop and was met the Works Manager. He said there has been mistakes from their side and they will work to rectify them and promised not to repeat it in the future. The grease stain marks were removed by using some polish and one pouch of the windshield washer fluid was filled in the reservoir and one was kept in the car.

This episode was quite disappointing as I did not expect such lapses from a Toyota workshop, more so because I chose the Glanza over the Baleno primarily because of Toyota's higher service standards. The alloy rims have been ruined somewhat and I will have to live with it but I will never be giving the car for Tyre related work to United Toyota again and shall get it done from the local and reputed Wheel Alignment Station in my locality - the same people who had earlier done a tyre puncture repair job on the rear left wheel without even putting a single scratch/dent on the rim.!!!!

The car after an year of ownership







The FE has settled around 16.5 kmpl, with A/C on all the time


Likes :
1. Excellent Fuel Efficiency considering the increase in traffic(of private vehicles) post Lockdown.
2. The A/C does a great job of cooling the cabin fast. The UV cut glasses too help in reducing the heat build up in the cabin
3. Rear Space is excellent. Three adults can sit easily
4. Surprised by the amount of luggage the boot can swallow

Dislikes
1. Highway manners above 100 kmph.
2. The armrest remains useless for me driving position. Wish there was way to extend it somehow.
3. The Infotainment system has some irritating issues:

• Takes a while for the voice commands to work after pressing the button on the steering wheel
• The Time display's 12 Hour/24 hour format and shortcuts placed on the dropdown shortcut menu sometimes gets reset on its own.
• At times, google maps freezes and the car has to be shut down to reset it.

Bought this Toyota branded seatbelt cushion from the showroom.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

To my horror, I found all four rims had similar dents/ scratches on them.

Can understand your frustration. I think the rotating lock they use during Wheel balancing, has it's mating surface damaged which is causing all these scratches. Most of your scratches are around the same radius from center.

These diamond cut rims are a pain to maintain in our conditions with negligent mechanics around. You can take it to a bodyshop, get the area with scratches sanded/polished a bit and then follow it up with fresh clear coat. We did similar thing on a friend's car and the scratches were gone to a large extent.

Regards,
Shashi

[Sudarshan42]

I've been driving the Glanza's elder sister, the Baleno, for almost 2 years now. Very happy with the fuss-free and easy driving experience that it offers (it's a CVT). Only problem is the Nexa dealer's constant hounding to get insurance, service etc done on time, which I hate. Hope you're not facing those issues from Toyota

Wish you a happy ownership experience!

[forester]

Really appalling to see the workmanship at Toyota ASS and how they have handled your car, skanchan95.

I would tend to agree with Leoshashi regarding what could be the probable reason of the scratches on the wheel rims. The marks indeed seem to be around the same distance from the centre, clearly indicating something iffy with their balancing machine or its attachment.

While you could try getting them buffed and putting a fresh layer of clear coat, if you're really not happy about it, I would suggest writing to TKM, getting in touch with the Regional Manager of the company handling the particular workshop, and demanding replacement of the entire set of alloys.

You have everything documented at your end, in terms of the job being clearly mentioned on the Job Card. If you be stern, I think this could easily qualify for a replacement under warranty, notwithstanding the fact whether TKM puts the onus on this particular dealership or goes out of their way to compensate for not offering a 'splendid service experience' to their customer.

In the end, I would still believe that striking a strong relationship with the service centre and its staffers is the best way to ensure top-notch experience, be it Toyota, Maruti or any other brand for that matter. Your experience has clearly dropped TKM a few notches in my books in terms of its aftersales management.

Could I also ask, if this was the first time that you got the Wheel Rotation done on the car, or was it done at the 5,000km mark as well? I ask because I want to know what practice to follow for my Baleno.

Thank you.

[Mu009]

Originally Posted by forester

Really appalling to see the workmanship at Toyota ASS

That's the case with most brands. It's a feature of "India" and this great nation's general standard of care and ethics, rather than any brand in particular.

This:

I would suggest writing to TKM, getting in touch with the Regional Manager of the company handling the particular workshop, and demanding replacement of the entire set of alloys.

You have everything documented at your end, in terms of the job being clearly mentioned on the Job Card. If you be stern, I think this could easily qualify for a replacement under warranty, notwithstanding the fact whether TKM puts the onus on this particular dealership or goes out of their way to compensate for not offering a 'splendid service experience' to their customer.

And this:

In the end, I would still believe that striking a strong relationship with the service centre and its staffers is the best way to ensure top-notch experience, be it Toyota, Maruti or any other brand for that matter.

Simply do not go together. Pick a lane when giving advice mate. You can either escalate the issue to a manufacturer or have a "good relationship" with a service centre that just damaged your brand new car.

The automotive equivalent of a domestic violence case where the victim says they got the black eye and broken bones from falling down stairs.

Originally Posted by skanchan95

Happy that all issues were addressed, I drove back home.

After parking the car in the porch at home, I noticed a bad scratch on the left passenger side front alloy rim, which wasn't there before handing the car to the workshop. To my horror, I found all four rims had similar dents/ scratches on them. Extremely annoyed, I called the SA to report the issue.

There's no point being "Mr Nice Guy" in order to ingratiate yourself with these property damaging, careless stealerships.

The refusal to give Toyota RSM's number and the frantic response to the prospect of an escalation to Toyota says it all. Do not back down. Escalate to Toyota. Point out the pattern of scratches. Insist that their alignment equipment be inspected, and do not rest until you get 4 new alloys under warranty. Use the fact that they had other lapses too, and denied communication with Toyota to underline their culpability.


These stealerships will continue to devalue our time to levels below that of used toilet paper as long as we customers keep meekly going back to address the new issues they create at every service (plastic locks broken, windshield fluid not filled, grease in the interior, whatever). Their response is always "please get the vehicle back, we'll fix it". That's BS. Not to mention, charging for washer fluid that wasn't filled is fraud.

You need to escalate mate, and for all 3; alloys, double visit and denial of communication with Toyota. I certainly wouldn't go around with a scratched set of alloys on my car. And this is the Internet Age - any dealer that thinks they can block me from escalating is going to have a very nasty surprise. This is the only way to fix the systemic carelessness, at least in Indian auto workmanship. If even half the erring dealers have to pay the kind of bills the local dealer has been made to foot for damage to my car, this nonsense would stop for good.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Can understand your frustration. I think the rotating lock they use during Wheel balancing, has it's mating surface damaged which is causing all these scratches. Most of your scratches are around the same radius from center.

I thought so too. Because they had done wheel alignment after changing the alloy rim last June and no such damage was noticed at that time on the rims( they did however manage to put scratches on the old rim while removing the tyre from it).

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

You can take it to a bodyshop, get the area with scratches sanded/polished a bit and then follow it up with fresh clear coat. We did similar thing on a friend's car and the scratches were gone to a large extent.

Yes, that's what I plan on doing and I will visit Carz Spa, Mangalore soon, as I think it will be relatively easy to buff/polish those light scratches and the guys at Carz Spa are experts at restoring cars. However, there are tiny dents on the grey/black painted portion of the alloys near the tyre air valves that will need repainting

Originally Posted by Sudarshan42

I've been driving the Glanza's elder sister, the Baleno, for almost 2 years now. Very happy with the fuss-free and easy driving experience that it offers (it's a CVT). Only problem is the Nexa dealer's constant hounding to get insurance, service etc done on time, which I hate. Hope you're not facing those issues from Toyota

Mine is a three year zero dep ( first part + third party) insurance. While taking the insurance, the quote from Toyota was just 1.5k higher than outside. Considering the insurance period and for convenience's sake, I went with Toyota's Insurance.

Originally Posted by forester

I would suggest writing to TKM, getting in touch with the Regional Manager of the company handling the particular workshop, and demanding replacement of the entire set of alloys.

As I said , I was just seconds away from dialing the Toyota helpline number before the WM's call came. I wanted to escalate to Toyota APSM, partly because they seemed at the time, they seemed not so serious about the alloy damage issue and partly because I found two( possibly three) more lapses during service. I have verbal and written assurance from them accepting the lapses and that they will not let such negligence and mistakes happen in the future. The WM assured me that they will take all possible steps to correct the shortcomings and see to it that such lapses never occur in the future.

Today, I found on Toyota Connect app that a complaint was raised regarding on the same day that I visited the workshop to show them the damage. - On Feb 01, 2021. I had not raised any complaint, so assume it was United Toyota who did it and now I vaguely recall the United Toyota Customer Care lady saying they had raised a complaint with Toyota on my behalf (when I had called to ask the APSM's number on Feb 04, 2021).



However, there had been no follow up except that the verbal & written assurance during my 2nd visit.

Originally Posted by forester

You have everything documented at your end, in terms of the job being clearly mentioned on the Job Card. If you be stern, I think this could easily qualify for a replacement under warranty, notwithstanding the fact whether TKM puts the onus on this particular dealership or goes out of their way to compensate for not offering a 'splendid service experience' to their customer.

They were still in denial that the damage occurred due to negligence of their staff initially. From the pattern of the damage, they would probably know it is their mistake but will not accept it openly and the fact that hey said they are taking corrective steps toward "ALL" of my complaints, clearly suggests that they know where the problem is.

I don't know if it due to the pandemic effect, but I have not received a single call from Toyota asking for service feedback ever since we bought the car home. With Hyundai & Ford, there was always a call from their call center asking for service feedback and ratings. But none so far from Toyota!!!!

Originally Posted by forester

In the end, I would still believe that striking a strong relationship with the service centre and its staffers is the best way to ensure top-notch experience, be it Toyota, Maruti or any other brand for that matter.

Yes, I believe that too. In fact, I have a wonderful relationship with the Hyundai workshop and had a decent one with the Ford workshop as well. In case I am happy with the work done, I always make it a point write a appreciation note to the workshop for the work they do, particularly appreciating the Service Advisor. At times, the Hyundai workshop have gone out of their way to help me out and accommodated me when the warranty ran out and did some replacement work under goodwill warranty. In all these years, I never had a bad experience with Hyundai workshop in Mangalore( the Junagadh, Gujarat one however, was the exact opposite!!!).

In fact, to United Toyota too, while writing the complaint e-mail, I made a point appreciating the work of the technician who showed great resolve and interest in finding out the cause of the minor rattle and fixing it.

Originally Posted by forester

Could I also ask, if this was the first time that you got the Wheel Rotation done on the car, or was it done at the 5,000km mark as well? I ask because I want to know what practice to follow for my Baleno.

Yes, this was the first time (at 10k service). I was in two minds - whether to get the alignment/balancing/rotation done from the local wheel alignment workshop like I did with my previous cars, as not only does it turns out be cheaper, I had also seen the technicians show a lot more care while handling the alloys. I wish I had done it from there. It would have saved me from the damage to the alloys.

Anyway, lesson learnt the hard wayand I will be getting the tyre related jobs done from outside.

Originally Posted by Mu009

You need to escalate mate, and for all 3; alloys, double visit and denial of communication with Toyota. I certainly wouldn't go around with a scratched set of alloys on my car. And this is the Internet Age - any dealer that thinks they can block me from escalating is going to have a very nasty surprise. This is the only way to fix the systemic carelessness, at least in Indian auto workmanship. If even half the erring dealers have to pay the kind of bills the local dealer has been made to foot for damage to my car, this nonsense would stop for good.

Thank you for your advice. Appreciate it. But to be fair to them, this was the first such bad experience with them in four visits to the workshop. While I did get very angry for the multiple instances of negligence during service, I also do realize that it is at that very workshop where I will have to get the car serviced and issues addressed till the car is under warranty (5 years).

I have taken the damage in my stride and decided to move on and will try and get it repaired at my trusted car restoration workshop. I have made peace with it by assuming that this damage happened unknowingly by some negligent motorist in some parking lot. May be 7-8 years ago, when I had the time & patience to fight with a company for parts replacement, I would have fought for it. But now, from experience, I realize it is simply not worth it. It is simply not worth some poor guy getting fired from his job, especially during these tough times.

It is too early to call for me to judge them and/or call them incompetent. From what I have read and known from other Toyota owners in the city, they are fairly good workshop with competent technicians. It is important to stress here that from their tone & apologies, the seem have realized where they went wrong and I have been assured that such instances of negligence will not be repeated in the future and they seemed pretty serious about it.

However, if I find them lacking in any way in future, I will raise hell.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

I think the rotating lock they use during Wheel balancing, has it's mating surface damaged which is causing all these scratches. Most of your scratches are around the same radius from center.

Originally Posted by forester

The marks indeed seem to be around the same distance from the centre, clearly indicating something iffy with their balancing machine or its attachment.

Today noticed a similar case, only aggravated.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Today noticed a similar case, only aggravated.

I suppose the incompetence/faulty equipment is a wide spread problem. Although, in all these years I had been lucky enough not to have such damages in the alloy wheels of our cars , till my luck ran out with United Toyota

Did the owner notice that damage and did he take it up with the workshop?

Meanwhile, a couple of days ago in the evening the Yellow "Check Engine" light wasn't going off .


After about minute, I restarted the engine. The light did not stay on this time. To re-check, I again re-started the engine. But this time the light stayed on for a good minute or so, like the first time. I revved the engine slightly which made the light to go off.

I had taken the car to United Toyota the next day and explained the issue to the SA. First he asked if I there are rats around the house and if the car was behaving normally. I do not have a rat problem at home and the car was behaving normally. He said he can only diagnose the issue by connecting the OBD reader, but only when the engine check light stays on continuously or is blinking. A blinking Check Engine light, he said, would indicate a major problem. He said if the same chain of events occur again, the car will have to be kept for a day at the workshop for observation.

Since then, the check engine light hasn't stayed on. The car has been behaving perfectly normally. Checked all fluid levels and all seems normal. Any idea what might have caused it?

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

Since then, the check engine light hasn't stayed on. The car has been behaving perfectly normally. Checked all fluid levels and all seems normal. Any idea what might have caused it?

Since the light came on and stayed for a while, it will have triggered/saved an error. Please get it scanned in history.

Regards,
Shashi

[skanchan95]

Deja Vu! The Engine Check light issue cropped up again.


The striking similarity between the last time this had happened and now was that it the happened after fuel was filled from the same fuel station. There was no difference in acceleration, engine behavior or any other abnormality.

About 3 weeks ago, I was having a discussion about this with a friend who owns a 2017 Baleno. He said next time it happens, check the fuel cap, chances are the petrol attendant might not have tightened the cap properly. I did not take it seriously at that time but I tried it nevertheless. Within a couple of minutes of doing this(and after a engine restart) the engine check light no longer stayed on.

Any possible explanation regarding this or was it just a co-incidence?