[BLACNWYTE]

I too asked the SA and then the Service Manager about this and both of them didn't know about how this happened. Both told me it must have been there before. I specifically told them it was not the case as I have the habit of cycling through the trip information after every drive and I have never seen it before. Then they told me that they will get back to me regarding this and I'm yet to hear from them. I'll give them a ring tomorrow and see if they have figured it out. If I get to know something I'll update here.

Also, on the same note, can you please check the pre loaded maps. Mine now automatically updates the speed limit of the road/ section I'm currently on and chimes of I go 10% above the specified speed limit. I guess earlier this also was not there.

[batish]

Originally Posted by BLACNWYTE

Mine now automatically updates the speed limit of the road/ section I'm currently on and chimes of I go 10% above the specified speed limit. I guess earlier this also was not there.

Speed Limit does show in the AVN, but no chime whatsoever.

[BLACNWYTE]

Originally Posted by batish

Speed Limit does show in the AVN, but no chime whatsoever.

So I will also ask if they updated the onboard maps too. I had asked them about 8 months back if any updates for the maps are available as I have had only one update till now, that too in the first year of ownership and I was told that no updates were available. Also before the last update, Hyundai sent me a text regarding the same but I haven't received any intimation this time.

[BLACNWYTE]

Originally Posted by batish

Can you please help me by asking your chap to make this chap understand how to do it?

So I had a chat with my SA and this is what he told. Apparently, all Hyundai cars comes with the service reminder, in days and kilometers driven. And they can view it by connecting the scan module through GDS (this seems to be the Hyundai diagnostic tool) and check it during service. Now, for variants of S or SX and above, they can enable to display the same on dashboard/ MID and we can cycle through it using the MID toggle switches. When I asked whether it can be 'enabled', he was not very clear in his reply.

And about the map update, he told that during service the car will be connected to their diagnostic tool and the updates shall automatically be enabled through Wi-Fi, I'm not sure how, but he told me that my maps would have been updated. Anyway, I'll check what version of onboard maps I'm running and will update here.

When I told him your problem, he has expressed his willingness to help you out as he can, so I'm sending his contact info as PM.

P.S.- He is not very adept in Hindi.

[BLACNWYTE]

Originally Posted by WasavaTyres

a sidewall damage is not always a manufacturing defect.
In technical parlance it is what we call CBU Damage / Cord Break Up.
A tyre has nylon+steel wires as a carcass for the rubber to bond with. When these break up the air pressure inside causes the bulge.
The below pic I've taken from a pdf from Continental Tyres, germany.

Quoting from another thread.

The problem I am facing with my ride is almost the same with 2-3 tyres showing the indentations and 1-2 showing the same but in the form of bulge. These are hard to see from most of the angles and one has to run a hand across to feel them. So as per the pdf by Continental tyres, Germany, what I have on my tyres are not a fault. I need to check my tyres in detail once again.

[BLACNWYTE]

So my Panda completed 25k kms recently. I took a small night drive with my wife and kid to celebrate this. We just went around town and did not stop anywhere as I was not willing risk exposing our son to crowds at malls or restaurants.



Also got door protecting beading from Automaze through Amazon and fixed it one afternoon at home. The beading is 5m long with steel/Aluminium(?) clips inside the rubber casing. It fits snugly on the edges with some mild rapping from a rubber mallet/ small hammer wrapped in towel. All four doors are completely covered and on tailgate it came up a couple of inches short, but all essential parts are covered. It cost me about Rs. 499/- (free shipping).









Also got this as a permanent attachment after the unsavory incident on the previous page.



My son sits without a fuss in this for about 2-3 hours a stretch but gets uncomfortable after that so we have to stop for a break then. It's decent for the price and I think it's safe enough. Brand and model - R for Rabbit Jumping Jacck car seat. Listed price was about Rs. 6k and I got it at Rs. 4.5k during festival sale on Amazon.

[BLACNWYTE]

Wheel Roration, Balancing and Alignment from DBS Automotive, Edappally - A Bad Experience.

It has been quite a while since I did this because honestly I was going to change to new tyres. However that didn't happen and is most probably not going to for the next year or so, hence I decided to get the rotation, balancing and alignment done. I went to DBS Automotive, Edappally for the same, having heard only good things about them.



At the time of rotation it was found that the inner side of front tyres had some uneven wear. It was suggested to flip the tyre and then rotate it and it was done so. The experience was decent and they were done within the committed time.

Back tyre.



Front Tyre.



They gave ne the printout of the alignment report and the thing I observed was that the previous values and values after alignment were nowhere near what the specified values were.





The Panda was running smooth before the alignment and would go in a straight line even if I leave the steering, but after the alignment it has started to pull to the right slightly. If I leave the steering now after a couple of seconds it auto corrects the path which is slightly towards right. I took it back to DBS the next day and what they told me surprised me the most. I was given an explanation that all new Hyundai cars needs the steering sensor recalibrated after rotation and alignment and for that I will have to take it to ASC. Had they told me this before they started on the car, I would have got the whole thing done from the ASC. Now I have to spend money at the ASC for Alignment and sensor recalibration. Definitely a very bad experience with DBS, Edappally.

P.S.- I'm not technically inclined towards reading the alignment report so, if esteemed members could please suggest what I can do from here, it will be very helpful.

[BLACNWYTE]

January 2021 was a very busy month for me, both professionally and personally. This month saw the highest use of Panda in a month till now, at around 2200kms. The ever rising petrol prices brought tears but the drives brought so much happiness and smiles that I could almost ignore the fuel bills. On the happy side, the slight pulling towards right seems to have sorted itself out. How, I don't know but I'm happy that Panda is back to her former self.

Well the good things don't last long as she suffered a bruise towards the end of the month. An over enthusiastic driver who wanted to block my lane change, rubbed against the right rear quarter panel and left a dent with paint chipped off from the edge. I stopped to check the damage but the other car sped off.

The Damage.





After the usual tooth paste and moist microfiber cloth treatment.





It pinches my heart to see this every time. Since my schedule is still tight I have not been able to get this repaired. It was partly my fault too, as I could have waited for some time and let it pass before changing lanes. Lesson learnt; No passing/ changing lanes while traffic is still around.

[BLACNWYTE]

30000 km update.



Recently our Panda lazily rolled over the 30k milestone on a weekend family trip. Except for a faulty radiator fan motor and a spark plug going bad, she has not thrown any tantrums in these 30k kms and 3.5 years. The spark plug issue is still to my belief, due to the ASS not cleaning it during service.

The engine is silent and butter smooth as it was on the first day. No paint peeling or braking issue has cropped up (touchwood), as some other owners has pointed out on this forum.

[BLACNWYTE]

Wiper replacement.

The stock Syndicate make wipers lasted a little over 3.5 years. I know its too long for something that requires yearly replacement. However, it has been operating flawlessly and silently up until the last few months, hence I didn't deem replaced earlier. Also I had been regularly pulling them up when the car is being parked and also rubbing them with medical spirit and they have not become hard or cracked yet. With time, the blades lost the flexibility and was spreading the water instead of removing it so I decided to replace them before the summer rains started.

Old blades (Syndicate make)



I replaced them with Bosch Eco (26" & 16") ordered from Boodmo. Cost me Rs. 544/- including shipping charges. Since rear wiper was still good, I chose not to replace it.

New Bosch Eco Wiper blades.





The new ones makes much more wiping sound. When I spray the washer fluid, it becomes silent for some time but it again becomes loud. I hope this will vanish after some time. Otherwise, the water wiping is excellent without streaks and spreading. Maybe next time I'll try those frameless wipers.

[BLACNWYTE]

40k/ 4 year service and an almost dead battery.

It has been almost 10k kms since the last service and the car refusing to start after a pit stop on my way from Trivandrum to Kochi prompted me to give the car for service right after I reached Kochi. Panda's fourth birthday is months away but she has clocked the miles and the battery giving up requiring an early service. (33.7k kms)

Since a few weeks, there has been a second delay before the car starts up upon pressing the start button. I was chalking it up to a weak battery and made a mental note that once it fails to start on the first attempt, I'll get the battery replaced. That note to self was ignored last week when I had to make back to back journeys for official work. The car was starting on second and third cranks now, with almost everything switched off. I couldn't start it with even the hazard lights turned on. The battery is the stock Exide 12V 45Ah which came with the car in Sept 2017 and it is almost 4 years old. It has seen some huge idle time in 2018-2020 period but since March 2020 the Panda was on duty almost every week. So, last weekend I went to Trivandrum and on the way back, at our usual pit stop at KTDC Kayamkulam, Panda just refused to start. With the help of the guard there I managed to get hold of a local battery guy and got her jump started. It cost me 250 bucks too. So I decided to get the battery changed as soon as I reach Kochi and while at it get her serviced too. I'm not sure, but I guess this is the average battery life you can get and it's not a premature fail. (Experts can comment on this further).

Day 1 - I gave the car to Popular Hyundai, Vyttila, Kochi on 19/07/21 afternoon. Along with the regular 4 year/40k service I also wanted the denting and painting work on the rear quarter panel done. I had enquired outside and it was costing me around 1.5 -2.5k and the ASS quoted 3k plus taxes and I went with the latter since I can always breathe down their neck till they do it to my satisfaction. Or at least till I give the feedback to Hyundai. Which, coincidentally, I had to do. The estimated time of delivery was afternoon on 20/07/2021. Service works done were, Engine oil (mineral) and filter change, brake servicing and cleaning front and rear, ACC filter change, Air intake filter cleaning, Stopper bushes of clutch, brake and accelerator pedal changed, lubrication of all hinges, pedals and locks, topping up of all fluids and AC conduits and cabin sanitisation. Repair works done was the rear quarter panel denting and painting work and touch up of some scratches. I had asked the SA to send me pictures of the work and replied to me in affirmative. One thing that I noticed was that now, they are not giving the manual job cards anymore. It's all app based. As soon as they generated the job card , I got notification on my Whatsapp and Hyundai app regarding the jobs and I could download the PDF of the same.

At the ASS, I tried demonstrating the dead battery and lo the car fired up almost without any delay on the first push. I tried doing it again and again with hazards on, ACC on and radio on, it still cranked up on the first push. Anyway I asked for a battery health test and replacement quote. The ASS quoted 6.5k for new Exide battery with Rs. 500/- as buyback for my old battery. For that I was getting 2 year unconditional and 2 year pro rata warranty. I'm getting 3 year unconditional warranty + 2 year pro rata warranty for Amaron Flo and Exide mileage batteries on batterybhai.com. So I decided not to get the battery from ASS and get it from outside. I'm leaning towards Amaron, (advices are welcome). Interestingly, there is only 2 year standard warranty on the stock battery even from the ASS. I find it weird since the replacement battery, which is exactly the same model and make gets 4 year warranty.

Day 2 - At around 11 AM I get a call from SA asking permission to replace the bushed on A and B pedals and 'repairing' of suspension since it ahs gotten hard. I okayed the bush change but asked him to leave the suspension alone since I am not facing any difference in ride quality. Then I get the call in the afternoon at around 3 that the works has been completed and my Panda is ready to be taken home. The pictures of the work, which I asked for was never given. I received the messages on my WhatsApp and Hyundai app regarding the completion of works and bill amount was also reflected there. I took permission from office and left early as I wanted to inspect the paint work in proper daylight. (Big thanks to TBHP). What I saw at the ASS could be called shoddy at best. The paintwork on the outside was OK but as soon as I opened the door, I was that the edge had a see through layer of paint and that's it. The paint scratches on the door side was coated with clear paint with a brush. It looked like some one half heartedly smeared clear nail polish over the scratch. This was the third time I had asked them to touch up the seat belt scratch on the door side and after ignoring twice this is what they did now. I forgot to take the pictures of the same. Also the car was not rubbed properly and had the yellowish residue from detailing left over. I could have done a better job than that with paint and just brushes. I called the SA and pointed out everything. I am proud of myself that I didn't yell or swear at that time but was very stern but polite about it. Usually I fly off the handle but that time I was more collected remembering titbits from this forum. The SA was very apologetic and promised to rectify everything to my satisfaction within 24 hours. So, I left my Panda there once again and returned home.

Day 3 - So on 21/07/2021, I call the SA at around 2PM enquiring about the status of my Panda and he replies that all the works are almost done and I told him to inform me once all works are completely done. I didn't want to wait for a last minute rubbing compound treatment to the bumper or tailgate. He replies in affirmative and calls me back after an hour. I have to give it to them that they kept the promise of 24 hours. I reach the ASS at around 4:30 and I see Panda parked out in front gleaming. I directly go to her and inspect the work done and they have been true to their word and done it decently this time. Even though the finish of the paint over the seatbelt scratch is average at best but it isn't glaringly noticeable. I decided to cut my losses and accept it. The battery test showed a 24% which I think is good as dead, so I'll be replacing it soon. There was a slight delay but my Pandas fired up on the first push. I paid up and was out of there at 5 with the SA gently reminding me for a 10/10 review for the third time.

Costs:

Service: Rs. 7892/- (Parts Cost - Rs.2155/- and Labour Cost - Rs. 5737/-) (Engine oil (mineral), filter, fluids top up, brake over hauling (front & rear), A, B & C pedal bush replacements, ACC filter change, Lubrication of hinges, pedals and locks, labour costs)

Repair: Rs. 3570/- (Denting and painting of rear quarter panel)

Before:





After:







On the drive back, I noticed that after the lubrication the clutch was light as a feather, as it was when we took delivery almost 4 years ago. I misjudged the clutch bite point a couple of times on my way back. The clutch became a little hard progressively and that's why I missed to notice it in the first place. It was still lighter than, say the seven year old Swift and 12 year old Beat that I got to drive in between.

A milestone:



P.S. - About a km from home it started raining heavily and I had to splash my polished Panda through muddy water to reach home. Now I have to explain to my better half that I have to spend about an hour wiping down a freshly washed and polished car. The ODO stands at 33775 kms as of today.

Some Parting shots:



Attachment 2182039

[BLACNWYTE]

Battery Replacement

So, Panda was parked at home since I got her home after service. On last Friday I started her up and there was the usual delay in cranking but about five seconds after she fired up she died on me. The subsequent tries were no good as I knew I have drained the last drop of juice in the battery. So I left her there and took Blu since thankfully, my travel requirement was for short distance. On the way back from office I enquired with the nearest Amaron dealer the price of replacement battery for Panda. I was quoted Rs. 5000/- for Amaron Flo 12V 45Ah battery and exchange my old Exide battery. They have offerd 55 months warranty (30 months unconditional +25 months pro-rata basis).

Since Panda was not starting, I removed the old battery and found it to be a base model Exide battery. And on the battery there was a sticker which said the last charging date was Sept 6th, 2017 which could be the date Panda rolled out from the assembly line.







I took it to the dealer today and got the new one (manufactured 06/21) today and installed the Amaron Flo in Panda. It was a straightforward swap and the only difficult part was putting the retainer bolt and flange between the battery and air filter box. I had to get the help of my brother who had slender hands.





Tested it after the swap and she fired up instantaneously allaying all my worries.

P. S. - Everyone might be already knowing this but the following is how you swap battery in a car. First disconnect the negative terminal and place the lead in such a way that it won't accidentally touch the negative terminal of the battery. Now disconnect the positive terminal lead. (Hyundai Creta used size 10 hex nut for both leads). Remove the battery casing which is a kind of foam/cardboard enclosure. Now there is a retainer flange and size 12 hex bolt holding the battery in place. This is situated between the battery and air intake filter box. This is a tight spot where you will need an extender for loosening /tightening the bolt. However, you will need slender hands to slip in the flange and bolt in the first place. In my case I was fortunate to have a very thin brother. After swap, put back the battery enclosure first and then recconect the terminals in the reverse order. First connect the positive terminal and then the negative terminal. There could be light sparking when the negative terminal is bring connected. Tighten the bolt and nuts and you are done.

Odo stands at 33778 as of today.

[BLACNWYTE]

Another Puncture

At the start of this month I noticed that the rear passenger side tyre was a little low on air than the rest. Initially I attributed this to the slope on which Panda was parked but still it was a bothering me a bit. I got the air filled from a nearby pump and indeed the tyre had less pressure than the others but it was not alarmingly low. After a couple of drives I noticed that this tyre was losing pressure faster than the other three and I was sure there is a slow leak.

So on Republic day I decided to swap the tyre with the spare and check the issue. Upon inspecting I found a nail pierced all the way into the tyre and it's head was sitting flush with the tyre. So the tyre was punctured but leaking air at a very low rate. Took the car to a puncture repair shop and asked them to repair the puncture and swap the spare tyre on steel rim with the punctured tyre on the alloy.

The puncture was repaired with a puncture repair kit and not a mushroom plug. I was not very satisfied with the work, but since the tyre was almost nearing replacement I didn't mind this and it went in as spare. Now the 'new' tyre on rear passenger side is a Feb 2017 manufactured unused tyre and all others are 38xxx kms old. The front tyres have enough tread depth to last another 8-10k kms as per my observation.

Total cost of puncture repair and swapping of tyres came to Rs. 250/-.

So, at the time of replacement I was thinking of getting four new tyres and keep the less used Goodyear as spare and follow the four wheel rotation or to get an alloy to replace the steel wheel of the spare and get five new tyres and follow the five wheel rotation. The 2017 model SX+ clean silver alloys cost Rs. 8600/- as per the Hyundai ASS.

Which option will be better in the long run? I intend to keep the car for full 15 years of RC validity.

[BLACNWYTE]

Sixth Service Update - 5 Years/50K Kms (43K Kms to be exact)

Last service was done in July 2021 and the service due date was looming near and also Panda had run about 9.5k kms since last service. So since I'm now based out of Trivandrum I decided to get Panda serviced here rather than on a trip home to Kochi.

So, I searched online for a bit to see which all HASS are near to me and the nearest one turned out to be M/s. Pothen's Hyundai Service, Balaramapuram. They had 4.5 Google rating so I called up for an appointment and they just said bring the car around and we will accommodate you. I was a bit skeptical regarding this and I told them that I'll bring the car when the Service Center opens and I want it back by noon and since only regular service is to be done, I was quite confident of the turnaround time and they said OK. It was not to be.

Firstly I reached the HASS at 11:30 AM instead of the agreed 8:30AM. When I reach there I find that its a small set up with only two service bays, one alignment bay and one wash bay. So due to my screw up, my skepticism turned to absolute belief that forget about today, I'm not going to get the car back for two days.

AT the HASS.




As it turned out, its not a very busy service station and they were able to start on Panda in 15 minutes after I arrived. I asked the SA and HASS Manager whether I could be on the floor while they worked he replied in the affirmative and almost all work was done under my watch.

Initial checks revealed that the Air filter element and cabin filter element needs only cleaning and not replacement and both were cleaned using compressed air.

Air filter element before cleaning


Then they hoisted her up on the lift and started draining the oil. The mechanics working were very young chaps who were more than willing to walk me through what all they were doing. Now coming to the mechanicals I'm a total noob and I tend to take the mechanic's word for what's the best thing to do. This is going to play a major part in what happens next.



So while working on the front brake overhaul, the mechanic says that one of the front brake pad is more worn out than the others and I check it out and its true. Its was one on the front right inner one. The mech was of the opinion that during the last service the technician who did the work must have over tightened it causing more wear. The mech said I have about 2.5 - 3k kms worth life in 3 pads and about 1.5k kms in the thinner pad. I took their word for it and decided to get all of them replaced since I have a planned 1.5k km trip in August and I don't want to be left with no brakes or a warped disc especially on the unreliable braking system of first gen Creta.







Forum members can check the pics and see if the mech was being truthful or ripping me off, as I don't have the expertise to judge the same. BTW, the brake pads have done almost 44K kms and most of it in stop and go traffic.









I flatly refused the WA and WB as I get it done outside and they didn't push at all. Next while checking the underbody, we found a hole in the exhaust pipe near to the cat-con. This might have been causing the hissing sound while idling. On gently tapping along the weld points one more hole was revealed and another point was found where the thickness was paper thin, so on advise of SA I decided to get the holes welded and the whole exhaust coated in some supposedly antirust spray. Now what started as a normal service was beginning to stretch into major time consuming works. So, the entire exhaust was removed and taken to a welder outside while the mech finished upon the wheels and brakes.







The tyres as pointed out by SA and also known to me, are nearing the end of their useable life. They might have about 5-8k kms in them before its time for replacement. Now, it was time to put in engine oil and I opted for the usual Shell mineral oil provided by Hyundai. Mech poured around 4 litres in a canister and almost 3.5 ltrs went inside. Now Panda was started up to enable the oil circulation and I have to tell that without the exhaust pipe the engine sound was so beefy, that for a moment I was tempted to run without the setup or to get an FFE.

While checking the spark plugs, the mech said that one of them is shorting out and it might fail not far into the future. The spark plugs have done only about 20k kms and they were of NGK make which costed me around Rs.1500/-. I was not sure of replacement but the thought of getting stranded again made me ask for replacing all spark plugs. Now the NGK plugs were replaced by Hyundai Mobis official spares of Champion make and it cost me only around Rs. 400/- for a set of four. Now, I'm skeptical of these lasting even 10k kms while the SA and mech were assuring me of 20k kms at least. Again I took their word for it, not entirely convinced but still.

Old ones, I forgot to take pictures of the new ones.


In between there was a lunch break at 2 PM and I went to get something to eat and Panda was left on the lift up high and work resumed at 2:30 PM. By that time the exhaust had been received back and it was being sprayed when they found a pinhole on the cat con so it went to the welder again and by the time it got back all mechanical work on the Panda was completed and all four wheels were back on her. So as soon as the spray dried the exhaust was put back on and she was taken for a test drive and it was given an A-OK.



Proceeded to washing and waxing which as per them were complimentary and I was good to go by 4:30 PM. They prepared the bill by 4:00 PM while the car was in wash and they only charged me for a tyre dressing and wiper washer fluid which I received as packets. The usual.

The old brake pads and 3 out of 4 spark plugs were returned to me and they managed to lose one spark plug and honestly I didn't bother to look for it even though they were willing.

I was charged a total of Rs. 9050/- for the entire service including the regular service and oil and filter change, New front brake pads, New spark plugs, exhaust coating & welding and Wash and polish. I specifically asked them to avoid polishing the interior and to my surprise they obliged even though they told me they were using high end stuff and I would like it. I however am not over the horror of the slippery polish and asked them not to.





I seem to have misplaced the final bill. If I get it, Ill post it here.

Overall, the experience was great and I won't mind going back there because they were upfront about things I don't need replacement and things which were needed (I believe). I also asked them to check my AC as my rear passengers (Meaning my better half) complained of no cooling from the rear vents. I was fearing a blocked pipe but there was good air flow. The techs also were of the opinion that the AC is working fine and no work was required. They could have asked me to do a refrigerant top up or an expensive AC cleaning but they didn't and even told me its unnecessary. This is what made me actually believe that I'm not being ripped off as I mentioned the AC issue at the time of giving Panda for service and not after. They have also given me a warranty of 6 months on the service done which I believe is the first one that I have ever gotten.

I would rate them 10/10 for the work done and customer experience.

The ODO currently stands at 43.5k kms.

[BLACNWYTE]

Found the service bill today and is attached below. Rs. 400/- was for welding charges which I paid seperately, bringing the total amount to Rs. 9050/-.



The bill just mentions premium engine oil and I observed they took the oil from a servo barrel. I find it weird that the specification of the oil is not mentioned in the bill. Is there any difference between, say, engine oil for smaller hatches like Santro and i10 and bigger cars like Creta and Tucson (all petrol engines).

If I discount the spark plugs, new brake pads and exhaust repair and coating the bill would have amounted to around Rs. 5500/- and that I think is very reasonable. I'm planning a series of Tvm - Kochi - Tvm trips this week, a grand total of around 1000 kms. If there is any shortfall in the service I'll surely know then.