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Wonderful snaps. The compass looks majestic in the rough terrain. Shall be waiting eagerly for part 2.

PART 2

ODO: 10,160 kms
Day: 320

The part 2 of the update took more time that I had anticipated. Few developments over the past few months:

1. DEF Warning: The most dreaded problem of modern BS 6 engines (at least for me personally) - One evening after returning from the gym, I see this warning (exhaust fume) on the dash. My heart sank but then I realized that the warning was for low DEF liquid. Funnily, the DEF tank still had around 35-40% of the liquid left. In short, I will have to fill up every time the DEF tank is at 50%.

Another thing about this, which surprisingly, nobody talks about is the DEF cost. So I have an 11 litre DEF tank which I was told will last for 7000kms. When I did the Zanskar trip it was 4000kms for a tank full which is understandable because of the mountainous roads, change in altitude, etc. But in the city, it seems I will get around 6000km for a tank full. A jar of DEF costs around INR 100 per litre. So that is around INR 1,100 for a tank full which runs for around 6,000 kms. Not a lot but still an additional cost regardless.

(Excuse the blurry pictures please)





2. Paint Protection Film (PPF). I dont want to brood about this anymore. Back in May, I got PPF done for the bonnet, side fenders, bumper and side mirror. The brand is "Ceramic Pro" and I got it done from Tee Car in South Delhi. They are also known as Ceramic Pro South Delhi. And dear friends - it was EXPENSIVE. Like around 720-750 per sq. ft. expensive. The experience has been disappointing. Since day 1 the PPF there were several glue marks on the PPF and I have highlighted this. I have only received assurances that it will go away and if not, it will be replaced. But I have kind of given up. I have already driven twice from Gurgaon to Delhi (70kms round trip) to follow up on this but its too long a journey and a waste of time on weekends. Let me share a few pictures - you can see the PPF peeling off from the bumper and the dirt accumulating.

Overall, I am not touching Ceramic Pro again. There are some benefits still - I am sure it is protecting the paint (hopefully) and there wont be any paint coming off if, in future, I take the PPF off but after this experience, you never know. Just a sad, disappointed customer of Ceramic Pro.



3. Air conditioning. The AC performance has come down. Not sure why - probably due to the Zanskar trip. The car had to endure a LOT of dust and AC was on almost all the time. Nowadays, I have to keep the fan at 3 or 4 minimum. Will get this checked during the first 15k service due in November 2022.

4. Rattle in rear right hand side door. Yes I have them too. But, there is a caveat. This started while returning from the Zanskar trip. The car was put through a lot and perhaps it was just too much for the car to not rattle. :D Surprisingly, I don't hear the rattle anymore. Having said that, Delhi has some good roads. I drive around 75kms daily on near perfect tarmac. So have to test out on bad roads to see if the rattle is still there. There was a sunroof rattling noise which I had mentioned earlier. That is not there anymore.

5. Wheel alignment. The car seems to be pulling to the right and the alignment seems to be the issue. Can someone suggest a good wheel alignment shop in Gurgaon?
I wish we had something like Madhurs (Bangalore) here in Gurgaon.

6. Dash Cam. I have had a dash cam in my cars ever since 2017. And yes, I feel it is a necessity. However, after getting the Jeep I somehow could not figure out how to install one because for some reason I always wanted to get it hardwired. But a car friend of mine was smart enough to remind me that I will lose warranty if I do that.

Post that, I moved to Delhi but driving a dash cam-less car always made me feel slightly uncomfortable. On top of that, I could not find a half decent accessory shop which could fit the camera neatly. Again, the Compass does not have 12V lighter socket in the front. SO you have route the wires under the seat and take it to the rear seat footwell which is a a decent amount of travel. A school friend in Gurgaon told me about Bob's Auto Car accessory shop in Gurgaon. I already had my Viofo A119 v2 (from my i20) and looking at the current Viofo prices I was happy to re-use it instead of getting a new one. Took the camera to them and they did a decent job - except that they left a lot of fingerprints on the A-pillar and they could not fix one of the small plastic panels below the A pillar. Overall, I have a working dash camera now. They have routed the wire under the front passenger seat and plugged into the rear seat USB port.

One interesting fact about dash cam memory cards. Dash cams tend to throw throw a 'format memory card' error if you insert any memory card above 32GB. I faced it too. The solution is to format it through the dash cam and not through your computer.

7. Jeep Life App. The very useful Jeep Life App has stopped working. It show 'last updated' on Sept 2. Many other members are facing a similar problem. So another thing to fix when I visit the service center in November.

8. Fuel efficiency. I have been getting around 11.25-11.5kmpl of FE for the past few weeks now. Its not a lot but not sure if I can extract more out of a 2L 4X4 AT SUV. Again, I drive on pretty good roads and a lot of it is highway.

Based on the Drivvo app, these are the figures till date:

Lowest: 7.8kmpl
Highest: 14.10kmpl
Last: 11.51kmpl

That is it for now. There are 2 trips coming up in October so I am excited to put some miles on the car. Happy to answer queries. Thanks for reading. A bathing picture of my black beauty before signing off. :D

2nd Service Completed (1st full paid service at 15,000kms)

ODO: 11,624kms

Date: 15 October 2022

Service Centre: Landmark Jeep, Gurgaon

Cost: INR 14,867/- (includes wheel balancing and alignment (WA/WB) worth INR 1,992/)

So effectively, the second service costs INR 12,875/- which is pretty reasonable for a 30L 4X4 diesel SUV.

Attached below is a list of work done:



Overall service experience: Overall service experience this time was very good. Naresh was my service advisor and he was really good. He delivered the car on time and also insisted I take a test drive before paying and the bill. He wanted to ensure that the WA and WB was perfect before he handed over the car.

They typically take 5-6 hours to complete the service and waiting the whole day there, of late, has become a complete no-no. So I drop the car off and take an Uber back home. I usually go in weekend and after working all week, I need some downtime at home. This time they stuck to their promised 3pm delivery time and the overall experience was pretty good. They also cleaned the car up pretty well. The picture below is probably not doing justice but they probably used some polish.



Why did I get the WA and WB done at Jeep?: My car was pulling to the left after the mega Zanskar trip but WA and WB at Jeep is expensive at INR 1,992/-. I had decided not to get it done at Jeep but changed my mind while the SA was listing down the work to be done. It would have probably costed me half if I had done it outside. But after actively looking for a good tire shop in Gurgaon, I could not find a single place that was unanimously liked and recommended by peeps at Team Bhp. I was looking for something like Madhur's which is like by everyone. Unfortunately, the car scene in Delhi NCR is not as good as Bangalore and other places down south.

So instead of taking a chance with an unknown shop and spending another half a weekend doing that, I just asked the Jeep guys to do it.

Current ODO: 12,100kms

Hi Pancham, just out of curiosity did you get the service done prior to the JC completing 15k kms. I ask as I am always concerned about following the 1 year service timeline or should it be the kms in question here. I too recently purchased a JC model S 4*4 and always wonder if I should follow 1year timeline or 15k kms.
I previously owned Audi A4 2.0 TDi and used to follow the 15k kms service timeline even though it required service in a year, would the timeline hamper the oil viscosity that requires to be changed even if the car is not clocking those kms.
The car looks hot in black !! :) Also, are you a part of a Jeep group in NCR, would love to be a member and go for some mild off roading with the beast. :Cheering:

HI RaiVW, yes I completed the service prior to reaching 15k km but I was about to complete 1 year. It’s whichever comes first, no? Also, I had some travel plans so got the service done a bit early this time.

And nope, I am not part of the Jeep group in NCR. Also like you, I am not sure how to get into one. :)

It is 15K Kms or 1 year, whichever comes first. So, even if you have done only 10K Kms at the end of 1 year, you will have to give it for servicing. If not, you will not be eligible for warranty claims.

The Compass went on its 3rd mountain trip this year to Uttarakhand. We booked an AirBnB few kms away from Mussoorie. It was Dussera time so it was super crowded and navigating the car through the narrow roads was a nightmare. The drive till Dehradun was fine; roads are excellent. Its once you enter Mussoorie the nightmare starts.

The trip started with my first tire puncture in the Compass. Luckily noticed it just before leaving Delhi.

Overall trip details:

KMs covered: 689kms
Avg: FE: 11.8KMPL
Fuel cost: INR 5,255 approx.
Days: 4 days

Some pictures:

First incident after 12 months of ownership

The car is doing well except that a month back it had its first incident/accident.





This happened at Sohna Road in the evening. People in Gurgaon will know how crazy it gets around that area in the evening. An i20 came from the left and bumped straight into my left fender. The impact was quite hard but the guy casually drove away. I was surprised at myself as I kept calm. No point escalating this into a road rage I thought. At the next signal, incidentally, I pulled up beside him. He looked at me; we had eye contact and he lowered his glass to say something (I think). I drove away. Tit for tat. :D

On a serious note, there is no point getting into a conversation with people like these. Many a times, they are just looking for trouble. So I let it go. If you ask me, it was just an inchident.



I had PPF which came off slightly. Luckily, he did not hit my rims. After cleaning up the area, I can only see the dent and the PPF is still on. I haven't had time to take it to the service center. Let's see.

Battery change Update (ODO: 27,250 kms, Day: 776)

The Compass is known to face issues with the battery that comes stock with the car. It is apparently an imported battery and usually gives up after 20-22 months. My one started showing signs of giving up but since I was driving almost 65 kms every day for the past 1.5 months I did not face much issues. There were two signs that the battery will most likely not survive the winters - (i) 'Auto Hold' sign in amber was on during cold starts in the morning, (ii) Start stop function was not working (a blessing in disguise).

I had the Satri trip coming up and since the car would be parked in near zero degrees for 3 days straight, I did not want to take a chance - so I got the battery replaced. I went the SC route because I was not fully sure about the specs and also I had to get a few other minor issues checked (e.g., the screen illumination at night was not automatically getting adjusted). I know I could have got it changed locally but I had little time and the SC guys gave a whole lot of blah blah about coding and all.

Apparently, the battery they provide during warranty replacements is different (and more expensive (DIN 70L EFB) - white colored). They initially put that in but realized that my car was out of warranty - so they took it out and put in another one which is cheaper but has a longer warranty. Very confusing but I did not pay much attention to this as I had to get to office and wrap up things before the holidays begun.

Final cost was around INR 8,200 with exchange of the old one + labor costs.

Some pictures:

1. Old one


2. One which is replaced under warranty



3. One that actually went in:

Trip #6 to the mountains.

The Compass went on its 6th mountain trip to Satri.

Destination: Satri in Kafligair - a small place near Binsar forest
Total distance covered: 860kms (from Gurgaon)
Avg FE: 14kmpl
Time: 13 hours each way with quite a few breaks
ODO: 28,250kms after the trip

The trip was as smooth as it could get. Mountains and highways are the two places the Compass punches above its weight. The windy roads were super fun with the car. The weight of the steering was just perfect and the overall drive was super comfortable. We took many short breaks and that helped me not get tired at all in the 13 hour drive.

About the stay, it was just three days of peace and quiet - away from the city. Great conversations, some reflections and good food. Oh! and lot of jungle walks and leopard stories. Could not have found a better way to end the year. :)

Satri is a small village which currently has only one family (of two) living. Most have left the village (and you can see a lot of abandoned houses) due to lack of schools and basic amenities. After the 13 hour drive, you have to trek (uphill) for another 1.5 hours to reach the home stay. For us it was quite miserable as it was very cold and pitch dark.

Some pictures (I did not take too many car pictures sadly):



The rooms had a direct view (from the bed) of the Nandadevi peaks.




Evenings were spent around the fire talking about life, travels and much more.


The dining area was nice too but we mostly ate outside.




One of the abandoned houses:


Food was simple but good (and some more pictures)

TLC / Detailing update

ODO: 29,360 kms
Day: 813


The Compass is 2 years and 3 months old now and Delhi NCR is probably the worst place to maintain a black car. The dust here is insane and on top of that the car washing guys don't care a jack no matter how much you pay them. Also, my car has quite a few 'intentional' scratches now (not sure why people do that). Both my parking (office and residence) are well-protected and covered, yet I see a random scratch once in a while. Swirl marks were in abundance and I tried to live in denial for a few months.

But then it hit me - I spent so much on this lovely car and I am NOT taking care of it. The car washing guy used dirty water all the time. I had given him a new microfiber but they have their quota of washing around 25-30 cars in the morning so they do not really care much. Cannot blame them though. So I fired him yesterday and decided that I will get the car washed only once a week at a professional place (I know, I know, I should have done this long back).

Some pictures of what the car was like till yesterday morning.













I checked with Detailing Bull in Gurgaon (Hong Kong Bazaar), and asked them about their detailing packages. Got their high gloss package which costs around INR 7,500 and covers everything that is on the outside of the car. I had my earlier detailing job at Tee Car Care in South Delhi - the detailing work was fine but was significantly more expensive than this. Also, the overall customer experience was a disaster there as they completely screwed up the PPF installation.

These guys were nice and polite and asked for around 6 hours to finish the job + 3 hours for interior dry cleaning. I had to go to Ghaziabad in the evening so they promised to deploy maximum staff to work on my car (which they did) and started the work.

You can see 8 people working on the car here.



Almost done:







The final result:







Overall, happy with the service. They tried to get rid of all the scratches as much as possible. The swirl marks are gone completely. Lets see how many days the shine lasts. Fingers crossed.

P.S: They did forget to put back a plastic part (which I found in the rear seat) - I will have to figure out what it is and where does it go in, today.

True, Delhi's atmosphere is a nightmare for every black car owner.
Now that you've fired your daily car cleaning guy, how do you clean the daily dust that accumulates on the car?
Mine is lying in a layer of dust for a week. Planning to take it to a professional car washer tomorrow. Will share my before and after pics lol:

I have stopped washing the car during the week and only get it professionally washed on Saturdays or Sundays. It’s a bit expensive this way but the only way to save the paint from getting damaged. The car stays covered in dust all week unfortunately. Last weekend, I went to 5C Car Care which is run by Anish who is also a Bhpian. Good job done by them. The plan is to find a decent place that can wash my car the way I want. Some pictures from last weekend’s TLC.

You might consider getting a PPF done on the car. It will protect the paint from scratches and is easier to clean.

I already have PPF on the front portion of the car. While it does protect the paint from minor scratches, for me personally, it hasn’t been that useful.

Hi can you do elaborate on your ppf experience in Delhi NCR? I have blue Kia Seltos and I am thinking of ppf since October 2023 but still undecided.

I am usually taking my car for weekend wash and I am applying Turtle wax products post car wash.