[studdocs]

Hi guys,

Bought a new white Ritz Vdi (ABS) on 20th August 2009 from Hira Automobiles, Patiala after a harrowing experience with a Salesman called Sunil - who knew to be jst sweet and lie about everything .

(Promised me silver colour in 20 days. Had to settle for White after 1 month as now he said silver is another 1 month away.

Promised me 4yrs warranty is included in the price. Mentioned only 3 yrs in extended warranty book.

Had to follow him like a dog the next day to get cars papers for regd, bill etc. Jst disappeared once the sale was done).

Accessorized it with ICE, Imported Proxel EPS Rear Parking Sensors, MGA Security System, etc. etc. Also upgraded all 5 tyres to Michellin XM1+ 185/70 R14 on stock rims and enjoyed a lovely drive in the car from Patiala to Delhi while appreciating the spaciousness and airy feeling of the car and a wonderful aircon.

STOP.

Here ends the little bad part of the journey and the nightmare begins.

On 26th Morning in Delhi as i drive down to work(odo reading 420km), the "Service Vehicle Light" on the central console stays on despite switching the vehicle off and restarting and waiting and seeing for a few KMs, etc. I read the manual which advises me to get the vehicle into the nearest service center ASAP if this light is staying on while driving. I also felt on driving the vehicle had no pickup in any gear other than 1st.

I took the vehicle to Rana Motors Workshop in Okhla the same day. There the engineers attended to it promptly for a start and connected the test meters, etc to see the error code.

The digital meter which they connected tells that Injector No. 3 is not working and to check its wiring. As per the engineers the vehicle is missing and they checked the wiring of injector 3 (in3 hrs.) after which they conclude that there is no current in the socket of Injector 3.

Now they are in a dilema:

1. The wiring is gone kaput?
2. The ECM is gone bust?
3. The injector is corrupt which in turn may have lead to the above two going awry?
4. Whether they should handle the problem or call call maruti engineers from Gurgaon to handle the issue!!! (They ain't handled such a problem before and maybe their engineers are gone kaput!!!)

On 27th morning around 11am i talked to them and they said they have ordered the ECM from gurgaon and after fiting it tmrw they'll know if ECM is bad or wiring. (they'll order the wiring then)

[Basically means they'll do hit and try and see which part solves the problem]

It was then that i called up Maruti on 18001800180 and asked them to get my repair expidited as the vehicle has still not even done 500kms and is jst 7 days old. The guy on Maruti helpline was very courteous and heeded to my problem very carefully and promised me to forward to his concerned department on priority.

I again called up Rana Motors in afternoon and this time they said that components are still on way and they cant say anything till evening. They expect the components might come by evening. They also asked me if i had called up Maruti Udyog. I said yes and they seemed not very happy about it. (however it showed that maruti had followed up with them and they seemed a bit more concerned this time).

In the evening received a call from them that senior engineers from maruti had come and examined the vehicle and have recommended a change of ECM and wiring harness and the components will be here by tomorrow.

With fingers crossed now i wait for tomorrow (28/8/09) ... Lets see what comes out! Just hope i get my vehicle back as new with problems solved once for all!

[bharti22shresth]

Oh! Such a bad thing to happen with a brand new car. Such things only ruin the "NEW CAR EXPERIENCE".
Hope the matter is resolved ASAP.

[architect]

I can imagine what you're going through, and can empathise. However, here's how I understand it.

a. Your dealership experience is clearly a case of a bad dealer making the most of the demand for a popular, newly-launched car. Perhaps writing to MSIL at that stage would have helped.

b. It's a new car, and expecting any dealer to have ECM and wiring harnesses in stock for a car launched 2 months ago would be perhaps expecting too much, even out of Maruti. I mean, these are not really regular spares. So have patience.

c. As far as I can see, taking 3 hours to figure out what could be a possible reason for a car gone into "limp" mode (as I understand from what you wrote), is not shocking for an MASS which is generally full of cars.

Patience, I am sure your car would be back tomorrow and you will enjoy it.

P.S. If this would have happenned in Patiala, I wonder how long would an ECM and a wiring harness take to reach your omnipresent friendly-neighbourhood workshop?

P.P.S. If it were a Punto or even a Palio, I wonder how long the owner would have to wait for ECM and wiring harness?

[aaggoswami]

Two things come to my mind :

1) The dealer is not a good one. The way you have described the dealership experience is enough to tell me that they are yet to learn something about Professionalism.

2) I am hearing for the first time about Ritz having an issue. Glad to know that Maruti is prompt in solving the issue. Even I am wondering how ECU can go bust.

Do post the explanation you are given.

[anujmishra]

Oh god! It was a harrowing experience with new car, it became even more when after problem MASS would not able to find exact cause.

I have simple question to Maruti and other manufacturers.
Is modern machine controlled by ECU are so complex that it goes above many so called experts mind?

Or the design of ECU and it error codes has to redo (so that it points what is causing exact problem) than just saying injector not working and they crack head on every possible reason with your expensive possession.

Hope everything will be allright.

[Ramsagar]

Seems to be you struck to a lemon.
Never mind,blow-up the MASS guys & register a complaint & fight for a new vehicle(though this doesn't happen-as it is already registered in your name.) at least things will work-out little quick.

[svsantosh]

TD car? Did you do a proper Pre Inspection Deliv?

[vasudeva]

This further strengthens my conviction that writing to manufacturers (or at least the Japanese ones) at the first instance in case of an unusual problem results in very prompt action.

[krish3]

The dealership exp has been bad and there's no doubt about that. But there is a feedback form which you get which you can directly send to Maruti. Do fill that up, send it and then see what happens. The dealer and the salesman will get a earful and that is guaranteed. They will also call you up and apologize and solve any pending things from their side.

ECU going bust are very rare and as mentioned by Architect, these parts are not stored by any dealer as issues relating to them are very rare.

You will get your car today and then later on you will forget all about this.

Good Luck!

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

Is modern machine controlled by ECU are so complex that it goes above many so called experts mind?

That is correct. And that is one of the reasons why my toy is a Bullet and not the latest tech bike, because the Bullet, I can fix most things myself. On the other hand, reasons to fix it are that many more, so the real fun of the Bullet is if you love working on it as much as riding it!
Modern machines are a lot more reliable - it is a case of when they are good, they are very very good, but when they are bad, they are horrid. Although, to be honest, not so much horrid as mysterious, and to be fixed by throwaway gadgets.

[subbusos]

Originally Posted by architect

P.P.S. If it were a Punto or even a Palio, I wonder how long the owner would have to wait for ECM and wiring harness?

OT: You may have had bitter experience with them, but its totally unnecessary to comment here in this thread. I don't think your comment adds any value to the thread nor helps the thread starter. Please restrain from posting such comments on a irrelevant thread. There are threads available for that matter. You could post your views/experiences on that thread. Otherwise it will start the unnecessary debates and divert the original intent of the thread.

[krish3]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

TD car? Did you do a proper Pre Inspection Deliv?

OT-: Do you check ECU and wiring harness condition during a PDI? And how to confirm that there is a possibility of the ECU going bust in 500 kms during a PDI?

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by subbusos

OT: You may have had bitter experience with them, but its totally unnecessary to comment here in this thread. I don't think your comment adds any value to the thread nor helps the thread starter. Please restrain from posting such comments on a irrelevant thread. There are threads available for that matter. You could post your views/experiences on that thread. Otherwise it will start the unnecessary debates and divert the original intent of the thread.

I agree, but the point is still valid, but should have been made by including a lot more makes in that comment. While owning a volume selling car means you see a lot of it on the roads and lose the "pleasure" of being different, quick turnarounds in such cases tend to be the norm, and is a major advantage of buying such cars. Very few makers could provide that today - Maruti, and perhaps, Hyundai.

[coolboy007]

Studdocs,

I sympathise with you on the harrowing experience you had with your dealer. After you get your car back, lodge a complaint with Maruti about the poor dealer and the way he badly treated you.

I hope that this is a one off case in your car and in future it will be trouble free. From last 10 years have not owned a Maruti so dont know how quick they are to respond. In a new car which hasnt even done 1000 kms, a visit to service centre for a serious issue like this is bad.

Keep us updated, am sure serv centre will correct the issue.
In 2 days second Ritz problem thread, first driveshaft one and now this.

[Sawyer]

Again, it is not that big a deal. Things do fail, and electronics can have early hour failures a lot more than mechanicals can. The measure of the company is how quickly this gets fixed.