Continuing with what happened on the eighth day, I distinctly remember seeing the odometer hit the 111 km mark. Being an avid cricket fan , this always reminded me of David Shepherd and his umpiring ways. I am sure a lot of other readers on our forum know this particular habit of Mr. Shepherd where he does a hop scotch routine whenever the score hits the 111 runs mark. I recall some commentator mentioning that it was a superstition and the hop was supposed to ward of any evil that may occur.
Unfortunately the interiors of the beat ; roomy that they may be for the front passengers , certainly do not allow one to do any number of hops. Not that I am superstitious but if it doesnt hurt, then just do it has been my motto. The superstition in my case came true , a few meters after 111 , the car made a funny LOUD sort of noise. It was like a dag-dag-dag clackety sound that I was certain is from the roadside machinery which the BMC uses all the time. However I slowed down and so did the sound. Also unlike noise from machinery which fades away as you drive, this remained with me. I guess a part of my mind knew its coming from the car but it was simply impossible to believe that a brand new car would have such sort of trouble. So I plodded along for a few more meters. This time the sound was so loud so as to make people turn around and look at me and Skids (thats what I am calling my beat now, its the same name as from the movie - and with the tyres that he has, I have no trouble at all in identifying with the name). Once this happened, I decided to stop and take a look myself. As soon as I stopped, so did the noise - which confirmed my worst fears. However given that the noise was certainly not from the engine from as far as I could hear , I was a bit relieved. No one wants a lemon of an engine - the other parts may be fixed and taken apart, but I certainly did not want the engine to be opened. With the car still running and on idle, the engine was purring along beautifully.
I opened the hood anyway. If you would have seen me at that time, there would also have been a stupid grin on my face. This should explain you why -
Megan Fox Looking Awesome In Transformers - Video
Unfortunately, neither was Miss Fox travelling with me nor was she (and I did look) anywhere around to get a look under my hood. This called for serious measures.
I decided not to drive - after all Chevrolet had an emergency 24/7 helpline just for such reasons - correct? Well, sure, theoretically at least. I ring them , they promise to get the nearest workshop to ring me in 10 mins. 25 mins later, I ring them again. This time they ask me to stay on hold while they connected me to the workshops manager via conference calling. The fellow promises that someone would be along shortly with the emergency van. I hate wasting fuel in an idling car (also carbonises the engine) so switch it off. I make a few calls, get out of the car and try to make sense of it but nothing seems loose or broken. I ring the manager again (I now have his direct number) and he says that the person with the van is not reachable - they are still trying. After a few more tries of this sort, he too gets upset and tries to help me on the phone. We figure its got to be a loose stone stuck in the brakes, nothing else can explain it. I try to dislodge the stone by driving and hitting the full brakes suddenly in forward and reverse. The noise subsides for some reason. Its been more than an hour on the roadside now with no-one on the way. I dont want to open the car with any other mechanic and the sound does not seem to be so bad, I decide to limp the car home which is still about 10 kms away. Luckily after driving for some distance the noise stops completely. I however drive very slowly and reach home.
Credits must be given to the Chevrolet help line, they kept calling and confirming that I was in touch with the service center people and they even called to ask me what happened after I reached home. So despite being upset that no one did make it to help me, I forgave them since it was peak traffic hours in the evening and I was a long way off from the service centers. Downside to not owning a Maruti becomes apparent in the first few days of ownership since I was about less than a kilometer from a Maruti service center.
Since I thought it must have been a stone in the brakes, which is now gone , I decide to over rule Chevrolets suggestion of bringing in the car first thing next day morning for a complete checkup. My bad. I thought my conversation with Skids on the way home made him see the light and he would trouble me no longer.
Next day morning as I head to office earlier then usual (lots of pending stuff) - the same noise , from the same place reoccurs. I narrow it down to the front wheels. I ring Chevy help line, give them the same number , tell them that I want someone here right now since this was a brand new car and the helpline seemed to be just on paper if they could not send any real help. The workshop manager calls within 10 minutes, with the car already on the way - whose driver calls me while I am still talking to the manager for my location. Impressive.
My experience with mechanical / electrical things has been that once you do manage to get the repair man to you - the trouble stops. It will however re-occur once the repair man leaves. If there is such a law that Murphy or anyone has already spoken about then forgive me , but if not I would certainly like it to be known as Takumi-sans law of repairs. Luckily this time, Skids decided not to follow this law. The mechanic arrived in 25 minutes, we went for a short drive and scarcely 100 meters into it did he start making his dug-dug sound. Now you folks may have thought I was exaggerating about the volume of the noise, but beleive you me , the mechanic had his ear to the car trying to make out any soun when it began and the poor fellow jumped in his seat. (Note to self : If I knew this was possible, I would have done it at the 111 mark and avoided this entire episode).
He immediately thought about the stone in brake routine. By now we had narrowed he noise down to the front left hand wheel. He decided to jack the car up and remove the wheel. He insisted, and by that I mean INSISTED that I sit in the car 'comfortably' and not see what was wrong. I told him that I had no time to follow Chevrolet for a replacement but I wanted to make sure how badly they had messed up. Once he opened it up, the problem was apparent. The wheel had never been fixed correctly. The bolts were not loose, but not tightened in the proper cross sequence that any roadside mechanic will swear by. As a result, the wheel wasnt moving at the same speed as the spokes (or whatever it is that its attached to). We could see a clear mark where the metal parts had rubbed against one another. Since the problem had just about begun, there was no long term trouble that I or the mechanic could think of. He said this was the first time this happened - and he would report it. It could have been that the potholed roads caused this to happen but unlikely. I decided that pursuing the matter would only cause me to loose work hours, get stressed and have nothing in return. True to his word, the car functioned perfectly from then on. Its unfortunate that I did not have the presence of mind to take pictures with my camera phone when he showed me where the wheel had rubbed itself - would have been great for you folks to see. But I am not sure he would have let me , it was clear he was under orders to make quick the repairs if any or take / tow the car. He was surprised with my attitude when he showed up , but if theres one thing I learnt in retail (while in Australia) - it was - dont shoot the messenger. It wasnt him who did not fix the wheel properly the first time. So if I dont get upset at the fellow who messed it up then why should I get upset at the fellow who is trying to fix it? Sure, its easier said then done - but I have been on the opposite side and know exactly how these MNCs work.
I will continue this review with posting the list of accessories, costs and of course photos shortly. Let loose your queries, will be happy to answer any.
4th August 2010, 10:53
I'll make sure that the collar are fitted before delivery...
, welcome to the Chevy family. How does that Beat compare to the Hachi-roku? (
guessing from your nickname, You must be a Initial-D lover )