[freakmuzik]

Update:

A few days back, my sis hit another car from behind at some signal when the other car braked suddenly. The end result looked like a misaligned bumper and she came home without any issues. The other car was of a driving school and he too had a little damage, but since he realized it's mistake I guess, he went away. But the A/C condenser was making a hell lot of noise when switched on (sounds like something is stuck within the condenser fan assembly). I took my car to Mohandas Motors to get this corrected. That's when the body shop person tells me that the cross member has twisted slightly and the condenser has been damaged too! The damage doesn't look so bad and all I could notice is a slightly twisted cross beam. He says it has to be replaced and cannot be repaired and gave me an estimate of Rs. 23,000! No one can even guess this since the bumper looks quite normal except for being slightly misaligned. I think the bumper regained the shape after the impact and could find no other reason! Now I've asked them to not do the works. I'm asking some outside garages presently and also want to get the Genuine Parts price of the mentioned items which seems too high in the estimate.

Hope everything goes well

I don't have pics of the car presently, but once I take it back from the A.S.S, I'l update it here.

[freakmuzik]

I just got the car from Focuz motors after the A/C condensor work done and while I was about to update the thread, my sis had taken the car out to a nearby shop. And while she tries starting the car after shopping, it just doesn't. She called me and I hurried to the spot. The car is cranking but is not starting. The engine just keeps cranking and then dies. Battery is charged and the fuel is not low. Since I had a friend with me, tried pushing the car to start and that didn't work to. Tried cranking repeatedly, still no gain. Finally called the 24*7 helpline and they said they'l tow my vehicle to Focuz Motors and hopefully they'l be here in an hour. Fingers crossed!

I first suspected the starter motor but since it's not starting even after pushing the car and trying to disengage clutch while in motion, I think it might be an issue with the fuel pump or alternator. Hope it's nothing serious.

[jkdas]

Good to see a well logged Tata Nano thread!

The pricing of Nano has now come to almost 3lac! Phew!

Focus Motors is set too far for many to go there for a service and they charge you a lot for pick up and drop too; a thing they should avoid when they are set so far!

[freakmuzik]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Good to see a well logged Tata Nano thread!

The pricing of Nano has now come to almost 3lac! Phew!

Focus Motors is set too far for many to go there for a service and they charge you a lot for pick up and drop too; a thing they should avoid when they are set so far!

Thank you jkdas. And yeah, pricing has gone up so has the quality and equipment. Twist comes 2.7 on road but felt it being worth the money. But don't even think of a decent resale value!

I stay close to focuz motors. It's just three kilometers away whereas mohandas is really from my home. Since my car is under warranty, towing is FOC.

The focuz people called me right after I talked to the helpline people. Very quick indeed. And the guy said he's attending another breakdown and will get their sumo and come to my spot with an hour. But they reached within 45 minutes itself! There were three people. One guy tried cranking it but still did not work. So they towed the vehicle away. I followed them till eanchakkal junction in my scooter without them noticing. Very carefully driven with hazard lamps on both the vehicles. They kept a max speed of 20 kmph.

Will get to know the issue on monday. We're heading to our hometown in our newly purchased eon tomorrow. Will be able to check the car in person only on tuesday.

Regarding the accident repair, i took it to focuz just to check how they were since mohandas was quoting a horrendous figure. They were pretty nice though not as professional as mohandas outwardly. The SA chechked and really wondered if there was an accident since there was no visible damage. The next day he called me and informed that the clamp that connects the condenser and cross member was a tad bent and corrected them and dented the very slightly bent cross member too. The bent clamp was making the condenser fan somewhere else and hence the noise! They charged 900 and problem solved. A/c works totally fine with no noise or anything. If it was in mohandas, they were adamant to change the whole cross member, condenser and the condenser fan. God knows why!

Now lets see how the breakdown issue is resolved. Fingers crossed. But huge thanks to the tata rescue team who came to the spot in less than an hour and thats after me contacting the toll free service and not the service centre. Good.

[GTO]

Good to hear of the prompt response from the road-side assistance team.

Definitely sounds like a fuel pump gone kaput. Keep us in the loop of happenings. Hopefully, you've gotten your car back already.

[subscrive]

Originally Posted by freakmuzik

Update:

A few days back, my sis hit another car from behind at some signal when the other car braked suddenly. The end result looked like a misaligned bumper and she came home without any issues. The other car was of a driving school and he too had a little damage, but since he realized it's mistake I guess, he went away.

If its a driving school car, then its expected that there would be sudden braking etc. People driving behind should take care of the same and drive at a larger and safer distance. Why is it his mistake? Its the people who are "breaking" the rules and banging from behind, who are at mistake.

[freakmuzik]

Originally Posted by GTO

Good to hear of the prompt response from the road-side assistance team.

Definitely sounds like a fuel pump gone kaput. Keep us in the loop of happenings. Hopefully, you've gotten your car back already.

GTO, indeed I was extremely surprised too! I wasn't in town so just got an update over phone. They have narrowed down to a failed low pressure pump which is not sucking in the fuel anymore. Parts are not in stock and since it's been a 4 day holiday, I might have to wait for sometime sadly. Hoping to get it back soon. I just got back home. So lets see if I can speed up things a little.

Originally Posted by subscrive

If its a driving school car, then its expected that there would be sudden braking etc. People driving behind should take care of the same and drive at a larger and safer distance. Why is it his mistake? Its the people who are "breaking" the rules and banging from behind, who are at mistake.

Oops. I've put those words wrongly and that has sent a different meaning! I'm sorry. All I meant was, since the driver school guy realized that it's a small mistake and that there's been no damage, he left without further conversations or issues. It's definitely a mistake from my sis, legally too. And definitely, people should leave the necessary gap while following a vehicle, esp driving school ones. I'm literally scared of them and you'l never know what's gonna happen next with them

Cheers!

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by freakmuzik

.... All I meant was, since the driver school guy realized that it's a small mistake and that there's been no damage, he left without further conversations or issues. .....

Or maybe, he didn't have all the requisite papers with him. Have seen many such unauthorized/unregistered driving school vehicles. By law, it's required to register the car by the learning school's name, but very few people do that. Mostly they register it on the school owner's name. Maybe to gain a few thousand bucks of resale value.

[freakmuzik]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Or maybe, he didn't have all the requisite papers with him. Have seen many such unauthorized/unregistered driving school vehicles. By law, it's required to register the car by the learning school's name, but very few people do that. Mostly they register it on the school owner's name. Maybe to gain a few thousand bucks of resale value.

Oh Oh. Never knew or thought of that. May be that's true too. And I would really say they should set a time around early morning for the extremely fresh learners. Otherwise it's slightly annoying, especially in places like kerala where all mainroads are as narrow as the Residential colonies seen in other cities! I don't go honking behind them or try annoying them and wait patiently because the learners are pretty helpless. The law should bring out something sensible for solving such issues.

[freakmuzik]

Lot of drama happening here! I still have not got my car back! Since it was an array of holidays till 20th, I had no option but to wait. Then on 21st, I called the SA and he says the part is not available anywhere and that an order has been placed to get it from their factory. He told me that I'l have to wait for more than a week or two as in the current list of billings that they received, my car wasn't included. I just told him to make it fast or give me a loaner car atleast, to which he said that they don't have a loaner car!

I straightaway called the TATA toll free number and informed them the matter and my need for a loaner car immediately as it's already been two weeks. They escalated the matter quickly, called focuz motors and then called me to inform that my car will be delivered in 3 days and that the parts are being procured from somewhere else. Great response by their Toll Free team but Focuz doesn't seem so good to me.

Then today morning, I get a call saying that the part has arrived but the repair can't be done under warranty as my car hadn't undergone a coolant change during my 2nd year service, which cuts my warranty it seems! So what they were telling me is that, If I change the coolant now, they'l get it done in warranty! I don't find a proper reason for the last statement. Still, I called up Kulathunkal, where I had earlier done my service, and one Mr. John, was pretty decent in handling the situation. They made calls to Focuz and checked my car service history and they confirmed that the coolant hasn't been changed then and accepted the mistake. Since my car is under AMC, they accepted to pay me the amount that I'l have to pay to Focuz for a coolant change. Lets see how things go ! Thank god I have two other cars with me, or else, I would have been in a horrendous situation as everyone in my family keeps running around all the time!

[Batfreak]

Hey! Any update on the li'l hatch? We are considering the Nano e-max (CNG variant) for my brother. Would you recommend the car? We would like to keep the car for at least 4 years (about 60K kms on the odo). Since this would be his first car, it should be a rather worry free experience (quite contrary to what I read above).
Cheers!

[freakmuzik]

Originally Posted by Batfreak

Hey! Any update on the li'l hatch? We are considering the Nano e-max (CNG variant) for my brother. Would you recommend the car? We would like to keep the car for at least 4 years (about 60K kms on the odo). Since this would be his first car, it should be a rather worry free experience (quite contrary to what I read above).
Cheers!

Hey! Sorry for the late reply . I don't know if you have already made your decision. But, yeah, the car's doing good and it's 4 years already for me now. Except very minor niggles, the car is perfect! The FE is still awesome, chilling A/C and what not. Clutch is also better now.

In case of any parts replacement, the dealer might say that the parts aren't available and stuff, but all parts are very much available on order and that too quickly. All you might need to do is just give a call to their toll free number and a mail in case of such issues. This should be an issue only for certain parts and not the regular stuff.

I'l shortly update the 40,000 km service details.

Cheers!

[amit162]

My nano is four years old. It's done 11000 km. I hear noises from the front suspension which were either not there or I never noticed them. It seems that the car needs some lubricant or the rubber bushes etc. have hardened. I got the car serviced a few days back in AMC where I told them about the noise. Inspite of they saying they have set it right I can still hear them . At times I hear a creaking sound when turning the the steering. In my case I find the issue more pronounced since my other car is a Jazz which is extremely quiet on all fronts. Are these sounds normal in case of the earlier Nanos. Will be glad to know if any of you faced similar issues. Otherwise the car is giving me excellent service with its small footprint ease of parking etc. I had some issues with the headlight not going off . However the service centre changed the entire lights/ indicator stalk under warranty.

[freakmuzik]

Updating the 40,000/4th year service.

The car has run around 32k now.

The following were the issues reported -
1) A/C not working
2) Tight gearshifts

I gave them the car on 6th August. I also asked them to fit the Left Side mirror. But TATA doesn't produce the Left Mirror of the older 2010 Nano. They only have the 2012 Nano mirrors which are a tag bigger and better built. In the older one, the whole set needs to be adjusted but in the new one, the mirror alone moves and the whole unit retracts and opens in one step. One mirror costs Rs.450 and comes in Black. So I asked them to fit a pair and remove the existing mirror.

Regarding the A/C, the gas needed refilling and also the condenser fan needed some work. So they did all these and made the car ready on 8th august. I was expecting a bill of around 3k including the mirrors, etc but was alarmed to see Rs.4.5k as the bill amount. Since my dad collected the car and was unaware, he paid the bill. When I reached home after class and checked the bill, they had charged for the condenser work, wheel cylinder assembly, etc which was to be covered under warranty (which ends on 10th August). When i asked them, they told me that in their system, the warranty seems to have expired on 6th August itself

I checked my invoice, RC book and all sorts of things and the date was 10th August indeed. So this stupid mistake was done by the guys at Kulathunkal where I bought the car or who ever entered these details into their system. I immediately sent them a copy of the invoice and informed TATA too and asked the SA for a refund of the works carried out.

He said that's not possible since the works are already done and the warranty is over according to them. Even after repeated requests to elevate the matter to TATA, he never did that. All he was telling me was that even if they give me the money back, Focuz will have to bear it and TATA will not refund them. I somehow got around Rs1000/- from them I got back home and called Mr. Stanly who's some one in TATAs Bombay/Hyd branch whom I had earlier contacted for some issue. I told him the issue and mailed him the details - here it goes:

"I'm Sreekanth from Trivandrum and hope you remember the conversation we had this evening. I've attached the scanned image of my Vehicle Invoice with Invoice date of 10th August 2010. You can also see that the AMC that I had initially taken, which is to be from the date of invoice, is also 10th August 2010 therefore assuring that the Invoice date is indeed correct. And the warranty has been upgraded from 18 months (at the time I bought) to 4 years, which should essentially be ending on 10th August 2014.

I gave the vehicle for the 4th year/40,000 km service and the Job card carries the date of 6th August. And in the service invoice that i've attached, the bill date is August 8th , which should essentially be covered under warranty period. But, Mr. Shyju, the service Advisor, informed that their system carries 6th August as the end of my warranty which I have no clue as to how it happened.

And if you go through the bill, the wheel cylinder replacement, labour charge for wheel cylinder replacement, Condensor repair, and some minor repair (which has not been specified) are all parts that have to be covered under warranty. Regarding the fan belt, when i enquired Mohandas Motors right now, I was told that it is covered under warranty but Focuz Motors says otherwise.

Also, I had my A/C not working and for which they repaired my condenser for the time being thinking that my car is not under warranty. If the date was correct, i would have got a proper replacement of my cars Condenser Fan instead of the temporary repair.

I kindly request you to do the needful and refund the excess amount including the taxes collected from me.

P.S : Rs.1115 has been refunded (cost of wheel cylinder + Condenser repair charge) till now but they''re not budging to give me the rest."

The fan belt was actually not covered after I checked the manual in detail (this is the A/C fan belt).

Within next 12 hours, I got a call from Focuz Motors asking for apology and said they'l do the needful. In the next three days, I got a mail from Mr. Sandeep of Focuz saying he'l give me the rest of the amount anytime if I go to their Service Center.

Dear Mr Sreekanth Hariharan,


We have received a complaint from you regarding the warranty issue of your Tata Nano car KL01 AY 8962. We have decided to refund Rs 599/- to you and the details are given below.



PARTS = WHEEL CYLINDER ASSY = TAX AMOUNT OF 515/75 = 75/-
LABOUR = CONDENSOR FAN CORRECTING = TAX AMOUNT OF 600/- = 74/-
LABOUR = WHEEL CYLINDER CHANGING LABOUR CHG INCLUDING TAX = 225/-
LABOUR = MINOR REPAIR = LABOUR CHG INCLUDING TAX = 225/-
TOTAL AMOUNT = 599/-


We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused to you and please come and collect it from our office.

I went there, collected the amount and talked to a customer care guy who was very nice and said sorry for all the issues and accepted that it's indeed their fault. I can't understand why an A.S.S should be so worried to escalate such a matter to TATA directly.

In total, the charges I incurred during this service -

A/C Gas - Rs.445.2/-
Fanbelt - Rs. 114.6/-

Total - Rs. 641/- (incl. taxes)

Labour -
A/C gas filling charges - Rs.786/- (incl. Taxes)

Total - Rs. 1427/-

Mirror fitting cost

Mirror - Rs. 440 x 2 = Rs. 880/-
Misc (nuts, etc) - Rs. 30/-
Fitting charge - Rs. 200/-
Total - Rs. 1266/-



Though the servicing in general is fine, such issues spoil the experience completely!

Since then, car is great, the A/C is good but gets cut-off pretty often which I can't figure out why. But cools well so haven't got it checked. It's still a great city ride with nimble characteristics. I have one rattle which is from the Left Front door handle (internal). I guess i'l just try tightening it.

Originally Posted by amit162

My nano is four years old. It's done 11000 km. I hear noises from the front suspension which were either not there or I never noticed them. It seems that the car needs some lubricant or the rubber bushes etc. have hardened. I got the car serviced a few days back in AMC where I told them about the noise. Inspite of they saying they have set it right I can still hear them . At times I hear a creaking sound when turning the the steering. In my case I find the issue more pronounced since my other car is a Jazz which is extremely quiet on all fronts. Are these sounds normal in case of the earlier Nanos. Will be glad to know if any of you faced similar issues. Otherwise the car is giving me excellent service with its small footprint ease of parking etc. I had some issues with the headlight not going off . However the service centre changed the entire lights/ indicator stalk under warranty.

Hi amit. I had some suspension issues in my initial kms where in the front suspension felt very harsh and noisy and TASS replaced it under warranty. Is your car still under warranty? Since you've run very little, I don't know as to how the suspension may have any serious damages unless and untill you've been through horrible roads.

If you want to confirm if the noise is indeed an issue, you may test drive another nano from the service center or of some one whom you know. That would be the best since you're not sure if its just a feeling in comparison to the Jazz.

But if its not, do get the works done under warranty as the kilometers you've clocked seems very low to cause a suspension issue. If its some rubber component then anyways you'l have to bear the cost.

Keep updated and do feel free to ask anything

[freakmuzik]

Today, took the car to Nagercoil and back. The total distance covered was 136 km (69 km one way). The roads were horrible today. I started from trivandrum at 7.00 AM. Took 1 hour and 20 mins to reach Neyyatinkara (20 km from my home). Then again another 45 mins till Marthandam. I reached Nagercoil (parvatheepuram) at 9.50 AM. The drive till Neyyatinkara was 30% 1 gear and traffic block, 70% 2nd gear and 10 % 3rd gear!

The rest of the journey had the car in 3rd gear most of the time and occassionally in 4th (30 % of the second leg ). I started back at 8.00 PM and it was raining like hell! Since there was mist covering up my windshield, had to keep the Air-con on for nearly half the entire journey back home. The traffic was relatively lesser but still was bad. Reached home at 10.20 pm (includes a small dinner break).

The roads were horrible in most of the stretch. You always keep encountering a new pothole every 200m. You can't twist the car eitherways due to the immense traffic. So yeah, poor car! The roads are a tad better between Marthandam and Thuckalay. But the other parts were hopeless as I said.

Now coming to my Nano, it was a great ride. It's the first time I'm taking this to the Highway for this long a journey. The car was peppy to drive since this stretch of the highway hardly saw vehices going above 70kmph. I realised how long the 1st gear is. The car picks up speed quite well in the initial gears. The 4th, being the overdrive, is very lethargic. One should take the Nano till 60 - 65kmph in 3rd before engaging 4th if you need to gain momentum. If you want to just cruise at 60-65, you can shift from 3rd to 4th at around 50 -55 kmph. But switching on the air con saps a lot of power especially with a full load. Till 80kmph, the car never felt light or scary. The suspension never worked in filtering undulations sadly.

So how was the fuel efficiency? I've taken my Wagon-r twice in this stretch and all I could manage was 17-17.5 kmpl. My Nano, however, thrashing all my expectations, returned 26.2kmpl!!!!! Yeah, you read it right! I never expected this considering 135 kms was covered in 5.5 hours and mostly in 2nd and 3rd gears! I can't imagine the FE if I take it to a proper highway and maintain a steady speed.