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BHPian dkaile recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
One year/10 K service done today at CAI Automobiles, Coimbatore. No issues to report except a nagging rattle from somewhere on the left front side which they couldn't rectify. They impressed me first up when I saw the service technicians using a proper torque wrench on the wheel lug nuts; swear this was the first time in my life I saw this tool in the hands of any ASS employee. Pretty good experience overall.
Only fly in the ointment: Mahindra isn't training their SAs on the vehicle specs adequately. I had to inform them that the recommended engine oil was Maximile Ultra V4 (Shell) and not Maximile Ultra (Valvoline). The latter is to be used only if the recommended oil can't be procured for some reason, as per the Mahindra booklet again. All this was befuddling news to them, and both the SA & CRM appeared as if they'd seen the booklet for the first time, going by the amused expressions they had while turning it over. The V4 being fully synthetic vs the other being semi-synthetic was totally lost on them, and they insisted that since they've not demanded any V4 & Mahindra is supplying them with only Maximile Ultra by default, therefore it means that Mahindra is recommending it as the oil of choice. Also, the fact that they've used Maximile Ultra only on all the diesel XUV700s serviced with them so far without any complaints is apparently a testament to it. I gave up after banging my head against this logic for 10 minutes.
Can others chime in with what engine oil they were provided with at the service? Anybody used (15W40 I believe, it's not written on the can though) fully synthetic oil of any other make if they've been denied the V4 by the ASS?
Thanks!
Here's what BHPian Sommos had to say on the matter:
During the 30K service of my vehicle, V4 was not available at the ASC. I had refused the service and raised a complaint with the CC. The ASC had arranged the V4 engine oil from a nearby dealer within a day and the 30K service was done the next day.
You can try raising the issue with the CC quoting your manual.
Here's what BHPian northstar* had to say on the matter:
I think the availability of V4 is still a question in places other than tyre 1 & 2 cities. I had asked specifically for V4 in my 30k service and no one in the ASS was even heard of it. We have a group of 200 XUVs from Kerala and no one has ever experienced V4 yet !!!
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BHPian Quicksilver85 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I am curious to understand, why are there no company-owned or company-operated service network in India?
I see "service quality" as one of the aspects which could be a hit or miss with many car ownership experiences shared in this forum. Time and again, I see the same repeated even in Official reviews that sub-par service experience or ASS Horror stories with some OEMs. Also, there are so many threads about dealership frauds/mistreatment/poor service quality etc reported on this forum.
Similar to how public sector oil companies like Indian Oil, and Bharat Petroleum claim to operate the so-called COCO (Company Owned & Company Operated) fuel stations which presumably deliver better "quality" and "quantity" of fuel to motorists. Why cannot there be say a COCO TATA motors service center or Skoda or Hyundai? Or maybe even premium players with low volume such as Audi and BMW?
Are there some regulations that prevent OEMs from operating service networks? Or is the quantum of investment & manpower required to operate such a network that OEMs shy away from? Can someone please some light on this if you are from the automobile sector or have knowledge in this domain?
Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:
- It's a dirty business
- OEMs would rather hide behind a dealership
- A dealership can do things to maintain profitability (overbilling, upselling, scamming) that an OEM never would / could.
- Push the liability onto the dealership.
- Of course, one of the biggest reasons is that OEM CEOs, COOs, heads of marketing etc. are used to talking numbers in the hundreds of crores (if not thousands), sales of thousands of cars etc. They have no interest in dealing with 50 cars a month or revenue of 10 crores/month. It's too small for their ambitions.
Here's what BHPian SmartCat had to say on the matter:
Probably because all car manufacturers know that if they want to generate decent returns from the automobile service business, they have to take the customers for a ride (Eg: brake pad cleaning, door panel anti-rust coating etc)
It is best to let somebody else handle the dirty business.
Here's what BHPian Shreyans_Jain had to say on the matter:
Tata pioneered this model with its Concorde range of service stations. Hyundai too had tried this, they had a full-fledged company-owned dealership in Delhi. Unfortunately, the model didn’t work out. Wasn’t profitable in either case.
Here's what BHPian IshaanIan had to say on the matter:
The problem in India at least, is that in order to offer superior service they would have to reward their staff with better pay so as to ensure professionalism and quality. This would mean much higher labor costs in comparison and that would lead to fewer customers bringing in their cars for service as well as dealer partners being miffed about the company trying to steal customers away from them considering service is where all the money is made.
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BHPian Dr.AD recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
My last update in this thread was in December. It has been three months since then and I somehow lost track of updating this thread. So decided to catch up on the backlog, and update the thread with events since December.
In January, I did a few long drives in my Thar 4x4, and used my 320d only for a few short drives, like this impromptu drive to Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary.
Again in February, I did a few short drives, and then one long drive across Karnataka with a few fellow BHPian friends.
Although there is a separate travelogue of this drive (link given above), sharing a few pictures from that drive here just for the sake of completeness of this thread.
Our convoy posing next to the quintessential Hampi structures:
Another drive I did recently in 320d was a solo drive to JLR King's Sanctuary. I did two safaris there through Nagarhole Tiger Reserve. Unfortunately, I did not see anything special in the safaris, but had a good time enjoying the rides through dry summer forests anyway. Roads from Bangalore to JLR King's Sanctuary are very good now, and in the 320d, it was a very quick drive.
Entering JLR King's Sanctuary
I just casually checked in our Bangalore Bhpians' 4x4 group if this was one of us. And indeed it was. Turned out this Thar was of BHPian @turboNath. He and his father were there, and it was awesome to meet them and have dinner with them. Both @turboNath and his father are extremely nice people, both travel a lot and have tons of travel stories to share. It was a great experience to meet them and exchange road trip stories with them. Their enthusiasm and passion for road trips were inspirational, to say the least!
Coming to my jungle safaris there, as I mentioned above, I did not see anything special. But sharing a few photos I could manage to click there in our safaris through Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.
Timely maintenance of the car is as important as driving hard and enjoying road trips. A few maintenance updates since the last report:
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BHPian Leoshashi recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
50K PMS: The XL6 crossed 50k mark on the ODO and I got the PMS50 done. Nothing except the usual oil change and the amount was Rs. 3433. Paid just Rs. 633 and for the rest amount, I redeemed the accumulated MSR points.
Headlamp Assemblies changed: I was noticing very mild deposits/marks inside the headlamp assemblies and it was NOT condensation, although it looked like one. I had never observed fogging/condensation and thus it was something else. It looked like oily deposits on the inner side. It was minor but disturbing enough for me, pushed for a warranty claim and got it approved under Goodwill. I've been told that there has been a revision of PN(72S02) and these are the latest ones with all updates. Apparently, this was a known issue internally and they had made slight updates. Also, the RHS DRL was sometimes flickering and after ascertaining that it wasn't a contact-related issue, they replaced it.
Upgraded to Polk Audio Components DB6502 DB+ at Front and Polk audio Coaxials DB652 DB+ for rear: While the rear coaxials were a direct fit, the front components needed a bit of simple wiring for tweeters and crossovers. Also uniquely mounted crossovers. There existed a piece of thermocol on the door pads, and I made grooves in them so that the crossover could sit in snugly. Absolutely hated when installers pasted them on front doors using double-sided tapes or even worse, drilled into the panel.
As expected, clarity has gone up significantly and that's what I personally prefer.
DIY gear oil change: Got the Suzuki Ecstar 75W gear oil from Japan and replaced the oil at the 50k mark. Since MASS wouldn't undertake this as MARUTI calls it lifetime fluid, decided to do it on my own and I'm glad I did. The old oil had turned black and significantly thick.
This 75W grade isn't in supply in India till now from Ecstar, however, an alternate exists in Shell, priced around Rs. 900/L.
DIY Spark Plugs, coil and brake system clean: Soaked the plugs in cleaner overnight and cleaned the plugs comprehensively. Also removed the coils, dismantled them carefully and cleaned the insides. The springs had minor rusting and that affects proper energy transfer. Thus it's important to clean them.
Tyre Health: The Conti UC6s are now 30K old and have around 5.2-5.3mm of tread left. Excellent experience till now with them. Periodic tyre rotation is also helping.
Upgraded wipers to those of Toyota Fortuner: I always loved the Hybrid shape wipers on the Crysta. However, the Crysta used larger size wipers than the XL6. Thankfully the current Fortuner uses the same spec as XL6, 22/16 and I ordered them instantly via Boodmo. Wipe quality is top-notch, and for future replacements, I'll just need to change the rubber element and not the entire assembly.
Signing off with few pics of the XL6, along with BHPian Madtiger's White XL6, aka Snow white:
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BHPian Chugh_H recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Sharing a small update on my GTX+ DCT
I have now completed 7500 km with my car and by the end of this month, I am expecting to add another ~2000 km to my odo. I have enjoyed the ownership so far, car has been a joy to drive within city limits as much as it is on the highways. I am satisfied on most accounts (yes, even suspension) except for that one back-of-the-mind feeling that in case of an unfortunate crash, the body structure could have been stronger. There are a lot of things that could have been better with the car, but as an overall package - it still holds a good rank in this price range. No regrets so far.
The reason for this update is something else though. About 3 weeks ago while I was driving on my usual commute, the engine check light lit up along with a warning on the ICE screen to contact the service centre. I called customer care, and the representative confirmed it is okay to drive the car to my home (~7 km) as long as the check light is not red and the car is not behaving abnormally. They also connected me to the nearest service centre (Allied Kia, Gurgaon) and the service manager promptly connected me to the front desk so I could book an appointment. Fast forward to the weekend, I took the car to service; I couldn't capture the error code on the picture but it was something around 'Higher rpm than normal'. The service advisor recommended throttle body cleaning which is what they did and then cleared the error code history after a test drive. I could not sense anything wrong with the car's behaviour throughout this time.
My earlier car (Ford) had an engine wiring issue which cropped up in the 2nd month of ownership, the car was taken to a service centre and it took them ~4 days to deliver it back to me. This kind of thing doesn't bother me much to be honest as I understand all mechanical things could fail at any point, but the service I receive when the sun ain't shining is how I benchmark companies. I will have to say my understanding of why the AAM junta puts so much weight on good service when buying a car has got better after this instance. Ford is good, Kia is even better! All reps acted like they were invested in their company, and conscious that they represented Kia and not their service centre. They explained to me why such things could occur, explained what they did and how can I reach out to them easily if something crops up again. Special mention to the service manager - Surinder Kumar - he walked to me every ~10 mins while my car was in the service bay and ensured I understood that it was not a big issue and what would they do if re-occurs. I rate them 10/10 on service. FYI, I am not affiliated with them in any way.
Pictures of the engine check warning are attached below for reference. I am curious to know if anyone else who has used 1.5T for >5k kms has faced such an issue, couldn't find anything on the forum/internet so seems to be a one-off sensor issue.
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BHPian King_Julien recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I took delivery of my Punch EV Empowered +S LR on 13th March morning.
The car was delivered with 33% charge, so took it home and charged to 60% and in the evening I noticed some coolant leak on the floor.
Informed it to sales advisor, who told coolant is used only when battery gets charged and it is safe to drive. Next day I checked the coolant tank, and to my shock one of the 2 tanks was empty.
I took the vehicle to service center on 15th morning, and I was told by the service advisor that there is a leak and the vehicle has to be lifted to check the exact spot and all vehicle lifts are full. I was told that the vehicle cannot be driven in this condition, as coolant gets circulated while driving too and car has to be left there for inspection on next day.
I got a call today (16th) that the coolant hose leak is the issue and today being Saturday, it is not possible to place order. So they will be placing order on 19th (Monday) and expecting the part to reach on Friday after which they will do the replacement.
It is outrageous that a 1-day old vehicle has to be left at service center for over a week.
The timelines is unacceptable. The experience has left me deeply disappointed and questioning Tata's commitment to quality and customer satisfaction.
Here's what BHPian camaroon had to say on the matter:
Really sorry to hear about your experience.
The sales guys only want the payment and will say anything to not take accountability once the invoice is raised. Coolant is also used for battery and charging without it can damage the battery. Hopefully its only a leak in the hose / connections which can be fixed easily.
Do you mind indicating the dealership and the service center.
I will be doing my PDI soon and not sure how to perform comprehensive tests to catch such issues before acceptance.
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BHPian SpeedBird recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I had a pathetic experience with Key Motors Kanakpura, Bangalore. Below is the email I sent to their service manager, CRM, and Branch manager, to avail of no response. I have also attached the photo of the "service" they provided during the rat-bite incident. Here is the email that I sent:
I own a Tata Altroz XZ with reg: ********** which suffered from a rat bite 2 times recently, for which I left the vehicle for service at Key Motors Kanakpura branch, the first one dated 21st June '23 and the second one dated 13th July '23.
During the first instance, the rat-bite-damaged wiring was replaced within half a day and delivered the same day. Upon reaching home and inspecting the quality of the work done, I was concerned and brought it to the notice of the Service manager Tharun over WhatsApp, for which I got no reply. I even told the same over the feedback call which I received from Tata Motors. While I was figuring things out to re-check the wiring done by reaching out to the correct POC and taking some basic precautions against rat bites, a second bite happened on 13th July, this time, biting the same wire which was repaired along with another wire next to it, which seized the engine completely. Therefore, the vehicle was towed.
During this second instance, I was expecting the same rewiring and was also hoping to check on the previous rewiring while collecting the vehicle. But to my surprise, the service advisor assigned to my vehicle, Subhash, called me and said that the repair would cost around ₹15k since replacement of the whole wiring harnesses is required and on top of that, insurance cannot be claimed on the same since they have done some patchy rewiring work and the original photo of the rat bitten wire was not taken, thereby the claim getting rejected if claimed. Furthermore, the advisor warned me that the vehicle would risk a short circuit if the normal rewiring was done. The advisor also claimed that the wiring snapped 2 times during their test run of the vehicle. Considering the advice, I agreed to the replacement having no other choice. However, after 15 days of keeping the vehicle, the advisor called me and said that the part which arrived was wrong and they needed more time. I was angered by this delay and the carelessness and I took the risk of the patchy rewiring and drove the vehicle slowly to Mysuru URS car service station in Hebbal. The delivery of the vehicle was taken on 26th July.
At the URS car service station, they patiently showed me the entire wiring harness where it was realised that it was exactly as same as the first instance rat bite it was fixed in half a day. They assisted in the rewiring work and after seeing the rewiring work, I got confidence as the quality of the work done was excellent.
I then drove to Shringeri which is known for bad and unexpected roads and I didn't face any issues whatsoever.
Now, it has been over 15 days and I still haven't received any feedback call!
Here are my questions:
I request you to escalate this service instance which was performed by key motors initiate a feedback call for the same and provide me with answers to my above questions.
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BHPian abirnale recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I got the 60K service done. As usual, the oil change continues at every 10K kms. The service was done ahead of time anticipating a long drive for the week! More on that in separate travelogues.
This is probably after the longest gap, that I had to go to ASC - the good part in this is that I did not have much trouble with the car that warranted a ASC visit. But the bad part is - TheRedSparkle did not stretch its legs for the past 10-12K kms like it used to do. Nevertheless, as usual, booked an appointment for a Good Friday morning at Chrome and showed up at 9.15am there. A couple of things that were on my mind which is in addition to the routine visit requirements for 60K kms service:
The visit was expected to complete in 2-3 hours, but there were surprises in store! See the pictures below:
The servicing part was simple and fast - they had Ultra V4 in stock, got all things done in less than an hour. The catastrophe struck when they wanted to clean the brake pads and fit back - the anti-theft lock key broke! With the spare key at home, it took some time and a helping hand + dunzo to get the spare key, loosen the bolts and put things back after cleaning. This anti-theft key is a Mahindra genuine accessory. Shocking to see it gives away so easily - I have to now write to customer care for a warranty claim and/or to obtain the duplicate key. Such a tedious process.
Also, noticed some discolouration on one of the alloy wheels - not sure if it's a defect/ issue with quality or something. Asked the ASC guys to find out. Hoping to get some clear answers and possibly no safety risk.
Also, noticed that on the front left wheel well, there is a visible mark on the body from tyre rubbing during one of the tightest turnings - Refer to the second picture above. I did not "feel" this while probably I parked the car in a tight spot sometime earlier. But then to rule out foul-play I got ASC to recheck the alignment and everything seemed to be fine. The conclusion was - I most likely would have tuned the EPS to the extreme end while climbing on the stone/ curb or making tight turns. I will keep an eye on this to see if there is anything else that can cause such marks.
As part of the ICE complaints address, re-flashed the Silverbox with more latest build for the same version as before.
The Apple maps now show up on the MID too, and I can now run Google on main screen, Apple on the MID.
In total, summary of the servicing:
Total charges: Rs. 8267.
So now with all these things out of the way, TheRedSparkle was ready to take us back on roads - the place we love to be!
Stay tuned for the two travelogues to come out of assembly lines to take you through #TheRedSparkleStories. We are going out to search for some flamingoes and to see some real big cats - In Bandipur, we only heard the soft growl, but now we wish to see it.
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BHPian Artyom recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
8600 Km since the last service and a 1600 Km trip upcoming I decided to get the service done to avoid any issues during the upcoming trip.
It did burn a hole in my pocket but again it's been 5 years so a few things had to be replaced proactively to ensure the vehicle performs optimally.
Overall the Brake pad replacement and battery replacement did add to my service cost by an additional 8k+(3812 for Brake pads and 5k for the battery) but considering the vehicle is almost 5 years old and 40k run I don't mind it considering they anyways had to be replaced in near future. The very next day we did a 1600 Km trip and the vehicle performed without any fuss so I was a happy man.
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BHPian jacobsam recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
As suggested by Kevinrevvz, posting my experiences with Honda Car services. Please do keep in mind that I am a repeat customer for Honda Cars India
I belong to a tier 4 city. Buying a hybrid itself is a lot questionable around here but the team-bhp influence keeps ticking you to new things. So with lots of excitement and joy, I bought a Honda City Hybrid ZX e-hev on 19th October 2023. Paid a huge premium over a normal Honda City believing that it’s a premium product with premium service availability.
Come 27th of November 2023, we met with an accident. Would get into the details of ADAS and its effectiveness later in another thread about it.
Immediately contacted the Service team and RSA team from Honda as it was part of the package. The vehicle was picked up by the RSA vendor and taken to the authorized service centre of the same dealership it was bought from on the 29th of November 2023. Subsequently, I received a call from the service advisor about the process and I gave the go-ahead. The insurance company were contacted and the process was initiated. The speculated time frame mentioned to me by Honda was around 25 days and I was ok with it. There was some delay by the insurance company and the dealership asked me to give a go-ahead to start the repair work irrespective of the pending approval which I did. In the meantime, I was informed by the service advisor that since it’s a hybrid, the Honda team is also informed about the parts requirement and they are in the loop of the repairs.
25days passed. Again, I started following up with the Abhikaran Honda, Indore and the service advisor told me that some parts were not available and the orders were also pending with the Honda Team.
Today 70 days have crossed. The service advisor is saying that the painting and all the requisite work are done except for some hybrid dedicated parts that are not provided by the Honda team. He is clearly saying that we have sort of repaired these parts and checked the car and it's running ok. Since he is still not getting clarity from Honda when the parts would be provided and this would delay the delivery more, he is suggesting to collect the car and use it till the parts are provided by the Honda which he doesn’t know when would happen.
This is a new car. Not an extinct one. Not an old car which is not under production but a car which is under production for the past year or so. Shouldn't there be a reasonable inventory of parts with the service provider or at least the car manufacturer?
I am saddened and frustrated by this kind of behaviour. Have sent an email to the customer service team and waiting for an update from them.
Please advise the future course of action.
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