Brand New Wagon R - Clutch Burnt in 3000 Kms

[Figoian]

A friend of mine called me today morning to inform that his car, brand new Wagon R is broke and not moving. Seems the car stalled and didn't start back. When he called Maruti for assistance, they suggested that he might have ran out of fuel (he was in reserve). He filled petrol and still no luck. Seems, the car then started, but won't move.

He called up again for assistance and they seemed to have towed the car to the garage. He just heard that the Clutch Plates have burnt and he will have to spend about 6K for the same as it's not covered under warranty. When questioned about such a pre-mature wear out, they are blaming the driving may possibly the reason. That's not agreeable as he is not a beginner and had been driving for more than 12 years. Questions:

1. Can the Clutch Burn Out so early, just in 3K?
2. Though Clutch is a wear & tear part and not generally covered under Warranty, isn't it no way possible?
3. What could be the reason for such early wear out?

I feel something fishy here. Have advised him not to agree up on anything, but to fight back. Please share your views and suggestions.

 

[Sam Dinkar]

[*]Can the Clutch Burn Out so early, just in 3K?

Difficult but not impossible. Reasons for failure could vary from a sadist driver who rides the clutch to a faulty component in the clutch assembly. Since your friend has been driving cars for 12 years, the former is less likely.

Though cltch is a wear & tear part and not generally covered under Warranty, isn't it no way possible?

Its very much possible. From the tone of your post it does sound like a case of component failure, though its extremely difficult to point out the same even if the clutch assembly is opened up and inspected by experts. Do escalate the matter and you should get a free of cost replacement.

What could be the reason for such early wear out?

Please ask your friend if he was experiencing any problem in engaging gears prior to the time the clutch actually failed. If he says yes, the failure may have been a result of a faulty slave cylinder.

 

[Figoian]

Update: My friend & I spoke to the Technician from Kalyani Motors and understood that the Clutch Cover Assembly & Fly Wheel are burnt. As per him, this could be due to Clutch Riding or Accidental Usage of Hand Brake while driving. We then spoke to the Service Manager and he too replicated the same. However, he also mentioned that, he will be in a position to diagnose whether it's a faulty part or driving issue once it's opened and inspected. If it's worn one sided, then it's a driving issue, but on both sides would be a faulty part. We have asked him to proceed and let us know.

In the meanwhile, the vehicle was serviced at Pratham Motors just 20 days ago when it was 3K KMs and it's ran only 300 KMs thereafter. Hence, if the clutch was wearing out prematurely and about to give up anytime, they would have been in a position to diagnose it and inform the customer, which wasn't the case. So, either Pratham Motors hadn't inspected the vehicle properly during service, or hadn't informed the customer. Either ways, isn't Pratham Motors responsible? If it had happened all of a sudden due to faulty part, I believe, no one can be held responsible but MS, and have it replaced under warranty.

Please ask your friend if he was experiencing any problem in engaging gears prior to the time the clutch actually failed. If he says yes, the failure may have been a result of a faulty slave cylinder.

Yes Sam. About a couple of months ago, he was engaged in gear but the vehicle refused to move. He stopped for few minutes and restarted, all worked well. Unfortunately, he didn't report this issue to the MASS during last service. Even today morning, while he was descending from an over bridge, he applied brakes and it didn't work it seems. So, he stopped using hand brake, switched off and restarted. Worked fine and moved just normal. However, within few KMs he experienced some grinding noise (Grrrr) while engaging to 2nd Gear and it eventually gave up after couple of KMs.

 

[anshuman8]

Clutch wear at such early age for a car might point to below par quality of part. May be some specific part in the entire assembly was faulty , hence entire system gave in.

OT - Clutch is not covered under warranty, standard for all manufacturers.

 

[Gurrala74]

I clearly see it is not a driving issue at all and it could be a manufacturing defect for sure. Take it up with Maruti in a big way if found the part is faulty after diagnosis and I wish you get a free replacement

 

[Figoian]

Update: Last night, my friend visited the Service Center and they showed the burnt clutch. Unfortunately, they are unable to make out whether it's burnt one sided or both. Moreover, there were another 2 fellows for the same issue and the Service Manager had demonstrated all of them on how the hand brake riding could have resulted this way.

Though it was unacceptable, my friend paid it out and got the car. He was asked by that Service Manager to take it up with Pratham on the previous service and findings about clutch and/or escalate to Maruti for any claims in this regard.

On the whole, a brand new car's not only burnt the clutch in just 3K KMs / 5 Months, but also the owner's pocket.

OT - BTW, his windshield had a slight crack and he just took his car out yesterday to show it to MASS, which landed him in a different trouble. It's observed by MASS that the Windshield is cracked due to a stone hit (Small) and advised to be replaced under Insurance. Though it's 100% covered under insurance, he will loose out his NCB next year. How sad...

 

[ss80]

Sad to know that your friend is facing Clutch issues in such a new (hardly 3000kms!) car.

I would suggest the following:

1. You have all rights to contact Pratham Motors with the worn out clutch and ask them why they could not check it at the time of serving. But chances of getting anything (monetary like refund etc) is zero. In case the service advisor doesn't co-operate, then you can contact the Service Manager Mr.Vipun or the GM Service (both are available at the workshop most of the times). In case that does not help, send a mail to the CEO (Mr.Samar Bhasin - please recheck the name), last thing is to write to Maruti.

2. Clutch is a wear and tear part, but since the driver is not a newbie to cars, I feel it must be a faulty part/ improper PDI by Pratham Motors. Had they checked the car properly, atleast he wouldn't have risked himself to this extent (getting stalled on road can lead to road rage as well). Imagine if the car had breakdown at Nandi Hills/ any remote place, towing charges alone would have been a bomb. Also the amount of time wasted in travelling to & fro service centres and a whole lot of inconvenience needs to be addressed by the Service Center.

Bottomline:
Sorry to say this, but I dont think Maruti/Pratham will pay for it/ provide you some sort of refund. They are too big and the issue is related to a wear & tear part. The least they can do is to offer your friend a free service coupon (0 labor charges). They wash their hands pretty easily when the issue is related to moving parts in the car - Especially Clutch, brake pads, tyres, belts etc.

Emails to Maruti rarely work, but they mainly damage the reputation of the dealer and also the chances of getting the Platinum Dealership Tag. Hence when things are not that friendly at these dealerships, tell them clearly that you are emailing to Maruti about the issue with all names of people and a copy of the bills.

 

[Gurrala74]

I agree with SS80 here as the issues is one in thousand so they may not agree so easily.

Best thing is to get the clutch replaced and also examine his own driving style once. For windshield he need to go through insurance route only and yes he will loose the bonus.

We cannot get benefited from all the sides in one go. If you have to gain then you need to loose some where. But can decide which is better getting the windshield under insurance or getting NCB next year

 

[Figoian]

BTW, any idea about best MASS in North Bangalore?

After this incident, my friend got a bit cautious on the dealer and want to find the best one to handle his machine further.

 

[Girish]

here is one called MARS enterprises - its a maruti authorized service station at ashwath nagar, closed to mekri circle. Its been there for more than 20 years. I have been servicing my 800 since i brought it and can vouch for it.

 

[IndicaDLS2002]

Things I can think of:
Driving style, half clutch city driving & stopping & starting at higher gears.
Clutch was tuned such a wrong way that when when fully released it results as half. (this is possible I am told)
Some other person drove the vehicle even if for a few hours especially trying to learn to drive - L board!
Fragile/Faulty part last but not the least!
if hand brake ON can result in such damage they should have some alerting mechanism!


With Santro & WagonR I have heard mostly these kind of complaints. Even after being petrol cars people spend upto 20K per year for maintenance & after 10 years they have spent almost 50% of the cost of the car on maintenance! I can understand their frustration.

 

[Figoian]

BTW, any idea about best MASS in North Bangalore?

After this incident, my friend got a bit cautious on the dealer and want to find the best one to handle his machine further.

Any feedback on RNS Motors? Seems, it's closer for him.

 

[ss80]

I have not interacted much, the Bimal guys seem to be the worst in Bangalore as of now. My friend's Swift diesel was given for service, when the car was returned it had no serpentine belt and hence AC and alternator were not working.

The car was functional and my friend drove about 48kms before reaching his home. Once I saw the car, I found the coolant tank to be empty then belt is missing! Spoke to the Service Advisor then to the Manager, initially they blamed all sort of things like rat/leaves getting stuck between pulley and the belt, stone hit etc After a long debate over phone, they agreed to put a new belt, however we paid the cost of belt and they waived off labour charges. Our money (750/-) and time was wasted because some PDI dint do his job & the driver who came to drop the car too was least bothered about the symbols on dashboard.

The MOS guy was absolute nuts as none of his explanation was logical, the Manager Dorai was customer friendly, but not friendly enough, we still had to pay for the timing belt which was in good condition at the time of handing over to Bimal. They just dont seem to understand, that its their duty to check the basic moving parts before leaving the service center and also at the customer's location at the time of handing over keys.

Bimal's True Value outlet near Tin Factory is another sad place, I will write in detail about that later. They bluff all sorts of things like they dont sell non-maruti cars to customers etc.

 

[IndicaDLS2002]

A little OT but still relevant question:

Is it generally true that OEMs & ASCs & even general garages & mechanics treat people especially white collared office going types & driving PETROL cars like the usual hatchback sedan which sell in large numbers as easily gullible & naive or less knowledgeable & take them for a ride by providing deficient service & inflate bills etc?

The reasons I can think of is maybe its perceived that they don't have time & don't want any trouble & a smooth running car at all times & lastly probably least interested in investigating the issues themselves so least likely


I have myself noticed many a times folks NOT question even a single thing during each of their car service even if the advisor tells them that their cars need all sorts of stuff & procedures & makes bills upto 20K each time!

 

[Figoian]

A little OT but still relevant question:

Is it generally true that OEMs & ASCs & even general garages & mechanics treat people especially white collared office going types & driving PETROL cars like the usual hatchback sedan which sell in large numbers as easily gullible & naive or less knowledgeable & take them for a ride by providing deficient service & inflate bills etc?

The reasons I can think of is maybe its perceived that they don't have time & don't want any trouble & a smooth running car at all times & lastly probably least interested in investigating the issues themselves so least likely


I have myself noticed many a times folks NOT question even a single thing during each of their car service even if the advisor tells them that their cars need all sorts of stuff & procedures & makes bills upto 20K each time!

Though it's OT, but a valuable one. Yes, they do try to take the customer for a ride, whenever possible. Though not all dealers do, but sadly many would. This is basically due to Ignorance / Lack of knowledge of the customer, Lack of Time, and most importantly, the "Don't care attitude" of the customer. If the customer don't value their own money, others would obviously do

Now, back to topic! So, Bimal is out as per Anand. Thanks Anand.