Hi everyone. It's been a long long time since I updated this thread. Let me give you all a detailed report on my car owning experience. I have every single bill and other service related document available with me right from the booking form to the latest 30,000km service job card. I've always got my car serviced at Concorde motors, Dairy circle outlet in Bangalore. Except in one case where I had to get some minor dent repaired and re-painted on the rear left door. I got it done with a local mechanic who did a very good job. I paid 10k for it. I've had cordial relationship with Concorde motors. Thankfully, the car seems to be running fine and nothing to complain about the service offered.
During the 3rd service way back in July 2012, I had an issue with the gas struts of the hatch door. Since the parts were not available, I replaced them later. I need to dig into a file full of documents to check the bill amount I paid. Please pardon me. The other issue faced was the difficulty in opening the hatch door lock whenever I used the key to open it. It was resolved during one of the service.
My car was hit by a 2 wheeler on the front right bumper when he tried to overtake a car which had come to a stop at an intersection. The biker fell from his bike and was unhurt. My car's bumper bore the burnt of his stupidity. The bumper got dislodged from its locks. No matter how many times I tried to push it in, it simply refused to stay in its place. It's during one those "Free service check up" camps I took my car to KHT motors, Whitefield and complained about the dislodged bumper. Apart from the free car wash, general check up, oil and liquid top up, KHT guys fixed up the bumper for free :P They didn't charge me a rupee! In addition to this, I also got a free Fiber car wash cloth and a 30ml bottle of washer fluid with additives to remove scratches on the windscreen :D I wrote an appreciation letter to TaMo and in turn I received a TaMo T Shirt, a cap, a diary, a Vista car scale model and a thank you letter from the service head of TaMo. I also participated in one of the contests held online by TaMo and I again got a Vista car scale model. Lol. So, I basically had 2 scale models of my car ;)
I have forgotten to include lot more details in my ownership report. In early 2012, if I remember correctly, TaMo arranged a family outing day for all "NEW" TATA car owners at Club Cabana on Airport road on the outskirts of the city. We were given a heads up on this and a company representative personally dropped in at our house to invite our family to the annual family outing. The whole arrangement was very nice and top notch. At the arrival counter, we were welcomed with a fruit drink. Valet car parking was available and were given a brief up of the events and activities to be held that day. We were served variety of food spread across a large buffet. I have loads of pics taken but they are all in my hard drive now. Overall, it was a very nice experience and feeling of belongingness to the TATA family. My car ownership experience isn't about the car alone! It includes things like these too!
Now, coming back to the car, I recently sent my car on Oct 4th for the 30k service. The only issue was the combination switch. After turning right, the combi switch never used to go back to its stationary position. It was replaced at a cost of 850 rupees. A wiper blade was replaced. And the rest were normal engine oil change, air filter, diesel filter change etc. The clutch, the brakes, the shock absorbers and other suspension related components are working fine. No need to replace them as of now. My car has run solely on mineral engine oil of 15W40. Never used synthetic since it's quite expensive. Since it was a paid service, the bill came up to 4800 odd rupees. I got the wheels aligned and balanced at Madhu's tyre car clinic on Langford road. They did a great job. The car doesn't pull in any direction nor does the steering vibrate at higher speeds. Unfortunately, a year ago or so, a lady driven XUV 500 rammed into the back of my car which resulted in a minor dent on the dickey door and the stepney wheel well caved in! It became little difficult to remove the spare wheel from its place! I used the tyre a lot times from then on. 2 of the 5 tyres in my car developed side wall punctures. I got them repaired from a local puncture shop where they have a special method of melting the sidewalls and reinforcing them with additional rubber material. Thankfully, the puncture has held up its strength. No bulge or no bubbles have appeared. When my car was undergoing tyre rotation at Madhu's clinic, the mechanic inspected the spare wheel and concluded that the tyre had twisted due to an impact! I suspect it must be the wheel which was impacted due to the foolish lady who rammed her car into my car's dickey. He strongly recommended I dispose the tyre and buy a new one immediately. The tyre isn't even fit enough for small runs. :'( He also said the stock GoodYear GT3 tyres are of crap quality. I partially agreed with him. The rubber is hard and it makes a lot of road noise. The ride quality is ok though. So, I might have to shell out 4000 odd rupees on a new tyre anytime soon! My car is right now at Concorde motors work shop for the "Free service check up"camp arranged by TaMo. The car has developed issues like squeaking brakes, engine guard makes juddering noise, the seat belt buzzer not working. I hope to receive the
car back with the issues resolved. I mentioned in one of the other threads yesterday that one of the glow plugs had gone kaput and I replaced them. I bought a spare part for a TATA car from a Maruti Suzuki genuine spares outlet :D haha!
So, friends, this is the latest update I have as of today. I will try to update it on regular basis. Your comments, suggestions are welcome.
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