The car had clocked 50488 KMs when I gave Inddie for service on May 2nd. Was attended on time by the SA at Concorde Dairy Circle. This time, I observed that the person manning the coffee counter was well dressed, like an up-scale restaurant waiter, but was not serving or even asking customers for tea or coffee. Never mind, that is not an issue because I will be more than happy if my car is taken care of.
Back to the service - when I mentioned 50000 KMs service to the SA, he scribbled many things on the sheet and then asked me for list of issues. I reported a problem with front right strut, which was leaking oil and making sure that I feel it all the way till my spine, every small imperfection on the road. I also reported a problem with A/C vents not throwing enough volume of air as they used to before.
SA noted down both of them and said my service estimate will be around Rs. 7500 excluding the cost of strut, which he will inspect whether to change or not. Now 7500 is exorbitant for a normal service - so I start reading what is written. Straight away I got rid of engine decarbonization and engine flush as this was done at 40000 KMs. I did not face any symptoms of carbon deposits like black smoke, knocking , low FE or low pickup. So why fix something that is not broken. That apart, TATA recommends that these things need to be done ONLY if there are symptoms. The two straight away saved me around 2300 Rs.
Car was promised at 5 PM. Around 3 PM, I got a call that strut and brake pads also need replacement and will cost around 8000/-. I authorized the replacements. Car was delivered at 6 PM. The final bill was 11595/-.
The last service with no replacements costed around Rs. 9000+. Makes me think, if I keep spending around 10K for every 10000 KMs, i am spending around 1 Rs / KM as maintenance. Now, that is not acceptable. I can vouch for the service Concorde has provided me so far - it has been good. But I need to be mindful of costs too. In the bill of 11595, around 4000/- alone is labor charges. Thinking if TATA motors have smaller AUTHORIZED workshops and I can get the work done there, it would save me some money. All said and done, if the brake and strut replacement was not there, then my service would have costed me approx 5000/- which is still ok.
-Aravind Kamath Posral
Back to the service - when I mentioned 50000 KMs service to the SA, he scribbled many things on the sheet and then asked me for list of issues. I reported a problem with front right strut, which was leaking oil and making sure that I feel it all the way till my spine, every small imperfection on the road. I also reported a problem with A/C vents not throwing enough volume of air as they used to before.
SA noted down both of them and said my service estimate will be around Rs. 7500 excluding the cost of strut, which he will inspect whether to change or not. Now 7500 is exorbitant for a normal service - so I start reading what is written. Straight away I got rid of engine decarbonization and engine flush as this was done at 40000 KMs. I did not face any symptoms of carbon deposits like black smoke, knocking , low FE or low pickup. So why fix something that is not broken. That apart, TATA recommends that these things need to be done ONLY if there are symptoms. The two straight away saved me around 2300 Rs.
Car was promised at 5 PM. Around 3 PM, I got a call that strut and brake pads also need replacement and will cost around 8000/-. I authorized the replacements. Car was delivered at 6 PM. The final bill was 11595/-.
The last service with no replacements costed around Rs. 9000+. Makes me think, if I keep spending around 10K for every 10000 KMs, i am spending around 1 Rs / KM as maintenance. Now, that is not acceptable. I can vouch for the service Concorde has provided me so far - it has been good. But I need to be mindful of costs too. In the bill of 11595, around 4000/- alone is labor charges. Thinking if TATA motors have smaller AUTHORIZED workshops and I can get the work done there, it would save me some money. All said and done, if the brake and strut replacement was not there, then my service would have costed me approx 5000/- which is still ok.
-Aravind Kamath Posral
