[kaush666]

Servicing at authorized service centers post warranty is always a gamble, more so if your car was a sales dud. Unfortunately, that has been the case with both my cars (Punto was sold off recently). I felt that service experience at Hans Ford & MPL Ford was less than satisfactory. Add to this, they were pushing me to change my rotors & pads when in fact they had been replaced just 6k kms ago and the braking performance was still stellar. I decided that I wasn't going to have any more of this. This time it HAD to be non-Ford garage.

The requirements were simple:

1)The garage had to have all the equipment needed to diagnose modern cars.
2)Must have competent mechanics
3)NO FLEECING! I have had enough with Ford A.S.S pushing me to get change my suspension / brakes.

With these requirements in mind, I decided to hunt for local garages that could do a decent job. None of the garages in the vicinity seemed to make the cut (or at least that was what I thought). Since the service wasn't due for at least 3 months I shelved the idea (this was in November). However, the run in the last 3 months was way more than expected. So I decided that it would be best to get the car serviced soon.

I started hopping from one garage to another. Some I rejected at first sight. Others couldn’t garner my trust. This was when I realized that Google wasn’t going to help me out anymore. If nothing materialized, it was going to be MPL Ford again. Right around this time, I stumbled upon an ad from GoBumpr on Facebook. They were running an offer at that time advertised 50% off on labour charges on any car service IIRC. Decided to check out their page and see what they offer.

Now I was in for a surprise. Turns out they are an aggregator for car & bike services in Chennai and they even had tie ups with few authorized service centers for cars. Quickly browsed through their site and found a couple of new garages in my vicinity that even Google had failed to show me. It even had ratings provided by customers for these previously unknown garages. This whole option of servicing via GoBumpr was becoming increasingly interesting.

I decided to check out their services over the weekend. Downloaded their app and booked a service with The Garage, Bosch Car Care – Ashok Nagar. The whole booking experience was seamless. Shortly after I received a mail confirming my service appointment. I also got a call from a support executive affiliated with GoBumpr. He reconfirmed my booking details and details of the job to be performed on the vehicle. He assured me that he would communicate the same to the service center.

This is what the app looks like. The app has an in-built estimator as well.



Post dropping the vehicle off for service, the new estimate as per my requirements and real-time tracking of the progress in servicing my vehicle could be tracked within the app itself. They also sent me a text message with a web link to track the progress of my service.

Pros:

• Real-time tracking is a boon. Don’t have to call up the service center continually to check the status.

• They provide service for virtually every vehicle. Their add vehicle option includes discontinued vehicles, cars in production & imports as well. Kudos to the developers!

• Easier way to find & get in touch with local garages. Most competent garages have ratings & photos for reference as well.

• Regular deals & promos on car wash as well as car care packages.

Cons:

• Literally no negatives. The whole experience was nothing short of pleasant. A happy customer here!

Link to play store - Click Here

Website - www.gobumpr.com

Experience at The Garage, Bosch Car Care (Ashok Nagar):

Moving on to my experience at The Garage. The manager Arul was present when I went to drop off the vehicle. He assured me that I could get the vehicle in a couple of hours. So, I decided to stay around and see how they perform the service. As promised, they did get on with the service quickly. Unfortunately, a RSA call interrupted their service operations. I left home shortly after. I got an update at around 3:30 PM from GoBumpr that my vehicle was ready for delivery. Mr.Arul called me up shortly after that text to intimate me that the general service was done and that the car was washed and ready for delivery.

I opted for Bosch Fully Synthetic 5W-40 oil this time. Only Ford Genuine parts were used (for the air filter, oil filter and few other consumables - a happy sight). They did a brilliant job on exterior and interior cleaning as well. This is a great departure from the bad wash experiences that I’m accustomed to at Ford A.S.S.

Paid the bill of Rs.7767/- (considerably lesser than what I used to pay to MPL Ford) and left the place as a happy customer. Will definitely be coming here in the future for any repairs pertaining to my Fiesta!

[vishy76]

Pleased to hear that you had a pleasant experience. I believe what you said is also true for many German cars which have poor reliability compared to Fords.

Planning to do something similar for our Jetta as well. The A.S.S simply isn't efficent enough and takes a lot of time for minor checkups while charging a bomb.

Thanking you once again
Regards
Vishy76

[kaush666]

Originally Posted by vishy76

Pleased to hear that you had a pleasant experience. I believe what you said is also true for many German cars which have poor reliability compared to Fords.

Planning to do something similar for our Jetta as well. The A.S.S simply isn't efficent enough and takes a lot of time for minor checkups while charging a bomb.

Thanking you once again
Regards
Vishy76

Very true vishy26. The recent thread describing the 15 lakh bill for the Merc's accident repair was shocking! With a German car in my stable now, it looks like I will be visiting non-authorized service stations more often than ever! Do let us know what options you resort to for your Jetta

Thanks,
Kaushik

[Shanksta]

Used GoBumpr's service today to service my aunt's Alto. It had been almost 1.5 years since she last got it serviced(Yes it is an abused learner car), and since I have been using her car for the past month I wanted to get it done immediately. The reason I went with GoBumpr was Maruti's service center was quoting a ridiculous 6.5k without taxes for a general service just because it had last been serviced 1.5years back.

I wanted to get the service done a week back but I did not have the time then, But since I had already seen the list of workshops around me I had one shortlisted. But firing up the app yesterday I was in for a shock, they have updated the app and changed the entire interface. It does not feel as user friendly now. You can just book a normal service and the GoBumpr customercare executive will call you the following day to find out your preferred workshop. You can also enter your location and choose a workshop near you. Previously irrespective of customer location you could choose any workshop pan Chennai, but now if you enter your location it shows only the ones closest to you.

The new Interface



Booking Page



Live tracking



GoBumpr also has pickup and drop(which I did not opt for). The customer care executive called me sharp at 10:00AM in the morning and I told him my choice - Sri Vishnu Saayee multi car solutions in Keelkatalai. Had read good reviews about them in the GoBumpr app before their new unfriendly update. The basic quote I got on GoBumpr was Rs.999 for general service( Just a check up does not include water wash)

Dropped the car of at 11:30AM with following things to be done:

* Engine oil, air filter, oil filter change and coolant top up.
* Fuel lid release cable not working
* Rear left brake light bulb replacement
* New left ORVM
* Brake cleaning and brake pads thickness to be checked

Estimate after the above work added was Rs.3800 + Rs. 500 for Left ORVM.

Got a call at 1:00 PM that the rear drum brake cylinders were leaking oil slowly, was quoted Rs.1200 for the same(Maruti Genuine spare). Asked them to go ahead and change them.

Now the bad part was GoBumpr relies on their partner workshops to update the live tracking during service. Unfortunately the internet was down in the workshop due to which they could not update the status. No hassles here but the workshop Service advisor Mr. Raj Kumar kept me updated. One major reason for using GoBumpr was the live tracker, which was made pointless.

Called them up at 5:30PM and was told that only water wash was pending. Reached the workshop by 6:00PM and got the car delivered at 7:45PM. Had to spend an extra hour because they had to wait for water supply(Chennai water shortage). In the meantime also requested them to remove the seat covers and 'L' Sticker from the car.

Alto being washed



The paint booth



I am glad to report that in addition to the above work instructed to them they had also:
* Fixed the front bumper ( It was hanging at the edges on both sides)
* They had taken the pain to rectify almost 7 different rattles present inside the car after a 5km test drive.
* Cleaned the AC vents.
* Rectified the tension of the AC belt ( it was screeching everytime the compressor turned on)

The drive back home was bliss, they had transformed my aunt's rattle box into a quiet and smooth drive. It was the first time in a month that I had a smile on my face while driving the Alto.

I was expecting a bill of 5.5-6k but the final bill was Rs.4875. The Drum brake cylinders, set of two costed 900 and the left ORVM was 350. installation charges was Rs75. Paid them happily for their wonderful services and drove off.

The only advantage(in my case) of using GoBumpr was the fact that I managed to save Rs800 on the base general service fee. The workshop charges Rs1800 if you approach them directly against GoBumpr's 999.

Final bill



I hope this post was of use. I would definitely recommend this workshop.

Name: Sri Vishnu Saayee Multi car solutions
Address: No.313/4, Bala Murugan nagar, 200Ft road, Echankadu Junction, Keelkatalai, CH-117.
Contact Person: Mr. Raj Kumar
Mob No. : 9962291214

They have four car lifts, a dedicated wash area, a painting booth( a franchisee of Nippon automotive paints), the owner drives a Passat and has sound knowledge to work on European cars. Saw a BMW, Skoda and two Volkswagens being serviced. The workshop is huge and can house 10 cars at a time. They also have CCTV's monitoring every inch of their property.

The owner of this workshop is a friendly guy and I was chatting with him about all things automotive while waiting for the car to be washed. Also came to know they do FFE, intercooler and turbo additions also.

[Tempelhof]

Booked a slot with GoBumpr this morning by paying Rs.99/--.

They promptly called me in a few minutes, but I told them that I'd confirm after 10th July 2018.

Wanted to confirm with my friends here, if they are reliable.

My question / doubt stems from the fact that in the Google Play page for their App, there's one review which says that sometimes these third-party folks exchange genuine parts when we give the car to them

Will go by your advice ... don't mind losing out the slot booking charge ... I don't want to give my precious to some Tom, Dick and Harry !

Thanks in advance.

[MadRasTan4986]

This is really good information. Thanks to the owner of this thread for sharing this. Off late even I have been having some horrible experiences with Ford A.S.S.

[pahwa]

Did bike service through them - extremely bad experience. No credibility, no feedback mechanism, no supervision. They only give business to local cheap garage and take their share/commission.