[sureshkishore]

I think The Joint Comp it the Steering End Comp that is attached to the knuckle that turns the wheel. It is a small ball joint. When it develops a play, results in a noise that is felt over bad roads and it should be felt lightly at the steering wheel.

I have 2 points to bring to notice:

FIRST: Pre 2011 Swift has got a rack mounted EPS, this technically means that the steering gearbox cant be 'overhauled', the only thing that can be done is adjust the damper or replace the damper.
This is to be done only if your car has some serious steering noise. I feel that this was a work that should never have been done.

SECOND: They have charged you for Castrol Magnatec 533Rs per liter, this i dont think is MSIL recommended oil, I am assuming this was also part of the RIP OFF!!!

I am sure MSIL would come to your rescue, and hope you get a refund from them.

And thank you for posting this on Tbhp, this would help many others from falling into such traps.

[Oranger]

Sai service should probably drop the 'Sai' from their name. I have been regularly visiting all the maruti workshops in pune and found out that Sai service is the culprit for heavy labor rates in PUNE. A Honda dealer charges Rs 350 for bumper removal and re fitment and the Sai service and other maruti dealers here in PUNE charge Rs 519 for a swift/Ritz bumper. Is this not a loot in itself? Why do people buy Marutis? It is just because they are cheaper to own and maintain. But this is rapidly changing and maruti posts no heed to what the dealers are charging, especially Sai service.

I bet you cannot find even a single invoice from Sai service where washing and cleaning is not charged. Whether it be a paid service or a free service you are bound to pay all this at Sai.
Hope maruti realizes this and takes some serious steps in stopping such practices.

[Desmosedici]

In 2010 when i had given my Gypsy to Vittesse to do a 40k servicing, i had paid 8k. Even at that time the labour rates were high however the job done was good.

Dont always think on the extra distance or trouble, always go to a place that you can trust. I can suggest that you go to Vittesse at Andheri West and ask for Deepak Iswalkar. I have always given my WagonR and Gypsy to him and he has done a very good job.

Recently a few months back i had faced issues in my Gypsy's speedometer console. The guys took a look for around 2 hours but could not find anything, hence they apologised and requested me to come again if the issue persists as the issue was not showing up at that moment. They didnt charge a single penny for it.

I had also read somewhere that there are standard Maruti Labour Rates that one should ask for at the time of servicing as each and every workshop has different labour rates.

They should also be having a board which states the labour rates for the various vehicles. You should go and take a look.

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by Contrapunto

You must complain to Maruti in writing- clearly point out that with this kind of negative publicity on cost of ownership, their brand value will surely fall. Follow up with postings on every Maruti/ Suzuki forum you can find - in India as well as abroad.

Originally Posted by rajeev k

To put an end to such unscrupulous practice going on at Maruti dealerships kindly take up with Maruti and give wide publicity so that this practice would cease for good.

I have done whatever I could think of. For now, have posted this on the FB pages of Maruti & Maruti Swift, and have tweeted this link mentioning Maruti Suzuki, and maruti swift twitter handles. Mail to contact@maruti.co.in has been already sent on Saturday. Anything else that can be done?

Originally Posted by rajeev k

How was the condition and performance of your car prior to entrusting it for this service?

*
It was perfectly alright. Absolutely no issues with the performance.

Originally Posted by Oranger

Why do people buy Marutis? It is just because they are cheaper to own and maintain. But this is rapidly changing and maruti posts no heed to what the dealers are charging, especially Sai service.

I bet you cannot find even a single invoice from Sai service where washing and cleaning is not charged.

What you said about cost of maintenance is very true! However, at least I have not seen charges for washing yet at this branch of Sai Service.

Originally Posted by sureshkishore

I am sure MSIL would come to your rescue, and hope you get a refund from them.

And thank you for posting this on Tbhp, this would help many others from falling into such traps.

Hoping for the same! I have heard good things about Maruti's grievance redressal. Lets see how this case is handled. Yes, I really hope that this thread helps others while choosing a service station.

[rajeev k]

I searched my old service bills of my 2005 Swift Vxi and could gather the following,
1. Synthetic oil was used and hence charges are more than double of recommended mineral grade. Whether prior consent was obtained from your Dad is
the riding point here.
2. Steering overhauling charges were only Rs 550 on December 20, 2013 and caliper greasing was not charged. You were looted for these jobs.
3. I confirmed from the Service Center that the Joint Comp is for the Front Stabilizers and costs Rs 404 a piece and therefore is normal.

[avdhesh15]

Shocker! That's the first word that comes to mind. We have had a Maruti consistently since the last 8 years - a Swift VXI (2006), a SX4 ZXI (2010) and now a Swift Dzire VXI (2014). Till date, our cars have only gone to Vitesse in Andheri and have always been satisfied.

Suggest you try them out as it would be worth the extra KM you need to drive. Only in my last service with the SX4 did the SA try to shove some extra stuff down my throat, but when I stood my ground, he relented. From that date on, I had mentally decided that only I (and not my dad) would give the car for service to avoid the exact situation mentioned here with Sai.

Overall - a satisfactory experience Vitesse, but yeah - have to keep eyes and ears open! End of the day I feel everyone is out to make that extra $$$...

[aniketi]

Originally Posted by AkMar

Our car was due for 4th year servicing.... .

This is more to do with service center than MUL. Just do one thing, you refuse to pay all the bills. Just pay for whatever you ordered for. Generally whenever you give car to servicing, SA note down the points you mentioned & take your sign. They give you one copy as well, that is the standard practice. Was that done?

Once i also faced this issue. They did something which i didn't ask for. I just refused to pay. Initially they were not agreeing to do that, but when i increased my volume, they agreed. I simply said i will not pay, whatever you do. I had a word with their manager as well and i scolded him for the act. They apologize for this & everything ended well

[zoombiee]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

Never ever agree for such unnecessary jobs and please don't use any such additives. They are not at all required for your car.
To put an end to such unscrupulous practice going on at Maruti dealerships kindly take up with Maruti and give wide publicity so that this practice would cease for good.

It's actually a pity because Maruti sends notices stating all such things are unnecessary and in their experience has never added value. I have seen this at Suraksha in Bangalore. Engine De Carbonizing/ Throttle Body Cleaning, use of non MGO/MGP products. I think it's extremely useful to have a look at the notice boards at MASS's before finalizing on anything.

[bharatbits]

I also had a similar experience servicing my Tata Indica with Concorde in Uppal, Hyderabad. The 50,000 and 40,000 km service costs came to a whopping Rs 13000/- and Rs 10,000/- respectively. I was shocked – who said Tata cars specially Indica are cheaper to maintain? The sad thing was that both these times it was my dad who went to get the car serviced. A few jobs they did unnecessarily were:
1. They had done the underbody anti rust treatment twice.
2. They fill wiper fluid and charge 150 bucks for it.
3. Doors – standard check. Rs 100.
There are a few expensive ones too which I am unable to recall.
During the 50000km service after I learnt that my dad had given the car for servicing I rushed to the service center but most of the tasks were complete already. When I was present at the car during the last few things that were being done on the car a guy comes and fixes the bumper which had a loose screw by tightening it and then requests the service advisor to bill Rs 250 - barely a 5 minute job (also re reminded so that the SA doesn't forget) for it under labour charges not knowing I (the owner) was standing by the car. I was speechless. I really couldn’t do anything since most of the jobs were done and my dad had given the go ahead by signing the job sheet in the morning.

Once, my dad went there to just check if the car was ready for a 600km trip and they charged around Rs 3000 despite the routine service being done just 3000 kms ago. They change engine oil, oil filter, diesel filter etc despite being changed 3000 kms ago.

That’s why whenever I go to get the car serviced, I ensure they change engine oil, oil filter, diesel filter and air filter – nothing more if everything else is fine and the bill comes under Rs 3000.
The sad part, inspite of all this rip off, is my parents still trust the service centre guys more than me. They argue with me saying why they would charge unnecessarily. They say if something was changed or some job was done it was required and they would not do anything unnecessarily.

[T1000]

Im sharing my experience on your point "1 rupee for every kilometer "..

This happened to me with Maruti authorized service centers.
The service advisor's use the parameter "maintenance cost per kilometer" to mentally arrive at a billing estimate even before they have a look at the car.
They get the total amount you have spend on your car till now from their billing history.

They add useless jobs to the job sheet till they bring the estimate to their mentally arrived figure .
Their "average maintenance cost" per km is calculated as per the car model.

Many times these advisor's have tried to tried to convince me saying i have spent less than the average maintenance cost , hence i should agree to their "advice" and spend more.

its like you spend Rs5/km on petrol and to maintain your car well, you should spend another Re 1/km on maintenance.
This argument makes the entire scam looks small..

-------------------
Another interesting fact.

In one of my visit to the service center, i happen to see a print out lying on a service advisor's table...its their performance review sheet!...the format of which is...


S.NO | Date | Service Advisor name | Job sheet/registration | Actual | Value addition | Incentive
1 | XYZ | dd-mm-yyyy| Name | MH-XXXX | 4500 | 9500 | 550
2..
3...
4...
5....
6....

An Advisor's "performance" is tracked for every job card.( Which means he cannot favor his friendly customers, everyone is taken for a ride).
There is an actual estimate and he personally gets incentive to add more useless jobs under the name of "value addition"(im not sure about the exact term used).

In the above example, My unanswered question in my mind is,
1. Rs 9500 is the actual billing amount the customer pays.
2. Incentive is a factor of 9500-4500
3. The question is who arrives at the figure Rs 4500?

Possible answer is ,the advisor somewhere says , look the actual work is worth Rs 4500 and its me who increased to 9500! hence i get 550 as performance incentive.

Any thoughts?

[anand_lukose]

I did have a bad time with couple of Maruti service centers. I am simply not satisfied with their service. I get the feeling of a washed car and thats it ! However, my local mechanic does a splendid job with reasonable rates. I trust his instincts and suggestions and I sometimes keep my car with him for almost a week just to ensure the job is done well.

Its high team we have a Team-BHP voted service center network LIST across India. All the local and trusted mechanics as well as good service centers listed in it based on member votes. List can be filtered based on brand/multi-brand/location etc.

I feel bad every time I hear new horror stories and I think we can help everyone out.

What say ?

[amitpunjani]

The most surprising thing element, they are using 6 quantity of screen wash. Absolute Rubbish!!!! Its only 1 screen wash per fill.

This bill is absolutely completely RIP off! Can't believe this is bill for the vehicle which covered 20,000 Kilometer.

[T1000]

Originally Posted by anand_lukose

I did have a bad time with couple of Maruti service centers. I am simply not satisfied with their service. I get the feeling of a washed car and thats it ! However, my local mechanic does a splendid job with reasonable rates. I trust his instincts and suggestions and I sometimes keep my car with him for almost a week just to ensure the job is done well.

Its high team we have a Team-BHP voted service center network LIST across India. All the local and trusted mechanics as well as good service centers listed in it based on member votes. List can be filtered based on brand/multi-brand/location etc.

I feel bad every time I hear new horror stories and I think we can help everyone out.

What say ?

Fully agree, i stopped going to maruti authorized service center since 2012.

I have a local garage for regular service and minor works
i planned to goto authorized centers only for engine repairs.
the rest can be managed by local mechanics.

[veyron_head]

They did the same to me when I driving my first car, an M800 in 2007. Service bill was never less than 8k. I have even paid 15k odd for the 40000 km "major" service.

But after being in TBHP for a while, things are different. The service cost has to match or should be lesser than estimate. Period. Mandovi tried acting smart with me last time. The bill was 1500 rupees more than the estimate and the SA who called me told me that the bill has gone up (this he said very quickly I could barely hear) and offered to drop the car in my office. I flatly refused it and told that I need to cross check EVERY item on the bill and the estimate. The next day I gave them a piece of my mind and they finally agreed to waive off the service charges and also threw in a few freebies.

But unsuspecting customers who trust the dealers are being taken for a ride.

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Let us do a simple omission of things that were absolutely not required:

THanks Moralfibre. Thats some real good info that I can use in my next service.

[shivshanker]

Originally Posted by Desmosedici

I had also read somewhere that there are standard Maruti Labour Rates that one should ask for at the time of servicing as each and every workshop has different labour rates.

Maximum Labor Rate that any M.A.S.S can charge in Mumbai City is around Re. 381/- per hour + Taxes

Do note that this can vary from city to City as for B class cities the Labor rate will be lower than the ones in Metros.