had a very eventful day today.
Called up the Customer Care manager, asked him about the whole extended warranty thing. he said that's not what usually happens.
Got a call saying my car was ready. Headed off to Kulathunkal, picked up my car.
Someone ( I think is the works manager) asks me if I was the person who called to tata about the extended warranty. They said they would take care of it and get me the cheque on monday. When asked if Extended warranty is done this way, he is non commital, and says that it will be done as soon as possible.
The underbody noise is partially fixed, one of the ball joints was replaced, the other was out of stock. The door still leaks, apparently its a bodywork issue, need to go to their other branch which has the bodyshop.
My headlights leveler has stopped working, and the entire assembly needs to be changed (~3.6k), I can live with it, and so I say no.
The idle rpm has been increased, so less jerkiness. At least something good came of the visit.
Went for a drive to the airport to check out the max speed ( airport road is fairly long and straight and empty). Not much improvement with acceleration, speed maxed out at about 130. Oh well, can't ask for too much.
On the way back, the Check Engine light comes on a Few times in between. Drive straight to Kulathunkal back again, and they take the car back in. I run into the owner of the TASC. He invites me to the office for a 'friendly' chat. Confirms pretty much what the other guy said.
Car is given back saying that The Check engine issue was due to some error which was logged in the ECU (AFAIK, my ECU doesnt log errors) , and the light wasnt on anyway, when i gave it to them. Either way i believe them, and take my car, and just as i reach the gate, i hear a funny clattering sound, and the CEL comes on again, reverse straight back to the TASC, when it suddenly goes off. The advisor says he's helpless if I can't reproduce it.
I drive back to the office. I remember that since the ball joints have been changed, the alignment needs to be redone. I turn on the car, and the CEL comes on straight away, and the clattering noise. I drive the car back to the TASC, with the car stalling once or twice along the way. Give them an earful, and they take the car back.
I wait an hour or so. My advisor returns, and takes me for a TD. After driving a few kilometers, Idling some more, and driving a bit longer, no sign of CEL yet. Looks good enough, and I drive back, straight to a wheel alignment shop.
They tell me the camber in the left wheel was off big time, and that its fixed. They said that it had not been touched for a while, and the bolts were hard to move. The alignment seems to have cured some of the vibrations.
In the meantime , i killed time chatting with the security and the staff who were all looking at the eclipse. The security even had the proper glasses!
A whole day spent. At least something good came out of it.
For those of you contemplating Buying a tata vehicle, this is what lies in store for you. Tread carefully. VFM is not everything
EDIT: I just Realized. its 7:30 PM and I still havent had lunch