70,000kms update Finally, this saturday, the white elephant was with us after 2 weeks in the workshop.
Why two weeks? More on that later, but first a little background.
For quite some time, I have been complaining about weird noises from the steering, too much play, and dodgy handling(not that handling is a strong point of safari).
The rear diffs were also making lots of noise. For the steering I had complained to Automobile sterling, and all they did was change center pin at cost. Some 1500rs later, I was still stuck with same problem.
So it was time to go to specialists. I was thinking of timing it with my 75000kms service.
But two major things started happening.
Rear axle started jamming up. I could feel the resistance. FE also dropped to 10 on highway due to this.
I was worried about my clutch burning up. Add to that the clutch was getting sticky.
On the steering front, it got dangerous. The steering would vibrate and shudder, and around 60 the entire car would shake dangerously. Even the weights on front RHS wheel fell off due to vibrations.
So mid june, on a saturday, we gave our safari to Autolinks Gurgaon, and caught the metro back to Gurgaon.
Extended warranty claims can be filed on on weekdays, so finally on tuesday the claim was filed.
Since tot total claim value was close to 14K, it took 2-3 days to get approved.
The following parts were to be change
1. Rear DIFF LSD kit
2. Rear axle bearings (they were jammed)
3. Steering cross (IT had cut the center pin again)
4. Clutch slave cylinder(Insurance company gave approval for only slave cylinder)
Apart from that more work needed to be done, which I had to bear
1. Front shock absorbers
2. Steering damper and center pin
3. Entire front bush kit
4. Front brake pads
5. Rear axle plate
The total bill came to 29K+ out of which around 16K was paid by me.
Due to this hefty expense, at 70,000kms the safari has a 0.99 Rs/Km maintenance cost(excluding tires)
That said, she runs much better now.
However, jobs are pending and will be done at 75K service
1. Front disks - Brake pads were eaten in just 25,000kms. The earlier brake pads lasted 45K with 5K life still left in them. It looks the disks are the culprit
2. Front hubs - These need to be inspected Sometimes when shifting to 4H, weird noise comes
3. Master cylinder - Clutch is no longer sticky, but now its hard. Earlier it was soft. So just the slave cylinder change is not going to work
4. Camber adjustment - Their machine cannot do alignment for alloy wheeled cars. This is a problem. Outside, very few places do camber adjustment. I am going to ask them to use the "string" method to get camber right.
5. On full turn the steering still does "khat".
Other than that the pickup has improved. The axle bearings were really jamming the axle and killing the FE.
The suspension noises have vanished.
I still have one year of extended warranty left, and hopefully this will ensure that my running costs stay within 1rs/km for the 100,000kms
Coming to extended warranty, this insurance thing is customer harassment.
First they can take 2-3 days to approve claim. After claim approval, they do partial approval and ask to do TD and see if symptoms go away, and then if they don't you file a new claim.
Often parts also take 2-3 days to come. So 2 weeks is given if you have a big claim with hard to get parts.
Not only that, its all the insurance guys whim which counts. For him everything can be wear and tear. After all its an insurance company, not a company tech! So parts like hubs etc., which are clearly mentioned in booklet can be refused as "wear and tear". Ditto for brake discs.
I guess high claim amounts on the safari can be the cause, but then the insurance company should take it up with tata motors instead of harassing customers.
Ideally, extended warranty should be extended warranty, not some insurance policy. Moreover, if a company has trust in its product, why give 100,000kms 2yr warranty?
I guess very few non commercial owners will tough 100,000kms in 2 years.
give a 4 year 100,000kms warranty if you trust your vehicle for 100,000kms.
If you think your vehicle can do good only till 60K, then say so in your advertisements. |