Time for an update I guess.
Well she has done about 122000kms till date. Running has reduced with the Liva. I take her out for the "mountain" trips only.
And she is definitely showing her age. With no suitable cheap offroaders in the market which offer reliability, I am flogging the white elephant.
At my price point there is currently just the Scorpio, and I guess a known devil is better than the unknown one.
Moreover, with the large amount of money the white elephant has consumed since the last update on this thread, I figure selling her right now would be money wasted.
So without further ado, lets see what all has been done in the last 20K odd kms in order
Rear suspension bush kit change(Non TASS) : 4000 Tie rod ends, left lower ball joint, axle boot(left), wishbone bushes (Non TASS) : 5200 Major service at 108500kms which included
Oil change
Gear oil change
Transfer case oil change
front diff oil change
Air, oil and diesel filters
Sedimenter change
Cost : 10799 (Thanks to Aristo motors - Guru still worked there then)
At this service we discovered that the rear LSD kit is shot again + Front bearings too. These parts take time to source.
So a week later I am at Aristo again for
LSD kit
Front bearings
Rear bearings (Surprise on opening up the rear stuff)
Rear diff oil
Total : 20,423 (Whoa)
Then we went on a trip and car starts making weird sounds. Its the AC belt. We are in the hills, and if belt breaks it can wreck havoc. Thanks Tata for not making the car with one belt to rule them all. AC belt is removed, no AC, but no noise either. 750rs damage to change the belt once we are down
At 112000kms we change the battery : 4500rs Oil leak : Concorde fixes it(or thinks they fixed it) 1000rs AC tensioner bearing is going : 1000rs
And then she leaks oil again. Guess what, I rush to Aristo
Gear box needs to be removed to gear box seal Damage : 2200rs
And before we know it, at 117000 odd kilometers, we need suspension work. Death wobble for the win.
Any car can have Death wobble. But to create death wobble on IFS, you need a Tata
Time it with the service. Fuel filter, air filter, oil filter, center pin(again), and those familiar parts like tie rods, center link rod etc., + one damper too
Damage : 28000 INR!!!
And now comes the biggie. She just dies. Needs new ECU.
40,000 INR !!!!! at 118000kms or so. (More details on that later)
After ECU change all the problems of erratic idle and surging idle which have been there from when the vehicle is new are gone!! She ran on a Faulty ECU for almost 120,000kms. Take that Toyota!!
End of problems? Nope, AC gas leaks, + rear starts to jam
AC gas charge? Thanks to service camp with 30% discount its 2500 INR only at Concorde.
Rear wheels jamming, I am getting estimates ranging from 10K to 80K. So I go to World of Service. They change hand brake wire and its sorted.
I also get the horn adjusted, get the drivers side lock fixed (Concorde has tried 4-5 times), and get a headlight re-sealed(its becoming a fish bowl)
Damage ? 2400 INR ECU change saga:
So she dies. Does not crank at all. Before this I had got some service lights with engine occasionaly dying, but never reproduced in service center.
This time she is dead.
We go to Oberoi Noida, and car is there as I try and source used ECUs. A friend who tunes safari's(GT Tunerz Akshay) opens it up and resolders stuff, but that does not work too.
Since their dealership license has been cancelled, I have to move vehicle to Concorde. And guess what, they steal the rear view camera. Thankfully Tata gives me a new camera. This is the second time they did this. Maybe they got their dealership cancelled because they keep stealing stuff from customers. Earlier also Tata customer care got me a new camera. And this is the second time they have had to do this.
Other gremlins:
There is some problem with 4x4 shifter motor as a result I have only 4H. Recommendation ranges from ECU change to 4x4 motor change and what not. I was thinking about shiftster, but due to poor access it would mean crawling under vehicle to engage 4x4. Due to position there is no proper place to cut floor and make access hatch.
Will be getting it sorted. Will see if I can get motor repaired.
So to sum it up. Its been a rocking 20,000kms.
Lets tally the repair expenses
20,000kms and 2 years
4000
5200
10799
20423
750
4500
1064
1000
2170
28000
40000
2544
2400
= 113650 or 5.6 INR/km
But still significantly less than EMI for a 14L SUV (40,000 I think/month)
Guess, what I will stick to her.
On the bright side
1. Engine is running fine
2. New ECU has bumped up mileage too
3. Electrical are holding up too
I expect costs to be 3-4rs/INR in repairs and with a run of less than 2000/month, it makes sense not to sell as resale for a safari(even a 4x4) is quite less.
And what's an update with pics.
So here goes.
Should she take a holy dip to banish the demons within?
Or maybe she needs some Elevation to rise above her problems.
Or maybe she just needs to chill in some ice
After all I need to find the solution. She is car, but when it comes to maintenance expenses, she thinks she is a....