I got my Duster AWD 60K service done yesterday at Renault Mayapuri, Delhi.
I knew it was going to be a costly affair, but i was in for some shocks!
I was given an estimate of 30000(including tax) for the below tasks:
- Service labour - 3000 (This is probably the highest labor charges i have paid for any of my cars owned ever!)
![DeadHorse](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/deadhorse.gif)
- Engine Oil Synthetic - 4500
- Coolant - 1400
- Accessory belt and timing belt - 15000
- Diesel Filter 2300
-Cabin Filter - 500
- EGR cleaning - 1500 (i got this removed later)
-Radiator Cleaning - 1500(I got this removed later)
Rear Differential oil change(this was being done at my request) As per SA this is a not needed to change in lifetime. - 1300
From the above list i immediately asked them to remove EGR, Radiator cleaning which they promptly did.
I asked them why are service charges so high(3000). He said this is major service and it takes more time and labor thats why.
Now, i told the SA that i was under the impression only accessory belt will be replaced, how come they are changing the timing belt too? Then he said all Duster after Jan 2015 need timing belt every 60K and showed me the below schedule.
When i told him mine is 2014 manufactured, he said they consider sale date. So i had no choice but to agree and pay the extra amount and get timing belt replaced.
Meanwhile i checked the "My Renault" app and in the 60k service estimate and to my surprise it wasnt showing the timing belt replacement.
When i showed this to the SA, he initially denied saying app is wrong, but later agreed to check with their technical head. He came back and said , yes no timing belt replacement needed for my car, and they have confirmed through the vin number.
However, i still feel for the newer Duster owners. This is probably the only car which i have heard needs a new timing belt every 60k kms.
So i went a go ahead to the work now. Work was completed farily quickly as per my expectations and car was ready by 2pm. I was present with the car almost during the entire work, since i had a good rapport with the mechanic doing the job.
When i was shown the final bill, in the labor charges, apart from the exorbitant 3000 paid service charges, i saw another 1000 for accessory belt replacement.
Now i pointed this to the SA again, as to why are they charging the initial 3000 for the extra labor in 60k service when accessory belt labor is anyways extra? He said 3000 is being charged due to extra time it takes in this service and component replacement charges are anyways extra. After some arguing, i asked him to connect me with their service head. Instead a lady from customer service came, she listened to my story and promptly removed the extra labor charges.
So the final billl stands at around 18k.
So, as usual my feedback is Renault will take you for a ride if you are an unsuspecting customer and trust them. In my case i would have ended up spending 30K(instead of 18K). I think its a big difference considering i was not getting wheel alignment/balancing brake cleaning from them anyways.
Also, the service charges from Renault are sky rocketing all the time. Till last year, the minor service charges were around 1500 , now they are 2100.
And major service anyways is 3000 which is exorbitant to say the least.
Maintaining a Renault Duster(which is a cost cutting example) is no where an cheap affair. Of all the vehicles i have owned so far, i think Renault is the one which has the highest maintenance and part costs. Not to mention the service center is always ready to milk you and make that extra money.
Hope this information is useful for fellow duster owners.
@Renault i hope you read this and take this as a genuine feedback.