[anupmathur]

Shankar, I hate to say you are sounding like an M&M fanboi!

My guess is that it is some personal relationship element involved in your excellent reports about M&M/SKS service!
This is not how it is supposed to be. This is not the 'professionalism' we are looking for!

My experience with M&M service centres leaves a lot to be desired.

In fact, now that I am out of all warranties, I opt to get jobs done at the friendly neighbourhood garage.

[shankar.balan]

nope not really Anup.
i just believe in giving credit where credit is due.

nor am i shy about chucking the brickbats either when they deserve it.
no way am I a fanboy of any of these companies.

but I like stating what is fair.

you should probably see some of the other threads where Ive taken them to task repeatedly on account of their insensitivity to the market place requirements.

and yes, I guess a part of the good service I get is owing to the fact that I invest in relationships at all these service centres like my Dad used to do before me. That way I get less angst and more action!
cheers

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Shankar, I hate to say you are sounding like an M&M fanboi!

My guess is that it is some personal relationship element involved in your excellent reports about M&M/SKS service!
This is not how it is supposed to be. This is not the 'professionalism' we are looking for!

My experience with M&M service centres leaves a lot to be desired.

In fact, now that I am out of all warranties, I opt to get jobs done at the friendly neighbourhood garage.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

...
and yes, I guess a part of the good service I get is owing to the fact that I invest in relationships at all these service centres like my Dad used to do before me. That way I get less angst and more action!
cheers

This sums it up!
Thanks for reinforcing my perception!

In my book, this should not be required at all, this 'building' of relationships! That is what 'professionalism' means to me!
I simply do not have the time, nor the inclination, to 'invest' time in striking and developing 'friendships' with service centre executives!

Does that mean my Scorpio will not get the attention it needs?!
And, indeed, that has been my experience!

[shankar.balan]

I guess whichever way works for each of us is the way to go!
i dont mind investing that time and effort if it guarantees me some peace of mind with my vehicle.

Originally Posted by anupmathur

This sums it up!
Thanks for reinforcing my perception!

In my book, this should not be required at all, this 'building' of relationships! That is what 'professionalism' means to me!
I simply do not have the time, nor the inclination, to 'invest' time in striking and developing 'friendships' with service centre executives!

Does that mean my Scorpio will not get the attention it needs?!
And, indeed, that has been my experience!

[n.devdath]

I second Shankar here. Personal touches or not, I have personally seen the difference between SKS and other M&M dealers, at least at Bangalore. Sireesh is the worst followed by India Garage beneath SKS.

They are worlds apart. In fact Anup, SKS won the best service award for all of south India from M&M last year.


For that matter, I find Koncept, Noida where I have been loafing around for the past 6 months pretty good too. However Bhasin Motors on the other hand, was bad.

[Aroy]

No matter how professional the service personell are, a bit of charm works wonders. I have always found that decent behaviour, and sympathising with the problems of the service personell does not cost any thing except some time, but works wonders both for them and us.

We often criticise and crib on getting bad service, but how many comment on good service. If the service experience is good it deserves a pat in the back and as much advertising as bad experience!

[shankar.balan]

I believe in this and agree with your point.

Praise in public and punish in private is an old adage worth remembering sometimes.

But grumbling and cribbing about bad service is nowadays more the norm than the exception.

However, when one does experience first class service and care one must appreciate the same equally.

Takes a certain level of balance to get the most out of life.

Originally Posted by Aroy

We often criticise and crib on getting bad service, but how many comment on good service. If the service experience is good it deserves a pat in the back and as much advertising as bad experience!

[4x4addict]

Hi Folks,

My scorpio has clocked 43000 kms in about a year and half. I just wanted to share my service/maintenance costs so far for benefit of other Scorpio Owners & potential owners.

First Free Service: 5000 Kms
Oil & Filter Change
Front & Rear Diff Oil Changed
Other Miscellaneous stuff & labour Rs. 2602

Second Free Service: 10,000 Kms
Gear Oil Change, Washing Labour etc… Rs. 802.


Third Free Service: 15,000 Kms
Just general check up and tire rotation. Cost Rs. 0.

20K Service:
Oil & Oil Filter Change, Fuel Filter Change, etc. Cost. Rs. 6315
Items Replaced Under Warranty:
Suspension Link Bushes. Rs. 410
Front Shock Absorber: Rs. 1100
Clutch Switch for Micro Hybrid: Rs. 303

30K Service:
Diff Oil Change, Wheel Balancing, etc Cost. Rs. 4515
Items Replaced Under Warranty:
Stabilizer bar Link: Rs. 288
Front Shock Absorber 4WD Rs. 850
Power Window Switch Assembly Rs. 950

40K Service:
Oil & Filter Change, Fuel Filter change, Replace Air Filter, Coolant Replacement, Brake Fluid Change. Rs. 8720

Total service costs for 40,000 kms = Rs. 22,954 or approximately 57 paisa per kilometer.

The service requirements for the next 60,000 kilometers is very similar to the what I have done so far, so until the extended warranty expires at 1 Lakh kilometers, I expect the maintenance cost to be about the same.

At 43,000 kilometers, I think I have about 30 to 40% of tire life left. I also use the spare when rotating tires to I think I will be able to do about atleast 70K on the first set of tires.

Scorpio also has a 5K service requirement at 25K, 35K, 45K, 55K, etc.., but nothing is changed during this interval and the service booklet says, inspect that, inspect this etc and this service costs about 600 Rs. in labour. I don’t usually do this service since my scorpio runs 10K in about 6 months. So it goes for the 10K interval service every six months. So for I have not had any issues with warranty claims for ignoring the 5K service interval. If you are want to factor that into the running costs, then you can add about 700 Rs. for every 5K service interval.

[IndigoXLGrandDi]

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

30K Service:
Diff Oil Change, Wheel Balancing, etc Cost. Rs. 4515

Scorpio also has a 5K service requirement at 25K, 35K, 45K, 55K, etc.., but nothing is changed during this interval and the service booklet says, inspect that, inspect this etc and this service costs about 600 Rs. in labour. I don’t usually do this service since my scorpio runs 10K in about 6 months. So far I have not had any issues with warranty claims for ignoring the 5K service interval.

Rs.4,515/- for just Diff Oil Change and Wheel Balancing or anything else is missing?

Diff Oil costs @350-400/- for 1.8ltrs M& M Pack.

Even our Xylo E8 ABS went for 5K, 15K, 25K... Service Intervals and the middle ones were skipped. I did not face any Warranty Claim Problems.
Now the ODO reads 1,10,000+kms in 22 months.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

20K Service:
Items Replaced Under Warranty:
Suspension Link Bushes. Rs. 410
Front Shock Absorber: Rs. 1100

30K Service:
Items Replaced Under Warranty:
Stabilizer bar Link: Rs. 288
Front Shock Absorber 4WD Rs. 850

Thanks for the very detailed update. Could you share what were the symptoms/problems you faced, that led to the above 4 warranty replacement items? E.g. any sounds from the suspension, excessive body roll etc? Also, did the ASC give you a hard time about the bushes replacement, citing the usual "wear and tear part" excuse?

Cheers,
Vikram

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by IndigoXLGrandDi

Rs.4,515/- for just Diff Oil Change and Wheel Balancing or anything else is missing?

The problem is that Mahindra has standardized labour costs for the 10K service interval at about 2700 Rs and 5K service intervals at 700 Rs. So when you take it for 30K, 40K, 50K etc the labour cost is the same regardless of the work required. For example 40K service requries changing a whole lot of stuff including brake fluid, clutch fluid etc but labor is same. Guess Mahindra is trying to average out the cost for the owner and income for the dealer.

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

Thanks for the very detailed update. Could you share what were the symptoms/problems you faced, that led to the above 4 warranty replacement items?

Maybe due to the terrain I travel. I am into Real Estate periodically travel over hostile terrain to look at properties in the hills around Ooty. I also don't drive like it like a car. When the link bush is worn out, you will get a noise in the suspension when going over bad roads. When the shock absorber stops working properly, the buttons on the tread will wear out unevenly. For example one button will be more worn down than the other.

[4x4addict]

Ever wonder why your scorpios ride is bumpy? I recently had the front wheel removed to fix a puncture and had a chance to look at the front suspension. The suspension has only about three inches of travel before it hits the bump stop. The vehicle is litterally resting on the bump stop most of the time. Guess this is a limitation casued by the original chasis/suspension design.

No point calling Lotus engineers after you have botched up your own R&D.

See the attached picture, the bump stop is always clean as the suspension is constantly bottoming out. The gap shown is with the vehicle lifted on the chasis and the wheel removed, so this is the maximum travel position. Once the wheel is attached and vehicle is off the jack, the suspension travel will be limited to maybe 2 inches or so.

[shankar.balan]

This seems pretty clear.
Any ideas why the back is so bumpy?

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

Ever wonder why your scorpios ride is bumpy? No point calling Lotus engineers after you have botched up your own R&D.
.

[sach.sri]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Your door switch is not working. Needs to be opened and the contacts cleaned. Again, a five minute job.

You might want to read this (The difference between synthetic and mineral motor oil) before wanting to spend the extra amount on synthetic engine oil.

The issue with Rear door switch not working looks to be a generic issue. I have faced this in both my previous 2.6 CRDe and current mHawk models.

ASC is not able to sort it out - they do what you have mentioned, but the issue recurs. I have learnt to live with it.
Looks to be an issue because the rear door is not opened and the switch somehow goes bad with long inactivity period?


IIRC - now-a-days gear oil in Scorps is synthetic by default? Synthetic gear oil does makes hell of a difference in cold winter mornings when you start driving

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

My experience with M&M service centres leaves a lot to be desired.

In fact, now that I am out of all warranties, I opt to get jobs done at the friendly neighbourhood garage.

This time round I also decided to engage the services of my neighbourhood garage.

The horn was acting up and would function at its own whims. I had mentioned this to the A.S.S. last time I was there but since it was working at that time the service advisor gave me the gyan about the time and effort it would take to reach the horns (those are placed in a real awkward position).

So rather than breaking my head on the A.S.S. I visited a nearby garage, the guy found out that the issue was with the wiring in 5 mts. flat and the horns were fine. The next part was the search of the break in the wire, which took about an hour to find and fix and cost me just 300 bucks.