[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Well, I had a word with him sometime back, and he mentioned that he got a discount of 1500 arranged on the clutch, that its for 6k at ford., but he managed to source one for 4.5k. Is that true, Devilwearsprada?

He has repeatedly told me that he gets a lot of business referring team-bhp, so he gives a labor discount if the car is sporting a sticker, else its the normal rates. I yold him that your business from TBHP may dry up if you start doing things like this, and the skoda incident, which frankly sounds like just another FNG now.Whats the use of coming to you if you are also doing the same stuff as all the others?

Anyway, I hope he mends his ways now on for everybody. Its just too much effort finding a good mechanic. I, for one, have not had cause for complaint so far.

I think I will be going to him only for simple stuff such as brake pad replacement. For complicated stuff I would rather go to TASS. I usually stay in the workshop area by the vehicles side... so they cannot do much hanky panky with me.

[devilwearsprada]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Well, I had a word with him sometime back, and he mentioned that he got a discount of 1500 arranged on the clutch, that its for 6k at ford., but he managed to source one for 4.5k. Is that true, Devilwearsprada?

He has repeatedly told me that he gets a lot of business referring team-bhp, so he gives a labor discount if the car is sporting a sticker, else its the normal rates. I yold him that your business from TBHP may dry up if you start doing things like this, and the skoda incident, which frankly sounds like just another FNG now.Whats the use of coming to you if you are also doing the same stuff as all the others?

Anyway, I hope he mends his ways now on for everybody. Its just too much effort finding a good mechanic. I, for one, have not had cause for complaint so far.

Mayank, he didnt tell us about the discount, he must have given a discount but the problem was with the labour cost, which were too high. Also, he changed the engine mounting, as far as he told us, but the car is still shaking at high speeds.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by devilwearsprada

Also, he changed the engine mounting, as far as he told us, but the car is still shaking at high speeds.

Fair enough. Already been told off about the high labour cost.
But car shaking at high speed, can you describe this a bit more?
what is happening etc?
entirely unrelated to the thread. PM me, if you want.

[don_carmaster]

Hi folks,

My association with Raj has been quite long for now.

This being an open public forum, many people read about the Raj's forte and go to him for specific works.

This incident happened in front of me.
This gentleman in a Dzire comes up to him, and asks for some wing mirror work. He quotes a price, which this dzire owner starts to negotiate.

Raj negotiates a bit and settles. Then next he mentions my name and TBHP reference to get a further discount. Raj didnt agree for the price, so this gentleman warns that ill write negative on TBHP about how he is overcharging. This practice in my opinion is quite unethical

I saw all this happen in front of me, While i was sitting in my Car.

I took raj aside and counselled him on how to behave with such people

He is no Business man who holds an MBA degree or who has some good negotiation skills, He is a self made man who entered Noida with Rs 400 in his hand and established his own assets by virtues of Honesty and Talent.

I respect him for his dedication and knowledge to work.

Thanks,
Sahil Verma

[devilwearsprada]

Originally Posted by don_carmaster

Hi folks,

My association with Raj has been quite long for now.

This being an open public forum, many people read about the Raj's forte and go to him for specific works.

This incident happened in front of me.
This gentleman in a Dzire comes up to him, and asks for some wing mirror work. He quotes a price, which this dzire owner starts to negotiate.

Raj negotiates a bit and settles. Then next he mentions my name and TBHP reference to get a further discount. Raj didnt agree for the price, so this gentleman warns that ill write negative on TBHP about how he is overcharging. This practice in my opinion is quite unethical

I saw all this happen in front of me, While i was sitting in my Car.

I took raj aside and counselled him on how to behave with such people

He is no Business man who holds an MBA degree or who has some good negotiation skills, He is a self made man who entered Noida with Rs 400 in his hand and established his own assets by virtues of Honesty and Talent.

I respect him for his dedication and knowledge to work.

Thanks,
Sahil Verma

Well Sahil, I honestly agree that no mechanic has been god trained, everybody has a history but nobody has a right to overcharge people, which he is doing considering he has a name now. I have been charged much much less labour before from excellent mechanics who might not be on the directory but their customers swear by them and thats why they have such a reputation.

Fleecing on reputation is what I least expect, thats it!

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by devilwearsprada

Well Sahil, I honestly agree that no mechanic has been god trained, everybody has a history but nobody has a right to overcharge people, which he is doing considering he has a name now. I have been charged much much less labour before from excellent mechanics who might not be on the directory but their customers swear by them and thats why they have such a reputation.

Fleecing on reputation is what I least expect, thats it!

Oh hey, let's not get into that. A clutch job at ford would still have cost you 2.5k labor. Do put the other mechanics here too. It's always good to have options. No sarcasm, kasam.

[Deeps]

Having been going to Raj for a year and a half now, I'd say i have to agree with some views and disagree with other views posted here.

A while back he told me that he has received a substantial amount of his business from referrals from me, Mayank and Sahil (Don Carmaster). I've never had a problem with his pricing and not once have i bargained with him over labour prices because they seemed genuine enough. Neither have any of my referrals had a problem with his pricing.

He is well aware of his reputation on TBHP and certainly does entertain TBHP guys even when he has his hands full with work. He has also told me of instances like the Dzire guy posted by Sahil. I've also seen first hand how other (non-TBHP) customers deal with him and vice versa. To this, I would say that he definitely deals with TBHP customers differently than others.

The problem areas in my experience are the following:

1. Time commitments - This is by far the biggest issue. Never ever believe the amount of time he says it will take to perform the job. Expect it to be 1.5-2X of what he says. This is true even for preferred (???) customers like me. I've raised this issue with him multiple times and he lays the blame on the difficulty in finding reliable workers. However, I'll always prefer to let him take extra time rather than rush through the job.

2. Spares - He has a very good network to source spares and will tell you if the spare available is genuine/OEM or a cheaper (local/imported) replacement. He has managed to source the rarest spare of rarest cars - Mayank's Tuscon's GB overhaul comes to mind. However, the problem is that his guy who obtains the parts quotes prices which are mostly higher than what is available in markets like Sec-16. Kashmere gate, of course, would be even cheaper. So my suggestion would be to take the spares to him use his labour only whenever possible.

3. Jobs done by other vendors - Raj, himself, only does mechanical, electrical and A/C work as far as I know. Other tings like denting and painting, i would recommend that you go to other specialists. The other vendors certainly do overcharge and i would advise that you let Raj negotiate the price with them after getting a quote. For example, a denter working alongside Raj (not under him) asked for 3K for a certain job on my Safari. I got Raj to intervene and it was brought down to 1.5K.


As Mayank said, its incredibly difficult to find an alternative and that is probably the biggest factor which keeps me going back to Raj.

[mayankk]

So, he's finally shifted out to the new building he has been harping on about.
I must say, it is quite impressive, and although not fully equipped or constructed yet, he's already got the garage packed.
But this is now a joint thing between 3 guys, and still have to see if he is able to dedicate time to us guys still.
I went to get the tooky's intercooler cleaned yesterday and most of my day was lost, since Raj was running around in setting up the place.

Here's some pictures for you guys.
Apart from tooling up quite professionally this time, with redundant tools available, he's set up lifts and pits too. Also got a nifty washer installed outside, which does a pretty good job of the underside of the car, and a good wash gun for the rest of the bits.

Also being done is a fully enclosed painbooth. The lights and all are already in place.
In about a month's time, this place should be up and running, although the distance has become a slight deterrant now.
Although its not more than 10kms, but the time taken to get to sec-65 is a bit too much. Especially on working days. Although he does say there will be pickups arranged.

Location now:
28.610045, 77.387390

[Samar117]

Place looks really nice and clean and with a good amount of space! I haven't asked Dhruv again if the issue of his engine mount of his Ford Figo was solved or not. Will check on him and get back to you guys. Anyhow one bad job should not prove a downer to all the good work he has done to you Noida Bois.
OT. What atrocious tiles!

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by Samar117

OT. What atrocious tiles!

Ha ha!!
True dat....But compared to what was around in Nithari, its a british mansion!

[susan3004]

Mayank, request if you may please put the location of the new workshop on the map instead of the long and lat of the same.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by susan3004

Mayank, request if you may please put the location of the new workshop on the map instead of the long and lat of the same.

The address is not locatable on the map, that's why I put the coordinates. He's at c 95,sector 65.
See if you can find it.
The coordinates are not working for you on maps?

Edit: just checked, they're working on maps.
Just copy and paste them in the search box.

[susan3004]

Originally Posted by mayankk

The address is not locatable on the map, that's why I put the coordinates. He's at c 95,sector 65.
See if you can find it.
The coordinates are not working for you on maps?

Edit: just checked, they're working on maps.
Just copy and paste them in the search box.

I did not have that option on my phone. I'll do it on my computer now.
BTW, I'm located in sector 37 which is quite close to his earlier location.

[kamal.sn]

Went to Raj's garage last weekend to get a couple of things done on my Tucson like replacement of both the rear struts, front axle boot replacement, outer belt tensioner replacement, front lower arm bush replacement etc.

I had asked him to get the spares 2-3 day before i went there.

A couple of points of my experience of the whole process :

1) A person was sent to to get the spares from his other location only after i reached the garage while i had called and confirmed that i have started from my home and will reach his place by 11:00. This delayed the process by about an hour.

1) Before i spoke to Raj about the spares, i did a bit of homework and checked about the price of struts with Batra etc. Batra quoted me something like 5500 for both the struts (Mando Korea). I then called Raj to check the prices from his source. He called me back with a price of about 7100 for the struts. I did tell him the prices which Batra had quoted but he insisted that may not be original Mando but upon my insistence he said that we will check and come back again. He called me again to clarify that the prices he had quoted also included the tensioner price which i was ok with.

2) The labour price quoted was Rs 1800 for the rear strut, tensioner and lower arm bush replacement (4 bushes). For the struts and bushes, he send it out to some other mechanic. Not sure if this is the correct price or not as this is the first time i was getting work done from outside an ASC. The ASC charges would have been higher for sure.

3) I has reached the garage by 11:30 am told that the work will get over by 16:30 but since the struts and the lower control arms were sent outside to some other mechanic, this took a lot of time to come back and it delayed the process by about 2 hours and i could only leave by 18:30.

4) Raj himself was working on my car as well as instructing the other mechanic Vipin but had to step out a couple of times for handling customer or for supervising other cars.

5) I had asked him to check a grease leak on the prop shaft but could not get a conclusive solution from him. The grease leak is from the prop shaft coupling near the center bearing.

Some takeaways from my experience :

1) Always check about the price of spares from vendors before asking Raj about his prices without which you wont have a right baseline of the prices. It would be better if you one could carry their own spares.

2) Always have a buffer of the time as things are bound to get delayed as some things are also not in Raj's control/factored-in when he provides the time estimate.

The conclusion :

It was worth driving 45 kms one way and getting work done from Raj. The quality of work was really good and i would recommend this place to bhpians looking for a reliable mechanic. Thanks to Mayankk for having an initial discussion on my behalf with Raj.

I am also posting some pics of the prop shaft leak. Can someone suggest a solution and where can i get it repaired.

[mayankk]

Well, apparently he's catering to higher segments as well now. Last week, he was working on a Q7, an A6, and a Passat(I think), apart from a smattering of Skoda's. Plus the usual run of mainstreamers, like mine.
Anyway, his claim now is, if I buy a used vRS, he can maintain it for dirt cheap. Become quite an expert in the DSG, and he showed me a unit he was working on. I'll wait for the owner's feedback on that. Good option for someone scared of Skoda A.S.C, I suppose.