[nvldvr]

I want to share my experience of sourcing spares from one of the many aftermarket spare shops in Delhi.

I have a 2009 Scorpio. At around 99k kms on the odo, the clutch started giving signs of imminent failure. Since the vehicle was well out of warranty, I thought about getting the job done from one of the many FNGs in Delhi.

Since Palika Bhavan is close to my place, decided to get the job done there. Anyone whos been there would know its a bustling automobile hub with FNGs, spare dealers and accessories guys all in one place.

One of the FNGs agreed on the labour part of clutch removal / fitment for Rs 2500 (as against Rs 4500 that Mahindra ASS would have charged me). The clutch and pressure plate was sourced by me personally along with one of the FNG guys from one of the good spare shops on the ground floor / basement (There are two shops run by Sardarji's there. This was one of them).

Its a known fact that there is no system of bills / invoices / card payments. Just plain cash deals without any taxes involved. The guy while selling the clutch and pressure plates categorically told me - " Sir We guarantee the spares are genuine, however there would be no warranty". My bad.. Should have guessed then and there. But the shop and the parts all looked good and genuine.

So the job was done and the car seemed OK during the trial run I had after the repairs. The total cost including spares / labour worked out to Rs 8500. However, just 3-4 days later, the car lost all pickup and was struggling to get going the way 2.2 Ltr M Hawk engine should.

Went back to the FNG. Before even checking the car, he also categorically tells me- " Sir, we cant do much. You only bought the spares yourself". The guys knew I had been taken for a ride. Nonetheless, basic checks (read a test drive) by the FNG guy reveals that the clutch / pressure plate have failed.

I had had enough of Delhi's shady spurious spare dealers and equally deceitful FNGs.

Drove to the Mahindra ASS. Opened the gear box and as dreaded, clutch and pressure plate were roasted. In only 4-5 days of sedate driving. Got them replaced. Total damages - 12K.

So what did I loose in the process?

- Rs 8500.
- A full day spent at the FNG
- Completely shattered my faith in aftermarket spares / FNGs

Lessons learnt

- Stick to authorised ASS. May cost a shade more but atleast you would genuine spares with some reliability and peach of mind.

Hope this is of some use to fellow BHPians from Delhi.

Cheers.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Sad that you had to go through all this.

At the same time, I must say that it is not fair to paint all FNGs and spare part shops with the same brush.

My Scorpio has well over 4L km on its odo and I can say this categorically... My vehicle is in top shape because of my trusted local garage and the parts that they have been procuring for me for so many years now.

I will also add that the local Mahindra dealers were absolute crooks who tried their best to con as much cash out of me as possible. It were their wholehearted efforts which drove me to look for an FNG in the first place.

So, it's not all black and white.

[ptaneja]

Yikes !
I have myself purchased items multiple times from the same Sardarji shops !! True, that without bills it would be not possible to contest anything.
Better stick to FNG's who source and use authorized spares. Or maybe, second approach can be - stick to FNG's only for minor repair work/scheduled servicing etc. Get anything major looked upon by service centre.

[rajeev k]

While entrusting repairs to FNGs it is ideal to leave the choice of the spare parts shop to the FNG itself. On our part it has to be ensured that the spare part is manufactured by companies in the business. These companies supply to OEMs who pack it in their packaging. Though OEMs carry out their own quality checks, no doubt, prices would be higher.
Never go for spurious spares as what we lose ultimately would be money, effort & time and sometimes damages too.

[vigsom]

It would be a good idea to publish the names of the shop you got the spares from so that others don't suffer the same fate ; and maybe have a thread dedicated to the "Hall of the Infamous"

[VeyronSuperSprt]

There are numerous ways to tell a fake from an original. Finish, markings, weight, possibly holograms, etc and the first thing to do if you venture into this area is to be able to tell a fake from an original.

The FNG guy knew it was a fake, didn't he ?

So if you want to go this way, know the tricks of the trade or else be prepared to be taken for a ride.

Stick to the ASS when you don't know your onions.

[GTO]

Agreed with Shreyans that it's not fair to paint all FNGs with the same brush. A lot of us have had a better experience with FNGs than the ASS. Also agreed with Rajeev that it's best to have your trustworthy FNG source the spares. They do it for a living and will know where to procure genuine stuff. If you are so inclined, you could buy spares online from websites like SparesHub (BHPian experiences here).

Would suggest looking through the Team-BHP Directory for trustworthy FNGs.

That said, without argument, the ASS is a safer place and for people who don't know much about cars, it's probably the preferred option.

[IshaanIan]

Sorry to read your experience. Firstly, there are plenty of FNGs out there that do a good job all though the tell tale signs of your experience were a bit too obvious to be honest. I have gone through stuff on the same lines as you have and the point I noted, is to be smart. Simple. This is India afterall nearly everyone has it unfair and lies, cheating, deceit are all to be expected. If you go outside the authorised service center (I maintain such diligence even at an authorized center that I have never been to). Then be prepared, never take anyone's word until they have earned your trust. As VeyronSS mentioned, it is possible to tell a fake from an original all it takes is 5-10 extra minutes spent in examining the product and you yourself in most cases, will be able to call out a fake.

I walk into a service/deal eyes closed, only when I know I can trust the other person. Blind faith in such businesses is a luxury not many of us can afford.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by nvldvr

Stick to authorised ASS. May cost a shade more but atleast you would genuine spares with some reliability and peach of mind

Plus, if you go to a ASC, you'll get a warranty of some months (don't recollect how many) on spares which don't come under the wear & tear category. Example: headlights, power window motors etc. I think I'd seen this info on a "Always use original M&M spares" poster a few years back, in the ASC which I used to frequent.

[aditya79india]

It is improper to expect genuine articles at Palika Bazaar. It has a reputation of being "CHOR BAZAAR"!

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by aditya79india

It is improper to expect genuine articles at Palika Bazaar. It has a reputation of being "CHOR BAZAAR"!

Palika Bhawan is different from Palika Bazaar

[GTO]

A related article I read today:

As Senior Vice-President and Head of the Spares Business Unit at Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharatendu Kapoor is also aware of the challenges ahead. When he displays a packet containing an auto spare part, it is impossible to make out that this is a copy. And to think that counterfeits account for a third of the ₹45,000-crore aftermarket for auto components.

“This is not a Mahindra genuine part and the packing is not done by us. A customer can never get to know the difference,” says Kapoor, holding up the fake packet. In the aftermarket, the retailer promptly says it is 50 per cent off and the buyer believes Mahindra is selling it at a discount.

The packet on display has an oil filter priced at ₹194 which is sold at ₹100 giving retailers a huge margin.

Source + Full Article

[rakesh_r]

Extremely disturbed to hear about your experience. One of the steps that Maruti has taken to curb counterfeit parts being sold is sale of spares over the counter. They have opened shops that sell only spares. In this way I am in complete piece of mind and source all my spares from authorized spare shops. Regarding getting the car serviced at ASS,I had a bad experience where the brake pads of my car were swapped with old duplicate ones and I came to know when the pads eat away the discs . I always had the habit of sticking around with the car, but this happened because my dad had taken the car for a routine service when i had gone out of country on an onsite job.
Not all FNGs are bad. It's just some shady ones.

[nvldvr]

Well I am not saying all FNGs are not trust worthy. I am sure there are many out there who do a good job. And if you happen to know and trust someone for a long period of time, no reason why you should not go to them. In my case, I have been in Delhi only for a couple of years and don't have that kind of knowledge of whos reliable and whos not.

But the main issue I wanted to bring out was regarding the spurious spare parts. Trust me, I did spend quite a while matching the holograms / OEM markings. They were ditto like the original ones. I still find it hard to believe any one could have told that those clutch and pressure plates were fake. They were absolutely like the original ones.

Now the question that's going through my mind is if complicated parts like clutch plates can be counterfeited so beautifully, how on earth could one make out if the engine oils / coolants and the like are not spurious? And if sale of such spurious parts can go on so blatantly in a "GOOD SHOP " of one of the better car markets in Delhi, heaven only knows what other spare dealers stock and sell.

I was myself of the strong belief that one should stick to ASS only as long as it is mandated by warranty requirements. However, now would I trust a spare dealer even for engine oils ? No. Atleast not as long as he is a really well known to me.

The only aim of my post was to let others know what they can get into unless they know their FNGs / spare dealers really well.

To each his own.

Cheers.

[Eddy]

Can you be 100% sure that the clutch you bought was the one that was put into the car ? Maybe the mechanic switched it ?