[RedTerrano]

My Nissan Terrano is due for it's scheduled service.
She is five years old and has done 56K (I know those are rookie numbers and I need to pump them up)
Till now, I have always had the servicing done at the authorised dealer. But I am no longer satisfied with them. Pune has only one Nissan dealer and monopolistic arrogance has crept in their attitude.

Is it a good idea to go in for a non authorised private service? I know one dude personally and he is good in his work. I have heard lot of stories regarding diesel maintenance and how it is always a good idea to go only for authorised service which could be apocryphal.

Since this is the first diesel vehicle I have ever owned, I would love to hear suggestions from experts.

[BANDHAV]

Its been a while that I am getting my 2014 Terrano XE 85 PS serviced, repaired at FNG.

It is cheap, convenient.

I would suggest you to opt for a FNG. It doesn't make sense to stick with A.S.S.

I have got it done all from FNGs, basic service, suspension ovehaul, AC work etc. There is not even one instance where I have felt that I should have gone to A.S.S.

The current mileage is 1,49,xxx and last 1,00,000 kms are with FNG only.

[GTO]

I was actually waiting for my Sunny's extended warranty to expire, so that I can go to my trusted independent garage. Nissan's after-sales service is among the worst in the country, right at the bottom with the likes of Skoda and others. They are incompetent at troubleshooting, always overcharge & warranty repairs take terribly long. Because Nissan dealers aren't selling any cars, they fleece customers in their workshops.

Since your car is 5 years old, please happily take it to an independent .

[RaceHorse]

This is the very reason because of which I sold my Micra, when I got a good deal before pandemic.
Though the car was trouble free for most part, the service was pathetic just because they couldn't hire skilled labor.

I spoke to one of the technician he is complaining of low wages they get and customers do frequent returns to workshop
because of incompetent servicing done by his colleagues.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

.Is it a good idea to go in for a non authorised private service? I know one dude personally and he is good in his work. I have heard lot of stories regarding diesel maintenance and how it is always a good idea to go only for authorised service which could be apocryphal..

That's an old wives' tale. TODO items in a Diesel vehicle's service aren't drastically different from that of a Petrol.

My Scorpio is 10.5 years old, and I haven't gone to the ASC since its extended warranty got over in 2014. If you have a good servicing experience, please do share the details of the garage you visited.

[RedTerrano]

Originally Posted by BANDHAV

I would suggest you to opt for a FNG. It doesn't make sense to stick with A.S.S.

Originally Posted by GTO

Since your car is 5 years old, please happily take it to an independent .

Thanks guys. I am so glad you are recommending independent. FNG it is from now on.

Originally Posted by RaceHorse

I spoke to one of the technician he is complaining of low wages they get and customers do frequent returns to workshop
because of incompetent servicing done by his colleagues.

How many dealers does Bhagyanagar has? Trying to see if there is a pattern of single dealer becoming arrogant/incompetent or has Nissan let the rot percolate into the system.
In todays world of public feedback on the internet, I would have expected companies to be more sensitive towards customer care and optics.

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

That's an old wives' tale. TODO items in a Diesel vehicle's service aren't drastically different from that of a Petrol.

My Scorpio is 10.5 years old, and I haven't gone to the ASC since its extended warranty got over in 2014. If you have a good servicing experience, please do share the details of the garage you went to.

I am glad to hear that diesel technology has caught up with petrol. My experience prior to actually owning a diesel is from the early 80s. Our neighbours had a diesel jeep (MM540?). Almost every morning they would come out with a lit torch (as in Mashaal), open the hood, probably heat the engine or something and the vehicle would finally crank to life in plumes of black exhaust.
My FNG is in Nagpur. Will have to wait for the servicing to be done. Will update this thread in future.
In case you can recommend anyone in Pune from personal experience, I would be happy to try them out.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

In case you can recommend anyone in Pune from personal experience, I would be happy to try them out.

I get my vehicle serviced from Shantai Auto Works near Jagtap Dairy chowk. Owner's name is Surendra Manjare and phone number is 9422350953. Most of his clients are Mahindra and Tata vehicle owners, but you could call and ask if he can work on a Terrano too.

[RedTerrano]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

I get my vehicle serviced from Shantai Auto Works near Jagtap Dairy chowk. Owner's name is Surendra Manjare and phone number is 9422350953. Most of his clients are Mahindra and Tata vehicle owners, but you could call and ask if he can work on a Terrano too.

Thank you
I will give him a tinkle. Hopefully he does Nissans as well.

[RaceHorse]

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

How many dealers does Bhagyanagar has? Trying to see if there is a pattern of single dealer becoming arrogant/incompetent or has Nissan let the rot percolate into the system.

One dealer named Vibrant wanted to charge Rs.700 for remote battery and other dealer Laxmi Nissan offered me it at Rs.400 because I am their regular customer.
I drove to nearby accessories shop and got the remote cell changed at Rs.50

[hserus]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

That's an old wives' tale. TODO items in a Diesel vehicle's service aren't drastically different from that of a Petrol.

My Scorpio is 10.5 years old, and I haven't gone to the ASC since its extended warranty got over in 2014. If you have a good servicing experience, please do share the details of the garage you visited.

If they do all that the service manual in a Scorpio requires then great. For example as you said Scorpio, replacing the "non asbestos copper washer" in the drain plug during an oil change every 20,000 km?

For most FNGs you'll have to show them the service manual and tell them do this, do that etc or all they'll do is fill oil, change the oil and air filters, at most blow air on the ac filter if they remember.

[Nalin1]

I hope you have also gone through this thread as well.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...tml#post227175 (Authorised Service Centre or Independent Garage)

Nissan's service has been top notch here in Bangalore. But I still toyed with the idea of visiting an FNG for the periodic service. Only for one reason- I hate their replacement suggestions even for a minute problem.

During last service, there was a very very small noise from the rear suspension when they were doing their routine check. They called me to the service bay and tried to reproduce the issue with great difficulty. I managed to hear it in the end after some struggle. The cost quoted was Rs 4,000 to replace the faulty part. I asked them to leave it alone and I will get back to them if I notice anything abnormal.

During this year's service, I asked them to check it specifically and when delivering the car, the SA said " No problem, we have greased it and there is no noise now!.

I was both irritated and impressed with it . Irritated for the reason mentioned above and impressed because of the way they check every nook and corner for any concerns. I am not all sure if multi brand service centers or FNGs will do that kind of a comprehensive check up. I went through their checklist and really wonder if anybody outside an ASC even have that kind of a competence level, as hserus has mentioned in his post as well.

Having said that, there are some really good ones outside . Need some hard work to find the correct one.

[kadanaJ]

Going to piggyback off this thread, and ask the same question, but for a Toyota.

2012 Corolla Altis. Toyota ASS has been pretty good so far, but should I let my FNG handle servicing / maintenance instead?

[ramnaresh_2000]

Once warranty is done I do not see any good reason to stick with ASS. I would suggest Gomechanic if available in your city. Very transparent pricing, you can check on their site or app.

I would recommend local mechanic only if you trust them. I had Renault Scala taken for local mechanic and they gave me exorbitant quotation and were stating they use engine oil used in Benz (what load of crap), I just smiled and left. They also went to an extent to show me original parts in box, but it was not sealed and the part number was not matching on part and box. This is daytime robbery. I then took to it to Renault ASS and got it serviced.

Many local garages are cheaters and place compatible parts instead of branded parts. For piece of mind ASS is suggested or reputed company owned service centers like Mahindra First Choice or GoMechanic. Best of luck.

[RJ2285]

Originally Posted by GTO

I was actually waiting for my Sunny's extended warranty to expire, so that I can go to my trusted independent garage.

Trusted Independent Garage - Is this Sunil Shanbag? I am looking out for a trusted FNG for my Honda city as and when the extended warranty expires. Sunil did an excellent job when I was facing problems in my 6 year old beat diesel. But he is expensive. Can you share names of few trusted ones in Mumbai?

[Yieldway17]

I know FNGs are darlings of TeamBHP but finding a really good and competent one is like an unicorn.

Most mechanics in this country are really unprofessional. For e.g. I took my Activa to a well recommended FNG in my neighborhood to replace my accelerator cable and the first thing he did was to take a flat head screw driver to pry the panel out until I stopped him. No cloth to cover it, no plastic trim tool etc. And as already others suggested, they have no clue what a regular non-repair service should entail and what parts should be checked before they fail.

When most non-motorhead people rate a mechanic as good, it just means the mechanic got their vehicle running back with the least amount of cost. Their recommendations are practically worthless. Better to stick to recommendations from people who know things like in this forum and that itself is a hit or miss.

On the other hand, a problem I face with genuinely competent mechanics is that they are unreceptive to anything which a customer might suggest. They mostly act like they know better and so they should do what they wish, in my car. I’m a type of person who completely leave things to people I rate as professionals other than couple of questions but only in automobile garage shops I see that asking any kind of question is taken as an insult. Like I insulted their competency by just asking a question or two.