[ASHUJNMC]

Background:
Tata closed down Concorde showrooms and service centres, and their ASS points have gone lesser in number and at the same time, their sales have gone up like a rocket. On top of that, Tiago onwards all cars have to be brought in every 6 months to service centres instead of the typical 1 year. This crappy decision has made their service centres hopelessly crowded and overloaded. Hence, typical of a Tata vehicle owner in current times, it takes weeks to get an appointment and then a week to get service, and if you add body work to that, the Lord alone knows when you will get your car back, and how far ahead you have to plan.

I bought a Tata Zest in Dec 2015 and have been by and large happy with it. Earlier, same day service was a reality. Now, it's only in dreams if you stick to authorised service centres.

Prelude:

I own a Tata Zest XT diesel. I was to shift out of Karnataka for a job change by 17th September 2022, and would not have a back-up car over there, so wanted to finish some body denting and painting work as well as the overdue timing chain kit change and clutch work, because the clutch was worn out badly. Also, the AC evaporator coil was icing up. So that had to be addressed. Tried KHT, but could not get timely appointment. Tried Aadishakti motors, but it was getting renovated and there was no chance for an appointment before 10th September 2022. So I started looking at 3rd party options, and a Google ad about Fixcraft popped up.

My Horror Story with Fixcraft Bangalore:
Idecided to get it done from fixcraft because Aadishakti motors service cente was under renovation and KHT needs 1 week's time for even an appointment. Since many issues were to be addressed, I asked for a call.back from customer care, since I needed to talk to a human being. Mr. Mukul called me and arranged a pick-up.

They picked up the car on 2nd September 2022 from my work place through a DriveU driver, and it was delivered to their service centre. The biggest mistake committed by me was not reading reviews on Google before handing over the car to them.

I had shared the list of jobs to be done and complaints to be addressed with the SA - Mr. Sharukh, and also with Mr. Mukul. They said they will test drive and share with me a job card. That never happened.

Mr. Sharukh said that they have ordered parts, and meanwhile cleaning etc will be done. I told them to finish the body work in the mean time. The EDD was 6th September. It came and went, and Onam happened in between. On 10th or 11th, and he said parts have just come and they will fix and deliver tomorrow. With frustration, I asked him to complete the denting and painting work on the left door and roof, and after re-replacing the central AC vent, it was finally delivered to me at approximately 7.30 PM on 15th September (13 days at Fixcraft). There was no way to check body work in detail. I took a brief TD and accepted the vehicle from the chauffeur. I did feel that it was more noisy than I could remember and felt way less powerful, but I shrugged it off as the effect of driving around in a Crysta for the last 12 days. He had told that after timing kit change there was an oil spray, so the packing was changed.

Over the next day, I noticed that the radio was not catching any signals. Initially I thought that the stations may be down (had happed in past), but when by evening I noticed that my mobile was able to tune into FM, bit not my car radio, I complained. I also noticed in day light that there was a new dent on the roof which was not there when I had handed over the car. I got it to the local shop at closing hours on 16th September as urgent matter because on 17th morning, I was to shift out driving for 1500 km+. On close inspection, I could see some wire peeping from under the left A pillar cover.

The electrician checked and showed me the broken antenna wire and part of the male -female socket was missing. Same night, I fell ill, so the plan to travel got delayed. The next day I also noticed there was a hairline crack in the lower instrument bezel. I had fixed it with Feviquick and it was barely noticeable. When I got it back it was re-fixed as if a 2 year old had done it.

I took the car to Lalbagh to get the radio issue fixed and to attempt to get headlight restored / projector swap. Ended up getting a projector fog lamp fitted. When they opened the bonnet, I saw something was missing, because one tab was vacant, but didn't realise what it was. I sent a pic to Sharukh, but he said nothing was fitted at that place, but that worm stayed in my head. Finally, got back home from Lalbagh road at that night with Radio antenna wire joined directly and fogs done. I had also seen an oil spray in the engine bay, but ignored it as an old spray and took it as fixed. 18th and 19th went by and on 20th I just did a Google search of "Tata Zest engine bay pics" and matched it with what was in front of me in engine bay, and realised that the whole snorkel assembly was missing. When I called, they started searching, but could not find it on their workshop floor. I complained to Mr. Mukul and was advised to talk to his manager Mr. Sujai and was provided his mobile number. When i spoke, he was like, "No, that part was not there" (the fact is that it's fixed at both ends and bolted in the middle, and can't go flying out of car on its own). It's extremely extremely likely that the so called Senior Mechanic who did the timing chain and clutch work simply forgot to fit it back, and didn't even realise it. I got really upset and shouted at him, told him I will now have to pay 1k from my pocket and spend time to get it done, and not to insult customers' intelligence and "not to do this to your customers."

I realised that there is no point in taking my car to Fixcraft workshop 24 km away when they don't even have my part with them. I went to KHT Motors and got all the parts and took the car to a local guy who also said there is an oil leak and spray happening even now and there was oil dropped on the floor where my car was parked for just half an hour. I don't trust these incompetent people any more, so left the car at a local 3rd party service shop in the evening on 20th and walked home.

Last 18 days have been a horror story, because I made a wrong decision to give car to Fixcraft, which was so far that I couldn't go daily and keep an eye on the work done.

My advice is: If you want to keep your car well, avoid Fixcraft Bangalore like plague. In my opinion, they are full of irresponsible and incompetent people who try to cover up when caught instead of taking responsibility and fixing their wrongdoing. Also, it's better to give your car to a place you can periodically visit and check on the progress in person, or you know very well, if not getting done at authorised ASS. I wasted my time, money and also lost my peace of mind. Do yourself and favour and learn from my experience.

I feel like including WhatsApp conversation pics too, but I will avoid doing that. I am going to include pics though.

In short following issues created / left by them:

1. Vehicle interior not cleaned properly
2. New greasy dirty palm print on ceiling
3. They broke radio antenna wire
4. Oil spraying in engine bay perhaps from faulty work on timing kit or clutch
5. New dent in roof (which they say was not there before delivery) and poorly done tinkering and painting job on roof
6. Possible oil leakage
7. Panel crack made worst and poorly re-done
8. Missing snorkel assembly
9. Broken plastic part of bonnet support rod

On 21st September, I reviewed pics shared by them before delivery and lo - behold that roof dent was there, which they now (22nd September) claim that the picture was taken before roof was fixed, and it's not new. Now I wonder what they did when checking the roof for dents and scratches before tinkering and painting?

My 2 bits for Tata Motors:
P.S: I didn't have to go through all this horror if Tata Motors service centres were not so hopelessly overcrowded and overburdened. TM has to rapidly increase the number of service centres atleast 4 times to cater to its customers in reasonable time frames and to their satisfaction.

[Captain Slow]

Thank you for your review!! I was about to leave my car there for a paint job! I was in touch with them over the phone and by text.

Your review saved me from all the headaches!

p.s
They have CCTV inside the workshop ask them to check that and prove that this part was not there when the car came in.

[ASHUJNMC]

Update:

I visited the local mechanic and he was checking things out and opened things up in front of me. There was a leak beneath the master/crank attached pully from the oil seal at the bottom end of the timing chain cover.

He removed the serpentine belt and then the pully, but when he tried to remove the main bolt holding the pully base (don't know the name of the part) it was so over-tightened that no matter what he tried, he could not loosen and remove it and reach the oil seal. He would have to heat it up and try removing it. I called Mr. Sharukh to ask what tool had they used to tighten that bolt, and he first said 'Qir gun' and then said 'Torque wrench'.

I am now wondering if the mechanic has tampered with the bolt while tightening it at Fixcraft and in the process, damaged the crankshaft (I really pray it's not so). Basically, the Fixcraft guy seems to have used the old oil seal, which he should probably not or has damaged the oil seal because of over-tightening the bolt.

[anjan_c2007]

Sorry to read about the messing up of your car by incompetent people.

Would always prefer talking to relatives, friends and acquaintances who own similar cars and take their suggestions for a good workshop for repairs. A good recommendation by some person whom you trust always helps to facilitate our "peace of mind."

Else with unknown search engine options we could land in trouble and get back "pieces of our mind" in return.

[ASHUJNMC]

Update: Finally the mechanic was able.to remove the Bolt with use of lot of force, but without heating. Oil seal was changed and problem seems to have been solved at least for now. The mechanic has also pumped/bled the Clutch Hydraulic and gear no longer slotting without pressing clutch pedal, and gear is shifting smoother now.

In case anyone is interested, i got it done at MW car detailing/service centre at Whitefield.

P.S.: if anyone /admins want, i can write a review about the MW car detailing/service centre.

[NerDriver]

Sorry to hear about this buddy, this is a generic issue I have seen with even ASS also, they will just follow a routine like a bot and not pay attention to what actually needs to be done. My Dzire-2017 was regularly serviced at MASS and the front brake pads and disks had worn out - not once did they mention it to me but will always be trying to do AC repair(which never needed repair) among other unnecessary things. I had a long trip coming over and decided to use wheels wisdom for service and to my surprise many things were shown to me which should have been either changed or repaired but never were. I’d recommend trying wheels wisdom once , their service manager seem to keep customer experience over everything else - just be cautious about what parts they ask you to replace since they try to keep everything else near oem specifications but they will for sure highlight it to you. Thank you for sharing your ordeal , people like me will never go near this outlet.
Cheers

[RunGaDa]

Sorry to hear about your experience. I have been in cross hairs about services from many home electronics, but not with car repairs. And I used to think that delayed judiciary is responsible for businesses to act irresponsibly. But this is also common in the US. Fleecing is very common.
One needs to have lot of patience to pursue the Consumer Courts route. Other than time and money of course. Middle class which is bound to the click are easy pickings for such cunning repair shops.
Hope things get well with your car.

[swiftnfurious]

One should never give the car to any centre (company A$$ or FNG) for major works unless enough background check has been done about their competency levels. Definitely not for major works.

And doubly not before a long drive ! I personally wouldn't do a long drive atleast before 1 week of driving the vehicle after a service, especially a major repair.

On the service details, it's strange how the mechanics would forget something like a snorkel which is so big. Clearly incompetent guys at work.

Only request is to double check the car thoroughly now and keep clearing anything that pops up, immediately. Hope your difficulty will be sorted well soon.

[ASHUJNMC]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

And doubly not before a long drive ! I personally wouldn't do a long drive atleast before 1 week of driving the vehicle after a service, especially a major repair.

Only request is to double check the car thoroughly now and keep clearing anything that pops up, immediately. Hope your difficulty will be sorted well soon.

I see your wisdom. I started 7.30 AM from Whitefield for Bilaspur, and had puncture in the Budigere road, so got the tyre removed for puncture fixing since there were 2 nails in Left rear tyre. I noticed oil on the rear left drum, inner part of Wheel rim, and suspension. Left me worried about break fluid or Suspension dampener fluid leak. Checked the brake fluid levels and found to be okay. Marked the level for comparison later.
Topped up Diesel after ~ 530 km mark on MID trip meter at some fuel station in Hyderabad. (FE 18.33 KMpl)
At around 9.30 PM suddenly faced power loss in engine between Hyd and Adilabad. I noticed car slowing down despite pressing accelerator pedal. And started having jerks / Hiccups when attempting to accelerate in any gear. No warning lights in instrument cluster/MID. Tank 75% full. (Basically all the old diesel i filled at Bangalore got finised now) I pulled to left and stopped on the highway and stared Hazard light. Too scared to switch off engine fearing it won't restart, and scared of gettig stuck at night in the middle of nowhere. Checked allt he fluids, engine for overheating by touch (in instrument cluster only 1 bar for temp), redlined, and to check engine oils, had to switch off engine. Engine oil level was normal. Started the engine, raced it, and drove off. No issue after that. I called the MW mechanic, and he was kind enough to answer. He said either some sensor /electric issue, or else may be some water in fuel.

Finally decided to not push my luck till Nagpur in night, and halted at Adilabad despite having capacity to push it till Nagpur in a stretch.

This is the first time my Zest has done 850km almost non -stop(total duration stoped including for food and fuel less than 1 hour )

May be i pushed it hard and it had some glitch.

I intend to get it checked at Bilaspur. Anybody knows Good FNG or Tata service centre over there? Near to Sarkanda?

[ASHUJNMC]

Update:

1. There has been no drop in Brake fluid level, likely it was some external oil spill.

2. Mr. Sujai from Fixcraft approached over and offered a fix, which was not possible since vehicle is now in Chhattisgarh wiere they don't have branch.


3. Fixcraft offered me a 9000 refund as expenses for getting the issue solved, and further 2k once I get the roof re-painted which i have accepted.

4. I have asked them to provide better and consistent care go customer so that others don't have to go through the similar ordeal.

[Captain Slow]

I was just wondering if these guys are still open. Google Maps shows them as closed!