[ramnaresh_2000]

Yesterday monkeys decided to create some havoc on my Pheonix. Ripped a hole on my car cover and tried to eat my attena. Luckily radio is working. Will try to fix it with some feviquick jugaad.

Hole in the car cover:



Damaged antenna:



Chewed up antenna cap:



On a different note, did a one day trip from my hometown to Hyderabad on weekend and my pheonix returned a healthy mileage of 17.8 kmpl for 434 kms and almost 9 hours of driving on National Highway, RRR and 150+ kms within ghat road and city limits. Pretty impressed with the mileage.

[ramnaresh_2000]

Purchased Black + Decker tyre Inflator from Amazon. Got it delivered today, I was a bit surprised by the compact size. I expected it to be bigger.

Link: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0752XHNTH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_3PWAR1KM0BT87J34VAKY?_ encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Model: ASI400-XJ
Price: 3,466/-
Weight: 1.8 kgs

Usage is pretty simple, turn on your vehicle, plug it in the 12V socket, set the pressure using + or - buttons, connect to the tyre nossle and flip the switch. It shows existing tyre pressure before you turn on the switch. Once it reaches the pre-set pressure, it will turn off automatically.

It also comes with 3 attachments for blowing balloons and inflating air beds. It can also be used for bicycles. It also has auto cut off feature. Overall happy with the purchase. Cheaper alternatives available on Amazon, but this one had good build quality and better reviews.

Even though compact, it is a screamer. The noise is dominating my 2.0 diesel engine noise

[ramnaresh_2000]

Started getting error message on MID "Key Fob Battery Low", so went ahead and changed the battery myself. It is pretty simple and straight forward process. Pretty nifty feature to remind us to change the key battery.

Remove the manual key from the fob by pressing the key release button.



Using a screwdriver seperate the key fob. Remove the battery again by using screwdriver and replace with a new one.



Panasonic CR2032 3V battery should do the trick which costs 40 bucks. The OEM also had same battery. Once I started the vehicle, the message no longer appeared.

Service center will charge a bomb for sure, anyone has any idea how much they charge for this? Want to know how many bucks I saved.

[ramnaresh_2000]

I have always wondered if we could play YouTube videos on OEM touchscreen unit. Thanks to pandemic, lockdown and WFH I have so much spare time to explore these option or jugaads. Found this app called CarTube which will play YouTube videos on your touchscreen via AndroidAuto. You will also have to install the app called CarTube controller for this work.

I managed to install the apps and tried it on my Jeep, the app works as expected. The free version will play videos only if the vehicle is on handbrake. It will not work if the vehicle is in motion. If you want to play YouTube videos while the vehicle is in motion, then you will have to purchase pro version by donating some 5-9 euros via Paypal (highly not recommended).

Once you connect your phone via cable, the app shows on the Android Auto interface, you can open the app and search for videos and play them. This app also supports wireless Android Auto. At first I used an aftermarket USB cable and it played videos in fast-forward mode. I then used my OEM cable and it worked fine. You can only watch videos, but cannot pause or fast forward the video. I am guessing this would require pro version.

Heartbroken to see the screen resolution was hardly 480P. I expected Full HD display on the Compass. Maybe the facelift version has a Full HD display.

Caution: These apps are not available in playstore or App store, these apps may contain trojans or virus, so I would neither recommend using them or promoting them. I had a spare phone lying around which was fully formatted and used it for this purpose. This was done just out of curiosity. I immediately formatted my phone again after using this app.

[ramnaresh_2000]

Started using Liqui Moly diesel additives from last week. Noticable difference in engine noise and slightly increased mileage. As per the instructions on the bottle, it will last for 2000 kms and should be used with 50 litres of Diesel.





I was going through warranty booklet, and noticed below. Does this mean adding fuel additives will void my warranty or just the damaged caused is not covered under warranty?

[ajaiD]

Diesel additives spoiled my hyundai accent engine sensors and I had to change one of them.

[ramnaresh_2000]

Originally Posted by ajaiD

Diesel additives spoiled my hyundai accent engine sensors and I had to change one of them.

Sorry to hear that, can you confirm which brand was it? There have been few instances in news that these additives have caused some damage. However, most of them were disproved. Many un-branded or poorly made additives are available in market. The one I have been using is Liqui Moly which is Made in Germany. Many independent car enthusiasts have been using this and recommending this.

I personally used in my previous vehicle TUV 300 and never faced any issues. I don't intend to use this extensively though. The below video might assist people regarding this.

https://youtu.be/dj80AFvcmzo

[JaiHanuman]

For my KWID car key battery, the service centre person told it will cost around INR 700 for changing the battery of my car key. He strongly advised me to get the battery from any watch shop , fix it myself and the cost would be within INR 100.

[ajaiD]

Originally Posted by ramnaresh_2000

Sorry to hear that, can you confirm which brand was it? There have been few instances in news that these additives have caused some damage.

3M "Black bottle" & also diesel with additive both caused issues was told by Hyundai to use normal diesel instead.

[ramnaresh_2000]

Casual visit to Fort Warangal to stretch my legs. Even though this location is hardly 5 kms from my home, I tend to ignore it. Maybe due to the reason that I visited it many times during my childhood as part of school trips

The 12th century architecture is mesmerizing. There is a lot of renovation and development work going on, a lot funds have been allocated by both state and central governments for the whole city development, as it is part of smart city initiative. There is also a beautiful park and temple located, but unfortunately due to pandemic, everything is closed.

Wikipedia Link - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warangal_Fort

[ramnaresh_2000]

As I am not using my vehicle daily, I keep it parked inside my house under car cover. We already have rat problem in our garden, so always been using rat poison chocolates and glue mats on engine bay. I check the engine bay twice a week when I start my vehicle.

Yesterday I noticed rat was struck in the glue trap and managed to free itself by chewing the mat from sides. I replaced mat immediately with a new one. This time this little bugger came back and learned from its past mistakes. It went all over the engine bay but did not even touch the glue trap mat Clever bugger.

I am really frustrated and concerned now. My previous vehicle wiring was damaged by rats and had to pay 7,000/- bucks for repair and RSA. Declared war on these buggers.

You can see how cleverly this bugger escaped the trap.



My ammunition to eliminate this menace

[ramnaresh_2000]

Update after 6 months:

Odo: Current reading at 14,425 kms, driven exactly 1400 kms since purchase.



Issues: None (touchwood)

Mileage: Best - 24 kmpl (highway) worst - 8.7 kmpl (city bumper to bumper traffic)

Accessories:

• Black & Decker car vaccum
• Black & Decker air pump

Maintenance:

• Detailing session on day 1
• 2 professional car washes
• Car wash by self once

Spares:

• Battery cap

Other frustrations:

• Rats creating havoc in engine bay.
• Poor night time visibility due to OEM halogen headlights.

Cost Breakdown:

Maintenance is 46k because I purchased 2 years extended warranty in Feb'21 which costed me 38k. Wash includes 6k for detailing session.



Total Spent: 73k spent till date. Fuel 13.5k thanks to pandemic.



Future Upgrades:

• Breake callipers red paint.
• De-chroming.
• Floor matting.

Overall happy with the machine. I promised myself that next six months I will try my best to use the beast as much as possible. I miss auto dimming IRVM and Cruise Control badly.

[empen]

A very nicely written thread! Thanks for sharing.

I'm looking forward to changing my car and have been thinking of a pre-worshipped Compass myself.

[ramnaresh_2000]

On 31st July 2021 got my vehicle serviced. Hardly 15k on odometer, but had to get 30k service as 1 year completed from last service. Total damage came to 17k.

No complaints and no additional parts or spares changed. Just a regular maintenance.



Daytime robbery of stealerships by adding almost 2k for AC cleaning, External touch points disinfectant and Internal cleaning. The SA had the audacity to claim these are mandatory. I was in no mood for arguments as I had already driven for 3 hours from Warangal to Hyderabad and was bit tired. Also on back of mind I wanted to see what these treatments are all about, so I let them indulge in their daytime robbery.

I reported at service center at 10:45 AM and they took in the vehicle inside at 11:30 AM and handed over by 4:30 PM.



On a different note, these scratches on the lower lip of my bumper are starting to get my nerves. Any suggestions on how to get them fixed. Don't want to get the lower lip changed just for scratches, I had seen some videos on YouTube where they used hot gun flame to fix the scratches. Any suggestions are more than welcome.

[ramnaresh_2000]

The itch for weekend drives continues. On Sunday visited Yadadri Temple which is around 95 kms from my hometown. 4 adults and 1 kid, started at around 10:00 AM in the morning. The weather was fantastic, it was sunny when we started and started drizzling when we reached there.

More information about the temple can be found here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_...emple,_Yadadri

The temple is located on a hill, vehicles are not allowed on to the hill. They have to be parked below and we should only use autowalas to travel up the hill. Having said that, in India we are very good at exploiting loop holes. People with influence can travel in their car up hill.

The autowala will charge 100 bucks one way. They literally turn off their engine while traveling down hill. It is exciting and scary at the same time

The actual temple is closed for darshan as enormous development work is going on there. They setup another temple for darshan.

There is another hill just opposite to the temple which is being developed as "Temple City". Lush green plantation everywhere you look. It started raining heavily and we enjoyed some home cooked lunch on a hill inside my vehicle.

Time for some photo sessions. What a beast this beauty is. It never fails to put a smile on my face when I press the accelerator.

Pheonix spreading its wings:



Lake at the entrance:



On top of temple city:



Development work in progress:



Temple main entrance: social distancing is a myth



More development work in progress:



We then visited Edulabad Temple which is 25 kms from the Yadadri Temple. It has an history of 600+ years. It has been a delightful trip to escape the day to day monotony of WFH atrocities.



Car wash the next day: Proper pampering is required, but I had little to no strength after driving all day.



Total trip details: