DIY: Tata Punch EV wheel well holes covered with rubber grommets

In Ruby's case I found these paper stickers in both rear wheel wells. Behind these innocent-looking paper stickers , were holes that opened into the cabin floor.

BHPian joybhowmik recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Hard Close of Trunk lid

Quote from BHPian King_Julien:

This is a very common issue in punch ev, most users have got them fixed from service center on their first service.
Some users have fixed it themselves using 5mm allen key. Attaching the pic for your reference .

Thanks for the help on this— I fixed this today. The hex nuts holding the hook in place needed some gentle pursuation before coming loose, though.

Discovered (and fixed) another gremlin

I wouldn't have noticed this at first, but friends in the group suddenly started ordering 20mm size rubber grommets.

My interest was piqued, a little close reading of the chatter ensued.

Punch EV owners reported, paper stickers glued on top of holes in the front and rear wheel wells , were the only protection against floods in the cabin!
One of them had in fact, reported flooding due to this issue in his car.

In Ruby's case I found these paper stickers in both rear wheel wells. Behind these innocent-looking paper stickers , were holes that opened into the cabin floor (and eventually carpet). If these fell off, and I passed through standing water, I could have easily gotten the carpet soaking wet.

Four holes are covered by cheap metallic paper fixed with Heatex glue.

And that wasn't all!

Closer inspection revealed all four were creased and much the worse for wear and tear, due to being attacked by mud and dirt , every day!

They were about to peel off—and in fact they did!
Here they are, after I removed these with relative ease. Yuck!

Notice how I exposed the hole with ease! Imagine the elements going to work on these stickers!

I patiently removed all 4; one was already perished, and I wasn't about to give Tata Motors the benefit of doubt, by leaving the rest there. Before installing the grommets, I washed the area clean.

Removing Paper stickers and replacing them with proper rubber grommets

Here is one such grommet, neatly installed.

One can only wonder—what these holes were for?

Why didn't Tata Motors spot weld these holes close during the manufacturing process?

Rubber grommets are not a permanent solution, but yes, they are cheap.
It also means I will need to remember to physically inspect and replace these grommets every 3 months and more frequently when it rains!

Not good, Tata Motors! Not good at all!

Is this what finesse has come to mean in an Indian car? Does Vocal4Local really strike a chord—or should we hang our heads in shame?

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