Had a pleasant experience with Ford service for my Ecosport in Kolkata

I was offered extended warranty of one year with 10% discount for around Rs. 15k.

BHPian aviator1101 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My experience with Kaikan Ford, Kolkata:

Why I visited ?

I recently undertook a road journey from Tezpur to Kolkata, almost 1300 kms. Most of the journey was amidst heavy rains and I found that the wiper was leaving behind trails of water on the windscreen which was a very uncomfortable situation especially at night.

I also noticed that a crackling sound was coming from behind the central console whenever the vehicle was started. And another rattling sound whenever the vehicle used to go over any undulating surface, speed breaker etc.

Hence, decided to visit a service center after reaching Kolkata. I also intended to avail the ongoing Monsoon Camp scheduled from 10 to16 July.

As such, I had to get the battery checked and replaced if required since the starter had got stuck on a couple of occasions with a warning of Charging System Service Now. Recently I had posted the same on another thread and in the discussion it emerged that I needed to check the alternator or change the battery.

Hence, I visited Kaikan Ford as suggested by one of my friends working with Ford India.

The reception and diagnosis:

A day prior an appointment was taken and hence I was received at the entrance itself by the service advisor who inspected in detail, asked me for any problems and then took a test drive with me to confirm the problems.

After a short test drive and couple of times starting the vehicle during which the starter wasn't cranking smoothly, the problems were diagnosed as under:

• Faulty starter motor
• Worn out stabilizer bar bush
• Requirement of greasing AC vent gears
• Requirement of greasing tail gate latch
• Worn out wiper blades.
• Checking battery health and change if required

Since my vehicle has run almost 9000 kms since last periodic service, I decided to get the 40k service also done.

The offers:

Here, the service advisor offered me a Flexi plan under which if I paid for two services at once, I was saving almost 18% of the service cost. So I decided to go in for the two year plan and avail the offer on the current service also.

Apart from this, I was offered extended warranty of one year with 10% discount for around ₹15k.

This came as a surprise because Extended Warranty from a company which has shut shop in India and only providing service and spare support to the customers was a really warm gesture I must say. As such my car was under 5 years extended warranty upto October 2024. I decided to go in for the 6th year extended warranty also.

The estimated expenditure:

The service advisor took me to the office, printed out an estimated cost and explained the repair costs to me which was as under:

• Normal servicing covered under the Flexi Plan to include Engine Oil, Oil Filter, Gasket, Drain Plug and labour Charges.
• Additional charges for expendables like the Air Filter and Cabin Air (AC) filter.
• Stabilizer bush (not covered under warranty)
• Change of wiper blades
• Starter motor change (covered under warranty)hence not charged.

The Flexi Plan and Extended Warranty cost was over and above these expenses.

The Repair Work:

This is where I must compliment the Ford guys. Thorough professional and timely repair work.

The starter motor, stabilizer bar bush were the first to be changed. Followed by routine service : engine oil, filter, etc

Thereafter gen servicing/check up including brakes was done. The pads still had enough bite left and hence no change was recommended.

One good thing was the customer lounge was located on first floor with glass windows all around. So i could see what work was being undertaken.

The Battery and Charging System was checked using Midtronics System under all load conditions and found to be working perfectly. In fact, it generated a report of Good Battery . They were kind enough to share a copy of the report with me.

The AC vents control gear behind the main console was greased by taking out the glove box from where one can access these plastic gears. I was told by the service personnel that this is a recurring problem in many Ecosports, luckily happened with me for the first time.

Accessing and greasing these gears is an art in itself.

The Surprise:

I left for lunch in between and came back at around 2:30pm when I received a call from the service advisor that a major problem was noticed in the vehicle which he wanted to show me before undertaking repairs.

I followed him and he showed me leaking brake fluid from below the master cylinder and told me that a leak from the master cylinder was suspected.

I was quite surprised because never had the vehicle given me any trouble with brakes.

On closer inspection they found some tape stuck on the brake fluid reservoir. On taking out the tape, teeth marks were found below it which indicated that rats had chewn the master cylinder and in the previous service someone would have noticed and taped it up.

Notice the level of brake fluid in the container. Whenever they were attempting to top up brake fluid, it was going over the chewed portion and it was leaking out because over a period of time, the tape lost its adhesive quality. Luckily it was noticed now. I didn't want to take any chance with brake parts and so asked them to replace it immediately. Unfortunately they didn't have one in stock and had to again tape up the container after fixing a plastic piece with Fevikwik. The service advisor however assured me that there was enough fluid in the reservoir and nothing to worry. But cautioned me not to undertake any long journey till the concerned part was replaced.

Final Test/Inspection prior to delivery:

• The new starter cranked without any hiccups
• The crackling sound behind the central console had disappeared
• The rattling noise had disappeared
• The wipers worked perfectly

Only the brake fluid reservoir remains to be replaced on arrival. More on that in the next post.

The Bill Summary:

The final bill worked out to be as under:

• Expendables and Parts changed = ₹2196.00
• 2 years Flexi Plan = ₹7330.00
• 6th Year Extended Warranty = ₹ 15309.00
• Total = ₹ 24,835.00

Some people may feel it's a heavy expenditure but peace of mind always comes at a cost. And with a Ford vehicle it's always better to be covered under warranty. So i went in for the 6th year warranty extension.

Conclusion:

I am happy with the service and repair work done by Kaikan Ford. And recommend Ford owners to visit them purely based on the honest and thorough professional attitude of the employees.
Last but not the least, Ford deserves a clap here. Even after almost two years of stopping sales and production, I must admit they are providing excellent service support to their customers.

Happy Miles to All...

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