Pathetic Experience with Volkswagen Pondicherry


Thread Starter #1
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Messages
16
Likes
0
Location
pondicherry
I took the delivery of my vento Tdi highline on the first week of february 2012 from "The star cars" Pondicherry(the place where i live).
Since then I've been having a horrid time whenever i had to visit the the service center. We had two horrible experience with them. The first one was when they offered us with free Lumar sunfilm worth 4k since we were the first customer to book a car from this new and only dealership in Pondicherry.

So I took the car to the service center for the installation of sunfilm and they promised me to finish the work by 5.00 in the evening. And when i came back to take my car from the service center by around 5.15, I was surprised to see that they were just starting to install the sunfilm. I had to wait there for around 45 minutes to get it done. And finally when they handed me over the car, i was shocked to see the way the installed the sunfilm. There were huge bubbles in the newly installed sunfilm and the quarter glass area of the c pillar had no sunfilm on it. When i raised my concerns, our sales executive (who was then taking care of the installation process) called the guy who installed the sunfilm. It was weird that this guy was not in the uniform, which the volkswagen mechanics use to wear. And when i asked my sales rep about the same, he told me the mechanics dont install sunfilms and so this guy was hired from somewhere else to get such job done. Then i pointed out my complaints to the guy and he tried to reduce the bubbles as much as possible with the heating tool he had. And when i asked about the quarter glass area of the c pillar, this was his reply

"Sir I taught you didnt want me to stick sunfilm on the quarter glass since you will find it hard while you reverse"

and i was like [confused] for a moment. Since i didnt want to create a scene, I tried to be composed and told him that i wanted the quarter glass area to be tinted. I had wait for another 10 minutes to get it done and finally i was relieved to get behind the wheels. And then I picked my Dad from his office and as we driving home, I was talking to my Dad about what had happened in the service center and he too was not impressed by the work.When we reached home, my Dad was not able to open the door from inside. We were confused for a moment kept trying to open the door.Then i thought the child lock was on and i got out of the car and tried to open it from outside, and it opened up finally. Then when i tried to release the childlock, I realized that the front doors dont usually have a childlock!! then i closed the door and tried to open it again from the inside and I was shocked to find that the door handle was moving freely than it usually does since it was not connected to the door release latch. Soon me and my Dad started checking all the doors and power window buttons and we found that the boot release button on the driver side was damaged badly the button completely went in.

We were really upset and couldnt believe that this happend to our 3 days old car. The next day I visited the service center to fix this problem and the SE aplologized for what had happened and told me that the guy who installed the sun film didnt know much about the door mechanism in VW cars and he added that VW was different door mechanism from other cars and the SE promised me to fix the problems. When i came back to take the delivery, they had fixed everything up. The door handle was ok but the boot release button was not replaced. They actually fixed it by taking out the damaged button and sticked it with some kind of gum and they told me that it would never cause any problem in the future.But after few days when i tried to open the boot using the boot release button,it again went in. I freaked out for a moment but when tried to pull it out, it came back to its normal position. But then i had to use the remote to open the boot even when i was inside the car and so my dad took the car to the service center this time and met up with the newly appointed service manager and told him about what had happened. He apologized and promised to replace the button when it arrives and also promised that there would be no more trouble with the service and that was a fair deal.

After the car was 2 months old and it had clocked around 2500kms we had to visit cochin, which is our hometown. I was really excited to take our new car for a long drive and was also happy that the run-in period was over. But just 2 days before we were going to kerala I found some greasy fluid where we use to park our car. I was concerned if it was the engine oil. So i checked the oil level, it was not full. Then i took it to the service station for a general check up and also told them about the leakage. After the check up, they told me there is no problem, but the engine oil level was not full. They also suggested me that i dont need to top up now and the car was fine to go for a long drive. I was not fully convinced but had no other option but to listen to them.

So we went to kerala on our vento and the next day when we took the car from the garage, we again found the leakage. We confirmed that it was the engine oil leak. Since it was sunday, we were not able to take it to a service center. We also had to reach pondicherry on monday, we planned to visit the dealership in thrissur which was on our way back to pondicherry. The reception in the dealership was really good. The service manager was very friendly and he asked us to wait for sometime till they could diagnose the problem. After some time he came and told us that the oil was leaking and he wanted some time to analyse what the problem was. Then he told us that it must be the problem of a faulty sealant or something and if we wanted to replace it, it would take a week for the sealant to arrive and get it done. Since we had to reach pondicherry by the evening, he told us that he would top up the oil and suggested us to carry 1 liter oil can along with us as a precautionary measure. But by God's grace there was no leakage after that. Even after two weeks we did not find any leakage. But we wanted to report this problem to the dealership in pondicherry.

So we took the car to volkswagen pondicherry to check this problem. Meanwhile we were told that the beige color seat covers we asked for on our previous visits to the dealership had arrived. Since the seat cover that was available at the dealership was really good, we were tempted to go for it. I asked the Sales person if the seat cover installation is done by someone who is trained well, his reply was "yes sir. This time we wont disappoint you. Our workers can do it perfectly". But me and my dad had a discussion if we should get the seat cover installation done from the dealership where they spoiled our sunfilm or if we should wait till our next visit to ernakulam to get it done by the volkswagen dealer there. But finally we made up our minds and asked the dealer to install the seat cover while they handle the oil leak problem. They happily agreed with the same and told us that they would call my dad by the evening to let us know when we will get the car back. In the evening, my dad had to call them since he didnt receive any call from the dealer. Then they told us that the seat cover installation was done but the oil leak problem was not yet sorted since there was no electricity.

Since it was saturday, we asked them if we could take the car and bring it back on monday for the remaining work and they agreed. As we reached the service center, we started checking out the brand new seat cover. The seat cover was really good, but we started noticing some imperfection in the installation. The rear handrest cover was not fixed properly. We also noticed that one of the rear headrests was not properly slotted in. When we took it out and tried to slot it properly, the headrest didnt go inside the slot. When we asked them about this, they fixed it up. Then we drove home and we were relieved that there were no other major issues. The next day, we found that the rear passenger seat belts buckles were missing as they were not pulled up after the seat cover installation.We also found that the seat cover was hiding the ergo lever behind the co-driver's seat. We were also freaked out as we found a loose screw lying inside the car. We were really vexed this time. So my dad took the car to the service center on monday and gave service manager a piece of his mind. The service manager called the mechanics and asked them to fix the problems. When my dad asked them about the screw we found lying inside the car, their reply was
"Sir that it must be a SPARE SCREW or something", for which my dad replied " Spare screw?? Aww that must be a new innovation in german technology?? " :lol!: the mechanics stood numb. They promised that they will fix the issue and check if the screw belonged to our car and also fix the oil leak problem by the evening. So when we got the car by the evening, they fixed the seat cover issues and they told us that the screw we found did not belong to our car. They also told us that the oil leak was due to a loose nut. We were not really convinced, but they assured us that there wont be oil leak problem anymore. Then we took our car and decided that we would never get any accessories or work done by this dealer again. But fate made us visit the dealer on the very next day as we found a new issue with the seat cover installation again. This time we found the lower part of the rear seat was shaking!!! the lower part of the rear seat was not locked into the slot. My dad suspected that the absence of the screw which the mechanic claimed to be a Spare Screw was the reason for the shake. I also found that even the driver seat was a bit shaky. The next thing my dad did was to email a complaint to Volkswagen feedback about this issue.

The next day, my dad got a call from the dealer asking the reason why we complained to volkswagen despite fixing our problems. My dad replied that we would go there along with our car to show them the after effects of their perfect seat cover installation. Then I took our car to the service center and pointed out the new problems. They apologized once again and promised me that they would fix those issue by evening. And when i went to take the car they had fixed the rear seat issue. But the driver seat was still shaking!!! when i raised my concern, they came up with another lame excuse that it was a common problem due to weak rails or something. Since I didnt have enough time to argue with them and we were getting late for an appointment, I just left that cursed place. And recently, we also found out that the seat cover was a bit torn near the rear head rest.(should have happened during our second or third visit to the service center to fix the problem). We have had enough!!!

Now we are not sure if we would do our first service in the pondicherry dealership. If they cant install a seat cover properly, how can one expect them to do a good job with the vital parts of the car?? We are really vexed with them. They spoiled our new seat covers and sunfilm. We are not sure if they fixed the oil leak problem since there was no leak after our visit to volkswagen thrissur. Recently I have also noticed that the punch you get in the vento is reduced(i'm not sure though). And the mileage has also dropped after the oil leak problem. I want to take our car to a trustworthy dealership for a check up. So please give me a suggestion. Fellow Volkswagen owners who stay in Kerala or Chennai, how do you rate your dealership??? One of my friend told me that there is a service outlet in ernakulam exclusively for vento. Is that for real??
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Joined
Nov 13, 2011
Messages
398
Likes
30
Location
City of Pearls
Wow basil didn't expect the dealership to be such substandard & shoddy in their workmanship! I wonder if the mechs are competent enough to identify the problem & fix it so it doesn't repeat again! I guess the dealership where they discovered there is indeed oil leak might be a good idea unless they are far away from your location....
 
Joined
Oct 8, 2011
Messages
1,558
Likes
457
Location
Bangalore
My aunt who stays close to us has a Vento diesel,it failed to engage into reverse numerous times & finally when they said they will change the whole gear box the car is incomplete even after 2 months,its going to be two months (in 2 days from now),i guess my aunt is preparing a case & this dealership is in Bangalore so dealership in big cities are'nt the best either,

but i am really curious to know the reason behind the seat shaking our TAi member Jalex had mentioned a Polo having seat rust issues
 
Last edited:
Thread Starter #4
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Messages
16
Likes
0
Location
pondicherry
Wow basil didn't expect the dealership to be such substandard & shoddy in their workmanship! I wonder if the mechs are competent enough to identify the problem & fix it so it doesn't repeat again! I guess the dealership where they discovered there is indeed oil leak might be a good idea unless they are far away from your location....
yeah mate no one would have expected this from a dealership. I trusted the dealership blindly. And the dealership where they diagnosed the oil leak is actually far away from my location. [cry]

My aunt who stays close to us has a Vento diesel,it failed to engage into reverse numerous times & finally when they said they will change the whole gear box the car is incomplete even after 2 months,its going to be two months (in 2 days from now),i guess my aunt is preparing a case & this dealership is in Bangalore so dealership in big cities are'nt the best either,

but i am really curious to know the reason behind the seat shaking our TAi member Jalex had mentioned a Polo having seat rust issues
OMG!! 2 months?? that's ridiculous!!! BTW i suspect the seat shake is due to the careless seat cover installation since i noticed it only after we got the seatcovers installed.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Joined
Dec 19, 2012
Messages
1
Likes
0
Location
Chennai
VW Pondichery - Worst Service Backup in India is VW Pondichery Star Cars

Dont leave your vehicle for service in pondichery. Better you wait for sometime and let your vehicle serviced in chennai or some other good place.

Simply they will increase the cost of the vehicle and mis guide you like anything.
Dont ask them to change any parts which they prompt you to change. Ask them to give you the old parts. My right side door couldnot be controlled from the driver side. so when i asked him to check, Vijayakumar told that switch needs to be changed and it costs Rs. 3000/-. But i took it to chennai ambattur where they just cleaned the contacts and with free of cost it is working now.
Dr. Vijayakumar is bloughing like anything and he doesnt know anything about the car other than increasing the spare consumables so that he can bring the bill amount more. I had a very bad experience with Volks Wagen Pondichery Star Cars and dont leave your vehicle for service there.
 
Joined
Jan 7, 2013
Messages
1
Likes
0
Location
Puducherry
Sharing my experience with VW Pondicherry. I booked a POLO comfortline Petrol version on Nov and the dealer promised they will deliver in 2 weeks time. But it's almost 2 months over and they don't even answer properly. Many time the sales person doesn't even pick the call. I still didn't got a date when the car will be delivered.

On top of this, the customer service person from VW calls me and ask for the feedback about the dealer. When I start complaining about the dealer, they didn't even listened for my complains and disconnected the call.

Is it wise to cancel by booking?
 
Joined
Feb 3, 2012
Messages
1,436
Likes
100
Location
Ghaziabad
Sharing my experience with VW Pondicherry. I booked a POLO comfortline Petrol version on Nov and the dealer promised they will deliver in 2 weeks time. But it's almost 2 months over and they don't even answer properly. Many time the sales person doesn't even pick the call. I still didn't got a date when the car will be delivered.
On top of this, the customer service person from VW calls me and ask for the feedback about the dealer. When I start complaining about the dealer, they didn't even listened for my complains and disconnected the call.
Is it wise to cancel by booking?
I am assuming you have paid the booking amount and also filled the booking form. Did your dealer fill 'expected date' column in the booking form?
Try to log a complaint on the email id given on Volkswagen India website, by quoting the expected delivery date given by your dealer.
 

Top Bottom