Dear Mr. Boss please provide your support and advice. I have a Maruti Ritz ( photos you can find in this forum under petrohead) well maintained and only in authorized service station. I do have a conflict on the EPS system and I'm at present in a heated discussion, on going. I have written to Maruti HQ and their Area Managers. Please see the extract of my emails below. Kindly help me also let our petroheads know like this happens and the cost that follows.
( the first email and the second one I had sent to Maruti offical is given below )
Dear Sir,
Good Day
Please be informed that on 17/12/2015 I took my car Ritz ( registered in my wife name ) to HAR Auto PVT. LTD to sort out the nagging noise issue of ‘ thud-thud’ sound coming out of the left hand side front wheel, whenever I would be driving on unpaved or rough pasco paved concrete roads.
On having the car visually lifted and checked at HAR Autos, the Service Supervisor who was helpful and understanding informed me of some parts to be replaced, which I promptly said ‘ go ahead and change’. A bill for Rs.5000 was charged ( Bill no. BC15008871 ) attached. But, as I took out the vehicle the sound was still there but little lessened I suppose. I pointed this problem to the Service Supervisor , and he informed that it is due steering box rack bush, which is worn out and that Maruti do not have this spare part !!! and I need to change the whole assembly of steering rack costing approx. Rs. 23,000 which is really shocking. For a small steering box rack bush problem, one does not need to change the whole assembly.
Please note that I’m a dedicated customer of Maruthi from 2005 onwards and intend to do so for future too. Not even for a single repair the car has been given to any unauthorized workshop all these years and all my friends also do the same. I’m not a first timer of Maruthi products, which so far has proved reliable and budget wise worthy, until I find the above issue , which I hope will be solved with your kind intervention and the spare part given to me.
N.B: The Service Supervisor had informed me that the reason for worn out part was due to me fixing of oversized tyres for my Ritz, which I don’t think is quite true. My brother-in-law who is a mechanic in Gulf is owing a WagonR and having normal tyres and has only recently replaced the steering box rack bush ( spare - which is avaialble for Wagaon-R) . His car has run as of date around 55,000 kms.
I do appreciate an early response and I know that Maruti do take great care of their customers.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully
Rajesh Retnakar
________________________________________
Good day
Please note that I’m awaiting a response from your end on the way forward to repair my car. I have indeed checked the actual cost of the whole assembly and cost Rs.28,000 and not 23,000 as I have mentioned earlier. I’m an active member and have checked in various forums ( car enthusiast forums ) and found out, lots of people go for upsizing their tyre, but why this hidden cost and also the hype of the safety issues. Maruti must make it available in their workshop through their vendors. This is now taking people for a ride, for a simple part change costing maybe around Rs.500 ..say Rs.1000, one has to cough out Rs.28,000!!!
Give a response whether the worn out part will be made available for me ( my case is not only the isolated case) lots of people have this. Some of them may have gone for aftermarket or unauthorized place for repairs. But I need the trusted Maruti to take up the repairs. We believe all Maruti vehicles high level of maintenance free comparing to other cars, but cases like this needs to be looked into seriously. Hope my case has been REGISTERED with Maruti.
Regards
Rajesh Retnakar
Boss
I had indeed contacted one of my friend Mechanic who has a big lathe shop and he informed that that this work is a simple one. He can repair it and he has done for lot of cars. Costs less than Rs.1000/- to get the job done. Only he needs the steering box brought to him, but I want Maruti to take up this issue and give me a proper response.