Since we had a long weekend, we thought of escaping the hot and humid climate of Cochin to some offbeat high range to avoid the crowd.
BHPian naveen.raju recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Service Update
Car completed its annual service few months back with no new issues except for the hard clutch and rear power windows not working.
Opted for PPS Service centre with whom I had quite a good experience couple of times. Only when I reached there I realised that my usual service advisor moved to the body shop. This would totally change my experience with them.
The new advisor was in super hurry. He was complaining that since couple of authorised dealers closed down, they had a huge inflow of vehicles. These guys repeatedly called me and reminded me of the booking (Was sort of wanting me to bring my car there). Anyhow, I asked him to get only the required service items done and no optional service items including wheel alignment and balancing. I also tried to explain about the hard clutch and asked about the estimate. He blindly quoted 25k and would take min 4 days to complete the work. Since the dude was in a super hurry, I decide to leave.
Bill comes to around 10k with optional AC disinfectant and engine bay dressing done for which I didn’t confirm.
Anyways, this was anyway better than what happened next when I went to replace the clutch – Read the entire ordeal here:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india…ml#post5829857
Changed the clutch set, cleaned the EGR which came to 22k. The clutch now feels really light (not as light as the Grand i10) and the engine breathes really well now.
Got the alignment done as well.
Accessory Update:
Have been eyeing couple of small yet useful accessories for the car. Posting it here since at times reviews of such small accessories are hard to find.
Trunk Organizer:
The truck is mostly cluttered with couple of empty bottles, duster, umbrella and what not. Yet, some of the useful accessories are at home. Bought this for around 650 from Amazon. Although quality could have better, it provides ample storage with many small pouches which I wanted.
GFX floor mats:
Although I wanted a 3D/4D mat, I wasn’t keen on spending a bomb. Also, I had purchased mats from Ford and loved the mats as it hid most of the muck/dirt. Since it didn’t cover the entire floor area, I was on a look for mats.
Came across GFX many months back but was in two minds since it was kind of PVC material which meant it would be hard (maybe uncomfortable?) and would highlight the dirt/muck etc.
Seeing good reviews and a reasonable cost, I decided to go for it. Amazon didn’t have stock but many individual stores had listed it for sale. “Car Hatke” listed it for 3,300 and they responded to many queries immediately. Got the mats delivered in a week.
After using it for a month:
1. It does feel like a plastic tray but not uncomfortable.
2. Premium lookPerfect fit.
3. Keep any loose objects on the mats and it can cause a bit of noise.
4. The polished look will disappear in a week.
5. Easy to clean.
Drive:
Since we had a long weekend, we thought of escaping the hot and humid climate of Cochin to some offbeat high range to avoid the crowd. Luckily, someone close to my friend had a small stay inside his cardamon estate.
Thanks to the holiday season, the initial route was packed but Google suggested some inner roads that had zero traffic and the roads were pretty good. Had many steep inclines but thanks to the recent work on the engine, it was effortless and a joy to drive.
Nothing fancy – just a basic room but the highlight was the location and the ambience especially at night.
Total distance (round trip) – 270kms
Lazed around this place for 3 days.
Parting shot
Odo stands at little over 97k kms
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