I & my elder brother have a lot of memories of tagging along Dad and later even reminding him of going to ASC to get the car serviced and tagging along with even my mom who used to meticulously maintain her Kinetic Honda DX.
BHPian Tony2298 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Hello all
As car crazy people we all will agree that we’ve an unshakeable belief that cars do have a soul and these mean a lot more to us than what non-car people see which is just a heap of steel, plastic and rubber. I really LOVE automobiles every bit and I know it sound non-sensible and even rubbish to all non-car people but I don’t care cause automobiles were and are my forever love.
This insane love towards machinery is more or less hereditary to me since my great great grandpa used to own a Ford Phaeton(I know some people will be confused as VWs flagship sedan has had the same name but the car in question is a vintage model dating back to 1920s!), my grandpa owned a Morris 8(this car is still in running condition AFAIK!) and my dad was an IIT graduate and a metallurgical engineer, his first car was none other than the legendary 2001 MS800 and not just any generic one but the ultra rare MPFi 5speed gearbox model and used to go even beyond its speedo indicated top whack of 140kmph!!
I & my elder brother have a lot of memories of tagging along Dad and later even reminding him of going to ASC to get the car serviced and tagging along with even my mom who used to meticulously maintain her Kinetic Honda DX scooter at the ASC, and maybe from that time itself I became deeply passionate into motor workshops and I grew up to become that type of guy who will prefer spending an entire day at a workshop, seeing each and every aspect of my car(s) and two wheelers in detail and observing the entire repair process instead of hanging out with friends at some movie theatre or a restaurant, maybe that’s the reason why I don’t have a GF (yet!!).
He replaced the MS800 with a 2012 Maruti WagonR VXi since he was genuinely impressed with MSILs after-sales, cheap maintenance and lower running costs. The same story continued and since we were kinda grown up by that time we entirely took care of repairing all the vehicles at home and not troubling our parents with these things. However we ensured that the job done is satisfactory and leave no stone unturned to continue the legacy of our parents.
This is one of the many teachings of my parents which have played an immense role in my upbringing and made me self-dependant and made me aware of many a things. I can’t thank them enough for their teachings and values they instilled into us!
Sorry for a longish background but I genuinely think it was important to mention about my parents since at the end of the day this post is related to my Dad’s vehicle only.
Part 1- Service
For a past few years the running has had dropped significantly but still we ensure that the car visits the ASC timely and gets its periodic service done so that it is always roadworthy and can be used without any issues should any need arise, and during its last service many of the stuff viz bearings, headlights and batteries were changed and now lets get into detail about all the maintenance work carried out this year and spoiler alert, its a bit exhaustive and even kind of expensive.
Regarding servicing, I genuinely believe you should always stick to your one trusted ASC and even there try building a rapport with one SA and get your car serviced under him only since he knows you and your car, also don’t be very stingy and allow him to do some optional add-ons viz interior cleaning, A/C Disinfection etc since it gives them some margin and in turn they ensure the work done is top notch. This approach has worked well for my cars and WagonR is no different.
Therefore, I had already informed to my trusty SA about the service and took an appointment for the same, also I requested him to repair my car in priority since I wanted the car before evening since there is nasty congestion and lengthy traffic gridlocks during peak hours on the road just adjacent to my apartment complex.
I reached the ASC at sharp 8:30AM itself since I wanted the first slot for the day. The technical advisor(TA), quite an experienced fellow and working for MSIL for more than 25years now took a short spin and informed about some defect with the brakes and suspension, I wasn’t very sure about the latter but I completely agreed with him about the former, the brakes did become quite weak and the car struggled to brake especially during emergency braking complemented in no small part by the brittle, old tyres.
Anyways the SA arrived soon and by the time he completed all the formalities on his tablet, the car was already into service bay and the work had already started in full swing, since I requested for an express service, entire team of the ASCs most experienced mechanics arrived on the spot!
Even before the job card was opened the car was taken into service bay!
The most elite team of mechanics were assigned to carry out express and perfect service.
On seeing so much action I just couldn’t hold my horses and rushed towards the service bay from the customer lounge to witness the work in proximity and not a single person objected me from standing near my car and/or taking numerous photographs/videos of various stuff!
I seriously hate those ASCs who prohibit customers from standing near their cars while the repair work is going on, I seriously don’t understand why they do this, do they think we will learn stuff and would carry out repair work by ourselves at our home!?
On the contrary, even when I was asking the mechanics about some components and asked some of my doubts instead of getting irritated they enthusiastically explained me each and every stuff and then some!, plus they showed me condition of each and every part and asked for my consent before replacing the necessary ones, also the SA himself denied changing some parts viz Air Filter, Fuel Filter Cartridge etc as those were perfectly in working condition and there’s no point in inflating the bill.
Even he was kind of reluctant towards changing the front brake pads and said I could possibly eek out 4000-5000kms more out of them but I still requested him to get it changed since braking is one aspect I will NEVER take casually.
New brake pads(OEM)
New v/s old, the latter still had a service life of about 5000kms but still decided to get it changed due to safety reasons.
Regarding suspension, the TA was absolutely correct, the front lower arms had bent and rubber bush was completely cracked, immediately asked to replace the front lower arms.
The old worn out lower arms. Both the front suspension lower arms were replaced 
The new arm
The rear end was in much better shape thankfully, the rear brakes were thoroughly cleaned and suspension was inspected and no anomalies were detected.
Also, parallel processing was being applied by the service team to speed up the repair work, interior foam cleaning was carried out and cabin air filter was removed, which was quite filthy which I approved immediately for replacement.
The dirty old cabin filter
New cabin filter
Regarding engine oil, I especially requested the SA for fully synthetic oil that too from Shell only since I’m not fond of Servo, to which he obliged.
Shell Helix 5W30 API SG+ was used, the exact specifications as mentioned in the owners’ manual, the ASC also had option of cheaper Servo which I declined.
While the car was lifted up, I inspected the underbody which sadly was showing some signs of rust, especially the exhaust system, I asked if he could get some sort of underbody coating done upon which he called the guy from accessories department who explained the costing of the same and the fact that the coating would be valid for 5 years and would be thoroughly inspected each time my car enters the ASC. The costing was fair enough and I obliged.
The anti-corrosive coating is made by MSIL EcStar only and not 3M which is used by Hyundai ASC.
Underbody after coating, looks waayyy better and even wheel arches were coated making the things look neater by miles.
Even though they carried out all the tasks as fast as they possibly could, it was already afternoon till the time washing was completed, which I must mention was FOC for me since MSIL is offering some discounts on service due to Holi, it took a really long time before the underbody coating was started since there was a hell lot of rush due to infinite deliveries of new cars from the attached showroom in lieu of this auspicious occasion.
The veteran stands strong and healthy among all the newborns!
After all the work pertaining to car was completed, I spotted some dirt on my car, pointed it to the SA, who immediately got the car washed, waxed and polished from the showroom guys itself!
While at the accessories department I saw a really nice Musk perfume which btw was official Nexa accessory and wayyy better than usual Godrej aer, picked it up, also I spotted a body graphic with stylised WagonR lettering and this has been discontinued by MSIL, therefore I picked it up since some time in the future I will get the doors changed since one of the doors of the car is severely scratched and dented post which I would stick these graphics.
The final bill which came out was almost 18,000INR. Expensive, yes but totally worth it and do note, it does include all the accessories and underbody coating. So I didn’t mind the service cost at all and at the end of the day if my Dad’s car is running in perfect shape, there’s no better feeling for me than the same!
Since the car was running low on fuel, tanked up to the brim post service. The thing which stood out the most was the significant improvement in braking performance, in fact I had to measure the pedal input since even with light tap to the B pedal the car was literally dropping the anchor!
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