Dear Sir,
Please note as folows.
1. I was the owner of Maruti Zen LX from October, 1999 to Oct and I had not faced a single major problem for last 11 years.
2. I have so much faith on Maruti that on 09/10, I decided to buy Maruti A-Star ZX I (Sunlight Copper) on exchange basis from Machno Techno Sales Ltd, 4A Alipore Road, Kolkata:27. Car Detail as follows. Model: AMF- 310 / Chasis No:320107/Engine No:1220179/Key No: IPS 991/Date of Delivery:04 Km/Mileage:04 Km in the name of Sanjoy Bhattacharya of 4 Indrani Park, Kolkata:7000 33
3. At the time delivery it came to my notice that the distance covered by the car as per counter on the dashboard was 180 km whereas the logged distance on the owner manual was only 4 km. Being raised this issue, the customer representative informed that as per Maruti, they are entitled to use till 200 km before delivery if required. I believed him on good faith.
4. Before delivery I found that the car was not provided with seat adjuster as promised in the Brochure. The dealer ensured that they will take up this matter to Maruti and the defect was entered on the challan.
5. The car offered to me as per dealers convenience was manufactured on May. at existing market price. But the dealer had confirmed that all features on this car was up-to-date and no modification was carried out on this model since May. Again I believed him on good faith.
6. I have sent a e-mail to customer care stating all defects on 09/10 and also on 11/10 and yet to receive any positive response. They had cited all lame excuses for not providing sea adjuster in my car.
7. I went for a long drive from Kolkata to Maithon (about 40 km from Assansol) on 19/10 with my family keeping running in sequence for a new car in mind and my observations were as follows. With A/C in off mode, At higher speed the car is moving smoothly without any problem.
At slow speed, in second gear and in third gear, the car is taking long time to pick up speed.
During uphill climbing, even at a gradient of 20 degree in second gear, the car pulling power was very poor and engine started knocking and came to dead stop more than once.
This is unlikely in a new engine unless something is seriously wrong. Same was witnessed later by LK Motor technician.
I arrived Maithon and parked my car in front of West Bengal Tourist Lodge at 1100 Hrs on 19/10/201. At 1800 Hrs I could not open the door by remote key. Previously the Keyless entry system used to malfunction at times. However on further inspection I found my car battery had got discharged completely. Please note there was no pre-warning on the display panel during driving from Kolkata to Maithon. So it was expected that alternator performance was satisfactory.
8. I contacted my dealer (Machino Tech) and with their help Amron dealer at Dhanbad contacted me but they expressed their inability to provide any spare battery or make any arrangement for charging on 19th and even on 20th. Instead, they suggested to remove the discharged battery from place and transport to Dhanbad at their doorstep (40 km from Maithon) on 20/10 being aware of the fact that I was a stranger to that place. Please find Dhanbad Amron representative contact no for your information. Mobile: 9771436681
9. On 20/10, through my dealer (Machino Tech), I had contacted Maruti on Road Service and they have registered my complaint but possibly could not locate my position. Finally I had removed the discharged Battery myself and transported to Exide distributor at Barakar (8 km from Maithon) for charging for 24 hrs. Later with local help I had contacted LK Motors Private Ltd (Maruti Authorised Service Station/By Pass NH2 Chalbalpur, Chowrangi, Burdwan). They took my car for servicing at 1800 hrs and delivered on 21/10 after adjusting IC Duty timing as per their version. Total charges of Rs 672.83 were paid for their attendance although the car was purchased only 10 days back. However they could not find the reason for lack of power in second gear and finally conceded that it is natural in 3 cylinder A-Star engine.
10. In between I had contacted customer representative of Machino Tecno and narrated my painful experiences after taking over a brand new car. They confirmed verbally by telecon that they will replace the battery, replace the front seat and sent the car for thorough servicing on 24/10.
11. So my entire holiday planning was shelved and my mental peace is completely hampered after buying this brand new car from a renowned company.
12. After going through this experience and series of embarrassment, I have a feeling that the car allotted to me was a used car, possibly used on test drive for other customers, lying for a long time in the godown unattended and had been manhandled in the past. Please note other Maruti Dealers around West Bengal and also in Kolkata have confirmed that normally all new cars are delivered with distance reading on the dashboard roughly should not exceed more than 35 kms. After buying a new car if I have to sent it for servicing within 10 day, I do not know how many times I have to pay visit to your workshop in near future.
13. Now I regret for my decision to buy new car from Maruti.
With new car under warranty period, with engine knocking and absence of any pulling power in second gear during uphill even at a gradient of 20 degree, abnormal FO cons, intermittent starting of radiator cooling fan are all indicating towards defective engine.
I will highly appreciate if you take up this matter seriously and arrange to replace the car without prejudice.
Best Regards
Sanjoy Bhattacharya
(Chief Engineer)
Mitsui OSK Lines
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