[Resolved]  Maruti Suzuki Esteem — Damage of vehicle by service sentre employees.

I had given my Esteem VX model for general servicing & oil change on Tuesday, 29th April 2008 to Kulkarni Motors (Authorized Maruti Service Centre) In Viman Nagar, Pune. I gave my car to them in an immaculate condition. I received my car from them on 2nd May 2008 & was shocked to see the worst condition of my so pampered & loved car.

1. The front bumper of car was in almost 2 pieces.
2. The left indicator was punched inside the body of the car.
3. Bonnet’s alignment was towards the left side.
4. Bonnet got more than 7 to 8 dents on it.
5. Bonnet was almost half inch above the headlights.
6. The paint of the bumper was cracked.


When I questioned them about the condition of the car, no one took the responsibility & no one answered me that why it happened & how it happened. The owner of the service centre Mr.Kulkarni was present around so I called him to inspect the vehicle. He inspected the vehicle & completely agreed that something has happened to it & said he is not sure that how it happened & who was responsible. He asked me to come to the service centre the next day. I visited the service centre next day & Mr.Kulkarni stated that the mechanic (Ghansham) agreed that he was responsible for some kind of accident / mishap of the vehicle. The mechanic said that he was trying to take the test drive of the vehicle but the bleeding of break was not done so he banged the vehicle in some other vehicle. I was asked to give them the car so that they can repair it. I gave my car to them for the repairs on Monday, 5th May 2008 & was told that they will give me a call when the repairs are done. I was called by them the very next day i.e.; on Tuesday, 6th may 2008, the car was still in a bad condition.


1. The dents on bonnet were visible.
2. The paint of the bumper had more cracks on it.
3. The indicator was still punched inside the body.

I asked the workshop supervisor Raj about the condition of the car. He stated, “We don’t want to spend money on it so we just tried to clear the dents on it by doing minor denting job”. I requested him to please get the repairs done properly so that I get some satisfaction of the job done, after a conversation of more than an hour the supervisor agreed to do the job & asked me to take the delivery of the car from them on Saturday, 10th May 2008. I went to the workshop on 10th evening to take the delivery but still the work was not done & I was asked to come again on Monday, 12th May 2008. I visited the workshop on Tuesday, 13th May at 10’ O Clock in the morning to take the delivery of the car, car was not repaired properly, the paint job done is bad & the car has different shades of color now. They again banged the car from behind during these days (from 5th May to 13th May), the boot of car got a major dent on it on right hand side ( the place where the sticker of Esteem VX is placed), I told them about the new accident but they did not agree to it & replied very rudely, “ Free mei gaadi itni paint kar di hai ab aur kya kare aapke liye” (We have done this much of work for free for you now we cant do any more.)

I am very disappointed with the misbehavior done with me. The present condition of the car due to the accidents is very bad.

1. The paint work is very poor.
2. Paint has different shades.
3. The left wheel of car is making bad noises when turning the steering to right hand side.
4. The silencer of car is making sounds like an auto rickshaw’s silencer.
5. The part inside the bumper is in a wrong shape due to the first accident by Ghansham.
6. The boot of car has a major dent on the right hand side.
7. The bonnet of the car is still not aligned & is more towards the left side of the vehicle.

For two weeks I had been hiring car to travel to my office by spending Rs.1300 per day. I visited the workshop for more than 5 times & spent a lot of money for that. I had mental stress due to all these incidents. The people use to complement my car by saying, “we have never seen such a well maintained Esteem” & now they ask me about the worst condition of my car which has spoiled my social image.

We have been using Maruti cars from March of 1985 till date & I was planning to buy a Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire VDI in next month but now due to this entire episode I am totally dissatisfied with the service of Maruti & plan to cancel the purchase of any Maruti vehicle in future. My colleague already took quotation for WagonR Duo but now he also plans to buy a Santro in spite of buying a WagonR. I will make sure that no one in my friend circle, family or my colleagues buys a Maruti product.

I request Maruti to contact me & do something about the car or else I will be forced to tell the complete incident to my lawyer who can communicate with the dealer & Maruti Udyog legally & get everything solved. I am a customer & I am aware about all my rights. I along with my lawyer will also plan to give details about this complete story to media so that the customers of Maruti Suzuki can be aware about my dissatisfaction from the bad service by Maruti & also be aware about the misbehavior done with me by Maruti service centre employees.

I have the old pictures of my car which I can present to my lawyer along with new pictures. I have the invoice of the services done & also have the records of the phone calls made to the service centre & to Mr.Kulkarni.

Regards,
Nitin Sachdev
Flat.203, Bldg. A1,
Rakshak Nagar Gold,
Kharadi,
Pune-411014.
Maharashtra, India.
Mob. [protected] & [protected]
nitin.v.[protected]@gmail.com