[Resolved]  Maruti Swift VXI — Complaint against SWIFT VXI:CLUTCH-PLATE BURNT 100 % COTTON-LIKE in 2 months and drive of 350 KMS

Address:

Pune, Maharashtra

DEAR SIR, I have purchased a Maruti Swift- Petrol car from Sai Services- Pune, bearing ch no. MA3EHKD1S00678060, and with RTO passing no MH12 Delivered on date: 30th June 2014 Till 28th August-14, the vehicle had run for a total of 350 Kms only, and had undergone one servicing. On 28th Aug-14, I started from Baner-Pune to go to Kolhapur at 7 AM, with my father, Ashok Kulkarni, in the driver’s seat. He had owned Maruti cars from 1995 onwards and has driven around 2 lakhs kms in his life. We reached the Khambatki Ghat at about 8=30 AM. There was moderate traffic and jamming in the Ghat and we cleared the jamming in about 10 minutes and reached half of the Ghat section where there clear road.There, suddenly the vehicle started behaving strangely and stopped taking load and could not go ahead. After a minute smoke started coming from the bonnet. We stopped the car immediately and took it to one side. We then spoke to the service station at Pune, who told us to wait for fifteen minutes and try starting again. We did so, but without any effect. The car would no go ahead, in any gear it was free. We again spoke to Pune- service station, who gave opinion that the clutch would have burnt. And in this condition, the car needed to be towed to nearest service station. He then gave the number of 24X7 service[protected], for assistance. We rang the above number and gave all the details, about car, location etc. After 10 minutes we got a message that the complaint has been registered, complaint no. 817033 dt. 28-08-14, some technician/ help would call. But no such call or help contacted us for about an hour. Since we had woman and child of four years with us and stranded in the Ghat with continuous one way traffic. We decided after one hour to ask for another help. We were then approached by the owner of Jeet Automobiles at Pargaon Khandala, which is at 5-7 kms from our location but on the Pune side.He said that the vehicle would need towing to his workshop at Pargaon, where the clutch assembly would need replacement. The car was then towed with his arrangements, first toward Satara to clear the one way Ghat section and them backwards through the tunnel to Pargaon. We reached the work shop at about 11 am.He informed that one car is already under repairs at his work shop, so our work would start at 2 pm. Meanwhile, we again tried to contact on the toll free number. When we informed them that no one has approached us and asked for the status of our complaint, they could not give any feed back and tried to register a second complaint at that time. We then told them that, due their non response, we had to take the available course of action. When the clutch was opened at the work shop, it was found totally burnt and steel plates had become plane. The fibre material has turned into ash-like threads. The mechanic opined that he has never seen such a clutch plate and there must be some fault in the system. He advised us to take the whole burnt parts and show to Maruti servicemen.The work shop charged us Rs. 1600/- for towing, Rs. 4000/- for the new clutch plate assembly, and Rs. 3700/- as labour & conveyance charges. In all Rs.9300/- After all this harrowing experience we decided to stay at Pargaon for the night and started at 7 AM on 29th for Kolhapur, crossed the Khambataki Ghat and reached at 9=30 AM without any problem. The breakdown narrated above has following worrying points for us;1. The new car with only a running of less than 400 kms had a major breakdown. The breakdown in Ghat section could have been dangerous also.2. With the experience of the driver (my father) and the mechanics, there had to be a fault in the new car to result in such a mishap.3. We did register for 24X7 assistance which is promised in such situations, but did not get any help. No one bothered to co-ordinate or track our situations, nor anyone called / approached us. Even after 5 hours of the incident, we could not get status of our registered complaint.4. We had to spend about Rs. 10, 000/- and precious time with uncared for feeling due to non-responsiveness from Maruti service.5. We had to get the work done from a non-Maruti work shop.6. We are worried whether the car is road worthy / trust worthy or not. Therefore, we would urge Maruti to take following steps to give us confidence and re-align us to your services immediately; 1. Please reimburse all the expenses we incurred in this incident.2. Please check the vehicle once again at Pune and declare it fit as per Maruti standard.3. Please enquire why such break down should have taken place and assure us.4. Please enquire why we could not get the 24X7 assistance, in spite of informing the concerned agencies promptly.5. Please check the repairs/ replacement done and certify it to be correct. Otherwise, please arrange to correct it.6. Please respond to this complaint quickly. MILIND KULKARNImilind.[protected]@gmail.comPUNE