Scorpio woes - Part II

The blinking engine malfunction lamp problem had now put me on red-alert. What else was not working, I wondered. I had taken it for granted that the ‘Shift-on-the-fly’ 4WD system would work, without bothering to test it before taking delivery of the vehicle. After all, both the factory as well as the dealership had affixed a whole bunch of ‘OK’ stickers to the windscreen. And every vehicle is supposed to go through a rigorous PDI (pre-delivery inspection) before it gets to the customer. Well, there was just one thing to do – turn the switch and see what happened. My worst fears now came true – nothing happened. The 4WD light on the instrument panel started blinking. It is supposed to blink for 6 seconds and then remain steady. But the blinking wouldn’t stop, and there was no power being transmitted to the front wheels. The 4WD function, for which Mahindra charges more than one lakh rupees over the 2WD version of the Scorpio, was not working! So much for quality control and the PDI!

So back I went to the dealer’s service center. By now, I was truly pissed off, and trying hard to remain calm. At the garage, the vehicle was hoisted up, and an inspection revealed that a coupling had come loose. This was tightened and, this time, the front wheels got engaged when the 4WD switch was turned. How could a coupling be loose in a brand new vehicle? Anyway, it was time for a road test. The Works Manager took the wheel and we turned the switch to 4 Wheel Low. The blinking light continued to blink, and there was no change in the torque. The all important 4WD Low gear wasn’t engaging. Disappointed, I left the vehicle with the garage, to let them figure out what was wrong. Two days later, I was told that some parts had been ordered and that I could take the vehicle home and bring it back when the parts arrived. It turned out to be a long wait. By now, it was obvious to me that I wasn’t going to get anywhere if I didn’t bring some influence to bear. So I called up a Director of the dealership, who is a friend of mine (and a fellow conservationist). He swung into action immediately and made some calls. Suddenly, the situation improved dramatically! I was getting calls from the garage when, previously, my calls were going unanswered. I had now acquired a special respect. So all ye without influence, look before you leap!

To cut a long story short, over the next two weeks, the garage tried changing all kinds of small parts – a switch here, a fuse there – to no avail. Finally, they decided to change what is known as the ECU, a small flat box containing crucial electronics for engagement of the 4 WD. Taking out the old ECU and putting in a new one took only about five minutes. The result? Problem solved. Exactly one month after I had taken delivery of the vehicle, it finally worked the way it should have from day one. If I were Mahindra, I would hang my head in shame. I lost a month of travel time and was put through a lot of aggravation and frustration. But my loss is nothing compared to the company’s. During the time that I was having my problems, several friends, who noticed that I was driving a new vehicle, came over and asked excitedly, “so how’s your new vehicle”? Obviously, I told them exactly how it was. Two of these friends, one the vice chairman of a 400 crore company and the other the head of a large NGO, took this very seriously. I’m sure their next choice of vehicle for their respective organizations will not be a Scorpio. When will Indian companies realize that Indian customers should not be treated like beggars? When will they begin to realize that negative word-of-mouth publicity can be extremely damaging? My friends are likely to tell their friends and the ripple of news will spread far and wide. Who knows how many people will avoid buying Scorpios as a result? It would have cost Mahindra virtually nothing to fix my problem immediately, even if they had to fly in parts and a competent engineer from their factory. By not doing it, they have caused an incalculable loss to their company. Their top brass should ponder about this. Mr. Anand Mahindra should ponder about this. After all, it is his name that the company carries. (COMING NEXT: My overall verdict on the Scorpio).