Friday, December 15, 2006
Scorpio woes - Public Response
In the 24 hours since I posted my last 'Scorpio woes' piece, this blog has received over 300 hits, and I think that's just great! Thank you! Given the generally uncaring attitude of Indian manufacturers, and the time it takes to get relief from the Consumer Court, the net is such a fantastic way of spreading the word around. A few more hundred hits, and perhaps Mahindra will sit up and take notice!
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11 comments:
Well, you can thank Venkat who put your link on the Palio User Group and thus the rise in the number of hits. On a different note, now that the reality of the Mahindra Vehicle is out, what do you think of the Innova. From What i have heard is that the qualis had the chasis of Mahindra, which was withdrawn by Mahindra when they started manufacturing Scorpio, and thus the Qualis was discontinued. And the general impression amongst various tourist drivers is that INnova is more pricey to maintain. What are your view on that? Do you think Innova is also a plastic vehicle like the scorpio or is it as good as the qualis???
Rgds
And by the way.. you are most welcome at PalioUsersIndia@yahoogroups.com. It would be great to have you onboard...
Thanks Anand, for your comments, and thanks to Venkat too. About the Innova, it's a superb verhicle. A couple of my friends have it and they absolutely love it. I've driven it and have travelled in it and it's a real joy. If I absolutely didn't need 4WD, I would have bought an Innova with my eyes closed!
That's what happens when you complicate simple technology :-) Great read Shekar. The link was put up on our yahoo usergroup too (jeep_thrills) by Shalini Umachandran. The case of the Scorpio seems to be a great topic to discuss about. We have been having a couple of Scorpios joining us on offroad trips. Please check the link to the group:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/jeep_thrills/
Cheers!
Anjan
Thanks Anjan, for your comments. I'll definitely check out the link you've mentioned. Cheers!
hey shekar well i know u were looking for a decent 4WD.. did u try the Adventure? ..I own one.2WD and shez a nice semi off roader may b u should try.. i guess there are people who convert her to a 4WD
Hi Srini, actually I didn't even know about the Adventure at that stage! I don't think a non 4WD would work for me. The only thing that will really get you moving on sand and through slush is a 4WD and I don't know enough to start trying to retrofit an Adventure with a 4WD gear box! And by the way, if it's such a great car, why the **** don't they have a 4WD version on the market themselves?! Would save us all a lot of trouble and aggro!
Hi Shekhar, its a pity that you've had a bitter experience and it is indeed a gross fault on the part of M&M. But if you recall the Qualis, which you have praised repeatedly, was a 80's design dumped into India by a foreign manufacturer. Now I'm not proposing that we must boycott foreign manufactured goods since even the Scorpio used to have a Bosch manufactured Crde pump, which was initially imported completely. But then its an all Indian effort that counts. The whole concept of Toyota products being reliable is based upon being manufactured by a group of Japanese who charge exhorbitant rates for their service. Infact the door that you have spoke about, costs about Rs.5700 for a Scorpio compared to Rs.16500 for the Innova. Now what have you got to say to that?
I too need utility vehicles for my work, though not 4X4 ones. Being a happy Scorpio user for over two years, I have had an even bitter experience with a Sumo which I had owned for 7 years. And I have heard and read even worse tales about the Tata Safari. But these are all Indian efforts and so I have a lot of respect for that. Its tight cost constraints that makes Indian engineering really commendable than their international counterparts.
And having said that, I would like to suggest that you should have bought a Pajero(if budget would permit) or a Bolero 4X4(again might be a bit difficult to live with). You could get a reasonable price for your Scorpio as they tend to lose value really slow in the second hand market.
By the way I appreciate your writings very much.
Thanks for your comments Ashray. However, I don't believe that Indian manufacturers can any longer hide behind the "made in India. What to do? We can do it like this only" excuse. It's a shame that Tatas have enough money to buy Land Rover and Jaguar, but continue to churn out sub standard products in the Indian market (I used to own a Sumo Turbo 4x4 and those woes will fill twenty pages!). M&M are exporting the Scorpio to various parts of the world now. Let's see if those consumers take the shoddiness lying down. And talking about Indian and Japanese workers, Toyota in India employ Indians too, from the same pool of workers as M&M, yet, their service is (at least, was when I owned a Qualis) much superior to the service that many M&M authorized service centres provide. Bottom line - M&M needs to examine the work culture within their company and within their network of dealers and service centres, and make sure that the vehicles they put on the road are in top condition. After owning the Scorpio for more than a year and a half, I think it is not too bad for the price but suffers from many unnecessary small defects. The less said about service, the better! After the last service, my vehicle was returned to me in the same condition that I handed it in, but with a bill for Rs.4000! Recently a representative from M&M and a rep from the service centre met me for feedback, and I've told them the same thing that I've put in this response. I will be the happiest person if M&M or Tata come out with a really good SUV. It's about time they did! Very best, and thanks for your words of appreciation.
Well, I cannot but agree with you whole-heartedly. As regarding my car's service, I have been lucky because a new dealership has recently opened here in Kolkata. Maybe to build up their reputation ,or maybe genuinely, they have provided me with service which one might even call 'out of their way'. What I have gathered from my acquaintances is that Toyota service is really the best in India. Even better than Honda or Maruti.
As you have rightly pointed out, Tata may have bought Land Rover with a huge loan, but look what an image they've created in the UK after trying to sell the Indica as City Rover!! But in our country the Indica regularly features in the monthly top five 'Most sold cars'. This does not make the Indica any better(I detest it!) but Tatas are able to sell it only because they save costs while making it. And that means engineering it with cost constraints.
Mahindra is way better than the Tatas. It could be that they are paying their service centers lesser margins than the Toyotas as a part of their cost cutting measure. Which explains their negligence in service. But then they make up for it elsewhere. Like updating models. Since the Scorpio was launched, it has already undergone three engine updations. And they have even developed a Scorpio Hybrid, a first for any Indian manufacturer, which they plan to export to the US. That does require a lot of planning and ability to take risks for a company like Mahindra. So in a short time, we can expect better cars and service from them. Toyota on the other hand, in spite of having better quality control, has not even touched the Innova since their launch in March 2005. That goes on to say about their product development. Even the Bolero has sold over 51000 units just in the last year, a highest sales figure for any utility vehicle in India.
One more thing I will definitely vouch for. Atleast Mahindra vehicles don't have engines which blow up within 40000 km, which I had with my earlier Sumo in the middle of a remote Bihar field at 7.30 in the evening. Infact it would be great if you could share your Sumo woes too!!
And regarding the unjustified bill that you have received, I think you could tell the service centre to pay back your money or that you will inform the press. If your car does not have the original warranty on it, you could safely carry out the regular servicing by a local mechanic.
Hi Shekar
Was browsing the web for reviews on Scorpio and came upon your blog.
Now that it is 3 years since your initial woes with Scorpio, do you think the scorpio has improved and is more reliable now? Would you recommend Scorpio now?
I am looking for a reliable utility vehicle, and would love to hear your comments now.
Thank you
Suresh.
www.justbirds.in
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