WTF!? MAHINDRA! - NO THANKS!!

Hi there all you great and wonderful people, NOT you MAHINDRA / SSANGYONG!!!

This is becoming like a suspense novel...

The faulty Injector on the vehicle that impacted on our holiday plans over December 2013, has been sorted eventually by the nice people at Marine Drive Motors in Uvongo on the South Coast, KZN, South Africa. Here's to you Louis and the team!! You did an excellent job under great pressure due to spares not being locally available - the typical Ssangyong / Mahindra, fail to plan, plan to fail syndrome.

All this, no thanks to Mahindra who was not even remotely interested in assisting me at the time because, according to their "management" they, (Mahindra) ,"take no "DIRECT RESPONSIBILITY" for the vehicle and was rambling on about Roadside Assistance and what not, which had exactly NO bearing on the matter at all.

To clarify the matter for those of you who are not aware. During 2013 Mahindra have taken on the Ssangyong brand by signing an agreement. By signing this agreement Ssangyong acknowledged that they will NOT repair any Ssangyong vehicles that are out of factory warranty. These repairs will only be done by Mahindra.

All Ssangyong vehicles still in factory warranty will be honored by Ssangyong until the warranty expires. Based on this agreement I took the vehicle to Mahindra for repairs as it is OUT OF WARRANTY.

Since November 2013 I have been in contact with Mahindra management to try and get them to fix my vehicle. Except for the fact that it took them 8 weeks to obtain the spares to have the timing chain replaced, I was constantly reminded by said "management" that I cannot expect service from them because Mahindra is not "DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE" for the repairs to any Ssangyong, let alone my vehicle.

On the 27 January 2014,  I was contacted by the Mahindra dealer and informed that the spares are all at the dealer for the repair (replacement) of the timing chain. Arrangements was made that I will have the vehicle at the dealer on the 29 January 2014, and according to the Mahindra dealer, the process would take 2 days. I agreed and negotiated a further 1 day for some other issues I wanted them to attend to. I had to phone them every day to find out about the progress of the repair. On the 31 January 2014 at 09H00 in the morning when I inquired about the status of the vehicle, I was informed that the timing chain was completed.

But, now they cannot get the vehicle to start. Please bear in mind that I drove the vehicle every day since November 2013 when the so-called faulty timing chain was diagnosed without EVER having a problem that the vehicle would not start. I drove the vehicle to Mahindra on the morning of the 29 January 2014 without any problems, except for the fact that they were to replace the "faulty" timing belt.

The vehicle won't start!!

The whole day of the 31 January 2014 they wasted time to get the vehicle going without any success. I have been in email contact with all stakeholders during the whole day, asking them to please get a Ssangyong technician to come and resolve the problem. They ignored me flatout.

It is now 15h55, Friday the 31 January 2014 and it does not seem as if I will be getting the vehicle. I cannot for the life of me understand why I am being tortured with the likes of Mahindra and Ssangyong and their utter disrespect for their customers.

And the worst of it all is - I am still not convinced that the timing chain was faulty at all. I initially complained about a rattling noise in the engine compartment (sounds like a loose cover plate or something similar). Scaaaary!!!

Watch this space.....more to come!!