Topic Closed. This is a car related topic. I can't comprehend the purpose it can serve here.


Firstly, if we petition, I think we can find bigger issues to fight for. A Rs. 90 thing sold for Rs. 110 is not that much of a heart-touching issue, frankly speaking.

Secondly, the problem highlighted by Mr. Khattar is not associated with 2 wheeler industry (I suppose). Today, you can easily get Bajaj, Hero Honda, TVS spares from major outside retailers. I myself get Cam chains, oils, clutch plates, spare parts, etc. from outside retailers.

Mr. S1d is of the opinion that this topic deserves to be discussed, and he's made himself quite vocal about this in various other topics.
And he's not getting convinced by method of PM also, when I tried to give some genuine reasons. Being against any form of "dictatorship", I'll let this topic stay open temporarily just because s1d has persuaded me so much. And other staff member can close it though, with no objections from my side.


However, I don't know what discussion is possible on this topic mostly related to cars. Everything, from motorcycle spares, repair tools, chain cleaning machines, air and water pumps, ECU tuning & re-mapping equipment to dyno's are available in market at their respective costs. Of course, ECU tuning machine might not be the same as Authorised dealer uses, but they're available.

And to make matters better, most performance bikes' workshop manuals are available too over the internet, giving clear and precise instructions for mechanics. There's hardly any area where the private workshop is at a disadvantage, compared to the Company's authorised dealership. Still...



Thread re opened temporarily.

I don't think any online petition or anything would work, may be a collective effort as one group might work. But for sure an interesting topic to discuss before anything turns OT's

At the same time I wouldn't knock off saying there's marginal profits made, for instance, this post is more than sufficient to show the proof that how the prices of parts are inflated (Some low cost replacements) - http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/motorcyc...tml#post307790

And it's very true that ASC charges at MRP and not to mention, the vat, mat, fat taxes at ASC over & above the 2% service charge for using credit cards, while the independent spare parts retailers discount anywhere from 3 to 15% discounts.

Unless competition is encouraged, there will always be monopoly & especially when these are all private companies & I think the manufacturers should be mandated to sell X% of spared to be sold at independent spare parts dealers.

Regarding the independent garage...I think our country is yet to mature on it; may be with the advent of Ninja 250R/650R, CBR 250R/150R, GT250/650, Duke 200/390, we should soon see some independent garages providing service for these bikes. Something that is better off than the regular disoriented tooner mechanic but charges less than ASC

What Jagdish Khattar was referring to was that companies like Skoda / Honda (cars) etc. do not even sell spares over the counter for customers who might want to use the services of outside Garages and not Skoda/Honda ASCs. Maruti specifically stays away from this practice but all this is topic of discussion on some other forum.

This is clearly not the case in the 2-wheeler industry since I have personally bought spares over the counter from Hero, Bajaj, TVS & Yamaha ASC (i.e. 4 of the top 5 2-wheeler manufacturers). Apparently (AFAIK) Its only HMSI that I know of which doesn't sell their spares over the counter to walk in customers who might want to save time and money by using cheaper labour at FNG.

The *pricing* of the spares is another matter altogether. I guess the concern of the OP was the *availability* of spares outside of ASC.

HMSI, since most people who say Honda ASC doesn't sell spares at counter, don't own product, so, I'm not sure if that kind of statement makes sense.

As far as I'm concerned, I've STOCKED air filter, engine oil filter, chain sprocket, chain slider, throttle & clutch cable, headlight bulb & engine oil so far from Honda ASC across several dealers in Chennai & that includes Pilot Honda Mumbai, who were ready to sell, but couldn't since they didn't stock up one. In addition, I've also witnessed Honda ASC selling spares for Activa, Twister & Shine (haven't seen for Unicorn, Stunner etc) for regular walk in customers.

s1d - I don't take the responsibility for turning this thread to OT as I've clearly stated about the pricing + the availability of spares, not for the regular commuters like Unicorn, RTR, P150, 180, but about the ones I listed...

Would be glad if independent garages get these bikes serviced, not just ASC (something like no sales, but only service, like Maruti ASC) & spares for these bikes sold below MRP (less than regular ASC) & charges competitive to regular ASC

I remember Castrol Bike Point making such an initiative in the past, but for some reason most of their branches closed; may be because they were trying to tap the extra sensitive (or commuter) segment.

umm.. I think the situation of availability of spares etc.. does vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and not only that even from city to city. Like i have said before, even i have purchased spares over the counter from honda asc (but initially had to escalate matters to hmsi and it needed their intervention). Most Bajaj and HH spares are available over the counter i agree is most cities, but here in hyderabad there is also an issue with Suzuki not making their spares easily available at their asc's for customers (including mechanics) who want to purchase them independently.
And i think buying spares at the asc's should make us eligible for income tax deductions under some section considering their prices/taxes as aargee mentioned.

as aargee pointed out, we are yet to see penetration of the higher end (read as the cbr's dukes etc..) bike serviceability at non asc's. I think in a few years from now, once our mechanics get experienced at the asc's on these new gen bikes in india, they would start independent operations. But again I wonder if they will be able to procure the right tools from the manufacturer to service these bikes.

I would only like to see more transparency across all manufacturers. Just because some of us are able to procure the spares doesnt mean every mango man is able to , rg might have the patience to follow up with hmsi 5 times, while my patience level is 1 before i explode when it comes to such stupid customer service from asc's.

Again, mods (antz and samarth) pls note that i am not forcing you to keep this thread open, I merely stated and posted my opinion in PM's and clearly mentioned that I dont see a point in a forum when you guys wanted to discuss the validity of this piece of news thru only PM's. There are well n number of other posts/replies in threads that are OT and un called for which need more moderation than simply closing a thread (this thread for e.g.) without giving enough time for people to react or post their views.

i agree that all the spares, tools & manuals of all the vehicles should be available to everybody.while these are easily available for all two wheelers upto say R15 price level, bikes priced above R15 are generally not serviced outside ASC, but i guess spares are available.regarding cars, no idea.but there is one thing i would like to say ---> i guess service manuals and workshop manuals of all the bikes are leaked by someone rather than willfully distributed by company. this needs to change.