Logan is now 2+ years older in Indian market and now owners are slowly feeling the pain of costly maintenance of all Logan varients, its time for paid services and people who cross 40,000 KM mark are on costlier side.

Attached price list image is an overview of parts price and service charges needed on frequest intervals. Till now 40,000 and 80,000 KM service are coming up versy costly but the parts prices are the real killer.

Logan sales is goig down day by day and increasing maintenance cost is surely not a good news for current and prospective owners.

The clutch problem I mentioned in my last post, now again bothering me, I dont know why this is happening with my car. Hard power steering can be managed but hard clutch creates lot of problem, becuase I need to drive car in city like delhi and gurgaon where a lot of gear shifting needed.

Anyways I decided to go for its fourth service today, this time to Bhasin Motors, Mathura Road service center (they promised me to give a 5000 Rs coupon also). I explaiined all problems to service advisor, including its hard clutch, tight power steering and RLH door noise (check third service problem requests) and I stayed there from 11 Am to 4:30 PM. Finally car got ready at 4:30 promising me that all problems are now solved and I got a bill of Rs. 1760 which includes:

Labour Charge - 1150
MI3000 Fuel Add - 577
Consumable Charges - 60

Also I got 5% discount of parts and 15% on labour due to free logan checkup week and a funny Rs 5000 free checkup etc coupons, which I can only redeem with paid services - one at a time.

Now car running better than earlier, pickup is improved a bit and engine noise is gone down but again clutch and steering problem is as it is. Yes the door problem is solved a bit as they changed door stricker under warranty.

Since I was about to complete 2 years so I opted for 1 year extended warranty, in which I got 15% discount, again due to logan checkup week at 7900-15% = 6715. But I tell you Scorpio warranty is available at just 9999 for 2 years.

Overall experience at Bhasin Service center was average as there were lot of problems like cleanliness, dirty waiting room and a very conjested overall area (Sterling is better in all of these).

There are few drawbacks when you buy a Diesel car and one of that is noise and vibration. Since day one I was trying to figure out some solution to reduce the in cabin noise, which is already lesser if I compare to some other cars but cant compare to petrol ones.

So after researching a lot I finally decided to go for sound proofing (damping) stage 1 i.e. damping hood. For damping material I had no choice except "Dynamat" which was easily available at accessory shops (a bit expensive I would say).

I removed the stock cotton made covering sheet and damped the "Dynamat all over hood, it took 3 sheets of 24" x 48" Dynamat Xtreme.

Result was not very impressive it only reduced noise by 3-6%. Again I am looking for some other things which can reduce noise futher. Few are:

• Use Dynamat on central tunnel and under dashboard
  
• Use Hoodliner over Dynamat under hood

Pasting damping material under dashboard is critical because it requires removing dashboard, steering etc., looking for dealer to assist.

In coming days I will use Dynamat on central tunnel around gear, break and doors but not sure when will do that. I will definitely update once I finish.

So I went for 3rd service of my Logan DLS on 10/6/08 to service center of Sterling Motors Gurgaon, it was first major service where some parts need to be changed. Also I complained about few other problems which I was facing, and those were:

 - Hard Clutch

 - Hard Power Steering

 - RLH Door Making Noise while Closing

 - Low Pickup

So service advisor checked my car and adviced a cost around 3000 Rs. (Ah I never expected 3000 for a free service), although they serviced and I got the bill:

Maximile Pulse 4.1 Ltr Engine Oil - Rs. 619.00
Filter Oil - Rs. 216.89
Cartridge Filter Air Feed - Rs. 352.89
Diesel Fuel Filter - Rs. 933.33
Oil Drain Plug Seal Masher - Rs. 40.33
ISI Brand PVC Insulation - Rs. 16
Engine Care - Rs. 351.00
Wheel Alignment - Rs. 300.00

Free Service - 0.00
Door Setting - 0.00

Total Bill Including Tax - Rs. 3182.00

(wheel alignment was additional as car was moving one side)

So pickup and performance improved a bit and engine is running now more smoothly, fuel average is not changed.

The complaint of Door, Hard Clutch and Hard Power Steering is as it was, they have not done anything to improve that. Infact for clutch they said its clutch system is by default hard for power steering they said we have corrected tyre pressure and door they cant do anything.

After driving around 12000 KM's I tried various settings and combinations for optimum performance of my Logan DCi and I feel that I have found settings which perfectly match to my conditions (may be change in hill area etc), which is as given below:

Gear Shifting & RPM:

• 1st Gear - 1500 RPM - Speed 15 kmph
  
• 2nd Gear - 2000 RPM - Speed 30 kmph
  
• 3rd Gear - 2000 RPM - Speed 45 kmph
  
• 4rth Gear - 2200 RPM - Speed 65 kmph
  
• 5th Gear - 2200 RPM - Speed 80 kmph

Fuel Consumption (Average):

• In City condition 4th Gear - 2500 RPM - Speed 60 kmph - 15 kmpl
  
• In City + Highway 4th & 5th Gear - 2500 RPM - Speed 80 kmph - 17 kmpl
  
• In Highway 5th Gear - 2900 RPM - Speed 100 kmph - 19 kmpl

Few Fuel Saving Tips:

• Quickly reach to topest gear with maintaining minimum RPM of 1500
• Release clutch as quick as possible, and apply as late as possible while stopping
• Don't try to go beyond 3000 RPM, change gears if required
• Maximum speed I tried is 150 kmph but recommended is around 110 - 120 kmph
• Try maintaining speed of around 80 - 90 with lowest RPM possible
• Always maintain required tyre pressure (matters a lot)
• Its a 48kw DCi engine, so don't try to takeoff like a jet. Shift gears and cruise normally

Also I have tried branded and normal Diesel, still unable to find any difference between them. If you feel any differences do let us know.

Suggestions are also welcome about your experience, so don't wait to share yours.

PS: All figures are tested for Logan 1.5 DCi (DLS) 48kw - Diesel only, settings for petrol versions may be different.