While there is no official announcement, Maruti Suzuki has sent an e-mail to its dealers with instructions to fix a possible steering issue in three of its popular models without any additional cost. One could term this as a conditional recall since there won’t be any communication to the owners regarding the recall unless a car reports to the service center with the mentioned problem.
The vehicles covered under this silent campaign are the petrol and diesel variants of Maruti Baleno, Vitara Brezza and S-Cross. Maruti’s internal communication which has been unearthed by Team-bhp states that if a car reports a sticky or noisy steering system, then the service center is to replace the steering column assembly free of cost and offer 3-years additional warranty for the replaced system over the vehicle’s existing 2 year warranty.
The repair costs (spares and labor) will be born by the company under the warranty program. For vehicles which are out of warranty, the repair cost will still be free for the customer but the dealerships are required to claim the costs from the manufacturer under the Goodwill category.
Since Maruti has not made an official announcement and is replacing the steering column assembly only in cars that report a problem, we hope that this defect does not pose any safety risks.
We are not sure how many vehicles are affected by this silent recall but given that all the three models are brisk sellers (in fact, the Baleno and Vitara Brezza lead their segments by a huge margin), we expect several vehicles to turn up at the service center with the steering defect in the coming months.
If you experience a sticky or noisy steering (a strange click sound at the end of steering lock as shown in the video) in your Baleno, Viatara Brezza or S-Cross, get it touch with your service center immediately and get it replaced free of cost.
