In the past 6 years plus have been busy with work and life and totally ignored the blog. Had got hacked and lost a lot of content also. In the meantime sold two cars (my Getz and Swift) and bought two cars(Tata Nano and Tata Tiago JTP). Hope to restart posts about the car scene in India again.
Here is one photo of the Tiago JTP.
Had followed the pre-launch buzz about the Nano automatic from the time it was mentioned in the Auto Show in January 2014. Was hoping Tata would keep the price reasonable. Several months later finally after the launch was done I signed up on the Tata Nano Website for a Test Drive. Tata representatives called within a couple of days and organized the test drive. It took a couple of back and forth calls to schedule the time but finally it was to be done around 8 PM in the evening. The sales representative was very enthusiastic and interested in explaining the features of the Sangria Red Nano that was brought for the Test Drive. One point he kept repeating for me and for my father was to not use the left foot but to use only the right foot for both acceleration and braking. It was okay for me as I have spent 6 years driving an automatic Honda Civic, it took a few hundred meters for my father who has never driven an automatic to get used to it. But he managed just fine.
I started off and had to do a turn in the middle of our street to go out of the colony. The power steering made the turn very easy (I compared this with the manual non power steering Gen 1 Nano owned by my Father In Law which took some effort to turn). Starting off from a stop was decent and the acceleration though slow was adequate. Had to keep expectation in check as other cars I have driven recently have easily another 50+ BHP.
AC was cooling rapidly even before we covered 500m and was on blower setting 1 ! In total got to drive around 3 km of the XTA. This included one steep flyover. Didn’t feel the car struggled at that time with me, my father and the sales guy in the vehicle. On flat surface however did wish it had a bit more power but for the city traffic. For a relaxed drive felt it was more than enough. Headlamps were more than adequate. Like any unfamiliar car the brakes took some time to get used to but once you got familiar with it it was easy. Horn was a pathetic bleating sound from the single horn but still enough.
Throttle response was a bit better with the S mode. Manual mode was fine but figured best would be to put in Auto mode and drive peacefully (instead of using the AMT like a manual). Having the ability to use the 1st gear for a steep incline in manual mode is definitely useful. Didn’t get to try it however. Read about the AMT vehicles rolling back a bit before starting on inclines – some changes in driving style may be needed but for a new driver to get used to it should be easy. More power and better brakes would be welcome but will have to compromise on that as there is no other option at this price. For city only driving felt the car with AMT is brilliant. Interiors have improved over the original Nano. Sound of the engine is not very apparent in the cabin. The exhaust note has changed from an auto sounding note to something that sounds a lot more muted. Likes:
Dislikes:
My FIL who had bought the first gen Nano(as a second car) when it first came out went ahead and sold it in the end of August and booked an XTA Silver. He was been told it will take 2 months. He waited for 2 weeks and then was struggling a bit at home without the second car called up the Tata dealership and was not able to get a confirmed date of delivery – cancelled the automatic booking and went in for the GenX with power steering and Openable Hatch. He is pretty happy with it.
Requesting anyone here has family/friends driving GenX Nano XTA/XMA to please provide their inputs.
PS: For those wanting a long detailed test drives read the reviews here Team-BHP / Indian Autos Blog / Motorbeam I had earlier posted about Mr. Thomas Chacko and his Mano Et Nano trip around India in a Tata Nano. Do read this in case you think the Nano is a sad excuse of a car. You will be amazed where the Nano has reached ! The book “Atop The World” by Mr Thomas Chacko is now available. 
. PPS: First Two photos are from the Tata Nano Website.
There is a lot of mixed love and hate for the new Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and there is the news of 10,000+ bookings already within 5 days. While everyone will tell you why to buy the Ertiga – here is a list of why you shouldn’t buy it:
Did this sketch at the Tata Grande – IndiBlogger meet this afternoon in Chennai at the Hyatt. Good food and lot of bloggers from across Chennai and India !
Had a nice time meeting with Shrawan (www.indianautosblog.com) and Harish (autotechblog.org) and a whole lot of the IndiBloggers !
Continuing on the pencil sketch theme. Here is the Tata Manza:
Tata has added the name “Elan” to the Manza top end. For those interested – do readup on the iconic Lotus Elan here. I have seen one Lotus Elan (red) in Chennai but didnt get to take any photos.
“The epic Tata Nano Superdrive will flag off from the Tata Motors plant at Sanand on the 2nd of June. Nine Tata Nanos will circumambulate India on three different routes on an enchanting 26 day long voyage and will visit 36 cities, covering an incredible distance of more than 15,000 Kilometers!
Each route has been named after a colour namely The Saffron Route, The White Route and the Green Route keeping with the theme of the trans-national adventure.
Along each route the Nanos will transverse through diverse terrains in extreme conditions be it mountains or plains, in dry or rain, in the most harsh terrains that can be the most grueling test for robustness, durability and reliability for any car. The peoples car of India will touch upon people and places by visiting prominent landmarks, historic places, Malls, etc at each city it visits. Everyone will get a chance to get a first hand experience of the Nano its exciting features and its exceptional capabilities.
The Nanos will be driven by winning customers and media personnel on pre-defined routes to experience the Nano in real-world driving conditions. On each route, accompanying the cars will be bloggers and photographers.
The Tata Nano has been a triumph of Indian ingenuity and the Superdrive commemorates a successful first year of sales of the Tata Nano which has already made its place in history books.”
I think Tata is using this event to prove that Nanos are reliable and sturdy vehicles. Would be fun to watch how it goes.
This post is written by one of the readers of this blog Jacob Chacko who on request shared the ownership experience of his Tata Indica (he owned and drove it for around 9 years clocking around 1,25,000 km in the duration selling it this past Friday). Thanks Jacob Chacko for sharing your experience with the Indica! Here is his story with photos of his car:
After 11 years on a petrol Ambassador, I had begun to feel weary of driving with such a heavy steering wheel (perhaps, because I was also growing in age), that I started looking for a new Car. India’s dream car, TATA Indica had been launched just about a year ago. The euphoria that peaked with margins for new Indicas had died down and teething troubles had taken over. Since I was contemplating a change from an Ambassador, my priorities were adequate space (for my parents), ease of ingress and egress, driveability and good fuel efficiency. I needed to run 1000- 1500 km a month and a diesel alternative to my ambassador had become rather imperative.
The TATA tagline was quite impressive : “The space of an Ambassador with the efficiency of a Zen at the price of a Maruti-800 !” This description vastly suited my requirements. I did a TD to verify facts. The space indeed was fine. The diesel engine did not sound all that bad – certainly not the roar of (shipping) diesel engines that were doing duty on some Ambassadors. The only competitor was the Fiat Uno, in which efficiency and build were reported to be superior. But, then TATA was coming up with a passenger car for the very first time. Who wouldn’t give them a try, especially in the context of the near-repulsive service from Uno’s then dealers, TVS ? The decision in favour of Indica was rendered easy by a comparative feature that appeared in one of the auto magazines, which gave the verdict, something to this effect : Despite, all that, the scales can be seen ticking the Indica way with the claimed superior fuel efficiency at much lower vehicle costs. The local TATA dealership took personal interest, offered freebies and supervised the delivery of an Emerald Green (no semblance to green ; more to grey, though !) Indica in November 2000.
I remember I was ecstatic all through the running-in period : it had already fetched me a fuel efficiency of 17 kmpl ! And, I did like the soft sound of the new diesel engine.
Problems It was smooth riding until around 37000 km when trouble surfaced with the car showing excessive oil consumption. Besides oil changes specified at service schedules, I had to keep topping-up every now and then. I had maintained my own diary on the mileage and the oil consumed. I started writing letters to TATA management, with little reprieve.
This went on until the vehicle clocked about 70000 km. Meanwhile, confronted with my repeated visits to the TASC with the very same complaint of excessive oil consumption and allied effects of excessive smoke on initial starting etc., the service advisors privately hinted that engine overhauling was the only way out. They narrated several instances of similar occurrences and how, after engine overhauling, such vehicles were rendered out of the clutches of this malady.
After repeated complaints to TATA management, the TASC was instructed to conduct a HOC Test (High Oil Consumption Test). All oil was drained out of the sump, weighed and poured back before it was driven by TATA (me seated alongside) for 300 km at a stretch. The residual oil was again drained and weighed.
Oil consumption was calculated as : Weight of oil x 1000 / 0.88 x Km run.
In my case, for 299 km, the difference in weight of oil was observed to be 125.2 g.
Thus, 125.2 X 1000 / 0.88 X 299 = 475.83 ml / km
TATA explained that 500 ml / km was the maximum permissible limit for Oil consumption (but, I was not shown any documentation to attest this claim) and that, therefore, this value was indeed within limits ! The fact that the value was almost at the max. of the permissible limit was not a matter of concern to them. Even so, it was clear that at as low a mileage as < 70000 km, the car was already nearing the upper limit of “permissible” oil consumption. The import of the idiom, “You can take a horse to water, but cannot make it drink,” dawned upon me with full force.
My last resort was to address none other than Mr Ratan Tata himself. If this excessive oil consumption were not to be attributed to flaws in manufacture and / or in strict quality control, were Indica cars expected to undergo engine overhauling at mileages as low as 70000 km. His office replied that Mr Tata was on tour and that the matter would be attended to by others. This question, finally, fetched me some minor discounts by way of piston rings and accessories for carrying out engine overhauling at < 70000 km !
TATA ought to be more receptive to customer feedback / complaints and should demonstrate the resolve to redress genuine grievances to mutual satisfaction. For those like me who were prepared to accept the new Indian venture with all its teething troubles, TATA – through their actions, rather inaction – seemed to prove the point that they cared a hoot for us ! They ought to display the readiness, leave alone the grace, to acknowledge deficiencies / faults.
Visits to TASC (Focuz Motors)
This car has been with me for 104 months now and has clocked 125000+ km. I have strictly adhered to TATA recommendations on service schedules and have maintained it with utmost care. In all, I have had to make 49 visits to the TASC, of which 23 were for regular service check-ups at specified intervals. In all fairness, I must compliment the service personnel at the TASC (Benz Motors, later renamed as Focuz Motors) for being receptive, considerate and helpful. I might well be one among their long-standing customers.
Other issues / repairs
After overhauling of the engine, there has not been any complaint of excessive oil consumption or the like. Other issues have been the following :
Summary
Despite all these troubles, this Indica of mine has never let me down on the road. Fuel efficiency was an average of 16-18 km/ litre within the city (with AC) amidst Cochin’s notorious traffic snarls and between 20 -22 km on the highways (with AC). It has even peaked to 24 km / litre at times.
The first battery had a remarkable life of 68 months !
I have bills, vouchers and accounts of every expense incurred at TASC all through the past ~ 9 years and ~ 125000 km. Costs for maintenance (includes spares, lubes, consumables, servicing, labour and taxes, but excludes tyres, battery and fuel) of this vehicle have worked out to an average of ~ 80 ps per km.
My Next Car – Not a TATA:
The new version — Indica Vista is generous on space and tempting in appeal. User reviews that sing praises (for sure, they have the right to do so) to the vehicle are all written based on the early few thousand km experience. Problems crop up only after the vehicle has run ~ 15000 km. All across the web, I have come across only a single review from an owner who had used his Vista Quadrajet for ~ 16000 km and that review was indeed daunting. I wouldn’t want to risk a repeat of the snags I faced – all of which could be traced to manufacturing defects arising out of severe deficiencies in strict quality control at every stage, including that at the site of the vendors that supply spares to TATA cars. After all, isn’t experience the best teacher ?
TATA badly needs to reorient their functional priorities to be sensitive to the needs and perceptions of the customer, if ever they intend to befriend and build lasting relationships with him. The Indica Club, launched by TATA with much fanfare, appeared to have met with a premature death; TATA did not seem to be bothered even by this.
Therefore, sadly though, I have decided to trade off my Indica for another brand from a different manufacturer, keeping my fingers crossed on what might yet lie in store for me now !
PS: Please do reach out to Jacob through the comments here on this post in case you need any tips or advice on Indica’s. Am hoping to get an update on his experience with a new brand of vehicle after his move from Tata.
The diesel hatchback comparison chart is now updated to include the Hyundai I20 CRDI Diesel. The comparison is for the highest end trims for all models. Why ? Because only then can we compare features to features. the lower end trims are basically diesel engine and chassis.
The list now contains the following:
The specifications are now color coded to indicate the largest dimension/best value/cheapest cost(green) and lowest dimension/value /highest cost(red). Hope this sheet is easier to read now.
The costliest is still the Skoda Fabia and the cheapest still remains the Indica V2.
The I20 is the second costliest in this comparison but also comes with a long list of features even longer than the Fabia.
Middle of the list with medium features and middle of road price is the Swift and the Ritz.
Here is the list : Diesel Hatchbacks Comparison Chart. Here was my original post on the diesel hatchbacks with more analysis on the data: Are you looking for a Diesel Hatchback ?
Thanks: A lot of feedback, errata identification and great suggestions from Jacob, Manoj and Vasu were used to update the older sheet – Thank you for reading through in detail and giving valuable feedback and pointing out the many errors !
Some items still pending such as mileage data for the latest updated cars and the performance figures for acceleration and braking. This will be done in the next update.
The I20 & I: I tried checking with the Hyundai dealership I bought my Getz from but they still do not have a registered Diesel or Automatic available for TD. They have promised to get me a TD as soon as their vehicles get registered.
Why should you buy the Tata Nano ?
The Tata Nano fits the budget for a small first/additional car. Taxes and insurance will not add much to the overall price of the car.
It is a definite improvement in safety and convenience over a two wheeler
It is the best size for crowded city streets and for peak traffic.
It gives good mileage (supposedly around 20 km/l)
It will be easy to park due to its size.
It will be easy to maintain due to the wide reach of Tata dealerships.
It will have reasonable maintenance costs since the input parts itself are capped within the 1 lakh mark.
The cost of parts for the Nano will come down drastically after around 2-3 years with mass volumes appearing. (I am very curious to know what kind of warranty would be provided by Tata for the Nano. An extended warranty, if provided, would have me signing up for it even on day one. I have the benefit of the extended warranty on our current cars and have seen the benefits. I’ve also seen the amount of money one can burn if you don’t have the extended warranty.)
If there is an option with an auto transmission it may be the best option for a driver not comfortable with driving in the city or novice in driving
Most cars depreciate almost the second you sign the papers paying your advance amount for booking it. In this case the Nano due to its high demand will not depreciate as much as other cars and as soon as the others. As it is most used car dealers are worried about being able to sell used cars at prices between INR 80,000 to 2,00,000 as most people when given that kind of budget may take a serious look at the Nano instead of a used car.
You will be able to buy a new car for around 1.25 -1.5 lakhs and still be able to spend even up to 30,000 rupees in accessorizing the cars. I am waiting to see a pimped out Nano with oversized alloy wheels and low profile tyres blasting out tunes painted in garish colors and with all possible spoilers and extra fittings in chrome added to it!