Indica V2 LGI petrol Euro III -ownership report

[Qmar]

I had been wanting to file this report for some time...bit late.. but nevertheless...

Indica V2 LGI Petrol - 1.4 - 75 bhp - 16 bit - euro III.
Purchased - Pune - July 2006. Dealer-BU Bhandari
Replaced radials with tubeless - all 5 changed for 1000 k.

Interiors:
Seats with Fabric - Neat looking(2 tone finish)
Quality of plastics - Adequate - Need Improvement.
Decent glove storage.

Music: Blaupunkt - bermuda 35.. 4 speakers..

Exteriors:
Paint Quality was pretty good compared to previous models
Panel gaps - vast improvement - still scope for some more improvement

NVH:
Quite high on rough roads........ Needs to be improved.

Comfort:
Extremely comfortable vehicle - suspension is really good & sturdy.. More softened compared to old indicas....

Gear Shift - Small joystick feels good to touch and shifts pretty well.
Felt a bit notchy Initially - But became pretty smooth later.

Mileage - Dealer promised 11-13 band in city and 15 -17 highway.
Most satisfying experience for me..coz i had read all the horror stories of indica petrols & was purely relying on Tata's learning curve....

Fuel Used: Speed or normal petrol [50% of the time its speed]

City Mileage
*Higher side 13+
*Lower side 10 abouts ( this was just before the overdue 2nd service)
*Average mileage 12 + all through 15600 kms till date.... its due for 3rd free service...

Highway Mileage
Higher side 18
Lower side 14 (just before overdue 2nd service)
Average about 17

Expense for 1st service = Rs.112/-
Expense during 2nd service = Rs.2000/- odd...

No wheel alignment required till over 10,000 kms.....
Tubeless tyres - show veri little wear and tear.... despite driving on the non-existant pune roads...
Had first puncture at 13500 kms on front left tyre...

high speeds : 145 kmph on pune - mumbai expway.....
I eased off the pedal once it started crossing 145 mark..... sanity prevailed....
Speedo-tacho movement as I have experienced....
Car eases upto 130kmph quite easily, some hesitation after that but on persisting it moves up to 135... after that shows some
hesitation before easing off to 140 +....
Engine noise was high after 135 kmh + didnt find it smooth when speedo hovering around 145+ ... but the Car was rock steady
all the time....

Long drives undertaken
Pune kolhapur day trip - 490/kms

Ashtavinayak trip from pune-
Day 1 - 4 ganapatis - 330 kms
Day 2 - 4 ganapatis - 449 kms.

Pune - Nagpur trip
6.45 am - 10.30 pm with a stopover at Shegav.... 767 kms in a single day...

All through Car has performed without any niggles or complaints, Very sturdy, solid and dependable i would say. Ac peforms admirably even in scorching heat(during long drives mentioned above), especially when taking off from a break during hot afternoons - an initial blast keeping fan speed at 3/4 for 15 mts, the blower is adequate at 2 or even 1 afterwards for maintaining cool....

Car responds very well on dirt roads - experienced it on all the last mile stretches during ashtavinayak drives - and some patches during pune-nagpur drive(chikli jungle patch). On one occassion my rear left did skid down on dirt while avoiding an oncoming Idiot... but a right/left swerve on power steering was enough to get the car back on track at 90-100 kms to my delight.... Braking is quite dependable - no skidding experienced till date...

thats it from me guys... waiting for a slot for my 3rd service overdue again... but mileage is still good @ 12+

Am toying with the idea of a new car... any suggestions....

[mithun]

WOW...Seems to be like that you've remembered all the statistical data.

Did you experience any electrical problems till date ?

But you haven't mentioned what led you to purchase Indica Petrol in the 1st place discarding Altos/WagonR/Santros.....

[tsk1979]

Nice report Qmar! You sure have a trouble free indica.
You drive a lot on dusty roads, so I advise that apart from air filter cleaning(or change if required) make sure you get your intake manifold cleaned. It does not cost much and Tata recommends it at around 30,000kms or so, but with so much highway driving in dusty conditions its good to get it cleaned sooner.
As for NVH on rough roads, a very important contributing factor which is often overlooked is the spare wheel. The spare wheel locking screw(that big black thing in the center) tends to come free with vibrations, check if your spare wheel is locked tight or is free. This will make a lot of difference in vibrations and noises.
Also tell them to check your engine/exaust mountings. These are pretty cheap and if they have gone bad will be replaced under warranty. This is one place where tata does real cost cutting and uses real flimsy material.
My indica is a diesel so vibrations were more therefore silencer clamps and engine mountings had to be replaced at around 30,000kms or so. But after moving to good roads in Noida, things are much better. Maybe later model indica's have them fixed, but make sure you ask them to check.
As for the oil change, if you think synthetic oil is very expensive( it will set you back by 3000rs) you can go for GTX magnetic which is much better than the simple GTX used by Tata.
you will have to get this done outside the workshop as Tata will give you only GTX. You can go ahead and get that done from any Castrol dealer, or ask the workshop guys specificaly to put in oil you have given.

[theMAG]

One of the few owner groups across the country to recognize and enjoy the Indica petrol's value-add. Happy motoring, Qmar!

[wolfinstein]

Hi Qamar, How come you purchased a LGI in July 2006 instead of a XETA, Was it old stock with dealer.

[Qmar]

Dear All,

Wolfinstein...
sorry, Its a spello - purchase is in July 2005.... no Xeta around then...
btw me is Kumar - the name was not available when i registered So I settled for Qmar...

2 things i forgot

1. the engine check lite flickered on towards the over due 1st and 2nd service.. but there was no real problem.

2. ECU changed on dealer recommendation during overdue 2nd service - for the reason below - I am not sure if its a problem really.
Towards the overdue 2nd service - Car was not starting on 1st cell on turning key- used to start on 3rd try - tacho used to reach 1 and drop on 1st 2 tries...After ECU(Had thompson controls France markings) change its back to normal.

I was not charged anything towards this.

PS : All thru 17000 kms the car has been startng on the 1st turn of the key - excepting -3-4 weeks towards overdue 2nd service..

3. TM service personnel have been MOST courteous and responsive during all my interactions with them Though I do feel that all their people are not yet ramped up on PETROL tech... yet... which is understandable...as they were selling diesel for decades.....

Absolutely right theMAG...no substitute for power

TSK thanks for the NVH guideline... I was wondering how to address the issue...I will have the areas u mentioned checked from the TM workshop...

Mithun da...
Reasons for opting for a V2 LGI PETROL are as below... against santros/wagonrs and the zen masterpiece...
> SPEC-- 1.4, 75 BHP, + the torque/NM figures.. OVERALL Sturdy & Robust vehicle
By comparision Most cars in its category are quite below the poverty line...
> Raw Power - tap the pedal & u can feel it - Moreover the pedal doenst go Limp just becoz U switch on the AC or have 5 ppl seated in the car..
> Road Presence - It is most appreciable during long cross country drives/dusty roads/steep climbs with AC on during scorching hot afternooons/having full passenger load or in choatic city driving(Pune)
> Comfort - Extremely comfortable Seating - Others in the category are again below the poverty line in terms of FSI....& sheer seating comfort...
> Robust & sturdy suspension - its been considerable softened too over the years....
> Mileage - Returns a steady 12+ in city driving with peaks of 13.. 17 + on highways... AND I am not a slow poke I have pushed this car to 145 + levels on Exp WAY.. my normal highway band is 100 - 120 with frequent 130's.... & habitually observe the speedo & tacho needles... all thru the speed band - its quite impressive.

PS: I had read all the horror feedback on V2 & V2 petrols... Have also driven old diesel v2(friend's) few yrs back.
All I had to bank on was my knowledge of TM's steep learning curve in terms of passenger cars and trust on the TATA's.
The MNC competition is having a head start of 50-100 + yrs in terms of passenger cars vis-a-vis TMs 7 odd years & still TM has set the standard for hatch backs for the local market.
Without naming any company out here - ALL the MNC competition in the market tried their best to beat the TM hatch with their existing match boxes(riding on poverty of FSI & POWER & Comfort) - failed miserably and quitely came out with all together new models and with some of them launched in the premium category..)
One of the reasons for MNCs to launch better models in our market at decent prizes is TM - Just remove TM from the scene over the last 8 odd years - TRUST me all we wud have had is zilch at exhorbitant prizes....COZ with nobody to challenge them they wud have continued to sell 37-45-60(MAX) bhp cars at 4 -5 lacs and 60bhp cars at 7-8 lacs till kingdom come... and just forget all abt power steering etc becoming standard fittings....
Areas for Improvement
1. Reduction in NVH / Quality of interiors / overall build / refine powertrain
2. Zero Niggles post delivery & how abt a more attractive, sleeker model.....

Note from mod : Please do not use more than 2 smiley's per post

[Qmar]

I have done more than 17000 kms now. The 3rd service was niggle free.
The Car still returns 12-13 in the city and 17+ on highways with AC.
normally I use speed, but I tried a tankful of 97 octane fuel for once and the mileage shot up to 16 zone.

No other niggles, absolutely great ownership experience till date.

[hrag]

Originally Posted by Qmar

I have done more than 17000 kms now. The 3rd service was niggle free.
The Car still returns 12-13 in the city and 17+ on highways with AC.
normally I use speed, but I tried a tankful of 97 octane fuel for once and the mileage shot up to 16 zone.

No other niggles, absolutely great ownership experience till date.

Nice to hear that. The Indica petrol returns the best mileage figures if the speedo is kept at the 90 kph mark on the highway.

Wait till the 4th service - the car will feel even better then!

[arunpn]

I belong to the minority group here owning petrol indica before the advent of Xeta. I am also going to disappoint the majority of Indica baiters here by saying that my experiences with Indica or Tata Motors was not a "horror movie" as being freely said here. I have gone on a long ride and did not face any problem, I wont say I have not faced any problems for last 19 month, but to disappoint Tata baiters once again, I found the Tata Motors staff extremely cooperative and helpful.

Indica LGi is not the best car in India but at same time, I think it compares favourably with either Santro, Wagon R or now extinct Zen. It has its own advantages and disadvantages.

I have completed 3 services and on an average I get an average of around 14 kmpl

[Qmar]

Its 23000 kms now... Zero niggles till date..

4th free service done at 20k kms... all thru the car has returned 12/13 kms in city drives... and 17+ on highways... the tubeless tyres are excellent.. not much wear n tear...

Overall a great experience... absolutely niggle free...TATA service experience has been good..

[Danindica]

Originally Posted by Qmar

I have done more than 17000 kms now. The 3rd service was niggle free.
The Car still returns 12-13 in the city and 17+ on highways with AC.
normally I use speed, but I tried a tankful of 97 octane fuel for once and the mileage shot up to 16 zone.

No other niggles, absolutely great ownership experience till date.

I have a XETA Dec 07 that has absolutely never returned less than 17kmpl on XtraPremium. Very careful driving and IftexG 1ML/Litre of fuel. Great pickup and sound. The car returned an average of 23.64kmpl on a trip to Vizag - i kept it at a constant 58kmph on the fitfth gear with the tacho at 17.5X100RPM. It is a great car in terms of comfort, space, durability and paint finish. First puncture at 23,000 kms. The engine misfires though accelerating on the third or when downshifting to 2 and then picking up. I will get the injectors cleaned this time and get the sludge removal also done while changing the engine oil. Third service overdue by like 3400 kms now - will get it done this saturday as i am thinking of taking the car to pondicherry.

The only issue I have with the car is its rattles that strangely dissapear after washing and cleaning and come back in like three four days. Any clue anybody?