Tata Safari EX-4x4 > 28000kms short term report.

[jaysmokesleaves]

Got the truck back last evening.
Service light is still showing. The tests & trials done by Delphi showed negative and all the injectors, HP lines etc are good.
The engine wiring harness is the suspect now. The part has been ordered and the truck will go in next week for 30k service and another round troubleshooting.
Until then i will put in 2k kms.

[venuraja]

The turbo pipe coming off and service light coming on scares us , I mean, the people like me who may want to own a Safari very soon.
And yet , he says the problem was solved only in one hour time at TATA service centre.
..this consoles us !!!
In any case, many posts about Safari scares and creates interest in the vehicle all at the same point time, waht is the problem in going for a Scorpio?

[jaysmokesleaves]

Dear Venuraja,
Fear is our only God. Its a God that Im not afraid of facing if its via the Safari, or otherwise.
Hell, the Safari got me back from Spiti and Adc back from Chopta valley. Ive taken it to forests in Orissa where there is no road nor a fone network and the Safari did not skip a beat.
So, it is quite a reliable vehicle to own, of course with its little flaws.

Scorpio..!
Venu, firstly Scorpio did not offer a 4x4 when I made my purchase. I think they still dont offer it on the mhawk . If yes, the wait must be endless(like waiting for a rollsroyce).
Secondly, I find the Scorpio quite crammed to my liking.
Thirdly, The body sway on the Scorpio above 100kph unnerves me.
Lastly, I feel that the Safari is very good vfm in the current class of suv's in its range & market context.
The Scorpio will appeal to me with the following changes.
Interior space must increase. Power window switches on the doors rather than on the centre console. More elbow space near the doors.
Suspension must improve.
Most importantly, the availability of 4x4 without having to wait for a month(atleast in Bombay).
I would consider a purchase with these changes.

Also i would add, to me, the Safari evokes a charm that the Scorpio does not. With all its flaws, the Safari comes across as a classic design to me, that inspite of being over 10years old still looks nice with a few tweaks.

So, different strokes for different folks. If its a Scorpio for you, go get it..!
Someone said somewhere on this forum that the Safari is the equivalent of a bullet among bikes. I will partly support that statement.

Ask yourself this question - which other 4x4 suv offers what the Safari offers for the same price. And if you ask me, now with the new Xylo(total vfm), I think Mahindra has blurred the Scorpio terribly. Why should one buy a Scorpio if it doesnt have 4x4. I think a Xylo is a much better 4x2, vfm wise.
Cheers,
J

[Red Liner]

Xylo is fugly man. Fugly, fugly, fugly! Except for the black one. Masks everything a bit.

[jaysmokesleaves]

Fugly i certainly agree. But unbeatable value compared to the Scorpio. And if you compare Scorpio with Safari then you know what I think is fugly fugly fugly... lol. The Scorpio does offer potential for cosmetic upgrades though.
Basically IMHO the only good looking and truly classic looking vehicles Mahindra ever built was the Bolero, Classic, mm550 and the Major. Unfortunately, Mahindra did not do much to technically advance these beautiful looking machines. Im talking about suv's here.
Cheers,
J

[Red Liner]

Well, they all suck. Had a black cayenne follow me today. God, i could not take my eyes off the rvm. I really did expect it to become a transformer robot and whack me to kindom come. Back to your travails though!

[jaysmokesleaves]

Got a call from the TASS yesterday. 30k service done. Brakepads worn out and replaced.
They replaced the engine wiring harness as a suspect but the service light still shows @ 1800-2000rpm. Best part is, they DONT KNOW what the probem is. Now they will get TML involved. Most likely that they will send my Safari to Nasa for diagnosis.

The heat in Bombay is killing. Went for a joyride on my bike yesterday inside Bombay.I think of those who travel in crammed buses(like I used to once upon a time) stopped at signals. The heat and the fumes are unbearable. I was on my bike after a long time stopped at a long red light. I could feel the heat waves passing through like hot air currents. I felt like i was being microwaved. And one can see SPM now. Dont need official pollution figures.
And to think that I add to that heat when im in my chilling confines of my Safari - the other point of view.

[HappyWheels]

@JSL,

While you vehicle is at NASA, just ask them to put in few rocket boosters!

LOL!!!

But seriously, I hope these TASS gets at least an idea of what is happening, first. The resolution can come later.

[jaysmokesleaves]

Adding rocket boosters is not a good idea. Then they will also have to add wings for stability. Such dimensions are not good for touring on road and I will certainly get challan'ed for illegal extra fittings.

[tsk1979]

Jay, your car is going through the exact same circus as mine did.
In my case first they changed the injectors and high pressure. No change, service light still there. So its not the injectors.
They leave the new lines in place, and experiment with Wiring harness and ECU. Again no change in situation. They change common rail also, but no results.
Finally after changing the fuel return line, which ironically is a very very cheap part things were okay.
But to this date I do not know what all was changed in my car.
Only thing on paper is HP lines and fuel return line.
As for Injectors and common rail, the workshop says they changed these, while TML centralized system says they did not change it.
But since my problem got solved, its okay, but I would have liked to know what exactly was the culprit.

[suman]

So Jay, did you get the shocker changed under warranty?

In fact, you should get the pair changed under warranty.

[jaysmokesleaves]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Jay, your car is going through the exact same circus as mine did.......But since my problem got solved, its okay, but I would have liked to know what exactly was the culprit.

I dont mind the circus as long as they fix what is broke. They are back to Lucas again and I am told that most likely the injectors & HP lines etc will be replaced. Im told that changing the fuel return line as suggested by me did not help.
As for the culprit.. in your case and mine too.. Im sure they themselves do not know what the problem is. So they shoot random bullets in the air and replace everything, at least something will work.

Originally Posted by suman

So Jay, did you get the shocker changed under warranty?

In fact, you should get the pair changed under warranty.

They havent yet checked the suspension. The fools were working on the alignment before checking the suspension. Im told that they will replace the shocks with test shocks and if I think its better, then they wil replace shocks under warranty. How stupid is that... trying the placebo effect with me..!

[4x4addict]

If it gets escalated to Tata then you can suggest to look up tsk's Safari as an example of similar problem that was resolved.

They want to do a heart transplant before because the symptoms of severe gas can be mistaken for a chestpain/heart attact.

[maddy42]

Well Jay frankly after reading your review i would go in for a safari if i were a potential customer.
Few of the reasons would be
> Good looks
> Comfort and no body roll
> TASS atleast you have a place to go to which is nearby
> VFM. DOubt there is still any vehicle at that range at that price for the features offered.

About the service part its hilarious how they do a trial and error to rectify issues. Yes its nice that they give a try but it would be really disheartening if one is stranded some where like tanveer was and you go on with trial and error method!!

Any ways hope your issues are resolved at the earliest

PS: Great pictures there. On a lighter note 2 vehicles which you get to see in the most extreme terrains are Bullet and the Safari. Atleast the owners of these vehicles are treating their vehicles the way it is meant to be

[simply_sunny001]

The gud part with TASS is that they give it a try and are very co-operative and dont cheat customers like *** of Skoda or some other car makers.

and parts are cheap too and if you buy Extended waranty then its all cool till 4 yrs.