Long Term Review - Tata Indigo LX 2004

[pankaj09]

Hi All,
Apologies for posting this in Shift Gears cause I dont have the rights to post in Long term review.

Its been 6 months and 13000kms with my Indigo and I want to share my experience with you all.

Last December I went looking so a car that would give me good space, good ride comfort and decent mileage. The Palio was the first choice followed by the Ikon. However the petrol prices made me try the Indigo. I drive an average of 2500km per month.

I took a test drive at Wasan Motors in Kandivali East and the experience was bad, they informed me to drive the car within the compound. So I tried Han Motors in Andheri and their approach towards selling the car was very professional. After the long test drive the deal was set.

Got the delivery of my Indigo LX on Dec 23 2004.

Now the experience after 6 months.

Likes -
1. Interiors are very spacious and give an open feel. The plastic and fabric materials used is also of acceptable quality. The leather gear cover and steering are really good. The wiper and lights stalks are good too.

2. Ride of this car is something that is good, one can easily glide over bad, uneven broken roads without much trouble.

3. Handing is on the average side, but above 80kph there is some body roll.

4. Engine is turbo charged and feels good above 1500 rpm, but under that there has to be some gear shifting.

5. Gearbox is smooth with short throws but not slick as the other cars.

6. Seat isvery good with nice back and thigh support.

7. Mileage is also good, gives 17 - 15 kmpl of diesel.

8. AC is a blessing in the summer, always kept it on low settings as it would get very cold.

Now to the Dislikes :
1. Driving position is something I dont like about the Indigo, I think the steering position could have been lower.

2. Dashboard design could have been better.

3. Gaps in the panel are very annoying and the rubber used along the door is also of bad quality.

4. Rims are very weak, in 6 months i have two bent rims. This happenend while driving the car over a small pot hole at 30kmph.
even my M800 has stronger wheels.


Overall I would describe the Indigo as a very comfortable cruiser, with good space, ride and a nice engine and gear box. The minor dislikes can be over look as the car gives more than want it takes.

I give my car for service to OmSai Motors and their service has a lot of catching up to do with that of Maruti's.

So far the problems I has faced are with the rims and some on the service front when i gave the car for an oil change to JP Auto. The oil filter was not tighten properly and they messed up the interiors with oil stains in the carpet and dashboard.

And BTW the colour is silver, runs on stock 175/65/R14, came with power steering, power windows, central locking as standard. I have installed a pineeor cd/mp3 player with 340w speakers. I still need to fit a security system.

will post photos once i get the alloys wheels.

thanks

Pankaj T

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by pankaj09

Hi All,
Apologies for posting this in Shift Gears cause I dont have the rights to post in Long term review.

Nice review.

Also I would like to point out that this will create confusion. Mods would have come up with this restriction based on some criterias. This is like breaking that. Shifting gears is for off topic discussions.

You are right Surprise but there is something known as moderator's discretion. It's been shifted to the right section. We find it an honest write up.

[Stratos]

Proper review Pankaj. The point about the rims is absolutely true. I have faced it 3 times.

Indigo is the perfect car for a normal middle class man looking out for a good sedan with acceptable fit and finish. My car completed 1 year this MAY and I have had no problems with it at all. The engine has become quite free now and returns some phenomenal fuel efficiency figures.

[Mpower]

This is similar to to problem with the original Zen with low profile 13 inchers. Maybe Indigo should change over to higher profile rubber as well.

[revtech]

hey pankaj
thats a very honest and well written review !!!


rev

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by Stratos

The engine has become quite free now and returns some phenomenal fuel efficiency figures.

GUys, can you throw out some numbers- thanks

[nishant_kingpin]

Great review Pankaj. My Indigo is about to complete 2 years with 25000 KM's. Its been a great decision as far as I think to buy the Indigo which is really a very practical car. Having said that just to summarize, it sets standards in Safety, Comfort, FE, has good looks and feels great to drive.

About the FE, in normal city drive with AC, the car returns between 14 and 15.
On Highway it returns around 17.
When I drive with the revcounter above 2000 RPM and pushing the car hard, I get a decent 13.

Yes Service has to catch up to the Maruti's, but my last exposure with that said the service centers were overcrowded and attention to detail was lacking.

But overall the Indigo's smile can be seen on my face as well

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by Surprise

You are right Surprise but there is something known as moderator's discretion. It's been shifted to the right section. We find it an honest write up.

Iam not with restricting few sections for not reaching a band that is decided on no.of posts. I feel that a guy may be new to our forum, but may have lots of knowledge in this industry, which we prevent from sharing his views/knowledge.

Not all will try out posting in shifting gears section. Why not we open up & if any post found to be not okay, its moderators discretion to delete it or remove the lines that is not appropriate.


Just my thoughts.

[tsk1979]

I agree with surprise. It would be good if we had some kind of points thing. If somebody is posting utter nonsense then the members can give penalty points. Good posts will get the person positive points. Only people with +ve balance can post in restricted forums like "what car" and "long term review". I wonder how easy or difficult it is to implement on team-bhp forums

[RX135]

tsk/surprise,

I agree with your points, but things are not out of control so far. See it this way. Mods have to work extra to shift the topic from "shifting gear" to "relevant section". If there are lot of such honest reviews/threads, it means more work for Mods. So, if this trend continues for long, they themselves will come up with alternatives. Since they have not, things are fine the way they are.

As they say, "Don't fix if not broken". Right now, deleting bad posts appears to be more work for Mods than shifting threads.

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by RX135

"Don't fix if not broken"

Rightly said.

I would like this good review to get continued. Lets start to continue discussion on the review

[Stratos]

My car has around 13,000 kms on the clock. The car gives around 17-19kmpl (Yes, I have achieved 19kmpl) on the highway and around 14-16kmpl in the city. Its much more on the style of driving. Unecessarily revving the car will return bad FE figures. I have had experience with owners who claim to have bad FE with an Indigo diesel the reason for which being their harsh driving style, over-revving.

[Abhay]

Nice review indeed !
Also does the Indica/go have the same a/c set-up since I too find my a/c making things too cold when its run on the higher fan speeds :-)...

[tsk1979]

Yup, this compressor was introduced under the name "Super Chill A/C) in June 2002.

[pankaj09]

Hello Team,
I have been wanting to post this review for a long time but was just caught up with work.

well my car completed 1 year and has 24000 kms on the odo.

Till the second service at 10k everything was fine, but things changed after that.

I must say that Tata has a very good warrenty but I believe that makers should make quality cars that dont make the owner claim the warranty.

In the last 10000 kms -

• Clutch has been replaced twice.
• Release bearing once
• Front left strut was found to be faulty and replaced
• Drivers seat belt that wont recoil back was fixed
• Gear box FORK replaced because 1st and reverse gears were hard to get
• Fuel pump Solenoid switch replaced

All this work has been done under warranty.

Now the starter will be replaced under warranty because it sticks on start up.
There is also a noise that comes from the AC blower which still needs some attentions from the service station. But will be fixed under warranty.

In one year I have tried 3 *** - Han Motors and JP Auto world but both SUCK.
Om Sai Motors have serviced thecar for 22000kms and have also done the replacement work under warranty. Their work is good but they are very slow, very a regular oil change and washing takes 7 hours.

I am buying extended warrenty for an addtional 18 months cause I dont trust the product.

No doubt the car is very comfortable and still has no squeaks, the FE is also at 16 in city but the nigging problems are too much for a car that is only one year old, has 24k kms and has been service every 5k kms.

Now I ask for suggestions - what should I do - should I write to Tata. Or is it that Han sold me a faulty car.

Does anyone else in this group face similar problems with their Indigo's.

Stratos - what your take on this. ( dont you owe an Indigo too )

Thank you

Pankaj Tripathi