[selfdrive]

Reinhard, I dont know how I missed this thread. Amazing review of a very practical car! I cannot imagine that kind of mileage on any car. It is awesome, and I hope you continue to see those numbers
Have you stickered your ride? What I intend to say is how do I identify when I spot?

By the way, any chance for a quick meet up this weekend? I have now moved to your "ilaaka"

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by silverado

Is it the one in Shahu college campus? If yes, than i have had a good experience as well.Pandit auto is also planning to start a Service Centre near Wakad soon.

They have opened a new showroon in Aundh, near Parihar chowk.

Indica VISTA is truly SEDAN class, Fuel Efficiency is amazing , and thanks for sharing info on Phadke, i will surely visit it soon.

Yep right. The one in Shahu college campus. Like all TASCs they might seem a bit indifferent towards the customer, but the work done is always good, and no unnecessary charges and claims of repairs or top-ups.

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Reinhard, I dont know how I missed this thread. Amazing review of a very practical car! I cannot imagine that kind of mileage on any car. It is awesome, and I hope you continue to see those numbers
Have you stickered your ride? What I intend to say is how do I identify when I spot?

By the way, any chance for a quick meet up this weekend? I have now moved to your "ilaaka"

Hey selfdrive, yeah the Scharnhorst (as I call her sometimes after my favourite battleship) is stickered. LTD sticker on the rear bumper, right bottom corner (unfortunately accompanied by a visible scratch patch thanks to a trucker who lost his control while behind me at signal!! :@)

Welcome to the ilaaka - but which one? Kothrud or Hinjewadi? ! But I missed the post! Have been away from the forum for past couple of months. Let me know now on if u have plans.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Welcome to the ilaaka - but which one? Kothrud or Hinjewadi? ! But I missed the post! Have been away from the forum for past couple of months. Let me know now on if u have plans.

Its unfortunate that these days we have to be alert while waiting at signals and keep looking all over the place. Earlier this week an Activa rear ended the Jazz on SB Road. I didnt even bother to get down and check damages. Now the Jazz is multi scarred. I think I will just get a quarterly painting job done

I have always been in Kothrud. Just moved to Mahatma society area. I was in HJW last week, but seems like a permanent move to HJW is on hold for now.

[Reinhard]

Okay, here is some update after a long while.
The odo now reads 32000kms & has been stationary at that since last 2 weeks. My boy met with a nasty accident. Here's a little travelogue about it -

Was returning from Hinjewadi via the Nande-Chande road towards Sus on 29th January when a maniac in a gray SX4 ZXi came riding the winds from behind. I was watching him in the mirror & moved aside to let him pass. He was overtaking me alright but a few children appeared on the road at distance and this dude lost it. Tried to cut into me quickly, and in fact he actually DID cut into me. Bumped into me, pushed me off the road on the left and ran away! The road is so narrow that the FL wheel went into a ditch and probably blew up. Car lost total traction and fishtailed towards the right and right wheel bumped hard on the right side road shoulder. Fishtailed again and nose-dived again into a ditch on the left side of the road. Took off like a harrier jet from a ski jump and was fully air-borne while I looked at the sky for a fraction of a second. Then banged down hard. with a huge dust cloud. I was stunned for a couple of seconds & first checked for dents and scratches on myself. Nothing. No intrusion into the cabin. I was totally OK. The engine & music was still running too! shifted into neutral, switched off & got out of the car.

This was the initial assessment -
1. Front bumper and fog lamps were kaput due to the hard nose dive

2. Front suspension was damaged with both tires blown up and almost torn apart. Never liked those noisy GT3s...Had planned to change around 35-40k, got it done a bit earlier now

3. Both front wheel rims were bent.

4. Right rear tire had a nice bubble (gator is it?) & small dent in the rim edge.

5. In the nose dive, the intercooler & radiator mounting took a hit and everything in front of the engine bay had been pushed backwards. Nothing blown up but a bit out of place.

6. The impact had destroyed the under-body fiber splash guards & those in the wheel wells too.

7. The engine belt had fallen off, so most of the things driven by the engine like power steering & AC were non-functional.

8. Engine & transmission were intact and hadn't hit anything. Functioned well.

But The car protected me really well. Not even a mental shock.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our fellow BHPian SwanandInamdar who saw me in the ditched and pulled over instantly. Assisted me in getting contacts for tow-cranes & stayed with me for as long as I needed! An appreciation towards Team BHP is also due, as I met Swanand via TBHP.

It was past 6 PM when the accident took place. Still I called up Concorde Motors service department at Balewadi & the engineer was very assistive. I informed about the status & told the gentleman that it will be around 9PM by the time I towed the car to the workshop. He assured me that he'll tell the security people to let me park the car in the workshop.

My friend Ajit arrived in 15 minutes from crash (in his identical Vista) and we waited for the tow truck. Fitting that it was a Tata 207DI... While it arrived, shifted all valuables like woofer, amp, tools etc into Ajit's car.

Towed the car & parked it at Concorde around 9PM. As promised, the security fellow was expecting me & assisted with everything. Tow charges were 1500 - which I felt were OK.

Here are a couple of pictures of the car at Concorde.





Went to the SC next morning and booked repairs - already anticipating close to 1,00,000/- of a dent in the pocket. Given the damages, the SA said it may take upto 2 months to get the car back.

However, I've already taken a test drive on 15th February and the car is feeling better than she did when I got her 2 years back. The new GoodYear DB Series tires with asymmetric tread that I asked for are really good. Soft and quiet with good grip. No noise in cabin at all. Rest was working well anyway. So the engine, turbo-charger and transmission are fine.

1. The inter-cooler, radiator & mounting frame has been changed - for bends.
2. AC gas has been changed.
3. LH headlamp assembly is changed
4. Both front fog lamps
5. Front bumper, air dam, splash guards are changed
6. Power steering oil is replaced (And boy does it feel really good now!)
7. LH suspension strut changed
8. 3 Wheel rims, 3 wheel caps & 5 tires new.
9. Both front fenders re-painted. (Good job. Colour matches to perfection.)

The total cost is around 80k inclusive of labour, parts, taxes. Will analyze how much of it will be covered by insurance. (The new India assurance guys will be angry with me!)
I've asked for an internal cabin cleaning treatment which is around 1k.

The pickup felt a bit less on Friday, & it seems the EGR valve needs to be cleaned up. The car was throwing out a bit of black smoke and soot over last couple of months so the EGR may really have needed the cleanup already. That is being done today & I'll hear back from Concorde by tomorrow hopefully about delivery.

Here are a few snaps from Friday with my reborn car -




Don't pay too much attention to the weird bent look of it, its the strange close range wide angle characteristics of the Galaxy Note's lens.


The day I get her back, I'll go on a nice drive. Missing my car since more than 2 weeks now! On the same day, I'll buy a pair of ROOTS Wind Tone horns to replace the stock one. I would like to do that DIY. Any guidance guys? The stock is a single horn. Which is better of the two -

1. Simply replace the stock with the pair of Roots
2. Power them straight from the battery & use a relay cut-out with the horn wires from steering.

The accessories guy here said he regularly uses option 1 on all Vistas that he has attached Roots on.
Tips?

Will post pictures again once I get my car back.

[smrtdvl]

Good to know that you are safe mate :-)

Do update us on the insurance part. Btw isn't there 2 horns in the vista? At least that's what I thought it to be :-P. Me too planning for a horn change, looking for something identical to the ones in polo.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Okay, here is some update after a long while.
The odo now reads 32000kms & has been stationary at that since last 2 weeks. My boy met with a nasty accident....

That's bad. But happy to see you are safe! Were you NOT able to track the SX4? Or didn't want to try?

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Here are a couple of pictures of the car at Concorde.


Here are a few snaps from Friday with my reborn car -

Guess pics are NOT loading up!

Originally Posted by Reinhard

...On the same day, I'll buy a pair of ROOTS Wind Tone horns to replace the stock one. I would like to do that DIY. Any guidance guys? The stock is a single horn. Which is better of the two -..

Aren't you talking of the "Skoda type" horn? Buy Hella Twintones (Red color) over Roots Windtone. Those are louder and sound similar. Cost would be ~Rs. 650/-. Not sure of the installation though!

[ajay_satpute]

Welcome back.

That was a terrible incident. Really glad to hear that you are doing good.

[Arun.K]

Happy to hear that you are safe.

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Any guidance guys? The stock is a single horn. Which is better of the two -

1. Simply replace the stock with the pair of Roots
2. Power them straight from the battery & use a relay cut-out with the horn wires from steering.

I would go with the 2nd option. That’s almost the present set-up in our Vistas. Both the horns (OE & Roots Spider) are controlled by a two way switch placed at the right side bottom of the dashboard. The switch is concealed in a panel gap. There is also an extra fuse added in the wiring that runs to the spider horns along with a relay. In this set-up Roots will work even when the ignition is off. They are fitted with extra brackets on both sides behind the front bumpers. The only disadvantage is either the headlamp or the front bumper needs to be removed for horn fitting.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by smrtdvl

Good to know that you are safe mate :-)

Do update us on the insurance part. Btw isn't there 2 horns in the vista? At least that's what I thought it to be :-P. Me too planning for a horn change, looking for something identical to the ones in polo.

I don't think our car has 2 horns. It's just the one that is visible from the grill. The Polo has Roots windtones too I think. If Skoda uses them, its logical for parent VW to use the same too.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

That's bad. But happy to see you are safe! Were you NOT able to track the SX4? Or didn't want to try?


Aren't you talking of the "Skoda type" horn? Buy Hella Twintones (Red color) over Roots Windtone. Those are louder and sound similar. Cost would be ~Rs. 650/-. Not sure of the installation though!

Thanks for the concern mate. Well, it happened so fast that I was totally busy holding on to my dear car (and life). Didn't get a chance to look at his registration plate. So couldn't track him down. My fault one has to say... Or SX4 is too fast

Yes, Roots windtone = Skoda type. Okay! I'll check for the Hella Twintones. Thanks for the tip. 650 Seems at par with the Roots too. I don't think the Vista leaves any room in front of the radiator for the large dual horns. Will have to clamp them somewhere in the engine bay or behind the bumpers I think.

If they have good switch options & manage to retain the ergonomics of the dashboard, I'll get them to set a selector switch & retain the OE horn and add the new pair.

[SankalpDesai]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Will post pictures again once I get my car back.

Reinhard, how was your experience with Concorde Motors? Do they service Punto?

I'm planning to get my Punto serviced before a long drive coming up in April. I can take it to Pandit Auto in Landewadi as I've good experience there, but it's too far.

[Reinhard]

Fitted Roots Windtones at last! Took long time coming! Got the job done for 750 at phadke car accessories kothrud.

I had gone with a plan to get them along with a relay and necessary wiring... with the understanding that the vista has a single horn.

To my surprise, there was an additional wire and socket properly secured behind the existing minda horn! So the vista has provision for a pair. Just that a single one comes as standard.
Then on it was a 5 minute job! And I'm still cursing myself for not doing it as a DIY!!!

Anyway, the horns sound as they should and due to the forward position, the honk intrusion in cabin is minimal.
Happy overall!

[Arunshek]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Fitted Roots Windtones at last! Took long time coming! Got the job done for 750 at phadke car accessories kothrud.

I had gone with a plan to get them along with a relay and necessary wiring... with the understanding that the vista has a single horn.

To my surprise, there was an additional wire and socket properly secured behind the existing minda horn! So the vista has provision for a pair. Just that a single one comes as standard.
Then on it was a 5 minute job! And I'm still cursing myself for not doing it as a DIY!!!

Anyway, the horns sound as they should and due to the forward position, the honk intrusion in cabin is minimal.
Happy overall!

Hi,

I'm planning to install dual horn on my Vista. Tata service center said that warranty will become void if any additional fitting is done. Now that you have mentioned that Vista has the provision and there was no cutting and trimming of wires, Will it still void the warranty.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by Arunshek

Hi,

I'm planning to install dual horn on my Vista. Tata service center said that warranty will become void if any additional fitting is done. Now that you have mentioned that Vista has the provision and there was no cutting and trimming of wires, Will it still void the warranty.

Hi,
No it won't void warranty. The complete wiring for 2 horns is already in place (same as the Manza, which has the 2nd horn also installed). The only change that you may have to do is to remove the stock connector, which might not fit with a Roots Windtone's standard connector plate. There is no warranty issue. No relay or additional wiring is required.

If you are a DIY person, do give it a try to fit yourself. It really is a 5 minute job. Just remove the 2 bolts that hold the top part of the bumper over the radiator. The honeycomb grille part easily bends downwards giving you all the access that you need to the horn mount. You only have to bend the horn's mounting plate as necessary to fit it in a proper position.

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by Arunshek

Hi,

I'm planning to install dual horn on my Vista. Will it still void the warranty.

As Reinhard already mentioned, it does not void the warranty. I also have Skoda dual tone horn installed on my Vista for last 3 years and no Tata A.S.S. ever cribbed about it. Go ahead.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by Arunshek

Hi,

I'm planning to install dual horn on my Vista. Tata service center said that warranty will become void if any additional fitting is done. Now that you have mentioned that Vista has the provision and there was no cutting and trimming of wires, Will it still void the warranty.

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Hi,
.....The honeycomb grille part easily bends downwards giving you all the access that you need to the horn mount. You only have to bend the horn's mounting plate as necessary to fit it in a proper position.

A slight mistake there. I assumed your Vista to have the honeycomb grille. Anyway even with the new chrome slats grille (which might be the case with your Safire90 if its newer), the procedure would be the same.

As for the warranty, I have the horn, an amp+sub woofer installed after-market. The Tata A.S.S. has never questioned these while handling warranty. I've had a motor change for the air re-circulation closure mechanism & also a turbo-charger service done under warranty.
In fact the turbo might have been damaged during a heavy shunt that I had inclusive of an off-road ditching. Still it was covered under warranty by Concorde Pune.