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-   -   Tata Vista - Highly Underrated MJD hatchback compared to Swift ?! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/117037-tata-vista-highly-underrated-mjd-hatchback-compared-swift.html)

The other day i casually walked into a TATA showroom to check out the Vista Refresh, after having tried other Diesel hatchbacks in the segment like Swift, Liva and Figo.

The Vista is truely a revelation.

For comparison, lets take Vista VX and Swift VDi for comparison.

For about 30-40k less than the VDi (which includes discounts of about 10-15k on the Vista ), you get:

1. A more spacious cabin
2. Soft touch dashboard
3. A very light clutch
4. Superb driveability and minimum turbo lag
5. Very silent cabin. This is in complete contrast to the VDi which because of the thin Window glass has too much noise entering the cabin.
6. Much more spacious specially at the back than the Swift.
7. Much much better brakes. With the VX model you get ABS standard !
8. Goodies like lumber support, ABS, electric mirrors, rear defogger etc.

The Swift scores on:
1. After sales (A.S.S.)
2. Handling
3. Style quotient.
4. Marginally better FE

Still, people are ready to wait for months to get hold of Swift, even if to compromise on:

1. Ergonomic flaws like the problem of shin area of leg touching the plastic below the steering (refer GTO's DZire review to get detail on the problem - i have also personally experienced it).
2. High road noise
3. Pathetic brakes (VDi/LDi)
4. No ABS as standard or optional in mid variants
5. High waiting periods
6. Visiblity issues (I am 6'0 still find view from new Swift's driver's seat not confidence aspiring. Complete contrast to the Vista where you have commanding view of the road ahead).
7. Claustrophobic rear seats.
8. Lack of goodies like Lumber support, steering mounted audio controls, electric adjustment of mirrors, blue and me etc (comparing VDi with VX)

Anything much more special in the Swift that people still buy the VDi over VX ?

@DCEite:

I cann't comment on Swift, but I have both the Vista Quadrajet and Ritz VDI ABS. Vista has run 20K and Ritz 10K. On paper Vista is much better value than all it's nearest competitors. However, I enjoy driving my Ritz VDI much more that the Vista. For the power, the handling of the Vista is not that great and doesn't inspire the same confidence as my Ritz. Both are on OEM Tires.

Reliability, after sales, lower maintenance costs, contemporary looks and brand image.

You don't want that light clutch failing on a highway trip. You don't want multiple unscheduled trips to service centre.

For 30-40K more you get peace of mind with some compromises.

That said I'm not a Swift fan old or the new one. Prefer the Figo, Liva or Pulse.

I think it's more a case of the Swift being a highly overrated car.
The areas where it does outshine the Vista are:
- The Maruti Suzuki badge against Tata
- Design
- Reliability
- ***
- Resale value
For most car buyers, these are reasons enough to chose the Swift over the Vista, despite the former's many flaws.
The Vista however makes a very good case for itself as a package.

Good Analysis. Highly underrated MJD ??? I rather think the other way. Swift is indeed over hyped and overrated. Vista is selling is very decent numbers. What made you think that Vista is Underrated?

Like 4X4 mentioned, the fun to drive factor is very important, which he finds Ritz to be better than the Vista. I own the Ritz VDi too with 185/70 Profile tyres, it is indeed a very good package for the city .

Vista as per me will age faster than other MSIL or FORD hatch backs, and it is indeed not fun to drive. Center Console is a sore point along with the indica badge still present.handling forget it lets not talk about vista handling.

many more small factors which tata has to work on, before they can imagine to get bookings like for example the Swift.

Cheers

Having experienced all of the MJD engined cars(beyond the initial TD), all i have to say is new Swift is not an overrated car at all. Swift deserves all that hype.

Anshuman, what makes you think that Swift deserves for that hype? For me, when I think about the new Swift, following points props up in my mind.

- Practically no boot space.
- Catastrophic rear.
- Bad braking (as reported by the members).
- Priced very high at least by Rs. 50K more.

I still feel Vista is indeed VFM car and not underrated at all.

I have both the cars, Vista MJD and Punto Multijet. Vista ages lot more faster and is not at all inspiring to drive. Also the kind of A.S.S that we get for Vista is not good at all. Even though Punto is also serviced at the same A.S.S the service advisor is lot more learned and the overall experience for Punto has been better.

Interiors feel airy but lack finesse.

We own the Aura edition Vista , infact 2 Aura Vista's in the family, since the last 46,000 kms and more. And 4 years of peaceful ownership. Also has done numerous long distance trips.

Your views come across very funny. When where and why did u face all those problems, can you care to explain:thumbs up

Guys lets not start an unnecessary debate, Both the models sell well beyond 10k units per month, and are a success in their own way.

1. Agreed
2. Plastic quality is comparable or even better with Swift. So is the fit and finish. Check the quality of plastics in the door trim of vista, they are not well finished.
3. Not a problem with Swift. Its control is also light.
4. Again driveability is not much of a difference with either. Both the cars have lag. Kick is stronger with Swift.
5. Swift too is well insulated from engine/road noise. The traffic noise penetrates maybe.
6,7,8 Agreed.

5. Engine is more eager and acceleration is brisker. Even the NVH is little better.
6. Tighter fit and finish.
7. Drive is better in both city and highway. Easy controls and great dynamics.
8. Outright reliability is still unmatched
9. Maruti's service backup (it is supposed to be better than Tata's in the overall scheme of things)
10. Resale value


1. Agreed.
2. Suspension is quite refined in the new Swift, even better than Vista. Where is the road noise?
3,4,5. Agreed
6. Visibility is a problem but agility isn't. Swift is still easier to drive thanks to tighter turning radius and lighter controls.
7,8. Agreed. But again all Tatas are known for space and equipments. Vista is no different.


Vista highly underrated? No it is not. It is the second best selling MJD. Punto is underrated actually.


Swift overrated? Again it is not. It ticks the maximum boxes when it comes to priorities for a hatchback costumer.
If Maruti brand matters that much, then even Ritz could have replicated the success of Swift but it didn't.
(Not that Ritz is inferior but Swift has got the appeal for sure)

Again if you ignore the space and ergonomics related issues Swift has got it all.
- Superb engines. Well tuned
- Fun to drive
- Best in class fuel economy
- Reliability and service with reasonable maintenance costs
- Resale value
- Style and appeal inside out.
- Easy controls
What more do you want?

Tata calling the Vista as "Indica Vista" is a major culprit too. If you have a relative who is 50 or 60 years old, show an advertisement of the Vista and ask his opinion, he will most likely say "Aah. Indica? It's too old". You will then say "No No. This is the new Indica. This is the Indica Vista". Most likely response "Really? It looks like the old Indica".

Yes, Maruti calls the new Swift as the "Swift" and the new Wagon R as the "Wagon R". But they don't sell the old model with the new model side by side. If you want to sell old gen car along with the new gen car, you will have to call it by a different name (Eg: Octavia & Laura, Santro & i10).

Calling the Vista as "Indica Vista" and at the same time, selling the old Indica gives an impression that the Vista is just a facelift of the old Indica. I'm surprised even Tata is treating Indica & Vista as the same - by only declaring their combined sales numbers every month (rather than separately).

I own the latest Vista Vx MJD, touted by Tata as the "Sedan Class" among all hatchbacks (I do agree with Tata on that front). My parents have a Toyota Liva GD, and hence I have driven both cars and know how well each one fares.
Yes. The Vista was indeed a revelation for me too, back when I was trying to decide between the New Swift and the Ritz VDi. DCEite has listed out all the pros and cons of the cars. For me the scales finally tilted in Vista's favour due to the following main reasons:

• Feature rich Vista Vx variant, which had too many goodies which the similarly priced Swift/Ritz variant glaringly lacked
• Very spacious interiors which can easily give many pricier sedans a run for their money
• Decent drivability in the city and a dedicated mile-muncher out on the highways

In addition to the above reasons, I turned down the Sift/Ritz for the following reasons:

• Narrow interiors where everything is always touching or nudging you (Swift)
• Rear seat space was reminiscent of an Alto (Swift)
• Ridiculously long waiting period for the New Swift (Seemed like my parents had to book it before conceiving me, if I were to have it in my lifetime i.e. :uncontrol)
• Quirky rear design (Ritz)
• Vast endless dull grey interiors which gave an impression of sitting on an Elephant's back.(Ritz)

From a pure driver's perspective, the Swift and Ritz are winners. However, in our country a car has many roles to play, and the Vista can perform (at least) satisfactorily in all those roles.

All that said, there is now another car that I love even more than the Vista, Swift or the Ritz - my parent's Liva GD ! I personally feel the Liva GD is an overall better driver's car than the other 3 cars. The Liva is very much a joy in the city than the Vista, and has an even more lighter clutch than the Vista.

Crazy, I think I have seen you say that before too. However I think that's just your personal taste alone, since India as a whole seems to accept center-mounted instrument clusters in cars like Etios, Liva, and Spark without much fuss.

I agree that Vista is a very good VFM proportion compared to other cars in the segment. One major downer for the low performance of the car also was the "Indica" badge. When I TDed the car after the launch and was half minded to buy this, all my friend's were strictly opposing it saying it's a "taxi" brand! The removal of "Indica" portion from the name would have brought in better sales is what I believe.

Not really, the majority of people are put down by the aesthetic part of it. If some one says that it's NOT ergonomic or difficult to read data from a centre console, I would NOT agree though! I have seen people changing perceptions once they see & drive these cars. I have TDed couple of cars with the centre console, except for the "odd looks" part, there is no problem with it.

2 Years, 37780 kms later, All I can say about my Vista is I M Loving it!. It never ceases to amaze me with the excellent suspension, comfort and reliability. The build quality is top notch and I have no rattles till date. Ok, my car is the Safire65 but we also have 3 other Vista's in the family. One of them, a MJD is in Kopargaon and driven over the moonscape like roads and after 2 years it still is holding up excellently. Yes, it is not a 'drivers' car but how many times do you get to take the 'twisties' at 65kph+? On a highway this car is very confidence inspiring with a nice HPS. And the creature comforts are worth it!

All said, when you sit inside the car, you are sitting inside it, what matters is comfort and peace. I get peace of mind - NO breakdowns and stuff, I dont know why people make it up. It is a very reliable car and will not let you down. And yes it is built strong and is very safe. Truly VFM.