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Old 8th December 2015, 09:26   #166
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Re: Tata cars - Reliability and service?

I own a Manza QJD running at 60K and every time I see a Safari, I will promise myself that I will buy one soon. But once I reach home and think again, the famous TASS will come to my mind, which will put a stop on my buying decision.

Their service personals are professionally least trained and motivated. Whenever I take Manza for some small issues to be fixed, it always comes back with a major issue.

Having said that, I am not unhappy about my buying decision on Manza. I bought it 5 years back and at that time for the money I paid, it was the best I could get in terms of space and features with a decent engine. So far it didn't let me down anywhere and I have taken it to places where a Maruti or Honda will not attempt to go.

So on reliability front, I see TATA and others in the same bucket. But once something goes wrong with a TATA car, it is a real pain to get it fixed and this spoils the feel good factor of owning a car.
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Old 28th December 2015, 10:01   #167
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I have written an email to connect@tatamotors.com and Mr.Cyrus Mistry on the poor service experience I had during my 1st service. I had written it yesterday evening and Mr. Mistry had read and forwarded to his team at 11pm!! Now I am getting calls from Head Services of Concorde motors Bangalore and he has assured me the best So friends if you have any issues with Tata motors - sales and service, please don't hesitate to email them.
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Old 28th December 2015, 13:02   #168
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Re: Tata cars - Reliability and service?

My experience with 3 Tata vehicles is as under

1) Storme - Aug 2013 and now sold - did around 42000 kms - product wise - superb - absolutely value for money and no niggles whatsoever. Does what its expected to do without any fuss.

Service experience - I have said this in many other threads also - in TASS don't expect some English speaking service advisor like you see in a Honda or other phoren brands. In most cases the advisors speak local language only. I have seen very honest and down to earth service advisors in TASS who are never under pressure to sell any "value added products" during service. At the same time, even if you fix an appointment for a certain time, it will be after a 15min delay that you will be attended to. So if you are the fussy type, PLEASE STICK TO TOYOTA.
Escalation works very well in TASS. I always know the CRM well and have the number of the Tata Motors area service head also. In general Tata Motors is very prompt if you escalate any matter to them.

Parts delay can happen given the low volume of sales so don't expect everything off the shelf

2) 2009 Vista bought pre owned and used for around 2.5 years - Since it was out of warranty, never used TASS. But I have bought parts from TASS and they are absolutely non fussy about providing you the required parts OTC. In fact, once I had bought a gear shifter cable, tried in my car at an FNG and since it did not fit, brought it back and exchanged it for another part. My familiarity due to the Storme ownership did help but I doubt if any other service center would accept a part that has been tried in the car at an outside garage.

as for the vehicle, I was not really happy with the way the vehicle aged but I should have done that due diligence before buying this model from the initial 2008-2010 version.

3) Tata Bolt
Vehicle is absolutely fabulous. Love the quality and the overall drive. My ownership review is still in the assembly line since it does not meet the forum's high standards. Have left it there but the vehicle is absolutely great.

Service - not experienced yet. first free service is due this week.
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Old 17th January 2016, 18:39   #169
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Re: Tata cars - Reliability and service?

I just took a uber for a 10 km ride. The car that came was a 4+ years old indigo CS and was driven by the owner. It was quite well maintained with some lose panels inside. On enquiring, the driver told me that he completed over 4.25 lac km with average run of 9-10k kms per month.
He got the car serviced regularly every month.
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Old 17th January 2016, 22:20   #170
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So many tata haters. I have a indicab dle. I feel safer in the indica. Greenie, this was your first car you drove. Hatch was replaced because you got rear ended by a bus. I think your car is being blamed for your rally style of driving. As for ASS. Everyone sucks. Its like getting admited in a hospital. You need to know someone. And be informed.
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Old 18th January 2016, 12:13   #171
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Re: Tata cars - Reliability and service?

Quote:
Originally Posted by YaeJay View Post
So many tata haters. I have a indicab dle. I feel safer in the indica. Greenie, this was your first car you drove. Hatch was replaced because you got rear ended by a bus. I think your car is being blamed for your rally style of driving. As for ASS. Everyone sucks. Its like getting admited in a hospital. You need to know someone. And be informed.
Saar, my last post in this thread was in 2013
PS: my indicab in the workshop right now for Suspension overhaul, strut replacement, steering box replacement ... 40K estimated - that's my repair budget for the entire year. blew 50K+ last year on tyres + 3 services (timing belt + 80K service, Alternator overhaul, FIP overhaul etc). Decided to replace the box instead of overhaul, as I had it overhauled in 2014, and this is how long it lasted)
I will not say they're unreliable - my car still hasn't broken down, but damn theyre expensive to maintain (compared to my friends 2005 Wagon R and 2007 santro which run around the same distance and route)

Last edited by greenhorn : 18th January 2016 at 12:15.
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Old 18th January 2016, 12:41   #172
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Re: Tata cars - Reliability and service?

Quote:
Originally Posted by greenhorn View Post
Saar, my last post in this thread was in 2013
PS: my indicab in the workshop right now for Suspension overhaul, strut replacement, steering box replacement ... 40K estimated - that's my repair budget for the entire year. blew 50K+ last year on tyres + 3 services (timing belt + 80K service, Alternator overhaul, FIP overhaul etc). Decided to replace the box instead of overhaul, as I had it overhauled in 2014, and this is how long it lasted)
I will not say they're unreliable - my car still hasn't broken down, but damn theyre expensive to maintain (compared to my friends 2005 Wagon R and 2007 santro which run around the same distance and route)
You are comparing a Diesel ( old school one at that) with a petrol engine. Service costs will be higher. Of the 50K last year how much for
Tyres? And importantly - it didn't let you down!
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Old 18th January 2016, 13:03   #173
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Re: Tata cars - Reliability and service?

the difference is of several magnitudes - they have annual expenditures of 15-20K, while I'm getting 40K+
both of them had 2 regular services every year
I had
1 service in Q1 2015 due to a check engine light - + regular service at Mohandas Motors in tvm = some 8K - they serviced the injectors etc,
Q2 the tachometer started dying - alternator overhaul + belt change = 5K
Q3 Check engine light showed up again - Turned out to be a timing issue, plus welding, diagnostics labour etc for rattles due to broken stuff = ~7K
Q4 80K Service came to 23K(belt, gearbox overhaul, bearings, mounts, water pump + other random stuff)

Then new tyres @ 16K - this was because my tyres had worn out unevenly and prematurely @ 35K - I was told that this happens a lot to indicas

Last edited by greenhorn : 18th January 2016 at 13:05.
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Old 18th January 2016, 20:39   #174
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Re: Tata cars - Reliability and service?

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Originally Posted by jeepster View Post
Here is my recent experience.
I own Xenon XT 2009 done about 62000km.
Similar to your experience, I myself own a Tata Telcoline 4X4 crewcab which is privately registered as well and has 22kms on ODO 2010 model, guys at T.A.S.S are always confused whether to call it CV or passenger vehicle.

Recently the vehicle has developed a noise in the gearbox[which is very amusing for me for a vehicle with 22kms on ODO], they don't have spares for this. . Now I am struck at the dead end.

Last edited by Aditya : 19th January 2016 at 07:24. Reason: Smilie count reduced to 2; Reduced quoted content;
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Old 18th January 2016, 20:42   #175
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Re: Tata cars - Reliability and service?

why not drop a mail to their customer support email ID - this should be one of the rare instances where they might actually be able to help
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Old 19th January 2016, 16:33   #176
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Re: Tata cars - Reliability and service?

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Originally Posted by greenhorn View Post

Then new tyres @ 16K - this was because my tyres had worn out unevenly and prematurely @ 35K - I was told that this happens a lot to indicas
No, I dont think so. My Indica V2 DLS (2001) has run over 1,80,000kms, and still going strong. Till date I have changed all 4 tires twice. If alignment in not done at 9000kms-10000kms intervals, then uneven tire wear will happen. I do it at 8000kms.

The service-overhauls you have jotted down seems to be on a higher side. I haven't come across such issues, apart from usual part-replacements as stated in the manual. No offense, but it seems your driver is over enthusiastic while driving the Indica. In my opinion, sedate driving style is the way to go. It is not a revv happy car. The engine can take a lot of abuse, but the mechanicals cant bear harsh driving style.
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Old 19th January 2016, 17:00   #177
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Re: Tata cars - Reliability and service?

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Originally Posted by keeprevving View Post
No, I dont think so. My Indica V2 DLS (2001) has run over 1,80,000kms, and still going strong. Till date I have changed all 4 tires twice. If alignment in not done at 9000kms-10000kms intervals, then uneven tire wear will happen. I do it at 8000kms.
Since my First set had uneven tyre wear despite wheel alignment at 10K Kms, i halved it to 5K after the second set, even 3K sometimes. Still ended up with uneven wear. I do drive over some bad chennai roads (certainly in worse shape than bhubaneswar roads). I was told by a bhpian who has a fair amount of expertise in the tyre business that they tend to see this issue a lot with Indicas - hence my comment.
Quote:
No offense, but it seems your driver is over enthusiastic while driving the Indica. In my opinion, sedate driving style is the way to go. It is not a revv happy car. The engine can take a lot of abuse, but the mechanicals cant bear harsh driving style.
None, taken, In fact, I'm the driver and I take it as a compliment . I am over enthusiastic while driving, and the turbo engine is very rev happy. But you are right, I suppose the mechanicals may not be able to handle it. Funny thing is, I was using the wagon R for several months, and my friend who owns it drives pretty much the same way I do, and he hasnt had much issues with its suspension.

PS: Do you give your car at swapna motors, or is there somewhere else you would recommend for indica service in bhubaneswar?

Last edited by greenhorn : 19th January 2016 at 17:01.
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Old 19th January 2016, 17:23   #178
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Re: Tata cars - Reliability and service?

Quote:
Originally Posted by greenhorn View Post
\ Funny thing is, I was using the wagon R for several months, and my friend who owns it drives pretty much the same way I do, and he hasnt had much issues with its suspension.

PS: Do you give your car at swapna motors, or is there somewhere else you would recommend for indica service in bhubaneswar?
You are right. Suspension set up of WagonR and Santro is far superior than Indica. I badly want to reduce the in-cabin road noise. Will get some sound-deadening stuff soon. Even though the car is doing well, I am thinking of replacing it with Zica (AMT). The resale value isnt much. I have a City (2012), so 3 cars will be difficult to maintain. Let's see. Parting ways will be difficult though.

I have never tried out Swapna Motors. I used to service my car at Bharat Motors, when the car was new. Since then, local garage is the best bet. Previously I used to service my car at SS Motors, Cuttack. They had some sound mechanics then. Kalim's garage, Cuttack is my preferred service center since last 5-6 years.
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Old 19th January 2016, 20:02   #179
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Re: Tata cars - Reliability and service?

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Originally Posted by TurboDiesel View Post
Recently the vehicle has developed a noise in the gearbox[which is very amusing for me for a vehicle with 22kms on ODO], they don't have spares for this.
Most of the mechanical parts are common. (try local tata mechanic)

please mail C. Care & Cyrus Mistry. (i got call from C. Care head next day but got the part only after i threatened to cancel Storme 400nm's booking.)

rgds,
Nikhil

Last edited by jeepster : 19th January 2016 at 20:04.
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Old 19th January 2016, 21:36   #180
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Re: Tata cars - Reliability and service?

I would say try C care first and then Mr mistry - C care usually yields results, or at least a mail trail which you can then use to escalate
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