[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by damodar

...At the end of 4 years a top end innova will also not fetch more than 10 Laks. Now a ARIA pleasure model sells at 14.5 Laks with airbags and ABS and if it fetches 5-6 Laks at the end of 4 years we are looking at similar losses compared to a top end innova.

Don't be fooled at the resale value of an Innova. Do NOT expect anything more a 30-40% price drop of an Innova even after 4 years and close to a lakh kms on the odo.

[desdemona]

This hopefully bears repeating, here and elsewhere: resale 'value' is a misnomer. It is a resale 'price'. 'Value' is PURELY subjective (social, cultural and aesthetic). It is common, as with Innova-s I'd claim, for the Resale 'price' to be good but for the 'value' to be...very lousy.

[AirWind]

Originally Posted by damodar

You mentioned 2nd row as too upright did you try the reclining function?

The new Aria is more powerfull with a wider torque band so it should eliminate the need for frequent gear shifting.

Finally since you drove a non ABS version can you comment on the braking performance?

I didn't realize there being a recliner for the 2nd row (even on basic version?) - let me chk that!

Braking with discs on all 4 was good, but was not confidence inspiring with nose diving (perhaps, I was spoilt by my Octavia vRS). I can imagine the inertia of 2.5 tonnes of the beast plus half a dozen passengers and luggage.

[drsingh]

Originally Posted by desdemona

This hopefully bears repeating, here and elsewhere: resale 'value' is a misnomer. It is a resale 'price'. 'Value' is PURELY subjective (social, cultural and aesthetic). It is common, as with Innova-s I'd claim, for the Resale 'price' to be good but for the 'value' to be...very lousy.

'value' for the seller is not lousy at all.
:-)

[damodar]

Originally Posted by AirWind

I didn't realize there being a recliner for the 2nd row (even on basic version?)

There is a sliding mechanism for the second row as well!

[blacksport]

Originally Posted by Shiwik

Does Aria actually deprecite as much. I did a quick lookup on OLX and found a few listing worth 11-13 lacs for 3yr old models. Also why do you say it could be owned only for 4 years?

Because, as long as warranty is there, Tata fixes all the issues, no questions asked. Once warranty is over it would become a nightmare to maintain the Aria.

[akhilesh51]

Originally Posted by Shiwik

Does Aria actually deprecite as much. I did a quick lookup on OLX and found a few listing worth 11-13 lacs for 3yr old models. Also why do you say it could be owned only for 4 years?

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

Just walk into any used car dealer and express that you are looking for a used Aria. Just look at the way they bug you.

Prices are always in the high range for any car. Everyone tries to put in the maximum price for the vehicle. Just try to contact them and if you happen to meet tha OLX seller in person, i am pretty they would be more than happy to knock a couple of lacs off just to get rid of the Aria.

Originally Posted by damodar

At the end of 4 years a top end innova will also not fetch more than 10 Laks. Now a ARIA pleasure model sells at 14.5 Laks with airbags and ABS and if it fetches 5-6 Laks at the end of 4 years we are looking at similar losses compared to a top end innova.

I own a 2011 Tata Aria Pleasure 4x2 (90,000 Kms) purchased in mid 2012 for close to 14.5L on road and have just recently bought another 2013 Tata Aria Pure 4x2. Why? because the comfort levels and drive quality surpasses Innova by miles. This is a true highway vehicle for family with right mic of comfort, space, luxury and features. Hence, there is no doubt that with the kind of travelling we have, this is a top option.

Also, it needs to be highlighted that our Aria has aged well and there have hardly been any breakdowns for mechanical failures or warranty replacement. With the AMC, the headache of dealing with ASC is also minimal and the car has truly been a gem over the past year and half.

Now, the flip side of the coin, Depreciation woes. As a family norm, we tend to liquidate vehicles once they touch 100,000 ams on odo and hence the purchase of new Tata Aria Pure couple of months back. But, wonder o wonder, 3 months and still I am not able to liquidate my vehicle. Forget 11-12 on OLX for similar model, I am struggling to find a buyer at 8L and this is an immaculately driven vehicle with full Tata AMC and over 10,000kms warranty remaining! On the other hand, a 3 yr old 1.5L odo Toyota Innova mid variant of my friend sold for 11.5L.

[filhosdegoa]

I have driven the Aria on our roads in Goa and it really impressed me. I also like its commanding stance and well appointed interiors.

However, after going through the specs, I was surprised that it uses the advanced, but complicated and Un-reliable CAN system currently used by the Skoda Superb and Octavia, which is the reason for numerous complications, breakdowns and problems that seem difficult to rectify.


A simple example within the Skoda stable is that the Rapid is much reliable and has lesser problems than the Superb is only because Skoda has not used the complicated CAN system in the Rapid. I have heard of cases where a wrong return signal from the fog lamps caused the Octavia engine to stall repeatedly.


Tata could do by adopting a simpler, straight forward system like that on the Toyotas which would make the vehicle much more reliable and will also help bringing the price down. We wouldn't mind if Tata choses to sacrifice few additional features for reliability and trouble free ownership.

[CARDEEP]

Link to review of 2014 Aria by ODI:

http://overdrive.in/reviews/2014-tat...dia-road-test/

[Shiwik]

Aria 2014 - test drive and review

Mods – excuse me if this post is in the wrong place and please move this to the appropriate location if needed.

Was looking at a replacement for my Innova and have been keenly following the release of Aria from Tata since March this year. I am not posting any pictures here as the overall shell remains the same and nothing has changed in the interior too.

Dealership experience : These are purely my perspectives and there is absolutely no intention of hurting the sentiments of existing Tata car owners. It is rather surprising that despite Tata not doing as well with declining sales and MSS, nothing seems to be done to revive it – specifically from the dealership experience. This car was probably launched on March 11th (that was what was told to me by the dealer here in Bangalore). However after several follow-ups with all the dealers, I finally got to test drive this car last week. Aadya motors still does not have a test drive car. KHT motors finally got one last week and that has met with an accident while ferrying RCB players and is in the workshop. The sales rep promised to get it to me on Saturday and three days later I am still waiting for his call . Concorde motors think that do us a favor by selling their cars. I have made over half a dozen calls to them and all the time (except once) the sales rep has been busy and never bothered to return my call. I finally called up a toll free number listed on an ad. The lady promised that a technical expert would call me in about 10 mins – which he promptly did. By technical expert I thought it would be someone who understands mechanicals and comparisons really well. While he did his best to explain the features, I realized he was merely reading out from the brochure. Nevertheless he did arrange a test drive from prerana motors and I would stop my dealership whine here.

Sales Experience : The sales person kept me informed about the time she would get the car for a TD and promptly she did reach my place at the time she promised. She seemed fairly conversant with the features of the car and promptly answered my queries.

Exterior: The new Aria comes in 3 flavors – Pure LX (base 4*2), Pleasure (mid 4*2) and Pride (top 4*4). The car that came over was the base version (Pure). This is probably the first time I have seen this car as close. It does look quite imposing – especially the side profile The car overall looked well put together. I did notice the rear indicator cover was now changed to transparent as compared to the earlier orangeish cover. The rear profile is probably the best to look at. The two exhausts sit snugly inside the rear bumper and looks very neatly done. The front has not changed from the earlier versions. I personally thought the headlights looked stunning. However the front, in its entirety looked like a large Manza.

Interiors: Once you get inside the car, you are bound to be a bit disappointed looking at the dashboard and the center console. The shiny top looked a little cheap and when I knocked on it, it did sound hard. The center dials are fairly simple and intuitive. It had 2 trip meters, DTE, and average mileage on each of the trip meters. They could be accessed by poking a button on the indicator stick. Steering was nice to hold and since this being the base model, it did not have any mounted controls on it. This comes with the same butterfly type wipers which is standard across variants. Driver and passenger arm rests were missing and there was no music system either. However there are slots provided for speakers on all doors, tweeters on the A pillar and woofer on the boot lid. It had faux wood running around the AC vents. Door lock and unlock buttons are on the center console. It took me a while to figure it. The AC knobs did not seem they would last long. Looked extremely flimsy. Apparently in the mid and the top model, there is also a glove box chiller. AC was an absolute chiller. In no time the car was like an icebox. I did not sit at the rear but got to hear from my folks that it is very effective. On the flipside, I just could not get the right vent position on my left side. The blower is vertically long and ends up either freezing your knuckles or is blocked by the steering wheel. The inside was a combination of black and sandal color (looked extremely weird). One other thing that caught my attention was the way the steering mounted control slot was patched in the base variant. In a sandal color steering wheel, this slot was cover with a shiny black patch (looked like an insulation tape at first).

Driving Experience: Crank the engine and the vehicle comes to life and settles down quietly. I deliberately kept the bonnet open and asked the sales person to crank the engine. It was indeed very quiet. Coming with an Innova background, this silence was leagues ahead. When in idle, with all windows up , you may probably not realize the engine is on. The engine was quite responsive from the word go and the torque delivery was very linear. There were no jerks while accelerating. Gear shift was also quite slick and was easy to slot. There was a slight turbo lag noticed below 1500 rpm but nothing annoying. In one of the places we had to come to almost a standstill due to traffic and when I tried to accelerate on 2nd gear the vehicle stalled and I had to restart. Seemed a little awkward – probably I was still not entirely used to the vehicle. I could not take it for a high speed spin but city drive was fairly easy. The highlight of this entire drive was the clutch. It was ultra-light and was extremely easy to engage in heavy traffic (hats off to Tata engineers on this one). Overall it would be a good vehicle to own if you want a large and comfortable family mover.

Trivial things: Tata probably needs to get its act together especially in the designing aspect. The outgoing Aria was probably not low on power, what probably let it down was its design, pricing and looks. While pricing has been taken care to an extent, the design and looks remain the same. The newer Aria’s come with body de-cals. What put me off is the same decals (probably in different sizes) are used in a Sumo and I personally would want to see something different when I am spending on their flagship model. The middle row splits 60:40. Tata’s have successfully carried forward the design flaw of the second row not tumbling entirely and getting stuck on the knee AC unit. The TD car had about 700 Kms on the ODO. However there were quite a few things that did not seem to work or malfunction. Whenever I turn on the hazard lights (when my wife was getting to the driver seat and vice versa), the wipers turn on and it promptly turns on again when you turn of the lights. The puddle lamps remained on all along, however hard one shuts the door. Strange behavior for a car that is so new. I am sure there would have been more, it is just that I had other engagements and had to finish the TD a bit quicker.

Verdict – Well I would probably wait some more time. I have not even seen the mid variant yet to see if there are any visual differences. Being a Toyota owner (and used to Toyota service levels), I am still a bit skeptical. Added to it the dealer attitudes is a big let-down and when you sell your flagship model, you may want to get your best model for a drive which was not the case here. I felt the Safari Storme was lot better when it came to the interiors and driving experience. I am seeing posts around an updated storme being spotted near Ooty and if that one comes shod with similar mechanicals, I would definitely go for that.

[TheARUN]

Thanks for the feedback, nothing like getting a fellow Bhpians perspective.

I think where Tata are going wrong is that they are getting People who do not have a passion for Automobiles into their dealerships and company. A lot of them look like they are there only for the pay-check and will be more than glad in any other line of business so long as the pay is good

They should be looking at People who will take a pay-cut but still not leave the automobile field, dealers especially

[rkg]

Bought ARIA Pure LX from Prerana Motors.

Got 50 K discount ( including 25 k exchange bonus with exchange)

Dealership experience is same with Concorde. Not bothered to call back or arrange for test drive. Prerana is prompt is arranging test drive car and also pursuing the customer. I think TATA should close Concorde sales section and keep it only service

Got Insurance outside from United India. Nil depreciation policy is 26.5K

Took delivery yesterday.

It is March 2014 manufactured car as per VIN decoding

Originally Posted by Shiwik

Aria 2014 - test drive and review

Shiwik

I have test driven ARIA Pure LX (old one) for about 100Km. Three times on electronic city flyover. It rides much much better than Safari Storme. Braking is also fine. It stops in staright line on sudden braking at 120 KMPH without any problem.

[WorkingGuru]

Thanks for the feedback Shiwik, was yearning to hear/read a BHPians neutral perspective, especially someone who's had a Toyota.

A while ago I'd read that the Aria was to be sold only through Concorde & Prerana Motors and not others. I've personally experienced the absolute apathy form the sales team at KHT, so kindof not surprised by their elusive excuses.

I happened to travel in the back seat of an Aria once while going from Mumbai to Pune and was very impressed by the ride quality. My mum found it easy to get in-&-out : the floorboard seemed low. Dunno how they managed 205mm GC with such a low floorboard!

The driver mentioned the fleet he worked for had a few Aria's and although they did have few niggles, it was all proactively sorted out by TASS.

I too am looking for a MUV within a year and currently set my heart (& wallet) at the Xylo H8 (~12L OTR in Blr). My friend is buying an Aria soon and IF I find TaMo giving good post sales support, I'll surely stretch and pick the mid-variant. Are there any discounts as of now?

[rkg]

New ARIA Engine & its components comes with 3 years/150000 Km warranty

Rest of the Vehicle warranty is 3 years/ 1 lakh KM

Central locking with remote/manual is for all doors( including boot door and fuel)

Central lock has remote/manual option( driver, passenger and boot door) + lock/unlock from front facia

It has got a inertia switch, which will unlock all the doors, switch on hazard lights in case of head on collision. The switch can be turned off after accident and car cane be driven to service station( if it is in drivable condition)

OVRM's are heated even in basic model( TATA do not advertise this anywhere for the reasons best known to them)

[damodar]

Originally Posted by Shiwik

[b]
Driving Experience: Crank the engine and the vehicle comes to life and settles down quietly. I deliberately kept the bonnet open and asked the sales person to crank the engine. It was indeed very quiet. Coming with an Innova background, this silence was leagues ahead. When in idle, with all windows up , you may probably not realize the engine is on. The engine was quite responsive from the word go and the torque delivery was very linear. There were no jerks while accelerating. Gear shift was also quite slick and was easy to slot. There was a slight turbo lag noticed below 1500 rpm but nothing annoying. In one of the places we had to come to almost a standstill due to traffic and when I tried to accelerate on 2nd gear the vehicle stalled and I had to restart. Seemed a little awkward – probably I was still not entirely used to the vehicle. I could not take it for a high speed spin but city drive was fairly easy. The highlight of this entire drive was the clutch. It was ultra-light and was extremely easy to engage in heavy traffic (hats off to Tata engineers on this one). Overall it would be a good vehicle to own if you want a large and comfortable family mover.

Trivial things: Tata probably needs to get its act together especially in the designing aspect. The outgoing Aria was probably not low on power, what probably let it down was its design, pricing and looks. While pricing has been taken care to an extent, the design and looks remain the same. The newer Aria’s come with body de-cals. What put me off is the same decals (probably in different sizes) are used in a Sumo and I personally would want to see something different when I am spending on their flagship model. The middle row splits 60:40. Tata’s have successfully carried forward the design flaw of the second row not tumbling entirely and getting stuck on the knee AC unit. The TD car had about 700 Kms on the ODO. However there were quite a few things that did not seem to work or malfunction. Whenever I turn on the hazard lights (when my wife was getting to the driver seat and vice versa), the wipers turn on and it promptly turns on again when you turn of the lights. The puddle lamps remained on all along, however hard one shuts the door. Strange behavior for a car that is so new. I am sure there would have been more, it is just that I had other engagements and had to finish the TD a bit quicker.

Verdict – Well I would probably wait some more time. I have not even seen the mid variant yet to see if there are any visual differences. Being a Toyota owner (and used to Toyota service levels), I am still a bit skeptical. Added to it the dealer attitudes is a big let-down and when you sell your flagship model, you may want to get your best model for a drive which was not the case here. I felt the Safari Storme was lot better when it came to the interiors and driving experience. I am seeing posts around an updated storme being spotted near Ooty and if that one comes shod with similar mechanicals, I would definitely go for that.

How did you find the steering in traffic? Storme is more agile in traffic but loses out on ride quality to Aria. One drive of Aria on our broken state highways back to back with storme will highlight this.