[lurker]

Everyone loves cars that have a lot of accessories, a lot of upgrades that are popular internationally. This also makes a customer feel loved and protected that he is in midst of the hive. Tata sorely lacks in this ancillaries market. The upwardly mobile customer thus cannot feel the same connect with a Tata even that he can feel with the Mahindra Scorpio, which is sold in South Africa, South America and also have a well developed ancillaries market over there. Somehow the customer feels validated having so many markets backing up his choice through various plug & play fitments.

[prakash_ajp]

Originally Posted by lurker

Everyone loves cars that have a lot of accessories, a lot of upgrades that are popular internationally. This also makes a customer feel loved and protected that he is in midst of the hive. Tata sorely lacks in this ancillaries market. The upwardly mobile customer thus cannot feel the same connect with a Tata even that he can feel with the Mahindra Scorpio, which is sold in South Africa, South America and also have a well developed ancillaries market over there. Somehow the customer feels validated having so many markets backing up his choice through various plug & play fitments.

That's a good point. But from the customers' point of view, I highly doubt that most customers know this fact. Most customers just go by what people around them do.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by lurker

Everyone loves cars that have a lot of accessories, a lot of upgrades that are popular internationally. This also makes a customer feel loved and protected that he is in midst of the hive. Tata sorely lacks in this ancillaries market. The upwardly mobile customer thus cannot feel the same connect with a Tata even that he can feel with the Mahindra Scorpio, which is sold in South Africa, South America and also have a well developed ancillaries market over there. Somehow the customer feels validated having so many markets backing up his choice through various plug & play fitments.

Yes had missed this in a big way during my ownership of the Aria customization and accessories access was very limited and a major irritant to me at least.

[damodar]

Originally Posted by ACM

Yes had missed this in a big way during my ownership of the Aria customization and accessories access was very limited and a major irritant to me at least.

I am not able to find a footstep for my car in aftermarket, any suggestions? The OE one is too flexible and effects the ground clearance.

[GrammarNazi]

Originally Posted by damodar

I am not able to find a footstep for my car in aftermarket, any suggestions? The OE one is too flexible and effects the ground clearance.

Hi, is the Aria hard to get into. Because I remember old ads saying it had a low floor board although it had a 205mm GC, and thus Ingress / Egress was easier than SUVs like Safari/XUV.

Thats why we need ownership reviews.

[damodar]

Originally Posted by Shiwik

I have done 5000kms so far and i must say this vehicle is meant for a long term ownership. Service intervals are 15000Kms or once a year which works well for me.

One thing that could have been better is the gears are way too tall. If you are somewhere just below 30kmph on 3rd gear, it takes a short bit to pull on this gear. When you downshift to 2nd, the vehicle jerks as this speed is a little higher for that gear. I am not sure if a performance chip could solve .

After driving 2400 km in 26 days I absolutely concur with you that this vehicle is for long term ownership. I don't feel any body roll or excessive like other MUV's and almost effortless like my earlier cars.
Shwik what tyre pressures are you maintaining I keep 34 psi in all.

Also if you find the second gear problem in traffic try using IOC regular diesel which gave me better punch in all gears.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by damodar

I am not able to find a footstep for my car in aftermarket, any suggestions? The OE one is too flexible and effects the ground clearance.

Hi,

Here are a few links for you to check out (though I have no idea if the actual products would be available in your city or not):

http://www.ajantain.com/side_foot_step__running_bord

http://www.kumarsalesindia.com/portf...m-side-guards/

http://www.carryboyaccessories.com/sidestep/

Cheers,
Vikram

[ACM]

Originally Posted by damodar

I am not able to find a footstep for my car in aftermarket, any suggestions? The OE one is too flexible and effects the ground clearance.

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Hi, is the Aria hard to get into. Because I remember old ads saying it had a low floor board although it had a 205mm GC, and thus Ingress / Egress was easier than SUVs like Safari/XUV.

Thats why we need ownership reviews.

No it is not hard to get into for a vehicle of this size but obviously shorter people will have some difficulty. Older people would benefit from a side step.

Check out my ownership thread. Search " Heart over mind Aria"

The original footstep is too crude and wide. One would need to use the support of the original accessory step and weld with one designed for say a XUV or an innova. Cheapest option would be to modify an aftermarket fortuner or the innova side step that you like by changing the supports to match the Aria. Requires a smart precision welder.

[Shiwik]

Originally Posted by damodar

....
Shwik what tyre pressures are you maintaining I keep 34 psi in all.

Also if you find the second gear problem in traffic try using IOC regular diesel which gave me better punch in all gears.

I use 34 psi on all tyres too. Also i upgraded my tyres to yoko A/T and alloys. When you are on 3rd gear, try an get your rpm around a 1000+ just below 1100, on 3rd gear. I feel there is a momentary dead spot then. The moment it reaches 1100, it comes on its own and pulls effortlessly. Like i mentioned earlier, it is probably me who needs to change the driving style. How has your experience been so far.

[ptushar]

Yesterday I went to the Concorde showroom in Pune to check out the Storme and the Aria. I was given the following quotes for the Aria: Rs. 13.70 lacs for the Pleasure 4x2 and Rs. 16.81 for the Pride 4x4. When I asked for discounts on the Aria, I was told that there are NO DISCOUNTS on the Aria whatsoever. Almost all Tata cars have a discount except the Aria. When I asked why there are no discounts on Aria while they have discounts for all other cars I was told that this is a company decision.

I next asked him for the sales of the Aria and he confirmed that they are seeing a pickup in sales; in fact he pointed me to a person who was taking delivery of his Aria (Pure 4x2). I noticed that this was a taxi (yellow plate) registration. He also confirmed that KK Travels of Pune had placed an order of 88 cars with them and that they are replacing their fleet of Tavera and Innova with the Aria.
To be fair to the car, the specs are just superb. It had everything that one can ask for, this side of 20 lacs.

Is there some new found confidence in Tata over the Aria now that they believe that they can make some decent sales without any discounts? Can someone who recently pruchased the Aria or someone who is currently evaluting the Aria confirm on this 'no discount' policy?

[lurker]

Yes, I am suddenly seeing a lot of Aria taxis. It is possible that Tata's have clinched some big 'fleet sales' for the Aria.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ptushar

I was given the following quotes for the Aria: Rs. 13.70 lacs for the Pleasure 4x2 and Rs. 16.81 for the Pride 4x4.

Your Pleasure variant OTR does look discounted, but your Pride variant looks to be the original price. Its strange that just 1-2 months back, there quite a few getting discounts to the tune of 1-1.5L.

A theory is that Pleasure and Pride variants are assembled after orders are collected, while Pure is available off the shelf.

[nkrishnap]

The October month has 1 lakh discount, but only 15K in November. Not sure why this was pulled out if they were able to sell a couple of hundred vehicles with the 1 lakh discount.

The base variant of Aria at 11.2 lakhs Bangalore including extended warranty and AMC for 2 years or 30K kms made much better sense than the lower variants of the Innova no matter how reliable the Innova can be.

[ptushar]

Originally Posted by narayans80

A theory is that Pleasure and Pride variants are assembled after orders are collected, while Pure is available off the shelf.

Yes. That is correct. It all adds up now; I think Tata wants to capture the lucrative Taxi segment market. Hence all its strategies are geared towards making the Pure LX a serious value-for-money proposition for the buyers in this segment. And I guess it is starting to see results as well through fleet sales deals. Either it is not serious about contesting in the luxury market segment or it believes that the sales in the Taxi segment will instill confidence in the luxury buyer. After all, a taxi operator will never buy a vehicle which sits longer than required in the garage; it directly affects their business. So if more and more taxis are Arias then this will instill confidence in the car's performance. Moreover the people who buy the luxury segment are also the people who rent the Innovas and with that extension the Aria in te future. So when people travel in a luxurious Aria they will keep that as a consideration while buying their next car.

I will surely take a test drive of the Aria before buying. At the moment my heart is with the Aria but the brain is screaming "Storme or XUV". Let's see who wins.

[damodar]

Originally Posted by ptushar

At the moment my heart is with the Aria but the brain is screaming "Storme or XUV". Let's see who wins.

I went with my heart and extremely satisfied after completing 4500 km with my decision and in fact regreting why did not go for the pride 4x4.