[07CR]

Originally Posted by pandabear

I have been looking to buy a 7 Seater SUV, now. Pretty confused , looking for your inputs.

A little bit of background, I stay away from the country most of the year, car will only be used couple of months.

Remaining time it is going to be idle.

In the two months you will be in the country, are you sure it will be used as a 7 seater?

If yes-
1) Hexa makes a good bet, but only as a long distance cruiser. If you will also be using it as a city hauler, do get a test drive. Massive dimensions without assists(like front parking sensors/360 degree cameras) and a very heavy steering can be very cumbersome to drive.

2) Checkout the current gen XUV500 in used format. Some of them available at 13-14L for a two year old model in it's top AT variant. Only go for XUV's AT variant though.

3) Completely at the other end of spectrum, but if the car would be only used in city conditions do take a look at the Renault Triber. It seat's 7 in good comfort, but is only restricted for city conditions.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Noob OT question: Everyone mentions this - "diesels do not do well if left idle". What does it mean really? My own diesel has been sitting idle for the past 7 months in this pandemic. It has run only 1000 Km in this time.

I hope we can entertain one OT reply from you. What happens to diesels if they aren't run that much? This might even help the OP in making his decision.

While someone else provides the technical reasons, I'd say the point is true. My Vento tdi ran superbly for the first 3 years and 58k kms. Next 3 years and some 8000 kms only that were mostly driven in short periods while the car remained unused for the majority of the time, the car saw a huge increase in maintenance costs and repair.

I'd be interested to understand this from a technical standpoint.

P.s. Sorry for the OT discussion.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

My Vento tdi ran superbly for the first 3 years and 58k kms. Next 3 years and some 8000 kms only that were mostly driven in short periods while the car remained unused for the majority of the time, the car saw a huge increase in maintenance costs and repair.

I'd be interested to understand this from a technical standpoint.

1. Out of the systems that differ between a petrol car and a diesel car, the fuel system, the emmision control system and the engine oil (if unchanged periodically) have potential to cause more maintenance when sitting idle for long. Other systems like suspension, braking, transmission, engine cooling, AC and electricals won't cause more maintenance due to sitting idle, compared to a petrol car. Timely change of fluids and consumables in the fuel system, exhaust system and engine oil (irrespective of the running) shall prevent unusual breakdown because of sitting idle for months.
2. If you give the details of extra maintenance and repair incurred during the 3 years of little use (those 8000 km), we canndraw some conclusions about the way these breakdowns may have been triggered by sitting idle.

[Proxima]

I bought a used Hexa a few months back and it's been one of the best car buying decisions I've made. It's big, comfortable and can easily cruise at 120 on the 6th gear. City driving is also not very difficult.

Best bang for the buck in today's used car market IMO

[padmrajravi]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Noob OT question: Everyone mentions this - "diesels do not do well if left idle". What does it mean really? My own diesel has been sitting idle for the past 7 months in this pandemic. It has run only 1000 Km in this time.

To be frank, I don't know the exact reason why this is said. But my experience with the two diesel cars and two petrol cars points to this fact. My erstwhile Cruze LT towards its last legs was used sparingly since I used to travel out of the country a lot. It used to share its garage with swift petrol. Both cars were started once in a while by our drivers but every time I came back, the Cruze would spend some time in the service center for one thing or the other. The engine noise being high and warning lights coming on during the first long drive after staying idle became a common occurrence. The reason turned out to be different everytime I took it to service center. I remember three distinct issues during those times - fuel pump problem, premature timing chain problem and a water pump problem. The swift on the other hand, even though with higher mileage, ran perfectly everytime I came back. Other than a electrical problem due to rats, it never had any issues.

As of now, I have a Hexa AT and a Xcent petrol AT. I can leave the Xcent without touching it for weeks and be confident that it will still start in the first crank. I started my Hexa after 7 days yesterday. It took a long agonizing crank and the engine noise was far higher. It has a three-month-old battery while the Xcent has a 2-year-old battery. Luckily it has not thrown a check engine light yet, but I have a feeling something is going to give me trouble. I have observed this with my erstwhile Cruze too. It would always struggle to start if it stayed idle for more than two weeks. But the Swift could survive long periods of idle time. The starting problem I mentioned could be a result of big diesels needing high current.

I do realize my petrol cars were from reliable manufactures and diesel cars were from not-so reliable ones. But in spite of that If I have to buy a car that would stay idle for a long time , it would be an NA petrol. Atleast in paper, NA petrols have lesser things to go wrong.

[pandabear]

Thanks for the reply guys, I can see Hexa is great for many of you. I ended up test driving a used Hexa today at the service station as the car I was interested in was at service, following were my observations.

Car had run 45K, XTA variant, steering was a bit heavy but manageable. Brakes were totally spongy and lacked any bite. Tata SA told me that was normal on the Hexa, I was confused how? Definitely the brakes did not inspire confidence. Otherwise I was like 80% sold.

I wanted a 7seater and the one I saw was 6seater one. One of the reasons why I am hunting around for a Hexa is that it is going to be my long distance runner. Have a family of 7 with 3 senior citizens and it will be mostly pilgrimage trips.

With 6 airbags and peppy engine, I feel the value for money quotient is very high in the Hexa something missing in the Ertiga. Innovas are ridiculously priced in the used car market.

I have a 16 year old petrol swift without any airbags for the neighbourhood run.

Will have to keep looking out for a clean Hexa, else will have to go in for a new car as 30-40 percent depreciation is not much for a 4 year old Hexa, especially when not in production. Newer cars with ESP, TC and other stability controls are worth their money.

BTW, a casual chat with the SA, he told me that the staff are being trained for the launch of the Hexa BS6 Safari Edition. Not sure how true, but it great news if it can be verified. He told me its going to be a new BS6 engine but remaining everything is same as the old model Hexa.

[Kosfactor]

For intermittent use, please purchase petrol only.

OT:

Now for the why, or at least some of the why's.

Battery - Diesel is very taxing on the battery at cold start that too from a long slumber is going to be at the limit of what that battery would be capable of.

This will wear out the battery and starter eventually - so there.

Injectors and Pump - Diesel is used as the lubricant, injection pressure is 20-30,000 Psi that is ten times or more than a GDi , you really don't want these things to run dry.

As the car ages chances of air entering the fuel system, long periods of disuse means long cranking time or late start which is not good.

Now these things may or may not matter to some, but in my experience a diesel does not take well to disuse. A Honda Brio or a Santro is just fine doing only 8000 kms in 8 years.

[Carmine_pepper]

The HEXA .

Buying & maintaining those can be a pain really if lady luck isn't smiling on you 24X7.

A close relative bought one (XTA AT) for his high running requirement purely on my recommendation, enjoyed the car for few year without any major issues. then i had to take it on a long trip of few months and its was such a mix bag! I appreciated the amazing comfort and features tremendously. so much so that by the end of the 1400 km onward journey i was sure i need to sale my 2011 Fortuner as the market has moved forward by leaps and bound. a few trips to HImachal went smoothly and before returning from Chandigarh decided to get it serviced .BIG MISTAKE..

TATA service is perceived as a worst enemy of TATA cars and this is exactly what happened. while returning noticed Ac wasn't cooling looking at the console realized that the battery light was also aglow ! deducted that the belt must been common for both and hence its just a matter of reaching a good service centre before the battery dies (It was getting dark too !!). As it happened the car just died around hundred meters from the garage ,presumably the fuel pump ran out of current feed from battery) During the belt replacement (around night 9 'ish imagine the horror when we discovered there was engine oil in coolant tank!!). with home still a good 700-800 Km away and not sure if the mixing happened due to blown gasket or some fool at tata service mixing it up it was really a risky decision to move on next morning. and yes the AC compresses was gone so NO AC.

Moral of the story Things an go wrong quickly with plenty of assistance from TATA authorized car destroyers.

Only way i will advise you to go for an Used HEXA will be if you have someone back here in India who will regularly use and look after the car responsibly. Otherwise definitely stay away from it.

[Proxima]

My advice is to get an example that's done less than 20k and buy Tata extended warranty. That's what I did. That way, you're completely covered.

[coolvenk]

Originally Posted by pandabear

Brakes were totally spongy and lacked any bite. Tata SA told me that was normal on the Hexa, I was confused how? Definitely the brakes did not inspire confidence. Otherwise I was like 80% sold.

I remember seeing this complaint in the Autocar review, but when they tested stopping distances, it was very good.

For background, I recently bought a used Hexa XTA from a BHPian. Have probably driven less than a 1000km, but very happy so far.
(Stay tuned for a thread on it, in the coming days.)

[arindam_xeta]

I purchased a 2017 Hexa XT 4X2 at around 40K Kms around April 2021 after considering new Ertiga, XL6, Marazzo and used Fortuner, Pajero, Crysta, Xuv500, but none fitted the bill like Hexa. The Hexa is now clocking 44K kms. 4WD was good to have but I needed a 6 seater desperately for my family that out grew the Nexon. I do have a 2019 Nexon XZ+ but that was falling short of space for our family especially with the kids growing up. I could think of nothing close to the value this car provides at the price I got it for. The suspension is better than Crysta I felt. I have driven a rented Crysta to Darjeeling from Kolkata on a 5 day trip so could compare. The Hexa has just crossed about 4k kms with me but the experience so far has been good, it feels solid to drive and every electronics still works perfectly. Though out of production but I read that the Bangladesh army has a fleet of 200 Hexa from Tata Motors and know they source parts from some of the Authorised Service centers around here. So I think parts will be available for some more time at least, I am from Kolkata and the service centre here confirmed me as of now there is no problem sourcing parts for Hexa. So far I went for two long drives with the Hexa, to Puri and to Darjeeling with 2 kids and 4 Adults plus luggage. It was awesome to drive it and all were in love with the Hexa for the comfort and togetherness we could enjoy. Lastly 4k kms is not enough to make any judgements but so far the vibe has been a positive one.

Pros
1. Much lower depreciation compared to a new 7 seater which can give you all the creature comforts that comes with a Hexa, if you desperately need one like I did.
2. Loads of space and ultimate comfort. The AC is damn powerful. The suspension is a super silent forgiver, it smoothens out all rough edges thrown at it. The handling gives confidence, rolling is well in control, there is almost no nose dive at all. The rear seat is very much usable on long drives.
3. Good power and fully loaded. I got spoilt on cruise control, auto wiper, mood lights, those sun blinds and lumbar support. The dash, cluster, seats and the claddings are of very good quality and ages well. It's a heavy car in that respect I'm happy with the mileage it's been giving.

Cons
1. It's a safer bet if you are in metros as you may be able get a good ASC around. I have a decent one in my locality if need be.
2. Hefty heavy steering you need time to get used to it specially in the city. It's more daunting if you are used to a epas setup. It took me about 2-3 drives to get used to the steering.
3. The huge turning radius with the length and the heavy steering makes it rather difficult to drive in slow moving roads with turns or if you have to negotiate acute hilly turns. Parking is a constant headache.
4. Those 19 in wheels looks good and certainly adds to the comfort but is pretty hard to find as not many cars out there use that size and profile. A slim profile tyre for that heavy a car may pose side wall issues but I'm yet to face those. I changed the original tyres after buying the car, got them easily but not sure about the next change.
5. The gear lever is way too far, it took me a few days to get used to it. The riddle of driving position adjustment is also very much there. But I'm pretty used to all of it now.

The mileage below was on a single laned moderately crowded road with full AC, 2 passengers, driven normally i.e. W/O any conscious moderation to extract a better FE .

[doxinboy]

Originally Posted by arindam_xeta

I purchased a 2017 Hexa XT 4X2 at around 40K Kms.

Congrats! I'm glad you are enjoying your drive that only Hexa can give. The cons you have listed will wither away after you get used to this massive SUV. Since yours is 19 inch profile, it is better for you to get a tyre inflater and maintain 35 psi on all fours. Please do check the tyre, though it might last for 70k, it's wise to change it between 50k and 60k to be on the safer side.

[AirbusCapt]

The big drawback I had on my Hexa (now sold) is that the ride comfort decreases exponentially as you go from the front to the rear. The front two seats are ultra comfortable, the suspension seems like an air cushion. The middle row becomes so so, the speed bumps are felt but the rough roads are still ironed out, the last row is quite painful. You feel every undulation and ridge on the road. This is quite unlike the Innova which offers similar ride comfort for all three rows. I believe with senior citizens, the Hexa will turn out an uncomfortable tourer especially for those people in the last row.

[irdevanand]

Originally Posted by pandabear

BTW, a casual chat with the SA, he told me that the staff are being trained for the launch of the Hexa BS6 Safari Edition. Not sure how true, but it great news if it can be verified. He told me its going to be a new BS6 engine but remaining everything is same as the old model Hexa.

WOW... this line in your post should be a separate post !!! There are so many Hexa fans here (including me) who would be eager to hear more details about this. Requesting mods to ping RamPune for his priceless insights on this topic ASAP !!!

ps- A spacious and robust 7 seater with 6 airbags, ESP, ABS, great mileage, automatic under 25-30 lakhs is still missing. Looking at the new Fortuner legender prices i think Hexa in BS6 avatar without much price hike can really do 1500 units easily per month.

Regards
Dev

[pandabear]

Originally Posted by irdevanand

WOW... this line in your post should be a separate post !!!

The issue is this is not verified news, not even sure if he said that to convince me. His reply was to my statement that why the car was priced so high when it was not even in production.

It will be great if some one can get it verified. Like someone said before in one of the posts, i completely agree that all it just needs is just a bit of a nose job - get it raised a bit to shed the MPV look and give it some stance.