[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Two things put me off; the auto like exhaust note, and the visible engine+drive train that shake and vibrate like that of an Ape' auto, whenever the driver accelerates or eases off! That is why I said it is not my cup of tea.

Like with any other car, the Nano also has -ves, like the ones you mentioned. However, the reason why I mentioned hypocrisy on your part was because I felt that you had other reasons than these obvious ones for not buying the car.

Why do I say this ? Because of your following posts on this thread itself, which clearly indicate that you have been saying that you wont buy a nano or its not your cup of tea, even before you noticed these -ves.

22-Mar-2010, 12:40 (very 1st page of this thread) :

Originally Posted by Gansan

This is why me and my friends decided to go with a tried and tested car, and decided to wait and watch about the nano. At that time none of these stories had broken yet, but we did not want to be guinea pigs. We are glad about the decision now. These fire reports do make us queasy.

24-Mar-2010, 09:59 :

Originally Posted by Gansan

I bat for the Tatas, of course! The nano is a path breaking, historic project and I wish them success, though I would not buy one - it is not my cup of tea!

31-Mar-2010, 09:45 :

Originally Posted by Gansan

For the first time I followed a nano all the way from my home to office on my bike today. Just two things put me off - as mentioned earlier, one was the exhaust sound. The other was the visible mechanicals behind the rear grill, that vibrated and moved every time the driver accelerated or eased off, somehow reminding me of the Piaggio Ape autos we see every day.

We all have cars we like and those we wont touch - no issues with that. But if we actually won't buy a car for ourselves, it would be wrong to suggest it to others or to make light of it's issues. People visit this forum for guidance on purchases and to take an informed opinion. So, if we do this, it is akin to misleading, was what was my point, though rendered a bit rudely, I admit.

Originally Posted by Gansan

And by the way, polite language never hurt anyone. Being rude is not the same as plain speak!

Sorry about that.

Originally Posted by airbender

None of the references you quoted say fire is OK because it's 3 out of 50or55K. They only wanted to say it's not a norm.

Ofcourse one would be really naive to say that a new car catching fire from the showroom is OK. But when people say that only so little a %age have caught fire, the implied meaning is that it is something trivial, which in this day & age IMO is not the norm. Especially when there were references saying that more people are killed in India in road-accidents compared to car-fires. I hope you get the point instead of looking for literal examples.

Originally Posted by chevelle

For 2 nanos before that TATA already hired investigators and found out the reason and analysis has already posted on page 34 which i am sure you know. So i won't say they are brushing it under carpet.

Agreed. But I did ask some posts ago whether reason# 2 pointed out by them was possible in real life (with any car, not just the Nano). But that was conveniently ignored.

Originally Posted by chevelle

And if you don't believe in Figures and Percentages, i guess you don't see any point in the thread that comes up monthly on Car Sales Figures and Analysis.

So-and-so car does the best in monthly sales, is a good-to-know thing. More for the manufacturers than for me, unless I own stock in the leader. But I guess %ages related to a car going up in flames is of interest to the buyer - the seller would try to ignore it.

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

There is no problem with criticising Tata Nana or Tata as a matter of fact, but the problem is with the way you & few others have criticised.

Apart from saying that a car burning is not a trivial issue, I don't think I (dont know about others) have really flamed Tata here. In contrast look at what deductions you came up with in this thread:

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

There definitely seems some serious fault in the Nano engine design that has caused the fire to happen.

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

Tata Nano seems to have some problem with fuel supply leakages (I assume), which causes the fuel to leak onto the hot engine bay causing fire.

Even those who are taking Tata to task would not have accused them of faulty engine-design like you did. But all those who jump at anyone saying anything about Nano, ignored this point of yours because of obvious reasons.

And then you certify that the car is safe, except for the fires.

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

However, by no standards Nano is badly built. So please be assured that Nanos are as safe as Alto or 800, but for the fires.

P.S.: Even though I was reading this thread from the beginning, I posted on it for the 1st time only on the 29th page. And that too only because of those supporting Nano dragging OT & unrelated stuff like "Indians have a foreign fetish" or "Indians deride their own stuff" kind of logic which implied that as Indians, we need to bat for Indian products irrespective of what it is. If my intention were to just take a dig at Tata/Nano, I need not have waited till the 29th page.

[gshanky]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

So-and-so car does the best in monthly sales, is a good-to-know thing. More for the manufacturers than for me, unless I own stock in the leader. But I guess %ages related to a car going up in flames is of interest to the buyer - the seller would try to ignore it.

I think I am going to go ahead and disagree with you on this one .

TML (and for that any manufacturer) cannot ignore complaints unless they are either a monopoly or not interested in increasing sales. I hope you would agree that if TML solve this fire problem and then there would be more satisfied customers which would translate to increase in sales for TML.

I suggest TML look into fitting a "blackbox like" electronic gadget that can record any modifications or driving habits done to the car. May be this would help get some clarity to the sabotage angle at least.

I firmly believe that TML is doing all it can to fix this problem because it is easy to interpret that they have BIG plans for NANO.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by Gansan

This is why me and my friends decided to go with a tried and tested car, and decided to wait and watch about the nano. At that time none of these stories had broken yet, but we did not want to be guinea pigs. We are glad about the decision now. These fire reports do make us queasy.

Originally Posted by Gansan

I remember similar stories about the Daewoo Cielo. And much later about people getting asphyxiated inside Santros.

Originally Posted by Gansan

@anachronix

The Santros in question were parked on the sides of open roads, one was even on the shoulder of a highway. Not inside closed garages!

I know about the Omni incidents because when I worked at Bangalore, our company had a LPG division. Many Omni taxis had these cylinders fitted and when there were frequent accidents, a probe was done about this. Almost all cars that burnt had cylinders fitted, though not always ours!

I agree with you almost any car will have some incident associated with it. Nano issues get highlighted because of the number of incidents vis a vis the number of cars on the road!

Originally Posted by Gansan

I bat for the Tatas, of course! The nano is a path breaking, historic project and I wish them success, though I would not buy one - it is not my cup of tea! But I would not think twice before buying any of their established models.

They are an Indian company ambitious for a global foot print and I am against dishing them as a company, instead of criticizing a product. I would be proud if they succeed and give the MNCs in India a run for their money.

Originally Posted by Gansan

There is no question that safety of a car is paramount. But if one watches closely, when a similar issue arises wrt a European or Japanese marque, the tone of the posts will be "incredible this should be happening to this brand" whereas when it involves TATA it is "we have known all along this will happen"! Talk of double standards!

Originally Posted by Gansan

For the first time I followed a nano all the way from my home to office on my bike today. It looked as good as any other hatchback on the road to me. It seemed peppy enough and was keeping up with the city traffic quite easily. It was a brand new CX model and it warmed my heart to see the owner being very proud of his new ride. I waved to him and he waved back with a smile!

As we weaved in and out of traffic, other cars including an Alto and Santro pulled up side by side with the nano and I was able to observe the difference in size. Just two things put me off - as mentioned earlier, one was the exhaust sound. The other was the visible mechanicals behind the rear grill, that vibrated and moved every time the driver accelerated or eased off, somehow reminding me of the Piaggio Ape autos we see every day. I am yet to ride in a nano though.

In all other aspects it looked perfect to me. I feel it is unfair to write it off or even write the company off, as some are hell bent on doing. As someone remarked, there has only been one real case of fire involving the nano. The other three can't be included in to that category IMO.

Would I recommend the nano to anyone? Most certainly, though I would first point out the two things that put me off. If those two are ok with them, I would advise them to buy after waiting for another six months - till the current problems are ironed out.

The above are my posts that appeared till 31st March! I would prefer you to quote my posts in their entirety without editing selectively! The six months are past, I am satisfied that TATA are addressing the issue, so there!

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Like with any other car, the Nano also has -ves, like the ones you mentioned. However, the reason why I mentioned hypocrisy on your part was because I felt that you had other reasons than these obvious ones for not buying the car.

Why do I say this ? Because of your following posts on this thread itself, which clearly indicate that you have been saying that you wont buy a nano or its not your cup of tea, even before you noticed these -ves.

I had no other reasons, apart from the "wait and watch instinct" when it comes to a new model. I always do it wrt to all bikes/cars, irrespective of the manufacturer. Same reason I have not gone for the Alto k10 so far!

It is not as if I noticed the negatives in the same chronology as my posts. I was aware of them even before, but since I followed a nano for quite a long distance and observed closely to reassure myself, I posted it on that particular date.

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

We all have cars we like and those we wont touch - no issues with that. But if we actually won't buy a car for ourselves, it would be wrong to suggest it to others or to make light of it's issues. People visit this forum for guidance on purchases and to take an informed opinion. So, if we do this, it is akin to misleading, was what was my point, though rendered a bit rudely, I admit.

I have not made light of the fire issue, though it was over hyped because it was the nano IMO. As for suggesting it to others, please re-read my last post quoted above. And you are right, people will take an "informed decision" even after reading all the posts in this forum! They will not buy it or reject it simply because X says it is OK or Y says it is not!

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Apart from saying that a car burning is not a trivial issue, I don't think I (dont know about others) have really flamed Tata here. In contrast look at what deductions you came up with in this thread:

Have I pointed you out specifically anywhere about flaming?

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Even those who are taking Tata to task would not have accused them of faulty engine-design like you did. But all those who jump at anyone saying anything about Nano, ignored this point of yours because of obvious reasons.
And then you certify that the car is safe, except for the fires.

Pray, show me where I have done this? What I have mentioned about the rear mounted, visible engine and power train is about the aesthetics (in my eyes) alone and not questioning the design!

To sum up:

Will I buy the nano? No, not in it's present form. Will I buy it's Europa avatar? Most probably yes.
Will I prevent my brother from buying the nano if he likes it? Not at all, though I will tell him why I did not buy it myself. To reiterate, please read the last para of my last post quoted above!

[bblost]

Note From Team Bhp Support.

Any Posts That Do Not Directly Refer To The Tata Nano And The Reasons Behind The Fires Will Be Deleted And Suitable Action Taken.

Thanks For Your Anticipated Co-operation.

Team Bhp Support

[KMohanan]

I happened to see one more news on the tata nano fire reported on 29 Sept, 2010. Any more info on this ?
Saw the news in the following link :

Seventh Time Tata Nano Caught Fire | Autoplugged.com

[LobsterB]

Originally Posted by KMohanan

I happened to see one more news on the tata nano fire reported on 29 Sept, 2010. Any more info on this ?
Saw the news in the following link :

Seventh Time Tata Nano Caught Fire | Autoplugged.com

The picture at the link is of the third/fourth nano fire in Mumbai. But the caption under the photo seems to imply that it is the latest (seventh).

I had read the following elsewhere

However only smoke was seen emitting out from the rear of the car where the engine is placed and there were no fire, thankfully.

[quadra]

Time: 11.30am
Date: Today
Place: Kalyan nagar signal (snap fitness)

A brand new nano stopped at the signal. An old lady and gentleman were sitting inside.
A bike wallah knocked at their door to tell them fumes coming out from rear.
I was right behind them and saw fumes (not flames) coming out from somewhere underneath. Told the uncle to call the dealer ASAP. Singal went green and people started honking like crazy, had to give them way so left the spot. Hope things are ok.

[KMohanan]

Originally Posted by quadra

Time: 11.30am
Date: Today
Place: Kalyan nagar signal (snap fitness)

A brand new nano stopped at the signal. An old lady and gentleman were sitting inside.
A bike wallah knocked at their door to tell them fumes coming out from rear.
I was right behind them and saw fumes (not flames) coming out from somewhere underneath. Told the uncle to call the dealer ASAP. Singal went green and people started honking like crazy, had to give them way so left the spot. Hope things are ok.

Just see an old man's mental tension. He wanted to reduce his tension by buying a very small car to run easily in the city traffic but now ended up in another risk !!!

I hope that was only a smoke and the old man and family could go safely.

[ampere]

Not sure if folks have already seen this. Nano Recalls.

Tata to recall Nano to install fire safety measures - The Times of India

[Latheesh]

Just read the same on ET online. It does not have any specific information. Hope to see the details when some of TBHPians visit them for fitting additional safety measures.

[NetfreakBombay]

That article mentions two of potential sources of the fire:

will now offer cover tool on catalytic converter to prevent the car from catching fire. It will also install fuse in electrical components to avoid short circuits

[dhrishikesh]

Here is the article on CarTradeIndia website:
Tata Nano To Become Safer

[NetfreakBombay]

One thing seems to be odd. One of the changes is "adding fuse for electrical systems". Its not plausible that Nano would have been released sans fuse. Maybe TATA is adding fuse to some specific systems (E.g. starter motor).

[CPH]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

One thing seems to be odd. One of the changes is "adding fuse for electrical systems". Its not plausible that Nano would have been released sans fuse. Maybe TATA is adding fuse to some specific systems (E.g. starter motor).

Could be splitting the circuit further to have more fuses with a lower rating.

[MCR]

Well after a long break, another Nano has caught fire today in Ahmedabad. However the reason for the fire is unknown.

Another Nano catches fire | Deccan Chronicle | 2011-03-02