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Old 6th October 2010, 13:15   #1
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Wanting to buy a XenonXT, Tata won't let me see one

Okay this is something I was always afraid of. This situation. Something I want to buy but I can't because of silly reasons and babu mentality of our country men.

1. On my way to work, I saw one heavily modded Tata Xenon XT. I was smitten. Instantly. It looked straight out of Texas. It has the biggest tires on any car in India, the Geloandar M/T's. The best the off-roading world can offer. Was black and looked fierce.

2. Went to work but could not somehow put my mind in it. I had to check this car out. Googled it heavily and found only European sites detailing its specifications.

3. Found some modded ones and loved it to the core. The thought of a 4WD with 4 seats and a loading bay for the Golden Retriever that I'll have in the future just made me want it more. 140BHP and 320Nm of torque of course helped. I was going crazy. The limited slip differential was something I only had dreamt about.

4. Went downstairs. Started my Fiesta, which is just too middle class for my tastes but expensive for my purchasing capacity. Drive straight to BU Bhandari on Pashan road. WHile parking my eyes eagerly searching for a Xenon parked somewhere so I could get a peek. it wasn't there.

5. Parked my Fiesta hurriedly and almost ran inside to ask the guy for a test drive or a look or anything. The salesman came to me and said, the person who takes care of the Safari and Xenon is not there. I need to come tomorrow. I laughed at brand Tata.

6. Not giving up, I asked for the price list of the Xenon. It read 9.57 lacs On Road for Individual Purchase. My eyes lit up and he even said they will give discounts. This was for 4WD. I got tears in my eyes for want of this truck. I could not control it. He said, if you want to see this vehicle, go to our Wakad Service center. You will find one there.

7. Happy again and paying no attention to time or anything else, I drove to Wakad, another 15kms from where I was. Went straight in and saw a line of Tata and Fiat cars. I asked at the countet if I could have a look at the Xenon. The guy though confused, directed me to the 1st cabin on the right.

8. Asked the person on the table and he was then joined by a smarter english speaking guy who could somehow understand my desperation to see this vehicle. The other villagers could not a bit. They thought I am wasting their and my time. The english dude was in sales and went inside to ask his manager of they could do anything about this situation. A minute later, they couldn't. They just said, it is very difficult for them to show me that vehicle. It is never on display and of I want to buy one, I could just book it and see it later when I recieve it. Funny but true. I am not buying a Tata by not looking at it, however brave I might be in my decisions to buy an impractical car which no one else buys that too in a village herd mentality country where people buy just what the neighbours buy.

9. I was asked to call Pandit Auto on Tilak Road. I was surprised at the reluctance rather the tendency to just let it be kinds you know. Whatever. I started my Fiesta again and googled Tata dealers in Pune. First I called the Pandit Auto delaer somewhere in PCMC. The lady picked up and I asked if they got the Xenon. She said "Sir thats a Mahindra vehicle isn't it?" I said no madam, Not Xylo, I want Xenon. She was embarassed and said okay okay and went in the background checking away. Of course she said No they dont have one.

10. I then called the Tilak Road Pandit Auto and they spoke in English automatically. I said I need to see one and told them they had to help me since they were the last dealers I could contact. The phone was handed over to one Manish and he said it is not possible to show me the car but if it was, he would certainly get back to me. I was amazed at the situation. It has happened to me often, when I ran around town to buy my Nokia E90 before it was launched and the N900 when it was available only in States. This was somewhat similar but not totally. I want a vehicle that is in the market alright but it is a niche vehicle and unfortunately, our market just dishes out i10 after i10 and that is all people know.

11. It has been 3 days and no cals have come for me to show any Xenon XT. It is available in only BS3 but I can still buy it becuase I have an address of outside PMC limits, which will discount the vehicle further. But I want one and I want it in Red. These Tata's and Fiat's, having dealt with them in the past are just too babu'ish to do any game changing in the market. Am I ahead of my time or plain foolissh I don't know but I know I want a vehicle like that and don't want to spend 11.6 lacs on a Scorpio 4WD, just becuase ... the Scorpio does not offer 4WD on lower versions.

12. We need more affordibility and availability in the country for 4WD vehicles. I am done with the Fiesta in 3 years flat and I am looking for a Xenon XT. For 9.57 Lacs OTR Pune for AWD it is my dream to buy one and fitting them with Geolandar M/T's is the another part of that dream. A winch and some mud plunging is what I think about all day. If only Tata's were a little progressive in the lifestyle space and get rid of the illiterate Babu's who are plain slow and bored, they would probably be able to sell a few in India too.
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Old 6th October 2010, 13:38   #2
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Quote:
The lady picked up and I asked if they got the Xenon. She said "Sir thats a Mahindra vehicle isn't it?" I said no madam, Not Xylo, I want Xenon. She was embarassed and said okay okay and went in the background checking away
ROTFLMAO

No blaming them; but such is the "life style" of our country as such. Morons who looks Ninja & ask "modified Pulsara?" has to come out of their thinking style first. Only then these type of dramas will come to an end.

IMO, write to some top guy in Tata asking to see the vehicle. Trust me, they'll send Xenon to your home at your convenice. Reason? Those guys in the top are in the same lifestyle as yours & they know its nothing for them to send such a car for test drive, but for people in showroom, its an expensive piece of machine which they cannot afford to buy & put it on their showroom for display!!!

Last edited by aargee : 6th October 2010 at 13:40.
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Old 6th October 2010, 14:55   #3
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Where do I get these contacts of the Top Guys of Tata? Is is that easy to find these people?
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Old 6th October 2010, 15:01   #4
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I know a customer care guy here, I will mail him. He will try to see if he can get you a Xenon TD, or atleast allow you to see the Xenon in flesh
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Old 6th October 2010, 15:05   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tsk1979 View Post
I know a customer care guy here, I will mail him. He will try to see if he can get you a Xenon TD, or atleast allow you to see the Xenon in flesh
You know what, seeing it in flesh is also cool, TD will just make it easier to put in the booking money. Get this, even my wife is okay with buying this.
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Old 6th October 2010, 15:15   #6
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I think you should get some response simply by virtue of posting it here. TBHP is watched by every car company.
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Old 6th October 2010, 15:15   #7
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home

go to their website, and click on the 'Get a test drive' on the top right corner of the screen!

i think that should help.
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Old 6th October 2010, 15:25   #8
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I didn't know it is so hard to spot a Xenon at a Tata dealership. I saw a white one at one of the two Tata dealers in Vizag a month back. It was towering over a gaggle of Indicas and Puntos. Sure is an attention catcher of even non-auto enthusiasts. Buy one and you will be king of the road, for sure.
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Old 6th October 2010, 15:26   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abhi1309 View Post
She said "Sir thats a Mahindra vehicle isn't it?"
Epic fail. Somehow this deserves a place in the errors at the dealership thread here as well. Back to the topic at hand, I had one of those XenonXT wallpapers on my office workstation a few months ago, and a fellow colleague asks me why I'd put up a wallpaper of a modded 407 up there... :facepalm:
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Old 6th October 2010, 15:37   #10
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If I'm not wrong, tata has major manf. operations in pune. that, and this. I thought the apathy was limited to fiat branded cars.
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Old 6th October 2010, 15:53   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Parm View Post
go to their website, and click on the 'Get a test drive' on the top right corner of the screen!
Not necessary; let me share an incident.

Once we registered a TD for Sumo Grande; about 2 weeks later, a guy calls up & confirms if I registered for TD; when I confirm, he wants to bring a TD during a weekday while I wanted on weekends.

Ok, I give up; so I ask him to bring in evening, for which he says after 6 PM. Now, I'm in no mood for test drive. Finally we agree upon a day of week.

That evening I get series of calls for every 2-3 minutes, atleast 10 times in a span of 20 minutes asking for directions. Though I've been very clear about location, they keep asking for some nonsense. Guess what? They didn't turn up not bothered to follow-up.

Nice isn't it?
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Old 6th October 2010, 16:04   #12
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Your thread has been forwarded to the relevant people, expect a response in couple of days time! All the best
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Old 6th October 2010, 16:06   #13
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This highlights the sorry state of affairs at Tata Motors.

Have sent you a PM.
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Old 6th October 2010, 17:35   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abhi1309 View Post
1. On my way to work, I saw one heavily modded Tata Xenon XT. I was smitten. Was black and looked fierce.
You should have tried to stop that Xenon to get a closer look.
I met one Xenon owner in pune last weekend, can check with him if he can show his vehicle to you. Let me know if you are interested.

Quote:
11. It has been 3 days and no cals have come for me to show any Xenon XT.
I guess this is expected if one looks for special vehicle. Has anyone tried TD of Mahindra Scorpio Getaway? Has that experience been any different?
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Old 6th October 2010, 17:38   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tsk1979 View Post
Your thread has been forwarded to the relevant people, expect a response in couple of days time! All the best
Thanks a lot Silverwood and tsk1979.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Parm View Post
home

go to their website, and click on the 'Get a test drive' on the top right corner of the screen!

i think that should help.
Thats the first thing I did.

Thanks everyone for your responses. This is going to be interesting. I am already dying to drive one. Go to tataauto.hu and check out the offroading videos of Xenon. It sure looks descent even with those skinny tires. Imagine it with Maxxis 8060's or Geolandar M/T's. This is what I want mine to look like. Exactly this. Just the tires could be a bit thicker. The color, the front bar all perfecto. The Hella's with white covers are missing though.

Wanting to buy a XenonXT, Tata won't let me see one-1272978665_91640083_1fotoktataxenon4x4duplakabinklima1272978665.jpg

Last edited by abhi1309 : 6th October 2010 at 17:46.
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