[arulpeem]

This is a long overdue review of my vehicle.
Mods: Since I am not a that good a writer and also not used to writing lengthy reports, please feel free to make any corrections in the language.


Vehicle #: TN 07 BE 9272
Date Purchased: 27th Jan 2010
Mileage clocked: 30800 on the Odo + 800 KM (Speedometer sensor failed)
Servicing by: Concorde Motors,
Usage:
City: 500KM a month
Highways: About 1500-1800 KM a month, typically two trips a month to Salem/Namakkal/Yercaud and off late a few trips to B’luru

Engine: Engine has remained very good till date. I like the way it behaves both in the city and the highways. In city it pulls enough from about 1500 rpm cleanly. In highways keeping the rpm always above 2000 helps in decent acceleration and overtaking.
I have been changing oil at 7,500 KM, 16,000 KM and 27,000 KM. I intend to change it every 10,000 KM even though the recommendation is for every 15,000 KM. It becomes noisy when touching 3000 rpm, but when cruising at that engine speed it is pretty quiet. It is rough during the acceleration period.
The engine seems to have become very smooth after the 3rd service at 27000 KM,

Gear Shift: Noting to complain and nothing to rave about. Definitely better than my previous Indica

Fuel Consumption:
I am very happy with it.
Within city: 9 to 9.5 KMPL consistently
Highways: 13 to 13.5 KMPL at speeds of around 90 KMPH to 110 KMPH

Headlights: The original bulbs are very good and I never felt the need to upgrade to a higher wattage bulb. The spread and reach is good.

Air conditioning: It is very good. Even now, the peak summer, I never had to keep the front blower speed at more than 2 and the rear at 1, after the initial 10 or 15 minutes of the travel.

Seating Comfort: Extremely good for the first and middle row. Rear also is ok for two medium sized adults. Excellent thigh support which I have not seen in any other vehicle. The tillable middle row back rest is a very good

Luggage Space: If there are more than 6 passengers on a long vacation drive then roof carrier is a must since the space behind the third row is minimal and only very small luggage can be kept. If it is 5 passengers then the third row can be folded upright and there are acres of space. The third row can be removed very easily which liberates even more space.
Ride: It has remained consistently good. During long drives the passengers are very comfortable and happy

Handling: Driven within in its limits of a tall SUV it is good and has not changed till now. Sudden swerves are definitely unnerving at higher speeds

Tyre wear out: Evenly worn out across the wheels. I have rotated them almost every 7500Km even though the recommended interval is 15,000 KM. The remaining tread depth is 8 to 10mm, which should be good enough for another 20,000KM

Build Quality: As we all know the panel gaps are pathetic, but there are no squeaks or loose parts till date, which I suppose is a big step forward for TATA

Problems Faced: I have attached a spreadsheet that lists the issues faced

Inadequacies faced during services:
• They didn’t do the tyre rotation during the third service. I had to point this out on delivery and wait for another hour.
• They did not do the wheel balancing even though they charged for it. The old dirty weights are still place. During balancing they have to remove the old weights first. But I was too irritated to get it done
• During every service the interiors became dirtier than before because of grease marks on the right door panels and the seats.
• My windshield which has a 3M sun film sheet(VLT 70%) is now plastered with various stickers which I can’t remove. This has happened despite repeated request to them not to stick anything on the windshield
• Timeliness: I never expected this from Concorde. When the fact that they never could fix an issue at the first attempt is taken into account, I can't even rate them on timeliness
• Looks like they do jobs that fetches them money and neglect jobs that don’t fetch them any
• After one of the services they had flooded the car. The carpet was soaked and I had to keep the doors open for a couple of days for it to dry. The manual and log books that were in the door pocket were totally wet and all and most of my log book entries were smudged and gone since I use a fountain pen
• If only they attended to the issues when reported the serving experience would have been really good. Sadly, none of the issues that I reported were difficult to fix.

Cost of servicing:
I had to pay about Rs 600/- for the wipers and apart from this only for the oil and filters. But the indirect cost of my time spent in repeated visits to the service station would amount to 20 additional hours at least.

Am I happy with this car?: Yes, I am, even though I am sick of the servicing levels and quality of service. No show stoppers till date and two major failure over 31,000 KM is acceptable for me

Will I buy it again?: I will since the VFM is very good. I will put up with the service or buy it from another dealer the next time

What would I like to be changed?:
• The dashboard could be more in tune with the current trend
• Rack and Pinion steering to give better feel of the road and control
• Better rear suspension so that vehicle bounces less at high speeds
• The attitude of the service personnel has to change: They are always very nice and courteous, but never seem to be able fix even minor issues in one visit. Any job which generates revenue for them is done promptly.

[ACM]

Arulpeem

Nice review.

Just on your point about the Balancing weights.

1) Ideally when a tyre needs to be balanced they should just do a check of each tyre without removing the old weights and it is within +-20 then not change anything at all.
2) If the first check indicates that the weights need to be changed then they should remove the weights and put new ones (generally the newer ones would be placed roughtly in the same location at the previous ones plus some more weights in newer location or increased weights in the same location.
3) The balancing guys will charge us for the new weights and yet will after giving a full petrol / kerosene cleanup of the old weights will reuse them (as if they are new). Incase of sticker weights (new sticker strip is stuck to the old sticker weights.
4) Of course since the requirement of weights keeps increasing at any service points, new weights do have to be added from time to time (these are in the form of strips that are cut).

So even if the weights were the old one it does not matter if the work is done. But ideally they should not charge us for our own older weights that are not removed and just charge the labour for the balancing. Most misuse this aspect and charge us for the weights even though they are old ones being reused. That is what you seem to have caught them doing.

[arulpeem]

Originally Posted by ACM

Arulpeem, Nice review.

Just on your point about the Balancing weights.

Hi ACM,
Thanks a lot for the clarification on the balancing. I understand the logic of not removing the old weights and doing the balancing. I was under the impression that removal the old weights will show the current status of the wheel's balance or imbalance.

Note from Support - Please avoid quoting an entire large post as it inconveniences our mobile and small screen users. Thanks!

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by arulpeem

This is a long overdue review of my vehicle.
...

Excellent review, arulpeem

Any recent updates? And please upload some pics of your Grande.

Thanks!

[lohithrao]

Very detailed review Arul!!! thanks a ton for taking the pain of documenting your veiws in such detail!

[advaitlele]

arulpeem - I think I read this post just in tiime.
I am hunting for my new drive. Would exchange the 2006 Indica that has faithfully served me till date without absolutely any hassles.
The hunt is on on and details are on this thread :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/suvs-m...e-mkii-16.html

Wanted to check with you following
1. How is Grande in the city traffic. I know it wont be as easy as a hatchback, but looking at the size, is it ok to
maneuver and park?
2. How easy it is on the legs in the bumper to bumper traffic - clutch response, ease, and gearshift? Grande (if I go for it) would be my primary drive to office. Roughly 30kms bothways in pure bumper-to-bumper traffic.
3. Do you see the reverse camera as a must have or a good to have - considering this is my first big vehicle - I have driven till now M-800, Indica and Alto occasionaly.
4. How is the highway drive - there would be at least 3*1200 kms drives to hometown and other vacation drives in a year on ghat + plain terrain. Indica does it in full glory and good comfort.

Thanks.

[HappyRoadie]

Originally Posted by advaitlele

arulpeem - I think I read this post just in tiime.
I am hunting for my new drive. Would exchange the 2006 Indica that has faithfully served me till date without absolutely any hassles.
The hunt is on on and details are on this thread :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/suvs-m...e-mkii-16.html

Wanted to check with you following
1. How is Grande in the city traffic. I know it wont be as easy as a hatchback, but looking at the size, is it ok to
maneuver and park?
2. How easy it is on the legs in the bumper to bumper traffic - clutch response, ease, and gearshift? Grande (if I go for it) would be my primary drive to office. Roughly 30kms bothways in pure bumper-to-bumper traffic.
3. Do you see the reverse camera as a must have or a good to have - considering this is my first big vehicle - I have driven till now M-800, Indica and Alto occasionaly.
4. How is the highway drive - there would be at least 3*1200 kms drives to hometown and other vacation drives in a year on ghat + plain terrain. Indica does it in full glory and good comfort.

Thanks.

I might help you as I have owned Grande. Following are your answers.

1. It is easy to handle as it has short turning radius but the high bonnet of Grande causes hindrance in city driveability but it is a question of getting used to.

2. The clutch of my Grande was hard. Cant say about MKII. Gear throw was long in my Grande but I have driven MKII and found it to be short and precise.

3. Reversing any SUV is difficult compared to a hatchback. But in case of Grande the thick D pillars cause problem. So reverse camera or sensors would be a better option.

4. Highway cruising is very good and comfortable. I did many trips and never felt tired. Its engine was very responsive.

Hope my answers have helped you.

[arulpeem]

Originally Posted by advaitlele

arulpeem - I think I read this post just in tiime.
I am hunting for my new drive. Would exchange the 2006 Indica that has faithfully served me till date without absolutely any hassles.
The hunt is on on and details are on this thread :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/suvs-m...e-mkii-16.html

Wanted to check with you following
1. How is Grande in the city traffic. I know it wont be as easy as a hatchback, but looking at the size, is it ok to
maneuver and park? Having a short radius really helps. I find it is as easy or difficult as a sedan. It is easy to steer too.All of my friends who drove it were surprised by these aspects
2. How easy it is on the legs in the bumper to bumper traffic - clutch response, ease, and gearshift? Grande (if I go for it) would be my primary drive to office. Roughly 30kms bothways in pure bumper-to-bumper traffic. I haven't found it to be difficult. I drive from Thiruvanmiyur to Nunganbakkam and the traffic is heavy through out. May be my heavyweight build helps
3. Do you see the reverse camera as a must have or a good to have - considering this is my first big vehicle - I have driven till now M-800, Indica and Alto occasionaly. It would definitely help. I have installed the sensors and I find them very helpful
4. How is the highway drive - there would be at least 3*1200 kms drives to hometown and other vacation drives in a year on ghat + plain terrain. Indica does it in full glory and good comfort. I love it on the highways. I have done 45K in two years. It is very comfortable and one of colleagues prefers the last row when we travel to B'luru... But you will have to drive it within the limits of a tall vehicle. I typically keep around 100KMPH and it handle well in that speed. I get a consistent mileage of 13 to 13.5 KM...

Thanks.

Hi I just saw the posting since I didn't visit the site for a while... I have given my feedback on each of your question:

[arulpeem]

My vehicle has covered 45,000 KM and has undergone the 4th service. Thought of giving an update of what has happened during the last 15k KM...


Vehicle #: TN 07 BE 9272
Date Purchased: 27th Jan 2010
Mileage clocked: 45100
Servicing by: Concorde Motors/ Now at VST Service Station OMR,
Usage:
City: 500KM a month
Highways: About 1500-1800 KM a month, typically two trips a month to Salem/Namakkal/Yercaud and off late a few trips to B’luru. The last couple of months the usage has come down after I got a new Vista ZX…

Engine: After the engine oil change at 42k and the remaining oil changes like Gear and transmission at 45k the engine has become very smooth.

Gear Shift: Noting to complain and nothing to rave about.

Clutch: It has become much harder now and I have been asked to change it, which I am delaying a bit more since it costs about Rs 12k and I am able to manage.

Fuel Consumption:
I am very happy with it. It has been very consistent till date
Within city: 9 to 9.5 KMPL consistently
Highways: 13 to 13.5 KMPL at speeds of around 90 KMPH to 110 KMPH

Air conditioning: It is still very good. I never had to keep the front blower speed at more than 2 and the rear at 1, after the initial 10 or 15 minutes of the travel.

Ride: It has remained consistently good. During long drives the passengers are very comfortable and happy


Tyre wear out: Evenly worn out across the wheels. I have rotated them almost every 7500Km even though the recommended interval is 15,000 KM. The remaining tread depth is about 8mm. I think this should last at least another 5 to 8k KMs

Build Quality: As we all know the panel gaps are pathetic, but till date there are no squeaks or loose parts till date, which is really good

Problems Faced: Nothing after the 30k service

Repairs done:
Front Windshield was damaged by kids trying to hunt pigeons… Had to be changed and was covered by Insurance. I had to pay for the rubber beadings and other stuff. This was done by Concorde and expected it leaked when it rained and I had to waste half a day at the service station.
I had a few long scratches caused by two wheelers and cyclists.. I had banged the rear into the sharp edge of a cement column when reversing within a parking lot in Bangalore. All this was given for repair work at VST and they did a good job of it. Now the vehicle looks fresh.
I also changed the wiper blades to Bosch and I am find the performance to be far better than the original ones. The couple of hundred bucks more is definitely worth it

Inadequacies faced during services:
VST seems to be definitely better than Concorde. They are timely and courteous. The manager Mr Lawrence is much more accessible than the Concorde managers


Am I happy with this car?: Yes, I am, No show stoppers till date and two major failure over 45,000 KM is acceptable for me


Every one of my friends who has either driven it in our trips to B’luru or been a passenger have liked the vehicle… They all wonder why this vehicle is not selling. I think it will take TATA quite a while to overcome their tag of ‘poor quality control’.

[HappyRoadie]

Very nice review. But please post some pics of your beast. Would really love to see the images. And really glad to know that your Grande is going fine.

[ACM]

Arulpeem - congrats on your 45,000 kms. Have always loved the Grande and in MKII form a lot of the rough bits were tweaked out.

It has it seems delivered on the promise it came with.

A 4X4 variant would really add to the image and it could do with slightly better door pads . The front looks are infact the best among all SUV/ MUV in India and are what we call true blood SUV looks. It needs a MKIII refresh to take on the Scorpio in a big way. The Sumo Gold has struck gold and the Grande needs to completely drop the sumo tag and go independent from now on.

[arulpeem]

Update on maintenance at 50k Kms:

• After the 4th service AT 45K kMs I found the gearshift, 1st and 2nd to be tough.I was advised that the clutch is worn out and has to be replaced. The same was done at cost of almost Rs 12k. After that I find that it is better, but still not as good as it was...Given the fact that most of the mileage has been logged on highways, I find that a life of 45k for the clutch to be less. Or is it normal for a TATA SUV

• Two day back the headlight came on its own and refused to go off. Probable some issue with the headlight flasher... The service station did not have a replacement for the combination switch and therefore I have disconnected the high beam till the switch is replaced

[torquecurve]

Thank you for the excellent review and detailed log. The clutch going off in 45K I am not sure if that is normal but possible.

I am leaning towards the grande Mk2 now. A few pictures of your ride will surely pep this up!

[arulpeem]

I will do so sometime next week. Hope that is fine with you. Right now it is ferrying my in laws for a few days

[girishglg]

Good to see a review of the Grande. It seems like a vehicle which is highly under rated and some how has never picked up. Even though Tata have made a lot of upgrades from their original Sumo, it seems like the older sibling tag is weighing it down.

Also nice to see regular updates and please post some pics of your vehicle since it would add a lot to your ownership review.