[HappyWheels]

The Safari will be going in for a replacement of the turbo hoses and the ABS sensors at Vijay Motors, Palakkad, on the 2nd of December.

For some strange reason, Vijay Motor's was not able to source the part from TATA for a good 2.5 months, since my last visit.

Wrote a mail to TATA customer care, which got forwarded to South CRM within the hour.

The CRM called to confirm as to where we would like to do the repair, as it was a KA registered vehicle, running in Chennai and repair being asked for in KL. Stuck with KL, as the team at Vijay Motor's are aware of the issue and were much better than the team service I got at Concord, Trichy. Fingers crossed.

Next day got confirmation from customer support team from Vijay Motor's that the parts are available and they are on standby for the vehicle at their center on the 2nd.

3 days from issue raised to resolution.

Hope the final outcome does WOW me further.

Originally Posted by cool_dube

Good to see your beast still going strong! A couple of tips, for the benefit of others:

...

Next for me is footware. Still running on the OEM B'stones.

Thanks, Cool_Dube!

Valid tips, with regard to the battery and timing belt.

Planning to stick with BridgeStone or move to a different brand?

[blackbeast]

Hi Suresh,
I thought this machine is long sold off. Nice to see the beast still doing rounds on and offline. I now know who to contact before my next set of rubber.
cheers
vijay

[sasi405]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

So, after getting close to 80,000 kms of running, went in for a change in the tyres. It was cutting it too close as the tyres not only have crossed 6 years of service, but also few cracks started developing.

With the good experience with the Michelin's, decided to go in for the same make and model.

Prices were being quote at INR 8,100, with the lowest being INR 7,600, at Trichy and Chennai.

Fortunately had a member in the family working for Michelin and was able to get a good discount, which end with each tyre costing INR 6,100. Sweet!

What has been your experience with Michelin LTXs? I am in for a change next month and have shortlisted Continental Cross Contact A/T at 235/70/16, Michelin LTX AT2 at 235/70/16 and Maxxis Bravo 771 AT at 255/65/16. Need to freeze one of them before an upcoming drive into the hills in December.

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by sasi405

What has been your experience with Michelin LTXs? I am in for a change next month and have shortlisted Continental Cross Contact A/T at 235/70/16, Michelin LTX AT2 at 235/70/16 and Maxxis Bravo 771 AT at 255/65/16. Need to freeze one of them before an upcoming drive into the hills in December.

Have absolutely no issue with them. On road, rocks and sand: never felt wanting in any of these situations.

Had just one puncture due to a nail getting logged in, over this period.

Very low road noise, if any.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Planning to stick with BridgeStone or move to a different brand?

Leaning towards Michelin LTX, based on positive feedback from many quarters. Will stick to standard size.

[HappyWheels]

(Apologies for the photos slanted; it is coming properly in the computer and when clicked on; it is this preview which is wrong).


The vacuum hose has been changed. It seems the new design has a vacuum reservoir outlet, which isn't present in my GX. Work was done at Vijay Motors, Palakkad.

After the initial run around and confusion, they sealed off the outlet and fixed that.



ABS still continues to be a mystery. The old sensor on the front was replace with a new one (VST Trichy had already replaced one sensor during August). Still without any luck.

Will need to get it to some knowledgeable team, either in a authorized center or outside.

The driver seat arm rest came out of its holder. The internal plastics have broken off. Need to see if I can get a replacement or this can be repaired.



Apart from that, had few scares with the vehicle, and yours truly, being at Chennai on the 1st of December. Water level kept rising and I kept moving the vehicle to higher grounds. Finally left the area, which involved driving in water which came till foot rest.

Drove out of Chennai on 3rd morning, straight to Trichy for a 30 minutes tea break at parents place, and then to Palakkad.

The drive out of Chennai, and to Trichy, was the fastest I have done, in terms of distance covered against time. Guindy at 1100 and at home in Trichy at 15:30. Was able to cruise at 100kmph as there was minimal traffic through out. Reached Palakkad at 2030.

The days numbers were 664 kms, consuming 52.32 liters, average 12.7kmpl.

Covered a further distance of 1000 kms, before leaving the country. The refills in between gave the following mileages:

578 kms, consuming 46.39 liters, average 12.4kmpl.
358 kms, consuming 26.74 liters, average 13.3kmpl.

Got into a situation where lack of differential locks was felt. Parked too off the tarred road that both left side wheels where spinning away to glory in mud. Though they dug in, was able to place few broken bricks and self recover.

Both front headlights have fogged up with the continuous rains. This affected their performance during night drives, especially bad when covering Namakkal to Trichy, with the rain and every jack driving with high beams!

The left side fog lamp keep going bust! Tried changing it myself and God, how much more difficult can it get! Lying down and with having to twist ones arm wasn't enough; more so with the mosquitoes having a full blown feast on you didn't help!

Seems to have got a ant colony setup in the vehicle. Can see red ants on the bonnet every time the vehicle is parked for more than an hour. Also noticed them on a food pack that was left in the vehicle overnight. Very concerned about it and not sure how to get this addressed. Any advice will be appreciated.

The light in the engine bay wasn't working for quite some time. Assuming it to be the case of fuse bulb, had changed it to no use. Didn't bother about it expecting the casing or holder to have an issue. The issue actually seems to be a case of the wires being cut!


Interiors are still holding out OK. Need to do a through cleaning, though.




The odometer as it stood before the drive to Madurai airport.


Apart from these, the vehicle still drives like a dream. 3rd gear still remains the all time favorite in traffic. Engine sound does seems to have got a bit rough but settles down after 20-30kms of driving.

[HappyWheels]

Vehicle has done 89,000 kms so far.

Was in India for a 3 weeks vacation and drove the vehicle for 2,000 kms within that time. No major issue to report.

Two observations:
- mileage has dropped to 12kmpl
- black smoke on hard acceleration on 1st gear has become very high. This was not present before.

Apart from this, nothing to report. The vehicle still pulls like a loco and the drive comfort is as good as ever.

Had got the engine oil and filter changed at VST Motors, Trichy and they forgot to fix back a bolt. Noticed the rattling sound while parking the vehicle. Took it back the next day and got it fixed.

Funny part was that I clearly told the SA what the issue is and what needs to be done. He takes the vehicle to the service bay and tells the mechanic that the customer is complaining about silencer sound. When I noticed the mechanics inspecting the under body, knew something was amiss. Went to them and told the guys what needs to be done. Work done in 2 minutes.

Wipers were changed with RainX wipers I had taken with me. Were very much needed with the rains in Kerala.

Gave the big guy a much needed polish. The team from 3M Trichy came home and did the polish. Though it could have been done much better, I feel something is better than nothing. Also got the interiors cleaned.

The vehicle, as it stands now:








The odo reading, before the drive back to Chennai airport.

[HappyWheels]

The Safari has crossed 98,000 kms as of today.

Nothing much to report; using it when ever I come down to India for a week or two. Gets a wash and a drive around the community once every two weeks during my absence.

Had planned a trip to Munnar during Onam holidays, but that ended up with doing a relief material run.

Got the clutch changed at SRT Motors in Coimbatore. Though the clutch feel very soft now, the whole reason why it was sent in the first place has not been addressed. Refer the GIF below:



The clutch does not travel all the way front to normal resting position. Did not experience this when I took the vehicle and thought it was addressed for good. But it was back to square one on the morning run to school today.

Any one knows what the issue might be? Though the clutch is very soft now, I am not happy with this issue still being there and worried if this will end up causing premature wear of the clutch.

If anyone has a reference to any reliable Safari mechanics, even outside TASS, at Coimbatore, will appreciate an introduction, or a trust worthy SA at a Coimbatore TASS.

Have a reference at Bangalore, from Raghu, and that will be option if nothing else works out here.

The billing for this work. They had billed their usual "add on".





What was worse in this whole exercise was the way the SRT SA went about with the billing and his "adjustments" with a back office staff. Not a bunch which has ethics in their dictionary and definitely an experience that brings to question what kind of work they do there. Will definitely not be going back to them - the group at Peelamedu service center. The management needs to have a serious look at their staff as they have taken the art of fleecing not just customers, but company as well, to the next level.

The vehicle as it stands now. More battle scars from the loony traffic at Coimbatore. A visit to 3M at RS Puram is on the cards to see how best they can fix these.











Mileage still hovers around 11.4kmpl.

[HappyWheels]

The clutch play dropped even further and it became progressively worse to engage the gears.

Did not go back to SRT but have taken it to TAFE where the service adviser reviewed the last work and mentioned that when doing the previous work they should have changed the clutch master and slave cylinder, especially taking into consideration the initial issue.

Hopefully will get the vehicle back today itself and the issue is resolved. Finger crossed.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

The clutch play dropped even further and it became progressively worse to engage the gears.

Did not go back to SRT but have taken it to TAFE where the service adviser reviewed the last work and mentioned that when doing the previous work they should have changed the clutch master and slave cylinder, especially taking into consideration the initial issue.

Hopefully will get the vehicle back today itself and the issue is resolved. Finger crossed.

My relative who has a ten year old and 20000 km run i20 has the same issue with clutch, looking at the minimal running it's clear that i20 was sitting inside the garage for long periods of time. The same happened to another vehicle, a santro that did the same distance in 15 years.

What is your usage pattern?

I am trying to understand if sitting idle can cause clutch system to start leaking or having to replace master cylinder etc irrespective of number of kms.

[HappyWheels]

Collected the vehicle at 6pm. Master and slave cylinders were changed and the clutch is back to being normal. The gear slotting is not very soft. Had to drive back in very heavy traffic and it was a breeze.





They have also changed the fuel filter, though I had not asked for it.

Got the engine oil also changed, since the dip stick was showing an overfill from the last change and I was not too happy with it.

Had asked for headlight polish, as the output is pathetic and wanted to see if this will make a difference. If not, might replace the headlight assembly or extra lights.

The A/c cleaning was something they added for better profit margins.

This service has been one of the best experience so far at Coimbatore. The SA, Ajay Gosh, was knowledgeable and very helpful. Post the Diwali drive will be taking it back to get a long outstanding ABS issue, which he correctly diagnosed but couldn't fix due to running out of time.

The vehicle was cleaned and ready by the time I reached, which itself was a pleasant experience.

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

...What is your usage pattern?

I am trying to understand if sitting idle can cause clutch system to start leaking or having to replace master cylinder etc irrespective of number of kms.

The Safari currently stands at 98,000 kms. The running has reduced over the last two years, but not sure if it was due to that or age itself. It was on the factory parts till now.

[HappyWheels]

Here we are, after a decade of ownership and finally crossing the 100,000 kms mark.




After many years of living with the ABS problem, it has finally been resolved.

The first time the issue came up was within the first week of purchase. The ABS light came up temporarily when starting off for the first ever long drive after purchase. Still recollect parking on the side of NICE road and wondering what the hell was wrong. A restart sorted it then.

Later it became a permanent fixture and TASS at Bangalore, Chennai and Trichy had multiple go at it, having changed the sensors and yet, the issue remained.

TAFE at Coimbatore were finally able to solve it, right as the vehicle reached 10 years of age. It is not just that the indicator has gone off, but ABS does work. Tested it to make sure of that.



Apart from that, changed the headlight, since the old ones were way past their life - having suffered water ingress few years back and that causing dirt to settle down inside it. The output was worse than just being pathetic.





As with any service center, when they fix something, they have to ruin something else. The mechanics at TAFE messed up on the brake line and this caused brake fluid to leak. Result - lost brakes completely. And this was on a Sunday, with the next day road trip to Ooty planned and resort booked.



Drove to CBE the next day morning, using engine braking to assit. Fortunately, the rains meant there was not much traffic on the roads. The technical supervisor immediately knew what needed to be fixed and the work was done in under 10 minutes, with time being taken for lifting the vehicle.



They gave some lame excuse that the brake line bolt would have hit the lower arm and hence to make sure this does not happen again, they increased the turning radius! Major pain, especially considering you were going to take hair pin bends up a mountain road.



Brakes did not have any issue after that, but the increase in turning radius in a vehicle known for lousy turning radius, was getting to me. Thankfully, it was a simple fix and I reset it back to as it was, for the last decade.

There seems to be an engine oil leak. Not sure if this was introduced by the recent engine oil change due to a misaligned oil filter. Have to check that.

The driver side power window motor acts up every time one uses it. The kit seems to cost 6k INR and was told by the SA at TAFE to let them first have a look and then if they are not able to do anything, then only change. Reckon they did not feel the need to do it when they had it for 3 days, since the customer did not ask for it.

Used System-D over the last tank of diesel. This was done just as a precautionary measure. Do not have any black smoke or judders, touch wood.

Even with the vehicle having crossed the 100,000 kms mark, it still remains one of the most comfortable vehicle to be in. If only the power was better, but even here, with the great Indian road conditions, even that was not missed much.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Here we are, after a decade of ownership and finally crossing the 100,000 kms mark

Awesome Great to see that the truck is serving you well. I still feel that the Safari is (rather was) THE most VFM 4x4 SUV that one can get in that price range. The comfort and ride quality it offers are unparalleled even today! When I gave off my EX 4x4 2 yrs back, it rode as good as new after 8 yrs of ownership.

Wish you many more happy miles on the Safari.

[HappyWheels]

Odo stands at 114,000 kms and have given the vehicle to a Kaveri TASS at Trichy.

Parts that have been identified as an issue include:
- lower arm bushes
- front suspension
- brake pads and discs (first time changing)

The front power windows motors are on their last breath and wanted to change them, but SA informed that these parts are no longer available with TM and have been discontinued. Have written an email to TASS.

Am sure there is an upgraded part, that would have been used in the Storme; had faced this when vacuum hose had an issue.

[bj96]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

...
The front power windows motors are on their last breath and wanted to change them, but SA informed that these parts are no longer available with TM and have been discontinued...

Good to note your Safari is chugging along.

Have you tried boodmo.com for parts? I've had good recent experiences with my 8 year old Brio (which is also discontinued) parts.

Cheers,
-BJ