[xbox360]

I was one of the first 4X4 Safari 2.2 owners in HYD. I waited eagerly for around a year for the launch of the 2.2 and booked one as soon as it was launched (Nov 2007 is when i bought my Safari). I am a B.Tech in Chem Engg by Degree with a psuedo/acquired degree in Computer Science owing to my profession (i am an IT veteran with ~12 yrs of IT experience). But in my 2+ yrs of ownership of the Safari i feel that i am eligible for a honorary degree in Mechnical Engg/Automotive Engg. And with every passing year of ownership and every new issue faced with my vehicle i may be moving steadily from a Bachelors to a doctorate in this new acquired/induced trait . And all this too with no effort from my side, my vehicle is inducing all this new knowledge into me free of cost.

Ok if the above statement is not coming out clearly let me spill my experiences and thoughts to allow you to get a better understanding of this statement.

1)Even before you step in to a Tata showroom for a Test Drive of the majestic Safari you need to mentally prepare yourself for the lottery you are playing. It may turn out that you get a peach of a vehicle or if you are extraordinarily lucky you may get yourself a lemon of a vehicle that will allow you to pick up so much knowhow about the automotive space that people may misconstrue you for a design engineer for an auto major.

2)Ok so you go ahead and play the lottery, but little do you realize that the lottery is not limited to what vehicle is picked from the yard but it is a continuous lottery as the TASS is a much bigger gamble than what you had signed up for. Every time you send your peach/lemon to the service centre, you never know what's going to come back. Its like in the movie Forest Gump, "TASS is a box of chocolate, you never know what you are going to get back
a.In my case i sent my vehicle a year back for some retro fitment thinking that my vehicle will transform from a peach to peach++, but what came back was lemon--. Some moron had failed to secure the electrical harness running from near the 4WD system and the loose wires got entangled in the 4WD system cutting all power to the vehicle and leaving me stranded in the middle of a road with construction vehicles on both sides stranded along with me. Listening to the choicest words from the truck drivers and baking in the hot sun, i pondered on nothing else but the mechanics of the problem and in the process passing my first Sem of Automotive Engg (details here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post1059395).
b.Then followed the problem of leaking seals, ill designed tie rods, broken hoses and a host of other issues, with each of which i cleared yet another Semester .
c.Now on the 2nd anniversary of my ownership of this vehicle, the vehicle was once again sent to the able folks at TASS for nothing but a routine service and some very minor niggles. TASS advisor assured me that he will give the vehicle his utmost attention which it seems he did. The vehicle came back to my house on Wednesday afternoon and on Thursday morning as i was on my way to the gas station, i learnt a new lesson – clutch slipping. In 5th gear at around 70+Km/hr, i pressed on the gas to overtake a lorry. The RPM kept on climbing while the speed started declining (take that Shahrukh, bet the i10 could never teach you this lesson). I wanted to think that this was my fertile imagination at play and ignored this occurrence. But the vehicle wanted me to fully internalize this lesson so it slipped again on Friday in the 4th and the 3rd gears. All in all I am amazed at the dexterity of the TASS. How can they be so consistent in screwing up something or the other every time i send the vehicle to them!!

3)Anyhow now my family is sneaking up with one liners like 'I told you to buy an Innova' or' why do you have to be so stingy, i told you that an Endeavour would have been better' and you know where this is coming from "you never listen to me. So what do you have to say now

4)But here is the tricky part, even in light of all this; i still don't repent my decision. I guess this situation is apt for analysis and in the process probably i can stake claim to yet another degree – human psychology (with a major in TATA owners psyche)

5)On a lighter note we have a serious weapon in our arsenal which i hope Al-Qaeda never gets its hands on. Else they would be smart and gift the G-8 heads of state a TATA Safari each and then force its free will on the world unchecked as the heads of state would be too busy with the dispatch-receive cycle of their vehicles with TASS and would have no time for the mundane task of fighting terror.

Yeah yeah i know, went too far on that one, but somehow could not stop myself.
Ok now the latest update is that TATA has cleared the repair/replacement of all essential parts for this problem under extended warranty (this tells us that for TASS the head may not be in its right place, but they have proved time and again that their heart surely is), and am looking forward to receiving yet another chocolate from TASS. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed!!

[amip]

Thats real funny Xbox - I'm sure equally frustrating as well! I have a Safari 2.2 as well - no major problems as of now - just the trademark Tata niggles - that make you fonder of it - lol!
Heading out on a road trip today so keeping my fingers crossed as well. Good luck to you :-)

[himanshugoswami]

jatin sir, tussi to writer ban gaye ho!

[greenhorn]

I feel exactly the same way. After over two years of owning an indica, People think that I'm some sort of mechanical engg

[kuttapan]

A TATA owner with a sense of humour ! Whoa ! Were you like this before, Sir, or the Safari enhanced your ability to humour people?

Good to know that you have learnt to live with the niggles. A Safari enters my dreams many a times, but the subsequent nightmare pulls me out of buying one, everytime. God knows when I will actually get the courage to own one.

[rrsteer]

That was hilarious reading!
The thing with TASS is that they have laid down rules/procedures with them. Now sometimes the problems they tackle cannot be solved by following those rules/procedures. So, they in effect try two things at one time. Solve the problem and at the same time somehow fit the solution they may have devised within the set rules. The way they try to fit the solution within the rulebook is sometimes extraordinarily funny.

Watching all this is pure unadulterated fun, as long as your vehicle is not acting funny.

[xbox360]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

jatin sir, tussi to writer ban gaye ho!

See, yet another qualification comes cheaply all thanks to my 2.5 ton of steel .
Had my parents known that qualification/knowledge is just a Safari away, i would have been gifted one in LKG itself and would not have wasted the best years of my life toiling over more consuming avenues like IIT-JEE.

[himanshugoswami]

Originally Posted by xbox360

See, yet another qualification comes cheaply all thanks to my 2.5 ton of steel .
Had my parents known that qualification/knowledge is just a Safari away, i would have been gifted one in LKG itself and would not have wasted the best years of my life toiling over more consuming avenues like IIT-JEE.

So therefore, by that logic, you should be buying one more Safari ASAP for your elder daughter and yet another one a couple of years down the line for the little one- this will save you the hassle and expense of kids education thereon and you would have two guaranteed engineers in the family.....

Damn, now why did I sell my Safari , now if my daughter does not become an engineer, i know who to blame.....

[nairanupg]

I dreamt of heaven and a white safari last night and today morning i am back on terra firma with this.
Thats a real nice and humorous way of pulling a man back to reality.
Awesome rightup sir or is it a Docter now ?
Maybe a honorory doctorate in trouble shooting would be apt for you or would it be gambling with a safari ??? hmmm

[xbox360]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

So therefore, by that logic, you should be buying one more Safari ASAP for your elder daughter and yet another one a couple of years down the line for the little one- this will save you the hassle and expense of kids education thereon and you would have two guaranteed engineers in the family.....

Damn, now why did I sell my Safari , now if my daughter does not become an engineer, i know who to blame.....

He he. Sorry but i heard the new Safaris are relatively trouble free, i guess i should have picked up a few more while i had the chance (Lack of foresight i guess, but this should be no surprise, i bought a Safari after all; didn't I).

[xbox360]

Originally Posted by kuttapan

A TATA owner with a sense of humour ! Whoa ! Were you like this before, Sir, or the Safari enhanced your ability to humour people?

Good to know that you have learnt to live with the niggles. A Safari enters my dreams many a times, but the subsequent nightmare pulls me out of buying one, everytime. God knows when I will actually get the courage to own one.

Last night on NatGeo they were showing this tribe on a remote island off the coast of S.Africa where the young men in the tribe are given 2 choices to prove they are ready for marriage 1) Is some arduous job of running a mile over simmering coal 2) The other more difficult one is to own/maintain a Safari for 3 years before marriage (statistics revealed 0% divorce occurrences in this set).

Moral of the story, do not underestimate this beast, it has more qualities than what meets the untrained eye

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by kuttapan

A TATA owner with a sense of humour ! Whoa ! Were you like this before, Sir, or the Safari enhanced your ability to humour people?

let me quote predatorwheelz paraphrasing an aquaintance

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

"To live with a Tata car, you require a tremendous sense of humour!"

[phamilyman]

Howlarious thread. I quite like what i've read. care to narrate more incidents in the same level of detail

/loved lemon-- and heart in right place comments

[xbox360]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Howlarious thread. I quite like what i've read. care to narrate more incidents in the same level of detail

/loved lemon-- and heart in right place comments

With IT in reverse gear and Telangana movement in Overdrive (read my property valuations heading down south), may be i will have to take up such narrations for a living.

Thanks for your comments. Will update you guys on how things turn out with my vehicle.

[abishek2222]

Originally Posted by xbox360

4)But here is the tricky part, even in light of all this; i still don't repent my decision.

From a Tata Owner i can say hell i had to learn everything about my sierra in double quick time.every single thing under the hood.which was about to fail or was leaking or squeking or breaking.what a nightmare.Still it makes for the all the trouble with the drive that puts a grin on my face when there is heavy traffic