[mrkanitkar]

Hi Guys,
Last week I met my friend who runs Indicab for commercial use. He has single driver who is driving the car for all 5 years. Here is small report based on my discussions, driving the car.

He bought indicab in Solapur, Maharashtra in 2005. It's registered as taxi. Car runs only in rural area nearby Solapur. It do not have power steering.

I book the car for Solapur-Ambajogai-Parali- Solapur travel around 400 Kms.

When I took reading around 4 lac+, I was shocked. I cheked it twice & asked driver, are you sure you have more than 4 lac on meter? He said YES with big smile and so we started the discussion.
He says car is giving 20-22 Kms/ Ltr as mileage. It's naturally aspirated diesel engine.

He changes tyres after every 40-45 K run, wheel alignment & balancing after every 5K kms, changes break pads after 50-60 K kms.

No accidents. No engine work till today. Car was maintained by TATA service till 1 lac, after 1 lac it goes with ex-TATA service guy.

Car normally run by speed of 40-60-80 KMs/hr. Customers pay 4.5 INR /Km without A/C. I like the car condition & it was really smooth (TATA quality) when I drove.

I am sharing the report to just keep record that we have TATA Indicas which runs upto/more than 410000 Kms without any major issue with engine/breaks etc.

Well Done TATA. :

[aks_karthik]

It's really a Wonderful/Happy news and never heard any car running in India crossed this Kms mark.
I have seen a Mercedes Benz in Germany crossed some 5Lakhs kms.

[uneet]

Wow! That is some ODO reading.
Kudos to TATA.

[ph03n!x]

Whoa!! 4+ Lakhs, and the engine is not opened yet?!! That is a shocker!!!

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

Whoa!! 4+ Lakhs, and the engine is not opened yet?!! That is a shocker!!!

Indeed it is! Unbelievable mileage that the engine has seen.

[headers]

Awewsome TATA, awesome.

[cruiser_1982]

TATA must give the current owner a new Indicab and take the older one for showcasing the mechanical reliability. Something like what Mercedes did for a taxi driver with >500,000 on odo.

[MAS]

Wow!!! that is unbelievable mileage on a TATA. If TATA makes all their cars this way, they would be competing against Maruti in India.

When i first saw the title, i thought it was a typo

[vinod_nookala]

4,10,000 kms without an engine over haul?? i hope it is not a typo. How come TATA's can manufacture products at extreme ends? I have heard Indica's engine coming for an overhaul just above a lakh and here is one which is keeping on going!! We have lengthy threads on TATA car problems.

Hence the product and design per se isnt bad. It is the inconsistant quality that is playing spoilsport here.

Kudos to your friend to have maintained it so well.

[007]

Indica Rules.. with great mileage & reliability.

Mine Indica is at 200000 + km & still giving 20 - 22 kmpl.

TATA - the great..!

[headers]

Originally Posted by MAS

Wow!!! that is unbelievable mileage on a TATA. If TATA makes all their cars this way, they would be competing against Maruti in India.

I did not get you - Please show me ONE maruti product that has crossed this mileage without an engine job!!

Originally Posted by vinod_nookala

How come TATA's can manufacture products at extreme ends? I have heard Indica's engine coming for an overhaul just above a lakh and here is one which is keeping on going!! We have lengthy threads on TATA car problems.

Hence the product and design per se isnt bad. It is the inconsistant quality that is playing spoilsport here.

The key here is good maintenance. People blame the product for the WRONG / BAD maintenance it gets from the A.S.S of TATA.

[mrkanitkar]

YES, you all read it right it's 410000 Kms.
I forgot to give his ideas about servicing.

1. He says if you take your family member to doctor for check up after 35 of age, why not the cars?

2. Don't take the car at it extreme conditions for fun. It gives him bread & butter, so take care of it. Don't be careless about it.

3. When he takes car for servicing, he verifies the original spare parts, get feedback from other guys, makes sure he buys best quality spare parts. He don't go by just mechanic's suggestions. He many times buy spare parts on own & asks mechanic to do job. He says, many times mechanic suggests the part which is cheaper to save cost & need replacement sooner, e.g. breakpads he said you have options to buy TATA original, TVS and local make breakpads, localmake are available as low as 300 INR. If you put low cost spare part, you endup replacing it soon and helping machanic earn more labor charges again. He tries to avoid hardpress of breaks as much possible.

4. Fuel - he fills fual only at BPCL company operated gas station, no other place.

5. Every day morning he checks for tyre pressure etc. He says he takes 10 mins off from driving to make sure car is ready for prime time & is in good condition.

When I asked about replacement he says, I am happy, my car is happy, why to buy new one? I asked many times about engine down etc, he was very proud about the engine & quality. He said many cab owners/driver don't care about cars properly & end up opening engine very fast. If you know what you are doing, how you suppose to drive the car, take care of car like family member, car runs like this.

btw: this car was not any special no. VIP car, it was just as regular product being sold in Solapur.
Even roads in rural area are not good, this car worked, design of car must be better. Issues may be from maintaining quality at production, servicing done by unskilled workers, bad spare parts put by mechanic. He can make call, which break pad to use etc, if you ask me, I can not.

Finally yes, Indica V2 DLE is a sucessful car which runs much longer than we think of.

@007,
Great to know yours is also running more than 200000 Kms.

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by aks_karthik

It's really a Wonderful/Happy news and never heard any car running in India crossed this Kms mark.
I have seen a Mercedes Benz in Germany crossed some 5Lakhs kms.

Please ! don't compare.

Originally Posted by vinod_nookala

4,10,000 kms without an engine over haul?? i hope it is not a typo. How come TATA's can manufacture products at extreme ends? I have heard Indica's engine coming for an overhaul just above a lakh and here is one which is keeping on going!! We have lengthy threads on TATA car problems.

Hence the product and design per se isnt bad. It is the inconsistant quality that is playing spoilsport here.

Kudos to your friend to have maintained it so well.

Heard = Rumor. See it to believe it.

Originally Posted by 007

Indica Rules.. with great mileage & reliability.

Mine Indica is at 200000 + km & still giving 20 - 22 kmpl.

TATA - the great..!

, talks about how well maintained it is. You should write a long term ownership report IMHO.

Originally Posted by mrkanitkar

YES, you all read it right it's 410000 Kms.


2. Don't take the car at it extreme conditions for fun. It gives him bread & butter, so take care of it. Don't be careless about it.

3. When he takes car for servicing, he verifies the original spare parts, get feedback from other guys, makes sure he buys best quality spare parts. He don't go by just mechanic's suggestions. He many times buy spare parts on own & asks mechanic to do job. He says, many times mechanic suggests the part which is cheaper to save cost & need replacement sooner, e.g. breakpads he said you have options to buy TATA original, TVS and local make breakpads, localmake are available as low as 300 INR. If you put low cost spare part, you endup replacing it soon and helping machanic earn more labor charges again. He tries to avoid hardpress of breaks as much possible.
4. Fuel - he fills fual only at BPCL company operated gas station, no other place.
5. Every day morning he checks for tyre pressure etc. He says he takes 10 mins off from driving to make sure car is ready for prime time & is in good condition.

He should be a TBHPian. Cheers to his love for his car.

[ikoneer]

Originally Posted by mrkanitkar

When I took reading around 4 lac+, I was shocked. I cheked it twice & asked driver, are you sure you have more than 4 lac on meter? He said YES with big smile

This is indeed unbelievable, shocking and surprising.

We should really appreciate the guy who owns the car rather than the car maker. He is an exception and has an exceptional car.

All said and done, Indica without A/c is very nice to drive, only with a/c it suffers and smokes.

[greenhorn]

4L without a rebuild, and that too an indica is a bit hard to believe!