[druva]

Congrats JK. But for superstion, I too would have chosen Black GX 4x2

Wish you happy mile crunching.

[HappyWheels]

Congrats on the buy, JK!

Could see that grin on your face in the first photo.

Sad that you had a major issue on the very first trip; as mentioned, TATA does have a very thick skin!

[jkrishnakj]

Originally Posted by druva

Congrats JK. But for superstion, I too would have chosen Black GX 4x2

Wish you happy mile crunching.

Thanks Druva. I have been following your thread as well. Pretty interesting i must admit.

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Congrats on the buy, JK!

Could see that grin on your face in the first photo.

Sad that you had a major issue on the very first trip; as mentioned, TATA does have a very thick skin!

Thanks HW.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok- now, here's the latest. The front left passenger window doesnt roll up fully. There is a gap of half an inch now. Secondly, the speed at which the window used to roll up is far slower than how it used to be in the past days !

Appears that it calls for another visit to the TASS.

[rajchetan]

Congrats On your Buy, The beast surely looks awesome in Black!!!

I am a big fan of this Beast, and have been following all treads related to the safari, I have not owned a Safari but have driven it quite a lot. and Have owned two generations of the Indica.

I fail to understand, as per everyone Safari is considered to be the best of the TATA cars when it come to Quality, but yet I am hurt to see the Max number of Niggling issues with the Beast.

But as rightly said by you safari is a car you buy by Heart not Mind.

Hope these issue are sorted out quickly!!

Enjoy you life with "Beast with the Beauty"

[VW2010]

@JK..
sorry to hear the troubles. I am not sure the issues you faced are mere niggles. The same issues can happen to any car and I think Tata atleast handled it well with respect to warranty and replacement. I am not sure if thats the case with other manufacturers and dealers considering the Skoda case that still drives one our members crazy.

I like the colors and the dual tone just makes it look more beasty. Hope things settle down now and you enjoy the beast even better. Good Luck

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Secondly, the speed at which the window used to roll up is far slower than how it used to be in the past days !

Power window speeds is a known issue. Please get the winder assy and the motor replaced under warranty.

[jkrishnakj]

@ Raj / VW2010 - thanks for your wishes. Agree - TASS handled this issue well.

The past week has been quiet for the beast. A long drive on the full NICE road stretch last weekend was a breeze and a pleasure ( but for the heavy and recently increased toll rates ). I am waiting to finish another 40 KM's so that i can get the first service done.

I dont get the windows down these days. Concorde has assured me to have a thorough look into this.

I should probably be back with more updates in a week or so, after the first service. This week is gone in work related travel out of Bangalore.

[jkrishnakj]

A quick update on the first service. This was done exactly at the end of one month and at a ODO reading of 1190 KM's. The SA actually was patient enough to listen to even the smallest of issues. Came with me for a good 5-6 KM test drive to exactly understand some rattles/noise coming from different sides.

The following issues were fixed.
1. Rear door rattlne noise
2. Minor noise coming in from the passenger side door
3. A/C button that wasnt working earlier was replaced, infact the replaced the entire panel
4. Vehichle was pulling a bit towards the left and this was corrected
5. The steering wasnt centred and this was corrected
6. The roof lamps switches were loose at the driver side and this was promptly fixed

Other than the above, there werent anything else that was bothering me.

I am now happy that the run-in period is over and am waiting to hit the highway. There is a trip planned to kemmanagundi tomorrow and i should be able to put a few more posts here after that trip.

Overall, a very satisfying first service, the beast is pretty smooth to drive and i now listen only to the music coming from the Alpine system and no other noise.

[noopster]

JK congratulations on your Safari and sorry about the teething troubles you've been having. Having said that, both Concorde and Suson seem to have treated you very well and not charged you (rightly so!) for those disturbing issues early on. I do hope your troubles are over for now and you enjoy crunching many miles in this mean machine. Even after all these years I am hard pressed to find an SUV as gorgeous as the Safari on our roads and were it not for the small niggles, would have bought one long ago!

[jkrishnakj]

The much planned trip to Kemmanagundi went like a song.This was a trip along with office colleagues. Bulf of the crowd had arranged a bus and left on the 4th noon, around lunch time. I and three others were caught up with some urgent things and we left Bangalore only at 6.30 PM.

The plan went well. Amongst several items that i was ticking as done ( snacks, watter bottle, clothes, food items etc..) what was forgotten was
Camera - Tick
Camera Battery Charger - Tick

I pull of the camera on the NICE road and that's when i realise that i had removed the memory card for some purpose and had NOT put this back into the Camera.

Anyways pics aside, the drive was very nice.

The only issue i faced was with the lights. It wasnt as bright as i had thought it would be and at many places, i had to slow down drastically due to very faded lights. I am now going through other threads where friends have changed the head light bulbs. Perhaps, i should do the same as well.

We took the following route onwards.

JP NAgar - B'Gatta Road - NICE Road - Tumkur Road Exit - Kunigal - Chennarayapatna - Hassan - Chikmagalur - Kemmanagundi

The last 20 KM's of the roads between Chikmagalur and K'gundi was in very poor condition - especially, the winding roads on the top of the mountains.

At the peak of one mountain ( was mid-night, not sure about the name of the place ), we stopped the car. If at all there were any living items on that road, it was our car and the 4 of us in the car. We stopped the engine, switched OFF the lights and looked skywards - we just couldnt believe what we saw - a milliion stars, all so bright, many so close, some too far away, a few of them twinkling, a few of them real bright, a few falling off, a few moving.

The 10 minutes on this peak was bliss. Very enjoyable moment.

We stayed at the horticulture guest house. Decent place. We had about 4 hours of sleep and the next day, off we went for trekking to the Z point.

After some sad breakfast ( at the guest house canteen ), we moved to Kalhatti falls. This was a Amazing. The water was pristine and clean and clear. The force was good. All of us jumped into the water. We did climb a little distance to the top and jumped into the falls again.

This was such a rejuvenating experience. I felt that i had got rid of all the pains that i had in my body.

It was around lunch time when we winded up at the falls. We then decided to reach Lingadahalli to fill fuel and head back home.

The Lingadahallai-Chickmangalur road was very nice. It appeared to have been laid recently.

About the car :

The ride was very smooth
Absolutely no issues what so ever
Got a mileage of 11.13 KM's per litre for this entire trip
This was done with 70% A/C and with about 20% drive on ghat roads
Overtaking in this vehicle was a boon. Just downshift one gear and the kind of momentum you get is a delight. It increases driving confidence
As always, the safari does command road repsect
The climb in the hills was very easy. Could do most of it in the 3rd gear itself
Didnt have any troubles, or noise. I think the first service was done nicely

All in all, the ~650 Km ride was a very memorable one with this beast.

I am waiting for my friends to share the pics they took from their cameras. Shall upload them soon.

[jkrishnakj]

Here are some pics of the Kemmangundi trip.

The beast taking rest after the night drive

The winding roads

I like this Pic

At the water bodies before entry into Chikagalur


What followed after this was another trip to Masinagudi the following weekend.

Here are some Pics from that trip.





The drive was awesome. The overtaking ability of this car was simply super. The handling on the winding roads that we took towards Ooty was a joy. The ease at which a Safari climbs on the hilly terrain is something that one should experience - very effortless actually.

This long drive ensure that the Black car was full of mud, dust and the itnereriors were a bit messy as well. I took this to "AutoSpa" at JP Nagar and at a small cost, the car came out gleaming and shining and the vacuum had done the magic to restore some sanity to the interiors.

Ever since i bought the safari, my trips have increased. I dont know if its due to the safari or something else.

Its been about 45 days since i own this and i have already done the following trips.

1. Bangalore - Himavath Gopalswamy Betta - Bangalore
2. Bangalore - Kemmangundi - Bangalore
3. Bangalore - Masinagudi - Bangalore

What follows now is a trip that i am leaving for tomorrow morning - to Iruppu Falls, Wayanad and Nagarhole.

More updates after i finish that trip.

[Lukeskywalker]

Nice to see a Safari being used the way it should be, happy motoring.

[jkrishnakj]

The previous week end saw a quick get away to Iruppu Falls. It was a plan decided on a friday and we ( self, wife and son) were off on the Saturday morning at 4.30 AM from JP Nagar.

The route that we covered in four and half hours as below

JP Nagar - Kanakapura Road - Nice Road Exit - Srirangapatna - Hunsur - Nagarhole - Kutta - Iruppu.

We stayed at an Home Stay. It was a beautiful place, clean room and bathroom, super clean linen, bedsheets and pillows and acres and acres of green in the home stay.

Entrance to the Nagarhole National Park:


The Drive thru the park was very nice, but for the speed breakers that you face every 300 metres ( much needed i guess ! ). I didnt notice any bad patches, rather, i must say that the Safai had them for lunch and could easily navigate the bad roads.

Our Stay :




Very nice place, Home Stay. Extremely cheerful hosts. Its in the middle of a 65 acre coffee and spice estate.

Iruppu Falls :


Surprise element was when we reached the base from where you trek for 20 minutes to the falls, there wasnt a soul in sight. It was around 11 AM and i was really surprised to see none there. I was expecting a huge Saturday crowd.

The trek is a bit winding and steep. When you see the falls, you feel its worth the trek. The waters were pristine and our family had this all for ourselves. We spent an hour in the waters and we saw a bus load of college guys.



We trekked down and visited the Rameshwar temple. Very beautiful temple and they were just finishing the noon pooja. We had good darshan of lord Shiva.

That;s when we realised the stomach grumbling for food. We drove back towards Kutta and found " Cafe Robusta " near Kutta. Small, but clean place. There were 3-4 people in the restaurant. The service was very quick. The food was just about OK. Finished and went back to our stay.

We spent the evening driving around the hills and absorbed all the scenes.

The next day, we started around 10 AM from the home stay and decided to visit Kuruva Islands.

There is a sea change in condition of roads, the moment you enter Kerala. The roads were butter smooth. We reached Kuruva in good time. Found that its extremely commercialised. It was a bit hot and humid. Paid for the boat ride and crossed over to the island. Wasnt too impressed here.

Stayed there for an hour and started our drive back to Bangalore at 1 noon.

We take the same route back. Stopped at McDonalds for a quick bite after Maddur. We then realised a massive Jam on the Mysore-Bangalore roads. got stuck for about half hour. Decided to take the inside roads of Ramanagaram. I wasnt sure if it would work, since there were thousands of vehicles on the highway and my thought was someone would have explored this.

There were 4-5 vehichles that immediately followed my safari. After about 10 minutes into the interiors of Ramanagaram , i then saw a Signboard saying "Magadi - 30 KM's" and i heaved a sigh of relief. So worried to reach back home on time, we didnt pay attention to the names of a dozen villages we crossed and before i realised i was on the Magadi Road exit at NICE road.

All in all, a good trip, with the safari behaving extremely well. With 75% A/C on, and with about 25% driving on the hills, it returned me with a mileage of 12.7 KM's to a litre. Quite contended i am.

[jkrishnakj]

I was missing my safari for 3 weeks now. Had to be at Gurgaon since 7th March. The first thing i did after coming back was to take the car for a spin. it started at the first crank, no untoward behaviour and everything was nice and good. A quick trip to Manchinebelle last sunday was a pleasure. The safari could easily gobble up the very bad roads, the small rocks, slush and other treacherous terrain.

The coming week is going to be hectic - both for the car and my family. We are off on a long trip to the Navagraha temple circuit. More updates after this trip.

[blackbeast]

Jkrish,

So much has happened so soon with your beast. Quite an experience. I'm sure its worth it all. As an ex owner of safari, you are very sure it will only add smiles as you cross more miles. Congratulations !

The two tone looks very upmarket. But the thing with safari is, it will look good in any shade thrown by the TATA.How is your driving experience in your new Gx compared to your ride with Ex. Any change in the feel ?