[highwaylover]

so many zests on the forum but not a single ownership review. looking forward to one very soon

[freakmuzik]

Originally Posted by amartya sinha

I've taken delivery of a dune beige Diesel XT on the 22nd of Oct., a day before Diwali. The delivery process was not entirely sweet, the ugly head of TATA dealers rear up from time to time, though have to be said that, TATA officials dealings have turned more professional. No frills on the ZEST. Not even a single paisa discount. My car on road in Delhi came to around 7.93 Lakhs, I did not take the Insurance offered by the dealer, went for Royal Sundaram and have got a good deal. I've also not opted for any extended warranty, don't know if it is the right thing. Apart from floor mats, carpets, body and bumper protector, steering wrap, seat covers and mud flaps, nothing else is much needed, as mostly all is taken care in the top model. The ICE system is a gem, although it would have been an absolute delight, had we got the option of integrating a navigation system, but with smart phones, it is not sorely missed. I haven't yet taken the car out on long drives, as a lot of other members, and neither have I bothered about the FE as of yet, I've driven it about 500 kms., after a full tank and would like to see how much it runs. The digital fuel meter is tricky, and am not able to gauge the amount of fuel left when the meter hits red. Am slowly 'running in' the vehicle, and plan to do so for the first 1000 kms., before really putting it to test. The synthetic oil is a sore point in the long run. After the standard warranty of 45 K kms., can i switch to mineral oil? The stance of the car is good, the power delivery is linear, sitting is comfortable, though personally would have liked the driver seat to be a little more hard, it helps during long drives. New car, hence, the suspension feels good, the steering response is good, and it feels chunky. The road visibility is not the best, but will do. Nothing much to add, other than what has already been discussed and highlighted by other esteem members, but yes, the gear has vibrations in lower slotting. All in all, I don't think that the decision to buy this car, in spite of a lot of apprehension from people around, will be regretted. I'm actually looking forward to having fun with this car once we get to know each other better. Hope I'm proved right.

I would suggest you to opt for the extended warranty for the better peace of mind. I had the same dilemma during my purchase of the wagon-r but I already changed a few things under the extended warranty (suspension arm, wheel bearing) so it's kinda better I feel. Plus do opt for the AMC as they are definitely a steal! It covers almost all the consumables and is very much recommended.

I do not know why many of the posts here fret over the lack of discounts. I don't know of any manufacturer that provides discounts during the initial few months (In case of Maruit, this goes for almost 6-8 months!).

Anyways, have fun with your car. I've been seeing many zests now in Trivandrum and the Blue shade looks so awesome! Enjoy your ride

[bullet_chacha]

Not sure what happened...I'm sure mods would mergebthenpost or delete the ones not required!

Well...there u go...

[itsashishsharma]

Originally Posted by bullet_chacha

Well...there u go...

I am stunned sir. Please please don't tease us all. You know well what kind of anticipation we would have after seeing these pics. Let us know the full story if not an ownership review.

[balajisv]

http://wap.business-standard.com/art...0100726_1.html

Looks like Zest is still not 100% successful in turning around Tata Motors passenger car sales. :(

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by condor

...@Swiftnfurious, it would be more a case of the owner getting used to smoothness of the engine when running on Synthetic oil than about the car itself.

I read on this forum somewhere that we should NOT change oil across grades after the vehicle puts on a reasonable mileage as it affects the seals(?) etc. Do you mean to say the parts would NOT have any issues with the oil grade change at all, especially after a long interval?

[condor]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

I read on this forum somewhere that we should NOT change oil across grades after the vehicle puts on a reasonable mileage as it affects the seals(?) etc.

Can you pls share that post ?

[HarshVShrotriya]

Great review. Thanks for the hard work. Pity Automatic transmission is missing for Petrol. Kind of Volkswagen story, neat packaging but, struggling brand name.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by condor

Can you pls share that post ?

Couple of relevant posts. Would love to learn more on this.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modify...ml#post2144912

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modify...ml#post2494422

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modify...ml#post1666520

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by balajisv

http://wap.business-standard.com/art...0100726_1.html

Looks like Zest is still not 100% successful in turning around Tata Motors passenger car sales. :(

That has the commercial vehicle numbers clubbed with passenger vehicles and is Y-O-Y figure. Let's wait for the monthly sales thread - that will give a clearer picture. But, yes, even I feel Zest hasn't been as successful as TML would have hoped.

Edit:

Just looked up their press releases - http://mediacentre.tatamotors.com/Pr...easesList.aspx. The figures are indeed not-that-good. Let's see how others do to establish if the market sentiment was truly muted.

Passenger Vehicles
The trend of growth primarily driven by new launches continued - with the strong Zest sales, Tata Motors saw its sedan segment sales shoot by 49% year-on-year (and continued to show a month-on-month growth). But the muted market sentiment continued to impact overall sales: sales of the passenger cars in October 2014 were at 9,594 nos., lower by 12% over 10,944 sold in October 2013. The sales of utility vehicles were 1,917 nos., declined by 40% over 3,189 nos., sold in October last year.Sales of all Tata Motors passenger vehicles for October 2014 were at 11,511 nos., lower by 19% over 14,133 vehicles sold in October 2013.


Passenger Vehicles
Sales of passenger vehicles for September 2014 were at 11,931 nos., lower by 7% over 12,839 vehicles sold in September 2013. Sales of the passenger cars in September 2014 were 9,766 nos., remained flat, compared to cars sold in September last year. The sales of utility vehicles were 2165 nos., declined by 30% over 3,073 nos., sold in September last year.

Cumulative sales of passenger vehicles in the domestic market for the fiscal are 56,655 nos., lower by 19% over last year. Cumulative sales of the passenger cars this fiscal was 43,216 nos., lower by 21% over vehicles sold, last year. The utility vehicles sales stood at 13,439 nos., 12% decline over 15,189 nos., sold last year.

[Atif]

Hi Guys,

Any zest owner upgraded stock tyres to any other size or brand ? please let us know if you have done any changes which would be useful to prospective zest buyers.

Also, I can see some issues like mud in engine bay and AMT integration issues on manual and automatic models reported on other forums. Has any zest owner from our forum faced similar issues ?

[itsashishsharma]

Originally Posted by Atif

Hi Guys,

Any zest owner upgraded stock tyres to any other size or brand ? please let us know if you have done any changes which would be useful to prospective zest buyers.

Also, I can see some issues like mud in engine bay and AMT integration issues on manual and automatic models reported on other forums. Has any zest owner from our forum faced similar issues ?

Even I am looking for such information, and not only ablout tyres, but everything else too, like accessories.

In fact tyres are really good ones on the Zest. Unlike the competetion, they are offering 185/60R15 as standard across all variants, along with alloys. I think too less people will go for a tyre upgrade as it is Bridgestone and rubber is also good enough. To extend it, I will advise you too to stick with this size as it would be good enough for your daily usage. Somebody who really needs a tyre upgrade looks for about 20mm plus, taking it to 205/50R15. Now do you really need a 50 profile 205mm wide size? As 195 won't make much difference in handling, 205 won't be really advisable, just stick to 185 for the best.

[VeluM]

The Zest hasn't done as well as hoped, though probably as well as expected. Tata has a mountain to climb to win back the trust of the masses when it comes to their passenger vehicles. They are still respected as a brand, but their cars still fall into the will-not-touch-it-with-a-barge-pole bucket for most people. I was surprised that my family (previously Tata Indigo and Indica owners) are also converts of the negative kind for Tata.

I noticed after I read on this thread that the track of the Zest is smaller than the bodyshell, which causes the wheels to be inset from the wheel wells. Looks a bit odd when viewing it from the front or rear. Wonder if wider tyres will fix that or if it will need off-sets?

Originally Posted by gsurya

.

Quoting you to draw your attention. Where is the ownership thread promised a couple of weeks ago!! Sorry, there aren't any others, so getting a bit impatient

[gsurya]

Originally Posted by VeluM

Quoting you to draw your attention. Where is the ownership thread promised a couple of weeks ago!! Sorry, there aren't any others, so getting a bit impatient

was out of country, just back yesterday. Will finish it this week positively.

[damodar]

Some photos of my cousins zest the first beige XT to be delivered in my city.