[Slick]

For those who have bought the Zest before the new year, can anyone confirm the accessories received in the XT RT pack OTR 7,40,000 Mumbai?

[madhu33]

I dont know how much sense does it make to advertise a CAR like that , but i still liked the Ad in the below link.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=865922570136556

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by madhu33

I dont know how much sense does it make to advertise a CAR like that , but i still liked the Ad in the below link.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=865922570136556

I personally did not like the advertisement. Not much relevant to a car, as you rightly mentioned. Even the Bolt's "Mmmmm Multi drive..." is a stupid advertisement.

Tata needs to work on their campaigning.

[aditya79india]

Originally Posted by itsashishsharma

Creep function is there in Zest XMA.
In official review, they reported it to be much better than the Celerio AMT, purely as an AMT implementation.
I have driven both, my friend's Celerio and my father's XMA to tell you that the Zest's action is not at all jerky, it is way better than the Celerio. Possibly lower torque of Celerio make you feel like the launches are smoother, comlared to double amount of torque in the Zest.
Sports mode is there in the Zest. There is a button just besides the gear lever, you press it to engage sports mode and the gears shift at higher RPM.

I dont know if the test drive vehicle was defective, but there was absolutely no creep on smooth level surface! Yes both vehicles have the sports mode button, but what I said was that in the Celerio, this mode can be accessed directly by double tapping the accelerator pedal. Personally, I find this to be much more convenient.

[Slick]

Got Delivery of my Dune Beige XT RT Zest this friday - Jan 30th,

Have driven 200 kms so far, my first 'New' Car. The whole experience has been amazing.

The car is smooth and is nice to drive.
Attaching an image of my Zest
(At the showroom, before delivery)


I will jot down my delivery experience/ Initial ownership observations shortly

- A very happy Slick

[saket77]

Hey Slick, Congrats on your new car! Wishing you happy miles ahead.

Don't know if anybody has posted this before but Tata Zest's home page proudly exhibits that it is the TBHP car of the Year! Here is a snapshot:

[Slick]

Thanks @Saket77,

I think @dvv posted it a couple of pages back, but that screenshot was a bit different than what you've posted

- Slick

[AGwagon]

Originally Posted by aditya79india

I dont know if the test drive vehicle was defective, but there was absolutely no creep on smooth level surface! Yes both vehicles have the sports mode button, but what I said was that in the Celerio, this mode can be accessed directly by double tapping the accelerator pedal. Personally, I find this to be much more convenient.

I have a XMA and I agree with Aditya here, there is no creep function neither in Zest nor in Celerio, which is good since you don't have to hold the brake pedal to keep the car stand still on a level surface, but the con is that in extremely B2B traffic/ or parking in tight spots you need to modulate the accelerator ever so slightly and then jump on the brakes, which is a little strenuous.

Can't remember the source, but I think the creep was added in the Alto AMT. In my driving of almost 3,500km of my XMA, I feel it should be there.

Another thing that should be there should be hill hold, I do not think its an expensive tech, and in AMT cars which even at D or 'A' have their clutch engaged (behaving like neutral) it will give a lot of relief to pick up cars on sloping surfaces.

The car is almost 70 days old now, and soon will be taking it for its first service. Also this week will send it to get custom seat covers, etc. done.

Other than the above, it is a pleasure to drive and is returning me almost 16-17 average in peak city traffic on a tankful method.

[nijelj]

Originally Posted by nijelj

Forgot to mention this issue too in my update a few posts back. I have noticed that this happens if you leave the car unstarted for two days or more. For me the stall happens two three times in a km and then it becomes alright. If I take the vehicle out every alternate day this doesn't happen. And no I'm not stalling the car because I have used the wrong gear. this happens even if I'm coasting. I'll need to make a video of this behavior in-time for my first service.

Update on Ownership:
My first disappointing experience came in Dec 2014, while driving from Angamaly to Kottayam (a 90 km stretch in Kerala). I had my wife and her uncle and aunt with me and we were driving down to my SIL's wedding. He was talking about which car to buy next, since his wagon R was showing its age. "Perfect time for Tata to redeem its name", was my thought at start of the drive. I was not overtly pushing the Tata option and was using (showing off?) the features of the car (voice commands, multimodes) in front of him, letting him soak it in. 50kms later a faint rattling started from the front left side. My heart sank at the sound, since I was familiar with it. This sound had popped up in my indica years back and it was related to the drive shaft. After sometime it gathered intensity. I stopped to side to investigate to see if I could find some loose part and saw that some kids had piled a few pebbles near the wipers. I threw them away in disgust and muttered loudly, about how they almost made me worry about my new car and smiled and got back in. But alas, the sound persisted. . The sound came only while driving over rough surfaces for e.g Mud that has dried over the asphalt. I was seething with rage partly because I was let down by my car in front of other people and partly because I did not expect this from a brand new vehicle. Finished the drive, attended the marriage and other functions and then went to my home in Kottayam. After that I called the helpline. Customer support picked up and listened to what I said. Then,

Customer support: "Sir can you drive the car to a nearby station?"

Me (my anger rising): " No, I will not. It is 630 in the evening. I have my wife and Kid in the car and I'm not sure whether the car will make it. But I can do one thing, I will use my internet and put this failure on facebook and other blogs".

Customer support (He was startled) : "No Sir, I just wanted to know if it is in drivable condition or not, that is why I asked. Since you are not sure, I will ask the nearest road assistance to reach you. Please give me 15 minutes"

Surely enough 15 minutes later, a helpline guy from AP called and talked to me in Malayalam and told me to hold on so that a conference call could be started. He called the nearest service centre guy (M K motors, Kottayam) and repeated my complaint to him. I had to give my location and he said that he would send his engineers to pick the car up in 45 minutes. I then took my dad's innova and left for Angamaly. They called multiple times to get my location and somehow reached home. Dad was there to recieve them and showed them what the problem was. they took the car to their workshop.

Time from Complaint on helpline to pickup of car = 90 minutes

The next day, a very polite person from the service station called me and updated me about the expected timelines (a day) and asked whether I had any other issues with the car. I told them about the stalling issue. He said he would check it out also. He called 3-4 times that day, giving me an update of the work. In the evening he called me and said that the work was over, but they'd like to keep the car overnight to check if everything was ok the next morning. I was in no hurry,so agreed. Next day afternoon, the car was brought to my house. The bill (0rs) said Front LH suspension R&R. Don't know what that means (Remove and Replace? Remove and Repair?) . My BIL dropped the driver to the nearest bus stop and that was it.

The sound has not repeated after 1500 kms of driving since then, nor has the stalling issue.

I am happy with the way Tata motors handled it, but feel sad that my choice in vehicle has been questioned. My dad was like " I told you not to buy a tata..." He didn't continue after seeing my face. My wifey's uncle is not going to touch a Tata after this, and most probably will caution others too with his first hand experience. Aargh!

I hope this kind of experience is taken in the right way, dear readers (TBHP members and otherwise). A car is a machine made of thousands of parts, and some parts can fail. this is why manufacturers have a warranty clause. Tata has a 3 year warranty, this should take care of problems like this. You haven't heard of this in other cars, most probably because their owners cover-up the issue or just don't realise it.

Cheers and safe driving!

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by nijelj

You haven't heard of this in other cars, most probably because their owners cover-up the issue or just don't realise it.

Cheers and safe driving!

Nice to hear that Tata handled your case well. Atleast gives one the much needed confidence.

But your last statement is a bit of an assumption and a very wrong one at that. The more logical reasoning will be that other cars suffer from such issues much less or not at all and hence you hear so few of them.

[nijelj]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Nice to hear that Tata handled your case well. Atleast gives one the much needed confidence.

But your last statement is a bit of an assumption and a very wrong one at that. The more logical reasoning will be that other cars suffer from such issues much less or not at all and hence you hear so few of them.

I thought adding "most probably" mid sentence would take care of the other side of opinions.
But you were right about my wrong assumption (others cover up;probably). I went through owner reviews/complaints of the other competitors like Amaze and DZire and found out that they are in far worse situations. This is because they did not cover up. Feeling better now.

[vinayrathore]

Guys is the CSC (Cornering Stability Control) in Bolt same as ESP(Electronic Stability Program)?

Google search only tells its a technology developed by BMW and brings nothing conclusive. Kudos to Tata if its same as ESP coz after the excise duty price rise, there is no other car offering this this side of 10 big ones. Polo GT TSi being the first one to offer price increment wise.

[Slick]

I have an observation it would be nice if other zest owners can concur/correct.

The temperature gauge in my Zest shows 3 bars (I guess this is normal) but when I open the bonnet I feel the heat is much more compared to my WagonR.

Is it because of the turbocharger or do I need to get it checked ?

Otherwise it's been a fantastic four days since Delivery.

- Slick

PS: No power loss whatsoever, which one would normally associate with engine overheating.

[Bridge]

I felt the AC of my XMS was not working perfectly. During a long drive I experienced that it used get cut off even before it could cool completely. I raised the issue on @TataZest twitter handle. I got a call and they took my car and repaired it. They told me that they changed something on thermostat wall and also added some gas. During the test drive after repair the cooling was ok but not as fantastic as it was in the Test Drive vehicles. But I gave benefit out doubt to the service guys thinking I might have became overly sensitive to the problem. Another long drive during the last weekend proved that the problem was still not completely resolved.

However, it seems it cools properly in the late evening. I also have a suspicion that the cooling has some connection with the multidrive. Probably, it cools fine when in city mode but not in eco mode. I asked about it to the service manager who repaired the AC. But he told me it was not the case. According to him the cooling was independent of drives.

Now, I need to know how to prove that AC is not working properly. Should I use thermometer ? How much time it should take to reach a particular temperature ? Are there any guidelines on this ?

It is still winter and I am facing this problem. I need to get this issue sorted out before summer sets in.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by Bridge

Now, I need to know how to prove that AC is not working properly. Should I use thermometer ? How much time it should take to reach a particular temperature ? Are there any guidelines on this ?

The temperature should be around 4.5 degrees at the AC vent when measured by a thermometer. I think in this weather, it should be lower than 5-6 degrees at all cost.