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Old 11th September 2015, 10:48   #2191
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Re: Tata Motors launches Zest 1st Anniversary Special Edition @ 5.89 lakhs

Tata was waiting for one year to complete, to announce the anniversary edition, is it?
They could have also taken advantage of Independence day, April / May school holidays etc to plan a special edition and push out the excess stock!

I believe that Tata has made some honest efforts with Zest, and I hope it is time they go for a facelift, and add more features in comparison to the competition. How about providing all round safety (6 Airbags + ABS, EBD, ESP, Hillhold etc) to challenge Ford? They can provide this along with Diesel AMT version. That would make it a unique proposition. If they provide a few nice colours, such as chocolate brown, sunset orange, granite grey etc, it would attract more customers.
All said and done, but at the end, it is the dealers & A.S.S which do more ground work in increasing customer base.
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Old 11th September 2015, 12:38   #2192
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

They should use each and every opportunity to market what they are doing with Zest. Zest is a capable car, I am still not able to blame anything but the dealership / ASS experience to be the culprit for such poor show.

Its a honest VFM machine along with reasonable features comparable to others operating in this segment. Something somewhere is not correct else TML should be doing 5k per month with this model.

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Old 11th September 2015, 22:15   #2193
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Other than the "legendary" Tata ASS, one thing more goes against Zest, in my opinion - low FE reported for petrol by many. In a candid conversation, One Tata dealer staff mentioned petrol low FE as a turn off for many customers.

I myself was more interested in petrol, but ended up buying diesel instead.
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Old 12th September 2015, 01:08   #2194
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

I would have been a happy Bolt/Zest customer if their sales team had showed some interest in selling one to me. Ended buying the Punto instead.

Anyways, a pure white shade on a Tata car is a bad experiment! They could have used this opportunity to introduce some attractive color. The white adds a Taxi flavor usually associated with the Tata brand.
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Old 12th September 2015, 01:28   #2195
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by anand.shankar View Post
I would have been a happy Bolt/Zest customer if their sales team had showed some interest in selling one to me. Ended buying the Punto instead.
.
Bang on. It's their dealers (sales & service) killing TATA. I too was interested in zest, but the sales approach followed was not acceptable (trying to fool you on 3-3-3 package during our visit today - saying it costs 30k and upon digging further, saying its only silver amc which pretty much is covered as standard warranty and finally saying they would offer 12k reduction if we don't opt for the 3-3-3 freebie and their added lethargy). After the TATA visit, we went to the Toyota shop next door and such a pleasant / welcome change it was. The professionalism shown is to be appreciated which grossly lacks at TATA showrooms.

TATA better start focusing on their own showrooms, service & people - something on the grounds of NEXA - for zest & bolt exclusively, else, they will just kill their babies themselves.

Last edited by null : 12th September 2015 at 01:31. Reason: Typo
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Old 12th September 2015, 10:26   #2196
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by himarg View Post
Other than the "legendary" Tata ASS, one thing more goes against Zest, in my opinion - low FE reported for petrol by many. In a candid conversation, One Tata dealer staff mentioned petrol low FE as a turn off for many customers.

I myself was more interested in petrol, but ended up buying diesel instead.
I am not sure if the fuel efficiency is a deal breaker. Zest is a 4 metre sedan so 13-14 kpl should be acceptable. The other day, after feeling loss of power with 5 on board, I went for a 100 km drive on roads which did not have more than 500 m of open stretch. With shifts always above 2500 or even 3000 rpm, innumerable traffic signals, lots of overtaking trucks/trailers, I got an efficiency of 14 kpl.

In fact a friend bought xcent recently and he got 14 kpl (though it is a brand new car) on a long trip. In that sense, I think zest compares well with its competitors. I am not sure how much does dzire return but I would be surprised only if someone told it returns 18+ consistently.

Quote:
Originally Posted by anand.shankar View Post
I would have been a happy Bolt/Zest customer if their sales team had showed some interest in selling one to me. Ended buying the Punto instead.
I think one should have realistic expectations like a Tata car with 380ps V6 from Jaguar than expecting Tata sales to be enthusiastic.

We had narrowed down on Zest but I was sure Maruti / Hyundai sales would swing my parents' opinion so never visited their showrooms!!

Quote:
Anyways, a pure white shade on a Tata car is a bad experiment! They could have used this opportunity to introduce some attractive color. The white adds a Taxi flavor usually associated with the Tata brand.
I think Indians are crazy for white cars. In fact the proportion of white cars only seems to be increasing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by null View Post
Bang on. It's their dealers (sales & service) killing TATA. I too was interested in zest, but the sales approach followed was not acceptable (trying to fool you on 3-3-3 package during our visit today - saying it costs 30k and upon digging further, saying its only silver amc which pretty much is covered as standard warranty and finally saying they would offer 12k reduction if we don't opt for the 3-3-3 freebie and their added lethargy).
In my case, back in Dec 2014, the sales rep informed that Silver AMC (as part of 3-3-3) is free only if I buy Gold AMC. In fact, initially he denied that there is any current offer for Silver AMC. I told him to look back and read the poster about the 3-3-3 offer. I actually had an altercation trying to secure my free silver AMC while not opting for Gold AMC.

Quote:
TATA better start focusing on their own showrooms, service & people - something on the grounds of NEXA - for zest & bolt exclusively, else, they will just kill their babies themselves.
I think one thing that works at Tata is that matters when escalated to corporate are resolved much faster and dealers get to work only when corporate intervenes.

Last edited by ksameer1234 : 12th September 2015 at 10:28.
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Old 12th September 2015, 15:31   #2197
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by himarg View Post
Other than the "legendary" Tata ASS, one thing more goes against Zest, in my opinion - low FE reported for petrol by many. In a candid conversation, One Tata dealer staff mentioned petrol low FE as a turn off for many customers.

I myself was more interested in petrol, but ended up buying diesel instead.
There are many confusions created by ARAI such that people think that they are real world figures. And most important, people do not know how to calculate the mileage (like tank full to tank full method) and mistake the cars mileage on the basis of mileage displayed in the info display.
If you want more mileage on Zest than change the 185 section tires to the 165 section low rolling resistance tires of Swift or swift dzire. But beware those tires have very less grip which can lead to loss of traction and eventually an accident awaiting ahead of you.
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Old 12th September 2015, 19:28   #2198
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Tata cars are also generally heavier than Maruti or Hyundai cars. Without debating what value add that brings, its important to note that this will bring down FE.
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Old 13th September 2015, 00:24   #2199
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

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Originally Posted by technicalytuned View Post
And most important, people do not know how to calculate the mileage (like tank full to tank full method) and mistake the cars mileage on the basis of mileage displayed in the info display.
You would be surprised by the number of people who confidently state mileage figures based on the figures shown on the MID. 99.9% of these people have never bothered measuring the actual fuel average based on mileage between tankfuls.

Maybe this is an area worth investigating. Or it is an area where TML needs to invest more brains in - show the customer what he or she wants to see.
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Old 14th September 2015, 17:54   #2200
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

If I can get advice from Zest AMT owners, it will be wonderful.

I am looking towards booking Zest XTA but little worried about the AMTs behaviour on up-slopes. While taking a TD I did found that it was rolling backwards which left me scared. Though later I was able to take other inclines well, I still am skeptic how well the drive can be when taking up stop and go traffic on inclines like what we see in shopping mall parking. There are cars which are ahead and behind you and the car in front slopes and you dont have much space for your car to go back before pushing forward.

I am sure the present owners have found themselves in such situations so many times. What will the advice be. Can the drive be tension free with practice or should I stay away if that worries me? Need advice !!

I find Zest pretty loaded and the most VFM car in the segment.
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Old 15th September 2015, 16:32   #2201
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by WheelD View Post
If I can get advice from Zest AMT owners, it will be wonderful.

I am looking towards booking Zest XTA but little worried about the AMTs behaviour on up-slopes. While taking a TD I did found that it was rolling backwards which left me scared. Though later I was able to take other inclines well, I still am skeptic how well the drive can be when taking up stop and go traffic on inclines like what we see in shopping mall parking. There are cars which are ahead and behind you and the car in front slopes and you don't have much space for your car to go back before pushing forward.

I am sure the present owners have found themselves in such situations so many times. What will the advice be. Can the drive be tension free with practice or should I stay away if that worries me? Need advice !!

I find Zest pretty loaded and the most VFM car in the segment.
Most of the time, you will be fine quickly jumping to accelerator after releasing brakes. If at all it is too close, you can use hand brake to hold the car on an incline. I think all other automatics that do not have hill hold will roll back if the incline is steep enough or the car is loaded. Parking very very close to another car or wall is little tricky. You will be more worried about it than starting off an incline in you Zest XTA.

AMT stays on lower gears for longer and shifts could be jerky after morning starts, but once the car reaches operating temp AMT is really easy to drive and shifts better than most drivers.

Other than the behavior of AMT, I had faced an issue at around 3K odo. Car started making a strange sound when it is about to change the gear or when I idle the car in 'A' mode. It sounded somewhat similar to a duck quack . When idle in 'A' mode it was heard at random intervals. Concord motors took a couple of days to identify the issue and replace 'Vacuum regulator' (Not sure if it was the part name. I can find the bill if it is important). That fixed the issue then but recently I started hearing that same sound again. Car is at 9K odo now. I will probably ignore it till the next service which is in January 2016.

And one last thing, one day while I was driving in 'A' mode the car somehow went on to Manual mode. The gear was still in position 'A' only, but in the instrument cluster it showed manual mode. I had to move it to Neutral and back to 'A' and everything was fine. It occurred only twice in 9K kms so I would just ignore it and if at all it happens, its no big deal.
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Old 15th September 2015, 17:16   #2202
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by WheelD View Post
If I can get advice from Zest AMT owners, it will be wonderful.

I am looking towards booking Zest XTA but little worried about the AMTs behaviour on up-slopes. While taking a TD I did found that it was rolling backwards which left me scared. Though later I was able to take other inclines well, I still am skeptic how well the drive can be when taking up stop and go traffic on inclines like what we see in shopping mall parking. There are cars which are ahead and behind you and the car in front slopes and you dont have much space for your car to go back before pushing forward.

I am sure the present owners have found themselves in such situations so many times. What will the advice be. Can the drive be tension free with practice or should I stay away if that worries me? Need advice !!

I find Zest pretty loaded and the most VFM car in the segment.
Why worry about a trivial issue - just use the handbrake when moving up slopes to prevent the car from rolling backwards.
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Old 15th September 2015, 20:03   #2203
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Re: Tata Zest : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by Motard_Blr View Post
Why worry about a trivial issue - just use the handbrake when moving up slopes to prevent the car from rolling backwards.
In my car, ZEST MT QDJ, the handbrake has to be pulled as far as it can be to stop it from rolling anywhere. Although the handbrake has a short travel, but still the handbrake could be better.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ksameer1234 View Post
I think one should have realistic expectations like a Tata car with 380ps V6 from Jaguar than expecting Tata sales to be enthusiastic.
Haha, can't agree more.

In other news, I got a call from the dealer that my number has been punched in and I was more than happy after listening the news. Got the number after 2 weeks and some complications. Still all is well if it ends well
[Last relevant post: 1 ]

I am really fascinated with the FE of the car. My office is about 40 kms from my home and includes 20% B2B traffic, 70% relatively less traffic(Ring road) and 10% highway drive. Yesterday, there was pretty less than usual traffic on roads on my way back from home and the MID was showing an FE of 22.8kmpl when I parked the car home. It was 23.7 kmpl until the exit of main ring road to my locality, after which it dropped to 22.8 kmpl. I admit it was a totally mileage run with minimal gearshifts and not much accelerator inputs, but after looking at the FE I am enjoying driving like this more

Today, the traffic was more than usual and the average has dropped to 19kmpl at the end of the day, which is by any means not inferior looking at the fact that it is a new car with only 834 kms on the odo!

On the first tankful, which lasted for around 495kms gave an average of 14.34kmpl as per MID and 14.82kmpl as per tankful to tankful method.

Note from Support - Only two smileys allowed per post. Extra ones have been deleted.

Last edited by n_aditya : 15th September 2015 at 21:32.
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Old 15th September 2015, 20:51   #2204
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Quote:
Originally Posted by parth.jain View Post
On the first tankful, which lasted for around 495kms gave an average of 14.34kmpl as per MID and 14.82kmpl as per tankful to tankful method.
I have done around 10 full tanks for my Zest Revotron XT. Every time I have calculated the mileage, the MID and tank full to tank full method figures are so nearly accurate!

I'm glad that MID shows accurate average FE in Zest while I have read that FE displayed in Maruti cars are a little more optimistic by 10-15%
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Old 15th September 2015, 22:34   #2205
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In my Zest Revotron XT, with AC on, I'm faced with jerks during gear changes, specifically lower gears. I feel something like the engine switching off and then immediately switching on! There is also slight loss in power.
I have driven 7K kms.

Any advice?
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