[Rama Naveen]

I have got installed Neo alloy wheels to my car

[narayan]

Did a 1800km round trip in my Bolt over the weekend. Doing such a long trip after nearly a year since i shifted jobs and had to let go the Storme. Initially thought of renting an Innova or an XUV for the trip mainly because I quite early for such trips and in the Storme, I could lay out a bed nicely for my son to sleep. Later realised that neither the XUV or Innova offers a flat floor with seats folded and even if i were to shell out more and rent an Fortuner, I still wont get a flat floor. Did some checking inside the BOLT and to my surprise, it offers pretty much a flat floor once you tumble the rear seat base and fold the backrest. I could lay out a nice cotton bed on top of this and my son could sleep comfortably in a slightly diagnol position ! I was really amazed by this because I dont recall any other hatch offering a seat base tumble feature. Not sure if the official reviewers noticed this aspect and have highlighted it. But then, in most Tata cars such features are rarely advertised and highlighted.

Coming to the drive...here are my key observations:

1. What a planted ride it was ! I was totally zapped by this stable feeling. No lightness in the front end, no vague steering, precise braking - 5 stars here to the Bolt. Among other modern hatches, I have only experienced the i10 and that ones is like a giant wheel ride once you cross 3 digits making you ticklish in the tummy ! I was consistently able to overtake much larger powerful vehicles and hardly any movement due to air turbulence which is typical when you cross a larger vehicle at speeds.

2. Fuel efficiency - as we all know, in high way rides, using a/c is far less a FE killer compared to speeds. Hence I will ignore the usage of a/c part. at speeds between 80-100 - the Bolt delivers between 18.5 to 22kmpl - that's quite good IMO. If you drive 20% faster, FE drops to 17-18kmpl and then to 16-17kmpl as you go 40% faster. But on this trip, FE was least of my concerns hence got an overall 16.5kmpl average. This is a Revotron petrol. Most of my driving was in ECO mode with occasional usage of SPORT mode - more on that in the next pt.

3. Power - The Bolt, as we all know is quite lethargic in ECO mode but that doesn't affect the city driving experience at all. In fact within city, I always drive on ECO mode because the CITY mode just makes you keep going fast only to brake again. in the highway, the differential acceleration that the CITY or SPORTS mode brings was not a priority for me so I kept travelling in the ECO MODE ..... except when I had to overtake a vehicle at speed and needed that extra surge, quickly shifted to SPORTS MODE. The power kicker is ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS. 5 stars for power.

overall great trip and pleasantly surprised with the Bolt chassis balance. This is a very capable car and I wish Tata motors could market it better. If the SWIFT + G10 can sell around 25000 units per month, I wonder why the Bolt can't sell even 2-3k units !

Will also post some of my initial buying experiences shortly which is lying in the assembly line for over a year now

[Rama Naveen]

Hi Narayan, good to read that you are enjoying the Bolt drive and indeed its the best hatch than MOST others even though sales figures are less and very cost effective.

Is your Bolt using Full synthetic oil or Semi-synthetic or Mineral oil currently ?

[narayan]

Originally Posted by Rama Naveen

Is your Bolt using Full synthetic oil or Semi-synthetic or Mineral oil currently ?

Hi Rama. My car runs on the stock oil which I presume is mineral.

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by narayan

Hi Rama. My car runs on the stock oil which I presume is mineral.

I'm not sure about that. Zest RT has fully synthetic oil as recommended. I believe it would be same for Bolt as well.

[narayan]

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

I'm not sure about that. Zest RT has fully synthetic oil as recommended. I believe it would be same for Bolt as well.

Didn't know that but I doubt it because my 2nd free service which had oil change costed very less. A fully synthetic oil change would have costed at least 3k + but I recall bill being low 2k

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by narayan

Didn't know that but I doubt it because my 2nd free service which had oil change costed very less.

Zest and Bolt user manuals state recommended oil as Castrol Magnatec Professional T 5W30. I did a quick search and couldn't locate any document which confirms it to be a fully synthetic oil. On the other hand, MSDS says it combines synthetic technology, so it could be a synthetic blend.

However, I do recollect seeing the bill of last year's service and feel like i read synthetic somewhere. I could be wrong though.

To sum up, the recommended oil would be semi-synthetic at worst or fully synthetic at best. Surprisingly though, fully synthetic oils for bikes are damn too expensive compared to those for cars!

[phynix123]

Originally Posted by narayan

I was really amazed by this because I dont recall any other hatch offering a seat base tumble feature. Not sure if the official reviewers noticed this aspect and have highlighted it. But then, in most Tata cars such features are rarely advertised and highlighted.

chevrolet spark's rear seats base can be tumbled.

[narayan]

A long pending post purchase update is given below. Pls note that the below info was drafted a year back.

The deal I got was around 52K cash discount. Apart from that got accessories like perfume, rubber mats, mud flaps, idol and rear parcel tray complimentary. Was offered 3M Teflon coating - declined. I got the insurance done outside. The dealer quoted Rs18000 which, as per their feedback, could have come down to Rs15000 upon negotiation. I got a deal for Rs8000 outside with United India. The bumper to bumper was Rs9500. Decided to go for the regular cover itself because originally I budgeted only for a pure 3rd party cover only ( which costs Rs2500 ). When I got this quote of Rs8000, I thought it was not such a bad deal and changed my mind to take full cover. Standard warranty is for 3 years 100000kms. Extended warranty at Rs5000 takes this to 4 years 1.5 lakh kms. I took this. I did not go for any AMC plans although Silver and Gold plans are available.

Just for everyone's benefit the XM in stock had a further CASH discount of 30k. I know thats really mouth watering to refuse but my family strictly put their foot down on the colour choice much to my dismay ( after all that hard bargaining I had done ). I could have ideally checked with another dealer for a XM - RED in stock but did not. Hence went ahead and booked the XE.


Took delivery on 15th September with a ODO reading of around 75kms ( which basically covers around 30kms drive to the RTO for registration and the rest between the dealer's yard and their showroom in the city ).

I got full floor PVC mats done from the dealership itself at Rs 1500. Also got the rear parcel tray complimentary from TML. Purchased towel based seat covers dirt cheap ( Rs800 approx from Paytm ). Also got a cloth based storage mat which hangs from the front seats facing the rear passengers. It has a few bottle holder slots and a few for books. This is required given that the Bolt doesn't have any bottle holder.

Further installations to be done are:

1) Music system : Going for a very basic set up within a budget of 10-12k
2) Central locking
3) Body colour paint to be done for the ORVMs and door handles

Initially thought of going for alloy wheels and a tyre upgrade but later thought of saving the money since I did not see much utility value in doing such enhancements ( on the flip side it will further impact FE ).

Oh and by the way - its a Petrol. Largely because it will hardly run around 20kms a day - 5 days a week. That's it.

[narayan]

Good things about this base model:

1) Air con vents come surrounded with a nice piano black finish ( compared to chrome in variants from XM onwards ). Even the central console surround has the same silvery grey finish as in the higher models. A similar shiny strip runs past the glove compartment.



2) Base model also gets the chrome boot lid. Ideally even a black would have looked good for the RED colour I chose but in other colours the chrome looks better. Likewise the rear bumper gets the same black cladding treatment.



3) Window frames get the black treatment unlike some other cars where the base models will carry a body coloured window frame



4) Gear shifter is similar to the one in higher models ( with the chrome linings ). Very nice to hold. Also its exactly the same as the one in the Storme.

[aviat18]

My Tata dealer contacted me regarding a new maintenance prepaid scheme launched by Tata Motors. Attaching screenshots from the same.

Looks like a good option to go for. I have extended warranty coverage and no AMC. Makes sense in my case.

[Majumdarda]

For a couple of days, I was seeing these advertisements from the Tatas which forced me to believe that they are giving some huge discounts, specially on the BOLT. Today I thus made a quick visit to the nearest Tata outlet at PCMC (Pandit), but was informed that the offer is only for exchange vehicles and that they do not prefer selling BOLT. I was disheartened hearing that. Anybody any ideas with regards to the advertisement.

Is the offer only applicable for exchanges or is Tata providing any cash discounts?

[Rama Naveen]

I disagree, I have seen three brand new Bolt Petrol cars on road in one months time and also in the showroom display. You should see Revotron steel logo behind the car.

I think its easy to get Bolt in pune, as there is the maufacturing plant in the vicinity.

[Majumdarda]

You are disagreeing to what sir? Tata giving the offer or the offer is only for the exchange?

[Rama Naveen]

My friend , I just called up one of the random showroom- Place Gachibowli - discount is applicable to both cases ----- exchange or brand new purchase.
Minimum discount for sure a customer can benefit for Bolt -- Rs33000.
So Bolt xm model on road price in todays date is 6.4lakhs - rs33000 = would be your discounted price.
The guy also said if you are an corporate employee , can drag the discount to Rs40000.