Tata Hexa : Official Review

[Kishen.padiyar]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

I sure hope Tata tightens up it's QC checks before rolling them out to meet the demands of the 10,000+ customers who have booked the car till now. Frankly, such issues are not expected of a premium, luxury SUV commanding 20 lakh+ rupees.

I was an avid follower of this thread since the very beginning till yesterday. Being an Aria owner, I always thought Tata Motors (especially after the Horizonext program) is more than capable of giving us quality and reliable products. Even though I am not in the market to upgrade to a Hexa or other equivalent vehicle at the moment, whenever the topic of Tata cars came up I used to speak of how they have improved over the years - especially quoting my positive ownership experience of my Aria. I used to suggest and sometimes insist my friends/colleagues/family to consider a Tata car before finalizing their choice.

Coming to the Hexa, I was really excited about the launch like most people in this Forum. Was even more excited when the pricing was announced and was of the opinion that Tata nearly have a winner here. 'Nearly' because of the underwhelming XM variant in terms of features and those 1950s' steel wheels!

While the design and marketing teams have done 'Whatever it takes', the QC team at Tata doesn't seem to be bothered. Complacent is the word! How can they call it a premium offering when such silly quality issues have seeped through QC of both the company and also the dealership? Does the concept PDI have no value? Shocking to say the least.

I have simply lost confidence in Tata Motors and to begin with I shall reduce the frequency with which I used to participate in this thread and also stop singing songs about how Tata has 'improved'.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Spent time with the Hexa Automatic this weekend.

I have to admit, I'm slightly disappointed by this post. More so, because it is one of yours.

While criticism should be unrelenting where due, some of the points/observations raised present an unnecessary "negative" picture for most people who are only looking for an entry in the list of pros and cons.

If things such as an audible turbo whistle and air throw being too powerful even at the lowest blower setting make your list, I'm sure that there must be at least a handful positive points.

I'd have appreciated this post if that were the case.

• Every time you shift the gear lever from "D" to "P", you'll hear a beep when the car goes past the "R" position. This can get irritating for both the driver and the passengers, especially if the driver likes switching to P at signals.

Wouldn't this be ideal? A beep when you slot into R should be a good guide to know you've gone to R.

Also, as someone pointed out, I'd imagine a driver would want to slot into N when idle, rather than P. That's what I do.

• The brake pedal has more than 1.5 inches of travel/play before it starts to bite - which is a significant amount. Takes a little getting used to.

Now you've made me conscious! I feel it's so in most cars I've driven (across Honda, Hyundai, Maruti and Ford).

--

All said and done, you are entitled to an opinion as much I am to mine.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

While criticism should be unrelenting where due, some of the points/observations raised present an unnecessary "negative" picture for most people who are only looking for an entry in the list of pros and cons.

There's a very extensive review on Page 1 that speaks volumes about the car in the short time Aditya & Vid6639 had with it.

My post is on page 99 and I have clearly prefaced it by saying (emphasis mine):

A few smaller points that haven't been mentioned before:

Maybe I'll make that bold in my original post, or expand on it to avoid further confusion... [DONE]

My intention isn't to put the Hexa down in any way. It's a phenomenal product, and I think it's the best looking thing I've seen in months.

My aim was to share additional information, without the redundancy of things that have been said before.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Wouldn't this be ideal? A beep when you slot into R should be a good guide to know you've gone to R.

Even when pushing quickly past "R" it beeps! A 300ms delay before it starts beeping would help, and still serve the same purpose.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Also, as someone pointed out, I'd imagine a driver would want to slot into N when idle, rather than P. That's what I do.

Depends on how long the signal is.

Originally Posted by abhi7013

Would recommend you to clear your mind of your experiences with dusters and innovas before driving the Hexa.

My family is deciding between the Innova and the Hexa, as will be the case with a lot of people.

I'm going to say the opposite of what you've suggested. In most Tata reviews everywhere (all across the web / print) I mostly see Tata cars being compared to earlier Tata's cars! That needs to change. It'll be better for Tata and their customers when their cars are presented as competitors, as opposed to 'wow Tata has improved so much' and 'this is the best Tata car yet'.

Originally Posted by abhi7013

tyre pressure recommendations are mentioned on a bright yellow sticker which is visible when the driver opens his doors

Nope, it was not present there, as well as the other places I looked (including briefly in this review).

Could you please share a pic of the sticker, will be helpful to have a copy of it online for reference.

Originally Posted by abhi7013

and the roof controls for AC are not only for the 3rd row passengers but for the B pillar vents too.

I stand corrected on that, thanks.

Originally Posted by discoverwild

1. It's always safer to have one-touch down operations on cars and preferably one-touch up if there's an anti-pinch feature (Rover Montego). I do not like the one-touch up feature as it is risky otherwise. Have it on a friend's Indica and I hate it.

I think the large majority of people would prefer to have one-touch up. We're at a time where every luxury car offers this, and its convenience is unmatched - especially if you pay toll often.

Originally Posted by discoverwild

2. Ideally, at traffic signals, the lever should be moved to N and the brakes applied and not to P.

As I mentioned earlier, it would depend on the length of the signal.

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

I think the large majority of people would prefer to have one-touch up. We're at a time where every luxury car offers this, and its convenience is unmatched - especially if you pay toll often.

One touch-up feature should be there on the driver side, if not at all windows. One realizes the benefits of this feature only after driving a car which does not have this feature immediately after diving one with it. It takes ages to roll up the huge glass in my Storme after, say, paying toll and that's very annoying.

[abhi7013]

Finished the 1600kms trip yesterday and the car was simply amazing! No major complaints apart from the passenger seat plastic having come out loose regarding which i had posted a few pages back. Attaching images of the same. Got two calls immediately: one from my dealer and the other from a service personnel asking for details and they assured me that it would be sorted out once am back. It is small things like this which go a long way in building confidence!



Also, the indicated and calculated mileage for this trip, from full tank to full tank are approximately the same. I got about 14.8 when i calculated and the indicated mileage is as shown in the attached picture. Satisfied with it.

[rkg]

Originally Posted by abhi7013

No major complaints apart from the passenger seat plastic having come out loose regarding which i had posted a few pages back. Attaching images of the same. Got two calls immediately: one from my dealer and the other from a service personnel asking for details and they assured me that it would be sorted out once am back. It is small things like this which go a long way in building confidence!

It is same issue i had in my ARIA, of course on driver seat. The plastic cladding is attached to seat with single screw and self locking clips. I think, these self locking clips are braking and causing the problem.

In my case it happened after about 2 years. Had to change it. Paid around Rs 200/-

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

...
Even when pushing quickly past "R" it beeps! A 300ms delay before it starts beeping would help, and still serve the same purpose.
...
Depends on how long the signal is.

...

Originally Posted by libranof1987

...
Wouldn't this be ideal? A beep when you slot into R should be a good guide to know you've gone to R.

Also, as someone pointed out, I'd imagine a driver would want to slot into N when idle, rather than P. That's what I do.
...

I guess am going here. Couple of threads right here to help settle the debate (or maybe I am pouring petrol on burning embers?)

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ic-lights.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...automatic.html

EDIT: More on the subject of whether or not to shift into neutral/park when stationary: http://www.topgear.com.ph/features/c...uck-in-traffic

[lemedico]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Maybe it's enabled on the MT variants, but disabled in the AT variants.

I took the snapshot when I was reversing back towards the wall inside the dealership, to turn into the washing bay. The guidelines stayed fixed all through the reversing process.

I won't lie about such a trivial thing, my friend.



Quality control issues in the Tata Hexa, as highlighted by various new owners in a dedicated WhatsApp group:

could you disclose how to join the whatsapp group? i'd also like to be part of the discussion with all the niggles hexa owners are facing
thanks!

[discoverwild]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

I think the large majority of people would prefer to have one-touch up. We're at a time where every luxury car offers this, and its convenience is unmatched - especially if you pay toll often.

As I mentioned earlier, it would depend on the length of the signal.

Thanks, Rehaan.

I'm all for a one-touch up only if there's an anti-pinch feature which would send the window right down on sensing any obstruction. While it's a boon at toll gates, it's always risky when there are kids around, or someone standing next to a stationary car has his finger on the window opening.

2. The length of the signal shouldn't matter as all we have to do is put the car in neutral and pull the parking brake up. There's no reason why the vehicle should be put in P, unless I'm missing something.

[enzo10]

Originally Posted by abhi7013

Finished the 1600kms trip yesterday and the car was simply amazing!

Hi Abhi,

Can you please share your experience parking HEXA in Malls, office parking , and general parallel parking on roads. just want to understand how its going to be for someone moving up from a hatchback.

thanks

[abhi7013]

Originally Posted by enzo10

Hi Abhi,

Can you please share your experience parking HEXA in Malls, office parking , and general parallel parking on roads. just want to understand how its going to be for someone moving up from a hatchback.

thanks

First off, even i have moved from a hatchback (santro) to the Hexa.
The car is easy to drive in tough spots once you get the judgement right. And this car is super easy to fit into spaces. Specially in malls where you have ample space to align the car.
However, while parking on roads and narrow spaces, it becomes a bit difficult. Add to that the stiff steering.
As of now, i have never faced any serious issues while parking and prefer taking the smaller car to areas which are crowded.

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by lemedico

could you disclose how to join the whatsapp group? i'd also like to be part of the discussion with all the niggles hexa owners are facing
thanks!

Originally Posted by Black_Beast

When QC manager visited Bangalore from Pune to address our concerns, after spotting my fixed floor beading. He immediately commented to revert back to original shape. They intentionally have inserted the beading below plastics after multiple tests (beading was getting cut when it's on top) and their design team suggested this option of inserting it below plastic. While user sees this as an ill fit beading, they see it as a design. I hope they find some other solution for this issue and not a quick hack like this. While I was not happy with the answer, I continue to keep the beading above plastics.

Excellent. Thanks for sharing, B_B.

Originally Posted by Black_Beast

QC manager acknowledged same sound will be heard up-till 2000rpm sometimes and he called it to be an "engine gargle". But for a user it's a disturbing sound, he also added it will subside after some runin.

Do you feel any loss in power/torque when the "engine gargle" happens?

If no, then it should be fine.


UPDATE: Owners have updated me with some of the "fixes" (solutions) to the niggles/issues related to their Hexas, which I have highlighted in my previous post.

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Roof-windshield top half panel beading.

Roof-windshield beading was fixed earlier today. The black plastic roof beading channel (in pic #3) was replaced with an entirely new one.

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Rubber-plastic section on the lower portion of the door is finished badly.

QC manager visited one of the affected owners and said that this was a design by the car engineers, rather than a flaw. The plastic portion was deliberately kept below the rubber portion.

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Seat belt clip is wrongly aligned on the opposite side.

The affected car was taken into the service center, and it's B-pillar was opened. The seat belt was twisted inside the B-pillar, and it was fixed accordingly.

Same thing which had happened to another Hexa at a Coimbatore dealership also had the same fix done at their service center. Total time taken for this was around 5-6 minutes.

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

In addition, owners are reporting that while driving the car at around 1250 - 1700 rpm, they hear a rattling sound very clearly and it's most prominent when the car is driven in 3rd and 4th Gears. This is reported by owners of the Automatic variants too.

Owners have been told that this sound will go away once the kilometers pile up. So it's basically wait-and-watch right now.

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Chrome insert on door handle has come off.

Part was ordered, and what came through the delivery was a chrome strip one size too big! The concerned dealership's service manager has now ordered the entire door handle.

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Also, a prominent rattle from the top glove-box is also reported by at least 2 owners.

Misaligned roof panels (same car as above).

Spare-wheel lowering system is misaligned.

Gap on window beading's plastic finish.

No fixes/solutions have happened for these, yet.

I have specially requested an affected owner of one of these Hexas, Team-BHPian zeddo, to share his experiences at his Tata dealership to fix the issues/niggles he's facing right now.


In all the cases, Tata hasn't gotten in touch with the owners (except the one case where a QC manager contacted an owner through the customer's dealership). The owners themselves have contacted their said dealerships and are getting the fixes done.

Full marks to the dealerships here - they are being very pro-active and supporting the new Hexa owners as much as they can.


Now, for those owners who are thinking of getting side-steps fixed on their Hexas, be wary of this:



After the side-step bracket is fixed, the floor of the body section which encloses the door is slightly raised. This is causing the scratches on the door sill, and on the underside of the door too.

Be sure to get washers fixed for the side-steps, to avoid this problem.

Originally Posted by lemedico

could you disclose how to join the whatsapp group? i'd also like to be part of the discussion with all the niggles hexa owners are facing

Sending you a PM.

[zeddo]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Quality control issues in the Tata Hexa, as highlighted by various new owners in a dedicated WhatsApp group

So lot of the pics in the above post are actually mine. Let me iterate how this panned out.

First day after I took the car to drive (which was about a week after delivery due to RTO issues) I noticed the broken chrome strip on the right rear handle & uprooted windshield beading. I immediately whatsapped the images to the sales guy who reported the same to the service manager I guess.

Next day service manager called me and visited my home (on a Sunday!), looked at it and took pics, he inspected the car himself and found one more handle with similar issue, promised to order the parts ASAP and get it fixed within 48 hrs.

Meanwhile a few nights went by and I had the unfortunate incident of the car rear getting rear ended by a biker while I was stopped at a red light. Though there was zero damage to my vehicle (literally negligible) the bajaj pulsar that hit me had no headlamp fairing left - all that remained were little bits of plastic on the road, so the impact was substantial.

The impact caused the spare tyre too fall off!

Next morning I tried to fix the spare back, but found that there was an alignment issue with the spare pulley (same pic above). Probably was not proper all along which is why the spare fell off on impact!

So I reported the same to service manager, based on this the GM service called and came home with a mechanic to look at and get fixed. He also took pics and said would report to TATA.
Now about a week later I had someone else drive so sat in the passengre seat and noticed the seat belt issue so called the GM and gave him an earful. This got me a call back from the service manager within a few hours reporting that the parts originally ordered had arrived - this was yesterday, today the car was picked up from home fixed and delivered.

All in all, great effort being made by the dealer & A.S.S the culture of which is obviously being pushed by TATA.

[rshnvjy]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Excellent. Thanks for sharing, B_B.



Do you feel any loss in power/torque when the "engine gargle" happens?

If no, then it should be fine.

...


After the side-step bracket is fixed, the floor of the body section which encloses the door is slightly raised. This is causing the scratches on the door sill, and on the underside of the door too.

Be sure to get washers fixed for the side-steps, to avoid this problem.



Sending you a PM.

Originally Posted by zeddo

So lot of the pics in the above post are actually mine. Let me iterate how this panned out.

...

All in all, great effort being made by the dealer & A.S.S the culture of which is obviously being pushed by TATA.

Thank you very much, sirs for the insight. My father got the opportunity to check out our car today at the dealership, before registration and insurance formalities and he reported that other than the minor lower door beading issue, the rest of the vehicle seemed to be perfect. This car had just arrived at the dealership yesterday so it could be a slightly newer batch, manufactured in mid-February perhaps.

Dad could not turn the engine on, but he did check out the infotainment system and turned the volume all the way up. There were no rattles or distortions whatsoever. We'll hopefully get the car on Saturday.

Going through this thread, and reading both the positive and negative comments shows how far Tata has come and how much they are trying their best to improve, and yet I have friends who are extremely skeptical about us spending 19 lakhs on a 'Tata'. One friend implored us to go for the Crysta and the Crysta alone, another wanted us to get a Honda.

But we've remained steadfast about Tata because of a positive experience of owning a 2006 model Indica V2 DLX. That was a wonderful car and we drove it for 6 long years before selling it to a family friend. They drove it till around 1.5 lakh kms without any issues at all and sold it only recently.

However, if there are genuine issues, it is indeed our duty to tell and pester Tata to fix them, as ultimately, it is good for them and for us as customers.

[black_rider]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

In addition, owners are reporting that while driving the car at around 1250 - 1700 rpm, they hear a rattling sound very clearly and it's most prominent when the car is driven in 3rd and 4th Gears. This is reported by owners of the Automatic variants too.

This is the exact problem I am facing with my Storme 400, which has same drivetrain as Hexa. Grinding sound, between 1200-1800 RPM. Mostly 2nd and 3rd gear.

Originally Posted by Black_Beast

QC manager acknowledged same sound will be heard up-till 2000rpm sometimes and he called it to be an "engine gargle". But for a user it's a disturbing sound, he also added it will subside after some runin.

He's just trying to nudge away the issue. Push for immediate resolution. I have been driving my Storme for 6 months and more than 7k kms now. The sound persists from day 1. I am already following this up with company customer support. If this sound is not there in every car, then its definitely not normal.

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Excellent. Thanks for sharing, B_B.

Do you feel any loss in power/torque when the "engine gargle" happens?

If no, then it should be fine.

Don't know about Black_Beast, but there is loss sometimes in my Storme 400. Sound is more prominent when you're driving in quiet, without A/C turned on. And trust me its so irritating that you just cannot ignore it, power loss or not. Its plain unacceptable for a car that costs so much.