[drive2eternity]

Over the weekend, a friend of mine asked me to join him as he test drove the Crytsa, Hexa and the XUV. Though I could have left home at 6AM on a Saturday morning for such an opportunity, home ministry had certain tasks which needed to be completed. As a result, I could only join him after he had visited Toyota.

A little background about my friend and his needs:
- He currently drives the Swift ZXI. It has completed 28000kms and the itch to get an SUV is the only reason why he is looking to sell it off.
- He has a daughter who is 14 months old. Therefore, he does not need a 7 seater (my understanding).
- He wants a diesel to enjoy the torque and highway cruising abilities.
- He had earlier checked out the Creta and found it 'very expensive'.
- He would be availing a loan, therefore, a few thousands here and there do not matter to him in terms of EMI.

As we drive towards the Mahindra showroom, he tells me that he would never buy the Crysta. Apart from the excellent space and rear captain seats, there is not one thing which it does right, especially for the asking price. To add to this, our company transport had recently added many Crysta-G variants and he is definitely not in the mood to buy a taxi.

XUV
He absolutely loved the XUV. I know he already had a liking for it as he had praised this many a times. We test drove the W10 automatic variant, and the feature list was emphatic. The engine+gearbox combination seemed to be perfectly mated. After the Test drive, sat down with the sales executive and got the details of the pricing etc. It was now that I realized that my friend was looking for an automatic as well.

HEXA
In our drive from Mahindra to TATA showroom, he kept praising the XUV and I kept reminding him not be be biased and wait for the Hexa. I was sure he would love the Hexa. As we entered the TATA Showroom, we were greeted by a friendly sales executive. After waiting for about 15 minutes, we left for the Test drive. The space inside was very similar in the XUV and Hexa for the 1st two rows. It was the Hexa which had the better 3rd row. After the test drive, as we walked towards the Showroom, I asked him about his impressions, and he told me he shall discuss after the pricing discussion. We got the pricelist, feature list, accessory list handed to us and sat down with a pen, marking items, doing the usual scribbling. Once satisfied, he decided it was time to leave.

We went to a nearby cafe and had a long discussion which I would summarize below:
My friend is heavily inclined towards the XUV. For him, the things which really stood out were - keyless entry, push button start, electric seat adjustments, bigger touch screen, sunroof and a lighter steering.
All these features (except steering weight) are 'in your face' features. Things which you cannot ignore. Suspension, ride comfort etc are perceived features, which cannot be quantified. The only thing which was better in Hexa was the 3rd row, but he doesn't need 7 seats. The pricing of the top end automatics is almost on par and to add to this, Mahindra is giving up to 30000/- discount. I told him about the sunroof accessory in Hexa and he mentioned, dealer fitted is not the same as factory fitted. Also, he did not like the small steering of the Hexa, which I also agree looks completely out of place in such a huge vehicle.

All in all, I found his reasoning extremely logical, given his preferences. TATA, you need to up the game esp in the features department.

[himanshugoswami]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Thanks to my good friend Sujit for these pics of a February-2017 manufactured, Sky Grey XMA variant from a Pune dealership stockyard.

Looking at these pics, I feel like . the wheels on the car are pointing straight ahead and the steering wheel is massively off centre. This used to be the case in my first gen Safari dicor, was a little better in my Storme, but never expected to see this in the Hexa. Come on Tata!! its these little things that really matter, especially when you (i) want to resurrect a dead product (Aria-->hexa) and (ii) have aspirations to move upmarket.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by drive2eternity

All in all, I found his reasoning extremely logical, given his preferences. TATA, you need to up the game esp in the features department.

Very well summed up. M&M have always been extremely prudent in equipping their vehicles with "In your Face" features as you term them, which is one of the significant reasons for their success.

Also, they are very smart marketers. See how conveniently your friend was able to overlook the Hexa's advantages over the XUV and preferred to TD the XUV first and the Hexa later.

Here is where TML needs to do a lot of work.

[Nonstop-driver]

Originally Posted by drive2eternity

...- He has a daughter who is 14 months old. Therefore, he does not need a 7 seater (my understanding)....

.. - He had earlier checked out the Creta and found it 'very expensive'...


..For him, the things which really stood out were - keyless entry, push button start, electric seat adjustments, bigger touch screen, sunroof and a lighter steering...

I've a feeling Creta is a better vehicle for your friend, and although expensive in its segment, is cheaper than the XUV he's looking for (sans the 3rd row which isn't needed anyway).

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by drive2eternity

- He has a daughter who is 14 months old. Therefore, he does not need a 7 seater (my understanding).

Slightly OT:

If your friend uses a car seat for his daughter, please ask him to check if Hexa has ISOFIX mounts (I remember reading somewhere that it does have them). If not, then the Creta has them:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post3788137

Also, the XUV definitely does not have them.

Cheers,
Vikram

[teemus]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

Slightly OT:

If your friend uses a car seat for his daughter, please ask him to check if Hexa has ISOFIX mounts (I remember reading somewhere that it does have them). If not, then the Creta has them:

Also, the XUV definitely does not have them.

Cheers,
Vikram

Again it's OT!

It surely is not a dealbreaker; there is always an adult seat belt to attach the child seat. Though it's not as wonderful as the ISOFIX mounts, but does its job well IMHO.

Moreover, many current child seats in our market are incompatible with ISOFIX mounts anyway.

[kaviprem]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

Looking at these pics, I feel like . the wheels on the car are pointing straight ahead and the steering wheel is massively off centre. This used to be the case in my first gen Safari dicor, was a little better in my Storme, but never expected to see this in the Hexa. Come on Tata!! its these little things that really matter, especially when you (i) want to resurrect a dead product (Aria-->hexa) and (ii) have aspirations to move upmarket.

The front wheel is definitely NOT straight ahead. The slight turn towards the left justifies the steering wheel angle.
So, nothing wrong, I would say!

Prem.

[vigneshkumar31]

Originally Posted by teemus

Again it's OT!

It surely is not a dealbreaker; there is always an adult seat belt to attach the child seat. Though it's not as wonderful as the ISOFIX mounts, but does its job well IMHO.

Moreover, many current child seats in our market are incompatible with ISOFIX mounts anyway.

Hexa doesn't have ISOFIX.

Neither does my Storme.

That said, I regularly use a child seat for my son and secure it satisfactorily with the Seat/Lap belt. Most child seat manufacturers manual shows how to secure with ISOFIX or Lap Belt-Seat belt.

Interestingly, while test driving the brute ISUZU V-cross pickup, was delighted to find the ISOFIX provided! Imagine mud plugging with a kid strapped in!

As a market we should progressively move towards compulsory airbags and standard ISOFIX in our cars. (Which will also require all of us to start using child seats first!)

[himanshugoswami]

Originally Posted by kaviprem

The front wheel is definitely NOT straight ahead. The slight turn towards the left justifies the steering wheel angle.
So, nothing wrong, I would say!

Prem.

Sorry, but i respectfully disagree. Please see the second pic from top. the shoulder line of the front right tyre is proportionate all across the circumference, with respect to the wheel arch. This would not be the case if the tyre was pointing to the left (as the steering position suggests)

[Kishen.padiyar]

Originally Posted by kaviprem

The front wheel is definitely NOT straight ahead. The slight turn towards the left justifies the steering wheel angle.
So, nothing wrong, I would say!

Prem.

+1 to that. The wheels are definitely not pointing straight. There is a subtle tilt to the left and that justifies the 15-20 degree steering offset. The image taken from the outside with only the left front door open (with two other sky grey Hexas visible from the passenger side window) gives a better idea about the front wheels.

[rshnvjy]

Finally, my dad did the test drive and checked if the car could be parked in the space at our house and it passed with flying colours! He said it in fact felt easier to reverse and park than the Punto that we had, mainly due to assistance from the camera and parking sensors. The dealer said that they have a XT 4x2 7-seater in blue that can be delivered in as little as 3 days from today, so we took the dive, after realising that it would be difficult to transport our 5-member family in the 6-seater with only me being entirely capable of crouching and moving to the last row.

Hoping to get the car before the weekend, and maybe a long trip later in March. Will post a comprehensive ownership report with pictures once I get to meet it.

[Kishen.padiyar]

Originally Posted by drive2eternity

All in all, I found his reasoning extremely logical, given his preferences. TATA, you need to up the game esp in the features department.

I think we have had enough discussions (some of them turning out to be debates) regarding the absence of push button start / sun-roof / electric seats and a bigger touch screen etc.

There are many people (including myself) who like the conventional key in to crank. Personally I do not like push button starts because of the small delay that exists after I push the button and the vehicle begins to crank. Somehow this exercise reminds me of the buses and trucks Again, its just my personal preference.

Coming to sun roof, personally I do not find any use of it as most of the times we'll end up driving it closed. While we do not open windows while driving on the highway fearing increased drag etc, where will the need arise to open a sun-roof? Yes, opening the sun-roof shade alone while the roof itself is closed will give some additional light but is it really required? The positioning of the sun roof is such that even if someone had to stand and stick their head out (I am not sure how safe it is to do so), they have to stand on the driver arm-rest-parking brake lever area. Is it worth the effort? Just food for thought.

Regarding powered seats, I feel unless and until they have a memory feature they are just not worth having. How much effort does it take to adjust the seats anyway? I'd say that the manual adjustments are far quicker compared to the electric adjustments.

I would like to end this post with the conclusion that if I was a buyer in this segment, my priorities should be more towards ride/handling/comfort/safety/space/cost of ownership/availability of spares etc and not features that I'd like to impress my neighbors with.

[noelravin]

I registered on the tata website for a Hexa test drive soon after the launch about a month ago on Jan 19th. I got an immediate call back from their call center and then an SMS telling me I have been referred to Concorde Motors in Chennai. A week later I didnt get a call from the dealer so I registered again. The same cycle repeated with the call back and SMS about Concorde motors. A whole month later I got a call from a Concorde sales ex asking if I was ready for the Tiago test drive! I explained that it was the Hexa I enquired about and he promised to call back. Till date Concorde hasn't addressed my request for a test drive. Unbelievable! How does Tata Motors expect to sell this car?!

In the meanwhile ( 3 weeks ago) I called Tafe Reach the other Tata dealer and got an immediate response with a test drive on the next day. Strangely after the test drive the sales person never asked me about buying the car nor did they ever call back!

I do also have a Tata Bolt and vouch for Tata's new age products. I just may buy the Hexa later this year if they fix a few faults like the access to the 3rd row and the 3rd row not folding flat. Our family once owned a Tata Sierra & Tata Estate and they served us well. Being an ardent Tata fan I hope they fix their front end since they finally have some great products.

[anthiltg]

Originally Posted by Kishen.padiyar

Is it that bad? I mean referring shifting gears to an equivalent of gym workouts?

Not in general, but if you are driving continuously in city traffic shifting gears all the time or need to park it in small confines where a multi-point to-fro becomes necessary - you would feel it. In all other circumstances, it is reasonably good.

[dZired]

The recently launched Tata Hexa SUV is now featured on the Tata Group's e-commerce website - CLiQ. Customers interested in the SUV can book test drives and the explore the various features on offer at this link.

This is a result of an executive partnership between the two Tata Group companies. Tata Motors is aiming to enhance the reach of the SUV through this initiative, while also tapping the growing digital landscape of the automotive sector.

Link to Team-BHP News