[meto]

Prologue
Coming back from US permanently to Bangalore in 2017, we never felt the need for a car. Ola/Uber were perfectly fine for both city and outstation journeys. Lack of parking space and gridlocked Bangalore roads means saying good bye to owning a car. Came Jan 2020, I was sent to UK for a 3 month assignment and thereafter, the world stopped. I was stuck in UK alone with my wife, kids and in-laws in Bangalore. Grabbing the first opportunity to return back home, I was able to book a flight on Sept 2020 and straight away decided on getting a car instantly after 2 weeks of self-isolation.

A brief history of my automotive journey
I have extensively driven Alto and Innova in India. Alto is an incredible city car. Irrespective of how much MSIL is bashed in this forum, Alto with only driver and a passenger in city traffic will put a grin on your face. Innova on the other hand is brute power. Although Innova is a larger car, I found it easy to drive in the city like Kolkata simply because pedestrians and rogue drivers would respect your way and wouldn’t try to squeeze in between. My other cars in USA were ever reliable Toyota Camry (2011 and 2015 model).

With pothole ridden Bangalore roads, a car with high ground clearance was must. Like most shoppers in today’s time, I focussed into the compact SUV segment for the ease of sliding ingress and egress and a high visibility. Reliability, safety, smoothness, iso-fix, android auto/carplay were my primary requirements in the order mentioned. Budget finalized to be < 10 lakhs ex-showroom, primarily because I wasn’t ready to pay additional road tax once I cross that barrier. I don’t plan for any future mods, so most of the things I wanted had to be factory fitted. Also going through most of the reviews, I decided against AMT for reliability and smoothness in my drive. The saga of the test drive begins late Sept 2020.

Tata Nexon: I had my eye on this car for a while. 5* safety was a big boon and team-bhp members have gone gaga on this vehicle. If you don’t trust me, just look into the sheer number of pages Nexon has accumulated on the team-bhp official review. I must say, Tata have done a fabulous job in marketing this vehicle through different channels, specially pitting Nexon’s safety against other vehicles in youtube through various means. Truth to be said, Tata had already sold the car to me even before I took the test drive. I called for the formality test drive from Key Motors Bangalore. Got the test drive vehicle (XZ+ Petrol) in 2 days and finally sat on the driver seat; and guess what, all my ecstasy died out the moment I held the steering wheel. First impression matter, and I didn’t expected a 9.5 lakhs vehicle to have a plastic steering similar to that of Alto, it felt so substandard. I was told I have to complete the test drive in 10 mins. I took the vehicle for a quick spin, it felt at ease. The fit-n-finish quality and the touchpoints were a sore to eye, but I was prepared for this after watching 100’s (literally) of youtube reviews and almost 220 pages of team-bhp official review. But somehow, I just couldn’t get the plastic steering wheel out of my mind.

Hyundai Venue: This was next in line on my list. Hyundai was prompt to send me the same model for test drive which I was planning to buy (Petrol SX IMT). Its interior was polar opposite to Nexon’s. Fit and finish was immaculate, and all the touch points were nicely laid out. I was interested to experience the IMT since it was quite new technology (and reliable as per most reviewers). It was a different experience coming from manual transmission, and I felt it was probably the best alternative to AMT. Rev this engine hard and the 1lt turbo growls and sprints ahead, and will surely put a smile to your face. This car was more compact to nexon, both I and my wife felt we were brushing against each other in driver and passenger seat while the nexon provided much more space in between. Another aspect I had my doubt was that, one cannot floor the vehicle and launch it with the IMT gearbox. The gearbox was smooth and will take its own sweet time to accelerate from stop. This did concerned me that, what if in an emergency situation, (IF) I have to accelerate, I will be handicapped by this gearbox. Still, it was a smooth ride and everything went fine. I was impressed with the car and the last thing I wanted to try was an uphill slope with the IMT gearbox, and this is where the fun begins. Till this day, I did not had to ever engage a handbrake to drive a vehicle up on a slope. I was always comfortable with clutch-accelerator-brake combo to get me out of the steepest slope, and this uphill on a main road isn’t the scariest one I had faced. So stopped the Venue on an uphill part, took a paused for everything to be normal to replicate a first move scenario and pressed the accelerator while slowly releasing the brake; and guessed what, the vehicle rolled back (with speed). I freaked and braked, looked around, got composed, floored the accelerator and released the foot brakes slowly- the vehicle rolled back again. Now, with all of my 15 years of driving skills gone for a toss, I stared back at the SA, who promptly said, “ Sir, please use the hand brake”. So handbrake, foot brake and full on accelerator, all engaged and working to their max capability, the vehicle, ever so slowly started creeping forward at a snail’s pace and I was relieved. I absolutely couldn’t find an answer to why Hyundai wouldn’t provide Hill Hold Assist to an IMT gearbox where no manual override is possible. Coming back after the test drive, I tried discussing with my better half, and the only verdict from her was “I will not buy a car which rolls back when I am sitting inside”.

Ford Ecosport: Asked for a test drive and it was promptly arranged. Been the only diesel car in my list, I instantaneously just fell in love the way it drove. I had a couple of 2 hrs trips earlier sitting on the back seat of a 2016 Ecosport, and they were quite a bone jarring experience when the car drove through broken patches. However, with this facelift and sitting on the driver seat, the drive was a delight. The car felt composed on broken roads and the torque of the diesel engine wants you to push it harder. It was a really good experience. The only issue was the titanium diesel which was in my budget at the time of test drive (Oct 1st week) felt the most barebone compared to the others, specially the lack of iso-fix, ESC, HAC, soft touch armrest. The light color interior wasn’t the first choice for either of us, however on the other hand, this vehicles were readily available for purchase while the other two had waiting period over 2 months. And I wanted a car immediately.

I did not test drive the Kia Sonet, since it was the new kid on the block with unknown reliability. Also since it was newly launched, I was fearful that if in case, I may require a spare part in the first 2-3 months of ownership, it might not be available immediately till the demand-supply equilibrium is met. I may have my car stranded for a while in that case. Mahindra XUV 300 wasn’t considered because everyone in my family had a feeling that the car will start rattling in 1-2 years’ time. This is the safest car in the compact SUV segment, and Mahindra has done the worst job in promoting this in comparison to Tata. In the meanwhile I took the test drive of Venue diesel, but it was no-where near ford’s engine dynamics and my wife had already made up her mind with Hyundai. Took another highway test drive of the petrol Nexon and it felt ok for our needs. I wasn't a fan of Brezza's looks, so gave it a skip.

Its decision time – Nexon vs Ecosports

A 5* rated larger car vs a barebone, but torquey diesel engine. During the start of this search, I wanted the Nexon so badly that my first experience of feeling the steering wheel had made the whole experience quite sour. None of the cars had the package that we fell in love with. Each had some sort of a compromise. Finally, with an ultimatum from my wife about the timelines, we zeroed in on Ford Ecosport. I was aware it was a slow moving vehicle compared to rest in the market and there were discounts available, so I sent out an offer to the Ford SA for the Ecosport Titanium Diesel. He asked us to come to the showroom next morning to finalize the deal as they don’t negotiate on phone. I confirmed him the morning slot we would be arriving and slept of peacefully dreaming of my first car in my home. Next day sharply at 11am, we were in the ford showroom when the SA mentioned he couldn’t come to meet us, but he had a talk to one of his colleague who would take care of the negotiation on his behalf. Little that I knew what’s going to happen, the new SA upfront denied any discounts on the vehicle saying this is a high moving car and there is no discount. I was livid, as I was pretty sure that I had offered them a fair market price. I was in the showroom with my checkbook open to sign the deal (I did mentioned twice that I there to book the car if we could come to an agreement). The difference was more than 35K and I decided not to proceed, since I felt I was been taken for a ride. We walked out the Ford showroom with a red face; I looked at my wife and there came the dreaded words - “ I know car is a boy’s toy, but we had enough test rides and discussions, and I am not going to go home without booking a car”. With a blank face, I can only say to her – “ Let’s go to the Tata showroom as it was our second choice ”. This was an ordeal, but I am a person who believes whatever happens, happens for a reason and there are always signs in life - may be this was one.

Tata showroom was 15 mins cab ride and I directly asked the SA – “Do you have any Nexon XZ+ available immediately other than red”? We knew it was useless to ask since most of the showrooms has a waiting period of 2-3 months with no cars available. But to our surprise, the SA said that there is a green dual tone car in transit which was cancelled by the customer just a few days before. There was no discount on the vehicle, however neither there was any unnecessary add-on fees and the SA was upfront for us getting insurance from outside. We asked 5 mins of privacy to talk this through between us, and was duly given some space. Guess what, as we were discussing, our original Ford SA called me and upon hearing we were in the Tata showroom, he asked us to wait a min for a call back. I got a call back from him inside a min and he offered the Ecosport at 5K premium to what I had offered them the day before on phone. I was dumb folded, partly because I had anticipated the correct market price for the car, but mostly because, I could never understood how could Ford let me walk out of their showroom when I was ready to sign the deal on spot . It seemed to be a sign and since everything worked out perfectly with Nexon, we went ahead with the booking deposit of 20K. The process was straight forward, we were told that we would be notified when the car will arrive at the showroom for PDI and they acknowledged that the rest of the payment could be done after the PDI. For next 1 week, I was duly followed up by the Ford SA almost every day that if I can get the Nexon cancelled and book the Ecosport. They were ready to even throw in additional accessories on top of the discount. I had to literally say that I have registered the Nexon in my name for him to stop calling. Ecosport in meanwhile had updated the Titanium variant with ESC, HAC etc., everything I wanted at the time of purchase. Presently I am happy that I didn’t purchased Ecoport, as I would be upset to buy a car only to be updated in few months’ time with all my requirements fulfilled.

The Nexon had arrived in the dealer's lot after a weeks’ time for PDI. The car had about 36 km during PDI and then another 72 km while I took the delivery. The delivery date was decided to be 19th Feb. SA agreed to match the TATA AIG insurance quote I got from outside. He sent me the insurance quote 2 days prior to the delivery and although it matched the amount, but upon further inspection, I realized although the insurance amount was matched, they have removed all the additional covers that I was getting from outside. A quick followup with him and it was rectified the next day. The delivery process was customary, as we asked to keep it a low key event due to covid. Few photo with the car and we hand him the box of sweet, and off we go. Went directly to the Shell Petrol pump and filled in the tank.

Price Breakdown
Product Price: 7,63,178
Tax: (14% SGST + 14%CGST + 1%Cess) : 2,21,322
This brings the Ex-showroom price to 9,84,500
Karnataka RTO charges: 1,54,729.
OTD Price: 11,39,229

Like most people in this country, I was cursing the hierarchy for paying 3,76,051 as Tax for a product of 7,63,178, i.e 49% Tax in total. It took some time for me to realize that although I spent my hard earned 11.5 lakhs on a car, the car should be compared to a product price of 7.6 lakhs and not the ex-showroom 9.8 lakhs. I wonder with our budget been the limiting factor, will the car manufacturer have more leverage creating safer global standard cars if Govt reduce the taxes. So much so, that for 2 days, I searched all over the internet; that if alcohol is sin and can be banned in certain states, why can’t I raise a petition for stop selling car (since its taxed like sinned good) in those states .


Its been 6 months I have got the car and clocked 10,500 kms with the second service done. 85% of these drives are on highways since I am working from home. This includes multiple Bangalore-Mysore trips, Bangalore-Mangalore/Chikamanglur and finally a trip from Bangalore to Kolkata.

My Thoughts

This car has been reviewed inside out in this forum, so instead of going through the details, I would write down my thoughts in general.

• This car can take a fair bit of abuse. Ground clearance is quite high and is unlike to scrape its bottom on regular potholes/ unscientific speedbumps. I have only bottomed the suspension once on a foot deep crater on a smooth road at 50kmph.
• It is more or less a fuss free experience till now. In the longer journeys’ I never had any complaints from my wife or kid.
• Seats, although they are on the softer side are quite supportive. Back seat is wide enough for 2 adults and a kid for longer journeys. I preferred keeping the fabric seat instead of putting an artificial leatherette seat cover.
• Body roll is well controlled. One of my reason for choosing XZ+ over the other variants was the 215 width tyre size. The road grip and braking are noteworthy with this wider set of tyres.
• I get a FE of 10 km in city in tank-to-tank method. For Bangalore - Kolkata run, with 2 person and a kid and the remaining space filled with luggage, I for a T2T mileage of 15. This is quite respectable. With 2 person and kid with no luggage, I had done 180 km round trip on Bangalore Chennai highway with MID showing 21 kmpl.
• The feedback from the steering at low city speed is good. Steering wheel is precise at city limits, however at highways speeds over 65km, it becomes light and has a play which is not very confidence inspiring.
• I don’t like to push the engine and found the car to be comfortable till 115 km. Beyond this speed, the engine doesn’t seems to be at ease and the steering wheel becomes too light.
• For someone of my height (5’8”) who prefers an upright sitting position at max height will have to face a lot of challenges. This posture takes me very near to the A-Pillar creating a huge blind spot on the right. I have mis-judged the oncoming traffic more than a few times. However, the biggest issue in this driving position is that, Nexon has a sloping roof and small rear window; which means the view from the rear mirror is not back straight of the road, but it’s more of a view of the 10 meter of the road immediately behind the vehicle. You can think of this as the lower half of the rear view camera. This has made the rear view mirror useless and I have to rely on the side view mirrors to see the complete rear traffic.
• For a light footed driver, and this is not a Alto or Innova where you have the power on tap. Overtaking on highways takes planning and more often than not, a two gear downshift. The gear range is wide and the car doesn’t stall easily, but on the flip side, this does gives a false sense of power availability. I happened too many times that I needed the power to overtake and the car will took for ever putting me at risk.
• There is a significant difference in power between city and sports mode. The change of mode is becomes an important factor while overtaking. For a manual transmission car, it’s not possible to change gear and drive mode at the same time while over taking. Placing the Eco/City/Sports knob on/near the steering wheel for a right handed operation would have made it a lot useful.
• The sound inside the cabin have increased over time. The engine noise and wind noise is quite audible. There are presence of irritating rattles from the windows and doors, and whistling noise from the glass at 50km/hr.
• I had trouble with my gearbox. It’s notchy and needs some effort to slot. Visited the service thrice without any resolution. Hope this doesn’t becomes an issue down the line. The gear throws and clutch travel is quite long. The dead pedal feels quite far away for me, it’s good at highway speeds, but one cannot use to rest your left foot in city. Also the steering rod is too close to the full clutch, and I was stamping on the rod often in the beginning, but I have adjusted my foot position unconsciously now.
• It’s a 5 month old car and there are too many streaks and paint chipaways. Scratches are easily visible in dark color cars, but somehow I am not having a lot of faith in the paint quality.
• Tata still needs a lot of work on Nexon’s ergonomics. The light colour door pads are already getting soiled. The position of the fog lamp button is at its worst. One need to take eyes off the road to switch on the fog lamp, otherwise one could easily open the tailgate mistakenly driving on the road. The cup holders are too deep and are unusable to keep any drinks like a coke can. All the door plastics are too hard that if there is anything loose in them, there will be a constant rattling noise.
• One of the biggest gripe I have is the instrument cluster, specially the tachometer. It’s hard to know if you are 1550 or 1950 rpm, so understanding the power delivery is often a guessing game. Similar is the situation with the engine temperature gauge. Sometimes, the age old rotating dials works wonders over modernization.
• The low beam light was useless. But kudos to TATA for providing a projector unit. I have changed to a HID for low beam and the light throw is far better. I do want to update the fog lamp to HID as well, but I fear the dual functionality of fog lamp acting as a cornering lamp might lower the longevity if I change the fog lamp to HID unit.
• There is a huge lip between the floor and door. This feels makes the car feels more like a raised hatchback instead of an SUV and prevent one from easily sliding in or out of the vehicle.
• For a company focussing on safety standards, I would expect a TMPS system on every variant. On occasion, I have been losing 2psi per 400 kms of drive. The system doesn’t cost a lot and is invaluable for longer journeys.

At the end, the question is “Do I enjoy the car? Am I always eager to take the beast on the tarmac?” The answer is a thumping – YES. In today’s time, Ecosport with all the safety features and diesel engine might make a compelling case against the petrol Nexon at similar price point, but that would had been a different story. Tata have come out with a brilliant product, and they have a solid vision for the future.

[yesyeswe]

Originally Posted by meto

One of the biggest gripe I have is the instrument cluster, specially the tachometer. Sometimes, the age old rotating dials works wonders over modernization.

I couldn't agree more, I prefer the mix and match of digital and analog dials, it's the best of both worlds. But even if it's fully digital the tachometer should always be analog, watching the needle move as you revv the engine is a different kind of pleasure.

Your review is pretty accurate and sums up my test drive experience of the Nexon, but you know what would have been even better? Pictures! I read the whole thing and was hoping I would see tons of pictures at the end, but you disappointed me. I love the looks of Nexon.

[zenx]

Picked up a 2019 XZA+ Diesel. The drive is really good, and I haven't yet felt too much of a jerk with the AMT. Had a few queries that experienced owners could help with.

One early question I had (my other car is an Aria) with the start/stop button is about the glow plug sign that I used to wait for going off before cranking the engine - is there an equivalent step here?

Another query is about the INST FE mode - I fiddled a bit but couldn't seem to get that to show up. It's there in the 2019 cars, right?

Finally, is the Google Map/Android Auto connect possible only via USB, and not bluetooth?

Other tips for a new AMT owner welcome. I'm so not missing the heavy clutch I have to deal with on the bigger truck

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by zenx

One early question I had (my other car is an Aria) with the start/stop button is about the glow plug sign that I used to wait for going off before cranking the engine - is there an equivalent step here?

Finally, is the Google Map/Android Auto connect possible only via USB, and not bluetooth?

Congrats for bringing in the smaller truck into the family and I wish you many happy years with it

For any car with start/stop button, the glow plugs work in the background during the system check step, i.e. the gap between you hitting the button and the car cranking. There's nothing that you can do about it.

Android Auto works via the USB cable only, although there are rumors of Tata releasing an update in future where the head-unit might support wireless Android Auto. Until then the USB cable is your friend.

[NvrGivUp]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Horn - change them to better dual tone horn, add a separate relay as well if needed, my Nano Genx used to have the same problem, useless horn it is.

Alignment - get this corrected outside, never do it with the service center, its a specialist job, once a tire gets unevenly worn, it will never drive the same way.

Wash - Clean the car before giving it for service (Yep) and do not wash the vehicle at the service center, even if its free , it used to be free a few years back.

I once took my sparkling clean white Nano for service, I parked it in the designated sport, after that a technician came, parked an indica ahead of it, started testing something on its engine and my sparkling white Nano now looked grey.

Thanks a lot. I always wanted to have a trumpet horn and was holding off to that thought since the service manager strictly told me not to do so. But, I went to a different service center and they are okay with the change of horn and lights as long as there is not cut/ splicing of wires.

Alignment - sure, you are right. Will get it done outside.

Yes, that's what I have decided about the car wash. Will not get it done at the service center. Sorry to know about the Indica story. I can understand how you would have felt. I think these type of things make us more stronger

Originally Posted by Reinhard

There are production cuts. However - if your query is related specifically to Nexon - then its not made at the plant about which you are asking. Nexon is made at the Tata-Fiat plant in Ranjangaon along with the Compass. There are cuts at this plant also - however these are linked more to disrupted supply of input material and industrial O2.


The Nexon's stock dual horn is fine. Its more than enough loud for regular usage. If you press it too long - it will result in high current draw with fluctuations from the battery especially at low engine RPM. I suggest you avoid it as much as possible. Outside the car its quite loud. You might not hear it as loud in the cabin with all windows rolled up.

I replaced my Nexon's horn - but I have installed the same 2 units into the Alto now (with a relay harness, since Alto had single stock horn) & find it excellent. In the Alto - this pair is LOUD in the cabin also .

Thanks a lot. I was told exactly the same by the service technician as well. Anyways, I'm planning to get it changed to Hella trumpet horn (along with low beam as well) probably after third service. I have saved the link from your DIY for both the horn and low beam mod. Thank you so much!

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by NvrGivUp

Thanks a lot. I always wanted to have a trumpet horn and was holding off to that thought since the service manager strictly told me not to do so. But, I went to a different service center and they are okay with the change of horn and lights as long as there is not cut/ splicing of wires.

Alignment - sure, you are right. Will get it done outside.

You do not need to cut any wires for an aftermarket horn, the relay just needs a signal from the existing horn terminal. Hella is good, IIRC Tata uses a 100mm or 90mm Hella horn pair for the Harrier \ Safari etc but vehicles like Nexon gets a smaller Minda horn (70mm) pair.

Ask for a Skoda type horn, Bosch sounds best, Roots last longer.

[zenx]

Originally Posted by zenx

One early question I had (my other car is an Aria) with the start/stop button is about the glow plug sign that I used to wait for going off before cranking the engine - is there an equivalent step here?

Another query is about the INST FE mode - I fiddled a bit but couldn't seem to get that to show up. It's there in the 2019 cars, right?

Fiddled and now see the inst FE on the display - phew!

Also tried pressing the start/stop button while the car was in A, without touch the brakes. It did not start, but the glow plug did seem to light up and turn off in a couple of seconds. Of course, it came on again when I started it the right way.

[Tgo]

The car recently had a dead battery incident due to no use for a month. The battery was recharged and the car was running fine until recently when an issue with the sunroof was noticed.

Sunroof Issue

It was in tilt position - pressed close - it closed a bit and then reverted to tilt position. No matter what you do it goes back to tilt position when you close it from tilt.

Saw a few videos on youtube. Tried their hacks, but its not closing from tilt. It reverts back to the situation after restarting the car.

Anyone faced this with their cars or has any info on the same?

12V socket dead
Also, the 12V socket in the dash has stopped working

[uyscuti]

Originally Posted by Tgo

The car recently had a dead battery incident due to no use for a month. The battery was recharged and the car was running fine until recently when an issue with the sunroof was noticed.

Sunroof Issue

It was in tilt position - pressed close - it closed a bit and then reverted to tilt position. No matter what you do it goes back to tilt position when you close it from tilt.

I recall from reading the owner's manual, a section on recalibrating the sunroof in events such as this. Worth giving that a whirl. Also mentioned in the manual - keeping your car's battery healthy during extended storage periods, which says starting the car ones every 15 days if you are able, or other precautions if you are unable to attend the car for more than 15 days.

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by uyscuti

I recall from reading the owner's manual, a section on recalibrating the sunroof in events such as this. Worth giving that a whirl.

Thanks a lot. Since the car is with my brother, I'll ask him to read through it.

[donzerus]

Unfortunately, the manual does not mention the exact steps to recalibrate the sunroof.

Try long pressing the middle close sunroof button for 10 seconds and let us know if that works.

[uyscuti]

Originally Posted by donzerus

Unfortunately, the manual does not mention the exact steps to recalibrate the sunroof.

Try long pressing the middle close sunroof button for 10 seconds and let us know if that works.

Attachment 2150331

Page 44 of my manual (probably an updated version) does include the procedure to recalibrate the sunroof.

[Reinhard]

Its quite amusing though that they chose to give a DIY procedure to resolve the issue rather than fixing the root cause of the problem . (Assuming that it seems to be some regularly appearing issue with the sunroof.)

I don't know, but have never heard of such regularly reported issues + even a resolution in the manual for sunroof in other cars. Is this common occurrence in other cars from these "budget" segments with sunroof? Or its some sort of a Nexon exclusive Easter egg?

[donzerus]

Originally Posted by uyscuti

Page 44 of my manual (probably an updated version) does include the procedure to recalibrate the sunroof.

Attachment 2150339

I was checking the owner manual PDF downloaded from Tata Motors website where page 44 is blank

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by donzerus

Try long pressing the middle close sunroof button for 10 seconds and let us know if that works.

Originally Posted by uyscuti

Page 44 of my manual (probably an updated version) does include the procedure to recalibrate the sunroof.

Thanks for making my life easier. Just forwarded the info to my brother. Will report back once he has tried it out.

Originally Posted by Reinhard

I don't know, but have never heard of such regularly reported issues + even a resolution in the manual for sunroof in other cars. Is this common occurrence in other cars from these "budget" segments with sunroof? Or its some sort of a Nexon exclusive Easter egg?

Welcome, to the world of smart devices and AI.

Maybe it is mandated due to the anti-pinch feature built into it. It probably tallies position and motor torque data in open/close/tilt position extermities to a pre-defined data table or set-points to self assess whether it is working fine or not.

Better to mention it in the manual since battery replacement and disconnection would ask for this sequence to be followed and the owner wouldn't have to make a run to the ASC for routine like this.