Team-BHP - Tata Harrier : Official Review

Thanks to Reinhard, I finally managed to get a TD of the Harrier. SA was professional, but a little dejected to hear that I will wait for the automatic only.
Back to the vehicle, it is just too difficult to justify 21 big ones on a car that has limited colour options, no sunroof and a useless drivers arm rest.
Compared the rear bench space to my current ride (Fiat Linea) and though it is comfortable, it does not seem a segment above. Maybe it’s just my high expectations.
Ride quality seems sorted. Choppy at low speeds and pliant at higher speeds - again just like the linea. Steering is lighter, but in my short drive, did not seem like a deal breaker.

It’s now left me even more confused. Heart loves the way it looks and I can also compromise on one or two of my must haves. But all of them? Probably not!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpideyBoy (Post 4640273)

Harrier 7 seater (Buzzard/Cassini) spied again testing in Pune

Source: AutoPunditz FB

Interestingly this one is wearing the Harrier's wheel rims. Not the other larger design seen on other shots of the Buzzard elsewhere. Weird. Why are they testing the car with different spec wheel-tyre combinations? Wouldn't that have problem in caliberating the test results? (of whatever tests they are doing!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reinhard (Post 4640903)

In my wild guess, those new designed alloys could be on the top variant probably AT/AWD (considering alloy size is huge) and these Harrier wheel rims are on standard XZ/XZ+ variants?

Quote:

Originally Posted by naveen.raju (Post 4641728)

Here's the all black edition that was sent to BHPian vdi by the Tata dealership. Since it's got the "Dark" badge, guess it would be called the "Dark Edition". Have no other details.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pseudo_coder (Post 4641875)

Looks fantastic! A segment above.

Quote:

Originally Posted by krish3 (Post 4642016)

Looks amazing. Harrier gets more tempting as a choice for a bigger SUV. An AWD option would be great. Hope they bring it in Grey and Silver as well. Would look great and will be easier to maintain than Black

Well yeah it seems very good. But the news article I saw yesterday also mentioned that it will be available only in XZ & will carry a premium of about INR 20-30k in pricing above the current XZ variant.

I feel thats silly. And silly is a very conservative word I used. Charging extra for a wrap job is understandable perhaps. But this is paint! They aren't giving 2 coats of paint. So its premium just for selecting a different shade. I can understand if the car was selling in the volumes around Creta (let alone Hector). Is it? No. Its not even selling half of XUV500 by latest numbers.

:deadhorse Come on Tata. Kill it fast. Spare us the pain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reinhard (Post 4642048)

I feel thats silly. And silly is a very conservative word I used. Charging extra for a wrap job is understandable perhaps. But this is paint! They aren't giving 2 coats of paint. So its premium just for selecting a different shade. I can understand if the car was selling in the volumes around Creta (let alone Hector). Is it? No. Its not even selling half of XUV500 by latest numbers.

:deadhorse Come on Tata. Kill it fast. Spare us the pain.

It's not only paint. There are other features added to the interior and exterior. 30K premium is justified in my opinion. Harrier is anyways dead... I haven't seen many on the road and sales haven't been phenomenal as well. With issues like rusting, dealer experiences, bad ASS it will be gone not for long...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Palio_2005 (Post 4642107)

My point was - none of the things are actually what people are asking for. And yet - a price premium. So while justified - its not warranted or in sync with the demand at all. Typical sample of Tata's disconnect with customer trends.

As for rusting - I haven't seen too many reports. Seem to be in line with those for other cars. One offs.

Dealer experiences from Tata are not bad. In fact the dealer experience you'll see on the forum that most are rating Tata dealerships as one of the best. Nor is the A-S-S. That is - when compared with most other mass players.

A-S-S is just equally as bad as the others. Only the perception is different. Overall I have lost any respect for or expectations from any brand's A-S-S. FNGs is the way to go pretty much. But thats a different topic discussed for a trillion posts on separate threads so better not go there :D.

I see 3-4 Harriers a day here in our common hometown. So far thats more than the Hectors hehe. I think that much is enough. Too many of these bulkies is going to choke our roads further :D. Just kidding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reinhard (Post 4642162)

I think is just an option made to order vehicle. There will be people who may pay such premium as it is really drool worthy. Too bad let down by a lack lustre engine, inconsistencies in fit and finish (at such price point) and dealer experiences. While I do agree that ASS at other places is also a question mark but it is accentuated with Tata. I was considering a Tiago for my wife but the whole experience was so underwhelming that we just dropped this. The guy had no interest to sell

My first car was an Indica V2 which I had for 6 years and 1 Lakh kms. So have had enough experience with Tata ASS (good in my case).

I am always rooting for Tata. They have hit a sweet spot with Tiago and Nexon. I think people are sceptical of plonking 20+ lakhs on a Tata as they are a lot of bad memories and stories (our T-BHP review also ends with a caution on ASS)

Is there any Harrier owner in this group who has gotten the 15,000 kms free service done yet ? If yes, could you help me with what are the scheduled replacements and the costs for the same ?

I am about to hit the 15,000 km mark in a week or so (based on my daily driving mileage) and wanted a heads-up in case any owner has gone through this already. Thanks in advance.

Quote:

Originally Posted by madhukriss (Post 4643135)

Is there any Harrier owner in this group who has gotten the 15,000 kms free service done yet ?

I am not a Harrier owner, but hope this helps you. Check pages 183 - 186 of the owner's manual at the link given below. It has the check/adjust/clean/replace items for the 15k service clearly marked in it.

https://harrier.tatamotors.com/asset...ers_Manual.pdf

Cheers,
Vikram

I'm curious to know what ratio of XE, XM and XT variants have been sold in relation to what is the seemingly popular XZ variant according to my local dealer who hasn't even seen the lower variants to realise that XE and XM variants dont get led turn signal/DRLs. Is Tata interested in competing with the cars that undercut them like the Kia Seltos, Creta, Hector(Petrol)in the sub 16 lakh OTR range or are they focusing on competing with cars a segment above like the CRV?

Looking at the Dual tone scheme and Black edition update with a premium for only the topend XZ variant, I'm not sure they're interested in pumping their volumes to that of its rivals. Its bad enough that they missed the boat on diesel/auto/sunroof/360 cam and more on their rivals but the fact that they think those regular bulb drl/turn signal and a dashboard that looks like it belongs to the compact sedan class is part of an 18 lakh car really puts a sour taste in my mouth. 16" steel rims is understandable. But yeah Tata really needs to look at boosting up the XE/XM and XT sales if they really want to beat out the competition who offer more for less.

Erecting a giant billboard on an expressway is just wasting money. Just ask the last brand that erected the largest billboard on the same route.