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-   -   Tata Harrier : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/209281-tata-harrier-official-review-30.html)

It's a travesty to note the issues faced by some of the Harrier owners here.

I was/am? once of the biggest Tata fans out there who was floored by the Harrier design and vouched for Tatas quality even before Harrier was launched.

The simple reason: I am one of the proudest owners of a Tata Hexa Automatic.

No car, I repeat No car I owned over the past 15 years had given me the comfort and durability of the Hexa. And I have owned quite a few wonderful cars over the years most of which were in the 10 lacs+ segment. Some have given me better thrills, but for the sheer comfort, durability and ride quality, there was nothing even close.

Heck, The Hexa even puts my Volvo to shame even after more than 2 years and 35k km on the Odo in some of the harshest and rough driving experiences one could possibly throw at it.

Still, Not a squeak from the cabin and that suspension is as good as new. And niggles? I never even knew what they were till a recent driver seat misalignment which was a quick fix at the workshop.

This for me, was the defining Tata vehicle which came of age. Not the Tiago, Not the Nexon, But the Tata Hexa XTA. It has a solidity and maturity to it which only needs to be experienced. Dozens would have travelled in my car only to be marvelled at the comfort of this Tata and the new found reliability.

After such an outstanding experience in what is probably the Best ever Vehicle Tata has ever produced, my expectations on the Harrier were sky high.

This would be vehicle which would break the sound barrier for Tata and propel it into the stratosphere by becoming a great commercial hit like 'Bahubali'. This would be defining vehicle for the new age Tata. Harrier.

And then there Auto Expo happened and the design blew my mind. The launch too confirmed the design was here to stay and it was already one of the most brilliant designs in all of India,period.

I was already recommending the car left right and center at the time of launch to friends and family so much so that one of them even booked it.

They had even got it delivered and were very happy.

After a month of usage, I swapped my Hexa with the Harrier for 4 days to properly test it.

It had a good looking interior, Clutch felt light, Everything looked and felt upmarket too except for one bit.

Engine noise was a non issue for me.

Ride was not Hexa special, but still great and best of the rest. Power was adequate and braking was fine too.

There were a couple of disappointments for me though.

The steering was too light and not well calibrated. It's easy to drive in city but not confidence inspiring.

Gear Box is not the slickest.

Some of the switch knobs did not exude quality and the signs on them were already peeling off!

But all in all, these were not deal breakers and the Harrier still seemed a mighty fine vehicle as it got most of the things right. Even the owner seemed extremely pleased. All the Harrier needed was the Torque Converter Automatic and it wud be near perfect.

And then it happens, I read some of the sad stories faced by T bhpians during Test Drives and initial ownership's. I read Teambhp's official review which was the most damning of them all.

And the final nail in the coffin, literally, The never stopping free fall that is the Harrier sales figures, even lower than the XUV & the Duster in the month of August!!! Really!!!

Am just shell shocked and out of words right now. Ratan Tata himself wouldn't feel as bad.

For all its issues, Harrier still is better than most in its segment, But for its niggles and reputation. It's like watching an Athlete primed for Gold in the Olympics, Who gets caught in the doping test, Withers away and dies a premature death. And we get to experience this tragic lifecycle.

It's so hurting that I feel Tata better stop production of the Harrier,. Sort out all its issues and relaunch it as a Version 2 with an Automatic and more features ala Samsung Galaxy Fold.

The public is unforgiving and they are killing it. Fans of Tata need to be spared of those torture.

Tata Harrier deserves better than these sales figures and I only pray and hope the Harrier recovers and revives soon. We need and deserve a quality Tata product more than they need customers, Simply because they are capable of so much more.

Mod Note : Please avoid typing with excessive dots.........like................this.

I am sorry if I am about to sound offensive, but isn't the quality check supposed to be done by the manufacturer or dealer and NOT the customer? If a customer finds any faults in the PDI which were not caused by an accident/incident, then that is outgoing QC failure of the plant the vehicle was made in.

How does one check the seat-belt pre-tensioner or airbags in a vehicle PDI I wonder?

The customer is supposed to pay for the car and expect to be technical/educated enough in automobiles to catch issues in the a brand new car? This is preposterous reasoning!

From what I had read on this forum, the Hexa itself was an Aria 2.0, with all of Aria's issues sorted out. That might explain why the Hexa feels so durable!

And it seems (I hope) the upcoming Cassini will be the Harrier 2.0 or basically the Harrier as it should have been.

Hey Nithesh as far as I know, only the Cassini is going to come with rear disc brakes and 18 inch wheels while the harrier will continue to sport rear drum brakes with 17 inch wheels

The Buzzard displayed in Geneva motor show had 19inch alloy wheels which are similar to the ones spotted on test mules.

No damodar these are 18 inchers

I agree. I don't even think regular joe customers even do a PDI. The concept of PDI is only heard of in auto forum circles. Rest of the works buys a car and sees it for the first time on delivery date, as far as I've seen.

This seals the deal for me. No more Harrier, as much as I love it and was rooting for it. Better to consider Hyundai/others in similar pricing.

:OT I am pretty sure there is a lot of negative vibe in this thread than actual, but I do believe there must be a few owners that are actually satisfied. Because, I still do see new(temp. regn.) Harriers around me, at least in Hyderabad.

W.r.t XUV5OO, industry slowdown be damned, it has found great acceptance among self-drive cars varying from Zoomcar, Revv, Myles almost everyone has an XUV in their listing.

If TATA gives me a diesel BS6 with an Auto-box, and a panoramic sunroof, I ll still risk buying it. I am in love with the design and solidness of the build.

Then I would like to draw you attention to the below comment in another Harrier thread.

Harrier Automatic - BS6 engine, 170bhp

Whether you like it or not, whether you believe it or not, the Harriers that came out of the factory in Jan this year and the what is being rolled out now are way different from each other in terms of quality and behavior. I have test-driven the Jan made harrier, March-made one, and one made in May. The issues that I observed in the initial batches have been sorted out (not referring to panel gaps etc). Also, a lot of the issues that were pointed out initially in media drives and online forums have been addressed or resolved. So "i told you from day one that this is crap.." kind of a statement doesn't make sense.

:OTI am one of those who went ahead and bought a Punto in 2009 when FIAT was the most detested/undesirable car in all the online and offline forums. I am yet to pen down a service horror story on FIAT. This is not to say that Punto is the best hatch ever existed. More than that, it is about how dealers/service folks sort out issues to your satisfaction and make your ownership experience a very pleasant one.
All Harriers do not fail. And all failed cars are not harriers either.

Your wish will be fulfilled AbhiJ. Harrier BS6 is going to come with a panoramic sunroof and an auto box.

Hi. Went through the entire thread, could not find anything concrete about the BS6 engine or the Automatic? What am I missing? The "launch" has been imminent for almost a year.

I really, badly hope ram87pune is correct about the Auto + BS6 + Panoramic Sunroof.

If that happens, then I guess I'll be bidding goodbye to Skoda Octavia from my shortlist and instead buy the Harrier :D But of course subject to Tata bringing it out with 170 horses, niggle free (by working on most problems mentioned on TEAM-BHP review), and with decent refinement.

And I guess the only positive out of the entire Harrier fiasco is that Tata hasn't gone the a la Skoda way in responding to distressed customers (nothing bad has been reported yet on that front). Although would have been better if Tata gave that much attention before botching up the entire situation.

Fingers crossed :)