Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Official New Car Reviews (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/)

-   -   Tata Harrier : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/209281-tata-harrier-official-review-37.html)

Tata offering Harrier test-drives at customer's doorstep

Tata Motors is now offering Harrier test drives at customer's doorstep. The service has been launched in collaboration with Orix.



Doorstep test drives will be offered to customers in Mumbai and Delhi-NCR initially and will be extended to more cities in the near future.

Customers have the option to book test drives online. They will have to fill a brief lead form and select a time of their preference. They will then receive a callback from Tata Motors' Customer Care team to schedule the test drive.

The Tata Harrier is available in five variants. It also comes in dual-tone and all-black colour options. It is powered by a 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder diesel engine that makes 138 BHP and 350 Nm of torque and is paired with a 6-speed manual gearbox.

Sorry for my ignorance here, But what is the news in this for TATA ??

Weren't manufacturers/ Showrooms already providing this ??

In fact I TD'ed my Freestyle at my office. And NEXA guys were calling once in a week to provide IGNIS test drive at home ( 20 Kms from their Showroom )

Orix offers car leasing options to buyers with white board registration. I learnt about them when we visited Mahindra showroom last week. The sales team did not give us a TD vehicle. The showroom staff ask us to contact leasing companies. This is helpful for people looking for leasing options.

Right now, I am with a person (7th overall !!!), who has rejected Harrier after reading OUR OFFICIAL REVIEW. He was upgrading from Fluidic Verna and end up buying pre-owned 2016 Fortuner.
Other 6 people who have dropped Harrier from their lists owing to our review end up with 2 Hectors (both yet to be delivered), XUV500, STORME(!!!!), used MU-X and one is yet to make any purchase.

Indeed Team Bhp reviews have been making huge impact (rightfully so) in a LOT of car purchasing decisions not only among us Bhpians but among masses as well.

If someone from Tata Motors is reading this,

Do consider sending “updated” Harrier to Team Bhp please: for Re-Review (if such term exists) if you have sorted out niggles and issues reported by our reviewers & early owners and have gain enough confidence in your product.

DO NOT discontinue Safari Storme :Frustrati , There are people in this world who are still buying with their Hearts (no offence to anyone).

Very good move! Since customers aren't coming to the showroom doorstep, let's go to their doorstep. Look at these guys, what they are doing! It's like the doctor treating the right leg for pain in the left leg :deadhorse. I humbly request those at the top of TATA motors to read the team-bhp review and user reviews,or else it's going to be Tata bye bye for Harrier.

Well, I will if given a choice between Harrier and Storme.

Storme's engine 2.2 is tried tested unit.

And it comes with a proper 4X4 hardware, I will compromise Storme for Harrier only if I get at least an AWD [so much for being on a LR platform w/o 4WD capability]. Black Harrier looks sick and can stand against 30L SUV's.

20-25 units a month. Its not worth the logistics required to keep the assembly line running for civilian Stormes. They can use it for other stuff.

It has always been a childhood dream. The moment there was news that it will be discontinued shortly & its the last chance now, I booked a Storme purely by heart in July 2019. And I drive a Nexon now. Effectively I settled a whole segment and half BELOW what I was looking for. The Storme is a dream vehicle. No doubt about it. But in an EX that would cost me around 15L OTR post all possible discounts, I wanted at least dual airbags for my family's safety and a useful media-nav system. VX is simply not worth its price - sorry Tata.

I got a more all rounder car, powerful & fuel efficient engine & safety for my family in the Nexon. And without doubt, I drive the Nexon far more than what I'd do with the Storme due to its bulk. I didn't have 16L to just throw around for "heart". A functional brain will now vote against it.

Completely agree. Totally nonsensical publicity attempt from Tata. I have test driven multiple cars over many years, and now more than ever, most manufacturers fall over themselves to bring the car to your doorstep, multiple times if the customer so desires.

They realise that customers are spoilt for choice of showrooms, cars and dealers, and doorstep test drives are an important way of getting first crack at the customer. There is zero credit in making a hoopla out of it and trying to make it a publicity point. The only exception would be freshly released cars which have high demand for test drives at the showroom, and are thus logistical problems to bring to the customer's doorstep - this too, lasts only till the initial interest dies down.

There's more to it than publicity & PR. This is serving hardly any publicity purpose.

1. Fact of the matter is - a top of the line Harrier costs around 20L. 1 car per showroom is a big investment. Who'll make it? And what about maintaining it in pristine condition to actually impress customers? Just look at customer feedback on TD cars being poor. For sure the existing setup isn't working. Good to see TML trying to work out something to fix that.
2. Any TD car is really poorly handled by showroom staffs & not properly maintained. It goes bad soon & actually gives poorer experience in a TD to a potential customer.
3. Then there are cases where TD cars are not available at dealership due to them being in service etc. whatever.
4. As the dealer is a partner (or subsidiary like Concorde, there are limits to the actions that TML can take). All of this eventually sums into lower sales of the car.
5. In this setup with a 3rd Party - Tata can dictate terms on car maintenance quality, availability of cars in a city & SLA on how much a customer has to wait at the maximum.
6. The inventory won't be owned by dealers & can be optimized as a central
7. bunch for a city. The vendor can send vehicles to ANY customer regardless of which dealership is actually working with him/her.

IMO it makes absolute sense in case of cars costing above 15L per unit. Don't apply the same rules of Freestyles & Ignis-es to a premium SUV guys, they are far cheaper to stock & can be easily sold off afterwards at discount. Nobody is going to buy a TD used Harrier afterwards. People spending such large money - are looking for a proper new car. Won't be surprised if this idea gets picked up by other premium players also in near future in fact.

Originally I was contemplating to post this on Storme thread but posting it here.

:OT

Disclaimer- Emotional rant ahead.

I absolutely agree with your thought about family safety. Tata should equip all variants with standard safety features. If I keep my father in place, in all possibility he would have purchased the same car that you have chosen. As a responsible person, you are expected to do so. (No offence to storme owners)

Please allow me to explain the reason for the statement I made in last post.
First time in my life I had driven Safari Storme last month. It was brand new 2.2 VX 4*4 Varicor 400. Though owner is a retired civil servant , he did not get ANY discount except few basic accessories.
Now come to drive- Sitting is like you are sitting on the car, above the every other vehicle on the road. Clutch was super light, gear shifting was smooth, engine had very descent low end torque. There was a squeezing/sneaking sound coming in from somewhere even in brand new car. I felt like I am driving a METAL Fort. Sound quality from speakers was very descent. Nothing fancy BUT,

“That 130 km drive was the most satisfying drive I have ever had in my life”. That’s big statement sir, I have had experienced sheer power in M5, Butchness in LC200 but this is the car which instantly made emotional attachments with me. I felt free. I felt being liberated.
Storme made me realize what is “Live to Drive” means.

My daily driver is Altis petrol and we gujjus generally calculate the long term economics first before making any purchase, but now I understand why people were buying Gypsies & have been buying Original Jeeps and Thars and JTPs. Perhaps owners of Storme can give better insights on this.

If I have to plonk 15 lacs on car, my decision would be as below considering EX variant in current avatar,
Right now (yet to get married) - No brainer,
After marriage - Of course only if Supreme Court (wifey) permits,
Once a Father - NO!!! (My heart will no longer be my priority),
If Tata equips all Stormes with 6 Airbags, ABS, EBD and Isofix mounts please:. “YES” would be the only answer in all scenarios.

I believe that if Storme is given to current designing team at Tata Motors just to update (not mechanically), they are capable to come up with Storme which would solve the problem of low volumes while retaining original character. Just my 2 cent.

P.S. - Owner told me that Storme has 4 star safety ratings, but I am unable to find any reference on internet. He has shown his gratitude towards Team Bhp for Harrier review otherwise he had never been test driven Storme. Storme he test drove was the personal car of the Showroom owner.

Mods – If this post doesn’t belong here, please move it to the respective thread.

I am sorry, wasn’t this always there? please:

I have never visited any showroom for test drives. Most of them come to my home with the test drive car.

Even the Honda City in 2014, when it had a waiting period of 6 months, was brought to my home, which was 60kms away from the showroom. Even VW does the same. Maruti dealer had even brought the SX4 to my home at 9pm.

Yes it has always been around. Even I got a TD of Storme and Nexon at my home & the Harrier also visits locations of customer's preferences for test drives. The key point here is not "doorstep TD". Its that the test drives are now outsourced to a different company as a single owner of responsibility for the city as a whole, rather than the inconsistent experience being seen at different dealerships. Aim would surely be to streamline customer experience and avoid calls of "Sir car is unavailable today, can we come on Sunday instead" after booking a TD appointment. Better car condition too hopefully.

I test drove a Duster which was at my doorstep at the appointed time in 2015.

My cousin got a Ritz or Wagon R (cant remember exactly) for a test drive at his residence way back in Sept/Oct 2012!.

So even I thought the same when I read this news. What is new?

I think this post would also be better posted in Storme's thread.
I am a proud owner of Storme V400 4X2 since past 2 years. Driving Harrier and Storme are totally different thing. Like you mentioned that you will feel sitting on top of the vehicle and driving a metal fort is just so true and I love it everytiime I drive. The clutch is super smooth as in all current TATA cars. In Harrier, you will feel like a family man but in Storme you will feel like a college boy.

P.S- I am unmarried :)

Dear Reinhard. I was also in the same boat when I saw the Hexa being unveiled at the Geneva show in 2016. I also always wanted to have the Storme in my garage and after witnessing the transformation that the Aria underwent to become the Hexa, I wondered how the Storme would have looked if Tata had given it the impact design language. It would have easily become one of the most butch and macho SUV this side of 20 lakhs.

I have driven my friends Safari Dicor and the Varicor for thousands of kilometers and can vouch for its commanding driving position and those throne like front seats. The way traffic parts when they see a Safari is something to be truly felt to be believed.

But alas Tata decided to transform the Aria and my dream of owning the Storme one day was shattered. Now I only had the option of going for the Hexa which I did more than 2 years back. But I am extremely satisfied with my purchase with no major issues till date. But now looking back I think it was a right decision made by the Tata management because the Storme would never have rode or handled as good as the Hexa does simply because it's such a tall vehicle.

Just hoping that Tata one day answers my,sorry our prayers and launches the revised Storme and I will be the first person in the booking queue, standing behind you perhaps.