[Technic90]

Originally Posted by KPR

Dealership experiences can be bad but the product must bring smile to face. I think both are lagging with Tata products. That's the exact reason why I'm not going with any Indian brand. They think every prospective buyer is either a cab business driver (Tata) or from a village to buy a rugged tractor/Bolero (Mahindra) from them. My two TD experiences with Tata so far has been very poor that includes poorly maintained TD car. Habits doesn't change easily.

I'm saying this after visiting Skoda, Fiat where dealers mess up with purchase experience but products bring excitement.

I get what you are saying but for me, the best dealership is the one that treats everyone equally whether he's a big businessman or a taxi driver. I was happy to see Toyota service where all taxi and salaried/businessman folks were treated the same, neither special nor poor. Come, get your car serviced, chill in their lounge and get out. In fact the only person who got more attention was this old gentleman who brought his 2 decade old Qualis for regular service and new tyres. More than respect for him, it was the respect for the car for surviving so long in almost perfect condition. I hope Toyota keeps up the experience otherwise I will consider my purchase a waste of money if they reduce their quality even a bit.

[srvm]

Folks, this is going way off topic. Many recent posts are more like rants about Tata Motors, dealership experiences, MG etc. I'm sure there are other threads for sharing such posts.
Shall we get back to discussing Harrier Auto & related topics?

[07CR]

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

1. You are not impressed with 'so-called' fit and finish of Harrier, didn't you notice the same during TD?
2. As per you Harrier does not offer premium experience, same would have caught during TD or there is a difference in experience between TD vehicle and your vehicle
3. As per you, Compass is next segment vehicle and can not be compared with Harrier (I agree) but throughout your narration you did compare it with Compass
4. Other than fit and finish issues which as per you are endless, there were no other issues reported by you. I would like to hear more about endless fit and finish issues to compare it with my vehicle
5. Most of your other issues and bad experiences revolve around one specific dealer 'Keshav Motors', as you had better experience with other dealer

I would say 1&2 is very hard to observe over only a 20 minute test drive. These are things you observe after you drive it regularly. My dad made the same mistake in 2013, when we bought the first generation Honda Amaze. Most things looked good at first instance, but slowly we observed the many inconsistencies in Fit and finish department.

3- The OP was conflicted between Compass and Harrier and could not comprehend the price commanded by Compass relatively smaller size with Harrier. But as per OP, except the size, Compass appears to be better in almost all other areas, compared to Harrier. Maybe hence the comparison. About 5, OP told about the other dealership, where the lower bumper paint was damaged on a ramp and how the dealership tried to cover it up.

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

I don't want to give my money to yet to be a proven company like MG (other than Make in India sentiment) whose design and logos scream like Made In China or to Mahindra who is yet to launch new Scorpio or XUV and at what price.

Well this is all subjective. I felt the Hector to be superior in almost all departments compared to Harrier, except the High speed ride quality.

For instance just compare the NVH and gearshifts in both the car's diesel avatars. The NVH in Hector is better than Harrier. It's the same engine, that does duty on both cars, but somewhere Tata did cut corner's while MG did not.

[viXit]

We've always had a Tata vehicle in the garage for the last 20 years, and I will agree with those criticising Tata for having terrible After sales service.

But many of the Tata owners like me, are willing to cut some slack just because we see them trying.. in the product department. Their cars have Improved by leaps and bounds. We have never had a breakdown on our safari, never had any premature mechanical failures.

But everytime the car goes to TASS. it's a royal screw up and a rip off job. I hate it to the core.

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by Nayan

So, I don't agree that a person who is willing to shell out 22 to 24 lakhs for a Harrier, will spend a few lakhs more to get a Compass.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. If someone with your budget and requirements is looking for a car, probably they should have spend 15-16L on a used BMW X1 and reserve the rest 6-7L on the maintenance. Something like this:

[girishss]

Some positive long term experience for the Harrier:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmiFGNGcEIA

I am impressed with the product itself, I guess it is about finding the right dealer/service center.

[Nikhil Beke]

It's impossible to imagine that they don't understand luxury segment- people who run Taj group and few of the successful airlines would know how to ensure a pleasant ownership experience. It simply happens because their customers put up with their services- and rationalise their choices- Tata motors' "Chalta hai" attitude further helps encourage this trend.
The name Tata commands a respect and a loyalty in India due to a lot of their humanitarian endeavours. Their recent cars enjoy dark horse image and do indeed deserve a success, if they're offered sans these sore points. IMHO, there's only one solution- like Nexa, they need to set up a premium passenger vehicle division and aim the customer base that is willing to pay a premium for a niggle-free ownership. I understand it's simply not fair to their no-so- premium products and customers, but a premium car segment (and customer base that insists of a quality experience, a la Toyota), would help them change their culture that could possibly, eventually trickle down to their less premium division. They could redefine their present "pay nice or pay twice" approach.

[yd_gli]

Originally Posted by Nayan

As such a casual, sarkari attitude of the TASS is damaging the car when we hand over to them? What is the point in taking care of a car if the dealer/TASS don’t care enough and damages the car?

Sorry to hear about your experience with Tata Motors in general. A lot of people tend to consider TASS, the dealer and TML as separate entities but at the end of the day the blame falls with TML irrespective of which function messes up with things. Unfortunately for TML this is a 2 steps forward 5 steps backward kind of situation. All their effort with new products and the whole "vocal for local" benefits go down the drain when such events occur.

I have a Hexa and my purchase experience (RTO matters, sales manager) was horrible to say the least. The only reason I went ahead was because I got it at a price that was a steal. The experience with TASS has been ok with some events that make me scratch my head and ask why Tata why?? The car is an awesome product but would I recommend a Tata to my family/friends? Probably not. The Nexon and Hexa (BS6?) are the only two products I would buy from them again given a chance since the products are (were) way superior to anything else on the market (until the Hexa was discontinued). The average Joe will not have the ability and patience to arm twist sarkari TASS into getting things done.

All the Vocal for Local hype aside, the Harrier and Safari are not worth the price they are asking for in my opinion.

[NotanF1driver]

Originally Posted by girishss

Some positive long term experience for the Harrier:

Media reports of Tata Harrier has always been impressive. And the product is always reported as superb. That's what draws me back to the Harrier. Such a good long term review, especially the fact that "not a squeak or rattle and nothing broke" is what encourages me to put my hard earned (very hard earned) savings on it.

[07CR]

Originally Posted by yd_gli

All the Vocal for Local hype aside, the Harrier and Safari are not worth the price they are asking for in my opinion.

Completely agree here. In terms of products alone, Tata provided some great products like the Zest, Bolt, Tiago, Tigor(except anaemic engines, this was a great car) Nexon (pre facelift especially) and the Hexa (Hit their peak).

Then it went downhill and a bit too fast with the Harrier, Nexon facelift and the Safari. IMO given a choice, I would still choose the Hexa over the unpolished Harrier/Safari duos. In terms of niceties, Hexa offered so much more for the premium feel good factor over these two (especially Harrier)

1) Pneumatic struts for bonnet
2) Sunshades for the windows
3) Multi Color ambient lights
4) 10 speaker JBL audio system
5) Heated ORVMs
6) Reclinable rear seats
7) Auto down functionality for all windows
8) A very usable third row and even decent boot space with all rows up at 130 odd litres
9) Magic carpet like ride quality
10) All wheel discs.
11) 4*4 ability

I am probably forgetting some more of these. All these at a price tag that's even lower than 2019 Harrier. Not to mention this was way back in 2016! Hexa was a product ahead of it's time (atleast in Tata motors lineage). If it was launched right now, it would have been a decent success.

[Slowjet]

I have had 3 Tata cars till date in the last 15 years and I would say the product have always provided me peace of mind. I have had pleasant experience with Tata Motors dealers and even for servicing except two instances but that got rectified, obviously after escalation. But I do agree that they need to be pushed to get the things properly done sometimes. I have been to Maruti, Hyundai, Kia dealership and the attitude of their sales person is not proper (lot of ego) and if this is the attitude before even selling the vehicle then what will happen after it has been purchased.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by Nayan

Thanks for being patient enough to read such a long post.

Damn!

So much grief after buying a 24 lakh car! God, you are patient. I am sure I would have raised hell and lost every ounce of my peace and patience in the first few weeks.

Gosh! Terrifies me to recommend expensive Tatas to friends and relatives. Fortunately my Storme(and the lasy 3 tatas of mine)as well as my brother's harrier(until now-3000 km) have been trouble free. Our local dealer is the opposite of keshav motors. I find the contribution of Keshav motors to your frustration is a lot more than that caused by Harrier as a car.

Really sorry to hear about your experience man.

[TorqueIndia]

It's sad to see many owners are getting frustrated with the TataMotors dealerships and service experiences. Definitely TataMotors or their dealers should never treat their customers so silly or take them granted. Majority of their sales now comes from Nexon, Harrier and Safari. These car buyers aren't budget customers, they must get the feel and comfort they deserve, right from the enquiry to each service and support requests. They have already shown us how beautifully they have handled their Hexa customers, TataMotors should use the same template for their newer customers too, especially SUVs.

Be it Chinese, fake or cheap built whatever MG has shown us how to treat customers in a betterway atleast at the sales point or at the event of a breakdown, even though MG handles only 50K cars where as TML handles around 15-20 lakhs of cars. MG smartly shapes their image in the social media by deleting all the negative feedbacks, for instance someday a customer will post a pic of his burning MG hector transmission, the same customer would come up with an explanation after two days that he had installed ambient lighting in the engine bay! just kidding.

Every car got their own shares of niggles be it Toyota , Tata , Jeep, Hyundai, MG or Maruti. At the end of the day what matters is how much attention or care the manufacturer had shown to the customer at his difficult time.
My suggestion for TataMotors is to create dedicated customer care reporting portals for each model, they sell only 5-6 models so a dedicated contact points like harrier@tatamotors.com or something for each car with assured prompt response and direct execution would have made the fellow owners lives much easier compared to the hues and cries in social media or forums.

MG got a dedicated portal for attending their frustrated customers like- https://twitter.com/MGSupportIndia. What I have observed is that they clear their history post every ticket is closed unlike TataMotors on TeamBHP who gets roasted everyday and documented permanently for generations. Also the number of MG owners is very less compared to TML owners on the forum.

Coincidentally these hoopla over TML has increased multifold with the recent spike in their sales. TML should take stringent action against those lazy dealers, now TML is in a dominant position in the market than ever and they can certainly do it.

[bvasista]

Originally Posted by Nayan

Thanks for being patient enough to read such a long post.

It is quite painful that facing such issues/experiences after paying for such premium product from Tata. Extremely sorry about that.

In general, you can walk in at any service center of Maruti/Hyundai and experience some sort of uniformity in terms of service. But for Tata, it all comes down to the specific service center/dealership.

I was having a word with an owner of the latest product - Tata Safari who owned Nexon for 4 years before exchanging it with Safari. He comes for service only at Venkataramana Motors, Kondapur, Hyderabad even though Orange Motors is walkable for him only because Venkataramana Motors offers a better service than Orange.

My personal experience:
1. Bought Tiago (2018) from Gurudev Motors, Poonamallee high road, Chennai. Smooth delivery process.
2. Regularly serviced at Concorde ECR, Chennai (perhaps now it is taken over by Lakshmi). Good experience.
3. Moved to Hyderabad an year ago and 2 services done with Venkataramana Motors, Kondapur, Hyderabad. Good experience.
4. Regularly got service reminders, feedback forms & calls from Concorde ECR (Chennai), Venkataramana (Hyderabad)

[CarNerd]

What I don't understand is Tata Motors not making improvements in quality despite owning Luxury brands Jaguar & Land Rover. I mean can't they learn from them? Can't they visit the plants and adopt the same here? It has been 13 years since Tata acquired JLR yet they are unable to sort out quality issues. Service is one thing but how come they can't fix panel gaps, rough edges, etc. And they want more than 20 Lakhs for such a product. Absolutely Unacceptable. Tata has surely improved the safety aspect in all these years, maybe they'll take another 13 years to improve the quality. So let's wait till 2034