[Big Smoke]

Originally Posted by moh1t

Can the minor panel gap difference in the boot (1) and the headlamp cluster gap (2) and the seat cover stitching be fixed at the dealer/service center end?

Regarding point #6 above, I can't really do anything here can I? there's no sure fire way for me to know where and why the car was driven 78km before delivery.

I still haven't given my go ahead for loan disbursement, so I can ask them to get these few things fixed.

The service center won't be able to do a good job to fix the panel gaps & seat cover stitching. As far as I can judge, Tata dealers won't repair/replace stuff under warranty unless it is 'defective' or 'malfunctional.' In your case, it's neither.

Regarding the odometer reading, the dealer probably got the car driven from the main stockyard (which is usually in the outskirts of the city, where the trucks unload the cars) to his own stockyard. Usually they don't ferry people about, and even if they do, you'll never come to know. It's better to just accept the car the way it is.

Please check on one major thing: if the car is pulling towards the left side while driving. Somehow manage to take the car for a short test drive with the SA, tell him that you'll not pay unless you get the test drive. But absolutely DO NOT take the car without checking this thing.

Reason: Almost every Tata car has this issue. This can be fixed either by correct wheel alignment, OR some other major repair: such as shifting the subframe a bit (major, major work needed for that). If the dealer does the wheel alignment (which he's supposed to ensure at PDI) and the issue is sorted, well and good. Otherwise, again, DO NOT take the car unless the issue is sorted.

I'm currently facing this issue. I took delivery in January 2021. I didn't know about this issue then. After my Second Service on last Friday, I got the wheel alignment done at a reputed shop and this issue came to light. The car pulling towars the left side issue (which was present since day 1, and went unnoticed in city driving) wasn't sorted through wheel alignment, suggesting some other bigger cause of the problem.

Currently my car is at the service center with my driver. I sent the car in the morning. I'm still yet to receive a call from the SA.

Exercise this caution if you do not want a major headache during the course of ownership.

[Big Smoke]

Originally Posted by Big Smoke

Currently my car is at the service center with my driver. I sent the car in the morning. I'm still yet to receive a call from the SA.

Sorry for back to back posts, but have to post an important (thankfully, positive) update which happened right now.

The car just came back from the service center.
The SA said that he just did wheel alignment & tyre rotation. That supposedly fixed the issue.

However, my driver said that the SA did some other work as well. Whatever, the issue has been sorted now. The car drives in a straight line.

I'm extremely happy at these developments. If only an alignment & tyre rotation issue fixed the problem, I can't be more thankful.

But some questions do crop up-
1. Why did they take close to 5 hours to do this small job?
2. Why did that reputed tyre shop not be able to correct the same issue?

[Nayan]

@Big Smoke.

Can you please request your Service Centre to disclose the work they did on your car?
My Harrier was delivered in March 2021. It has completed 11,500 km till date. After doing wheel alignment and balancing at a reputed outlet, I noticed that my car pulls towards left side. The person who did wheel alignment and balancing work, told me to get the steering calibration done by TASS, as no one else will be able to do it. He also mentioned that all Harrier cars have this problem.
Did your harrier underwent steering calibration or some other work?

[caffeineAM]

Looking at the recent posts and the other thread about the Harrier issues, I've decided to drop this from my buy list. Can't fathom why Tata is continuing to put together a shoddy product. I had already dropped the Seltos due to safety issues, now I'm out of options. Thankfully my current car's registration is valid for 3 more years.

[Big Smoke]

Originally Posted by Nayan

@Big Smoke.

Can you please request your Service Centre to disclose the work they did on your car?
My Harrier was delivered in March 2021. It has completed 11,500 km till date. After doing wheel alignment and balancing at a reputed outlet, I noticed that my car pulls towards left side. The person who did wheel alignment and balancing work, told me to get the steering calibration done by TASS, as no one else will be able to do it. He also mentioned that all Harrier cars have this problem.
Did your harrier underwent steering calibration or some other work?

The service centre is pretty lackadaisical. Even if I ask them to disclose the work done, they'll not be able to do so. They'll just tell me again that they did only wheel alignment and tyre rotation, although my driver told me that they did some more work (possibly steering alignment). Although the SA did mention stuff to my driver like "We have all the software of the Harrier which outside tyre alignment shops don't have, so it's better to get the tyre alignment from us only." Don't know what he meant.

Just send your car to the service center and let them figure out the issue. They'll possibly take some time, but they should be able to fix it.

Originally Posted by caffeineAM

Looking at the recent posts and the other thread about the Harrier issues, I've decided to drop this from my buy list. Can't fathom why Tata is continuing to put together a shoddy product. I had already dropped the Seltos due to safety issues, now I'm out of options. Thankfully my current car's registration is valid for 3 more years.

Please check out the Hyundai Tucson. You'll possibly have to shell out 2-4 lakhs more than the Harrier, but you'll get a superb product. If budget becomes an issue, then wait till January 2022 and you'll get the best deal. If budget is not an issue, you may wait until the new generation launches next year.

Again, if budget is not an issue, and automatic transmission is not a necessity, check out the Jeep Compass diesel. Overall, you'll be more satisfied than with the Harrier.

I won't recommend the Hector because of their atrocious spare part pricing and questionable build quality. And VW / Skoda, although may provide you with better built cars, would result in a worse ownership experience than Tata.

[caffeineAM]

@Big Smoke,

I have a Fiat. Don't fancy chasing the only service center in town, so Jeep was the first one to be dropped

That said, the Fiat Linea has served me well since 2009. Apart from a failed clutch piston and a fuel pump which was promptly replaced, no other quality issues. Heck, some of the fit and finish I saw on some Harrier/Safari reviews on YouTube is what I see in my car after 12 years of use.

[Rollingwheels26]

Harrier fan boy in a quandry:

Dear Fellow BHPians I have been trying to solve a quandary for the last few days and am unable to do so. I am at my wits end and finally have decided to seek opinions from all of you.

Part 1 : A not so brief intro (skip to part two if a petrol head's ravings arent your cup of tea)

I and my wife (both in very early 30s, Bangalore) are planning to upgrade from our Manual Grand i10. It has been a faithful trusty steed that has served us well over the last 3 years over 18000 km of trips across various terrains. But since last few months there has been an itch to upgrade to something more....'meaty'. So after taking stock of our finances I have been doing window shopping.

I started out with the C and D segment sedans. Looked at Elantra (rejected because it lacked the drop dead looks of the previous version), Civic was stopped before I had a chance to buy it (as a fan of the 8th Gen Civic's handling and top end I would have bought the petrol variant , despite it being an automatic in a heart beat), Verna never appealed to me and finally I arrived at Honda City. My search seemed to be at an end since the i-Vtec engine and the looks were enough to get me to open my purse strings when suddenly the Mrs. pointed out that why don't we look at SUVs ? And just like that suddenly the search started afresh !

I started looking at Creta and Seltos seriously. I had been a big fan of the previous generation Creta's looks and interior plus the Seltos was a stone cold killer in terms of looks ! Based on my budget I shortlisted the Seltos 1.4 Turbo petrol manual GTX+ and the Creta 1.5 Diesel manual SX(O) (If you are wondering why the oddball choices- I was particular on 6 airbags and a manual transmission (I was ok with either diesel or petrol).

I test drove the Creta and fell in love with its comfort. Then I sat in the Seltos and fell in love with the features and interior that made me feel like I was in a spaceship designed by Elon Musk ! Test drove back to back and felt both engines excelled in their own way. Yet again I felt I had arrived at my top 2 contenders when suddenly I read about the recent Seltos accident where the car had split in two. That news bought back memories of the NCAP test as well as various discussions on Team-bhp about how the Hyundai India had made certain changes to car structures as compared to abroad (perhaps my brain had supressed these painful memories after experiencing the joy of test driving the Korean twins ) along with other nuggets of information read in various forums that all pointed to the same unmistakable truth- the Korean twins were unsafe . And heaven forbid if during our highway trips if something happened to my co-passengers I would never be able to forgive myself.

So the search started afresh for the third time. This time I heard news of the Kushaq being launched. I felt hopeful. Skoda , while it had abysmal after sales, no one could doubt its safety (well they could until NCAP tests the car but I digress), or reliability (as long as you stayed clear of the DSG which is why I was looking at the 1.5 L manual) and as a wise man said on this forum- dont let the pain of a once a year maintenance trip override the joy of driving for the remaining 364 days. While I was waiting for the pricing to be revealed I decided to see what other cars were in the same price range. And I landed upon our homeboys- HArrier and XUV 500. Ofcourse I had read the horror stories of the reliability and niggles on HArrier and the safety issues on XUV (multipe reports of airbags failing to deploy) but I thought I would test drive them for the sake of it and push them out of my head...

Boy was I wrong !

One test drive in the harrier and i was H-O-O-K-E-D, line and sinker ! The commanding view, the pull of the engine post 2000 RPM, the gorgeous looks that could make a grown man weep in joy, the acres of space enough to solving housing crisis...I barely saw the poor fit and finish or the random error messages that came up on the MIS during the test drive. I had a look at the XUV too but the outdated interiors couldn't hold a candle to the harrier in my eyes, plus the horror stories about airbags made me think twice since safety was paramount.

I quickly decided that the XZ manual variant made sense for me since it had the 6 airbags and it avoided the sunroof of the XZ+ variant which would eliminate potential leaking problems and the manual gearbox meant extra reliability over the slushbox. Additionally the Kushaq prices got revealed which meant that the 1.5L manual would cost me just 1.5 Lakhs less than Harrier XZ (post discounts) which made the decision even easier for me (or perhaps I was already in love with the Harrier ). I started discussions with the sales person and even shortlisted couple of accessories. But as someone who intends to use the car for trips with the wife across south India I thought I should check the reliability factor once again (despite having read dozens and dozens of posts over the last two years about the niggles that keep cropping up) to see if I could find even 2-3 owners who seemed happy with the reliability to justify the decision.

Imagine my dejection when I saw that across the internet, regardless of the forums there are post after post of owners finding dozens of issues. If it isn't fuel tanks about to fall off, it is the ICE unit conking off or the gearbox throwing tantrums or the steering pulling to sides with a mind of its own. With every single article/post my heart sank further and further until I almost felt my heart break. I wanted, nay needed the Harrier but the fear of spending 22 large ones and then having to deal with issues and an incompetent, apathetic after sales didn't seem right.

With a heavy heart, I briefly considered the Korean twins again. After all barring the odd issue here and there they, at least, had reliability. But, after having driven the Harrier I just couldn't go back to them. I briefly toyed with the idea of going for the Tucson but at 30 Lakhs on road that was simple an unwise financial decision. I even considered the Jeep Compass Diesel Limited (O) Manual option since at ~25 L it was a doable stretch from the Harrier but honestly spending 25 L on it just didn't seem right - despite safety and reliability being assured. Honestly if it had been priced at 19L I would have gone for it as a good enough consolation after the Harrier heartbreak but 25L was just to much and not enough bang for buck.

Why oh why Tata couldn't you create a reliable car ? Was it too much to ask ? Hike the price by a lakh but make something more sorted. Damn you for doing this to me :(

Part 2: The summary

These are all the cars I looked at and my views on them.

Seltos 1.4L Petrol Manual GTX+: Amazing to sit in and good enough to drive. Reliable with good After sales. 6 airbags but Unsafe as per NCAP (not to mention the recent accident where the Seltos split into two) and hence a big big drawback for me.

Creta Diesel SX(O) Manual: Exactly the same as Seltos since it shares the same platform.

XUV 500 W11(o): Outdated interiors plus horror stories of airbags not deploying. Additional concern of it being phased out and availability of spares.

Harrier XZ Manual: LOVEE the car. Period. Concerned about niggles and giving it for service every other week to fix some issue or the other. Also concerned about reliability and being stuck/stranded during our trips if we go to interior, off beat places with no service centres to rescue us.

Jeep Compass Diesel Limited (O) Manual: Fantastic car. Reliable. Safe. Simple over priced and lacks the street presence of Harrier/XUV.

We are open to petrol or diesel. Manual. with 6 airbags as well as a safe structure. Car will be mainly used in city with one long highway trip every month.

Would appreciate inputs from all and sundry since I am at my wits end since the last one week as to what car to decide upon and unable to think of anything else !

Thanks in advance
RollingWheels26

[yesyeswe]

Originally Posted by Rollingwheels26

Harrier fan boy in a quandry:


Would appreciate inputs from all and sundry since I am at my wits end since the last one week as to what car to decide upon and unable to think of anything else !

Thanks in advance
RollingWheels26

I know Kushaq has not yet been crash tested but according to GTO's insider information it's going to score 4 stars at least. Moreover going by the record of Skoda in terms of safety it's going to be a safe vehicle. Service in banglore is not bad either, I follow many threads and no one from banglore has complaint about service.

With Kushaq you are going to get everything you need in the manual variant, 6 airbags, a very long list of safety features and a very powerful 1.5 petrol engine. When compared to Harrier you get, a very smooth 10 inch touchscreen and ventilated seats. Good driving dynamics, sorted build quality and excellent fit and finish is Skoda trademark.

For a city like Banglore, Kushaq is going to be easier to drive and park than a full size SUV. On the highway Harrier is going to shine but when you point that most of your drives are going to be city, then I think small crossover is better.

Where it's going to lose is in looks and road presence, I don't think any vehicle under 25 lakhs can beat Harrier in terms of looks, whenever I see one on road I can't stop myself staring at it. But Kushaq isn't bad either, my advice to you is, go and test drive the vehicle, see it for yourself and then decide.

[Jatin247]

Originally Posted by Rollingwheels26

[b][u]
Part 2: The summary

These are all the cars I looked at and my views on them.

Seltos 1.4L Petrol Manual GTX+: Amazing to sit in and good enough to drive. Reliable with good After sales. 6 airbags but Unsafe as per NCAP (not to mention the recent accident where the Seltos split into two) and hence a big big drawback for me.

Creta Diesel SX(O) Manual: Exactly the same as Seltos since it shares the same platform.

XUV 500 W11(o): Outdated interiors plus horror stories of airbags not deploying. Additional concern of it being phased out and availability of spares.

Harrier XZ Manual: LOVEE the car. Period. Concerned about niggles and giving it for service every other week to fix some issue or the other. Also concerned about reliability and being stuck/stranded during our trips if we go to interior, off beat places with no service centres to rescue us.

Jeep Compass Diesel Limited (O) Manual: Fantastic car. Reliable. Safe. Simple over priced and lacks the street presence of harrier/xuv.

We are open to petrol or diesel. Manual. with 6 airbags as well as a safe structure. Car will be mainly used in city with one long highway trip every month.

Would appreciate inputs from all and sundry since I am at my wits end since the last one week as to what car to decide upon and unable to think of anything else !

Thanks in advance
RollingWheels26

First thing which I would like to say is that, there is no perfect car. Every car has some cons.

I would suggest you to get Jeep Compass, if you are open to stretch your budget.
++ Great build quality
++Decently loaded
++Looks classy(IMO)
++ Less niggles as compared to Tata

-- Would cost more
-- Lacks big car road presence

The 2nd option which I would suggest you to consider are Korean twins (any), as you are only considering manual you can't go wrong with either but with rising prices of fuel my pick would be Creta Diesel. As you are considering only top end variants with six airbags, the safety would be decent plus both of these cars offer all safety features like ESP, traction control Hill hold assist, etc. Electronic parking and auto hold are other feature which I love in Creta.

The sole reason to stay away from Harrier are niggles, recently I have seen so many posts on facebook groups and Teambhp that its just scary. All of us desire a fuss free ownership and going to dealeship/workshop every few weeks is one big headache which no one likes. No doubt that Harrier is a great car but I would personally prefer my car to stay at home rather than a workshop.

[The Riddler]

Originally Posted by Rollingwheels26

Harrier fan boy in a quandry:

Dear Fellow BHPians I have been trying to solve a quandary for the last few days and am unable to do so. I am at my wits end and finally have decided to seek opinions from all of you.

Hey Rollingwheels,

I understand how you feel as I was in the same boat a few months ago.

I drove a Fiat Punto 90HP for 9.5 years and was looking for an upgrade. Budget was set at 25 lakhs.

Shortlisted Kia Seltos, Hyundai Creta and Tata Harrier (Safari wasn't launched then yet) and I only wanted a 5 seater. Was okay with either petrol or diesel. Kia dealer was the most responsive but then came the news of Seltos scoring 3 stars in NCAP. I shared the article to my Kia SA and he was dismissive about this. Seltos was out.

Did not test drive the Creta as its basically the same as Seltos.

NCAP hasn't tested Harrier yet- however I feel Harrier will fare better than Seltos/Creta in the even of an accident. I asked Tata for a test drive. They got the Harrier XZA+ and boy was I hooked. I love the MJD from Fiat and this 2.0 felt like a proper upgrade for me from a 90HP to a 170HP. Creta/ Seltos were 115HP.

Booked and got myself a Harrier XZA+ on March 20th. I've only covered about 3.6K kms till date but I absolutely love driving it. Harrier has loads of presence.

Will I recommend a Harrier?

It depends. Tata should definitely up its QC game. I found some rough edges especially near the boot and this is consistent with a lot of Harriers that I checked. Finish is not up to the mark. Buyers definitely need to do a thorough PDI before transferring funds.

I had mentally prepared myself for a few niggles but touchwood all is well till date. Super happy with the purchase and fingers crossed.

Attaching a picture of my steed

[NotanF1driver]

Originally Posted by Rollingwheels26

[b][u]
I am my wife (both in very early 30s, Bangalore) are planning to upgrade

I read about the recent Seltos accident where the car had split in two.

Part 2: The summary

RollingWheels26

Hello RollingWheels26,

1. I am in the same exact place as you are (including age group), except that I am in Kochi and would need an automatic torque converter.
2. The accident which made the Seltos split in two - I had seen it in several places and the kind of situation the car was in, I don't know if other cars would fare better. Such kind of extreme side impact is rate and can't be tested in a lab, in my opinion. Have you seen the GNCAP report of Seltos? What worries me is the bottoming out of the front airbag on head impact! What in the world!
3. I think it is an easy choice if Compass is there in your list. I guess is a more sensible choice here. I don't have that option since the AT diesel is way more expensive than the options here.
4. Harrier's niggles are the biggest worry to me. In my opinion, the Harrier is a bit wide - do you not find it a bit difficult to give way in the narrow roads in Bangalore?
5. I guess there is a thread where I had the exact same question on Harrier vs Seltos. You can check it out here
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/suvs-...others-10.html (Tata Harrier Automatic vs Hyundai Creta vs Kia Seltos vs others)

Please let me know what you end up picking. Happy motoring!

[NoLurkerForLong]

Originally Posted by NotanF1driver

Hello RollingWheels26,

...
2. The accident which made the Seltos split in two - I had seen it in several places and the kind of situation the car was in, I don't know if other cars would fare better. Such kind of extreme side impact is rate and can't be tested in a lab, in my opinion. Have you seen the GNCAP report of Seltos? What worries me is the bottoming out of the front airbag on head impact! What in the world!
...

Initially there was speculation if it was cut to release passengers trapped inside. Are we sure Seltos split into two?

[fiat_tarun]

Originally Posted by Rollingwheels26

One test drive in the harrier and i was H-O-O-K-E-D, line and sinker !
...
I quickly decided that the XZ manual variant made sense for me since it had the 6 airbags and it avoided the sunroof of the XZ+ variant which would eliminate potential leaking problems and the manual gearbox meant extra reliability over the slushbox.
...
But as someone who intends to use the car for trips with the wife across south india I thought I should check the reliability factor once again (despite having read dozens and dozens of posts over the last two years about the niggles that keep cropping up) to see if I could find even 2-3 owners who seemed happy with the reliability to justify the decision.
Imagine my dejection when I saw that across the internet, regardless of the forums there are post after post of owners finding dozens of issues. If it isnt fuel tanks about to fall off, it is the ICE unit conking off or the gearbox throwing tantrums or the steering pulling to sides with a mind of its own....

If you liked the Harrier so much, I think you should get it lest you have buyers remorse every time you see one on the road. Tata's get more reliable after the initial batches and while the risk is still there, it is pretty low for the Harriers rolling out of the factory now.

It's natural tendency to get online when one has an issue but not everyone reports the good experience, so there are many owners out there happy with the overall experience. From what I have read, the more common issues seem to be with the infotainment while the fuel tank falling off, sunroof leaking, etc. are one off issues.

I think you should get the automatic though which is superbly mated to that engine. The reliability concerns do not apply to torque converter automatics and the unit in the Harrier is a proven Hyundai unit.

Part 2: The summary
...
Creta Diesel SX(O) Manual: Exactly the same as Seltos since it shares the same platform.

In case you have to choose between the Korean's, going by the images in this thread (Kia Seltos body structure facts & comparison with the Hyundai Creta) the Creta is even worse than the Seltos in terms of the structure reinforcement. The Seltos get ultra high strength steel on both the driver & passenger side footwells whereas the Creta has it only on the driver's side .

[NotanF1driver]

Originally Posted by NoLurkerForLong

Initially there was speculation if it was cut to release passengers trapped inside. Are we sure Seltos split into two?

I guess it was discussed in a different thread and this was ruled out. In case it was cut for rescue operation, they would have cut the roof and not the whole car.

[Highh5]

Originally Posted by Rollingwheels26

Harrier fan boy in a quandry:

Dear Fellow BHPians I have been trying to solve a quandary for the last few days and am unable to do so. I am at my wits end and finally have decided to seek opinions from all of you.

Would appreciate inputs from all and sundry since I am at my wits end since the last one week as to what car to decide upon and unable to think of anything else !

Thanks in advance
RollingWheels26

I must say you are not the only one who has gone through this dilemma. I was exactly in the same boat a few months back. To be very honest I didn't even considered Harrier because it was way over my initial budget of 15 lakhs.

I also considered Korean twins, Nissan Kicks and XUV 500. While shopping in this price bracket, I realised why Creta or Seltos sells more, not because they are the best available options but in reality, there are no proper options available from the competition.

Only Car which I was able to finalise was Nissan Kicks, before I took the test drive of Tata Harrier. And then there was no going back, I know there are a lot of QC issues but half of the time I don't even realise that infotainment is not working fine or hangs every now and then because I'm too lost while enjoying my drive.

Investing more than 23 lakhs in a brand that is infamously famous for the QC issues was a risk I took and till now there are no major complaints. In fact, I'm extremely happy with my decision and always look forward to driving my beast.

I have tested my machine to the limits, did Delhi - Bangalore and Bangalore - Delhi runs. Kept the engine running for 11 hours, did both legit and not so legit speeds(in a controlled manner, not encouraging anyone), not been too kind on the bumps. I would say for me it was Heart over Head decision, and I went with my heart. Undoubtedly, I will recommend the same to you as well.