Initial Ownership Review:
After booking the Tata Safari on the first day when bookings started (Feb 04, 2021), and changing the variant (on Mar 01, 2021) after Adventure Edition was launched, I finally got the delivery of the XZ+ Adventure Edition on Mar 31, 2021 from Kropex Motors in Bangalore.
Launch and Test Drive
As soon as the Safari was launched as, well, the Safari on Jan 26, we had made up our mind to buy it. We test drove the Hector also (the only other 7 seater option in this segment - Fortuner, etc were out of budget), but liked the Safari more. Specifically, better handling, more comfortable last row, better interiors, drive modes, and better over-all looks decided in favour of Safari. Also the fact that it was Tata (an Indian company) tilted the scales. The only thing I liked about the Hector more was more trunk space with last row up, but that was not a deal-breaker.
Once the car was available for test drive, I test drove the manual as well as automatic. Even though the automatic performed well enough, I was not bowled over by it, and instead, was sold on the manual's performance and control. So went with the XZ+ variant.
The wait period was almost 2 months from the time I booked the vehicle to delivery. I had booked the vehicle online on Tata Motors' website. Within a few days, I got a call from Chethan (SA) from Kropex Auto Hosur road branch since I had selected that dealership while booking. I had read mostly unpleasant reviews about Tata Motors dealerships (this is my first Tata car), so I had low expectations to begin with. But overall, the experience was quite good and I was pleasantly surprised. The SA kept me updated on the progress and also answered a lot of my questions patiently.
Inspection and Payment
A few days before allotment the SA gave a heads-up to keep payment ready. Once the car was allotted, I was asked to make the complete payment before the dealership could send it for registration. So I made some initial payment upfront, and the remaining after inspecting the car. Once the car was at the dealership, I went for the inspection. They had kept the car in their uncovered stockyard. Checked the Odometer and it was around 14km or so, so that was fine. There weren't any blemishes on the exterior, but the hand-rest and the passenger seat were a little dirty (!), which the SA assured would be cleaned before delivery. The PDI was also done by the dealership by then and they did not find any issues. After the inspection, I made the remaining payment.
Delivery
It took 3 business days for registration. I had inspected the car on Saturday and delivery was set for Wednesday (Mar 31). I had checked upfront with the SA to make sure that there was no delay and he confirmed it. But once I reached the dealership for delivery with family, I was told that since the RTO servers were down since the day before, they were not able to pay the road tax, and I would not be able to take the delivery. Since I had come with family (had got my son's car seat also with me), not taking delivery was the last option. Instead of getting upset, I asked them politely to keep trying and I was ready to wait. After about 3 hours, the payment did go through at 4pm! The SA and his manager were quite apologetic, and while it wasn't a great experience, I liked the fact that they tried their best and eventually were able to make the payment. A note on the Tata service experience here. I had visited a couple of dealerships (Key Motors, Prerna) for test drives and checking the car. At all times, the experience was very professional. I was always provided with a test drive when I asked for one. The SAs went out of their way to provide good service, like taking me to their stockyard a few distance away to show the Adventure Persona variant.
After this, the delivery process was mostly smooth, but time consuming. I was explained the documents and the features of the car. During key hand-over, confetti was sprayed, which was a nice touch :-) But I think since I was getting the top end model of their top vehicle, maybe a bit more fanfare, such as unveiling it, and maybe hand-over by their store manager, would have been a bit more classy. I personally do not care, but doing such small things may make the delivery experience even better and will help in improving the overall image of Tata Motors. Also, I was given the Harrier manual, since the Safari manuals were not printed yet. Also, there were no Safari specific accessories available yet, so I didn't take any.
We finally took delivery at around 5:30pm and thought of taking it for a spin. But only a couple of kms on, I was not able to change the drive mode. I stopped, turned off the car, started again, and tried again. But this time I saw an error on the dash: "Drive Mode Malfunction". I was able to drive the car, and since I was not far from the dealership, I took it back to them. After diagnosing, they found that the issue was with DEF compartment. To resolve it, they had to run the car for around 20 minutes or so to clean the compartment (I did not completely understand this). I feel this might be one of the things they probably do for new cars and it was missed in my case. I was assured that it will not happen again. After waiting for about 30 minutes, I was able to drive away without any issues.
Experience since delivery
Except for the initial hiccup, the performance of the car has been exemplary. I have driven about 500 kms in the last 15 days, both in city and on highway. Here are my initial views:
1. The handling is pristine and acceleration is great, especially once the initial lag is overcome. Even in city mode, overtaking is easy - I haven't felt the need to use the sports mode much - but it just takes off when using the sports mode (These are my 5 year old's words : "Dad, the car just takes off like an aeroplane in sports mode" :-) )
2. The interiors feel luxurious and spacious. The color combination in the Adventure Persona is good - beige seats may get dirty, but not as much as what the white ones would.
3. The music system is quite good with the JBL speakers, but Bose would have been better :-).
4. This is the first time I am using auto-dimming IRVM, and it works like a charm and is very useful. Auto hold helps a lot in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Electronic parking break is also very convenient to use, but requires a bit getting used to, since it gets applied automatically whenever you turn off the car.
5. A great feature is that the sunroof automatically closes when you lock the car, if you forget to explicitly close it.
6. Android Auto setup was quick and without any issue and works well. The screen could have better response to the touch commands.
7. We already got compliments from friends that the color of the adventure persona is very good and different to what we see on the roads, and that it looks very sporty.
8. I have installed the iRA app, but haven't used it much so cannot comment on that.
There are many other small features which are useful and give a nice touch to the driving experience.
Final Verdict
The Safari wins hearts in looks, driving pleasure and road presence. Tata Motors has hit a home run with this launch. I would absolutely recommend it to family and friends!