[PAVAN KADAM]

2 days after the launch.

We have 2 bookings on T-BHP

Surprisingly i did not get to TD the Aria at Prerna motors - Lalbagh road.

Lets see if they get back to me. They were offering me a discount and exchange on the Safari, which i said, not interested.

[gshanky]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

2 days after the launch.

We have 2 bookings on T-BHP

Surprisingly i did not get to TD the Aria at Prerna motors - Lalbagh road.

Lets see if they get back to me. They were offering me a discount and exchange on the Safari, which i said, not interested.

How much was the discount?

I suspected they would be aggressive going after both existing TML users and also owners of other vehicles like (Scorpio, Innova, etc.) to upgrade.

Should be interesting to see how this strategy plays out because IMO this should be a new experience for TML in marketing expensive vehicles.

[LobsterB]

Originally Posted by kaviprem

Finally, it seems confusing which variant you are going to take delivery - Pride or Prestige ?

Congratulations again - May be, you are the first one in Bangalore

Original booking on 9th (expecting Innova like pricing) was for Pride. Mine was apparently the second pre-launch booking at Concorde Koramangala
Today after recovering from price shock downgraded my booking to Prestige.
Concorde claim to have received one dozen booking so far.

[ACM]

None of the guys in mumbai - wasan or fortune are offering a discount, no accessories list as yet, Wasan claims 6 bookings a yet without test drives that they would arrange from monday.

Exchange discount is just a marketing term, bascially the price of the vehicle being sold is shot down in valuation and then again countered with a discount on the vechicle being bought.

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by longhorn

After making full payment for the vehicle and having it alloted to us, the SE tried to sell the very same vehicle to another customer, and mentioned to us that the vehicle we selected was having engine trouble so we should pick another one. After all this tamasha, he gave us the very same piece that he had mentioned to be defective earlier. If this had happened at a Maruti dealer, the dealership would not exist today. I don't think that anyone shelling out 15 big ones would appreciate this kind of a treatment at the dealer's end..

It off topic, but this looks more like a Sales Person/Dealership issue. You should not blame the Tata for this incident. Most of the Tata dealerships in Kerala are owned by reputed business groups, there may be few exceptions.

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by LobsterB

Positives

• Third row space was manageable (my head didn't touch roof). For full sized adults anything more than a short city trip in them may not be possible. For long distance my kids might find them interesting. So should suit my current requirements.

That's a first! Despite your height? Didn't you find your knees jammed against the second row backrest & feet at an unnatural angle? I've seen pics uploaded on this thread, and didn't think anyone over 5'5" would fit in with any level of comfort.

Originally Posted by LobsterB

• The Concorde Motors sales person (Rajesh) was very professional and was among the best-ones I have interacted with recently (at Prerana Motors/Whitefield Honda/Pratham Motors/Advaith Hyundai/Trident Hyundai). Perhaps only the Trident guy was better.

Hope this is the beginning of a trend.

Originally Posted by LobsterB

Negatives

• Normal USB cable connectors might come in the way of leaving the USB connector compartment closed. Will have to look for a 90 degree bend L shaped USB connector cable to leave this tray closed, so that the cup holder below can be used

Poor design. They should have thought about this, since it is built in and not an after-market fit (which can be customized, actually).

Originally Posted by LobsterB

• On every power-on the ICE FM defaulted to volume level 10 (no memory of previous volume due to speed sensitive volume feature?)

Is the system a Blaupunkt? I know Blaupunkt have a setting for the start-up volume or something, with no way to turn it off. I don't like the feature, and prefer it to remember where it was when switched off.

Originally Posted by LobsterB

2km almost no road kind-of stretch after recent rains). Infact this is my daily route to work, so spend around 2hours driving up/down this route and driving around the the two end points.

How was the ride on this stretch? Suspension noise?

Originally Posted by LobsterB

Btw, booked a Prestige variant. Plan to choose Night Shade Black or Sardinia Red based on what vehicle is already available in their yard. Actually I had booked a Pride Sardinia Red, last Saturday (2 days before launch)itself. So hope I get vehicle in hand next week

Congratulations! Looking forward to an buying & ownership thread, with regular and detailed updates

[raj_5004]

Saw a black Aria today morning at JVLR, my first time. Co-incidently, it was being followed by a white safari. both the cars had temp number plates.

Must say, the Aria has amazing street presence, when viewed from front. the rear though, as expected, looks dull & like an overgrown vista, except the dual exhausts which look cool. i was driving my innova & the Aria clearly looked much more beefier & 2 sizes up than my toyota. the seating position of the Aria is a notch above the innova too.

nevertheless, i liked the styling of the Aria more than the innova & safari. waiting to test drive one.

[noopster]

When news of Fortuner's impending launch first reached us a few years ago, I remember people saying it would India's first 15 lac SUV and much excitement ensued. I wasn't on TBHP then so don't know what the pulse was over here. When it did get launched finally at 22-odd lac, it doesn't seem *that* much more expensive. The market has definitely changed in the past few years!
Having said that- a price difference between Innova and Fortuner seems quite acceptable to me. The Fortuner is a LOOKER, though the trim levels are abysmal and they could definitely have plonked in a bigger engine! The biggest reason why I would never buy a Fortuner though is that inside, it looks exactly like an Innova!

[suman]

Congrats & that's a neat summary of driving impressions, I'm particularly impressed with your observations on the 3rd row. Do keep us posted once the vehicle arrives

Originally Posted by LobsterB

Negatives

• On every power-on the ICE FM defaulted to volume level 10 (no memory of previous volume due to speed sensitive volume feature?)

I'm sure there is an Option to adjust the Power On volume to an acceptable level.

(For example, in my Safari VX, which comes with a Blaupunkt Las Vegas DVD player, the Power On Volume can be adjusted as follows -
Press the MENU.OK button - press ^ or v arrows till "VOLUME MENU" appears on display - press MENU.OK button to display the volume menu - "ON VOLUME" & currently set value are displayed - adjust using < or > - Press the MENU.OK button & then DIS.ESC to exit the Menu)

[LobsterB]

Originally Posted by VeluM

That's a first! Despite your height? Didn't you find your knees jammed against the second row backrest & feet at an unnatural angle? I've seen pics uploaded on this thread, and didn't think anyone over 5'5" would fit in with any level of comfort.

With the second row in full-back I was not able to sit properly. Once I (rather the sales guy) moved the second row forward I was able to put my feet down properly. Also with the upright second row backrest don't remember the knees touching the front. Will try to do this again tomorrow. But my knees were in air and didn't have any under-thigh support as such. See the following post from dhuli as well with pictures

Originally Posted by dhuli

To add to the discussion, I wanted to share pictures of 3rd row seating. I found them to be cramped for adults (5'19" and shoe size 8.5). It was slightly better with middle row tilted to default and fully forward.

Originally Posted by VeluM

How was the ride on this stretch? Suspension noise?

In the current road condition the NHC that I had before can't do this stretch everyday as its bottom will hit many of the craters. The i10 can pass through without scrapping the bottom, but will have to be careful negotiating. Aria was able to run through these craters without any issue. As speed increased (perhaps once it crossed 30kmph) second row occupants started noticing the terrain, but the ride from drivers point of view was well composed and didn't feel any slipping into gutters and the like.
On a bit more better roads (where reasonable amount of tar was still there) nothing much of road surface was felt on the vehicle at around 60kmph.
No suspension noise was noticed, in fact only sound felt in cabin was that of AC blowers. Engine sound itself was almost always immersed in the AC blower sound, I should have reduced the blower to lower speeds (kept temperature to 21 and had blower somewhere around mid-way).

[hirajan]

Just saw the Aria review (not detailed as GTO) in Zigwheels, the Aria really looked plush and majestic in motion.. especially the side profile. The interior is awesome.

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by dhuli

I found them to be cramped for adults (5'19" and shoe size 8.5). It was slightly better with middle row tilted to default and fully forward.

Yup, this is what I was referring to. Although I didn't understand the 5'19" (6'7"?)

Originally Posted by dhuli

BTW, the dealer's chart seem to indicate 4 versions lowest end PURE (not launched, dont know when scheduled) followed by PLEASURE, PRESTIGE & PRIDE.

Now this is actually interesting. Were you able to get the specifications of the PURE version? It might be the Rabbit still in the hat from Tata.

Originally Posted by LobsterB

Aria was able to run through these craters without any issue.

Originally Posted by LobsterB

No suspension noise was noticed, in fact only sound felt in cabin was that of AC blowers.

This speak a lot for the quality and effort put in to improve the quality of these vehicles. Bodes well for future owners, methinks.

[MihirC]

I saw a black or a really dark shade of blue coloured Aria 2 days back at Breach candy, it was a registered car with the owner being chauffer driven, Have the deliveries started so soon?

I really am surprised as it was just 2 days post launch and I thought the lead time was a week.

[rrsteer]

Originally Posted by GTO

However, what I am NOT impressed with is the price. I feel the Aria is atleast 2.5 lakh rupees overpriced.

For those looking at a workhorse / MPV / 7 passenger, the Innova suddenly does NOT feel overpriced. Unless one needs AWD, the Innova remains the best MPV in India.

I think the talk about whether priced right or wrong is subjective.

Having said that, I'd like to present some points against the above comment.
Please do note: We have - through my brother, though - booked the Aria. I was part of the buying process.

Our budget was 14 lacs at max.

The products we considered: Everything that could be bought under 14L. People classify cars into segments, but I personally feel buyers don't.

Our requirements: a) Comfort & Volume- an all encompassing term which includes passenger space, airy cabin, good ride (60% of the time the car would be occupied with more than 4 people)

b) High mileage- we travel and like gypsies!

c) Miscellaneous : low running costs, safety ( a top priority), flexibility etc

d) Driving dynamics - should be a good vehicle to drive. I don't know how to define 'good'. It should just give a good feeling while driven, I guess. But high profile words like cornering, handling, steering feedback etc don't matter much here. Honestly, I don't know exactly what they are and Indian roads - either due to their conditions itself or the traffic volume & discipline they sustain -make sure that I don't care much about knowing them either.

A lot of products that fell under our radar by fulfilling our price requirements, canceled themselves out because of the above criterias mentioned.

Basically, we had to choose between the top model of the Innova and the base model of the Aria.

- Found Aria to be more comfortable. Though the last bench is strictly meant for one adult or 2 kids. But was not required for us.

- Found Aria to have better ability in terms of managing the space requirements for 5 adults over long distance

- Aria had considerably better NVH characteristics.

- Aria's braking feel and effect felt better.

- Innova felt more car like to drive. A simple way to determine this test - ask the ladies to drive and they voted for Innova.

- Over bad roads both seemed equal, but if I had to choose it would be Innova.

Price

Aria : Rs 13,66,909/- (On road - Jalandhar for base model)

Innova - Rs 12,57,000/- (On road - Jalandhar for top model)

We chose Aria. It cost Rs 1.1 lac more. But for that I got :

1) A more spacious vehicle

2) A more comfortable vehicle

3) A vehicle which had more safety features (EBD and all disc)

4) More features

5) And honestly, a vehicle which did feel though a class higher - and by that I mean just higher. But still.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by rrsteer

And honestly, a vehicle which did feel though a class higher - and by that I mean just higher. But still.

A classic example of an existing TATA owner being instrumental in buying another TATA for a family.

I am itching to do a TD sometime soon.

Guys who have done a TD, please put some more pics, details and experience please.