[VeluM]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

But there were still some visible gaps in the interiors panelling work and external body panel gaps too are quite immense.

The only place that I've seen an immense gap is in between the bonnet and the bottom of the windshield (near the A-pillar). Not sure if the panel gaps are generally wide/yawning because it hasn't been particularly pointed out by other testers. Can anyone confirm?

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

But I still would hesitate to buy it at this kind of price.
If I were in the market for such a vehicle I would much rather go for a top end Innova and spend the rest of the money (the difference between the cost of the top end Aria and Innova) on DC design and jazz up the Innova incredibly.

Seriously, DC?

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Of course I would lack the 4x4 but I guess that can be lived with given the fact that after all the Aria or the Innova are MUV's and not SUV's.

There is a LOT more than just 4x4 that'd be missing, as has been pointed out numerous times before.

[Fornax]

Yesterday, I had an Aria drive right behind / next to mine, and I couldn't help admiring the quality (was at the signal couple of times, so got more than a glimpse).

The car(?) is BIG. Interiors looked quite up-market, and it certainly was drawing attention. The grille (its' weakest link) had generous amount of chrome on it. I get the feeling, this is more towards the Fortuner than the Innova.

Great job Tata Motors.

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

A bit off topic, but just saw the Tata Aria ad on TV today- beautiful!!!! and the Aria in black, on a white backdrop looked simply stunning!

TML ad agencies really come up wtih some amazing themes......

Originally Posted by safari_lover

^+1. Totally agree with you. The ad has come out very nice.

It conveys the message that they want to deliver, precise and to the point!

The ad has come up realy well, but if I was the creative director for the ad I would have made the merger more seamless, because just after the SUV & the Sedan merge the transition to the Crossover is a bit too fast for my liking

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

A bit off topic, but just saw the Tata Aria ad on TV today- beautiful!!!! and the Aria in black, on a white backdrop looked simply stunning! TML ad agencies really come up wtih some amazing themes......

What make is the black SUV shown in the begining of that ad? It's quite good looking. If only Aria looked like that!

[Latheesh]

Looks like an SUV from Chrysler table, may be Jeep Liberty.

[gshanky]

Check it out here - The making of the Ad -

YouTube - Tata Aria

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Looks like an SUV from Chrysler table, may be Jeep Liberty.

Baby born to Subaru Outback Sedan and Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV. I think it would have been more appropriate Indica + Safari. May be TM want to get rid of that image and start fresh. Anyway a good effort....

[nomadabhi]

Yesterday, went to garage for Estilo's wheel alignment and I too had a chance of stepping inside the so much adored Aria. The garage owner told me that he got not so well feedback on it but this could not stop me checking TATA's new drive.

My Views;

It looks monster from outside and remind me of those Ford trucks still holding that elegance.

Opened the driver side door and it felt very well built (heavy with 4 stopping points if I remember)

The plastic inside really felt well. ( the best I guess aiong all Indian cars )

With all the excitement, I tried jumping in drivers seat with my 6'1" height. And there goes my knee stuck at the steering column. Expecting it to be big, I slide the seat 1 notch back and still had my knee rubbing the steering column. It was comfortable only after sliding the seat completly.

started the engine and I can hear it roaring even when the windows are slide up. There was an annoying continuous sound (kinda, kirrrrrrrrr!!!) somewhere near to the steering column. Tried to hold off the fibers around but the sound still continued.

Next, checked the middle row and the back felt much upright. Did not try to get into the 3rd row as it was clearly meant for kids.

+Ves,

1. The plastic inside. (wish Tata/Maruti/Mahindra start using such quality in all their products)
2. Bottle holders and lots of cabbi spaces

-Ves,

1. If you try shaking the arm rest, the backrest also shakes. (maybe was particular to this one Aria @ garage. not sure)
2. The charging point in boot had a loose cover. (bad quality)

Do not want to criticise it but 14lacs-18lacs is sure a big amount to spent on such a product.

[ajay_satpute]

I am impressed by the tremendous improvement Tata has shown in making Aria. However, they are still not anywhere near the top.

I think the launch of Yeti makes life really tough for Aria.

Except the 3rd row missing, the Yeti is way beyond imagination in terms of quality, gadgets, driveability. Aria is hurt most by Yeti since Yeti falls in almost the same price band. If I had a budget of 16-18 lakhs, I would anytime go for Yeti rather than Tata (I am a proud owner of Tata Vista65).

I sincerely think that Tata should have put 200% effort in making Aria a world class product, since they have priced it above the Innova and near the higher priced SUVs like Fortuner, Endeavour, Captiva, etc...

All in all, Aria is an amazing vehicle compared to what Tata has produced till date, but on the global scene, its still a local vehicle.

I guess Tata should come up with a Limited Edition Aria or something like that, which will have completely out-of-the-world interiors, music systems, seats, gadgets. The price might go higher due to this, but still its worth a try, i feel IMHO.

[kaviprem]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

...If I had a budget of 16-18 lakhs, I would anytime go for Yeti rather than Tata (I am a proud owner of Tata Vista65).

I sincerely think that Tata should have put 200% effort in making Aria a world class product, since they have priced it above the Innova and near the higher priced SUVs like Fortuner, Endeavour, Captiva, etc...

Wow - I understand Skoda's build quality and am sure, ARIA has matched upto other international brands [European, US and Japan].
From the reliability front, I am sure you would have come across several Skoda's failure in service center and some/many having gone legal way !!!
Would you still go for Yeti instead of Aria ? Surprising buddy

About the pricing near to Fortuner/Endeavour/Captiva ? No, its well below those, I mean at least 1 or 2 lakhs [on-road of PRIDE]. If we compare the PRESTIGE variant of ARIA, its well below too.

Prem.

[gshanky]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

I am impressed by the tremendous improvement Tata has shown in making Aria. However, they are still not anywhere near the top.

I think the launch of Yeti makes life really tough for Aria.

Except the 3rd row missing, the Yeti is way beyond imagination in terms of quality, gadgets, driveability. Aria is hurt most by Yeti since Yeti falls in almost the same price band. If I had a budget of 16-18 lakhs, I would anytime go for Yeti rather than Tata (I am a proud owner of Tata Vista65).

I sincerely think that Tata should have put 200% effort in making Aria a world class product, since they have priced it above the Innova and near the higher priced SUVs like Fortuner, Endeavour, Captiva, etc...

All in all, Aria is an amazing vehicle compared to what Tata has produced till date, but on the global scene, its still a local vehicle.

I guess Tata should come up with a Limited Edition Aria or something like that, which will have completely out-of-the-world interiors, music systems, seats, gadgets. The price might go higher due to this, but still its worth a try, i feel IMHO.

Here is small price comparo - (All prices are Ex. showroom New Delhi)

Innova VX
Rs. 12,24,763

ARIA Pride
Rs 15,50,000

Endeavour 3.0L 4x4
Starting from Rs. 1,895,030.00

Toyota Fortuner
Rs. 19,64,320

Chevrolet Captiva AWD
Rs. 19,71,041

I am not sure what you mean "near the higher priced SUVs". Though by a slim margin, ARIA is near to Innova than any of the higher priced vehicles that aren't really a match for ARIA Pride in terms of feature set.

Though from a Common man's preception the price for a TATA vehicle could be considered high, your other choice of SKODA is not a beacon of reliability. I do agree that YETI is a good vehicle but it is not "way beyond imagination in terms of quality, gadgets and driveability".

If I have Rs. 16 lakhs - I would really think between a sedan and SUV. If I really the needs justify an SUV, then I would also consider whether I would need a 5 seater or 7 seater. Only if I decide a 5 seater is enough, would I look at YETI. IMO YETI made a blunder for charging a high price for a 5 seater.

The reason being that the Rs. 15-17 lakh segment is going to get more competition from W201 and probably Duster. And in time, TML can definitely improve ARIA's quality further, but YETI cannot grow seats.

ARIA has so far proven to a good car - as in Intial build quality seems good. If ARIA proves realiable, then even in current state it is a better car than YETI for family travel.

I am not sure of YETI's hardcore off-roading capabilities so can't comment on that.

[airbender]

I do not understand why people compare top end price of tata vehicle to that of low end price of the competitor.

Originally Posted by gshanky

but YETI cannot grow seats.

So true. Comparing yeti to aria is like apples to oranges.

[kartikk]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

If I had a budget of 16-18 lakhs, I would anytime go for Yeti rather than Tata (I am a proud owner of Tata Vista65).

There are many horror stories of Skoda not only on this forum but even elsewhere on the net, Tata on the other hand is a know devil. In larger organizations there is a working escalation matrix the likes of Maruti, Tata, Hyundai, its more safe to buy products from these manufacturers. Well thats what I believe.

[ajay_satpute]

Guys guys guys,

I did not mean to offend anyone. Excuse me if I did.

I did not want to start any controversy here. I am no Tata+Fiat, Skoda basher. Never!

Being a Tata vehicle owner myself, I just felt that Tata has done a tremendous job in getting to a level where they are now. However, they've had 2-3 years now (since launch of first Vista) to do an R&D and improve on the niggling issues in all Tata vehicles. But, they are very slow IMHO.

Tata Aria is no doubt a great vehicle compared to Tata's till date performance. I also accept that people have had horror stories with Skoda, but is it like every Skoda owner was or is in trouble? NO. The same holds true for Tata. People consider Tata A.S.S. to be a benchmark of lowest quality, but not all Tata vehicle owners keep running to the service center every now and then. 1 out of 10,000 vehicles is very likely to have a problem for any company.

OK...enough said. My only point is that, from the bottom of heart I want both Tata and Fiat to do well and establish themselves as reliable companies, which they are upto some extent.

[himanshugoswami]

Saw an Aria in the flesh for the first time a couple of days back on the Western express Highway. While it certainly looks big and classy (it was in a wonderful shade of black which was glistening in the sun), somehow it does not have the kind of street presence that I was assuming it to have. I cant put it in words, but there was "something" missing.