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-   -   Tata Hexa vs XUV500 vs Innova Crysta vs others (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/suvs-muvs-4x4s/183773-tata-hexa-vs-xuv500-vs-innova-crysta-vs-others-11.html)

Let me add bigger touch screen to the list. The current one looks too small for such a big vehicle. Even the likes of i10 and EcoSport have bigger screens!!!

Loved reading your post, nice way of writing, thank you.

That's the problem in India. Cars loaded with features are always more attractive than the ones which are much more better not only in terms of interior quality but even the kind if ride they offer.
So logically, which should be the right option?
You can add all the features you like once you buy a car, but you cannot do the same to improve ride quality and interior feel without shelling loads of money and loosing warranty in the process!

I feel its better to buy a car which has it's fundamentals sorted out and add the lesser important features once you buy, as mentioned by a member few posts back. But looking at the sales numbers, the masses seem to think different!
I guess TATA are happy with the current figures and down the line, they would definitely pick up.
Loved reading your post by the way!

Thank You dear Manoj for your appreciation. Yes, the smaller touch screen of Hexa is also a point to ponder. It looks as if Tata ran in the race with a will to land second.

Thanks Abhi. In my opinion, if one can not wait to buy an SUV then one should go with XUV500 as it is a good compromise and it is backed by a better After Sales experience of Mahindra.

However, if one is not in a hurry, then I would recommend to wait and watch how Tata takes customer feedback and improves Hexa, which if we all remeber, Tata did with their first Indica and Mahindra with 2011 XUV500. If one buys Hexa right now, though one would be satisfied but Hexa is definitely not going to put a big smile on yours or your wife’s and kids’ faces. It is just a sober, robust, well built car with no fun element whatsoever. Tata needs to up their game by two notches atleast.

Regards fellow BHPians.

How interesting! Our experiences however have been TOTALLY the other way!

There have been so many G2Gs of the owners pan India, with atleast two meets happening every month in my own city with almost 50odd Hexas meeting IIRC. SOUL too organises meets for long trips which are always filled with adventure and excitement. TATA have been active in bringing owners together at one day seminars too. Though i couldn't make it to any, its always fun to read how the kids enjoy the music system and how owners keep sharing the fun they have in the car.
If only you could see the excitement levels in the ownership groups on WhatsApp and telegram!
Yet, am assuming there had to be some strong reason for you to say confidently that no one's going to have fun whatsoever, even the family and kids, when infact, they are the ones who are most excited to step into the car than the owners!

PS: If features are what are considered for fun elements, you now get two infotainment screens for the second row. Couple that with the JBL system, it becomes the very definition of "fun" in a car!

The XUV was good when it was launched. Yet, I remember the test drive quite vividly because the ride was average. I would say as bumpy our 2006 Baleno. It had the frills, but lacked something- I cannot explain it in words so I'll just say finesse. Push button start and a 7 inch touch screen do not make a car fun to drive. In fact, I find the push button start irritating in dense traffic and at signals. Just rotating the key is so much easier. Usually, people buy car audio systems based on the sound output quality, not how big the touch screen is. It is like comparing an iPhone to a 6 inch Micromax phone and saying that the latter is better because of its larger screen. I spent money on both, and in the long run, the iPhone satisfies you more :)

I am surprised that you think the Hexa is not fun to drive. The stability, ride and braking are superior to the XUV. If the 'fun' you are talking about relates to being pushed to the door around corners, perhaps this is the wrong segment to look at. Cars like the Alto K10 are better for that. This segment is about refinement, quality and comfort. In these departments, the Hexa beats the others and even the usually biased automobile magazines have agreed on that. Let's come to the point you mentioned about service. I do not know why people keep repeating that TASS is bad. They are very good when it comes to warranty replacements and the service costs are reasonable. These days they also serve coffee in nice cups, like Maruti :).

It is perfectly fine if you don't like the mature looks of the car. In fact, many of us prefer things that are quirky and conspicuous ( just see the KUV100), and our sense of aesthetics is generally not aligned with the rest of the world. That's a difference betwen demographies. In the first world, a car like the Hexa would be well received. Even in India, there is a segment that is well exposed, well traveled and discerning about quality. Sadly, it is a small segment. I believe the 1000 Hexas being sold every month are going to these homes.

@Mods: I wish you have kept an option of changing the vote, I want to change mine to Hexa! from Crysta

Every time Tata launches a car, I am one of the people who stand in the front quarter of the queue who question, doubt and deny their product. Not once or twice, multiple times. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate them or their products, it's just that the trust is too weak when it comes to the 'T' that is not from Japan. I have owned only 2 Tata cars in past, one lost in an accident and another was filled with niggles. The first one was actually a very reliable one while the second one was simply not up to the mark.

Stereotype: No matter what, if it is a Tata, it is a cheap car and it is cheap because it is made out of cheap components and low quality parts. It may fell off, break down or may even prove to be unsafe too. Thankfully, Tata motors have made sure in past that this stereotype keeps on getting stronger with time. :uncontrol

I have driven other cars quite a bit, have owned an XUV in past and Innova has always been our family favorite. where is the place for Safari or Aria or Hexa? Well, they were never in the list! That said, I have pushed 2 people in my circles to get Hexa and 7 people to upgrade to Endy or Fortuner or Crysta A/T from their choice of Hexa, as they had the budget.

I went for test drives:

XUV 5OO:
Test driven in Gurgaon, AT vehicle. Going by my past experience and the way the new vehicle has been improvised at points, XUV is indeed very close to being a near perfect urban SUV. It looks cool, has a long list of features, powered driver seat and sunroof are show stealing features (Tata motors, I tell you; give them in Hexa and see the demand, these features fascinate the people who upgrade from smaller cars).

Front seats are snug and supportive, decently placed armrest, well designed and savvy looking instrument cluster, roominess felt due to dual tone interior and because of the light entering via the sunroof. The engine that is very urgent and the performance that can even shock the new drivers, everything feels like a perfect recipe for an average Indian customer - well, it is. The gearbox is also a decent one, very less to complain about.

Then I get into rear seat, it is placed way higher than the front ones (This is an issue for me and since I am at least 50% chauffy driven, this is a make or break for me) the seat itself is placed at right height in terms of legroom, thigh support etc, but I, personally, just can't feel comfortable being seated that way. Additionally the bench seat is nowhere close to the captain seats offered by Crysta or Hexa. Third row I won't discuss about as it is any ways going to remain folded for 99% of the ownership interval. Ride quality feels quite okay while in the front seats but since you are seated a bit higher in the middle row, you are bound to feel a bit more body movements (Believe me, I have designed Baja buggy chassis and even an inch matters). Third row I know from my previous experience - is any ways bad. Boot space better not talked about.

Innova Crysta A/T
Toyota dealership experience was definitely better than that at Mahindra and so was the driving experience. Cars driven were Innova Crysta 2.7 petrol AT and 2.8 diesel AT. Since I have more than enough experience with Crysta 2.4 and 2.8, my prime focus was 2.7.

Interior is very nice, probably the best driver's seat to be in, everything looks and works in a premium manner and NVH is definitely decent. only thing missing was a sunroof, else Crysta simply ticks every single box you can think of when it comes to buying a people mover. Both 2.7 and 2.8L engines are potent enough that XUV or Hexa can't simply hold their candle in front of these beasts when they are angry. In fact I even wrote a short testd rive experience of the Crysta petrol here on TBHP: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...7l-petrol.html

What went wrong then? Well, comfort and price. Don't be shocked when I use the term comfort. It is more like and analytical issue where you need to get every constraint in right ratio to get the maximum out of the available constraints. Seats are very comfortable, but ride quality isn't much absorbent, now you have comfortable seats to have to seated there but every shock or bump which is higher than say 3 inches is going to make you feel its presence on the road (Same applies to XUV). There goes the comfortable seat for a toss, it has perfect thigh support, perfect cushioning and perfect everything - but the suspension makes sure that shocks do get transferred to you. Don't get me wrong, the Crysta is maybe thrice as comfortable as an XUV (Especially middle row) but an immaculate ride quality with a comfortable set of seats is what makes for an actually comfortable vehicle.

Price: 2.7 Petrol ZX A/T costs around 22.6 on road Gurgaon and 2.8 ZX costs around 26 on road Gurgaon.

That means I am paying (Hexa has insurance free):

• 3.3 lac over Hexa XTA for 2.7 petrol
• 6.7 lac over Hexa XTA for 2.8 diesel

Don't bring the GX Crysta into equation, it looks and feels worse enough to be compared to Scorpio from inside.

In terms of emi. this means a flat difference of 8-15k in terms of emi itself for 5 years.

A fraction of fuel, full maintenance and at least 3/4th insurance will be all compensated by this EMI difference itself.

Then we thought of resale, after 1 lac kms of ownership, I won't think about the Crysta petrol resale as it is any ways going to be abysmal. Comes the point of the resale of Crysta diesel.

Let's take resale for Hexa as 33% and Crysta 2.8D as 50% after 1 lac kms on odo (BTW after say 8 years, both will have poor resale as their life will be only 10 years).

• 33% for Hexa = 6.33 lac
• 50% for Crysta 2.8D = 13 lac

Net difference = 6.67 lac

Difference between initial purchase price = 6.7 lac
Let me go to exact EMI terms taking 9.75% as interest rate for a down payment of 10.3 lac and 5 years term:

Hexa XTA:

• EMI = INR 21,124
• Total payment to bank = INR 12,67,455
• Total money paid towards the car = INR 22,97,455

Innova Crysta 2.8 Z:

• EMI = INR 33,165
• Total payment to bank = INR 19,89,904
• Total money paid towards the car = INR 30,19,904

These calculations themselves do nullify the resale advantage of the Crysta 2.8 as compared to the Hexa, especially when I haven't taken into investment opportunities which can help double those 6 lac in the same term.

Now let me come to Hexa:
Other than the fully dark interior and slightly tighter middle row as compared to the Crysta and XUV, I do get a lot more in form of:
Class leading ride quality - best in class comfort
Much much usable third row (same applies to Crysta too though)
Best in class ICE
Brilliant NVH

What I lose?

• No keyless entry and push button start: If I am capable to drive, probably my fingers will be good enough for pressing a button on remote and slotting the key in keyhole.
• Smaller touch screen - bigger the better
• No satnav - It is indeed needed
• Electric front seat adjust - Charge 50k more and get me one

Overall: More test drives needed, its still not me buying the car, for someone else and we guys are torn between Hexa and Crysta 2.8

In my case, the hexa variant that was within budget was the XMA.I totally agree that the hexa scores highly with its quality of materials, ride quality etc but the XMA scored poorly in terms of feature that either couldn't be fitted aftermarket or was too expensive/risky to fit.Things like auto AC, powerfolding mirrors, ESP/roll over mitigation seemed pretty important,which were missing. Plus the biggest turn off was Tata's reputation in Goa, which till today hasn't improved by a big margin. We were also on a tight schedule due to the governments flip flop on the GST rate, had to beat the price hike.

Its true the XUV doesn't have the interior quality nor ride quality but i felt the pickup to be better than the hexa,plus the ride quality has vastly improved from the 2015 face-lift model that i tested. It still tends to bounce over bumps at angles or certain speeds but nothing like the older model.

We are very pleased with our decision but we still talk highly about the hexa to those who have better service centers or dont care about tata's reputation.

The Xuv that we bought in august 2017 has much better ride quality than the test drive vehicle of 2015 vintage.I also test drove my friends early 2016 sparingly used XUV and found the newer one to have much better ride quality, even BHPians who have moved from the older xuv to the latest one speak about the vast improvement. But i agree, it cannot match the hexa.

I found the hexa to have slightly more body roll around bends and the pickup wasnt as quick as the xuv. Both cars were test driven one after another on the same stretch of road.

As i replied earlier, the biggest turn off was tata's ongoing poor local reputation and to some extent the lack of feature on the XMA variant.
I was on a tight timeline and did not see any improvement in service even though the tiago was on sale for a long time. I also came to know that those particular dealers still havent got the nexon as Test/demo cars as yet:deadhorse.Shows the faith Tata has in them!

And about the possibility of the hexa being well received in the first world or in india among the well traveled quality conscious, the manufactures past history plays an important role especially if its past history was tainted and there has been no improvement seen.In my state of Goa, till today tata's reputation hasn't improved. So Mahindra was the safer bet. Plus The XMA having poor features dint help its case either. Ride quality wasnt everything since most roads in goa are well tarred and the new Xuv was good enough to have a comfortable ride.

I hope you do not get offended but these are my own opinions and i really hopes tata does well with the Hexa which can happen with a better equipped XMA and continue its dealership overhaul.

One can call me old school but I simply don't like big touchscreens in the dashboard. They are too much of a distraction for me while driving. So I liked the small touchscreen of the Hexa, does it's job. However during the test drive of the new dzire I requested the sales advisor to completely switch off the touchscreen head unit, it was too big for me. The sales person was clearly perturbed as he was just starting to say good things about it :uncontrol

+1 to that.

I feel they are one of the greatest source of distraction on a moving car. I can find only one utility for it - navigation. Right now, my phone does the job and hence, I don't want anything else that will require me to take my eyes off the road.

Try driving the Tesla - There is an iPad Pro sized screen:Frustrati right in the centre console!!

Yep it is the Hexa for me, a clear winner among these with 50+ % of the votes and yet the odd thing is that it is maybe in sales terms just about 10% and not even in the top 3 among the options in terms of sales.

I recently once again was tempted to test the Hexa and this time sitting in the rear seat. It has definitely further upped the game from the Aria with these newer seats and somehow the Bench seat option is more comfortable that the captain seat middle row.

Just saw this video.
https://youtu.be/Ismx2-Wd7-M
If Tata changes colours of Hexa’s interior as shown in this link then the case for Hexa becomes stronger.
All those BHPians who are deciding for Hexa, I would recommend the Urban Bronze colour. It doesn’t look that appealing in photographs but when I saw it face to face in the showroom, it was breathtaking and captivating. 👍🏻
Regards fellow BHPians

Appreciate your writing skills, we'll expect more such pieces of story-telling! clap:

However, I would like to again bring the concept of Decision Matrix, which helps one in multi-dimensional scenario. So you give different weights to different factors (e.g. dashboard colour-combination weight of '1' and seating comfort/experience over mixed terrains a weight of '4' out of 5.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_matrix

Well, I'm not here to teach anybody, people here are definitely a cut above the general mass! But, I want to make a point; that, the qualities which are mostly sought after in a people carrier (call it SUV/MPV or whatever) are present in Hexa. Ride, seating capability, interior quality, and whatever little more boot space it offers: the poll result tells the story silently.

Sometimes I get perplexed, are we reviewing an automobile or a gadget. In other words, I've seen many car reviews more sounding like Gadgets & Mobile shows! Come on.

Still, in a Decision Matrix anyone is free to give a personal weight of 5 out of 5 for the colour combination of the dashboard!

(Please take my comments in the right spirit)

Numbers not always tell the right story mate! We live in a democratic country and we understand it best! I have a great respect for all the bhpians here, so most of the time I care less for how the market is behaving.

For example, few of the COTY award in last decade here at Team BHP, few of them were not commercial success (Lodgy, Nano, Zest).

And Hexa in itself is not a new car, so we may appreciate some limits of reincarnation at a given price (band).

Currently owning a 2013 XUV5OO W8 which has done in excess of 150k kms. Overall happy with the vehicle & its performance except the usual niggles and clutch issues that has been reported here. Recently turbo was also replaced under warranty as well with clutch, flywheel & front suspension on cost.

Off late, the warning indications keep popping up on dashboard...ABS, Hill assist etc which mostly will go off with removal of key....other wise the car is trouble free till now. Vehicle is about to complete 5 yrs & the replacement bug has hit me. Requirement for the new vehicles

0. Reliability ( should be very much reliable)
1. 7 seater
2. AWD or 4X4 (Not for an off roading, but to get out of any tricky situations eg-Slush)
3. Safety ( 70% will be highway drives)
4. Power and Handling ( will be very useful for highway drives)
5. Built (Will be there for minimum 5-6 yrs/200K-300K kms)
6. 18-22L

Impending XUV AWD 170 bhp is one option...but one concern is after 4-5 yrs, vehicle is showing up its age plus not sure whether it can be pushed for 2-3L kms. Used new Ford Endeavour somewhere around 20-22L is another option (with some 25k kms on ODO). Else the new launches like CRV, Jeep (7 seater) etc. Would like to hear on your views

PS: Many advising against TATA (Hexa) citing the reliability & service issues

I think for an awd in your budget the Hexa XTA 4x4 is your best bet. So far the Hexa does not report too many issues and Tata reliability and service seems to have improved.