[Chief@006]

I've been surveying the Indian market for past 8-10 months for my new acquisition in the MUV/SUV segment with a budget of upto 20+/-2L.

The usual suspects were Crysta/XUV/HEXA & Compass/Creta/Duster.

Having decided that my needs were being addressed by the bigger, more spacious trio, I focused on them.

Apart from doing basic technical research online (thanks largely to TBHP fraternity and to some extent to various other websites and individuals) I proceeded to do physical research at the showrooms and out on test drives in as much varying terrain as available, and also seeking opinions of owners amongst friends and customers coming for service at the respective centers.

This is what it all boiled down to:

Brand value- Toyota>Mahindra/TATA

Resale- Crysta>XUV>TATA(HEXA resale is unpredictable as yet)

Features- XUV>HEXA/>Crysta

Price- Crysta>>>Hexa/>XUV

Ride quality- HEXA>Crysta>XUV

Drivability City- (MT) -XUV>Crysta>HEXA

Drivability City -(AT) XUV/Crysta/>HEXA

Drivability highway- Crysta/HEXA >XUV

Rough roads- HEXA >Crysta>XUV

Butch factor- Looks- XUV>HEXA>Crysta

Butch factor - drive- HEXA >XUV>Crysta

Ingress/Egress for average height/built person- Crysta/XUV >HEXA

Ingress/Egress for tall height/big built person- HEXA >XUV >Crysta

Seating position (commanding)- HEXA >XUV>Crysta

Seating position (relaxed)- Crysta>XUV >HEXA

Product Reliability-
Toyota >TATA/>Mahindra

Service reliability Toyota/>TATA>Mahindra

Cabin Ambience- Crysta>HEXA >XUV

Cabin classiness- HEXA >Crysta >XUV

Upholstery and finish -HEXA >Crysta >XUV

Niggles- XUV>TATA (HEXA is still young but scores well so far)>Crysta

Lots of other nick-nacks that were compared but were not too significant.

I have had previous ownership experience of last generation Innova, and TATA Safari/Indica and presently owned TATA Nano and Manza when I embarked on this hunt.

I have experienced the rapid progress that TATA has made in product quality, especially the plastics and components. Ride quality has always been high, and build - they always build them like tanks (except the Nano)


Mahindra somehow has not addressed the components quality and niggles have been their Achilles heel. Friends and customers at service Centre betrayed similar sentiments.

So XUV was quickly out of contention. And the battle was between The tried and tested Crysta with a solid brand and the Newbie HEXA with great critical and user reviews (so far).

What finally tilted the balance in favor of HEXA XTA:

1. PRICE: huge gap. Shall make up for the loss (if any) of resale in the long run especially if u factor in the interest. Unless HEXA tanks in durability scale as it ages. (Fingers crossed)

Moreover, all diesel vehicles, especially big ones, are going to take a hit 10yrs from now in resale market due to increasingly stringent rules and restrictions across the country and more so in Metro areas and surrounding districts.

2. Ride quality: overall I rated HEXA above Crysta.

3. Ingress/Egress/ride position: At 6'4" tall and weighing in excess of 100kgs, this was the most important factor for me individually. Getting into Crysta was an exercise. Dip the seat all the way down>>get in>>raise the seat all the way up. Repeat while egressing. Very annoying.

4. Auto gear shift is really smooth. Kills the disadvantage of the rubbery/cumbersome MT of HEXA compared to Crysta.

The only thing left is to add the foot-boards for kids and elderly to climb.

I have done only 1000km but am enjoying it thus far.

I surely hope my long term reviews shall be better or equal to all my peers here.

Get Up-Take Off-Fly High

[Chief@006]

Originally Posted by Chief@006

I have done only 1000km but am enjoying it thus far.

I surely hope my long term reviews shall be better or equal to all my peers here.

Get Up-Take Off-Fly High

A 3000Km trip coming up. I am confident that I shall be able to give a positive feedback enroute or at the end of the trip. Let's see how it goes.

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by Chief@006

A 3000Km trip coming up. I am confident that I shall be able to give a positive feedback enroute or at the end of the trip. Let's see how it goes.

Chief it will be good if you can test ride Mahindra Marazzo also and compare. Your perspective would be invaluable for bhpians in the market for a 7 seater MUV/SUV in this price range.

[Chief@006]

Originally Posted by JediKnight

Chief it will be good if you can test ride Mahindra Marazzo also and compare. Your perspective would be invaluable for bhpians in the market for a 7 seater MUV/SUV in this price range.

I shall update you soon with a first-up review of Marazzo vs Ertiga and also pit it against the Upcoming New Ertiga.
Let me get my upcoming 3000Km road test of my new acquisition out of the way first.

Thursday is Firstday.

[kbishwa]

Originally Posted by Chief@006

I shall update you soon with a first-up review of Marazzo vs Ertiga and also pit it against the Upcoming New Ertiga.
Let me get my upcoming 3000Km road test of my new acquisition out of the way first.

Thursday is Firstday.

Still waiting. It has been around a month now

[Prabhu]

I have a hard limit on the ex-showroom price due to our company lease policy. I cannot purchase HEXA XTA due to that limitation. My only options are:

1. HEXA XMA (Ex.showroom price : 15.36 lakhs)
2. XUV500 W9 AT (Ex.showroom price: 16.79 lakhs)

My heart says HEXA XMA even though there are lot of features missing and the missing features are available in XUV500 W9 AT. There should have been another variant between XMA and XTA. Hope TATA is listening, I have already contacted them on Twitter. Any birdie news on XMA+ variant. I'm in a big dilemma on which car to purchase, finally leaning towards Hexa XMA. Suggestions please.

[nvldvr]

Originally Posted by Prabhu

I have a hard limit on the ex-showroom price due to our company lease policy. I cannot purchase HEXA XTA due to that limitation. My only options are:

1. HEXA XMA
2. XUV500 W9 AT
Any birdie news on XMA+ variant. I'm in a big dilemma on which car to purchase, finally leaning towards Hexa XMA. Suggestions please.

From what I know, XMA+ plus variant has already been launched.

My vote, go for the Hexa. Great AT gear box, much better interiors and ride quality. You may miss out on some features, but these essentials can not be addressed later on.

Keep us posted.

[Prabhu]

Originally Posted by nvldvr

From what I know, XMA+ plus variant has already been launched.

There is an XM+ variant but not XMA+ . Hope they announce it very soon.

[balderash_12]

Voted for the Innova Crysta. Here’s why:
Exteriors: Hexa> Innova
Interiors: Hexa >> Innova
ICE system: Innova just wins it. Only just.
Sound quality: Hexa >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Innova
In-city drivability: Innova> Hexa
Reliability: Innova>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hexa
- The Hexa is based on the Aria which definitely suffered from a lot of niggles. Tata may have ironed them out but we have to wait for some time.
- The Hexa is not unreliable but Innova’s reputation runs rings around it. It’s the primary reason as to why the Crysta so massively outsells the Hexa.
Features: Innova>> Hexa
VFM: Hexa>>>>> Innova

From this list, I require:
-Great A.S.S
-Should be driveable in the city
-Reliable. People are ready to pay a quarter of a crore for a van for this reason. So am I
-Decent features
The Innova ticks all my boxes. Hence voted for it.

[balderash_12]

A person I know well has purchased the Innova Crysta 2.8 ZX AT as a replacement for their Hyundai Verna SX CRDi. Speaks volumes about the sheer brand attraction. One of the key influencing decisions behind voting for the Crysta. The Indian customer has an elephant’s memory (I don’t though, can’t seem to remember from where I stole this particular line from ) and they will not forget the Aria’s issues.

[artemis_fowl]

Voted for the Innova Crysta!
Reasons:
+Great interiors (just love the ZX AT’s interiors! They feel very “luxury class”
+Reliability. Need I say more?
+I think it actually looks good. (Some BHPians will kill me for sure) Just my opinion.
+The seats of the Crysta are actually better for long-distance cruising. I found the Hexa’s seats a tad soft.
Of course, this is a purely hypothetical situation as I am definitely not buying a seven-seater soon.
If I had this budget, I would buy the Jeep Compass hands down! But since this is an apples-to-apples comparison, I have voted for the Crysta.

[car.lover]

I recently did a long road trip in the Crysta (rented) and as luck would have it - the return was on a Hexa (friend's).
Both were on the back seat, both bucket seats - chauffeur driven and my observation is that the Hexa literally blows the Crysta away in terms of comfort.

Much much better over rough patches, seats are more generously aligned - Crysta seats are thin and also not wide enough. The ride of the Hexa is also more absorbent - rumble strips, breakers, etc, the back did not feel as much pain.

Lastly - the screen shade (typically a high end luxury feature) and the stronger air conditioning - were extremely useful in the Hexa, given the temperatures.

[drmohitg]

Sometimes It is very amusing to see the poll results on the forum vs the sales figures thread each month. Such a grossly different data being presented here. So then where is the issue? Even perception is bound to change if the Hexa is indeed a better car.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Sometimes It is very amusing to see the poll results on the forum vs the sales figures thread each month. Such a grossly different data being presented here. So then where is the issue? Even perception is bound to change if the Hexa is indeed a better car.

Hexa does have few flaws that normal buyers might not like:

Minor issues:

• Heavy steering
• HUGE size, this could have been a plus for most segments, but Hexa's size (width especially) is a slight negative.
• Tata's image compared with close rival Innova (which is a brand in itself).

Biggest issue might be after sales service coupled with poor QC and notorious dealer attitude, even with full cash payment upfront, they would rarely care even to update anything after booking the car.

I am quite sure many would have went to the showroom to book the car, only to be disappointed by the dealer's attitude.

P.S: This is purely based on my experience while getting my Tata car.

[reach_gm]

Good to see Tata Hexa fetching so many votes. Reading the posts was really very interesting. Only major concerns on Hexa are related to its reliability, I hope TaMo works on it at a faster pace. I echo Enthusiast's love for this car as I just loved the overall package this Car offers.