[Mr.Ogre]

Originally Posted by audioholic

I love how all these Tata ownership stories end up with thanking the after sales or the company itself irrespective of what had happened. I sense incompetency at multiple levels and wonder how the company can continue to chug along with such issues and must really appreciate the owners to be so optimistic:[list=1]

Could not agree more with you regarding Tata and Mahindra cars. Add to this a very common assumption that if a model has been around for 3 to 4 years then the niggles must have definitely been sorted by the company I mean how can you assume that, has the company made any statement? I have been reading about below par reliability issues when it comes to TATA cars ever since I can remember. May be as you said some can look beyond that, however for me and my family its a strict no to TATA, Mahindra. and Skoda-Volkswagen cars.

[akshay380]

Okay so you are not alone. My Altroz diesel has done 9900km. I regularly check my car and after a recent 1000km plus drive I noticed oil stains around all nuts of the tappet cover and the oil pan. Checked the oil level and it was higher than the max mark. Immediately called SP Cars Goa and they told me to bring straight in to check.
1. On draining, oil was found to be 5.6L instead of 5L.
2. O2 sensor was slightly more greasy than normal.
3. On scanning, soot load was found to be 22%.
4. All injectors were taken out and found to be good on visible inspection.
5. Changed the O rings on all four injectors.
6. ECU firmware was also flashed to A08 version from previous A07.
7. A 40km test drive was done after this change and on scanning found soot load to be 11% I think.
8. Old oil was fully drained and fresh 5L oil with a new oil filter installed.

Was told to observe any leaks for next 500kms which I'm doing now. Overall a matter of concern but very well handled by this dealer which is a far cry from erstwhile dealer.

[KPR]

Indian market is weird. Safe cars are not reliable. Reliable ones are not safe. If MS comes out with a 5 star rated car then there can be nothing like that.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by akshay380

Was told to observe any leaks for next 500kms which I'm doing now. Overall a matter of concern but very well handled by this dealer which is a far cry from erstwhile dealer.

Any clatter \ knocking at part throttle driving? say just off-idle to around 2000 Rpm? It would sound like the engine is cold.

[rd18]

Heart skipped a beat or two after seeing this on team-bhp home page.

Certainly worrying for some of us who have faced DPF issues and done assisted regen twice within 5k. Need to check the engine oil regularly , more than usual.

@akshay380, is your manufacturing date also within the time-frame first post mentions?

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

There are many instances when the dealers have tried to pass the blame on then owner to avoid replacement/repair under warranty. Even if they agree to do the work, the time taken for its completion is definitely much longer than in this case.

Can you give some example where warranty was refused for an issue like this and blame was put on the owner? That too when there were two earlier visits to the dealership which would have been on the service record. All I am saying is that there is nothing extraordinary to be impressed about. It is expected out of every dealer especially for cars under warranty. If one feels this is impressive, then sadly keeping such low expectations and being so optimistic isnt really going to help improve the scene. I have got loaner cars even when my car went for a software update and another instance when I had asked for a clutch change even though the job hardly took half a day and the loaner car was parked in my house while I used another car for work. Another instance, since loaner car was not available, I was asked to book a self drive rental and then reimbursed for the same. Engine failures of all the things isnt a simple thing and even if we pass it off as one off, which I am not arguing about, there is nothing special or appreciable about how this situation was handled. Like I said earlier, it is the CRM team who have saved the face of what is actually colossal incompetence from the rest of the people at Tata including the two dealers one who ignored this issue and another who rebuilt an engine with an oil leak as the result.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by audioholic

there is nothing special or appreciable about how this situation was handled.

To me it is impressive.

Let's just agree to disagree.

[400notout]

Originally Posted by audioholic

I love how all these Tata ownership stories end up with thanking the after sales or the company itself irrespective of what had happened. I sense incompetency at multiple levels and wonder how the company can continue to chug along with such issues and must really appreciate the owners to be so optimistic:

Your observations are fair and it would be ideal, however something has to stop them from being number one you know

As a newbie Tata owner, let me put together how I feel about this.

Tata has QC issues and that is a given to any prospective Tata owner. I have noticed product issues in my Nexon, and in my ample time at the showroom I have found numerous inconsistencies in almost all cars, say bad rubber, misaligned panel, uneven bootlid etc etc. There are various minute mechanical imperfections too. These vary from model to model or maybe batch to batch.

Anyway while purchasing a Tata, there are many things I understood about why the company is how it is. And the answer isnt rocket science, it's simple Tata Motors is an "Indian company" and functions like one.

Successful Indian companies do business on emotion. Indians have a thorough dislike for due processes. "Baadme dekha jayega" (we will settle it later, if it ever crops up). They might have tanked a long time ago save for the brilliance of the late Karl slym. His strategies gave the company's products a direction and Pratap Bose worked well with the design team to bring attractive designs and market them as well.

But at the factory level? Same story.

Now when such a product comes at the dealership with each one having a unique defect than the others the service guys will be clueless on how to deal with this.

Now this is not Tata specific, service guys at any service will barely have any knowledge or take the initiative to go out of the scheduled repair / replacement book. There are many reasons for this. Match this with inconsistent product quality and viola you have a killer combo leading to customer -service centre love affairs.

And one more point, your relationship with the dealership depends a lot on how the dealership perceives you or your relationship with them. It's not the same for everybody, prejudices play their part. The customer needs to find the right balance between hot and cold.

Now a Tata owner , especially a diesel one like the OP, will presumably be someone who drives a lot. For such a person "loving the machine" is a big part of the deal. This is where Tata makes a bond with the customer. No one buys a Tata because it's a intelligent or safe choice, mind you there's still zero snob value to it. The owners have bought it because something about that car tugged their hearts. Same goes with Fiat, VW, Skoda, Mahindra etc. Then there are some with opposite preferences, they can look the other way.

Originally Posted by audioholic

All I am saying is that there is nothing extraordinary to be impressed about.

Well as a Tata owner if I worry about "log kya kahenge" (what people might say) then I would worry every day about my cars reliability no? Now since it s given that the product has reliability issues (?) It is all the more important to see such smooth redressals of issues. (Unlike the Safari fiasco) It may have been the company and dealerships fault to begin with, ( which will be the case 99%) I just hope when my time comes (If it ever does) then this is the way I would want it to be resolved. Cordially and peacefully.

So for me the story is

[Nari01]

Originally Posted by 400notout

As a newbie Tata owner, let me put together how I feel about this.

Tata has QC issues and that is a given to any prospective Tata owner.
...
...
So for me the story is

This post resonates with me. I recently bought a Nexon too and this is exactly my frame of mind.
I expect QC issues and believe that I am better prepared now to deal with them. My first car is Swift and I used it like an appliance - zero maintenance, never visited a service center in my life, it has always been pickup and drop servicing.
Now, I believe I learnt enough about cars(and people) to deal with any issues that come with my Nexon.

[ASHUJNMC]

Originally Posted by audioholic

I
For me, I would have been impressed if the car was out of warranty and they still offered to fix it FOC, or if they had not turned up with a leaking engine even after a rebuild.

My experience with Tata has been by an large positive.
I had a nano LX 2011-2016, no major issues. They always held on to their end of bargain. Any warranty and Gold and silver AMC commitments were honoured without question.

I upgraded from Nano to Zest QJD XT Sky grey. Some rattles after 6 years of (ab)use on bad roads included. I had paint issues out of warranty. On multiple panels due to Parking under some trees and under the sun.

I pushed, and they covered on the House, even if they really didn't have to. EPAS had some mild rattling sound issues over bad roads, and it was changed under warranty even if it had not failed or something.
Over-all, I have been satisfied with TASS specially Concord motors on mysore road Bangalore, amd RF Motors Kochi.

Originally Posted by audioholic

I Here they promised a replacement and most probably rebuilt the engine, which is nothing close to being impressive.
.

That can be verified from RC. If they had changed the engine, they must have got the Engine number in RC at RTO. Wouldn't they?

Originally Posted by KPR

Indian market is weird. Safe cars are not reliable. Reliable ones are not safe. If MS comes out with a 5 star rated car then there can be nothing like that.

Unfortunately true.
Our family has 1 Toyota Qualis, 1 Fortuner 4x4, 1 old Baleno sedan, one Swift, 1 Duster, 1 Grand i10, 1 Tata Zest, 1 Alto, 1 Zest, had 1 Indica earlier on.

One thing I noticed: MS cars catch small dents like tin foil does. You won't even realise how it happened. My zest won't have any visible dents even with a hit which i could feel and shakes the car. Even those dents which happened are barely noticeable. How > 90% bikers drive in Bangalore is known to almost all Car drivers in Bangalore.

One thing for sure, Buying Tata, you must be prepared to pay unplanned Service centre visit (pick up and drop available for most of the time) in between regular service. That's due to niggles.


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[audioholic]

Originally Posted by ASHUJNMC

My experience with Tata has been by an large positive.
That can be verified from RC. If they had changed the engine, they must have got the Engine number in RC at RTO. Wouldn't they?

No one claimed in this thread that every Tata ASC experience is bad. We or at least I was specifically discussing this incident.

Yes, now that's another goof up done to add to the list. Tata ASC promised to replace everything including engine. That means they should have got the new engine number endorsed in RC. There is no mention of that. OTOH, like we discussed before why would a new engine have an oil leak. Hence, either they rebuilt the old engine and broke the promise or replaced engine without taking care of RTO formalities. I guess people are still impressed with such handling. Well to each his own.

[Air_Kerala]

The biggest takeaway from this unfortunate incident seems to be TATA's phenomenal imporivement in after sales service. I have never owned a TATA vehicle, but was always fascinated by the Sumo, big brute of a vehicle which early in its life ferried people around but these days seem destined to roll around in mid air as the protagonist drives through a bunch of them in Kollywood and Tollywood movies. I have always read and heard quite depressing stories of shabby servive from the TATA brand. This is indeed a welcome change.

[searacer932]

Two things from this :

• It looks risky to go for a diesel car now-a-days considering the additional complexity in the mechanicals to meet the BS6 emission norms
• It's staggering to think that TML may have done an engine re-build and not provided a new engine. I think we need a definite clarity on this.

[aswin ajith]

Originally Posted by audioholic

what is actually colossal incompetence from the rest of the people at Tata

Hi,

I am also a newbie Tata owner, and this phrase in your post actually caught my attention because I kind of agree with you. I also took delivery of an Altroz Diesel 6 months back and have covered 12,000 kms so far. I have been observing incompetence/ignorance right from booking to PDI ( this is obviously on the dealer) and then niggling issues on the car from annoying dashboard rattles, non working ambient lights (both solved after running behind them multiple times) to messed up software updates on the infotainment (still no answer). My car came out of the factory Jan end 2021. Hopefully I will not run into such issues, I have encountered 2 DPF lights so far which went off on performing manual regen. Fingers crossed.

I will try to throw more light in an ownership report by 15000 kms(will finish another service visit by that time) and will try to make it as neutral as possible which I hope will give a realistic idea on what to expect from this new gen Tata diesel hatch.

My experience so far has been okay. Nothing to write home about but no headaches either.

[johnruben]

Seems like not much has changed in Tata service part, this is the attitude and reason people prefer Japanese vehicles. Tata's are known for experimenting their vehicles on innocent Indian consumers, I owned a Indica V2 TCIC and it had a known issue, the power steering oil used to leak all the time and you have to keep topping up. Here customer is taken for a ride, he seems to be a good man who kept his cool throughout. A friend of mine once told me, PDI also fails with tata cars and most of them have some or the other issue, it's like quality control is very bad.