[Trojan]

Is it unfortunate that despite making great products the customer experience remains shoddy?

No, it is plain inertness to not accept that the rot is deep-set and needs complete change.

Heads should roll at Tata and they need to roll fast! Ironically yet sadly their mindset is as rigid as their car body structure.

It was due to continued similar shabby treatment and no resolution to our non-starter Aria AWD, that remained unsolved for over a year, that we neither had the confidence in the vehicle nor the patience to be insulted like this time and again, that we finally sold it at a huge loss.

Would I ever own a Tata again, nope, even if a part of me really likes a few of their products, the plethora of uncertainties on the product and the guaranteed disservice assured by their ASS and dealerships take care of killing all such mundane desires.

Due to these very reasons, we stopped considering the Tata Yodha 4x4 and purchased the Bolero Camper 4x4 last month.

I feel sorry that you are going through this frustrating ordeal, for they just DON'T CARE!

My best wishes, please get the entire unit replaced.

[amit1agrawal]

I recommended Safari to my friend who is shopping for SUV in less than 30L price bracket. We went to one nearby dealer and only got test drive for 3 kms. The SA didn't explain much about the car and handed over the price list to us and started discussing booking details. The showroom was abuzz with lots of customers and staff around but there was no premium experience. We were not even asked to be seated. Bit disappointed we went to another showroom far from our place and asked for test drive for Safari automatic which was not available. We then asked for Safari manual, Harrier automatic and manual in quick succession but none of the test drive vehicle were available for some or the other reason. We went on weekend when dealers make sure test drive vehicles are in showroom. He promised to get the vehicle to our home and we left. On the way back we stopped by Jeep showroom(Compass was not under consideration due to it's compact interiors). The moment we stepped into the showroom the big difference in experience was apparent. The SA spent next 3 hours till we left, tired for the day, explaining the features & giving us unlimited test drive of petrol & diesel automatic and manual. He finally made us a good offer. My friend booked Limited manual stretching his budget on an already stretched budget. In the end, I think he made a right choice as he doesn't really need a 6/7 seater. In fact, I liked Compass so much that for 2 days I contemplated buying one but head prevailed over heart as it's too out of budget for me
Tata Sales and Service leaves a lot to be desired. They need to do a Nexa for their premium offering. It's nearly impossible for dealer to maintain a premium sales experience when a car worth 5L & other worth 28L is on the same floor.

[AZT]

I'd like to add an observation that these issues seem specific just to the Harrier/Safari. Tiago and Nexon are the bread and butter of TML and the owners seem a happy bunch (obvious exceptions same as with all cars). I myself have a 2018 Tigor 46k kms and have had a decent experience with the car and service centre (Concorde Worli now changed to Puneet Automobiles).

I wanted the Harrier to be my next car but at that level now I'd probably also look elsewhere. Chip shortage and 6 month wait periods make people go for their second or third choice.

[caffeineAM]

So what exactly is this "silver box"? One of the computers?

[marsbhp]

Originally Posted by AZT

I'd like to add an observation that these issues seem specific just to the Harrier/Safari. Tiago and Nexon are the bread and butter of TML and the owners seem a happy bunch (obvious exceptions same as with all cars). I myself have a 2018 Tigor 46k kms and have had a decent experience with the car and service centre (Concorde Worli now changed to Puneet Automobiles).

+1 on that. I drive a 2018 Tiago XZ which has done 50k kms. Apart from regular servicing and fresh tyres all around, the car is still stock and I have not faced any problems or any deficiency in service from Concorde Motors (now Lakshmi Tata) in Chennai. Have driven extensively in the heat and dust of Chennai as well as long drives to my native place near Kanyakumari and also trips to Karnataka and Kerala.

[Redlock666]

Originally Posted by caffeineAM

So what exactly is this "silver box"? One of the computers?

The Tata Harrier’s cockpit electronics technologies have been fully designed, developed and manufactured at Visteon’s facilities in India. The infotainment system and instrument clusters were designed by Visteon’s Technical Centers in Chennai and Pune and are produced by the manufacturing plant in Chennai.

Visteon’s SmartCore drives the infotainment and instrument cluster domains on one system-on-chip (SoC), offering large thin-film transistor (TFT) displays for a best-in-class user experience with seamless human-machine interaction (HMI) – a unique feature of Visteon’s first-to-market domain controller.

The SmartCore solution incorporates the silver box, a tablet-style infotainment display with button panel and a reconfigurable instrument cluster on premium models. The infotainment system variants offer display configurations ranging from 7-inch to 8.8-inch TFTs, while the instrument cluster options include a 4-inch LCD and a 7-inch color TFT – the first in the India market – and an intuitive user interface.

The main infotainment features include easy device convergence through Android Auto and CarPlay, voice recognition, Bluetooth and text-to-speech (TTS). The system also supports smartphone-based navigation and connected apps.

Originally Posted by asit.kulkarni93

Sorry to hear about your experience but the Tucson is far from being a saint. We have 2 Tucsons in my friends circle. Both had issues related to the steering rack & motor, combination switch & air conditioning. Parts were never available (that’s a Hyundai special thing-shortage of parts). Pricing of certain parts is way higher than the segment.

Great. So, basically any car you pick in this segment is going to be pain, even if you are wee bit unlucky! The highly neglected (Executive) segment from 25 to 40 lac! So sad. I guess it is best to settle for cars in the <20 lac or >50 lac segment: where you are in the entry level luxury segment.

[Govind]

Originally Posted by revved_up

Hello All,

I recently purchased a Tata Safari Dark Edition XZA+ and took delivery in the end of Feb 2022!

I have been getting embarrassed for choosing this car from day 1(Literally).

Sorry about your bad experience. It is a classic example of how people without passion and customer focus are ruining the business. Being with TATA for a decade, I can assure that for many of the core engineers' first, second, and even the last thoughts are about the project/product they are working on. When it comes to customer support and after sales, the legacy of old truck handling gene comes there, which is the problem.

The issue with constant restart doesn't look like a software issue, since if it is a software issue, mostly it should have been there in all cars in that batch. So this can be a hardware issue specific to that unit, and they are supposed to change the unit or rectify it on Day-1 itself.

/Govind

[solaris007]

Originally Posted by revved_up

Update:

Rest, i will get to know once i get the car tomorrow.

Did they resolve the issues to your satisfaction?

[revved_up]

Update:
Got the car back today(home-delivered) at 2 pm. Since I was very particular about the cleaning, they made sure a good job was done. Although I personally hate the greasy interior polish they use on the interior. but overall, they did a much better job in the washing dept.

Immediately after delivery, i took it to Gurgaon for a drive of about 50 km. All seems well for now and to an extent, they have resolved the left pull issue as well. They have done the wheel alignment again and also sent the printout of the pre and post values.

Summary:
Since I was really pissed off, I made a lot of noise on almost all platforms - namely - Twitter, Instagram, email to their customer care leadership and of course this thread on Team Bhp. I think all this made sure they were on their toes and a part that originally should have taken 10 odd days was delivered the next day! Although, I think they have put it from some other car since I saw 2-3 phones already paired to the system. But I might be wrong here.

In hindsight, if I had not made all this noise, I would have to wait for 10 days for the part to come and deal with the "we don't care" attitude of the staff at the dealer. But this time, I was given VIP treatment.

Learnings:
If I need prompt service in future, I will only have to be demanding and pull all the strings I have access to. I think I will have to live with this way of getting service for now.

Hoping there are no more such failures! Apart from this, the car is still a joy to drive!

Thanks to everyone for giving your input and being with me during these difficult and frustrating 2 days!

Cheers

Mod Note - Please proofread before posting.

[anil_rnair]

Originally Posted by sreerknair

Having owned a TATA car for 11 years, below are the lessons I learnt while maintaining a TATA car.

I don't deny this. I myself have changed the window rolling belt at least 3 times in the first 3 years. But I did notice that this was because I used to park the car in the hot open parking slot in Chennai throughout the day. I was in Chennai for 3 years. My employer did not provide covered car parking. After I moved over to Bangalore, I started using covered parking and I never got this issue.

Originally Posted by sreerknair

Having owned a TATA car for 11 years, below are the lessons I learnt while maintaining a TATA car.

I am not sure if I was lucky or you were unlucky, but my Tata never ditched me or embarrass me. In fact, I had a Swift owner who once said that if he took his Swift on the rough road the way I took my Tata, his Swift would be in the workshop the next day.

I always preferred Concorde. I used another TASS twice and on both occasions, I felt I was cheated. Concorde never cheated me and I felt they gave me honest reasons and responses. In fact, I would say my service bill used to be less in Concorde than in the other TASS. Other TASS bloated the issue and were dishonest. I have been to the two Concorde's in Chennai, one in Kochi and one in Bangalore. I felt all to be good. But now that Concorde is merged with other TASS , I am not keen on going to the merged entities and would prefer to go to other trustworthy corner service centres.

Mod Note - Please proofread before posting.

[Dry Ice]

Glad to hear the issues have been resolved.

Originally Posted by revved_up

In hindsight, if I had not made all this noise, I would have to wait for 10 days for the part to come and deal with the "we don't care" attitude of the staff at the dealer. But this time, I was given VIP treatment.

That’s the unfortunate reality. Nobody listens until you are screaming. Personal experience - I feel screaming on TBHP is more effective than screaming anywhere else.

A 5 lakh Maruti customer is treated better if s/he raises a grievance or rates the service experience poorly (without having to cry hoarse on every social media platform). Tata really needs to pull up the slack in this department.

[sreerknair]

Originally Posted by anil_rnair

In fact, I had a Swift owner who once said that if he took his Swift on the rough road the way I took my Tata, his Swift would be in the workshop the next day.

Agree, regarding the suspension and chasis, the car held very well. Even after 11 years and 1.1L KMs there were no rattle inside the car. But all the other niggles and poor service spoil the overall ownership experience to the extent that I won't buy a TATA car again even if it is considerably VFM compared to competition.

[adi58]

Originally Posted by revved_up

I think all this made sure they were on their toes and a part that originally should have taken 10 odd days was delivered the next day!

They probably replaced that part from another Safari which came in for a longer service/repair

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by AZT

I'd like to add an observation that these issues seem specific just to the Harrier/Safari. Tiago and Nexon are the bread and butter of TML and the owners seem a happy bunch (obvious exceptions same as with all cars).

See, this is why some hearsays end up to be believable, like this one chap who posted a reply to the customer's YouTube video who was given a defective Safari by Dada Motors, Ludhiana -

As far as my experience goes, Tata cars till Sub-compact SUV Nexon are decent, robust and don't give much headache. It is above Nexon that it becomes a nightmare. TBH, Harrier and Safari are just a haphazard assembly of different components with nothing indigenous in it.

As someone who have worked on its test mules, the parts are taken from unreliable vendors and startups, mostly from US, China and Mexico. Tata really don't know how to make a compact SUV and Mid-Size SUV car. Their technicians are clueless about all the gizmos in Harrier twins, they are not fully confident in handling issues in them.

From my experience, if you really wish to go for a Tata, then go for cars like Nexon or below it (ironically its hatchbacks are truly at world-class level in built quality). They have sorted it out. Avoid harrier twins like a plague.

I really, really hope revved_up's issue is resolved here right now, and he doesn't come back to post about the same issues cropping up again or about any new issue which springs up later on.

As an excited owner spending north of 25 lakhs+ on a company's flagship car, this experience is an absolute nightmare.

[SideView]

Originally Posted by revved_up

Update:
I think all this made sure they were on their toes and a part that originally should have taken 10 odd days was delivered the next day! Although, I think they have put it from some other car since I saw 2-3 phones already paired to the system. But I might be wrong here.

Maybe you can try calling the numbers.
This is what i really hate about ASC, who knows what they do with your vehicle if it requires couple of days for repair. It might become a parts bin for other vehicles and things that were working perfectly might start acting up due to foul play.

Way things are going we might have to note the part number of each and every thing before giving to ASC.


Hopefully this was not the case here, and that pairing was done just to test the new part.