[vjbox]

Its a sorry state for the Owner in this case and this is one of the core reasons why I don't advocate anyone asking for my advise to buy any high end models from the likes of Tata or Mahindra. If you ever want to buy a car from an Indian manufacturer, stick to their entry or mid level offering. While they have come a long way with design and aspirations quotient, they just don't cut it when it comes to precision engineering, build quality and overall reliability.

My wife works for one of the Automobile giants in telematics and safety systems and I was incidentally speaking to her boss on this topic of why the cars produced domestically don't ever come close to the Euro standards. His answers was 'Its just not built in our DNA' and went on to say that it boils down to the design and engineering skills that we are still far off. The general automotive labour in India lacks the high levels of passion, discipline and efficiency seen in the European or even the Chinese labour force and it ends up showing in the output.

[Safari_Beast]

Originally Posted by Bhatt

.

6. So finally after another half an hour, I am told that the technician has been located, and the issue looks to be with Power Steering Pump(My car has not entered the service centre even once all this time, and is patiently parked at the waiting area). Basis this diagnosis, I ask them to start the repair work, to which I am conveniently told that this part is not available, and will take at-least a week to arrive. Since in my mind I am not even sure that a sincere attempt has been made to diagnose the issue, I just accept the delaying tactics at play and give up.

I

Regarding the faint vibration while moving extreme left/right its due to steering pump hose or motor. It even in my car but its very faint and its common but its not deal breaker or big issue which make ownership soar. I also own tata safari 2021 bought in dec 2021, try escalating to tata customer care and it would be sorted out. Safari is also my first tata vehicle but i just love the way it drives and its looks. I also had more horrible experience with hyundai and ford but i got it sorted by escalating so escalate to higer ups and it would be sorted.

[Bhatt]

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

This always irritates me too. In all my visits to TASS, the SA has never accompanied me on a test drive with the technician. Having the SA there will give me some confidence that he will at least verify the problem is solved before calling me to collect the vehicle. But TASS SAs usually assign the technician and then leave the scene. In my opinion, this lack of ownership from SAs are one of the reasons why there are many instances where TASS returned cars without verifying the solution. SAs are supposed to act on behalf of the customer and push the technician to solve the problem. I don't know if this is the SOP for all the brands since I didn't have the misfortune of a technician-accompanied test drive for my other cars.

Completely agreed, SAs needs to be more customer centric. TATA SAs have felt more like managers managing technicians than customer relationship managers or technical experts willing to invest time & effort to resolve issues in their brand's cars. My experience with Mahindra during 8+ years of XUV 5oo ownership has been great in this regard(rather on most post purchase parameters)

Originally Posted by FiatDiesel

Fault reporting is lowest in Nexon and small range of cars.. If you have friends in Tata, they won’t recommend you anything above Nexon.
Please remember Tata’s main focus is now on EVs so you will see most action and focus on existing and new electric vehicles. Not only government push, following are the key factors in play:-

1. Virtually no competition in price sensitive market.
2. Early mover advantage
3. Underwhelming performance of in house ICE engines.

It does make sense now that I have gone through this experience. While I was making the purchase, I made myself believe the other way round - if the smaller cars are sorted, Tata would have taken extra care to ensure their flagship products were at similar or higher on the reliability scale. Quite the contrary in reality though

Originally Posted by shancz

Another day, another TML flagship and its customers in the waters aggravated by the famed service.

Hope you finally get some attention and resolution.

In some other thread about Harrier/Safari issues (can't recall since there are so many), someone had mentioned that the flagship twins are more of an assembly of components(engine, gearbox, platform) than a ground up engineered product which the smaller cars like Tiago/Tigor/Nexon are.
I was initially hesitant to believe it but the disproportionate issues in the flagship twins as compared to the smaller cars is proof in itself.

Cannot believe that a company's flagship has been facing constant and recurring issues and the company hasn't been able to solve it.
The less said about the dealership and service the better.

Thank you for your wishes. I am too hoping for a quick resolution since replacing the vehicle in such short term doesn't make any sense(& I actually love driving the car). But yes, looks like the initial excitement on Harrier being sum of some great parts didn't quite turn out to be the vehicle's strength as we all thought it would

Originally Posted by AZT

Mahindra is losing out on massive business. The drift I'm seeing is a lot of people want to go for the XUV 7oo but wait times push them to the Harrier / Safari. Maruti should definitely get in this segment with the demand / supply gap.

That is an indisputable fact, and I am sure Mahindra & Tata both know it. Looks like M&M is trying their best to increase XUV production within the constraints of supply chain disruptions(last month they dispatched 6k+ XUVs, a first). As their supply chain gets sorted, pressure will start building on Tata to revamp the basics of their flagship products - reliability, technology, and post sales

Originally Posted by subuiyer

Sorry to learn about your troubles with the Harrier and TASS. I hope your experience is quickly turned into a positive one.

As someone who just bought a Harrier, really hope TASS and TML in general take steps quickly to eliminate reliability issues and experiences like yours.

Otherwise, Harrier is a great vehicle and good alternative at its price point.

Thank you for your wishes. Yes hoping for a long and reliable ownership experience going forward with the car. Although I sound a bit too optimistic to myself given the experience of last 3 months

[Slick]

Ohh Tata, What are you doing?
Mahindra is struggling with XUV 700 numbers and you have a long list of Harrier and Safari horror stories.

@Bhatt, sorry for your troubles, I see @GTO is sharing this thread to someone who might help, I hope you get the right attention and resolution.

The larger picture though, Tata needs to do a lot of soul searching and fix this platform asap. The design and package is so brilliant that people are buying in good numbers and then getting let down by the ownership experience.

- Slick .

[uditsharma01]

Honestly it is so disheartening to see so many reliability issues in Harrier/Safari. What's even more baffling is, the way Tata is handling it. It's been years and the product should have been stabilized by now. Everywhere online all I can see reliability issues from the owners. Some have issues with infotainment, braking, car stalling etc and on the top of that Tata's legendary dealership chain. It's really sad to say but I am gonna rebuff Tata until they get their act together.

[Bhatt]

Quick Update -

As TASS guys had requested me to come on a weekday, I sought appointment for Friday, hoping that this time a proper diagnosis and (probably) resolution would be possible

For a change, this time a job card was prepared from the get go, with my comments on the vibration noted on the same. My hopes began rising, probably the last experience was an exception due to the intense weekend rush...or so I thought

While the technician who had TDed the vehicle the previous week had acknowledged the issue quickly, this time a new guy accompanied me for the TD, and he flat out refused to accept that there was an issue at all. If being 'back to square one' had a pessimistic synonym, this was it

He kept on insisting that this vibration is normal for a hydraulic steering setup. Cherry on top - he tried giving a positive perspective to the entire discussion - 'Sir since this is a very heavy and solid vehicle, so company has fitted an extremely powerful hydraulic steering pump, and since the pump is extremely powerful, it is bound to vibrate when used'

I had already given up on TASS, even before this visit. But since the car was not a gift from Tata but purchased from my own hard earned money, I took it upon myself to not give up so easily. Well, I(& my not so high hopes) were brought down to the ground by TASS, mercilessly. Thankfully they did this operation swiftly this time around, without wasting too much time, so at-least I could go back home and not waste the entire day in the theatrics.

As a matter of fact, I have begun seeing the same issue being faced by several Harrier owners. A couple of screenshots of the discussions around this issue are attached

[sage_sandman]

@Bhatt: Your narratives sound very familiar to me as I am sailing on the same boat. I haven't had such a bad after-sales experience so far with my previous ownerships (Ford, Maruti, Toyota).

I reiterate the point that most technicians in Tata SC's are not accurate in their diagnosis. I have a similar issue with my newly bought Harrier (3500 kms run) - The steering wheel makes a knocking sound on turning left or right in U turns. In addition, I feel stuttering/vibration feel on the accelerator pedal at low speeds (10-20 kmph) while taking the vehicle out of the parking lot etc. I brought it up to SC's notice and they are replacing all steering associated parts post Diwali. I am not sure if they got the problem right but they are optimistic that the issue will be resolved. My question to TATA Motors is that how can these faulty parts make it to a newly delivered vehicle (delivered to me in July 2022)and is only 3500 kms driven.

Most of the times, I am hesitant to go to the SC for the following reasons:
1. Trial and Error approach - I don't get any confidence on their diagnosis and the solution offered - Typically takes 2 days to come to some conclusion
2. Anything that needs replacement, they hardly have the spare in stock. It needs to be procured from their plant in Pune (~1 week minimum wait time)
3. Post the part is procured, they take another 2 days or so to get the replacement done.

All in all, if the problem remains as-is even after doing the above, it often leads to disappointment and frustration. I have tried escalating to the regional heads and have managed to get some support from them but at the end of the day, it is the mechanic that finally fixes it and he needs to be competent enough to handle a 28 lakhs worth machine. Sadly, I haven't seen that seriousness and passion in their jobs which will eventually be seen as an output when we drive the car.

Leaving this thread with a famous saying - "Pleasure at job puts perfection at work" - TaMo doesn't seem to understand this. Happy driving !