[Bhatt]

I think this won't surprise anyone. I was hoping to be spared from the reliability blues which a lot of us Tata owners go through frequently. But certainly wasn't expecting so many niggles within 3 months and 3,000 kms of ownership. Anyway, here is my ordeal in brief -

Having cancelled my XUV 7oo booking after Mahindra gave a delivery estimate for Dec 2022, I booked a Harrier Dark in December 2021. Delivery was made promptly within the same month, a couple of weeks after booking.

The first trouble started with a clicking noise coming from the steering column on turning the wheel. This was within a month & 700 kms of delivery. It started slowly and silently, but progressively grew worse so I took it to TASS in my hometown(Jalandhar). The outcome - TASS informed me there was missing grease/lubrication somewhere in the steering column, and probable cause was someone at the Tata Factory Assembly line missed applying the grease

After spending half a day at Akriti Tata, got the vehicle back with the issue sorted.

Now I am back in Gurgaon, & getting the first service done at Zedex Tata. Me & my wife had been observing a strong vibration, so much so that our thighs were oscillating in an up & down movement during regular 80-100 kph cruise on expressways. It was more on some highways than others. But the issue was significant and we were sure it was not in our imagination. The IRVM was (& remains) a vibrating witness to the ordeal. I took a test drive with Zedex TASS to try and highlight the issue, but the technician (service advisor did not accompany) refused to accept that there was an issue with the car. He was quite confident that this was normal behaviour of a Harrier and that it had more to do with the road than the vehicle. I gave a reluctant sigh, & accepted the explanation.

The third, final and most baffling niggle - Vehicle completed 2,500 kms. While we were on a regular trip from Jalandhar to Gurgaon, we started observing a faint vibration and noise from the floor on turning & accelerating. The noise was very faint, and couldn't be heard while music was playing. But the vibration could certainly be felt(only at lower speeds, while turning and accelerating)

The vibration started becoming worse by the day, and since I am a working professional, I somehow endured till the weekend and took the vehicle back to Zedex yesterday(Sunday)

This is where it turns worse. Not sure if Zedex is understaffed, but I certainly understand the Sunday rush and prioritisation due to an appointment made at the last minute. I am generally very patient, and don't get agitated easily. But clearly this was one day I had to relax after a packed week, which I was happy to spend getting my brand new car diagnosed and repaired, but after spending 3 hours this is what I could manage -

1. A test drive. Thankfully the technician quickly acknowledged the issue(again no service advisor during TD, not sure if this is part of the SOP, although it should be logically). When I asked him about his view of root cause & resolution, all he could muster was that vehicle needs to be checked, and it could take anywhere between 1 hour to 1 day to be resolved

2. Alright, some progress in the right direction I thought. Once we reached back to the service centre, I asked the technician on the next steps. He asks me go inside and get a job card made. I enquired on the details to be mentioned on the job card, to which he responds that once service advisor is assigned, he will explain the issue to the SA so he can fill the job card

3. I go and explain the situation at the customer reception. It takes 30 minutes to assign an SA, but the SA is not keen to accept the additional responsibility on an already busy day. He keeps running around clutching a pile of papers. & I keep waiting at his desk assuming if not him, someone else will get assigned to me, so I can get the job card made and repair work could get started. It is now 1.5 hours.

4. After another half an hour, another good samaritan SA observes my hopeless expressions and tries to cheer me up. But by now it has been an hour since the TD, and the technician is gone. I don't know the technician's name and nobody is able to recollect who actually went on a TD with me. So we are back to square one

5. The good samaritan SA now starts trying to understand the issue by asking me to list down the symptoms. I try and explain to the best of my ability, that there is vibration and noise emanating from the floor, but they keep on insisting that vibration must be coming from steering column(since there has been a prior issue on the same part). I insist on taking inputs from the technician who took the TD, but all of us are clueless on who the guy was.

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 keep on hearing that Harrier/Safari is a great product but is let down by the service experience. While I certainly agree with the latter, I also strongly feel that for any vehicle to be labelled great or even good, 'Reliability' has to be a given. Yes the vehicle drives well, has sorted dynamics and is priced well for what it offers. But if the vehicle as well as the service experience are completely unreliable, it is certainly a deal breaker for me. Car being unreliable leads to frequent niggles, and the unreliability at service end leads to frustrations when trying to fix those niggles(which shouldn't have occurred in the first place)

Now I am hoping to connect with someone at Tata who can help me figure out a resolution. In the hindsight, having owned a completely niggle free XUV 5oo for almost 8 years, I think it would have made much better sense to wait for the 7oo instead of trusting a Tata vehicle (the first, and probably the last Tata car in the family)

[Doonite]

I'm sorry to hear about your ordeal but threads like yours and other horror stories on the forum made me drop Harrier/Safari duo from my buying consideration. Every product has issues but how the company works on resolving them is what makes it a pleasant or unpleasant experience. Heck, my Ertiga (2014) had many issues and that was a car with such few tech and features but the service centre folks here are experienced and resolved them to my satisfaction everytime.

I test drove the Harrier dark edition manual a couple of weeks back and i came back unimpressed as the car just felt unfinished? I could make out these issues from a 20 minute test drive:

1. The cheap horn pad plastic is still present, yikes!

2. My left knee kept hitting the lower part of dashboard and the footwell area was so cramped that i couldn't get comfortable at all. I'm 5'6 and a shoe size 7, can't imagine how bad it would be for well built folks.

3. The engine just doesn't like going past 2500rpm and the experience is like the engine is resisting your accelerator input.

I could list more issues but they also have been listed by others already. The SA didn't say anything at all during the test drive, no price list and no follow ups either after i got home compared to Toyota where i get calls daily even after telling them that I've already booked the Fortuner.

You should write to the higher ups at Tata as the service centre folks are clearly not interested in solving your problem. There's generally a big escalation matrix chart posted on the wall at service centre's with email's and mobile number's of people at various levels. It would be better to write a detailed email to the area manager or the regional head and wait for the service centre folks to get back to you. This way, when you go back to get your vehicle diagnosed, you'll be prioritised and your time wasted there will be less.

[GTO]

When we drove the Harrier back in 2019, it was very unfinished and had lots of loose ends. I thought to myself and posted as such = wait for 2 years before you buy it, so Tata can sort out all the issues. It is extremely strange that 3 years since the Harrier was launched, there are still complaints about quality & reliability.

Weird that Tata's flagship cars are suffering, but the cheaper range seems more sorted? I've driven the Nexon, Altroz and Tiago CNG recently and they just felt more finished & "complete" than the Harrier / Safari. How on earth is that possible?

Your post illustrates why these two points were included in the Harrier & Safari reviews:

• Concerns over niggles & long-term reliability. Our test car had a problem too!
• Tata's after-sales service quality is a hit or miss. Remains a gamble

Am sending this thread url to some people at Tata who I know. Hopefully, it helps you in getting a speedy resolution.

[padmrajravi]

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. Unfortunately with Tata, the only way to get a proper response when you are in trouble is to raise hell in social media. This post will definitely help you do that.

Originally Posted by Bhatt

1. A test drive. Thankfully the technician quickly acknowledged the issue(again no service advisor during TD, not sure if this is part of the SOP, although it should be logically). When I asked him about his view of root cause & resolution, all he could muster was that vehicle needs to be checked, and it could take anywhere between 1 hour to 1 day to be resolved

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.

[Bhatt]

Originally Posted by GTO

When we drove the Harrier back in 2019, it was very unfinished and had lots of loose ends. I thought to myself and posted as such = wait for 2 years before you buy it, so Tata can sort out all the issues. It is extremely strange that 3 years since the Harrier was launched, there are still complaints about quality & reliability.

Weird that Tata's flagship cars are suffering, but the cheaper range seems more sorted? I've driven the Nexon, Altroz and Tiago CNG recently and they just felt more finished & "complete" than the Harrier / Safari. How on earth is that possible?

Your post illustrates why these two points were included in the Harrier & Safari reviews:


Am sending this thread url to some people at Tata who I know. Hopefully, it helps you in getting a speedy resolution.

Appreciate your help

I am not sure, but the reason the smaller cars may be faring better in terms of reliability may be due to the fact that they are engineered by improving Tata's small cars platform of Bolt/Zest, which themselves were improvements(although major ones) over the Indica platform. Tata had almost 2 decades of learning to incorporate in the Tiago and Altroz

The Safari/Harrier twins seem to have been developed from ground up. I don't recall Tata having a monocoque SUV in their portfolio ever in the past. Add to the fact that unlike the XUV which was a proper 'developed from scratch project', Tata here tried to tinker, modify and reuse the platform of a much more expensive platform(LR). Result is here for everyone to see -
1. Frequent niggles(I think JLR is itself infamous for their reliability)
2. No safety ratings (since the inevitable 'Jugaad' had to be done to modify an existing platform at a cheaper cost point)
3. Absolutely atrocious infotainment system, reverse camera etc - again since the costs have been absorbed by the more expensive platform, and engine procured from another third party(whose only product with the same engine is arguably universally accepted as bad value for money)

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Doonite]

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

Same happens at MASS, atleast in my area but the trick is to stick with the Technician or the Workshop Manager after you finish the test drive until you find the SA and the problem gets communicated and mentioned on the job card. After that when i go home, the SA informs me over the call that it's usually him and the Technician who will test drive the car again before commencing the work and once more after the work has been completed to check if the problem has reoccurred.

Almost 8 years of my Ertiga getting serviced at MASS, and they still follow the same procedure which I'm okay with, as long as the problem gets identified and rectified.

[gururajrv]

It is certainly disheartening to witness the issues on a brand new car. At this point, I am certain service center guys are clueless and are hitting around the bush. This is where Tata is failing big time. They’re making complex products but are least concerned on training the dealership folks in tackling issues. If they continue this streak, Harrier twins will see the decline rapidly once semi conductor issues are sorted and Mahindra ramps up XUV7OO’s production.

Answer to Tata folks is on this thread - majority of population are looking at Tata’s flagship only because Mahindra isn’t able to cater the demand. Once they do, Harrier twins will see steep decline. Buckle up, Tata!

As for Bhatt’s issues, the only fly in the ointment you have narrated I see is that, you have not taken the name of the technician who helped you diagnose. I understand you’re already souped up in your problem but with Tata’s ASS, try to collect names of those important folks who either sit with you to diagnose the car or help you get to the point of extracting result. Else, they’ll be rushing to vanish in thin air leaving us hanging by a thread

All the best, I hope you get solution as GTO mentioned sending this link to the known contacts!

[aniyo]

Originally Posted by Bhatt

I think this won't surprise anyone. I was hoping to be spared from the reliability blues which a lot of us Tata owners go through frequently. But certainly wasn't expecting so many niggles within 3 months and 3,000 kms of ownership. Anyway, here is my ordeal in brief -

Feel really bad for you man. It's always a pain to have issues with a new car and even more painful to be dealing with idiots. Hope your car gets rectified soon.

Originally Posted by GTO

When we drove the Harrier back in 2019, it was very unfinished and had lots of loose ends. I thought to myself and posted as such = wait for 2 years before you buy it, so Tata can sort out all the issues. It is extremely strange that 3 years since the Harrier was launched, there are still complaints about quality & reliability.

Weird that Tata's flagship cars are suffering, but the cheaper range seems more sorted? I've driven the Nexon, Altroz and Tiago CNG recently and they just felt more finished & "complete" than the Harrier / Safari. How on earth is that possible?

It is not unsurprising. When I was buying car back in 2019 ,I very much wanted Harrier but the review on this forum and the fit and finish of the car did not feel like worth the money.

Nexon actually feels worth the money we paid and till date after 30K KM no issues at all, just a nasty rattle which was sorted by Vizag service center after couple of visits.

As someone else mentioned till Nexon most of the components are in-house designed whereas in Harrier and Safari its a mix of JLR platform with Fiat engine and Hyundai gearbox and Tata (in)expertise so to say

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.

Agree Nexon has been trouble free for last 3 years and there are times when I have driven the car rough on bad roads owing to emergency. No issues at all.
Nexon petrol I am not sure but the 1.5 diesel is pretty good frugal and good usable torque

[Dibyendu Bose]

This has reference to all the above comments. While I do not have a Harrier, last year I wanted to buy an SUV in addition to my Sedan and took a test drive. Before I could focus on anything else, I was intrigued by the fact that my left knee, which is the redundant one in any automatic car, was fouling with the dashboard. Not by millimetres but by inches. I am 6 feet tall but my knee doesn’t foul with the dashboard in the two vehicles I own. I tried the Safari also…..but it also has the same problem. I now read in this post (ref the experience of Doonite) that even people with shorter height has that problem. The review of Autocar on Safari has already made a mention of the same. Am surprised that Tata Motors is choosing to ignore this issue of ergonomics

[bullitt1]

Keep seeing issues on these new cars every now and then, hope your issues are sorted. A family member test drove both Harrier and Safari for pressure of his parents, he said he could not imagine spending the money on these two cars.

Meanwhile, on the competency of service centres, my wife drives Hexa manual, which was lot of issues and not a single one has been sorted.

[Silver Knight]

I just can't fathom people spending Rs 2 plus million of their hard-earned money on a gamble. What I have observed with Tata cars is that most of their cars have one core issue (different customers will have different issues) and service centres don't have a clue how to solve it. Their usual responses are like
1. Sir, try running the car for another 500 km the sound will go away.
2. This issue with all the cars Saar.
3. Let's replace some parts and see if the issue goes away (trial and error), or we will try to replace the entire assembly.
4. Saar, actually your ar is better, other cars have more issues. It's better to live with it.


And moreover, they have countless iterations and models for the same car.

Tata cars are a good practical experience to enhance your technical knowledge of automobiles. A Tata customer will have more experience and knowledge than a newbie technician working in Toyota/Hyundai/ Maruti