[rkavthekar]

All,

Quick update since Indica went through the major service. Have past a couple of tankfuls now. Average dipped to 15.8km/l over first tankful, I guess that was because of the Diesel Leak that we experienced. Today, went for another tankful and average was 17.18km/l with full AC and purely city conditions.

One handling front - Car handles much better post suspension change. earlier, car use to pull left while going through rough patch, but now, it is rock steady.

Clutch is butter smooth and I feel the same with accelarator as well.

Gear throws are much better than earlier. Lots of play and longer throws earlier, but now they are much precise and very little vibrations felt on gear knob. Ofcourse, not yet at i10 level, where gear throws are much more precise, smooth and ease of shift. Also no vibrations felt on i10's knob.

Accelaration is better than earlier. But still to get that "Turbo Kick" feel out of NA Diesel engine, I need to switch off the AC. Overall, Vibrations are very less.

No change to engine noise levels within cabin.

I see few drops on ground just below the Power Steering Fluid bottle. I had changed PSF Hose pipe during the servicing and need to see if the leak (very less, but cannot ignore)is again from hose or from somewhere else.

Overall, pretty happy with current condition of my Indica.

takecare and drive safely

[karikrishni]

I am looking for used Indica DLS (non-turbo). Today I visit to a mechanic and he suggests to me go for used Maruti Zen instead of Indica DLS. He told me that maintenance cost is more for Tata Indica DLS models.

What is the approximate cost for changing Oil Filter, Oil and Air Filter for Indica?
Is maintenances of Tata Indica DLS overated by people compared to petrol car?

I found one used Indica DLS with 45000 KM ran for sale. I never had any car, please suggest me.

[deep_bang]

I have owned a Santro and an Indica, and i dont think the maintainance cost is that different.
But be sure to take the car to a Mechanic and run a good check on it before buying. My Indica has done only 28k now, and has had no major issues. Others may put up their experiences on the weaker points - so you can check on those specifically.

Also, the older Indicas had more problems than the newer ones - so better stick to the newer ones. (read post 2005 models).

[trrk]

Hi,

Originally Posted by karikrishni

What is the approximate cost for changing Oil Filter, Oil and Air Filter for Indica?

Please check this post:

Yahoo! Groups

The air filter was Rs 150.84 on 22/08/2009 in my place.

Hope this helps.

[karikrishni]

Another complaint I saw in common is engine sound in Indica. What may be the reason for engine sound and will not be fixed during service? Another major things I hear common is that engine overhaul at 80000 KM but I don't see many haven't done the engine overhaul till/above 100000 KM.

What is the approximate cost for engine overhaul?

I cannot go for newer Indica since I have limited budget, but I feel 2003 or 2002 models would be good choice and they come under my budget.

[ritedhawan]

I would like to share my experience of owning Tata Indica. My father bought the earliest Tata indica model about 10 years ago. Unfortunately, our initial experience was not good. The car had issues like overheating, A/C cooling and flow not effective, it used to stop abruptly when in use, these problems we faced in the very first 3 months of ownership. Initially, we went to the Authorized Service station to get it rectified, but even after a couple of visits the problems persisted. Distress was compounded with bitterness, when we came to know that : Unfortunately, we had recieved a 'Bad Piece' that the first owners were having problems but not so many , that we were experiencing!!. At that time,When my father heard that , he decided to get this car to our preferred mechanic. We never knew that from that moment on, we would never turn back to Authorized service center .

A valuable decision my father took that day on my younger brothers insistence , ofcourse.The preferred mechanic is my brother friend. To cut the story short, that prefered mechanic did wonders, and in 7 months all these problems were removed. Now, you would ask what wonders did he do, that it took long 7 whole months to get rid of these problems , when other might have done away with a month or 2?. The answer is, to deal with our car problems he took the route of customization!.And what i am about say may invoke a modicum of scepticism. What he simply did, was by Hit and trial method started replacing the annoying parts that were causing problems with similar parts of other car manufacturer!!?. An example , He replaced the radiator fan of our TATA indica with the raditor fan of Ford Icon. He got rid of the complete A/C unit with something, that my brother still brags that our Indica A/C in effectiveness gives the same cooling as the A/C of toyota qualis!!.And these are just 2 examples.

From that moment on, our car gets regular service done from that preferred mechanic and his team and parts replaced under his guidance. Our car from the time we bought ,to this day has ran 3.5 Lakh kms, and never used as taxi. It has got through 2 engine O/H, at the end of first O/H,the car 4 speed gear box was replaced with a 5 -speed gearbox. Whenever engine O/H of our indica is done under the guidance of our preferred mechanic and with my younger brother over-seeing it. Along with that process, We get the indica 's seats and upholistory ripped out to check for rodent infestation as well as to identify sign of rusting, and do away with rusting from inside the car as well as under chasis permanently .

My younger brother has driven majority of the 3.5 lakh kms, he took it to Himachal pradesh many times, and once drove it from Delhi- Mumbai- Goa.
Now, i am the recipient of this car as no one in our family drives it, my younger brother occassionaly gets his hands on this erntwhile favorite. Our experience , from the moment we gave this car to preferred mechanic uptill, now has been good. We still keep this car because its solid built quality, and for plesant highway use and its maintainance has been not been that expensive to us ! Especially comparing the mileage we have extracted from it.

Next year, my father is thinking of disposing off this indica of ours. Since, the time for 3 rd O/H will be arriving by that time.

[Johnny_]

Originally Posted by ritedhawan

I would like to share my experience of owning Tata Indica. My father bought the earliest Tata indica model about 10 years ago. Unfortunately, our initial experience was not good. The car had issues like overheating, A/C cooling and flow not effective, it used to stop abruptly when in use, these problems we faced in the very first 3 months of ownership. Initially, we went to the Authorized Service station to get it rectified, but even after a couple of visits the problems persisted. Distress was compounded with bitterness, when we came to know that : Unfortunately, we had recieved a 'Bad Piece' that the first owners were having problems but not so many , that we were experiencing!!. At that time,When my father heard that , he decided to get this car to our preferred mechanic. We never knew that from that moment on, we would never turn back to Authorized service center .

A valuable decision my father took that day on my younger brothers insistence , ofcourse.The preferred mechanic is my brother friend. To cut the story short, that prefered mechanic did wonders, and in 7 months all these problems were removed. Now, you would ask what wonders did he do, that it took long 7 whole months to get rid of these problems , when other might have done away with a month or 2?. The answer is, to deal with our car problems he took the route of customization!.And what i am about say may invoke a modicum of scepticism. What he simply did, was by Hit and trial method started replacing the annoying parts that were causing problems with similar parts of other car manufacturer!!?. An example , He replaced the radiator fan of our TATA indica with the raditor fan of Ford Icon. He got rid of the complete A/C unit with something, that my brother still brags that our Indica A/C in effectiveness gives the same cooling as the A/C of toyota qualis!!.And these are just 2 examples.

From that moment on, our car gets regular service done from that preferred mechanic and his team and parts replaced under his guidance. Our car from the time we bought ,to this day has ran 3.5 Lakh kms, and never used as taxi. It has got through 2 engine O/H, at the end of first O/H,the car 4 speed gear box was replaced with a 5 -speed gearbox. Whenever engine O/H of our indica is done under the guidance of our preferred mechanic and with my younger brother over-seeing it. Along with that process, We get the indica 's seats and upholistory ripped out to check for rodent infestation as well as to identify sign of rusting, and do away with rusting from inside the car as well as under chasis permanently .

My younger brother has driven majority of the 3.5 lakh kms, he took it to Himachal pradesh many times, and once drove it from Delhi- Mumbai- Goa.
Now, i am the recipient of this car as no one in our family drives it, my younger brother occassionaly gets his hands on this erntwhile favorite. Our experience , from the moment we gave this car to preferred mechanic uptill, now has been good. We still keep this car because its solid built quality, and for plesant highway use and its maintainance has been not been that expensive to us ! Especially comparing the mileage we have extracted from it.

Next year, my father is thinking of disposing off this indica of ours. Since, the time for 3 rd O/H will be arriving by that time.

3.5 lacs from an Indica is commendable.
Had it been my car, I would have kept it in my garage just as a remembrance for all the KMs clocked with her.

[deepclutch]

@ritedhawan:I thought Tata replaced,resolved most of the issues in Indica V1 days including issues with suspension(Tyre wearing off fast).

[ritedhawan]

AS already stated by me, we initially went to ASC to deal with the gamut of problems we 're having . Rather, than working on the flaws associated with the car the ASC representitives affected utter amazement by the number of problems they got from our car. After some time, they came to a conclusion that perhaps, we got a bad piece. From that moment on we decided never to take this particular car to ASC for rectification of problems associated with it. Rather took it to our preferred machanic , to did well after a period of time.

[lalitk25]

I have also completed 110K on my indica DLs dec 2003 model.
Major things changed are

1. Clutch Wire 2 times.
2. Front and rear suspension
3. Battery
4. Tyre changed to (185/60/R13), Rims to alloys because of bending problems (Tyre change is required again at 110 original was changed at 63K from bridgestone to Goodyear)
5. Timing Belt
6. Ac Belt
7. Spacers in rear
8. Heater plugs 2 times because of cold starting problem
9. Rear Bearings (because of humming sound changed at 65K)
10. Gear knob bush 2-3 times because of rattles in knob
11. diesel pipe (full pipe) replaced because of very very small hole in that as a result air coming in and starting problem (It took 3 days to identify the problem )

This is almost entire list of major changes apart from normal servicing schedule always changed oil at 10K and regular top ups at 5K.
after 80K getting it serviced outside authorized service station.

1. Current issues faced
2. AC is not cooling that much never got it touched till now also whenever AC is switched on there is a sound which is like something is rubbing against it is very less but irritating.
3. Gear knob vibrations are again coming in.
4. Clutch seems is showing its life as the motion is jerky now.
5. Front glass is broken because of a stone hit from a vehicle going in front.
6. There is very small play coming in steering wheel local mechanic is saying this is because of tyres are almost bald now so lets see if it goes out after tyre change.

Apart from above mentioned issues I have never incurred any heavy maintenance cost on this car and it has served me very well.
I intend to keep it for another 5 years as it is now very sparingly used. Never met any serious accidents never took any claim in last 6 years that's why I got no claim 45% on my brand new civic when i transferred my insurance on that
Good power and good average, engine is not showing any age or at least it will last if not more than 30-40K more.
Initially till 30K kms i was using System D but there after never had any Engine flush or injector cleaning.

Will update you once I get my car services for above mentioned issues.

[i74js]

October 2003 - Indica DLS 95K

1. Took extended warranty @ INR 2700 - got the starter motor repaired, had an issue with hot start; the repairs were carried out by Lucas-TVS through TELCO and since then no issues.

2. One frontal accident at 50K - Used insurance claim for the first time in replacement of hood, headlights and radiator and front grill.

3. Other repairs
- Clutch at 80 K
- Break Shoes (Rane) @ 40K and 80K
- 4 Tyres (Bridgestone)
- Trans axel Oil - Once at 80K

4. Service Intervals
8K to 10K (1 service in a year) in front of my eyes every time (thus never used the Tata service except for the 3 free services)
- Engine Oil Castrol GTD 15W40 - replaced
- Coolant (TVS Grilling) - topped up every time and flushed three times at interval of 30 K
- Air filter at every service
- Diesel and Oil filter at alternate service

Fuel
- Standard diesel (generally at CoCo)
- System D (two consecutive tank full @ 30 ml per tankful after every 6 months)

The car is running smooth and has been giving me good service.

Following repairs are now due

- Chimta both left and right (I am not sure what is the exact English word for this)
- Front suspensions
- Mounting