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Old 29th December 2011, 22:45   #1
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My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

Ladies and Gentleman – Its been almost close to a month now that my love has come home. Its my new Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver). I have not had the opportunity to post my buying experience or my initial review all this time, but here it goes. Sorry, my writing style may not be very perfect, so excuse me for that. If you have any questions on my buying experience and initial ownership, please do let me know.

My love for the Tata Safari began ever since I was in college and saw the advertisements of the car (probably started about 1999). Till date I watch it every other weekend. In 2008 I came close to buying the car as I was going to replace my Opel Astra. But wife was not convinced with the car due to its huge size and parking problems in front of the house. So finally settled with the Fiesta 1.6S. Finally in 2011 I decided that I am going to buy the Safari (and a 4/4 version) with my bonus amount. No stopping me. Lots of arguments with wife, but finally man prevailed (though I have to compensate her with the next bonus from office ).

In September this year, I started my search again and visited Autolinks in Hauz Khas to take test drive. They did not seem interested in selling the car at all. Their sales person was least interested in giving a test drive and said no TD car available. Visited their showroom twice and got the same response. God only knows how they sell cars with that kind of sales people. Finally I tried Rama Motors at Okhla. They were very forthcoming with the TD (though overall experience with them was not very satisfactory). Took the first TD and was convinced thoroughly. After 2 weeks took another TD and then decided to plunge into it.

Well, in the mean time I did take a TD of the XUV 500. I was considering about buying it, but finally backed out of it. Yeah, it definitely has a lot of amazing gadgets, superb functionality, good looks, but somehow I did not feel as if I was driving an SUV (after having TD the Safari). It seemed like a sedan to me. I do not doubt its a good car, but it was not suiting me very well. And well yes, heart mattered a lot over the mind in this case.

On November 5th I finally booked the VX 4/4 paying a down payment of Rs. 3 lakh (I was stupid – should have paid the minimum amount and let the remaining earn interest in the bank until final payment). Since I wanted the Arctic Silver color, they said the delivery date could not be ascertained immediately. If I would have booked the black or white color, it was available immediately and they could have given me immediate delivery. I even saw their stock data of the immediately preceding day and it seemed true. No silver in 4/4 version, but white and black available. But wifey wanted Silver. Did not want to let her down, so booked Silver itself though there was some waiting period. Negotiated on discounts a lot. Overall got almost 60K discount. Tata Regional Sales Head also gave an additional 10K discount just before I booked the car.

Here is the break up of the price:
Ex-showroom - Rs. 1255688 (Rs.5000 extra for pearl white. I bought the Arctic Silver so I did not have to pay this extra)
Insurance - Rs. 39381
Registration - Rs. 162031
Extended Warranty - Rs. 7000
Logistics - Rs. 3500
Others - Rs. 2250 (basic accessories)
TOTAL - Rs. 1469850

Discounts: Insurance (39381) + Corporate discount (6000) + Additional Discount from dealer (5000) + additional discount from TML Sales Head
Total discount - Rs. 60381

Total price paid - Rs. 1409469 (1469850 - 60381)

Freebies - Car cover + perfume + gear lock

Well, in here came the part about financing some part of the cost. HDFC was giving me an ROI of 13.5% (fixed). Whereas SBI (through a DSA) was giving 11.25% floating. Finally went ahead with SBI itself. See my discussions on what is better, fixed or floating on the page http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...erience-2.html. Paid the DSA 5K, though I should not have. But I must say that he was really helpful. Except for one day when I had to visit the branch to meet the branch manager, he did everything else for me (including verification by some branch personnel) and I did not have to do anything other than sign papers. He came and gave me the bank draft along with sanction letters etc. Within 3-4 days of applying for the loan. Its a long story about the DSA and financing, but would not get into much details of it. You can get more details of it on the following link http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...erience-2.html

Somehow they also told me that they expect the car to be delivered in about 2 weeks time since by then the manufacturing would be done. So after booking I waited for a couple of days before asking for an expected delivery date and status of the vehicle. The sales people suddenly became out of touch. Now suddenly their phones were switched off, or kept on ringing etc. When they picked up, they said they are trying to figure out the status and would call back, but they never called back. This happened a couple of times after which I was really bugged. I even called the regional sales head but he did not pick up my calls.

Finally one evening (after 2 weeks of booking) I mailed the top management of Tata Motors. Wrote a mail addressed to the Vice President (Passenger Utility Vehicle Division), President (Plant Manufacturing), and some other top bosses. I told them very clearly that I had made the booking with certain expected delivery dates, however I have not got any response from the authorised dealer or even the regional sales head (I think that was his designation) and that they have been avoiding my calls and sms. Told them that it was very disappointing to see Tata Motors working this way. And of-course a couple of more stuff. The very next day I get a call from the regional sales manager (I think that was his designation) who I realised was **** scared. He was literally crying on the phone as to why did I write the mail to the most senior people in Tata Motors and started apologizing and giving excuses as to why he could not take my calls. Apparently the mail was forwarded by the senior management to other regional heads for immediate action and the regional sales head must have had his job on the line due to this . He immediately promised to give me daily updates and told me the status of the vehicle. From the very next day he kept calling and telling me what the chassis number is, if the vehicle has been despatched, status on road etc. That was impressive. Seems work gets done only when there is pressure from top. If only the lower rung guys would work well, Tata would not have had such bad names. By the way, the dealer guys were not cooperative in this situation at all. I think its not about Tata itself, but the attitude of the dealers, and the kind of people they hire. They have stopped looking out for professionalism, which finally hurts their own image against customers.

Finally the vehicle was delivered in Delhi sometime towards the end of November. I was out of town, and came back to Delhi on 5th December. On 6th December I went to the showroom, got the vehicle thoroughly checked. Did my PDI. And also did a lot of checks that I should have probably done earlier at the yard. However thankfully everything turned out to be perfect as per the checklist I downloaded from the team-bhp website. There were no issues with the car at the time of delivery. I took about 3 hours with the inspection.

There was some confusion about them giving me copy of the insurance policy since their servers were down and they could not get the same printed. After a lot of insistence they used their 3G cards to access servers. Also got my registration done the same day. Receipt was delivered after 3-4 days since the RTO was closed in the mean time for some festive reason. Sorry no pictures from the day when I took the delivery. Forgot my camera actually.

Some pictures of the car are posted below. Have not had the opportunity to take her out for a photo shoot, but will post some nice pictures soon...

Ok, now about driving experience with the car.

It has been 25 days with the car now, but have driven only close to 600kms. Actually did not get any time to get on to the highway due to office work, and also have to drive the Fiesta occasionally. So far, my experience has been great. The driving experience has been just awesome. With the seating position, the view is commanding. Have had no problems with driving this huge car, after driving a Fiesta. I have certainly realised that this car is not meant for speeding. Its not as agile as Sedans. Its like an elephant. You ride it slow and steady. You realise its capabilities only when you are off-tarmac. If you are in a hurry, take out the sedan!

The only small issues I have faced are as follows:

1. The driver side door has this squeaking noise occasionally.
2. The front left window rattles a bit when kept partly open.
3. There is a slight noise coming from the rear side, but do not know from where. It is certainly not any squeaking or rattling of the rear door. But its definetely from the inside. May be some loose part.
4. There is an occasional loss of power for a micro second when accelerating in the 3rd gear around the 1.5-2.5K RPM range.

Will get these checked on the 1st service.

Touch wood I have not faced any other issues with the car as yet.

As regards the ICE, I think the HU is quite nice. The stock speakers are absolutely pathetic. Will change it soon. Have been reading up a lot on the ICE section, so will come up with some configuration soon. However, since the HU did not have any AUX output, I got in touch with the Alpine distributor in Delhi (their office is in Gurgaon actually). They gave me a cable (Alpine KCA 121B) which they fitted behind the HU. I just had to buy a 3.5MM male jack (both ends of the wire – RCA cable) to connect my Philips Go Gear. Did it myself as a DIY. You can find more details about what I did with the HU Aux input on the following page http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/ask-gu...it-alpine.html

Car is running great as of now. Plan to take her out on a long drive soon (right after first service which is due on 5th Jan, 2012). And looking out for some off-roading adventures too...

My overall take on the car?
1. Amazing looks.
2. Sturdy.
3. Imposing stance on road.
4. Very decent features and specs.
5. Though not personally experienced myself, but am sure it can create my own road next time.
6. Slight niggling issues (which can be easily handled)

I am loving this car. Everytime I drive this car, I just remember that last ad "What would you remember?" I will remember the times I had with this car....not the corner office definetely...Wish me luck for mile and miles ahead.

Will post further after I have driven the car for a few more kms.

-----
Sourav
Attached Thumbnails
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My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)-img_4711.jpg  

My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)-img_4712.jpg  

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Old 29th December 2011, 22:50   #2
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Re: My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

Congrats on your purchase Saurav.
The power loss issue is a generic Safari issue. Do not worry too much about it and enjoy your truck and take it to places it is meant to go to. Delhi has lots of them close by.

Happy New Year.
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Old 29th December 2011, 23:07   #3
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Re: My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

Congratulations once again Sourav!!! Silver looks quite good on the Safari.

It seems all the Tata dealers have similar kind of attitude towards the customer everywhere. Me too facing the same kind of callous attitude from dealers. Throttleking is also facing similar kind of attitude in Pune.
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Old 30th December 2011, 10:09   #4
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Re: My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

Hi Saurav, hearty congratulations! Nice colour and features. Some interior pictures also please. IMO, you bought it at the right time. The Merlin "upgrade" is now due any moment. I saw it last week without the black fabric coat but wearing a textured paint camouflage instead. And trust me, it doesnt look much better. Infact the spare wheel which is now fit under the chassis instead of rear door makes it lose its charm!!

Wishing you unlimited safe, happy & powerful miles with your 4x4.
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Old 30th December 2011, 10:21   #5
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Re: My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

AWESOME is the word. I don't know how, but in this colour the Safari appears a tad bigger than in others. Wish you a million miles of safe driving and happy ownership!

Cheers,
Vikram

Last edited by comfortablynumb : 30th December 2011 at 10:27.
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Old 30th December 2011, 10:23   #6
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Re: My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

Congrats Sourav on 'Reclaiming your Life' Wishing you a long and trouble free ownership.

Was disappointed but not surprised to read about the dealer experience. I wonder if TATA has any decent dealers in any of the cities.
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Old 30th December 2011, 16:32   #7
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Re: My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

Congratulations Sourav !
I believe you "CLAIMED" your life after 1 or 2 hurdles from the better half Its always the case and not many better understands the "Safari Life". In that aspect, am lucky. More than me, my wife likes the Safari and it clearly won against Fortuner [forget Innova].

Regarding the power loss, it will go away after a service or 2. Just keep your driving around the power zone [around 2 to 2.5 RPM], the power loss will go away. Thats how, I lost.

Congratulations again and have a safe motoring
Prem.
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Old 30th December 2011, 17:05   #8
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Re: My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

Congrats on the Truck! Double congrats on getting a 4X4! Take the truck out somewhere off-road for best photo-shoot results.

BTW I envy for having one of my most favoured vehicles (no not the Safari, but the blue 1.6S ).

Have fun and drive safe!

Cheers
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Old 30th December 2011, 17:43   #9
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Re: My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

Congrats! A Fiesta & then a Safari VX 4x4 - sounds kinda familiar

Time to get a set of Yoko Geo A/Ts & hit the highway to Leh
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Old 31st December 2011, 10:23   #10
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Re: My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

Congrats for reclaiming your life! Very few people buy arctic silver safari and even fewer buy 4X4 so, arctic silver 4X4 is kind of made to order. I got mine after 4 weeks of booking.
Regarding power loss i experience it too even after my 3rd service, along with a huge puff of smoke from the exhaust when it happens. My service adviser tells me that they are going to replace the ECU/programme for all BS4 safaris. I am waiting for his call.
Have a thousands of great miles ahead!

Last edited by 46TheDoctor : 31st December 2011 at 10:25.
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Old 31st December 2011, 11:11   #11
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Re: My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

Congratulation on your buy

Infact after reading your review - I feel that I should also write review of My Safari that I purchased around 3 months back,

I am going for a long test drive taking it for a ride- covering some parts in Rajasthan- after my return would write the review.

As far as noise during half window open is concerned - that a design flaw as being told to me,it does come in My Safari as well,

Rest it drives very well.

Do keep your post updated.

Thanks & Regards
Anupam00
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Old 31st December 2011, 12:06   #12
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Re: My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

congrats on you 4x4! I guess, the locality in the pics seems to be Sarita Vihar. used to stay there for 2-3 yrs
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Old 31st December 2011, 13:51   #13
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Re: My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

Thank you everyone. I definetely have reclaimed my life.

Here are some pictures of the interiors. By the way, the pics were shot infront of my house at Chittaranjan Park.

Ok, now to add a bit more info about the car.

Mileage - Refueled for the first time yesterday. Got a mileage of exactly 10km/l. I guess its pretty good considering that the 1st service has not yet taken place. I have filled normal diesel. Hope that should be fine. Do you recommend Hi-Speed Diesel or normal would do? Havent checked the manual actually.

Interior Storage - The storage space on the doors (both front and rear) are not big enough to fit in a 1 ltr bottle. But I can live with it. The glove box is ok size. There is some storage space between the two front seats which is quite useful for keeping my sunglass, keys, coins etc.

Seating - The seats are quite comfortable and the driving position is perfectly suited for me. However, the head rest is way too behind. I dont know how can anyone rest their head while driving. Will make a small cushion and fix it there.

I really like the arm rest for the driver. Its super comfortable to drive now. It does come a bit difficult to operate the music system considering it is so low and right infront of the gear lever. For the moment I use the Go Gear which lies on the seat and it becomes difficult to operate while driving. Planning to fix it (with a two sided adhesive tape) on the dash board towards the left side. There are two black switches (next to the analog clock) which are not operative, so will fix it there itself. Will be easier to operate.

Gear Lock - I had fixed the Gear Lock at the time of taking delivery of the car. The lock makes a lot of noise while driving. Similar to key chains. It becomes irritating at times considering there is hardly any noise inside the cabin.

Driving comfort - It is super comfortable to drive. I just sail through rough roads nowadays. And my wife sitting on the middle row seat was super impressed with the comfort level. Jerks have almost dissapeared for the moment. In comparison I used to feel every bump on the road in my Fiesta.

Anyway, will post more updates soon.
Attached Thumbnails
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My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)-img_4741.jpg  

My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)-img_4746.jpg  

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Old 2nd January 2012, 12:18   #14
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Re: My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

Quote:
Originally Posted by souravdebiswas View Post

Mileage - Refueled for the first time yesterday. Got a mileage of exactly 10km/l. I guess its pretty good considering that the 1st service has not yet taken place. I have filled normal diesel. Hope that should be fine. Do you recommend Hi-Speed Diesel or normal would do? Havent checked the manual actually.
There have been many discussions and almost all Indian manufacturers strictly discourage premium diesels or any fuel additives.

Quote:
Originally Posted by souravdebiswas View Post

In comparison I used to feel every bump on the road in my Fiesta.
I think that's not a fair comparison. You can throw the 1.6S around corners and it will keep its composure. Try doing the same in Safari with your wife sitting in the middle seat and then compare the results

Cheers

Last edited by GTO : 11th January 2012 at 12:11. Reason: Correcting small typo (sit = seat)
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Old 9th January 2012, 21:54   #15
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Re: My love comes home – Tata Safari VX 4/4 (Arctic Silver)

First service got done last Saturday at Rama Motors. KM reading was only 800. Got the following fixed:

1. Squeaking noise from front right door - did some pushing and pulling with the door, and the noise disappeared.
2. Front left window rattling - the rubber beading was tightened.
3. Rear window wiper spray was not throwing water with pressure - not sure what he did to correct this.
4. Rear left door rubber beading had a leak. Water was entering the car. - tightened the rubber beading and placed it properly.

No other issues faced with the car as yet. So nothing much done other than oil change. Rest was standard checking of all equipments, oil levels, air filter etc.

Also, got the teflon coating done on the car, and anti-rust treatment for the underbody. Rama Motors charged 6500 for these two items.

Total bill (including the teflon coating and anti-rust treatment) - Rs. 7700.

The car has been performing very well. The cabin is absolutely silent now. Have no complaints at all.
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