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-   -   Tata Safari Storme : Test Drive and Review. More pics: pg 47 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/120250-tata-safari-storme-test-drive-review-more-pics-pg-47-a-89.html)

As an existing safari 4x4 owner i can say there is nothing ectastic about your experience. It might surely impress you as a sedan owner.
The existing safari too can cut lanes at 100+, drive effortlessly to 160kph do donuts and do all the 4x4 action u did in the test vehicle. It might be a more refined feeling in the Storme.
Tata has to address gremlins of reliability, parts etc discussed numerous times earlier.

+1 to that, a Storme or Safari being driven in a simulated off road environment is totally different from actually driving one in a real OTR, when you have spent 13+ lacs and hear the crunching and breaking of claddings, running board etc. trust me, it wipes the grin right off your face.
But am happy to note that more and more people are experiencing the Storme and are coming out of it elated. But, honestly Tata need to do more to sell it, and Jay's observation on the reliability and issue resolution is spot on.

When u buy the 4x4 Safari does Tata tell you that their TASS is not capable of getting the wheel alignment right if u go offroad in a real situation and ur wheel alignment gets screwed. Does it tell u that most of their service centers find it extremely difficult to align the right front in a 4x4 Safari and avoid doing it. The customer realizes when its too late after his tires wear unevenly and he makes multiple visits to the TASS just for a simple alignment.

And what about the fact that they can never get the alignment right without shims.

Wasan motors in Bombay charges 750/- for alignment and does not ever do it right. They take a whole day and then return it without a trial and u go back again to get it fixed. There are others too that i can name. I have a good deal of experience with Tata.

Thats when the storm in the brain begins. Lol.

Ive seen a few Arias come in for uneven tire wear. And the Storme is based on the same chassis. Leads me to wonder whats really new in the Storme. The same old troubles i guess on a new body and chassis.

Checked in person with another fellow BHP'ian @ Concorde in Dairy Circle Bangalore, per them, Storme will be launched in BLR only on 15th Jan... No reason as why so long? They did not bother to colloect our #'s to follow up... simply, they just dont seem to learn!

Tanveer, as somebody who has owned & lived with the Safari and taken it to the end of the world and back, I believe alot of people on the forum would like to know your view on this vehicle. When can we expect a detilled Road Test from you??

Jay,
With all due respect to your ownership experience of the old safari, I would not deny the fact that as a sedan/hatchback owner I loved it, however I have driven the old safari as well recently - it was a new test drive car at Pandit Auto Pune and would not align to your thought that the storme is just a more refined then then old safari.
* The old safari was 5K on the odometer and it was squeaking from the front and left rear doors, but ironically as people may call it the storme had 0 rattles after so much of jumping and drifting - the storm was also around 5K on the odo. - So this does speak of the level of binding that has gone into to keep the interiors from rattling.
* Adding to the comparo - the old generation safari is not at all that nimble to drive when compared to the storme - and to me this is a huge improvement. I mean if a sedan owner can feel comfortable immediately and drive it off and on road goes to show the easiness one feels while driving the car.
* Now coming to the refinement - its not just a little refinement but a world of difference, I drove Jealous Diamond's (JD) safari which is the normal 2.2 VVT dicor LX - we often used to call it as a truck during our team bhp meets but when i drove it I really felt why this one is called a truck and you cannot call storme as a truck.Period.

In my post I did mention that if this storme is atleast "80% reliable then the Fortuner" then at 50% price of the latter then storme is a winner for sure because it can do almost everything Fortuner can do.

We cannot comment on the reliability now as its too early so lets wait for the verdict.

Agreed

If TATA doesn't address to these issues and if they are carried on from the old safari then this would be a big drawback. I havent heard any of the rattles when I test drove but we can only comment on this once the vehicle is in the market for a longer time and extensively used.
Thanks.

Jay's observation was no rocket science and its in every bhpian's/safari lover's blood that storme has to be reliable or I would say that the very basic need for TATA to make storme out of safari - was to make the tag - SAFARI reliable.

I really understand the pain in dealing with TASS, as I drive a punto 90HP.

Similar experience at Concorde Mumbai. I paid the money, 51K and booked. The receipt they gave me does not even have a booking number, nor any mention of which vehicle / variant that I'm booking. Contrast this with my booking for XUV 500. I got a neat computerised receipt with Customer ID, vehicle booked, variant, colour, exact time and date of booking!! and all this on phone and email. No wonder they have more than 17K bookings !! clap:

The problem is, that some people, and especially a few existing Safari owners are so ready to dismiss the Storme off, that I sometimes think, if they have taken it upon themselves to criticize the Storme so that they can get back at TML for causing whatever agony caused to them by whatever means.

Agreed some may have had bad experiences, but going about publicly dissing a product which they even so much as, haven't laid a finger on, beats me.

And for the record and before someone pounces on me...I have owned a Safari and secondly, have also driven the Storme. From what I have experienced, I will not go about shouting on the street that the Storme is a Godsend product, but at the same time it does lead me to entertain the thought that it can prove to be a much more solid and a reliable product than what the safari was/is.

I, for one am not talking about the vehicle's reliability here, I am more concerned about the TASC's ability to resolve any issue and make the ownership of the Storme a pleasant experience. The Storme is definitely ahead of the current Safari, but will the TASCs live up to the improvements?

As a Past owner of Safari Dicor and a current owner of Aria , I feel that Tatas could have pushed the envelop a wee bit further and create greater buzz from design point of view. To be fair, the mechanicals are now reportedly better, but on the design front, a more sleeker design would have gone a long way to . The current looks may not be agreeable to all. Oh I wish that the design was more in line with land rover design scheme. Also the interiors could have included a two din music system, perhaps with touch screen and navigation thrown in ! i would expect all this jazz for that kind of money

No one is dismissing the storme. Existing Safari owners like me would like to see a solid reliable product. I use the Safari everyday and probably do more offroad in it than most wannabees who go to test drive the Storme in that test track. Ive pushed my safari to its limits on all fronts and not just weekend bashing and i know what im talking about. I put my money where my mouth is. There are very few people i know of who will take their only ride and do everything with it. Most who will buy the storme will probably never step offroad. Most problems on the Safaris discussed on this forum have cropped up during onroad regular use.

When i bought the safari it still had niggles. The Aria till date has niggles and is unreliable. I dont see what u mean by getting back at TML. There is nothing to get back about. I bought the safari knowing the facts. I dont expect a free car from Tml nor have any score to settle. I would hope too that the storme be reliable. But we are yet to see that happen. And we are yet to see anyone actually buy the storme and put it to real use like Tanveer, adc and myself to name a few, and then tell us how good it really is, in an ownership report.

Public dissing happens because its being discussed on a public forum. You are free to diss too. Im sure any of all these dissing existing owners would love to put their money on a reliable product too if Tata can give us one. Like someone on the forum said, 80% reliability of a fortuner, south of 15 lakhs in an suv. Would be great if Tata can deliver.

Its good to entertain such thoughts ( such as solid and reliable product) when ur money is not on the table, like many fence sitters here. I had my cheque ready for the thar which was a sheer disappointment. That cheque is still waiting. Lets see what kind of storm the Storme raises.

Great that you really take the best out of your safari however no matter how much you take your car off road this doesn't qualify you to term BHPians as "wannabees" who share their experiences and even if this based out of a test track. Even if that was a short stint for me - I liked it however I didn't enjoy the feel in the old safari when had a sort of similar stint in it as well.
I have agreed to the point made by Lukeskywalker regarding the off road on a real terrain and not on a made up one is the real test however storme track is not so dull as well.

All who are following this thread are waiting for the same and if I manage my $$$ soon enough I would be really very happy to share one.

Thanks for agreeing and you can always quote me. :)

Even if some are fence sitters here, one has no right to target them - only because they dont own a safari.
I bought a GP 90HP which is not that very well accepted by the market due to A.S.S and Fiat's future however all I love is engineering. All I could say is the engineering gone into make storming from safari is well thought and sorted and it has transformed SAFARI

If reliability is proved there's no looking back and icing on the cake would be better A.S.S support in terms of skills. They are improving but still way back when compared to industry leaders in this department.

I would reiterate again - The very basic need for TATA to make Storme out of old Safari is to make the tag
SAFARI - reliable - which is yet to be proven that it, however the product looks promising.

Thanks.

That word in bold is the key to the Storme's success.

Precisely Hari. While Storme has gathered pretty positive reviews from most, it is the other legacy TML issues that need to be ironed out, fast.

I understand this frustration Jay and also concur that you are correct. Unless there is a complete overhaul of the TASS teams, things will be hard to change. Even the most well made car in the world needs maintenance and if the ASC cannot maintain it, for whatever reasons, it will be a very sour experience.
This says it all.

Here is one more example of where TML MUST change.
Yes, I agree with you. The initial impressions have impressed most, which is an achievement for TML.

I feel this is going a bit too far Jay.
All of us know the kind of issues a lot of Safari owners have been through, including you but let us not be judgemental about the other forum members and their usage patterns unless we know them personally.

To sum it up, the Storme looks like a good, nah, very good product at the first look and drive, however, a couple of long term ownership experiences and more so, the TASS experiences will ensure that it sees more homes than test drives.

My comments since the very beginning have not been judgemental about any forum members. It does not bother me nor can i help it, if someone feels too self important to take my comments personally. Im not here for a verbal slugfest.
All my comments have been in general refering to Tml, the product and Tass. Even the comment on wannabees and fence sitters was not intended at any member here. I think everyone here is a wannabe for a better product, being a fencesitter waiting for the right product at the right price, including me.

And to clarify for one last time. Im not a disgrunted frustrated Safari owner. Im thoroughly enjoying my ride inspite of its little niggles and like the others on this forum am expecting Tml to deliver on all the feedback poured over the years on this forum and elsewhere, to deliver a superb Storme.

So the Storme may be good from the initial testdrives etc and may be miles ahead of the current Safari. But Tata has yet to come clean on reliability and other issues that you have rightly summarized.

Now lets see how many Stormes show up on his forum. Awating some smashing ownership reports.

Cheers.

You and your ilk do commendable stuff. Most pleased to hear the offroad non-weekend stuff that you get to do. And yes I don't even do weekend offroad ...poor me. But at this point am not interested in joining your high rankers society.

I am the hoi polloi. But I do get to drive...and a 130,000 kms or so I did in my Safari. So I write my thoughts from that perspective.

Regarding putting my money on the table, I have owned 2 back to back T-Safaris, since 2004 and till Aug 2012. And its my bad luck that I missed the Storme by a couple of months..and also due to some bad advice. Had Aug 2012, been Oct 2012, the Storme would have been with me.