[amtak]

Honeybee,

Heartiest congratulations! So, its finally here That's a one heck of a post! Fuel worth Rs. 200 is enough to take you back home from Thane, with ac! 1000 Rs. means tank full depending upon where you refuel!

What music system did you finally decide upon? Any accessories planned? I don't know if you noticed, the quality of the hand brake lever is very good.

Let's have a Nano-drive one day!

[honeybee]

Nope, am in the process of getting custom speaker boxes made. If that happens, I fit a music system. Else I make do with the Logitech Mini Boombox (the red and black box you see on the dash behind the steering). The boombox pairs with my mobile using bluetooth, or my MP4 player using a 3.5mm cable.

Yes, we can have a Nano-drive one day. How many other Nano owners are there on TBHP, by the way?

[W.A.G.7]

Congrats on the new car. I like the Nano, and I am thinking of getting one for my parents. Sure it has it's quirks and shortcomings, but in the end, it's a very practical car for city commute. Enjoy the new car!

My only concern is that the space in the front dashboard is very visible to the world, so if you keep your mobile or anything on the dashboard, it's an open invitation to thieves; whether the car is parked or at signals.

[SSD2122]

@honeybee - Heartiest congratulations ! Good and well written review. I am sure you and your family would enjoy driving it in the city.

I purchased a pearl white Nano 2012 LX model in Feb'12 for my parents and have clocked @800 kms in it. It's extremely spacious too and has a peppy engine. Well suited for city driving.

Originally Posted by honeybee

The OTR price for the LX model came out to approx 2,55000/-, and there was a dealer discount of 10k.

OTR seems to have increased. It was @229000 with a discount of 10K for me. The dealer was Pandit Automotive at Pune.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

... I like the Nano, and I am thinking of getting one for my parents. Sure it has it's quirks and shortcomings, but in the end, it's a very practical car for city commute...

It's a great city car, no doubt. But for the elderly, there are couple of things: The ride is not as comfortable as some of the costlier hatchbacks (heck, all other hatchbacks are costly!). The stiffer suspension, smallish tyres and smaller wheelbase are prone to give you a bumpier ride. So please ensure your parents experience the Nano ride, in front as well as rear seats before you finalize it. The other issue is with ergonomics. I can't imagine a sixty year old bending down every now and then to roll the windows up and down. So you may want to go for the CX version which has manual windows (much better than the power windows).

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

My only concern is that the space in the front dashboard is very visible to the world, so if you keep your mobile or anything on the dashboard, it's an open invitation to thieves; whether the car is parked or at signals.

When the car is parked, you shouldn't be leaving your mobile on the dash or anywhere in the car. For the elderly it surely would be in the bag/purse, so this is less of a concern. Then again the beige dash reflects horribly in the windscreen. I struggle to see clearly through this reflection, so you need to make note of this point for the parents. Again this is one more reason to go for the CX version (which I believe has a black dash).

In fact I might want to go further and advise any potential buyers to go for the CX so they can at least get rid of these two irritants.

Originally Posted by SSD2122

OTR seems to have increased. It was @229000 with a discount of 10K for me. The dealer was Pandit Automotive at Pune.

Thanks for the compliments. The OTR price is also affected by the taxes and octroi. And I think Feb '12 was a long way back, the way prices are rising. I was actually surprised the exchange bonus went up from 10k to 30k in a matter of a couple of days. The test drive happened on 29th May, and the month of June saw the exchange bonus going up.

[honeybee]

An update: Today morning I double-checked the half-closing vent. No other vent displayed a similar behaviour. Upon investigation, to my disappointment, I found the half-closing vent was actually malfunctioning. The connecting rod of the lower vent flap had got disconnected from the main rod, which is operated by the upper vent flap. It's a matter of a few seconds to put it back in place. But it confirms my doubt that it wasn't an intended feature. So sad.


But then, I can now make any of the AC vents half-shut!

[honeybee]

The first set of accessories goes on: Seat covers. Cost Rs. 1400/-, including a little padded section for lumbar support. Now the seating position is higher by another inch.

Am also looking for 'clip-on' type headrests for the rear seats. Without head rests the rear seats are not going to be good for an hour's journey. Can anyone help me here?

[amtak]

Originally Posted by honeybee

The first set of accessories goes on: Seat covers. Cost Rs. 1400/-, including a little padded section for lumbar support. Now the seating position is higher by another inch.

Am also looking for 'clip-on' type headrests for the rear seats. Without head rests the rear seats are not going to be good for an hour's journey. Can anyone help me here?

I guess they would have to be custom made; You may want to check with some furniture stores in your area that deal with imported furniture; they may have some sofa's that comes with head rests? or simple option would be to ask the accessory guy to guide you to the nearest car seat maker, who can have it fabricated for you?

PS: Please post the pictures of the seat covers.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by honeybee

No dealer today would fill the tank up and hand over the car. The petrol pump may not be the first place you want to visit with your new car.

I have seen some of the Maruti dealers stating in their ads about giving the delivery of the new car with full tank. This must be one of the offers to boost the sagging sales.
Although no one wants to visit the bunk the first time in the new car but its a reality. We first please the fuel gods and then our home deities (next stop-temple).

[mkpiyengar]

Originally Posted by honeybee

No dealer today would fill the tank up and hand over the car. Heck, my Santro had half her tank full when I handed it over and that's about 1k. But I think if we tell the salesperson upfront that we shall be paying for the same he may oblige.

My Point was we never know if they have indeed put 5lts as they claim. Giving a car with tank full in India is like dreaming about corruption free India.

Though in some countries the brand new vehicle is delivered with full tank fuel.

Cheers
MKP

[honeybee]

That's a good point, which is why my idea of actually paying the salesman so he can fill up the tank well instead of just a few drops.

The car has already crossed 600 km and am now waiting for it to reach the 1k mark. There will be no oil change during the first service, just general check up.

While running the FE figures keep hovering between the impressive 20-30 region, but during my last refilling the FE based on a tank to tank method came up a meagre 16.x :( However I am keeping a daily log of my running and the tank position, so within another month or so I should have a more reliable FE figure to report.

I wonder why there's no oil change if the engine needs to be run in.

[silverado]

Originally Posted by honeybee

I wonder why there's no oil change if the engine needs to be run in.

Congratulation on your Nano.

Even i had the same query when i went for 1k service, they said it does not need a oil change at this point and i trusted them and there were no issues.

1st service is a waste of that free coupon, i got 3 how much are they giving for Nano 2012?

I am closing in on 10K soon, no issues till date.
There is space to keep a Camera bag just ahead of gear console in which you can store your documents

Rear headrest, no need, just buy those small square pillows from lifestyle and they fit in corners on the shelf and can act like headrests.

Other option would be to get custom ones made from local furniturewala as Amtak said, which can be fixed using a Welcro to the Parcal shelf ( it can be long triangular block of hard foam whose base rests on parcel shelf using a welcro )

Music system is a big Question in Nano, i havent fitted one yet.
But TATA got jittery after those fire incidents and hence dont blame them.

Looking forward to more pics and some good travelogues of your nano.

[honeybee]

Here are the seat covers: These cost me 1400, have padding at the lower back area plus the side cushion. The ones at dealer's are super plain and cost around 4k. I wonder why they even bother stocking those!






They are giving three coupons for the 2012 Nano as well. Though it's only a 'labour free' servicing.

I remember when the A-star came out and I went to check it out in a showroom, the salesperson had told me the first service was at 15k. I think having a 1k service (rather a checkup) is probably Tata's way to make sure any early niggles are sorted out before the customers complain. Besides since the 1k service only includes general checkup they save up on the labour costs too.

Anyways the four year 60k warranty on the Nano is probably the best. The salesperson assured me even parts like the suspension can be changed under warranty if they wear out prematurely. Though it's a grey area I am happy he mentioned that they 'can' be changed. Most companies ensure these parts never enter the warranty list.

The car rides on MRF, and so far the grip levels have been good. I have done some spirited cornering (only some, mind you, it's a small car after all) on the Mumbra bypass wet with rains and some patches covered in mud washed onto the roads from the mountain side. The car has held the line perfectly.

The reflection of the dash/centre console has become a big pain. I am actually thinking of asking the service centre to replace the beige dash with a black one, looks be damned. My repeated plea to anyone thinking of going for the LX model: Please downgrade to the CX model. It's actually BETTER because it has no beige dash and it has no power windows.

[silverado]

Seat covers look fantastic, nice choice buddy.
The only downside to these covers is that they are not easy to clean.

I have done 9-10 Pune-mumbai trips on e-way and have never had a nervous moment till date inspite of consistently doing speeds around 90.

Since my dash is grey i dont have such issue, Dont change the whole dash, rather get the top most part painted/keep a matt black paper or some material to test.

I would never recommend CX model, LX is the best model and it shows in sale of Nano wherein LX is the bestseller by a huge margin.

4 year warranty is one of the reasons why i bought my Nano.
And i had to use it just 3 months in to ownership when they replaced my AC blower free of cost.

Do not start the car with blower on, in most cases your blower will go off rather than the fuse.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by silverado

Seat covers look fantastic, nice choice buddy.
The only downside to these covers is that they are not easy to clean.

Thanks for the compliments. Brushing it lightly should get rid of most dirt/dust. Somehow compared with the faux leather seat covers of the Santro I found these to be easier to deal with. But only time will tell if they are really easy to clean.

Originally Posted by silverado

I have done 9-10 Pune-mumbai trips on e-way and have never had a nervous moment till date inspite of consistently doing speeds around 90.

I had seen a couple of Nanos on the e-Way in a couple of my recent trips (before we bought the Nano), so they can cruise at good speeds. However I have noticed the car tends to leave its line once in a while and I have yet to find the reason for it: it could be the wheel alignment or it could be the crosswinds (which are quite strong, being monsoon season). I am going to ask the service centre to check for the wheel alignment at the 1k mark.

Originally Posted by silverado

Since my dash is grey i dont have such issue, Dont change the whole dash, rather get the top most part painted/keep a matt black paper or some material to test.

It's not only the dash, the whole centre console reflects. If I had fitted a music system, I am sure its LEDs would reflect in the glass (and that too right at the centre of the windshield. The centre console has a shiny border all around the controls which is very bad as far as reflection goes. The dials and controls on it (for blower/AC etc) are all black and they DON'T reflect.

Originally Posted by silverado

I would never recommend CX model, LX is the best model and it shows in sale of Nano wherein LX is the bestseller by a huge margin.

After using the car for about two weeks, two of my biggest a$$ pains are the reflection and the power window switches. Apart from front power windows, full-wheel caps, tinted glasses there's really nothing much under the hood which is different from the CX to the LX. So if I can avoid the pain areas and also pay less, I don't see why I should opt the LX over the CX.

Originally Posted by silverado

Do not start the car with blower on, in most cases your blower will go off rather than the fuse.

I usually don't do that as a matter of practice, but I shall keep this advice in mind. Thanks!