| Story of Hercules - My Tata Safari Storme EX
Finally after completing 9 months with my Tata Safari Storme, felt like its time to pen down my story.
Love for an SUV was there in my heart i guess ever since. I remember a small instance where my maternal uncle brought a few small cars of all types from the U.S. He got all the kids of the house together and asked them one by one as to which car they wanted. We were four kids - two boys and my two girl cousins. Everyone had their pick. Somebody picked a Van, someone sedan. My pick even then was an SUV - we used to call it gypsy at that point as that was the closest we could get with our little knowledge and exposure. I must have been 7 or 8 years old then.
Then came the time when I started working in 2004 where my first job was with a bank. Obviously the salary was not enough then and the only car that I could afford was a hatchback. Saving some money and rest taking loan from my employer, I could buy a Hyundai Santro Xing XO in 2006. Drove it for 4 years - Love for an SUV was still there but the resources were limited.
The love grew - primarily my two choices were Tata Safari Dicor and Mahindra Scorpio. I started exploring more. It was 2009 when I started exploring more as I wanted to upgrade. Decision was just that whether I would be able to afford it or not. Mahindra had lately upgraded its Scorpio in the Mighty Muscular Scorpio and it really looked neat. I basically stuck to the online portals and kept on doing my research, comparing vehicles, reading ownership reviews and downloading brochures and looking at the pictures. Wow - Mahindra Scorpio did look fine to me.
As they say - Reality is not as pretty as the dreams. There are a lot of things in life to concentrate upon apart from cars. Need for my own house grew inside my mind and I had to make a choice - I could either upgrade to an SUV, or I can upgrade to a sedan 6-7 lakhs segment to keep my emi more or less the same plus I can have my own first house.
Societal pressure, listening to brain, going by the convention - say whatever you want, I chose the latter. Bought my first sedan - A pretty white Hyundai Accent Executive on 30th July 2010 and booked my house on the 12th August 2010. I knew my dream for an SUV has been pushed back by at least 2 years.
They say when you dream for the moon how can you settle for the stars. No doubt Hyundai Accent Executive was a very fine and an awesome vehicle, I was not getting satisfied by it - at all. Performance and everything was just fine - being a bulky guy , I started having a back ache sitting in the low rider. I don't know whether this pain was real or psychological or maybe it was nature's way of pushing me again for an upgrade.
It was 2012, it was two years since I bought my accent and now my search for an SUV began again. This time it was more aggresive though.
Took Test drives of the blow mentioned cars :
1) Tata Safari Dicor 2.2 : Approached the Dwarka (New Delhi) dealer and booked a Test Drive. I really liked the feel and comfort of the vehicle - it makes you feel like a King! Sitting in a low sedan like accent and now sitting at this height gave me an amazing feel. The vision was clear ,I could see above most of the cars in front of me.
Positives :
1) High Seating - Great vision of the road
2) Adequately powered
3) Smooth drive and effective braking
4) Aggressive bold looks
5) Spacious - we were looking at a car to carry a family of 5 on long routes with plenty of luggage.
6) No feeling of potholes - Felt like I dont need to worry about the broken roads of Delhi and Gurgaon - Ha!
Negatives :
1) LX felt too plane and featureless.
2) Brand Tata goes against it in market perception.
3) Looked just the same as it used to many years back - no updates
4) Boring Interiors - Very monotonous!
2) Mahindra Scorpio : Test drove the Scorpio from Sterling Motors Gurgaon and I really liked it too. It was sturdy, strong and comfortable. Honestly, I was comparing all the cars with my existing car so all of them felt amazing. Plus I had been following this car for real for quite some years and I was a big fan of the Scorpio back then (I still admire it,specially the looks).
Positives :
1) Looks - Mighty muscular looks (Very Important Criteria for me)
2) Brand Mahindra works in its favour for After Sales Services
3) Looked updated and contemporary
4) Comfortable Drive and Control
5) Lighter feel and better pickup
Negatives :
1) Very bouncy at sudden braking
2) Less spacious than safari.
3) Driver seat not as comfortable as in Safari
Now came the financials - Mahindra Scorpio SLE was shortlisted in discussion with my better half. It was costing me around Rs. 10.50 lakhs on road in Delhi at that time. A bit over my budget. I wanted to keep it below 10 lakhs and it would have been even better if it was closer to Rs.9 lakhs. Safari Dicor LX was suiting this parameter. Somehow due to lack of Vitamin M for down payment and lesser resale value being paid for my accent, my plan to own the safari was put on hold.
Fast forward to October 2013 -
Had been following updates on Tata Safari Storme launch and various reviews on T-BHP, thought I must check out the vehicle. Was excited to check this almost 140 bhp beast.
Called for a test drive and I really loved the power! This one was very different from its predecessor.
Positives :
1) Stylish new looks with the front grill and removed spare tyre.
2) More power @ 138 bhp
3) Better pick up and lighter feel
4) Eye catching colours
5) Confidence inspiring on fast speeds
6) Lesser turning radius
7) Better steering responsiveness - better handling!
8) Better control and thus confidence
9) Less noisy
10) Fancy biege interiors
Negatives :
1) Costlier than the Scorpio.
2) Lesser features w.r.t its counterparts in the same price range like the XUV500
3) Tata after sales was a big question mark.
Thought about the altenatives that we had :
1) XUV500 - Had seen the XUV up and close during a friends purchase of the same and I had really liked it. Everything was good about XUV500. Had I not listened to my heart but my my mind, I would have explored it more, but my heart was always for Safari.
2) Mahindra Scorpio - It was good and always had been. There were rounds in the market that Scorpio is going in for an overhaul and coming out with a new 140 bhp engine. Storme was new and fresh in the market.
3) Renault Duster -Did not consider it as we already had one. Wife had been driving one for over a year.
4) Nissan Evalia /Ertiga/ Innova - They did not fit the bill for an SUV and the looks that I was searching for.
5) Mahindra Thar - I really love this one though, but did not find it to be comfortable family car that we were looking at. It was way more rugged and less on luxury.
We decided it was time to make a decision now! Went ahead and booked the EX version - Urban Bronze ( Though I really liked Pearl white, but my earlier car was white so I wanted to change)
The experience with Tata Staff and the dealership regarding the whole process (booking to delivery) was really smooth. They gave us good discount of about 35k and three year free insurance. I really appreciate the Tata fellows for making this experience an experience of a life time. Me and my wife had gone to take the delivery on Eid (it was an off ) on October 16, 2013. In an hours time we were on our way to home on our new car (Yes an SUV). Tata fellows I dealt with really fast and smart and knew their work very well.
The feeling was not sinking in and even after reaching home I could not believe that this beauty was standing in my parking and its keys were in my hands. I could take it out for a spin anytime I want. But rather than driving, I kept on looking at it just appreciating the beauty.
Took it to Gurudwara Rakabganj in the evening for a small religious ritual.
Thought to myself once again - Some dreams do come true!!!
In nine months the ODO now reads about 13800 kms. The beauty has done three trips - Udaipur in Jan 2014, Corbett/ Nainital in May 2014 and Jallandhar/ Ludhiana in June 2014. All the journeys were amazing due to the awesome handling of the SUV. No major issues till now.
Will summarise my ownership experience below :
The Good points :
1) Best feature - Comfort. I have driven the vehicle for 700 kms straight when I went to Udaipur - very less fatigue. It was difficult to believe the comfort it offers specially on long distances.
2) Stylish and Contemporary looks.
3) Smooth drive. Is able to absorb minor shocks and I dont care about potholes anymore.
4) Confidence Inspiring specially at high speeds.
5) Spacious - For a family of five and usually a lot of luggage on road trips, we are blessed with a huge boot to accomodate everything.
6) The attention and respect it commands over the road is amazing. Have seen random risky pedestrians, cycles, bikes retreat at crossings on highways after seeing this huge thing coming.
7) Superb control over car. The ride and handling quality is very fine.Surprisingly practical despite big size only due to great steering control.
8) Amazing turning radius for such a huge vehicle.Turns like a dream.
9) Strong and effective AC
10) Fitted with ABS and EBD all models. Very fine braking.
11) Good Average of 12 -13 kmpl on highways (with AC) and around 10-11 in city. My daily tavel is about 30kms. Shifting from a petrol car to a diesel car has only saved money for me as Ascent was also giving similar average.
12) Sheer power of 138 bhp makes the drive feel like a dream.
A few bad points now (nothing major though, only minor) :
1) The interior panel is way to simple. Though they have done a good job with the biege, but they could have done something fancy for sure.
2) Gears are smooth compared to older generation but still a long way to go if we compare with the likes of Duster or XUV.
3) Clutch feels a bit hard if you are stuck in a heavy traffic for long like an hour or so.
4) Absolutely average after sales. Sometimes even after taking appointmnt for service , you are in the same que of taxis (indicas, indigos etc)
5) Average music system single din and no touch panel.
6) More safety features required like Air bags (at least two front should be there I feel).
Some pictures :
Last edited by JASMEET MATTOO : 2nd July 2014 at 12:27.
Reason: Content improvement
| 
10th June 2014, 13:07
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