[iamsai_iyer]

Hey Procrj,

Thanks for the quick response. Really good of you.

What are your views on the Scross & Ecosport vis a vis the TUV. An honest take would be good.

I see you are in Bangalore, which part?


Thanks again

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by iamsai_iyer

Somehow 16-17 does seem less. The Figo does manage to give 22 on the highway, despite having old school mechanicals. I know the comparison seems a little off, the Figo being a Hatch & TUV300 being SUV category. Still needed your inputs, before taking the plunge.

Originally Posted by procrj

2. Buy the tank only if you are sure that you need to seat 5 folks in the car. Else the Ecosport/S Cross/Creta/Nexon are good options to consider
3. Be mentally prepared to deal with some very lackadaisical folks at MASS

Happy hunting!

iamsai_iyer, thank you for your compliments. procrj has summed it up very well above and there is nothing much to add. If you are more concerned about FE/mileage then don't even look at the TUV. What the TUV gives you is commanding road presence, ability to take any road, robust mechanicals, carry 7 or even 8 people. If you care for these more than the FE, only then consider the TUV. else there are many other cars.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by iamsai_iyer

your views on the Scross & Ecosport vis a vis the TUV.

My 2 cents - cant really compare it against the TUV. While its in the same segment, the reason why you buy one or the other is very different. TUV is more of a heart based decision while the other 2 are probably more of a rational choice.

S-Cross
- good cruiser with a solid build. But some chinks in the armor. Check this
- Strictly for 5 adults or 3 Adults + 2 children
- the 1.3 is in a better state of tune but still has some lag. You can go for a stage 1 remap and it becomes a much better car. Do check (Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L) and talk to sudeepg for details.
- perfect highway cruiser with a good balance of handling + ride quality without a lot of compromise on F.E
- can handle bad roads and no roads if driven carefully
- typically maruti issues - rattles et al.

Ecosport
- great package but for me space inside is just not enough. I am a big guy and find it a little claustrophobic inside the ecosport. Not the case with the S Cross though.
- not sure how good bad the new dragon engines are. Haven't driven them
- ride, handling, stability etc. shouldn't be a problem
- Should get decent F.E if driven sedately

Again, above are just my opinions and would suggest you read up, drive it and then make a choice. I would urge you to seriously consider the nexon. Did drive one for a short distance and its a beautiful package. Good torque, nice handling and the 6th gear is pretty good for highway cruising, great looking interiors and the seats are

I see you are in Bangalore, which part?

Yeshwantpur. Do PM if you need my contact details.

[AutoIndian]

Friends, I will have to part away with my Orange Tank for the next 8 months as I have to travel abroad for an overseas assignment. Although I am the only one in my family who drives the tank, I do not want to let it lie idle in the garage under the wraps. I am not planning to disconnect the battery just to avoid battery drainage. I am planning to tell my brother-in-law (who stays 6 kms away) to take a the tank out for a spin at least once in a week for say 10kms or even more. The more the merrier. What do you guys think? Will that be sufficient to keep enough juice in the battery and all the fluids in good condition when I return back after 8 months? The tank is 37 months old and 44K km on the odo. This means the battery has already crossed its useful life of 3 years. What are your thoughts? Any other suggestion?

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Any other suggestion?

I would worry about rats making it their playground. When I left my TUV for 12 days in Jan this year, a rat had gone it and gnawed at a few wires and bit into the diesel flow pipe. There are a few physical deterrents you can put in to prevent similar damage to your car.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by diyguy

I would worry about rats making it their playground. When I left my TUV for 12 days in Jan this year, a rat had gone it and gnawed at a few wires and bit into the diesel flow pipe. There are a few physical deterrents you can put in to prevent similar damage to your car.

Thanks diyguy, very valid point, how did I miss that. What are the points according to you from where these creatures can enter our tanks?

In the last one year, I haven't faced the rat menace as far as car is concerned. However the back side of my house, which has the duct area is prone to rat gangs. I say this because I have myself caught 4 of them on the sticky glue yellow board. Hmmnn I will have to think about some means of keeping them at bay. Cats usually make rounds in our garage, so that is a good deterrent. But anything other than that you would like to suggest, which is also tried and tested?

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Thanks diyguy, very valid point, how did I miss that. What are the points according to you from where these creatures can enter our tanks?

There is a thread on this but in Jan-Mar of 2018, my cars got bitten 6 times leading to a lot of anxiety and dangerous situations with petrol leaking from the swift and diesel from the TUV when on the move. Had a motorist skid and fall on the diesel leak from my TUV and of course a lot of repair expense. My cars are Street parked except for the swift that can enter my garage.
It started with my activa that got bitten maybe 4-5 times and then the rat graduated to my cars.
I did the following and so far have not had another attack.
Lit up my garage with bright lights to deter rodent movement.
Attached brushes inside the engine bay to deter rodent movement. This irritates their eyes and this has really worked.
Systematic poisoning of the rodent that had setup house in my garage area. Used poison biscuits and it took about 8 biscuits to finally kill the huge guy. Used to spread them in my garage every night and they were gone the morning. Our cleaner found a carcass a few days after.

These are the things that were partly successful.
I wrapped critical pipes and wires with the cable organizers made of plastic. This should deter smaller rodents but the one in my garage had gnawed through this as well.
I was pouring phenyle water every night under my cars but this is painful and I did this for about a month and stopped.
Attached long tobacco leaves inside the engine bay- this was totally useless.
I used anti rodent spray on the pipes and again this was totally useless. It bit the pipes the same night that I sprayed extensively.

This is the reason I mention physical deterrents as I have found them to be most effective.
Amongst all this mess, my Qualis stood tall, it was never attacked and this led me to think of the engine bay arrangement (design) and maybe use of right components/material to ensure no rats can do damage.

Good luck.

[AutoIndian]

Posting on my ownership thread after almost 15 months. Some of you might be aware that mid Dec-2018 I went to Germany on an assignment and returned back on 01-Sep-2019. So I was away from my car for almost 8.5 months. Last 6 months since my return I have been using the car regularly.

While I was away, my brother-in-law was occasionally driving my tank. Once in a week or fortnight he would take it out for 5-6 kms spin. On one fine day when he was at a bunk to fill diesel the battery conked off and car would not start. He jumpstarted it and replaced the battery with EXIDE FEPO-EGRID700 A389G0475193894. The OEM battery lasted for 3 years and 9 months. The new battery costed Rs 5600/- (6400 - 800) for the old battery exchange.

Today I did the 50K service, so thought of sharing it here & give an update on what all happened in the last 15 months. It was a regular service. Besides regular items replaced front brake pads and LHS front bush upper control arm. Details of part and labor charges below. Somehow not able to attach a jpeg file, hence attaching a pdf below. Was not able to take any pictures today. Will take some pics tomorrow and share.

50k Service Details pdf.pdf

[AutoIndian]

Yesterday post servicing went to Darshan Tyres, Chinchwad to do tyre rotation and alignment. Did tyre rotation in "X" pattern, keeping the stepney tyre intact. Then did the wheel alignment. Since I had changed the suspension part, "BUSH SILENT BLOCK UPPER CONTR ARM", I thought the alignment might have got disturbed, but to the pleasant surprise of the technician and myself the alignment wasn't at all disturbed and there was no need to do any front axel/tie rod adjustment.

Got some time today to stretch my muscles and do wax polishing for my tank. After a one and a half hours ritual took the below pics of the tank. Sorry, but cannot post the pictures now due to some issues with server, will try again after some time.

[AutoIndian]

[AutoIndian]

Yesterday while returning home from office, the odo crossed the 50K mark. Captured it on my mobile. It has taken almost 52 months to reach there. As you are aware the car was hibernating for an 8 months period. So this mileage came in a duration of 44 months (took too long to reach this mark)

[chetans]

I have given the tank for 50k servicing. The tryres look worn out (side panel shows scratches)and I am thinking for changing those. Also I am travelling from bangalore to pune, which happens to be long drive in last 3years.
Any recommendations for tyres? Should I opt for R16?
A

[chetans]

The service engineer just called me to inform that the battery has gone weak. He is quoting 6.5k with exchange for new amaron battery. as the tank is 4.5years old, i am thinking to proactively get this done.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by chetans

The service engineer just called me to inform that the battery has gone weak. He is quoting 6.5k with exchange for new amaron battery. as the tank is 4.5years old, i am thinking to proactively get this done.

6.5 seems expensive. Get it changed from a battery shop, it should be definitely less than 6k after exchanging your old battery.

TUV300 battery online quote

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by chetans

Any recommendations for tyres? Should I opt for R16?

I see from the images that your stock Rim is 15". In case meant you would like to upgrade the tires, there are 2 choices really:

1. Upgrade in terms of tire width such that the aspect ration (sidewall height) is not compromised and the overall change is within the ~3% limit
   
2. Upgrade in terms of Rim diameter from current 15" to 16" still ensuring that the outer circumference post this change is within the ~3% limit

1 is really easy. You choose a wider tire then the aspect ratio should decrease accordingly such. There is not real need to change the rim if you are increasing the width of the tire by 10-20mm on the stock Rim.

For 2, you will have to also change the Rim to 16". This means when you go for a 16" tire, the sidewall height will reduce because you will still need to retain the overall circumference of the original tire even when on 16" rim.

This is ideally not recommended for a vehicle like TUV and hence your upgrade should be limited to option 1 above unless there are owners who have managed to 17" can throw some light.