[sourabhzen]

It is time for a brief update on the ownership after 3rd free service at 20,000kms. The truck reached the milestone on August 16, 2017 averaging about 63 kms per day. I was contemplating more miles on the odo but I guess it’s OK.
Driving
The truck is my daily drive to office that is 35kms from my home. Overall the daily drive in the city is far more stress-free than what I used to have in Swift or City. Primary reasons for this relaxed drive are the high seating position, excellent visibility and a decent music system. I take around 1.5 hours to reach office and around 2 hours to reach back home in the evening. Overall cabin sound insulation is pretty good and it blocks most of the noise from the traffic. Having said that, I feel that the echo inside the cabin (at low RPMs) is sometimes unbearable. AC, though effective is bit noisy.

I made a few outstation trips including a trip to Manali (during snowfall), one to Munsyari and a few to Agra and Meerut. I felt that the long drives on this truck are far less tiring than in my Swift or City. I drove from Munsyari to Nainital with brief stops at Patal Bhairvi and Jageshwar temple. We had quite some energy left after this daylong drive of approx 300kms in hills. It is important to mention here that I get back ache when I drive for 4-5 hours in my Swift but did not feel a thing in Storme.

Driving experience could have been even better if the gear shift was as slick as the Japanese cars. I miss the ‘Khat’ sound while shifting. However, it is a very good cruiser and is quite relaxed while cruising on highways in sixth gear. Steering feedback is fine but is bit heavy at parking speeds. Brakes are optimum but lacks the bite as in Honda City.

I had only one experience of emergency braking where a Civic cut me across from left to take a right turn. The truck managed to stop just in time but I would have hit him really hard if ABS were not present. Handbrakes are not designed for the vehicle of this size.

Headlights are adequate for my use. Low beams are strictly for city driving and should not be used on unlit highways unless some vehicle is approaching from opposite side.

4 Wheeling
The truck goes out for a bit of off-roading once in a month (though I want it to be more frequent). There are two serious shortcomings (along with few others) that TML need to address immediately. Firstly the SUV, particularly 4X4, should have come with AT (all terrain) tyres as OEM. Secondly, the design black part of the rear bumper is flawed and need to be rectified. The existing design compromises the departure angle by great extent. I broke this black piece twice till now, got it repaired the first time but left it as is the second time. This particular piece comes for 7.5 grand + labour costs and is definitely not worth it. I will replace the rear bumper with custom built metal bumper eventually when I have funds to carry out the modifications. As of now I am still not able to come out of the financial mess created by spending on Storme. Other minor issues include one broken part in side front bumper that was replaced in this service and slightly bent (curved) footsteps. I am quite satisfied with its performance off the road as it does what it is meant to do. It may perform better if some modifications are carried out to the vehicle but there are two shortcomings as of now. One, being a vehicle by an Indian manufacturer, there aren’t any off the shelf mods available in the market. Two, the warranty is void if any mechanical modification is carried out (and I seriously do not want to take any chances with the warranty).
Shortcomings of TATA Storme

• The front indicator bulbs are not replaceable. You need to change the entire headlamp assembly for Rs. 8800 if your indicator bulb goes caput. This I learnt from another forum.
• I miss the presence of grab handle at doors. Those would have been a great aid for getting on the truck.
• The truck does not have any AC filter. I do not understand the logic behind this omission.
• I miss MID showing fuel data sometimes but it is manageable for me as of now.

Service Experience

• Tata’s service is nowhere near Maruti and that is a well known fact. Twice it happened that I went to the service station after taking appointment and there was no SA to attend me for 15-20 minutes. Once I had to park it at the entry of the workshop, blocking the way, to grab some attention. They are not as professional as one would expect them to be. The positive part is that they are very friendly and they do not push for unnecessary jobs as Maruti SA would do. The technical guys are good and try to resolve issues as described. I raised an issue of noisy rear viper in this service and they replaced all the viper blades for free of cost.
• The oil change interval is an issue that should be taken up by TML as does not give a good impression of the company. The service manual clearly says that the oil change interval should be more than standard if vehicle is used primarily in city conditions. However the additional change is not covered under AMC.
• AC temperature control does not work as it should. The temperature is either cold or hot irrespective of the position of knob. I have taken up this issue all the times but they fail to rectify it.
• I got my truck back with slightly bent key (wonder how they managed to do it). I am still waiting for their response on the issue.
  

Additional Jobs done till date

• I broke my left ORVM after a minor incident near Manali. Got it replaced for 8,500/-.
• Installed CB Radio for communication while on trails.
• Installed Yi dash cam
• Burst one of the tyres after hitting a randomly placed curb stone. Got it replaced before going to Munsiyari trip.

Fuel Efficiency
I am getting between 10kmpl and 12 kmpl on regular use. Lowest till date was 9.5 kmpl just before 3rd Service and highest is 13kmpl on YEW
Some Parting Shots from Mynsiyari trip:

[sourabhzen]

A brief update after 30,000 km service:

Sent the Storme of 30,000 Km service on 19th February, 2018. Following were the issues/jobs that were conveyed to the SA, will give some explanation on each issue subsequently:

• Slipping of 6th gear while cruising
• Vibrations
• Low beam bulbs gave up last month (both of them within a month's interval)
• Some rattle in the rear door.
• Loose mud flaps
• Engine oil, oil filter and air filter change.

Slipping of 6th gear: The gear used to shift back to neutral from 6th while at cruising speed and on smooth roads. This happened first time before 20k service when I was coming back from Tijara. It happened a couple of time again and I reported the same to SA during (20K) schedule service. He said that the issue was with the gear stick and the same is resolved. However, it was not resolved and happened 5-6 times again before in next 10,000 kms. I reported it again to the SA. By afternoon I received a call from workshop that the issue is with Synchro and they need to open gear box to check.

I mentioned the issue on Safari owner's WhatsApp group and came to know that there is one more Storme with the similar issue and they are replacing the gear box of that car. When I called back the SA, Shop Manager and CRM they told me that as per TML policies the gear box is changed if the total running is less than 20000 km. For my car they will change the Synchro cones (whatever they are) and it will solve the issue for good. Anyways, I argued with them for 4 days and ultimately gave up. Got my car after 8 days. I still have to drive a couple of thousand kilometers to check if the issue is resolved.

As per Shop Manager and SA, the issue is extremely rare (first in their case) and thus they do not stock parts with them. The Parts were ordered from Pune.

Vibrations: Engine mounting bushes were changed and there is significant reduction in the vibrations.

Rattle: I think it has reduced. Need to drive more to be sure.

Engine oil, oil filter and air filter change. As per Service manual they were not scheduled to be changed in this service. But I insisted the change because of some off-roading I do.

Other issue: In one of the outing a friend's Thar reversed back into my car. The impact was too low and there was no visible mark on the bumper. However, my LED DRLs stopped working after this impact. The module controlling the DRL has gone bad and TML could not source the same in last two months as it is an accessory and just the part of this accessory is hard to find. .

Overall, I love driving the Storme and I feel it is far more easier and stress free than driving a hatchback or sedan.

[gururajrv]

Sourabh - one brilliant machine you’ve got there sir! I do not why, but whenever I find a thread of Safari, it brings me a smile directly from heart. Niggles aside, this car is built to last IMHO. I sincerely wish Tata had upgraded this car atleast the interiors in a timely fashion like Mahindra does with Scorpio. Anyways, they’re coming up with the replacement that’s going to make a strong niche for itself like the Safari did / is doing still all this while.

I’ll closely follow your thread to find more pics and updates of your machine. No machines are made with perfection. Everything comes with its own niggles attaches to it

Keep munching rocks off-road and miles on road

[avinash_m]

Congratulations on completing an significant milestone @sourabh!!

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

For my car they will change the Synchro cones (whatever they are) and it will solve the issue for good.

As per Shop Manager and SA, the issue is extremely rare (first in their case)

Although your issue is completely different from mine, the common link is the gearbox and handling of the issue by Tata! Attributing these issues to a 'rare case' is actually more worrying since there's no concrete reason of why it happened?! For a long time after my issue, I thought there was a problem in my driving style, or may be because I drive 95% in city with mixed traffic conditions. Now though am more relaxed but mindful of any tell tale signs. FYI, I'd mentioned mine in the official review thread (post# 613).

The module controlling the DRL has gone bad and TML could not source the same in last two months as it is an accessory..

Hope the damage was limited to that. On a similar note though, have you had a chance to check if this module has any mode switch, which allows one to control the way the DRLs operate. For ex. I wouldn't them to be on if I am switching on the park, heads etc. (even on low intensity)? Never got a chance to see the module as I'd to leave the vehicle at the dealers' for installation, and they obviously don't know if there's such a thing.


Cheers!

[arvindmanju]

Nice thread!
It was great to read all the off road experience.
Hope the 6th gear issue is resolved, will be happy to know how the Strome is performing now.