[ast.ggn]

TATA TIAGO XZA (2017)



Likes:
• Decent amount of steel used and car feels solid built. No "flimsy doors" feeling as is the case with competition.
• Safety essentials - Airbag, ABS, EBD, CSC is topnotch for a car of it's class.
• Good looking interiors, doesn't feel like a Tata (or rather previous Tata cars, most of new models are with good interiors). One of my office colleague didn't notice that it is Tiago when he sat in the car for first time and was quite surprised when he realized it later on. Plastic feels good to touch.
• Loaded with convenience features. Music system is equivalent/ better than cars above it's class.
• Suspension is well tuned. Bad roads, potholes are taken with ease. Seats are quite comfortable.
• Sports/ Manual mode is available for AMT transmission. If you are bored of regular (read: lame) automatic mode, use the stick. It works well.

Dislikes:
• Engine performance could have been better. Car feels dead in 2nd gear at times and reminds me of Chevrolet Beat (Petrol) which had a similar struggle in 2nd gear. Power figures are equivalent to other cars in it's class (84 ps, 114 Nm of torque) and looks decent on paper, but it's on road performance is mediocre.
• AMT is tuned for fuel efficiency and is eager to shift gears. It is highly irritating especially when you are in city or overtaking some other vehicle. Forget AMT if you are based in hills/ planning to use the car for trip to hills. It is just terrible there. Thankfully the company has given it a sports mode which works as a face saver.
• Tata has still long way to go with Quality control. Period.
• Never ending dash board/ glovebox/ door pad rattles. There is simply no fix to it, at least in previous generation Tiago. Not sure if the problem has been solved in newer models.
• AC performance is poor. It struggles in peak north Indian summer. Also, the compressor cut off point is set too early. It cuts off even before car has cooled properly.
• City fuel efficiency is poor and fluctuates a lot. I have seen as low as 9.5 kmpl, it goes upto 22~23 on highways with decent driving.
• Service centers are a gamble. You don't know when you will get lucky.
• Stock tyres (I got Goodyear Assurance) were of average quality. Side wall swellings, prone to punctures or may be it is due to poor quality of roads in our cities.

[ast.ggn]

Brief Background

The car was supposed to be used as a city car by better half for work related local commute, running daily errands and dropping off kid to school at times. Hatchback was preferable because it is easy to park in tight spots, takes less space etc.

Requirements:

Should be an automatic. Given the traffic in NCR, manual was a strict no and wife found it easier to drive around with an automatic.
Budget range - 6-7 L maximum.
Top of the line variants were preferred, ABS was a must.

Cars considered

Maruti Alto
Maruti Celerio
Renault Kwid
Hyundai Grand i10
Honda Brio
Ford Figo
Tata Tiago

Buying Experiences and Final decision

Maruti Alto and Celerio:
Alto was straight away rejected as it is a lot smaller for our tall frames. We both felt cramped in the car and got out within 10 seconds without any further discussion. Celerio was lot spacious than the Alto and was the preferable between the two. Car didn't have much features to talk about and felt very basic. We were asked if we wanted a test drive but dealership didn't have an automatic, so we decided to skip it. Showroom experience was decent even though it was crowded. Alto was around 5.2 L and Celerio was 5.8 L on road.

Renault Kwid:
Renault team was quite professional and eager during our visit to showroom. Test drive was arranged without any delay and all the features were well explained. In fact, when we visited the showroom, the Climber edition of the Kwid was being unveiled in parallel, so they requested us to stay for a little cake cutting ceremony soon after. After a couple of weeks when we were in final discussions, the Renault sales manager brought the car to our home and requested us for a second test drive and waited outside patiently, while Tata team also arrived at the same time due to a slight goof up in timings. Full marks to that gentleman for his effort. The car looked good from outside, but interiors felt quite basic, seats felt primitive and thin, doors were light however biggest sore point was no manual/ sports mode in AMT, jerkiness while gear shifts and lack of ABS. These were clearly a no-go from primary user. On road price was approx. 5.2 L.

Hyundai Grand i10:
Hyundai has it's own unique way of working since ages. It is a task to find an automatic test drive vehicle at any Hyundai dealership (at least for sub 10L cars). Either you are really lucky if you find one or you are well connected. Knowing that this would happen, I made a call to dealership to enquire about the price and test drive, the gentleman on phone seemed hardly interested in selling the car. I didn't contact them again after the phone call. On Road price was approx 7L.

Honda Brio and Ford Figo:
I made a call to both dealerships and both the cars were above my planned budget. Brio was approx. 7.4 on road, Figo was above 8 L. No test drives were available either.

Tata Tiago:
Tiago was launched in 2016 and it was Team-BHP Car of the year. I went through Tiago thread several times, even before making a call to showroom. We decided to have a look at the car and visited showroom in Faridabad (had to buy the car from Faridabad, as I was based there for a short period). Experience was a mixed one, showroom wasn't kept too clean, AC was not working for many areas, test drive car was available immediately and Sales person was quite courteous. Car felt good during the short test drive, AMT jerks still there but much more manageable than Kwid, comfortable, well put together and at least a segment above Kwid. After a week, I took one more test drive at Concorde Motors, New Delhi and impressions were same as previous ones. Meanwhile my parents were dead set against any Tata car as our neighbours had a poor experience with Safari and till last moment they were advising against it. We spent a lot of time discussing internally and couldn't make up a firm mind on anything. This was entirely because Tiago offered so much value for money that other cars felt bare bones in comparison. The negatives were the general view about poor Tata quality and experiences people had at dealerships. My uncle had an Indica V2 back in early-mid 2000's and his car ran for 1,50,000 kms + without any troubles.

Finally, made a call to Tayal Motors, Faridabad (Tata dealer back then, shut down in 2018 though the new dealership is within same family) and asked Sales person to visit for a final negotiation and pick up booking amount if deal is done. Wife was not too keen for white/ silver as we had 4 other cars in white in immediate family, so decided to go for Brown or Berry red whatever was available. Berry red was out of stock for most dealers in NCR. They had one Espresso Brown which was already booked by some gentleman but his final purchase was still couple of weeks away. We didn't think of it much, as AMT was launched only a couple of months back and getting old manufactured car was impossible.

There was no discount offered though they agreed to waive off handling charges after I showed them a Team-BHP thread that court has ruled against any handling charges etc. Final on road price was rounded off to 6,00,0XX. Floor mats and mud flaps were provided as free.

Delivery

Reached the dealership at designated time and car was still being cleaned in a poor manner. Once the sales person informed us that the car is ready, I went out to have a look. The car was still half clean with all washing marks, swirl marks and spots. I called the senior manager over there and gave him a piece of my mind. He apologized and instructed the staff to clean it properly but it was clear by then how the whole experience will turn out. Anyways, we completed document formalities, took the delivery and left the showroom without wanting to spoil the things further.

[ast.ggn]

Team BHP official review thread is quite extensively detailed with lovely pics, hence I have kept photographs to bare minimum in this thread.

Exteriors:

I am not a fan of front design and I still feel that Tata could have done better with the front fascia.



However, rear is designed quite well and is one of the best looking amongst the cars in it's generation.





Side Profile:

Overall build quality has a solid feel to it and I never felt the doors to be light. However, there is no “thud” feeling while closing the doors, which the Germans are known for. For reference, we used to car pool to our office till last year and one of the colleagues owned a Brezza. There is a day and night difference in the door weight of Tiago and Brezza and effort required to close them.

Paint quality is average, nothing to boast about. I have seen base metal being exposed with not so deep scratches. Volkswagen's paint quality is on entirely another level.

Panel gaps are better than previous generation Tata Cars.

Alloys look ordinary in today's outlook. New models have better design and look modern. Standard tyre size is 175/65 R14 on XZA and I have hardly felt the need to upsize. Stock tyres were Good Year Assurance which I found to be of average quality. Tyres have suffered side wall bulges at 30K, frequent punctures, road noise was also a bit high as time progressed. I have switched to Yokohama Earth 1 recently at 54k kms, and the road noise is a lot better.

Headlights are ordinary and nothing much to write about. Low beam is actually quite low and sufficient just enough for city usage or slow speeds. High beam is much better in comparison but feels inadequate on highways. I was planning to upgrade to projector/ dual unit set up on Tigor, but there aren't any positive reviews about them either. Fog lamps are the worst ever units I have ever seen in any car and are entirely useless.

Antenna is primitive type and already served it's purpose as food to neighbourhood dogs.



Interiors:

Interiors are well designed and have aged well. Maruti should learn a lesson from Tata nowadays. Tiago was launched 4 years back and still they don’t feel much outdated, except for the center display which is touch screen nowadays for most cars. Interiors are dark and are easy to maintain.



Stock stereo system is manufactured by Harman and it was one of the most talked about feature at the time of car launch. Sound quality from stock system is quite good. It will serve purpose for most people unless you have really keen ear for music. The panel is slightly tilted towards driver. Notice large number of dummy buttons. AC vents cannot be shut completely.



Steering looks modern and has audio/ phone controls on it. However I would rate Figo's (1st gen) steering as best of all the cars which I have owned till now (with respect to steering feel). Notice the contours for thumb. Steering has adjustment for height only (reach adjustment is absent).



MID has variety of information and is pleasant to eyes. Fuel Consumption indication is generally 1-2 kmpl lower than what is indicated in the MID. Suppose your trip is showing as 17 kmpl, it will be some what 15-16 kmpl in actual. It shows which door is not locked properly (with a separate indication for boot). Gear information, Distance to Empty, Average Fuel consumption for trip, service intervals, driving modes are available in the display. If you are using manual mode for AMT, the shift suggestion will be displayed. This is lot of detail for car which was priced at 4 lacs at the time of it's launch!!!



Wiper and Headlight stalk are of decent quality. Wiper has quite a bit of speed adjustment/ intermittent function available. However the rotary action of the speed adjuster seems flimsy (may be I am nitpicking).



Wiper blades are from Bosch and do their job. Service centre is quite proactive in changing the wiper blades under P2P, they do so even without asking. Washer spray area is good enough and does the job.



Area covered by Rear Wiper is quite small, but you can't help it considering the category of the car. Rear water spray stopped working some time back. I took it up with service center guys, who promptly suggested to replace the unit even without having a look at the system. The cost of the unit was INR 10K+!!!. I checked the terms of warranty and found out that wiper motors are covered under Extended warranty. It turns out that the hose pipe which supplies the water to the unit had come out from it's attachment point to the unit. The length of pipe is really small and if pipe gets cut or damaged for some reason, there will be no option left other than to change the whole unit. Somehow SA managed to fix the pipe back and it is working fine, but I doubt it's longevity now. Rear defogger is a welcome feature.

Rotary Dials for Air Conditioning control (AC is covered separately later on). USB and Aux connections are right below.



Gear Shift stalk is of decent quality, however the panel just below the stalk seems to be poorly built.



Getting the key to slot in the ignition socket was lot irritating in initial days, it used to go in with quite bit of effort and trials. It has eased out with usage now, but it is still far from smooth. The outer ring of the slot is illuminated. Key is standard folding type, with find your car/ follow me home function. It is useful in mall parking lots.



Dashboard plastic quality is good but it is a constant source of rattles. No matter what service centre does, it comes back to haunt you after a few weeks.



There are quite a bit of storage areas, however 1 L bottle can be accommodated only in the center console or in the rear door pockets (They have clear marking).



Side pockets in front doors are marked for 0.5 ltrs only.



Glovebox cover and door pads are also a constant source of rattles. There is decent enough storage space in glovebox. Tata advertises it as cooled glove box but it is mostly a gimmick as AC cooling is poor for Tiago. Power window switches are backlit, which is a useful feature.



Center arm rest is sorely missed in automatic variant. I have been lazy in getting an aftermarket fix done.



Car is spacious for it’s class and I have never felt cramped in the driver’s seat. For people who are of taller frames, your arms may brush with your co-passenger.

Seatbelts aren't height adjustable kind. Seat belt reminder is available on the instrumentation console and there is a slow chime after 1 minute/ at a predefined speed limit. It increases to a faster/ more noticeable chime after a while. The faster chime disappears once the speed is brought down under 20 kmph.

Seat is quite comfortable and foam is in generous quantity, it is much better than other cars in it's class which I had tested. I have done quite a few 12 hours+ drives in this car and fatigue level was quite manageable. Under thigh support is okay, not too great for my height (6'). Head rests are adjustable kind.



Seating is bit low and people who have problem in knees or those who are overweight might have trouble getting in and out. Driver's seat is with height adjustment with decent amount of range. The seat slide adjuster seems to be of poor quality and gets stuck several times. It is same for co-passenger seat too.

Dead Pedal is little small and I would have preferred a little wider one.

[ast.ggn]

Rear Seat isn’t wide enough and seating 3 adults is difficult. Rear leg room isn’t a luxury either. If the driver's seat is adjusted to my height (6'), rear legroom is just about ok. It folds down quite a bit but not all the way down and it is far from being a flat bed kind of arrangement. I have once transported a 1.5 ton window AC with rear seat down (for a few kms), kid's cycle etc and a flat bed kind of arrangement would have been helpful. Rear head room is also just sufficient for a person of my height.



Rear passenger grab handle is spring loaded with coat hook.



Inner rear view mirror is small and weird. I have never been able to adjustable it in a proper position.



Rear parcel tray feels sturdy and is suspended by nylon rope type attachment from the boot lid once it is open. The suspending mechanism doesn't work too well and I have often found the ropes coming out of the plastic loop attachment.

Boot space is good for a hatchback and can take 2-3 travel bags with ease.



Boot is illuminated. This feature was deleted in late 2017 models. Notice hook for bags (3kg marking). Similar type hook in available in the co-passenger seat footwell.



Stalk type door lock-unlock lever reminds me of Maruti 800 from 1900s. Really TATA??



Driver side sun visor gets mirror too. The visor in itself is small and when sun is towards the side, it is ineffective. I wish it had extender like some other cars.



Small pocket to keep lose change for toll etc or keys.



Mirror adjustment from inside. Knob seems quite flimsy to use.



One of the most useful feature. Toll receipt holder



Mic for phone calls, call quality is ok and speaker volume has quite a bit of adjustment range.



Speaker grill. Notice how the slots change their size as we move outwards. I would have never noticed it back in 2017 unless it was for Team-BHP official review. Speaks a lot about attention to detail moderators put in.



Cabin light is white LED and is sufficiently bright in the night.



Suspension and Handling

Suspension is well tuned for Indian roads. It is neither too soft nor too stiff and comes out as a balance between the two. It is quite comfortable on bad roads and you won't feel too much of any impact in the cabin on potholes. Except for really big potholes, passengers are comfortable on bad roads.

Car is stable on highways up to much more legal speed limits. During my trip to Jaisalmer last year, we came across excellent highways and I had pushed the car quite a bit without any problems. Car manages sudden changes in direction quite well. On highways and ghat sections, car feels comfortable up to decent speed and there is no point pushing the car too much as it is a budget hatchback.

I have never managed to scrap the bottom on any kind of speed breakers, even if the car is quite a bit loaded. In comparison, Etios scraps every other speed breaker due to really soft suspension.

Engine, Drivability and NVH Level



Engine is a 3 cylinder, 1.2 L unit and isn't the best in business. Power and Torque figures are 84ps @ 6000 rpm and 114 Nm @ 3500 rpm respectively. Power to Weight ratio is one of the best in it's segment on paper, but it's performance on road is quite mediocre. For technical details about the engine, official review may be referred.

Ignition on is greeted by fuel pump priming noise and speedo does a full sweep. Video:

https://youtu.be/5VKJJxMEogY

There is quite a bit of vibration and shake as engine comes to life and it's 3 cylinder character is visible even to a layman. There is good amount of engine noise coming in cabin upon start up. For comparison, it was hard to tell if my old Ford Figo was even running, it was easily the benchmark of smoothness and so silent. Tiago is nowhere close. RPM is programmed to be around 1200-1300 during cold start, it settles down to under 1000 after couple of minutes.

Engine can be switched on only once brake pedal is pressed. If you miss to press the pedal or the gear lever isn't in Neutral, car will give out a little chime. Car can also detect handbrake and will not move if it is engaged.

Release the brake pedal and car crawls forward with speed restricted to under 10 kmph without accelerator input. This feature was absent in Kwid, which moved ahead only once accelerator is pressed. There are both upside and downside to this: It is a good feature to have in slow moving traffic and gives little time to swtich your foot from brake to accelerator if car is on incline. On the flipside, new drivers may end up taking car the forward unintentionally and also it will have a negative impact on brake pad life.

City Mode:
Once on the move, AMT is eager to shift gears in City Mode. If you drive aggressively, there is quite a bit of jerk felt during gear shifts. It is a characteristic of all AMT cars, especially during shifts from from 1-2-3. Shifts between 4 and 5 are relatively smoother. If you are driving in city mode and plan to overtake, you will find AMT hunting for correct gear. It will drop down 1-2 gears before car starts to accelerate. This is quite irritating and dangerous during close overtakes. No matter how much time you spend with AMT, you cannot get used to this. If the car is on incline and you try to move forward without accelerator input, car will shudder a lot (car tries not to stall)

Sports Mode:
Sports mode is located right on the gear lever console. There is a visible difference in throttle response in sports mode and car feels quite eager to move ahead. Once the car is in crawling forward and your press slight accelerator, it will move ahead eagerly. If you are in heavy traffic, it is best to avoid sports mode or you will end up rear ending another vehicle. On the move, car holds on to RPM significantly longer based on your throttle input. I have seen it going above 100 kmph in 3rd gear, try doing that with city mode !!! Sports mode is of excellent help if you are planning to drive to hills. I have done a trip to Dalhousie in 2017 and without sports mode life would have been hell.

Manual Mode:
Slotting the lever to "A" and then towards left will activate manual mode. It works in a similar manner as normal manual shifting gearbox except the clutch. You can hold on to RPM as long as you want and jerky nature of AMT can be avoided in manual mode. It also comes handy on steep inclines like exit ramps of shopping malls. I use it when I am bored and need some fun out of other wise boring nature of car and it works quite well. Shifts are quite easy and a simple dab on gear lever does the trick either ways. Car doesn't start if the gear lever is in manual mode.

100 kmph comes up little under 3000 rpm and car tops out somewhere around 160 kmph, which is also official figure from Tata.

NVH levels are poor and lot of noise is heard inside the car once the RPM shoots up. On the outside it sounds like a diesel. Road noise is also quite audible in the cabin, things are lot better with new tyres but it is nowhere as silent as other cars in market.

No insulation under the hood.


Kitna deti hai?
In city usage with heavy traffic and AC On, expect 10 kmpl. In city usage without heavy traffic and AC on, you can expect around 12-13 kmpl. On highways, expect anything between 18-22 kmpl, depending upon your driving style and conditions. Fuel efficiency starts to dip at speeds anything above 90 kmph. Fuel tank is of 35 ltrs and low fuel indicator comes up once there is 6-7 ltrs of fuel is remaining in the tank. On highways with reasonable driving, expect a tank range of 550 kms between refills.

[ast.ggn]

Car has done 58,000 kms in little over 3 years.

Problems faced and Service Experiences

Car Registration

One month after delivery, there was no clarity from dealership on the registration process. When I chased the higher ups, it turns out that the dealership has been sitting on my file since the day of sale. Reason: the person who used to deal with RTO has left the job. I told them that the temporary registration would expire in couple of days, they promptly issued a new temporary registration certificate. Anyways, after lot of follow ups the file was processed to RTO, who then put a hold on registration citing vague reasons. After a lot of follow up, calls, visits to dealership and greasing the palms, got the car registration approved and RC was handed over to me after 2.5 months with my father's name wrong (a letter missing) on it. I was so fed up with them that I didn't bother to get it corrected. This is still a pending task.

Air Conditioner

• Next day after delivery I noticed that cooling is not as effective as it should be. I took the car to service center and they diagnosed it to be choked air filter. One would wonder how can an AC filter choke in a new car, to which dealership replied that we do not know sir, it was choked from factory itself. After this the AC performance was still mediocre but I didn't bother much as monsoon had set in.

• Couple of months later, on a trip to Dalhousie/ Katra, the AC stopped working after crossing Jammu. Air flow got reduced drastically and cooling stopped after a while. On return journey, it started working fine initially but stopped working again near Chandigarh. Got a reference of Ambala dealership from google and reached there in evening around 4PM, guys turned out to be helpful. The problem was diagnosed as faulty thermostat sensor which was leading to ice deposit over AC duct and subsequent cooling loss. The sensor was not in stock and service center guys advised to continue the journey with it. In case the problem comes up again, we were advised to give a break of 20-30 mins so that the ice on the duct melts away. It was changed next day at Faridabad dealership under warranty.

• 2018 summer AC started acting again and car was taken to the dealership 2-3 times for AC. Every time they would do gas top up, perform some basic checks but there was nothing conclusive. I wrote a strong worded mail to Tata after which they bothered a bit to check the car properly. Turns out that there is a connecting loop behind the temperature (Hot /Cold)control knob, which wasn't slotting into right place i.e. at maximum cooling setting. I had left the car with them in frustration and it was returned to me same day in evening.

As of now, AC cooling is still not up to the mark and is weak by modern standards. Car struggles to cool in peak Delhi temperatures and it definitely needs a stronger compressor or AC management. Things get better by using shades but they are illegal and you never know when you will end up paying fine. Figo's AC was a chiller in comparison, best ever I have come across till date.

AMT Troubles

• 1 month after car was delivered, gear wouldn't switch to 1st/ reverse from neutral after engaging the lever. This happened once in my parking and second time on a traffic light, gear started slipping in and out of neutral automatically. It would work fine after turning ignition off and restarting the car. I reported the issue to dealership and they were of the opinion that problem could be due to moisture during monsoon season. They did some software update and gave me all clear.

• Another month went by and new things cropped up. I was returning from an outstation short trip just with my little one. On a red light, car goes dead again. Gear won't turn into 1st from neutral and car stopped moving. Since I was alone with the kid, I thought it would be best to push manually towards the side and call RSA. AMT transmission light was on. I took couple of pics of the AMT warning light and decided to give last try. Finally gear moved to 1st after 3-4 attempts and I could drive forward. Rest of the journey was spent in anger, frustration, cursing Tata and what not. Reached home and shot a mail straight off to TATA asking them to take back their lemon and return my money. I received a few apologies from customer care, their regional managers and dealership. Car was taken back for inspection and after 2 days it was diagnosed that some part of the AMT unit is touching the metal body giving it a false earth. It was corrected as per dealership and that problem hasn't occurred ever since.

• If you are at a standstill and want a quick start, the car just struggles for breath. It takes 1-2 seconds before it responds to accelerator input, in case you floor/ use heavy throttle input. There is a slight misfire during this lag period. If you are still on a red light, the right way to move forward is to let the accelerator go, allow the car to crawl for a 1-2 seconds and then press accelerator. This same situation can be a problem if you are on an incline and want to move from a dead start. Car just doesn't respond to throttle input for quite sometime, better to use handbrake in such situations. I have reported this on Tiago thread and many fellow BHPians have observed this problem.

• Reversing against the incline is a big problem. Sometimes car doesn't respond to throttle at all and when it responds it will reverse with such a speed that you will find yourself searching for brakes.

Fuel Pump Replacement

Fuel pump has been a known problem in Tiago and is reported by many owners in forum. I/ My wife have been left stranded on road on 3 different occasions, due to this problem before Tata could diagnose it properly. Problem occurs when the car has run for some time or when ambient temperatures are high.
First time we were stranded on road, I got a standard dealership reply - software problem, we have updated it. This was while we were returning from Corbett, other two events were within city limits.
On 2nd occasion - Clutch looks to be a problem, don't worry we will replace it.
3rd occasion - Sir looks like fuel pump problem, we are discussing with Tata.

Fuel pump was replaced under warranty last year in June and it took dealership 4 days to get approval.

Spark Plugs

I don't know if Tata uses below-average quality plugs or is there any problem with the car which causes plugs to shot at small intervals. Spark plugs have been continuously replaced at intervals varying between 4000-7000 kms/ 2-3 months since 30k kms. I have written this to Tata but their standard reply is : "Spark plugs are not covered under warranty". They don't have any explanation on why it goes bust so soon. I feel that this might be related to the fuel delivery issue due to which car struggles to move from standstill on heavy accelerator input.

Dashboard Rattles

There is hardly any Tiago owner who hasn't complained about annoying dashboard, glovebox lid and door pad rattles. Unless you drive on real smooth highways, rattles are a part of your life. Service center fixes it every time but it comes back to haunt you within a week. It may be due to poor design or due to our roads that are blessed with potholes.

Engine Mount

Engine mount has been replaced under warranty. It is a 3 cylinder engine and given the amount of vibrations, engine mount gave up. It was covered under P2P plan and replaced without any questions.



Brake Disc and Pads

1st of Brake pads lasted 30k and were covered under P2P. Second set was changed by our proactive and over enthusiastic service advisor enough when there was more than half life left (after 17k kms of first change). I told him not to do it but he still changed them. God bless Tata.

Paid Repairs:

• Left side ORVM - brushed it against a cow which suddenly up came on the highway. Poor animal was unhurt superficially and walked away.

• Left lower arm replacement - Mrs. couldn't notice a small platform on a turn in our sector area. The lower arm was bend as a result and had to be replaced.

Routine Service Costs:

1st Service - 1946 kms - Rs. 0 (Free Service)
2nd Service - 7473 kms - Rs. 1168 (Free service)
3rd Service - 14628 kms - Rs. 1483 (Free Service)
4th Service - 21957 kms - Rs. 2537
5th Service - 29585 kms - Rs. 4762
6th Service - 37436 kms - Rs. 885
7th Service - 44701 kms - Rs. 4972
8th Service - 51329 kms - Rs. 738
9th Service - 58000 kms - Rs. 6793

Total - Rs. 23,338.

Paid Repairs and Replacements - Rs 13,500.

Tyres - Rs. 16,600 (Replaced at 54000 kms)

Battery - Rs. 4,500 (replaced in 2019)


TATA Service

My experience with service centers have been a mixed bag. Tayal Motors Faridabad was a horrible experience and pathetic to sum up. Service Advisors carried a lot of attitude and hardly listened to customer feedback.

Response at Arya Motors, Gurgaon is much better relatively. My rapport with Service Advisor has improved in past 2 years and he deals with all issues now. Though he still tries to pull a trick by building up unnecessary service charges but as an informed customer I steer clear of it and stick to service manual. Warranty response from Tata has been a mixed bag, for regular items no questions are asked but for items like fuel pump they took 4 days which is a well known problem.

If anyone opts for Tata cars, please go with Extended warranty as well as P2P (Promise to Protect). They both are vfm and cover any major headaches for 4 years. Total amount for both is around Rs. 15k and I think I have already recovered that amount by now. Standard warranty on Tiago is 2 years/ 75000 kms, with extended warranty it goes up to 4 years/ 100000 kms. I wish they had 5th year option too. P2P covers all major wear items: brake pads, disc, clutch, wipers, engine mounts, power windows, few suspension components, AC belt etc including it's labour and is valid for 4 years/ 60k kms. I paid 6.5k approx for P2P and it has now gone up to 8.5k as prices have been hiked gradually.

As is the case with most service centers nowadays, people are more worried about their ratings to the company instead of focusing on their job.

TATA has increased the service charges for Tiago substantially after lockdown. Previously for a routine service, labour charges would cost Rs. 1400, now it is being charged at Rs. 2200-2300. I don't know if it is normal now or service center fleeced me. Any fellow owners can confirm?


Future Plans
Plan is to hold the car for atleast 8-10 years, unless it starts throwing tantrums and forces me to sell it off. I am also towing the idea of upgrading stock stereo to an android unit, any suggestions specific to Tiago are welcome?

Thank you everyone for reading. Will keep updating with future experiences.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[janakiram_m]

Nice review and a well maintained car ast.ggn. Hoping that the roller coaster ride is more fun than frightening in the future .

Also thank you for confirming the P2P value for money quotient. I intend to purchase it towards the end of the 1st year for my Tiago. Hoping to be trouble free with the EW and P2P till 5th year.

Except for this one I think all other AMT woes has been sorted. This though is quite unnerving at times especially if there are objects in close proximity or if someone is watching because they'll question your reversing skills .

Originally Posted by ast.ggn

Reversing against the incline is a big problem. Sometimes car doesn't respond to throttle at all and when it responds it will reverse with such a speed that you will find yourself searching for brakes.

[KarthikK]

Thank you for sharing such a comprehensive and candid long term ownership review.

It is quite unnerving to see how many issues have been faced within 60k km and especially the major ones like fuel pump failures and the engine mount giving way. The AMT unit is quite buggy and even on my sister's Celerio AMT we did face some of the issues you highlighted, along with premature clutch replacements. I appreciate the way you have completely revealed the entire problem and the time they took to resolve the issue completely, these things give a clear picture to prospects who might find such information very useful before deciding on this car.

Thanks for giving inputs on the P2P package. It seems to be a nice add-on to have considering the extras it covers, which a normal extended warranty may not. For 15k and 4 years cover, it still seems quite VFM from your experience of recovering it so soon. Definitely a must-have if anyone is planning to get a Tiago or Tata.

[icem@n]

Nicely summed up. Rattles, especially from the dashboard area seem to have a mind of their own and choose to appear and go away on their own. I have an XT(O) RT from late 2016 and I echo your feeling on most aspects. Overall a great VFM product from TATA!

[giri1.8]

60k seems to a good running for this small car. Hope you have smoother ownership experience in the future.

My Tigor too had few of the issues that you have mentioned and can totally relate to your initial frustration. Mine had misfiring off the line only after spending lot of time in bumper to bumper traffic. Is your mileage figure from tank full to tank full method or the MID?

On a positive note, there is hardly any car in Tiago's budget range that is more appealing in terms of build quality and practicality. If Tata could iron out the QC issues and ASS this could easily sell twice as much.

[ashokabs]

I bought one of the earlier Tiago XZs in Sept 2016. I must admit that there is hardly any rattling from the dashboard or the inside and at 27500 km in 3.5 years it still feels like a new car. I did have a problem with the throttle body sensor problem which caused the engine to go to idling and would not take any throttle inputs. This problem still bothers me as it has happened twice even after the throttle body was replaced. However, in each case after about 5 mins the car behaved normally when restarted. There have been practically no other problems. The gearing of the car is done for fuel efficiency and hence there is a lot of gear changing required in traffic. However, owing to the light clutch and fairly nifty gearbox I quite enjoy the manual. I would never use an AMT. If I have a choice it will be either manual or CVT or fluid transmission. DCT also is a problem area which gives very nice quick shifts but too much worry about high maintenance. It is also a pity that simple things like strings for the boot tray, lights in the dicky and a few other simple things have been removed since I purchased the car. These also added to the pleasure of having a fully loaded car under Rs 5 lacs.

I still think that despite the sound of the engine and some vibration etc it is still a pleasure to drive without the AC on. The Harman system makes sure you can drown the engine sound. The car does best if you keep the rpm around 1800-2000 by changing gears accordingly. I have not had a problem with the AC system in summer in Delhi especially at the front. In the rear it is just adequate and for some people not cool enough. Mileage error in the fuel efficiency reading should have been corrected in the 4 years the car has been selling. I am surprised some kind of calibration has not been done. Of course even in my Honda City it is about plus or minus 1 km/litre from real mileage.

It is one of the best value for money cars in it's range in India today.

[ast.ggn]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

Is your mileage figure from tank full to tank full method or the MID?

It is by tank full method. I would say 12-13 kmpl is the actual fuel efficiency in city conditions.

On a positive note, there is hardly any car in Tiago's budget range that is more appealing in terms of build quality and practicality. If Tata could iron out the QC issues and ASS this could easily sell twice as much.

Agree with you. It still remains vfm after all these years of launch and price hikes. If I am in market looking for a car in that budget again, it will hard to chose anything else over Tiago. New model is quite refreshing.

[Raghu M]

Originally Posted by ast.ggn

• If you are at a standstill and want a quick start, the car just struggles for breath. It takes 1-2 seconds before it responds to accelerator input, in case you floor/ use heavy throttle input. There is a slight misfire during this lag period. If you are still on a red light, the right way to move forward is to let the accelerator go, allow the car to crawl for a 1-2 seconds and then press accelerator. This same situation can be a problem if you are on an incline and want to move from a dead start. Car just doesn't respond to throttle input for quite sometime, better to use handbrake in such situations. I have reported this on Tiago thread and many fellow BHPians have observed this problem.

• Reversing against the incline is a big problem. Sometimes car doesn't respond to throttle at all and when it responds it will reverse with such a speed that you will find yourself searching for brakes.

This is not welcoming especially when someone is trying to buy a TATA product. I totally understand how it feels when you are stuck in the middle of the road with your family. I am looking to buy the Altroz but issues like these (fuel pump, spark plugs & dashboard rattles) are a complete turn off. I hope TATA has it's ears on forums like these. These are problems that anyone has trouble dealing with. It's very painful to see a car that has not done even half of it's life to go through this kind of wear and tear. Given the opportunity, I hope TATA gets better at it's after sales.

[shivamk11]

Very nicely written review there. I have the same car myself and I was planning to write an ownership thread soon but it will be surely hard to top this one.

I agree with most of the cons you have listed there including the mileage part, I have hardly ever gotten more than 9-10kmpl in my usage. Although the difference between your car and mine is that mine is modded/customized to the brim, it is even remapped.

For your HU query, you can get a Hypersonic Android HU with DSP and CANBUS support. That way you won't miss out on stock system's sound quality, reverse parking sensors support and some settings related to the car which is controlled by the HU. I am using the same one myself since a year now.

[Vikki@Hyderabad]

Great review ast.ggn. I own a 2017 XZA as well, bought on this exact same date three years ago, and my life with it has been nothing to complain about. I bought the car for all the reasons you did, plus as a savior for my battered left knee. My car has run 50K kms. My usage, on the other hand, has been mostly biased towards the highways; i.e., about 35K kms highways vs 15K kms city.

I'll list my agreements, disagreements, and points to add below.

Agreements:

• AMT's behavior starting from standstill, in either direction
• Fuel efficiency figures are almost the same in my experience (~13.5 - 15 in city and 18-22 on the highways; of course with a outliers either way)
• Service centers -
• I had to replace a part of the engine mount, costing ~1400; IRVM is useless with rear visibility limited to 100-200 m
• Paint quality - a simple scratch is good to expose the sheet metal; I thought it was a problem only with the Berry Red ones.
• And generally everything else I haven't listed in disagreements
• Neutral - My car came with Bridgestone B250s, and I'm quite happy with their performance. I've had only one puncture so far.

Disagreements:

• There are hardly any rattles, except for the right ORVM which was hit by a buffalo and replaced; and it sounds like there's something loose.
• I was impressed with how the AMT behaved through the ghats of Goa. It holds its gears on the down-slopes and won't change into a higher gear unless really pushed hard. I hardly even switched to Sport mode unless on a really steep incline.
• I've also found the AMT quite intuitive when overtaking on highways, where kicking down two gears has helped me out of tricky situations.
• In the city, I'm much more laid back and don't bother overtaking as it's going to last only until the next signal, which is why I've probably not had my car searching for gears; I'll try it though. This could also be the reason I scratch my head when people talk about jerkiness. On the other hand, my brother's Kwid AMT is jerky in the first gear.
• No problems with the AMT, nor any other parts conking off.
  [* ] I've found the AC to be effective, obviously no comparison to Figo, but it clogs up every 4-5K kms. A quick clean-up and it's good to go again.
• Break pads are still the original ones that came with the car; SA says it's good for another 10-15K kms.
• Fog lamps aid well; but I live in Hyderabad where we don't encounter a lot of fog - so neutral again.
• The general quality of switches I've found on par or much better than its competitors. Case in point, the ORVM adjustment switch is on par with the Figo; a lot better than those in Marutis.

Additional observations
You've covered almost everything, so I'm not left with many. But here are a couple just so that I can pat my own back

• The boot door suspending mechanism, with negligible effort, dislodges the plastic bits that hold the boot cover in place.
• Confirming service center costs; I felt fleeced this time as well.
• I find the fuel consumption figures varying by 3.5 to 5 kms on the negative side. Interestingly, I've also seen 30 kmpl on the MID over a distance of 200 kms twice; obviously driven sedately and alone, would've been divorced by now otherwise [I've gone over the smiley limit per post unfortunately]
• There is a huge chunk of cushioning material between the chassis (?) and the fenders, which lends to the feeling of sturdiness. The car is sturdy in general though.

To conclude, like you, I plan to keep it for a few more years to come. I haven't been nearly as satisfied with it as I was with the Figo TDCi I owned before this. I feel this is a worthy replacement nonetheless. As you say, it's definitely VFM and, if cared for, can age well.

Thanks for the post and all the best.