[gjnnbagal]

I am no expert in reviewing cars, below written is my own perception and opinion about cars mentioned, apologies for mistakes if any.
This is my first ownership review, so

Likes:

• Good looking hatchback from Tata motors. (First serious attempt by TML towards changing its brand perception from 'Cheap cars' to 'Quality cars')
• Best in class Harman music system
• Better interior quality than its competitors
• One of the best and precise steering feel while driving
• Smooth gear box
• Value for money car

Dislikes:

• 3 cylinder noisy diesel engine.
• The small engine lags in power, a sort of non enthusiast car.
• Dashboard rattling.
• Poor AC performance.
• Headlights are not powerful and night visibility is just OK
• Few niggles in music system (connectivity issues although software update does fix it)
• The rear seat is not so spacious
• Old school door knobs
• Tall antenna over the roof

Search for a small family car for two started around mid 2015. The search later prolonged and took so many months to finalize the car, my wife and l were looking for an entry-level hatch for day to day commute to work place about 10 KMS and weekend trips to Solapur (about 80 KMS) from my home town Pandharpur.
Our budget was small, about 5 to 6 lakhs, AC, power steering, power windows and not so cramped interior were the very basic requirements I was looking for in the car.

The cars we considered were Alto K10, Celerio, Wagon R, Eon and Kwid which was about to be launched that time in September 2015. Of course, we were looking for petrol car but later ended up buying diesel hatch.

Alto k10
Alto k10 best-selling product from MSIL for more than a decade. I felt Car design is outdated, and interior space bit congested for both of us, it wasn't the thing we were looking for.



Wagon R
My father has one blue-eyed boy, most impressive thing one will notice in Wagon r is the space inside the car. It's tall, spacious, getting in and out of the car is easier than most other cars we saw in the segment. High body roll due to tall design, dated dashboard and instrument cluster failed to impress. Also, I wasn't keen getting 2nd Wagon R in the family. Although it's a very promising product for first time buyers ticking all the necessary boxes.



Celerio
Celerio was a nice package overall with its fresh design compared to alto k10 and Wagon R. I felt Ride quality was better than Wagon R. The top variant even had 60:40 split rear seat. But boring dashboard design and very basic instrument cluster was a big let down. Also, the SA at the showroom was more interested in showing newly launched Brezza rather than spending time for Celerio.



Eon
Car is really very small, look wise car is better than alto k10 and wagon r, center console is okay, the fluidic design with Hyundai badge were the only plus sides. During test drive my perception about the car changed from compact to congested. Interior space is big issue for sure.



Kwid
The way initially Renault was advertising kwid, the looks and small SUV type design of the car, impressed both of us, and we were seriously considering kwid. After the launch the waiting period went up, and even today car is a huge success story for Renault. In the meantime came across official kwid reviews. Initial excitement wear off slowly, evident cost-cutting in the car like 3 lug nuts for each wheel, poor quality plastic, very basic looking instrument controls, felt more like toy car. Went for the test drive, but couldn't hear bells and whistles ringing in mind.



Tiago
In early 2016 came across TML upcoming car Tiago and with very convincing initial information, complete new product and that too with aggressive pricing, we were eagerly waiting for test drive car. Overall Reviews were positive. Official reviews were suggesting better refinement level of Revotorq diesel than Revotron petrol.
Although Most of the bookings of Tiago were for petrol variant. We went for test drive of Tiago at Sterling motors Solapur in March 2016. TD car was sunburst orange petrol Tiago XZ. SA at the showroom Mr. Sagar was very enthusiastic and keen while presenting car and it's features. Complete fresh look, great design, unexpectedly lavish interior, loaded with features, for me this car was love at first sight.
Special mention to its 4 speaker 4 tweeter Harman music system which is fascinating, sound quality is way better than any other car in the segment. Top variant of sunburst orange (and berry red) came with body colored AC vents with piano black finish dashboard and hand rests. Wife liked that very much. Took the short test drive of petrol variant as the diesel variant was not available for TD.
I was impressed with nice Dashboard design, very informative instrument cluster. For my experience with other cars in the segment, this cars overall ambiance was heavenly. The suspension setup impressed again while driving through bad patch of the road. SA asked to close all windows and play music while I was driving through bad patch of the road maybe he was trying to hide any rattling, but frankly speaking there wasn't any.

Came home with positive feeling about the car. Talked with my father about buying the car, but father suggested choosing diesel variant, My father had good experience with Manza QJ, and he likes diesel cars. At present, he owns Wagon r, and he really misses the diesel engine. I do have monthly running of more than 600 KMS, already read good review on TBHP about Revotorq diesel, I decided to go ahead and book sunburst orange Tiago XZ diesel even without test drive.

Went to the showroom and booked car with 5000 Rs. as booking amount. Waiting period was near about 3 months. (Waiting period for petrol variant was about 2 months that time).
The bank officer had so many tantrums for car loan that time, had to buy the car with a full payment.
First week of June 2016 got a call from showroom that the car I have been allotted is on the way and will arrive in 2 weeks. I was supposed to pay a full amount of the car.
At the end of 2nd week of June, car arrived at the showroom. I told them that I'll do complete PDI and then only give final confirmation about the car. Reached the showroom early morning hours with complete PDI list. SA shown me the allotted car. Everything was fine and up to my satisfaction.

First time I saw the Car



Gave them confirmation, so they can go ahead with registration process.
Took the delivery of the car bit late on June 22nd 2016. The showroom team arranged small ceremony properly although SA Mr Sagar was not there due to some work.



Brought my first car to home.
(Pardon me for the shoddy decoration, back then I didn't realise that decoration looked so ugly)



Car cost total of 6.24lac on road (including registration and 1 year bumper to bumper zero depreciation insurance).
Zero depreciation insurance offered by the showroom was 24 k. I got 17 k quote from New India assurance and asked the showroom guys to match it, they agreed upon it. I didn't get any freebies from showroom as the car was newly launched that time.

[gjnnbagal]

Exterior

Smooth body lines without undue creases and cuts, I feel the car has unique styling, looks clean and fresh. With its beautifully designed front fascia, complete make over at the back (unlike its ancestors: Indica and Bolt) car does manage to impress everyone. Nicely shaped headlights slightly bulged out from its body.
Night visibility is just OK, projector headlights of Tigor have better illumination.
Tall antenna that too over front part of roof was an eyesore, Tata should have given short stubby/shark fin antenna over back side of roof.
Minimal use of chrome looks better, one of my friends got Nexon and did huge chrome treatment over front grill area, it was horrible.





The rear windshield looks smaller and has semi circular shaped defogger. I'm glad that Tata gave up the tall tail lamps running from top to bottom and gave Tiago small funky tail lamp design. Rear part of Tiago has resemblance to that of Ford Figo, even latest offering from Hyundai, Nios has a similar rear design.






Interior

While sitting on driver seat 1st thing you'll notice is feature loaded center console, ODO meter, 2 trip meters, distance to empty, instant fuel economy, current gear, expected up shift/down shift, precise door as well as boot open indicator, LED fuel and engine temperature indicators, RPM pointer which turns red above 4000 rpm mark, enough features for a car in the segment.
If had an option, I would have chosen black colored plastic surrounding the dial. I always try to keep the car in stock condition, so no idols, no hanging teddies/air fresheners, no wraps.







I never used NaviMaps navigation on my Tiago, google maps connected via Bluetooth gives audio instructions and it works for me.
With total of 4 speakers 4 tweeters, Harman music system can produce excellent quality sound, non Harman music system car owners will realise it more. I recommend playing MP3 songs with 320 kbps bit rate for quality audio experience. Although specified, Speed dependent volume control is there in the car, I haven't noticed how exactly it works, or it's just a marketing gimmick.

At times music system show few glitches, specially when some new phone is paired or when you put reverse gear, the system gets disconnected from Bluetooth and it restarts. My humble Moto Z2 play works perfectly, apparently music system doesn't agree to work with my wife's Samsung, it just disconnect itself after playing few of her favourite songs (attaboy!)



Body colored AC vents look pretty awesome (sunburst orange and berry red colors only). Piano black finish near music system and near hand rest area looks perfect. There are plenty of storage spaces which include AC cooled glow box (not so useful as AC itself is weak, at least in my car.)
There is small carry bag holder hook near passenger foot well, also coat hook at rear side which are handy at times (I never used them even once)

AC struggles to chill the car, rather I'll say, it can cool the car and not chill. Had few embarrassing moments with friends when AC couldn't show its performance. With my experience, getting beige colored jute/cotton type seat covers helps AC to cool the car more efficiently. (Previously I had black colored leather like material seat covers which use to give me sweat-bath on a daily basis.) I noted, AC works better in lower gears and in City mode. Suppose If car was sunbathing for some time then better lower the windows for a while than asking AC to cool. I haven't installation any kind of sun film on the windshield and windows, that could be a supportive factor for poor AC performance.
I had cleaned AC filter last year (with 3M car shampoo) located near passenger foot well. It's a simple DIY, four small screws to remove the filter.

Before


After


AC performance has slight improvement after the clean up.

Seats are very comfortable, they are neither too hard nor too soft. Maximum I have driven 700 KMS in a day and not faced fatigue at the end of the journey. Front two seats get adjustable head rest, nice touch for a mid segment hatch. The driver seat gets height adjustment unlike other cars in the segment, nifty feature indeed.



With taller driver/passenger in the front, Rear seat faces the crunch and rear passenger get lesser leg room. But one can not expect much from a mid size hatchback. The rear seat is better for smaller adults and children.



Very basic pull up type door knobs in otherwise nicely designed car is beyond my understanding. Those knobs have screw type fitment at its base, which tend to get loose over the period, few clockwise rotation makes them tight again. I have seen many owners with loose knobs eventually leading to ejection from its base. Not that it's hard to repair but simple rotation maneuver prevents a service center visit



Engine and gear box

I have driven both petrol and diesel variants, it's not like petrol is super silent, both engines make descent sound. 1049cc Diesel engine produce enough power for day to day city commute, with nice low end torque one can drive at 2nd/3rd gear in city traffic. Many owners including me, found power lag in second gear.
At highway car can cruise at 80 to 100 Km/h without getting exhausted. Car does struggle while overtaking at the highway, It's better to plan to overtake rather than flooring the A paddle (some may not feel the same, maybe it's because of my sedate driving nature)



Gear box is one of the best in the segment. Small gear stick is well within reach and has Buttery smooth gear shift. It's not rubbery or hard feel like some other cars in the segment. Compared with its elder family member Manza, I feel Tiago has better gear box.
In reverse gear car has whining sound (which is normal), giving first time car buyers a reason to worry.
Sometimes reverse gear doesn't get engaged properly, trick is to apply 3 second rule.
Some owners complained about gear stick vibrations (can be easily fixed at the service center), my car has no gear stick vibrations at all.

Ride and Handling

Steering is definitely the plus side of this car, it's precise, light to handle at low speed (not as light as Hyundai cars), once car picks up speed, steering gains considerable weight, feels steady at high speed, return to center works perfect. Turning radius of the car is bit large, unlike some of its competitors.

With disc brakes in the front, I have not faced any problem about braking, for me it's adequate.

As mentioned earlier car has that diesel clutter, even when you are standing a bit far from the car, Once you are in the car with all windows rolled it gets reduced to some extent. Thanks to the neatly done bonnet and firewall insulation, Engine sounds reduction is noticeable. Of course, you can hear the engine running but to diesel car that's acceptable.

One strange thing I would like to mention here, After long distance traveling, lugging like situations at low speed, engine makes this strange sound (Knocking sound), you have to downshift the gear to vanish that strange sound. I have noticed it many times.

Suspension and ground clearance

Tiago has a bit bouncy and stiffer suspension, Car manages small potholes and bad road patches well. I like Hyundai cars softer suspension (maybe grass is greener on other side of the river).
Ground clearance is okay for day to day speed breakers. Till today, the car had touched the under body twice or thrice. I have seen people with kwid complaining about ground clearance (which has more ground clearance than Tiago), but it's not just cars ground clearance, it depends on road conditions as well as suspension setup of the car. Overall it's good and more than enough for Indian road conditions.

Safety features

Equipped with safety features, dual front airbags, Antilock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD), Corner Stability Control (CSC), and rear parking sensors.
Thick sheet metal, feel of doors while closing are pretty solid, unlike MSIL, TML has not done cost-cutting in safety department and it speaks for itself in NCAP test results.

Fuel Economy

About 3 years back, my workplace changed to a 25 KMS far location, with pretty much straight but not so good road with moderate traffic.
City driving is very less, with bumper to bumper traffic, the car has FE around 13 to 15 km/l. The highway runs can give better results ranging from 20 to 24 km/l.
MID has very optimistic way to exaggerate the fuel economy on display, sedate driving ~80 to 85 km/h on the highway with AC, it reaches up to 28 km/l (even 30 km/l without AC), in reality with tank full method FE comes around 4 to 5 Km lesser than the display figure.

[gjnnbagal]

Birthday surprise last year, got the mail one day before my birthday

[gjnnbagal]

Meet event
After buying the car, I have joined few Tiago Facebook and Whatsapp groups. These groups strictly discuss Tiago related topics, insurance, car parts, issues and share their experiences about the same.
"Pune Tiago Club" is active Tiago owners group residing in and around Pune. Last year on 10th March 2019, I got the chance to join breakfast meet event held by them at Pune.









Organizing team members



Club sticker for Tiago





Few demonstrations



Group photo



Picture credit: Vatsal and other club members

[gjnnbagal]

Trying to maintain the new car look

[gjnnbagal]

Service experiences
Three services were done at Sterling motors Solapur (160 KMS to and fro). Service experience is just OK, not much to talk about.
TML had recalled few batches of Tiago for Fuel pipe and cabin roof light replacement, my car had no issue with both, still they were replaced by the service center promptly.
Rest of the paid services were done at Baramati Automotive, Baramati (210 KMS to and fro). Service experience is pretty good here, it's a bit far from my hometown but it's worth.
Recently, at 45000 KMS routine service I thought to give a try at a former authorized Tata parts sales and service center (now working as independent private service center at my hometown). The service guys are pretty knowledgeable there. Castrol Magnatec professional T5W30 (4 L), OEM Oil filter, OEM Air filter, OEM fuel filters (2 component unit) change done.
Service experience was good and saved lot of time.
Front brake pads were due for change. Those were out of stock.


Ordered from boodmo and installed them. Thanks to detailed DIY by Distinguished BHPian laluks (D.I.Y. - Changing the brake pads of my Honda Civic)

In last 4 years, car has completed 48198 KMS.



I do check tyre pressure, engine oil, brake oil, coolant level check regularly by myself.

I have not done any modifications. I changed stock battery (Tata green 44ah) last year with Exide 55ah from Exide dealer, 2 tires changed (stock Goodyear assurance to MRF ZV2K) about 4 months back, apart from regular service schedule, car has not given any trouble so far *touch wood

Overall this is a value for money family car which has served me well and I intend to keep it for another 6-7 years.

2020 Facelift Tiago (sadly no diesel option) looks even better and most of the niggles have been sorted.
Would I recommend it to someone looking for mid size hatch? Yes, Definitely.

[Aditya]

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

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by gjnnbagal

Overall this is a value for money family car which has served me well and I intend to keep it for another 6-7 years.

2020 Facelift Tiago (sadly no diesel option) looks even better and most of the niggles have been sorted.
Would I recommend it to someone looking for mid size hatch? Yes, Definitely.

Congratulations (belated!) on the car & wish you a long further trouble free & safe companionship. I have 4 of these (Tiago/Tigor) in close family circle and all have peaceful experiences that resonate well with your thread. Of course they are all petrol owners, but everything else is identical.
Any particular reason why you changed 2 tyres to MRF rather than GoodYear?

I have never driven a diesel Tiago but have been in a diesel Tigor a few times. For the small 1L displacement - I found the engine to be quite capable & also very well insulated (at least inside the cabin). The frugal little motor does have enough torque to satisfy all routine needs that don't have a race-track duty. Sad that it didn't have enough takers to see a BSVI compliance conversion (economic impracticality). Was/is a fantastic commuter engine & pretty unique since hardly any other SDE was made while everyone kept using the Fiat 1.3MJD.

Thanks for sharing the write up. Nice read! Stay safe & take care.

[samee_arian]

Lovely write-up. Loved your simple yet detailed ownership experience. I have always loved Tiago and Tigor and most of the owners have been pretty satisfied. Loved the 2020 design even more but I really wish they get rid of those stocks they use for locking, looks and feels very cheap in an otherwise well put together car. I wish they had diesel in lower tunes from Altroz/Nexon as most of the reviewers have liked diesel engines more than petrols in TATA cars.

Enjoy your lovely small big car and wish you thousands of miles and smiles.

[Raghu M]

Wow!! Excellent review there. On par with a professional review. The AC issue and niggles/rattles on the dashboard are concerning. I drove my friend's Nano once and the AC was a chiller. It cooled the cabin in 42 degrees C Hyd summer in no time. I thought TATA was known for better ACs until I read about Tiago.

[chiefpk]

Very detailed and immersive review. All the info was quite relatable to other Tiago reviews which I have read. I would really appreciate if you could update a bit more about the service costs. Also, those old school door knobs look so out of the place to me.

[Ranabegins]

Congratulations on the fuss free ownership.
Just wanted to check about the ground clearance. Is it adequate for you? Have you driven over really bad patches or you haven't really got a chance to check it.

[gjnnbagal]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Any particular reason why you changed 2 tyres to MRF rather than GoodYear?

Fresh stock of all the tire brands available at the shop with good deal on it was the reason (no tire-savvy reason).

Originally Posted by Ranabegins

ground clearance. Is it adequate for you? Have you driven over really bad patches or you haven't really got a chance to check it.

Ground clearance is more than adequate. I have driven this car on awful road (50 KMS to and fro) for almost 2 years.

[Sounak04]

Well written ownership review. I have to admit that Tiago is still a great product.

When i was in the market for a new car during May 2017, my first contender was the Tiago Diesel. I drove the Diesel Tiago for roughly 10 kms over some bad roads and i have to say, even though the suspension is a bit firm, the ride quality is excellent. Also, the Build Quality of the car really impressed. I almost decided to book the Car but had to walk away due to a very bad Showroom experience.

A big congratulations for buying the Tiago and happy mile munching.

[gjnnbagal]

50,000 KMS up

A small update, recently completed 50000 KMS

I have seen other owners completing even more than 50k KMS mark in shorter time.

I haven't faced any major trouble during these 4 years and 4 months of ownership. This engine is indeed reliable, although it is not been offered post BS6 implication.