[Mile_Breaker]

Great buy mixxer ! Congratulations! I too am a proud owner of 2019 Hexa manual. My decision to buy the beast came straight from the heart and the love affair is growing since then. Do not worry about service within warranty period. TASS is not all that bad. My recent paid service of 30 month came for Rs 2400 which included front wiper and filter change. So enjoy your ride and get the max out of this wonder boy !

[vijaysrk]

Originally Posted by mixxer

Thanks a lot friend.

Can you please also post the links to
1. The ventilation add on - No idea how this would hurt battery but i will read about it
2. Dieseltronics - No idea what this is. Can you guide?

My comment on power consumption was not specific to the ventilated seat but to the overall consumption from all the accessories but yes, I believe the seat cooler would be one of the more power hungry ones!

Link to the seat ventilator below(this particular one seems to be out of stock, but there are many similar ones available)
https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B09...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Dieseltronics: This has been extensively discussed on Team-BHP, link below:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...uning-box.html (Racedynamics: DieselTronic Tuning Box)

It's basically an electronic module that sits between the ECU and the common rail controller. It tricks the system into thinking the throttle position or air-fule mixture is greater or lesser than what it actually is, and forces a richer mixture, or a larger air/fuel mixture into the engine to get higher power and torque output.

The safety and mileage aspects of using this have been extensively discussed on this forum, as well as on numerous Telegram groups dedicated to the Hexa.

[vredesbyrd]

Congratulations! Those chunky 16 inchers look gorgeous.

[4by4]

Originally Posted by mixxer

Having been away from writing in the past 10 years, my grammar has been ruined by Indian IT.

But here we go:

The Prelude

I purchased my first bike - the Gixxer in April 2015. Rode it a lot ( 30,000 kms in 2 years). And she never once strained. I was a big fan of how it handled in the city, how stress free the engine was and whatnot. At the same time, I had absolutely no idea about cars. And once I got married, getting a car was the next step. I had always been a teenage fanboy of sedans and had never owned one, so I had no idea what practicality in a car meant. To me, a car was always about how fast it could go and how it made you feel.

Then came the day when we finally made up our mind to buy a car. The wife wanted a large 7-seater, but I was concerned about how much it would cost. I capped my budget at 7L Ex showroom. The thought of spending about 40% of my monthly salary on insurance was scary, and so was the fuel consumption, tyres, and other maintenance for any large car.

Due to the profile my wife works in, she had a lot of colleagues and seniors who had XUV, Innova, Scorpio and other 7 seater MPVs and SUVs

For a 7 seater, buying a used car was my choice, but since we had never owned a car before, we didn't really want to get ourselves in trouble with the issues that come up with used cars.

Back then, we visited Ford ( Aspire), Tata ( Nexon/Tigor), and Honda (Amaze). Aspire and Tigor were dropped due to the small rear seat. Nexon was dropped because of pathetic sales experience.

Imagine going for a pre-booked TD and the salesperson asks you to sit in a dirty car in a yard-like area. It was surrounded by 6 cars, so we couldn't move, and the SA went away for 20 minutes to get the keys to those 6 cars, while having the audacity to tell us that the car's AC and music system were excellent, so we should enjoy them while she gets the keys to the other 6 cars to move them. Frustrated, we dropped Tata, promising ourselves to never buy a Tata car.

The experience at Honda was surreal. A courteous SA greeted us, and a good test drive and answers to all of our questions sealed the deal for us. My wife liked the look of the Amaze, and the rear seat and boot were more generous than we thought.

We booked the car, got it delivered in 2 weeks (the colour of our choice was available) and have been using it for a good 3.5 years.

A Picture of our Amaze
Attachment 2323110

The Pandemic

Thankfully for us, pandemic hit. Due to the nature of my wife's work, she was posted in Bathinda. I used to travel to and from Noida every week via train.

When work from home began, life became very easy for me. And as many of us did, we also got ourselves a pup and thankfully, this was the best decision ever. We wanted to get two of them, but the lack of a seven-seater meant that we could only get one.

We did a few road trips from Punjab to Bihar (my hometown). Each time we went to Bangalore ( her place), we would have to drop the pup to a friend's place as the Amaze just didn't have it to stretch till Bangalore. To my hometown, it would reach without issues, but the Amaze wasn't comfortable doing 120 on the expressway. The lack of underbody protection meant that all the gravels would hit the arches causing irritating sound. Road noise and tyre noise would simply prevent you from driving hard for longer distances. We had no choice but to listen to music. Also the body pain post short or long trips was noticeable. I started to realise the mistake. We could and should have pushed our budget to get the car she wanted, but didn't.

The Baby

Three months ago, we welcomed our first child, and a few trips to the doctor later, we realised that the dog (who was now a grown adult) and the baby could never adjust in the rear seat of the car. There would always be the risk of the dog stepping on the baby, and unintentionally hurting him.

Hence started the search for a used car. This time, we knew our priorities. We wanted to get a car that could munch miles without breaking a sweat. Fuel was not a concern as we do not live in Delhi. Space for the passengers and the dog was the priority.

Also, the car should be able to seat 5 people plus a dog (my parents, child, wife, and dog) and go wherever I want it to go.

In the past 2 years, I had driven a Marazzo - the manual was quite weird to use and the car didn't feel the best. Two of my friends were using Tata Hexa (one had a manual XM, other had an XTA - Both had dogs!).

I had ridden in them a few times, and loved the ride quality they offered. Having seen and read so much about the build of the Toyotas, Innova was on top of my list. But the Crysta was expensive, and a well kept used one would set me back by about 18 Lakhs - This was money I didn't have.

We really liked the Kia Carens too - and booked it as well. The Space and how it was utilised, was absolutely fantastic. Flat folding rear seats, enough space for the dog, decent engines and easy driveability were big pluses in our book.

A new one (turbo petrol) would cost us 16.5 lakhs, which was still a little out of our price range. But I was fine with it because the delivery was a while away and I could manage without taking out a loan.

The bigger problem (or opportunity) was my wife's maternity leave. It was 11 months, and she really wanted to go and visit places with the baby.

So what we really needed was an MPV that was safe, spacious, and would take all our luggage, dog, and us—and carry us all to places in comfort.

Even the Carens failed to tick the perceived safety box. The rest of it was fantastic!
We drove to a friend's place in Jalandhar, and found a nice FNG ( very highly rated) and asked them for a quote to:

a. Fix all 3 dents and big scratches- This would require some repainting and I was cautious of colour match failing, but the FNG owner was confident that this would not be an issue.

b. Rubbing and polishing the exteriors and dry-cleaning the interiors.

c. Remove all the chrome and take care of the gum residue (this was trickier than I thought).

d. Adjust the doors

e. Clean up the alloys

f. Teflon coat the car - I had planned to get Ceramic coating done but this would require me to shell out additional 10k or so. Decided to get it teflon coated for now. Would worry about ceramic coating later

Congratulations on a superb buy.

Request details of the FNG and cost. Plan Ning to get my car detailed

[Porcupine]

Great review, congratulations on the new Hexa! It's an amazing MPV and still has the sort of SUV'ish butchness to it! Most people would tell you go with the Carens, but Kudos to making a decision with your own mind. Wish you many happy miles!

[mixxer]

Hans Motors in Jalandhar is the one. He's a little expensive for dents but he's good

[pandabear]

Originally Posted by mixxer

Having been away from writing in the past 10 years, my grammar has been ruined by Indian IT.

You are not the only one, lost my writing skills too thanks to the way people around me write.

But trust me you still have the skills, awesome read and congrats.

[I_m_the_fuel]

Hey Mixxer

At the outset - well written post! So Indian IT hasn't really managed to ruin your grammar completely!!!

Anyways - I just wanted to make sure I post this. I also recently became a "2nd" owner of a 2017 Hexa XTA recently and recently did a Bangalore-Mumbai-Bangalore roundtrip with my brother. Totally agree with you that the car is a beauty - especially on long highway stretches.

Just for context - I am based in Lagos and use a Mitsubishi Pajero (V6, 3.2ltr engine... the works). In terms of weight, I think Pajero also tops the scale at around 2000kgs.... so in that sense, quite comparable to the Hexa. So I was pleasantly surprised to experience the Hexa on a long stretch of road. Technically it doesn't make sense for me to maintain a car in India - the car will likely spend 90% of its life in the parking lot! But then again - it was a decision driven by the Heart and not the Head.

I just wanted to ask a few questions on some of the things that I think could be better with the Hexa:
1. The entertainment system feels a bit dated and the size & positioning of the screen ensures that its not really practical for navigation etc. Have you considered a 3rd party screen with Apple CarPlay / Android Auto built in? I am desperately looking for a good screen so if you've done any research that would be a of huge help
2. Have you made any other modifications / enhancements that could help others?

Thanks in advance for your reply,

Cheers!!!