Safari GX: 12000 KMs of pure bliss. Well now that its been 6 months and roughly 12,000 KMs I thought may be I should make an attempt at writing an ownership report of sorts. Considering my lazyness I know if I tried to write it in one go, I will never be able to finish it. So here' the first installment.
Hope you guys would like it.
PS: I am not as technically savvy as most of our friends at Team-BHP so I am going to try to keep it simple. “Not all those who wander are lost.” Prologue:
I was born a biker, but somewhere down the line I got married.
I had been an avid biker since my teenage years. Started off on my Dad’ 82’ Yezdi Classic. And like all bikers never thought studies were something which needed my attention. So when I did managed to pass my 10th board exams with flying colours (80+ %) Dad was so pleased and surprised that he got me a brand new Yezdi 250 Classic. That was in ’96.
Later I moved to Delhi in ’98 and because of my driving skills and reputation as a safe driver (the nickname “Devil on Wheels” is not a misnomer) I was not allowed to bring my Yezdi to Delhi. I had to slog for 5 years before I could buy my Pulser 150 in ’03.
And the love affair was going pretty smooth. Infact so smooth that my CFO who was based in Sheffield UK asked me to prepare a contingency plan. Just in case something happened to me during one of my infamous rides; the organization won’t have to suffer.
2006 I fell in love again and got married in 2007. And the rest, as they say, is HISTORY.
Bought a black Alto LXi just before my marriage and so far I have done around 42,000 with the Little Beauty. But deep in my heart I always knew, I am not meant for Alto. Both my bikes were mean and tough and reliable. Alto no doubt was and is very reliable but it did come up short on the mean and toughness issue. I mean I still love the Alto but I wasn’t able to do the kind of journeys I wanted to do (the trip to McLeodgunj-Manali not withstanding).
So last August we started thinking about buying a new car and after considering couple of hatchbacks/sedans (just for the sake of going through the routine) the good old devil inside me said- go for an SUV. And when it came to an SUV, it had to be Mean, it had to be Tough and it had to be Reliable. So the choice was obvious, it had to be a Safari. I didn’t even bothered to take a look at the other options available.
In fact the first time I walked into the Tata show room, the first question I asked was: “when can you deliver me a black Safari?”, prompt came the reply, “which variant Sir?” and I was like, “ummm…., aaah, how many variants are available?”
So it was time to gather some much needed ‘gyaan’. That’s when I started searching for my Team-BHP login ID and password, which I had created log ago, but had never bothered to use. I did read few (okay, more than a few) negative reviews but my faith in the Tata brand name prevailed, or was it the Devil in me? I may never know. It took me almost 2-3 months to gather enough 'gyaan' from the experts at T-BHP, going through various posts/travelogues/expert opinions was a tedious and time consuming process but I am thankful I did.
Here are some basic details:
The Car: Safari Dicor 2.2 VTT
Colour: Quartz Black + Real Earth
Distance Covered: 11,600 KMs
Mileage: Between 12-13 in Delhi – Gurgaon traffic. Highways: a shade over 13.
Audio System: Still using the stock Alpine and seems OK.
Top Speed Achieved: 160 KMPH on NH-8 between Ajmer and Jaipur. (Daytime)
145 KMPH on NH-2 between Agra and Kanpur (Nighttime)
Mods done: Front and rear guards. Hella 500 monted on front guard. Sunfilm the cheap local stuff. All costing around 11,000/-
Road Trips so far:
Delhi-Ajmer-Ranthambore-Jaipur-Delhi 1500 KM (Dec ’09)
Delhi-Jamshedpur-Delhi 3100 KM (Feb ’10)
Delhi-Hardoi-Delhi 1100 KM (Apr ’10)
Issues faced:
Rattling noise from front left wheel when going over potholes. Resolved. SA said he just greased the suspension.
Rattling noise from both front windows. The driver side spooler was replaced during 2nd free service have not faced any issues so far. Spooler for the Passenger side window was not available at that time with TASS, will get it changed at next visit. Cost covered under warranty.
ORVMs got stolen. Had to buy new ones. Cost: 8,000/-plus labour and paint Rs. 1000/-
Front bumper got damaged when the car was just 2 weeks old, in a freak accident. But its holding on fine and doesn’t look like its broken, so haven’t changed it yet. A new one will cost around 6000/- plus labour.
That's all for now folks. Will come back with more in a day or two. |