[druva]

The Flashback: Flashback to couple of years back.
I and my family were walking on a dark, rainy Chennai street. Holding the hands of my loved ones, something catches the corner of my eye. I stop and track back. The dimly lit street illuminates a golden embossing over the wheels at the rear door.The light gives a gloss over the silver Safari. I was hooked.

Started reading Safari reviews and naturally was spending more time on TBhp. The honest reviews from the owners and the constant flareup between the Safari and Scorpio owners were educating me. My head took control. I was hesistant to buy a Safari. I did make a sale enquiry with the Concorde dealer, Velachery. I didnt even do a test drive. (For almost 2 years, the sales rep kept sending me SMS about price changes!!)

Other priorities took over. The recession came. I started search for a home.

The hunt : Jump to about 3 months ago.
My first ride (in India) was the lovely Hyundai Santro (2001 model). It served my family well for nine long years. The time came to bid farewell and look for other alternatives. I was looking for another car which will serve me another decade!! Financially, I thought I would wait for some more time before upgrading. My Santro had other ideas. Her rust was aggravating. I had to sell her soon, else she would require structural work. We decided to change the car ASAP.

I had just moved to outskirts of the city and my commute had increased. This time, it was going to be a diesel. I was back to TBhp to read more.

Lateral Upgrade
Meanwhile, GTO started thread about his buy of used Civic. I was smitten.
I fixed by budget at 5-6 lakhs and started looking at used cars. I was looking at primarily Honda City, contrary to my needs of a diesel car!!
Only reason being the reliability of used Honda cars.

Details of my lateral search are in http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/sedans...l-upgrade.html .
I landed a pre-worshipped deal on the first day of search itself. But could not decide quickly as the expected price was higher than my budget.
The car was sold by the second day.

My search continued. Capital Honda offered me demo vehicle with 1 lakh discount. I was hesistant. While at dealership I also drove iVtec car and was blown by its responsiveness. Privately i decided to go for City. I also decided to forego the demo vehicle and conitnued my search for used cars.

Unfortunately, I could not land any satisfactory used cars within my price band. My family also not so enthusiastic about used car. In my thread, even GTO adviced either to increase budget or choose new car.

Hunt for new car
Loans for new cars were cheaper. I fixed the budget as 10 lakhs and started looking at new cars. Back of my mind, Vento launch was playing in the mind.

I short listed the cars within 10 lakh range
Linea,
Honda City
Vento
& Xylo!!

Curiously I didnt add Safari in the list. Come to think of it, I honestly dont know why.

Why, I added Xylo?

I think I was searching for cars with Airbags + ABS below 10 lakhs. Thats probably the reason for exclusion of Safari and inclusion of Xylo. Xylo comes at 10 lakhs on-road VFM pricing with all safety features. Large enough for my family. Though TBHP and all my friends warned about boat like ride, I added Xylo to my list of evaluation.

Time to TD
I gave ranks internally and thought I would TD the least likely car first.
My ranking from not likely (to buy) to most likely (to buy) was
Xylo
Linea
Honda City
Vento
I called up and fixed TD with the dealers for Xylo and Linea on day 1
and City and Polo (Vento was yet to be launched) on day 2.

Day 1:
Xylo TD:
My whole family loved Xylo. There was ample space. All of them liked the captain seats. They loved the trays in the middle seats.
I was like, what the hell!!

Linea:
The dealer brought an unclean car which had run 38000 km. Family and myself were not impressed.

Day 2:
Honda City:
I liked the car very much. Family did not give thumbs up. However, they were ok with my decision, if I were to buy this car.
Polo:
I was asked to come to the dealership for TD. At the dealership, it was "You Pay, You Buy and You Service Yourself" kinda attitude!!. I would rate the experience, the worst. Even with an appointment, I was not given TD. Probably I would have got better treatment If I had TDed VW Passat instead of Polo.

So at end of day 2, it was Xylo vs Honda City. {Please dont laugh at this!!}

Whole family was rooting for Xylo and I for Honda City. I tried to build alliance with my sons reasoning that we can drive faster in City than in Xylo. One of my son converted to City from Xylo. Still it was 3-2 for Xylo. Owing to unfavourable conditions, I decided to wait till Vento launch. I was thinking that after Vento launch, Honda prices will fall or I will get decent discounts.

Almighty had other ideas!!

[goldie_malhotra]

Congrats on your new silver beast - the Safari. Am waiting for the next installment in this story. Do mention how much it cost you on-road.

[umang dutt]

Hey congrats on your beast.

Cant wait for the rest of the story

[druva]

Originally Posted by goldie_malhotra

Congrats on your new silver beast - the Safari. Am waiting for the next installment in this story. Do mention how much it cost you on-road.

Thanks. Though I first liked the Silver one, I changed and bought a Cycus Grey one as I thought the silver color is common.

Originally Posted by umang dutt

Hey congrats on your beast.

Cant wait for the rest of the story

Thanks. I had shown your Safari pictures to my family before I booked mine.

I am editing the next post. Should be posting in short while.

[druva]

Bangalore and the mountain hills errrrrr speed breakers:

Surprise of surprise. I went to Bangalore after a gap of 5 years. Our college alumni meet was there and I went to stay with my college friend for the meet. Guess what? he was driving Honda City. I was happy that I could drive/ travel on that for 2 days. Banglore had other ideas.

My friend said that he will drive the initial part and I can have her near the NICE road. While he was driving, I noticed that Honda City was scraping all the mountain hills on the road and he had to be cautious. (ok. ok. Bangaloreans call the mountain hills as speed breakers)

• Whats the point in driving a rev happy engine when worried about scraping the bottom or riding over potholes?
• If I drive on unknown highways, will I zip the machine or have to be cautios? I didnt feel like ripping her when he actually gave her for me to ride. I just didnt "feel it".

After I returned from Bangalore, I noticed that another TBhpian (geeksrik) who did a lateral upgrade (to used Honda City) sold it due to seating ergonomics. My back ache itself was in begining stage.

Thinking about all these, Xylo seemed the right choice!! However, my heart was complaining. I was in dilemma. Logically Xylo suited the family requirements better. I can travel to my hometown (Tirunelveli). It can accomodate my parents when they visit me.

However, one thing was clear. I decided that my next car has to be an UV.

I called Xylo for another TD. This time from 2nd dealer at Chennai. I seriously thought I will be pitting the two dealers against each other.
Even with the second test drive the family was happy. I was more observant than when I did my first TD. Two significant impressions were

1. Torque and pull in first gear was great. Xylo moves spiritedly in first gear.
2. Turning radius was as good as sedan.

Negatives:

1. We also noted that there was almost zilch luggage space though the "happy legs" space was awesome.
2. Another irritant was if I chose the top model with Airbags, only white color is the option. Stupid Mahindra. Shouldnt the highest paying customer get the maximum choices?

All my friends and even "Geeksrik" adviced me about the boat ride. Geeksrik pmed with his hilarious review about Xylo. The new Mahindra XYLO definitive pictorial review – pricing, features, drive, accessories, detailed and honest opinions! | the Bengaluru blog
(Its a well written review Geek. Thanks)

I had my own counter thoughts. Safe speed in US is 65 mph = 100 kmph. Considering our road conditions that should be the top speed in any vehicle driven in India!! I convinced myself that at these speeds, Xylo should not rock. I could TD only at 50-70 kph and did not observe any vague behaviour. It was like mentally I was convincing myself to buy Xyo.

Still my heart did not agree.

Safari says "I 'm back".
One evening, we were watching Discovery channel along with the kids. The Safari 2.2 ad for reduced prices came up. The kids did not understand the advertisement. However me and my sons exclaimed when Safari creeps in the ad. Only the ladies were silent. It was 3-2 for Safari!!

I realized that in my evaluation, till now I didnt consider Safari. I guess, I was fixed with lateral upgrade and searched mainly the sedans.

I called Concorde for Safari test drive. It came. It conquered. The engine was silent (compared to Xylo) Gear was not vibrating as Xylos'.
The interiors (was BS3 version) was better than Xylos. I was impressed. My boys were converted from Xylo to Safari. It was only my daughter and wife still talking about the 3rd row seat. We discussed for 3-4 days. My wife asked me to go ahead with Safari. I was not sure. I have read with fair interest TSk1979 ownership thread on Safari. I am aware of the niggles, being reported in TBHP. I was not sure. I started searching for Safari 2010 ownership threads. Kaviprem (plus one more 2010 model) ownership thread was impressive. The almost zero niggles was assuring me.

We decided to visit the showrooms. First went to Mahindra showroom to see Xylo. Salesman patiently showed us the variants in Xylo and explained features. Then we went to TATA VST Motors showroom. Majestic Safari (black) was parked in showroom.My wife was bowled. This was the BS4 2010 version. The interiors were even better. We decided there our next ride would be a Safari.

Now, I started going thru pangs and negatives of Safari. Lot of negatives came to mind

• Nano sales are going to increase. This will imply stressed service network.
• Poor resale value. I tracked sunday classifieds for 2 weeks for prices of Safari, Innova and Scorpio. (based on prices quoted by sellers and I did not verify quality of the vehicle)
• No third row seating
• Poor QC and Niggles reported at TBhp.
• Stretched budget
• Huge turning radius
• Upcoming ARIA launch.

All the above points were playing in my mind and I was worried. The choice was between Safari and Xylo. Logic and Head said xylo. Heart said Safari. I discussed with couple of friends. Called up some known professional drivers. All of them said go for Scorpio

However, my wife said. "You have bought so many things for us. Buy for yourself. Simply go ahead with Safari. God has given us good things. He wont let us down on this".

After 3 sleepless nights and innumerable discussions with my wife, I decided that I will book Safari. I was restless till the point I decided this. Surprisingly, I felt light after the decision. It seemed the obvious choice.

NOTE:
After making the decision and booking, I recollected an earlier incident. I had told my builder that I need a large parking slot. When he asked what car you have, I have impulsively told "Safari". :-)

I still have no clue, why I didnt put Safari in my first short list of cars to be evaluated.

Next, I will write about why I chose GX and Cycus Grey color.

[sachinj12]

You got me engrossed without a single pic!! Considering the fact my attention span is short, that's an achievement of sort

On a relevant note, congrats on the car. Please do post the rest of the review and pics quickly.

Agree with the bottom scraping part. Every time my car bottoms, I wish I had an SUV.

[anekho]

Fantastic write-up, man! Really loved it

Congrats on the safari, enjoy conquering the mountain hills!

[Santy]

Congrats

Reclaim Your Life

I am impressed with the way you could put up the dilemma & heart winning

and inspired to go for brand of hearts next time

enjoy your beast

[druva]

Originally Posted by sachinj12

You got me engrossed without a single pic!! Considering the fact my attention span is short, that's an achievement of sort

...

Thanks for the comment. A nice way to begin my day.

Will finish the rest in couple of updates and then few pics.

Originally Posted by anekho

Fantastic write-up, man! Really loved it

Congrats on the safari, enjoy conquering the mountain hills!

Thanks. In Chennai the speed brakers are much more reasonable. So no issues. BTW, I enjoyed your Sweden driving lessons. Keep it coming. I too have visited Stockholm and Gottenburg.

Originally Posted by Santy

Congrats

Reclaim Your Life

I am impressed with the way you could put up the dilemma & heart winning

and inspired to go for brand of hearts next time

enjoy your beast

Thanks for the wishes. After riding for a month now, I dont regret.
Hopefully, the beast doesnt show up its infamous QC

[goldie_malhotra]

Originally Posted by druva

Thanks. Though I first liked the Silver one, I changed and bought a Cycus Grey one as I thought the silver color is common.

My bad - I assumed both were the same.
Do post pics soon.

[_raVan_]

Congratulations on your purchase You mentioned "Interiors were even better." Can you comment more on this?

[druva]

My choice of model
Now, I had to decide the model. My budget was 10 lakhs. Within this budget, LX and EX models will fit the bill. I was pleased with the features in LX. All power windows, power steering etc. {cross check the Innova base price and features. I had dropped innova just after querying the prices}

However by choosing LX, I had about 1 lakh spare. I will have to spend on atleast audio and reverse camera as after market fitment. For my budget, EX 4x2 will fit. I thought for a while and decided that I will go for EX 4x4. I will have to stretch my budget for this. But then another 3000/ pm seemed ok for what your heart says.

I tried to list, what the variants offer to me. Hope this is useful for others deciding the variants.

These are based on my own budget conditions and perceptions about the variants.
LX - base trim - comes with most features - VFM

EX - not so VFM. Why would anyone pay so much for twin a/cs plus some audio system? (&I feel the single AC is sufficient upto middle row. Even with Single AC there is an AC vent in middle row leg space)

EX 4x4 - base model for 4x4. Plus it comes with alloys. I think its VFM.

GX 4x2- ABS is there. Plus it comes with leather interiors, alloys and reverse sensor. Seems VFM.
{Tax is 10% only as ex-showroom price just below 10 lak. The prime reason for Safari price reduction was to bring GX price below 10 lakh}

GX 4x4. Not VFM compared to EX 4x4. GX 4x2 already comes with alloys. Plus 15% tax for this as ex-showroom price is above 10 lak.

VX - if you have the moolah go for this. Airbags is good. But Reverse camera, DVD player and price diff of about 1.7 laks over GX makes me think twice.. {Also Tax is 15% for vehicles over 10 lak}

So my choice was between LX, EX 4x4 and GX 4x2. Since I was able to afford 10 lakhs, I decided to rule out LX. {Though I liked The biege interiors + all power option makes this very attractive}

Now it was between EX 4x4 and GX 4x2. It was very tempting to choose the 4x4 option. Tanveers rides and pictures, some of hrags' picture (he is still banned?) were tantalizing me. Considering that I am already stretched, I decided I cant go for more loan. I decided to choose the ABS over 4x4, since I thought ABS will be more useful.

So I finalized GX 4x2.

My choice of color.
As told earlier, my first like was arctic silver Safari. The golden Safari embossing on arctic silver is very attractive. Equally pearl white is attractive. However the ubiquos presence of the Safri whites, made me not choose this.

Apart from that, Safari looks stunning in a well polished black. For superstitious reasons, black was out.

My Santro was Imperial red. I wanted a different color in my new ride. So red was out.

It was a choice between Mountain Green and Cycus grey. The Cycus Grey was simply an awesome color. Its a mix of blue and green, like a peacock neck.

I liked Kaviprem's pictures of his Safari. My wife also liked it. The dealer tried to pull us to Pearl White. Saying that its the fast moving one, etc. But we decided to book the cycus Grey one. I was bit surprised that GX has only the dual color option {Arctic silver + Cycus Grey }. Dealer was happily suggesting to go for VX!! We decided its ok to go for the grey one with dual colors.

So I booked the vehicle on Sept 3rd with a booking advance of 50,000/-. I was promised delivery on Sept 18th and the wait started. Sales experience with the dealer (Concorde, Velachery) was VERY GOOD. There was no pressure on loan, insurance etc. I was free to choose my own.
They gave their quotes. I chose my own.

My discount details:
Corp Discount: Rs 6,000
Free Ext Warranty: Rs 7,000
Free Accessories: Rs 2,000/ (Floor mat, Mudflaps )
Free Gold Service Plan: Rs 3476 (will cover consumables till 20,000 km)

I took my own insurance Rs 26k (less by 5k from dealer quoted price)
Onroad price for GX 4x2 in Chennai was 11.47 and with the above exclusions I paid 10.99 (ofcourse after PDI)


The wait and Hand of God

I did not hear back from the dealer in the first week. When I called up he said TML has not yet shipped and will update me. This repeated for 2-3 days, I lost patience. I tried logging a ticket in Tata Motors website. However it does not allow tickets without chasis number/ registration number!!

So I called the helpline number. They put me to TML Chennai office. I could speak with Mr. Rohit Fernandes, TATA Motors PRO for Chennai and Southern region. He promised he will call me back. At evening I got call back from Concorde. They said that Mr. Rohit spoke with them and the shipment from Pune will start in another 2 days. They said the delay is mainly for Gx and VX BS4 models.

Another 2 days and still no news. I got customer care email id from Tanveer (TSK1979) and was about to write to them. The day was Sept 17th. I got a bad news that one of my close relative died!!

IFF the car was delivered as promised on Sept 18th, I would have no way taken delivery. I understood that someone above is playing with my delivery and decided to let it keep its own course. I kept calling the dealer to check the delivery but decided not to escalate further.

Finally, they gave me the VIN number and thanks to wildon, I could decipher that it was indeed Sept 2010 vehicle. I was happy. I was told that delivery can be done on Sept 29th, provided vehicle arrives on 27th. The vehicle did not arrive. I did not get any calls either. I was pissed off. My kids school had vacation on the week of Sept 29th. Now our plans were wasted. I visited Concorde showroom on 27th and had a hearty chat with Sales Manager.

I was promised that I would be shown the vehicle as soon it lands. I left with in a confused state whether these were signs of upcoming service quality.

Next, I will post my delivery and driving experiences so far.

[joe1980]

Congratulations on your new car.

Please post some good pictures of it.

[kaviprem]

Good one Druva - Nice to see a couple of references to my thread Feels good and am sure, someone in future will refer this thread too. If not for car, at least for the story and the screen play.
Just kidding - keeping them coming. I like it.

Btw, my first choice of colour was also BLACK and it was the very same [superstitious] reason, I had to drop it off though I dont care about it much. The immediate choice after BLACK is the CYCUS GREY and this choice is primarily driven by my 6 year old daughter.

Before someone else marks this statement - "More and more Raining Safari's in TBHP" !

Good luck & Safe motoring
Prem.

[sivadeep]

Good Luck Druva.

Your phased review is good but please post some pictures including interiors. Also are seats come with full leather OR a mix of leather with some other materials?

Once again wishes for the family