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-   -   Tata Aria Prestige 4x4 Ownership Report (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/91608-tata-aria-prestige-4x4-ownership-report-6.html)

My brother too has booked the Aria. Its been now almost a month but there is still no clarity on the delivery. Its getting really frustrating for him. I think part of the delay in this case is because he got the booking done from a tier -2 non metro city - Jalandhar.

I read in a news article that Aria has been launched only through 65 dealers rather than the full quota of 200 odd TML dealers. So probably the Jalandhar dealer was one of those who just made the cut and maybe down in the line in terms of getting deliveries for the booking achieved.

Sorry, missed your query last time. Pictures above would have already clarified that. I do have plans to put a DVD player and screen there for family on long trips, but yet to look for options.

Even a normal USB cable connector will block the cover. Will have to find a cable with shorter or L-shaped connector head for the same.

Btw, I am not Latheesh, my name is Lobster, LobsterB ;)

No rattles yet. In my experience, so far, Maruti had the most amount of rattles.

Yes, booked online for this Saturday. Don't understand why Honda and Hyundai can't introduce online service booking.

No plans for real off-roading. Will explore roads(that at-least existed in the recent past) and not far beyond them.
Thanks.

Yes, I understand the need for hard plastic around that level, even adults will step on, while shifting from one side to another. But I would have preferred a better finish on it at this price level.

Have done 100+ and occasional 120 on Hosur Road, NICE Road and Mysore Road, the vehicle was well planted for quick lane changes and the like. Anyway I have plans for a 1000kms highway trip for next weekend, will update with my views on the same.

In Bangalore also there were a few bookings from politicians for white Aria. In fact one was a pre-launch booking ahead of mine. The sales guy handling that client was apparently getting a mouthful over phone everyday.

:D May be he thought I own your ARIA. Condorji, I am still driving around in my little Spark. But I am seriously thinking of upgrading to a SUV mainly due to my frequent drives to Kannur, but no vit M left in my account due to home constructionlol:.

LobsterB - Congrats on your ARIA and happy to see that you are using the vehicle to its full potential. Yet to spot an ARIA on bangalore roads, hope to spot you soon.

Hi,
Sorry if this has been answered but what is the FE that you are getting from the Aria in the city and on the highway with and without the ac on?

Didn't yet measure it the tankful way. With ACC set to 26 degrees the MID shows overall mileage to be 9.x kmpl in city.
Don't have the figures with AC off.

Beautiful car! And it seems to be traveling to all beautiful places. Nothing else below 20L has the road presence that can hold a candle to the Aria. No wonder TATA spend quite some time making the Aria, they have given us a world class product.
I guess Letheesh suits you better than Lobster.
Earful, you meant.

Most of the TATA cars are always been driven with A/C ON, atleast all the 25 cars i know in my friends and Family circles, since A/C's are a big plus points in all TATA cars, and FE is not much of a difference.

About ARIA, i have been told by the sales advisor, the average FE is around 11 kmpl, and he mentions "ARIA owners dont drive with windows down sir"

The FE seems to be good lobsterB :) You must be having a lot of fun with your car, have fun and keep us updated as you have been doing.

Congrats for acquiring that well rounded Indian car.

I am hoping the top of the line would soon have sun/moon roofs or optional package for other trims.

Lobster, did you get a chance to drive in dusty/smelly environments.
Does dust and foul smell come inside the cabin even when AC is in recirculation mode?

I also checked Aria other day at KHT Motors and was floored with interior quality provided. IMHO Photos do not do justice of appearance & presence for this car, one has to check in person.

Regarding rear seat it is best suitable for kids in the family and for grown adults ingress and egress would be little difficult. But not always compare all seats as of MUV/Bus. I believe ARIA is not people mover. For five grown adults there are ample space with 2 kids space as supplement.

There are some space left at boot even after all row of seats are in place. That is very big plus point of it. I have hardly seen a car with all three rows there is space in boot to keep sufficient luggage.

There are two common (>90%) mindset in India before buying a car and most of the queries by fellow members are based on these two
1. How many dozens of people we can fit inside this car.
2. How much is fuel efficiency.

We need to come out of this mindset. There are other parameters comfort, convenience, presence etc. Do you know with Diesel current price and 9KMPL average it is actually costing per km as of Maruti 800. My Safari also gives me around 9.2 KMPL in city and I am very happy with it. And yes with 100% AC ;).

Many congratulations LobsterB for selecting one of the best car available in India with the best price. I know you will enjoy this car for many years ahead with trouble free experience.

Dust: No, didn't feel, there isn't is much dust now due to wet weather as well.
Foul Smell: Yes, to some extent.

The car is going for servicing tomorrow. Is there something that I can ask them to check more specifically?

Hey Lobster, please remember those waiting for your updates once you're back from the service today :p
And I read in BSM that the Aria has a really good OEM sound system:

What do you think? And what kind of music do you think it can handle well in stock? Also saw in GTO's review that they've provided a stock Sub location in the tailgate. Is that for an 8"er or different (larger)?

@ LobsterB
Congratulations on your buy ! The car looks superb in that colour ! Awesome pics !

Sorry, was tied up with weekend stuff after the service. My impressions of the service at Concorde Motors service center @ Begur Road are as follows:-

Being the first Aria that had come for service, there was significant attention and priority given to the vehicle. The was obviously and attempt to make the experience feel special. In fact at the end of service someone actually expressed his desire to get a 10/10 rating for the feedback call from Pune.

The routine service job of checking/tightening of nuts and top-up of fluids took less than 40-60 minutes. I had three issues for investigation - rear right door requiring extra force, to check A/C recirculation mode and interior cleaning for roof fabric (a few finger marks were there at time of delivery).

The first two were deferred for next service as they expected door closing to ease up with time and person familiar with ECU wasn't available. The cleaning and washing took more than hour. A road test was also there before washing. Even though the above two minor issues weren't addressed I am satisfied with the overall experience as of now.

It is a reasonably big service station, a bit bigger than the other ones that I have seen. 70% of the vehicles that had come for service there were yellow board (mainly Tata Sumo), rest were mostly Tata Safari or Fiat Palio. The customer lounge was surely not the cleanest one that I have encountered. It had coffee vending machine/TV/AC etc but still felt very ordinary with a not so well kept toilet by the side. While I was there (when the car was being washed), a Palio owner, a taxi driver and two security personnel watching the India-NZ test match.

To some extent I would agree to BSM's comment. The FM sounded perhaps as good as the Pioneer DEH-P7900 HU and speakers I had on NHC. As a first step I will look at upgrading the stock speaker(5") on the doors. The bass of the system was just about right at low volumes. But at higher volumes there is booming sound in DSP settings that has higher bass. Has tried out Indian/Pop/Jazz/Classical/Electronica/Fusion etc both from audio CD and USB(mp3). All of them sounded decent enough for casual listening. CD/MP3 on the above Pioneer sounded better with Pioneer speakers. (But this Pioneer set-up had a tendency to swallow detail for a more punchy sound). But Aria's Delphi is far better than the integrated one in my i10 in terms of bass and detail.
The sub woofer slot on the rear hatch door is 8".

Congrats Lobster on being the first on Tbhp to be owning an Aria! The car looks awesome. The first pic at the beginning of thread is superb. It doesn't look one bit like an MUV. You have done a right thing. Don't give a damn about what automagazines write. They have something against Tata. Overdrive rates costlier Aria a notch below Innova. But a few pages later, the same OD has no qualm about rating costlier Hyundai Santa Fe better than Toyota Fortuner.

Magazines have never been fair to Tata and they never will ever be. Aria is best 7 seater money can buy at the price it comes.