Team-BHP > Team-BHP Reviews > Test-Drives & Initial Ownership Reports


Reply
  Search this Thread
217,560 views
Old 22nd December 2010, 23:26   #76
BHPian
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: PNQ - PUNE
Posts: 315
Thanked: 358 Times
re: TATA Aria Pride 4X4 - Heart over Mind or Mind in the Right Place? EDIT : Now Sold!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ACM View Post
Psbali sorry to hear about your experience, the silverlining - Trust me White looks much grander than silver and it really stands out in the Aria giving it a majestic ..

Had you booked an appointment in advance? I knew the name and mobile number of my SA a day in advance. Give your SA a bad rating when you get the feedback call from TATA - these guys are under pressure from TATA to deliver on service and can be made to pay for neglecting us.

Well I am more happy with a White honestly.. I have no regrets that we werent given a silver Aria.. Not going back to them once Millennium motors open their Tata Showroom..

And yeah even my dad was given the SA's number a day in advance.. We even communicated with him a day earlier. And as for giving them a bad rating I gave them 9 out of 10 for attending to my problem quickly and the SA was "Sir aapka problem toh humne bahut jaldi attend kiya tha" to which I said "9 out of ten isn't a bad score" the guy completely changes his tone and gets a bit hostile and says "Bahut difference hai sir" And after that I just gave the checklist back to him and said asked him to fill it himself and walked out.. And as I had expected the issues that I had with the car remained unsolved except for creaking boot struts... But really happy with the car nevertheless.. Best part is that I dont feel any turbo-lag whatsoever.. Having a Swift diesel helps to adjust to the turbo-lag And the issues that I had are too minor to bother about them..
psbali is offline  
Old 29th December 2010, 14:45   #77
ACM
Distinguished - BHPian
 
ACM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 4,745
Thanked: 4,358 Times
XIV Comparision vs Laura and Safari - My other long term cars.

XIV Comparison vs Laura and Safari - My other long term Cars.

The Safari joined me first - about 10 years back - and being the TCIC engine version, though reliable compared to the Dicors it always felt underpowered for the highways and even on hilly slopes due to the Safari wt. Also the interiors were a bit simple and the age shows through, the newer dicor 2.2 has better interiors. But these too are a decade old as far as design language is concerned.
This lead to a thirst for refinement, power, features and better interiors - In comes the Laura. Though the smooth gear changes, AT comfort and the adequate power shine through I missed the ride height of an SUV, the better visibility and don't mess with me feel (which is a wonderful must have for Bombay roads), terrorizing the auto rickshaw guys rather than being intimidated by them as in the case of the Laura. Additionally in the monsoon driving through flooded roads is nerve racking in the Laura especially as it is an AT.
Did not actually require a 7 seater and 5 adults + kids that the Aria offers was perfectly fine and more than what is required.
Today when I see the Aria Advts, of a SUV and Sedan combining to form the Aria it rings true.

Comparo - vs Safari and Laura
Features - Laura L&K actually has even higher feature levels than the Aria in some ways, and way more than the Safari, but the Aria features when compared to other cars upto 24L OTR shine through in all cases except for the Laura and Superb.
Powered Heated Seats: The Laura has powered driver seats with 3 memory settings and this is a really usable feature, also the heated seats in the Laura are useful not just in the winters and would make more sense in north India but are also very useful for those with back pain who want extra comfort and relief while driving. (They should have had it for the rear bench as well.)
Auto Wipers: work better in the Aria than in the Laura, and I have almost not required to change the wiper speed at all, while in the Laura it does not detect light rains that well, though it smartly changes the wiper speed with the car speed. The Safari of course does not have this feature.
Auto Light: Again these work better in the Aria than in the Laura and it starts the lights automatically at just the right low-light condition, in the Laura it is too early - it can be set in the service centre but somehow have never got down to doing it. Safari does not have this feature.
MID - the Laura MID is better than that in the Aria while the Safari does not have it. The Laura MID manages to sync the setting on the infotainment screen as well as on the screen between the dials, and is more informative overall, but an auto trip counter for each new trip that one starts after a 2 hr break, One tends to forget to start the trip meter for the Aria while this is automatically remembered in the Aria, temperature sensors are identical in both and have similar levels of accuracy. The Laura also displays the average speed and trip time while the Aria doesn't.
Auto dimming rearview mirror: This is something that only the Laura has among the three and is a useful feature to have.
Rear defogger and wiper: All three have rear defoggers but the Laura does not have rear a rear wiper and this would have been a good to have feature, this is a lapse in the case of the Laura.
Bottle Holders and Cup Holders- Laura and Aria have large size bottle holders for the front and the Aria has the same even for the middle / rear row, the rear passengers are not so fortunate in the case of the Laura, in the Safari the storage is not exactly suitable for holding bottles. Besides the Aria has 9 cup holders among 7 passengers and the Laura 2 while the Safari has 4.
Overhead storage/ under seat storage: The Arai leads in this due to the overhead storage, followed by the Laura with a good number of hidden chambers while the Safari does not have much more than the door side panel storage.
Chiller: Only the Aria has this.
Charger socket: Aria has 3, the Safari 2 and the Laura 1.
Overall in features the Aria leads (mainly due the infotainment edge as mentioned below) though the Laura too has some unique stuff.

Music systems / Infotainment system - The Laura music system is superb and does not require an upgrade, the Aria's music system too is quite fine and can do without an upgrade but is not as clear as that in the Laura, but the Aria has provisioned for a large woofer in the rear door. The Safari system is not integrated like in the Laura and the Aria also there are no steering mounted controls in the safari and one would do well to upgrade the factory fitted system and speakers. The music system in the Aria and the Laura is also an infotainment system and overall that of the Aria is better though less refined than in the Laura as it incorporates PHONE and SATNAV controls and that is a big plus, also the Aria has a reverse camera that works with the same screen while the Laura has sensors. The Laura reverse sensors are superb but a camera is safer to have. Also the Aria is the only one with all three options of AUX, USB and IPod connectivity. Both the Laura and Aria music systems adjust car volume based on the speed, the Laura though reduced the volume significantly
while reversing and this is missed in the Aria. Though there is no audible sensor in the Aria it would have helped for concentrating on something really as important as reversing.

AC - The Aria AC is the best of the lot with max blower capacity and appropriate vent locations, the rear foot level (below front seat) ac ducts in the Laura are useless, and even the safari AC is better than that in the Laura. The Safari AC ducts are in general of poor quality plastic and the roof mounted unit looks like an unplanned add on, but the safari does do a good job in the cooling dept inspite of not having an ACC, while the Laura even with dual zone ACC (separate temperatures for the right hand and left hand sides) is poor in the cooling dept, especially in the rear. The Aria has superb cooling for all three rows and separate powered controls for the rear row as well 10 vents in the vehicle do a perfect job. The driver ac vents in the Aria do tend to blow cold air on either the hands or the feet in an awkward manner. The laura compressor also has a shorter life compared to that in the Safari and presumably the Aria.
Outside Air: The Safari outside air entry insulation is really not of much use except to boost the airflow in the recirculation mode, one keeps getting the foul smell from outside in the Safari. The Laura in contrast filters out the outside air perfectly, but the Aria is again the best compromise as it remembers the previous setting of recirculation every time one switches on the AC, while in case of the Laura it changes to outside air mode every time one restarts the car after 2 hrs and it is only a whiff of the foul outside smells that reminds one to switch manually - normally it is too late by then and one if forced to endure the fragrance.

Seat comfort - The Aria has the best set of 7 seats overall, while the Safari has the best middle row seats, the Laura rear bench is not as comfortable as in the remaining two due to the obvious size difference. The Leather upholstery in the Aria and the Laura is better than in the Safari. Also the top model getting Black or Black and Plum in the Arai is a better choice than the Beige in the Laura (though the Laura does have Black as the standard colour along with some external shades). The Newer two done dark shades in the Safari interiors are also good and better than the earlier beige scheme.

Ride, cornering, sideways motion, Steering, pitching - The Safari ride is
the best but this is closely followed by the Aria while the Laura has a harsh ride comparatively. Obviously the Safari pitches and rolls the most with max sideways motion, and the Laura the least, the Laura infact does have an "on Rails" kind of drive. The Steering of the Laura is precise and that of the Safari quite vague, the Aria steers as well as is/can be expected of a ladder frame SUV.

Luggage space- The Aria has the best luggage space of the lot with 5 seated followed by the Safari, followed by the Laura and yet that of the Laura would beat most sedans in the segment. With Seven seated the Aria luggage space is again more than that in the Safari.
Looks - Subjective, I guess all three look the best in their respective segments, Safari has a robust look to it, and the Laura is most elegant (though I personally like the earlier versions looks more than that of the current one) while the Aria combines both these attributes as well as it can.

Offroading- Have not taken either the Safari or the Aria for true offroading ever, and yet it is safe to presume that with no 4L mode the Aria would be trumped by the Safari in this true offroading aspect, while for basic in city rough roads the Aria with permanent 4X4 would be the best. Both the Safari and the Aria have similar ground clearances. Besides who would dream of spoiling the exterior finish of the Aria in true offroading, the safari with the cladding is better suited for that.

Highway manners- This obviously is in favour of the Laura, but the Aria is supprisingly close and the Safari is decent but a bit scary while doing high speed runs on the highways. The Aria actually corners quite well inspite of the height and size.

Safety and Braking- Both Laura and Aria come with disk brakes all around. The Laura brakes are the best, but the Aria is close and the safari not as
reassuring. The Aria brakes inspire confidence. Also the top end Aria and the Laura both come with 6 airbags, while the safari has 2. The Aria and the Laura have TC, ESP, EPS, and ABS, while the Safari only has ABS, also the Aria has permanent 4X4 and is larger, so would rate the Aria higher on safety than even the Laura.

Engine- All three have similar outputs at 140 bhp. The Current Laura Diesel is an excellent engine but then so is the 2.2 dicor and all three have similar power, the Aria engine is much more refined than in the Safari due to various improvements that would come in the next gen safari in time - but presently are not available. The Laura has a slight edge here due to the AT preventing any vibrations getting through to the gear shift and it's comparatively lighter weight.

Overall feel that the Aria is better VFM than the Laura for what it offers at a similar price point, while the there are others who are better off in the
Safari if you want more of the Macho feel and features and interiors refinement don't matter much to you - it is a lot cheaper as well.

The Advt. does seem to ring true.
ACM is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 29th December 2010, 14:57   #78
Senior - BHPian
 
himanshugoswami's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: !!!!
Posts: 2,302
Thanked: 2,614 Times
re: TATA Aria Pride 4X4 - Heart over Mind or Mind in the Right Place? EDIT : Now Sold!

Did the 2001 Safari TCIC come with ABS and airbags?
himanshugoswami is offline  
Old 29th December 2010, 15:02   #79
ACM
Distinguished - BHPian
 
ACM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 4,745
Thanked: 4,358 Times
re: TATA Aria Pride 4X4 - Heart over Mind or Mind in the Right Place? EDIT : Now Sold!

Nope the 2001 Safari TCIC did not come with ABS and Airbags - not even in the Top end EX then.

But what I am comparing in my post are the current top end models for all three.
ACM is offline  
Old 29th December 2010, 17:35   #80
BHPian
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: HYDERABAD
Posts: 87
Thanked: 25 Times
re: TATA Aria Pride 4X4 - Heart over Mind or Mind in the Right Place? EDIT : Now Sold!

I'm glad that you also agree with me that the Aria is good VFM. I was actually considering a Laura but I genuinely felt that the Aria provided a very good long term case for itself. I completely agree that portions of the car seem rushed and unplanned.

I have a question though. Has the Safari ever let you down badly in your ten years of use? I'm asking this because I want to ascertain that Tata cars are dependable rather than refined like other cars. I would gladly sacrifice some refinement issues for bullet-proof mechanicals. Going by the state of some Indica's I believe they might be.
crazycardude198 is offline  
Old 30th December 2010, 02:10   #81
Senior - BHPian
 
Amartya's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Evanston
Posts: 1,748
Thanked: 736 Times
re: TATA Aria Pride 4X4 - Heart over Mind or Mind in the Right Place? EDIT : Now Sold!

@ACM, excellent post and a very intriguing comparison. As you drive the Aria more and more, a comparison of the service and fuel costs would be interesting too.

Just a question, what's an auto-dimming mirror? Does it do the same thing as the glare reducing manual switch usually found on the back of the rear view mirrors (which basically changes the angle of the reflective surface). I asked because auto-dimming would imply a light sensor and perhaps a LCD screen (instead of a plain mirror).
Amartya is offline  
Old 30th December 2010, 09:00   #82
Senior - BHPian
 
jkdas's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Thiruvananthapu
Posts: 9,687
Thanked: 1,492 Times
re: TATA Aria Pride 4X4 - Heart over Mind or Mind in the Right Place? EDIT : Now Sold!

Nice comparison. Nice job; appreciate the effort in doing this.

I am surprised that about the luggage space part though. Can you also include photos for comparison.
jkdas is offline  
Old 30th December 2010, 11:45   #83
ACM
Distinguished - BHPian
 
ACM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 4,745
Thanked: 4,358 Times
re: TATA Aria Pride 4X4 - Heart over Mind or Mind in the Right Place? EDIT : Now Sold!

Quote:
Originally Posted by crazycardude198 View Post
I have a question though. Has the Safari ever let you down badly in your ten years of use? I'm asking this because I want to ascertain that Tata cars are dependable rather than refined like other cars. I would gladly sacrifice some refinement issues for bullet-proof mechanicals. Going by the state of some Indica's I believe they might be.
The Safari that I have used for 10 years is the TCIC and those are known to be more reliable than the 2.2 dicor though underpowered, it never left me stranded on any outstation trip, but on 1 occation within the city required to get it towed - timing belt/ water pump failure requiring valve correction.

I believe most of the 2.2 dicor issues have now been sorted out in the first 3 years under the safari, so the Aria should be reliable, there is the DSG flywheel, and the 4X4 AWD that are new though, but we have seen TATA testing this stuff for the last 3 years at least.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Amartya View Post
@ACM, excellent post and a very intriguing comparison. As you drive the Aria more and more, a comparison of the service and fuel costs would be interesting too.

Just a question, what's an auto-dimming mirror? Does it do the same thing as the glare reducing manual switch usually found on the back of the rear view mirrors (which basically changes the angle of the reflective surface). I asked because auto-dimming would imply a light sensor and perhaps a LCD screen (instead of a plain mirror).
Yep the Auto-dimming mirror has a light sensor that can be switched on below the mirror if one wants the mirror to auto dim, in the laura L&K this also automatically dims the side view mirrors as well though based on the light hitting the inside rear view mirror only. This is I guess the way forward inplace of the manual position selector in the Aria and most other cars.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jkdas View Post
Nice comparison. Nice job; appreciate the effort in doing this.

I am surprised that about the luggage space part though. Can you also include photos for comparison.
Will include photos at a later date, when I shoot all three together.

The Aria with last row folded give a large flat bed and even with the last row not folded provided a decent bit of luggage space behind the last row seat unlike in the Innova. In the safari one actually sits in the Luggage area itself so with 7 seated there is a fight of the last 2 with the luggage itself. Laura too has a really large dickey expecially as it is a hatch back and rear glass lifts on opening the boot. Also the rear row seats here too fold flat but am comparing the space with 7 seated between the Aria and the Safari and with 5 seated between all three.
ACM is offline  
Old 4th January 2011, 00:05   #84
BHPian
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Pune, Bahrain
Posts: 450
Thanked: 85 Times
re: TATA Aria Pride 4X4 - Heart over Mind or Mind in the Right Place? EDIT : Now Sold!

Quote:
Originally Posted by psbali View Post
SO how was your dealership experience?? .. .. This is what they do to their First Customer for Aria in Pune.. c
Not to digress from this great th(read) but i have been trying to get a test drive from Pandit for the last 2 weeks. No luck! Waiting for another dealer in Pune! Hopefully soon!
kevinephraim is offline  
Old 4th January 2011, 17:36   #85
BANNED
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: BLR MCT
Posts: 962
Thanked: 900 Times
re: TATA Aria Pride 4X4 - Heart over Mind or Mind in the Right Place? EDIT : Now Sold!

congrats!

intersting method to selecting!

looking forward to more updates and pictures!
Mafia is offline  
Old 5th January 2011, 10:06   #86
ACM
Distinguished - BHPian
 
ACM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 4,745
Thanked: 4,358 Times
re: TATA Aria Pride 4X4 - Heart over Mind or Mind in the Right Place? EDIT : Now Sold!

Quote:
Originally Posted by kevinephraim View Post
Not to digress from this great th(read) but i have been trying to get a test drive from Pandit for the last 2 weeks. No luck! Waiting for another dealer in Pune! Hopefully soon!
Why don't you try droping into the showroom? - they should be having a full time demo vehicle with them by now. That's what I did in Mumbai and all the 3 dealers approached by me had their demo cars within 15 days of launch.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mafia View Post
congrats!
intersting method to selecting!
looking forward to more updates and pictures!
Thanks, Will be close to the second service (5500 kms) in less than a month implying more updates, besides will again continue on the pending subjects mentioned in the first post from next week.
ACM is offline  
Old 5th January 2011, 19:09   #87
BHPian
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Pune, Bahrain
Posts: 450
Thanked: 85 Times
re: TATA Aria Pride 4X4 - Heart over Mind or Mind in the Right Place? EDIT : Now Sold!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ACM View Post
Why don't you try droping into the showroom? - they should be having a full time demo vehicle with them by now. That's what I did in Mumbai and all the 3 dealers approached by me had their demo cars within 15 days of launch.
That is exactly what i did today! And i don't think Pandit is interested in selling the aria or any car for that matter. The women at the reception don't ask you anything, the sales guys are sitting at the desks only. No one will approach you at All! There is a maroon prestige Aria standing in the showroom which anyone can look at if they would like to! i looked at the Aria from top to bottom and front to rear, opened the bonnet, fiddled with the gear shift and all the knobs inside, pressed every button that could be pressed, opened every cubby hole in the car and after a good 45 mins when finally no one had yet approached me, went to the sales counter and finally asked for a price list! Waiting in Pune is 1 month as per the sales person.

Now for the review of what i liked and disliked, This is after i have owned and used a 2006 toyota innova and with my dealings with DSK Toyota.

Sales - Pandit is poor! I would have loved to have had better service at the ONLY showroom in pune, especially for the Aria where TATA is trying their best to build the brand name in quality peoples cars!
The Aria itself is a big let down in terms of fit and finish when it comes to comparing it with the Innova. Just to compare so as to remove any doubt that the innova build quality has suffered after 5 years of being on the road, and trying to be unbiased, i also went to the DSK showroom in Model colony. There was a sales rep who approached me as soon as i entered the door even though there must have been atleast 30 customers already inside eagerly looking at the etios sedan. the sales rep helped out though i knew the innova well and getting back to topic, the build quality was much much above the Aria!
There are panel gaps in the Aria, the doors don't close since the rubbers are not fixed properly, the seats were not clean, the panels were dusty, the front left hand side headlamp had been stuck with some black silicone proving that there could be an issue with some headlamp clusters. This is the demo car standing at Pandit!
Well ... all in all a bad experience from Pandit Automotive. I hope the new dealers in Pune are better.
All this after having someone close in the family having been a part of the entire concept and final outcome of the aria and his recommendation that it was good car! I will be getting back to him on what happened today for sure. I had heard rumours that the quality control has come down heavily on suppliers of the aria parts and i hope that it is true!
Overall i could say that the only reason people will go for the aria at the price tata is selling it, would be the umpteen gizmos they have stuffed into it!
As rightly said earlier, this is the offspring of a Safari and a Laura, unfortunately Laura being a pretty girl with lots of beautiful features married to a hairy muscular uncouth ogre of a SAFARI having nothing to offer except the brawn!
Hopefully evolution with create a better Version 2!
kevinephraim is offline  
Old 6th January 2011, 10:15   #88
ACM
Distinguished - BHPian
 
ACM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 4,745
Thanked: 4,358 Times
re: TATA Aria Pride 4X4 - Heart over Mind or Mind in the Right Place? EDIT : Now Sold!

Kevinphram - this is exactly why dealier quality makes a difference. I do have the opposite image of the Innova vs the Aria by far again but we are all entitled to our views.

So we do agree that Pandit is not the best dealer around and TATA needs to change them. Also the dealier being bad also accounts for dusty and dirty interiors and that does not reflect on the car. A lot (not all) of the display cars are from an earlier lot of pre-production cars that were manufactured and tested on the roads before launch and then cleaned up really well with a change of tyres and placed in the showroom. (I know about this from a dealer in mumbai - and this is fine as these are display units and not demo units.). The doors on these demo units in two of the showrooms that I visited before purchase did not close perfectly and it required a firmer bang to close due to rubber beading error and I sort of expected it in the final production cars as well. But that said my car doors open and close perfectly and do not require any extra pressure right from the start and am already close to the second service.

That said TATA needs to improve on the showroom experience in certain showrooms. Toyota's policy of having showrooms and service centres in the same location seems to be working for them in keeping showroom vehicles in better shape.

Frankly the Aria is not really comparable to the Innova except a bit in terms exterior size and shape similarities. It's closer to and exceeds the Fortuner in most other aspects, again except the exterior looks.

Somehow the Aria has been under testing for a lot longer than other TATA vehicles prior to first launch and though quality of certain components will improve in time as and when any feedback if received we possibly cannot expect a V2 for a long time for the Aria. If we do note, even the Manza has not had a V2 as yet and it's been a while, and the Vista has only had minor interior colour scheme changes over an even longer period.

By the way received my SatNav CD last week, and though it took time to figure out the system initially, am really loving it now and find it very useful, have used it to go to places where I did not know the route to and it worked as well as is possible. Will also be doing a detailed review of the Sat Nav later after an intercity trip with it this weekend. Yes there are the usual Satnav errors with the system not being able to figure out oneways, and suggesting that one goes below a bridge rather than over it but more on that later.
ACM is offline  
Old 6th January 2011, 11:25   #89
BHPian
 
driving_smartly's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: MH43 & MH14
Posts: 518
Thanked: 305 Times
re: TATA Aria Pride 4X4 - Heart over Mind or Mind in the Right Place? EDIT : Now Sold!

@ Kevinephraim

We bought Sumo Grande in August 2008 from Pandit in Pune and let me assure you that their Sales team is not upto the mark they themselves were unaware of the features that were being offered. While making full payment of the vehicle we had to wait for more than 1 hour and they did not even had courtesy to provide us with water to drink. When i compare it with my experience with Hyundai while buying Santro i would say it was a royal treatment we got.

To add to agony while first service was done the chap in service station broke extra large mirror (after market) above the dashboard. My driver called me to inform the same as he was waiting there for the delivery and also spoke with that chap who said he will do something about it, i said if you do not do anything i will do something about you. My Driver also dozed him after 15 minutes got a call from him that he will giving voucher for Rs 500 for the damaged mirror and the same can be claimed in current service.
That was the last day in that service centre after that all service are done at local garage who have been doing service for all our cars since 1994.
driving_smartly is offline  
Old 6th January 2011, 11:50   #90
BHPian
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Pune, Bahrain
Posts: 450
Thanked: 85 Times
re: TATA Aria Pride 4X4 - Heart over Mind or Mind in the Right Place? EDIT : Now Sold!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ACM View Post
Kevinphram - this is exactly why dealier quality makes a difference. I do have the opposite image of the Innova vs the Aria by far again but we are all entitled to our views.

So we do agree that Pandit is not the best dealer around and TATA needs to change them. Also the dealier being bad also accounts for dusty and dirty interiors and that does not reflect on the car. A lot (not all) of the display cars are from an earlier lot of pre-production cars that were manufactured and tested on the roads before launch and then cleaned up really well with a change of tyres and placed in the showroom. (I know about this from a dealer in mumbai - and this is fine as these are display units and not demo units.). The doors on these demo units in two of the showrooms that I visited before purchase did not close perfectly and it required a firmer bang to close due to rubber beading error and I sort of expected it in the final production cars as well. But that said my car doors open and close perfectly and do not require any extra pressure right from the start and am already close to the second service.

That said TATA needs to improve on the showroom experience in certain showrooms. Toyota's policy of having showrooms and service centres in the same location seems to be working for them in keeping showroom vehicles in better shape.

Frankly the Aria is not really comparable to the Innova except a bit in terms exterior size and shape similarities. It's closer to and exceeds the Fortuner in most other aspects, again except the exterior looks.

Somehow the Aria has been under testing for a lot longer than other TATA vehicles prior to first launch and though quality of certain components will improve in time as and when any feedback if received we possibly cannot expect a V2 for a long time for the Aria. If we do note, even the Manza has not had a V2 as yet and it's been a while, and the Vista has only had minor interior colour scheme changes over an even longer period.

By the way received my SatNav CD last week, and though it took time to figure out the system initially, am really loving it now and find it very useful, have used it to go to places where I did not know the route to and it worked as well as is possible. Will also be doing a detailed review of the Sat Nav later after an intercity trip with it this weekend. Yes there are the usual Satnav errors with the system not being able to figure out oneways, and suggesting that one goes below a bridge rather than over it but more on that later.
Dear Anand,

I Have highlighted some points that led me to the Aria.. Let me clarify that i was one of the first few Innova owners in 2005/2006 when it was just launched. Therefore my comparision and that too was only with the build quality nothing else! We could compare it with the fortuner if you would really like to.
THe innova is a superb vehicle and i'm sure all the gizmos if fitted - and they can be definitely fitted ex showroom - infact they don't cost much either, the scorpio has has many of the gizmos as standard too. 4x4 wheel drive and rear discs are 2 main mechanical fittings that would require a very very professional workshop and a considerable amount of money as well! therefore getting it from a factory built car makes sense.

You are right about the large amount of testing that has gone into the Aria, 4.5 million Kms and that too in different terrains including some of it in the harshest in Iceland. This i know for a fact, coz as i said in my last post, i have a very close relative who has been a part of the entire concept of the Aria and right till its launch! I used to wonder why he was going on such frequent european trips and now i know that it was for the extensive research and developement that was being carried out on the aria in europe. It was at his insistance that i actually looked at purchasing an Aria after my innova, coz i was looking to upgrade to a fortuner or some other SUV.

The Satnav is no great shakes as i had it in my innova when i bought it from sat guide immediately when i bought the innova. I used it throughout the time i owned the innova nd Satguide were very helpful in upgrading free or at a nominal cost. Infact i still am using it in my other car, as its a plug and play and not fitted inside the car, so when i change cars i don't need check if my next has Satnav or not! Hopefully Tata will give the upgrades as soon as some changes are made in the maps and not after the upgrade is obsolete as our indian roads keep getting dug up and flyovers coming and the various infrastructural changes in india!

Here I have nothing against Tata or the Aria, I would like to state that the Aria is exactly the vehicle i was looking for, Just like the innova in terms of styling, 7 or 8 seater MPV, with better GC, 4x4, rear discs (i sorely missed it in the innova, as i am a pedal to the metal kind of guy) and all the gizmos from the laura which is the sedan i would have bought if i did think of a sedan! All i have against the Aria is the Build Quality, which is not upto standard for the money i am spending, I DESERVE BETTER!
kevinephraim is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks