[amolpol]

Small world eh! I just took a wild guess since u mentioned KHT.

I remember seeing your little master on the middle seat all excited...Congrats again.

About the fuel gauge..it'll light up earlier sometimes when you're on an incline or at high speeds..I believe its because of the liquid shaking in the near empty tank. Don't worry, early warning is always better 12 liters is not too off for the warning to show up

[Lukeskywalker]

That's a neat buying experience review Recker, it's a shame how dealerships back out of promises made during initial discussions, it is always good to take the offer of promised goodies in writing, but looks like they have managed to slink out of that too.

I too had visited KHT Motors for purchase of a Nano as I had heard a lot of good things about them here, I was very disappointed with their sales force, I had to even pay for fuel in their test drive car (It is another thing that I got it reimbursed later).

I had bought my Safari from Prerana Motors on Lalbagh Road and it was a pretty good experience, so I finally booked the Nano at their dealership over the phone.

The little niggles which you are experiencing are a wholesome part of a Tata Safari, don't let them affect you too much and just enjoy the vehicle. Wishing you many happy miles of trouble free motoring.
Regards,
Hari.

[harimakesh]

best wishes to you. Enjoy Happy niggles free miles with Safari. Please Share the price information. More interio photos please.

[simpleman]

Congratulations on bringing home the beast. Wish you many miles of happiness.
The car looks lovely with the dual tone exterior, I'm sure I will be echoing the thoughts of many on this forum by asking you for plenty of interior and exterior pics as soon as possible.
I, for one, can never get enough of looking at the safari.

[recker_us]

Safari has done 965 kms by now and is set for a 1000km service over the weekend. Will post more pics of the clean vehicle post service.

[GTO]

Hi Recker,

Thanks for sharing your report. I've merged your latest 2 posts with the opening post, so that all the important information is at the start of the thread.

Congrats on the beast and do drive safe!

[kailashnj]

Hey congrats on your Beast - this is one hell of a SUV and at the price the LX sells is really worth it. Only if the LX had 4X4 then it would be more VFM is what I feel.

Happy mile crunching and hope to see you write a travelogue to Ladakh in your beast soon

[recker_us]

Safari crossed the 1000 mark yesterday evening. Giving it for the service in an hour. Watch out for the post on dealership service experience today evening.

BTW, I was shopping for Art leather seat covers yesterday evening. With the beige interiors, a sporty looking combination of Red and black was the one which looked the best along the option which the dealer showed me. Any suggestions?

I am just worried whether further tad of any black in the black Safari would make it very gloomy.

Beige/creame was kinda avoided as seems to be difficult to maintain.

[recker_us]

Safari completed its 1st service at 1000kms today.

Service Experience at KHT Motors
--------------------------------
I reached there by 8:55 am expecting a huge crowd. Somehow, I was among the first customers. The Customer service for Safari, Mr Shranappa was slight late so all the form filling was done another colleague of him. They patiently heard any problems that I reported. Here is the list of problems reported:

1. Suspension is bad and Jerky:
2. Gear shifting suddenly became very loose. Shifting from 3rd to second gear and fourth gear.
3. Employing reverse gear is uncomfortable.
4. No light in glove box.
5. Reduce the Turning Radius.
6. Cooling not effective in afternoons.

He told me that the vehicle would be ready by 5:30. Around 2:30pm, Mr. Sharnappa called up to report me that the service was done and the vehicle was going for wash. I could collect by 4.
Once in the service station, Mr. Sharnappa explained me about the measures they had taken to fix the problems. Even he showed a list of checks and repairs done for each of the problem that I has reported to them. Personally checked and showed me whether each and every concern had been well addressed. Took the vehicle for a test ride and the ride quality looked much better. I am very satisfied with the service done by KHT motors. Looks like they have very few Safari customers and the number of Safari that come to them service are few. So, good attention is given the Safari that comes to them. For today, there was just two Safari for service including mine.

Finally he gave me his cellphone number and asked me to give him a call if I face any problem with the vehicle at anytime in bangalore. Mr. Shranappa has been dealing only with Safari since last 11 years. Got some tips from him on DOs and DONTs of engine care and the optimum speed levels for better mileage.

Here is the fix for the problems reported by me:


1. Suspension is bad and Jerky:
Re-adjusted and lubricated. I could feel the drastic improvement in ride quality on the way back home.
2. Gear shifting suddenly became very loose. Shifting from 3rd to second gear and fourth gear.
Checked it again. Provide proper adjustment to it.
3. Employing reverse gear is uncomfortable.
Checked and adjusted. HE honestly told me that this is a regular problem in Safari Gear box and i might face the problem again in future.
4. No light in glove box.
No light comes in the Safari LX version for 2011.
5. Reduce the Turning Radius.
Done. I could feel that taking U turns was slightly more easier.
6. Cooling not effective in afternoons
- Pressure was checked. The Cut-outs were adjusted. Cleaned and any dirt was removed.

Finally, a very satisfying experience. I had heard bad things about Tata Motors Service, but this was an Opinion Changer. With a good service advisor, the niggles would look much easy to face and handle..

[recker_us]

Originally Posted by kailashnj

Hey congrats on your Beast - this is one hell of a SUV and at the price the LX sells is really worth it. Only if the LX had 4X4 then it would be more VFM is what I feel.

Happy mile crunching and hope to see you write a travelogue to Ladakh in your beast soon

Thanks bro.. Its true that LX is priced too moderately to give the feel of being the King on the Road.

[recker_us]

I completely tanked up the Safari. It happily drank 58 litres of Ordinary HP Diesel.

Total distance traveled since last full tank = 646 kms.

That gives an average of 11.1km/liter. This looks slightly on the lower side.
This covers 60% on good highways and 40% in city traffic with AC ON 95% time.

BTW, I had also given the vehicle for first service. Do they use the diesel in the car for cleaning the engine? I remember they used to take petrol from my Alto during servicing, not sure if diesel is a good enough liquid for engine cleaning.

Attaching some lastest Pics of the beast:

[recker_us]

Attaching Pics of the Safari.

[Utopian]

I just had one query. You mentioned that the turning radius of the car has been reduced.
How did they (service guys) actually do that?

[recker_us]

Well, all they do is increase the amount revolutions which the steering wheel can do. That way the wheels get the extra tilt which allows the vehicle to take a turn in a lower radius.
I was initially under the impression that the guys would actually make some changes to the wheel base length but was surprised to see the change being to steering wheel instead.

In my case, they just increased the revolution by just one-fourth revolution, so the changes are not very significant.

[verditer]

Come on JP, throw away those plastic seat covers - you haven't enjoyed the safari seats fully until then! :-)