I started looking for a vehicle with these parameters in mind: -- Comfortable for 4-5 people. Occasionally accommodate 6-7 people over short distances.
-- Capability to gracefully handle our pothole-ridden roads.
-- Decent fuel economy. Diesel preferred.
-- Budget: 9L (max. 11 L)
Naturally, I looked at Scorpio, Innova and Safari.
Innova: Flawless vehicle, but it just didn’t click. May be it has something to do with slightly poor visibility from driver’s seat or the salesman who brought a customer’s car for test drive. But, it just didn’t click!
Scorpio: Great engine! I really loved the power delivery and responsiveness. But, whats the deal with the new 5-zone cushion suspension? Agreed, the shocks have good cushioning effect, but did they forget to put dampers? And, for a vehicle of this size I was expecting a little more space inside.
Safari: Engine didn’t *feel* as responsive as the Scorpio. But, it rides more gracefully. Driving the safari made me happy, don’t know why. The head said go for Innova, and the heart said Safari. And, once in a while, it is good to listen to your heart.
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I was talking to a salesman in Manipal, and when it came to negotiating the deal, he said he will give me side-steps free, and added 7-8K to the discount figure. I came to know that side-steps are standard even on LX model, and *blatant* cheating puts me off.
So, over to Prerana-Motors. They handled the sales process pretty well:
- Car was delivered on-time. (actually I was late by 30mins, and it was a little embarrassing as I had pushed them so hard for a delivery during daylight hours).
- Came with Bridgestone tyres as promised.
Accessories:
Next weekend, went to the performance-club (on ORR between Sarjapur Road and Marthahalli) to change the tyres to Michelins. Got a pretty decent resale-price for the OE-Bridgestones. Had spoken to the shop-owner earlier, so he kept everything ready and the tyre change was handled in a quick and professional way. They also gave a complimentary tyre-pressure gauge. Would definitely recommend this place!
Moved on to get the sun-film, went to Sprocket. They only had 3M and I didn’t like the shades much, so decided to go to some other place. Big Mistake!
En-route to JC-road, dropped in at Prerana to meet our sales-guy. Thereafter, saw an accessories shop opposite Prerana (Hi-Tec Cars), thought lets get work done here itself. Mea-culpa! Should have heeded to godfather’s recommendation and gone to tint-mart.
Liked Llumar Platinum SR50 film. They didn’t have it in stock, so got it from some other place (1-2 hrs). And, the installation looked very adhoc and amateur (took 2-hrs or so). Next time I buy a car, I will go to a place that is known for good installation, even if it is 25% more expensive.
While I was waiting for the film to arrive, chose the music-system from that place. So went with a HU that I had seen in a friend’s car (Pioneer 2950, I think). Quality of installation: Very unprofessional! I think the installation guys are not employees of any shop in that area. They are like a floating population who come and install stuff wherever they are called.
Ownership Experience:
-- Was a little uncomfortable driving it home from the dealership, but things are slowly getting better.
-- Went for an 80-km drive just to get a feel of the machine. The beast glides over potholes, grips the road well and pulls like a locomotive. One unpleasant event that happened: A trucker reversed at a signal and dented my front fender. Not major, but hurts. Had to let him go as Mom and Wife insisted that I don’t pick up a fight!
-- Driving it in dense traffic is not easy yet! I have to be extra careful “with great weight comes great responsibility” (Yeah! flicked from Spiderman, but notice the improvisation: power -> weight)
-- It’s a pain to stick to 2K rev limit for the run-in period (1800 Kms).
Got a feel of *superb* Tata-quality as the rear-right door jammed, and steering started making cheen-cheen sound. Took it to the workshop, where steering sound was corrected (horn-switch touching something) but the lock problem couldn’t be solved as the required spare wasn’t in stock. Two days later, a mechanic came down to my office and fixed it.
After the 80-km drive, we parked for 10mins and cranked up the engine again. A weird noise surfaced under-the-hood (as if some rotating part is picking up speed and touching something). It lasted for 45-60 secs and went away. It hasn’t resurfaced. Don’t know what could it be? Any suggestions!!
BTW, which diesel do you guys recommend? Is oil-change recommended after first 1000Kms?