Honda Civic owner buys 2023 Safari facelift: 5 initial impressions

Our new car hunt started with the Kia Seltos. We also looked at the Hyundai Tucson. Eventually, we finalised this SUV from Tata Motors.

BHPian Enigmatic recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

It's finally here!

It was quite the journey to finalise which new car to buy. Started with the Seltos, then moved to the Tuscon and finally settled with the Safari.

The overall experience from booking to delivery was pretty smooth. The folks at Puneet Motors were helpful throughout although a couple of things could have been better. Will pin the same down in the ownership experience.

Coming to the Safari, it is a great car! It is quite a change from my current car (Civic) but I am enjoying it so far. Not having to calculate how to navigate speed bumps is a blessing.

I would also like to point out a couple of issues I noticed.

• There is a bit of fogging in the rear connected DRL (see below picture). This was noticed during the PDI and I was assured that the same would be rectified before delivery but due to part unavailability, I was requested to take delivery with the promise that they would replace the part as soon as possible (hopefully within a week). The dealership was apologetic regarding the same but there is only so much they can do. Have been promised a complimentary Teflon coating for the trouble.

• The car seems to be a bit moody. The front park assist ("FPA") does not always get activated. I tried getting uncomfortably close to cars parked in front however the FPA does not get activated every time. I believe this is a software issue and hopefully, an update will provide for better calibration. Have the owners encountered the same?
• Sometimes, the lock animation for the front DRL is too rushed. The corner DRLs are still completing the lock animation but the center DRL has already completed the same. It seems out of sync. Again this seems to be a software issue.
• The easy access feature of the front drive seat works occasionally i.e. the seats don't always slide down while opening the door to allow easy access to the driver. I also saw a random error "Memory Seat Failure! Unable to select stored position", although this error did not impact the seat functionality or selecting the stored seat position. Again seems like a software issue.
• The infotainment system does not always play music in good quality. This one is difficult to explain but sometimes the music quality is very flat and without any bass (as if the amplifier has not kicked in). When the above scenario is experienced, changing the JBL music modes also does not make any change. This seems to go away on its own. I am hoping this is a software issue.

Other than the above, mechanically, the car is perfect. I drove it on the new Atal-Setu bridge and it masked speeds effortlessly. The adaptive cruise control also worked like a charm.

Hoping to have the above issues rectified at the earliest and do some serious mile-munching.

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