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How we finalised Tata Tiago EV: Buying & ownership experience so far

14th February 2024, 16:30 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

I seriously wanted to wait for facelifted Tata Nexon EV and Punch EV but I did not want to pay more and loose my peace of mind in case things go south.

BHPian thomahawk recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Tiago EV Ownership Review

About 6 months back, we brought home a Tropical Mist Tiago EV LR Tech Lux. I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I did writing this.

This is a long one, so I have broken this into different sections.

Index:

Prelude

As someone who loves cars, I started driving quite late in my life. Unlike most BHP-ians, I was afraid of taking a car out on the road. Having a BHP-ian for an elder brother meant I grew up hearing my father complaining about my brother driving the car 'enthusiastically'. The cars he drove during his college years raked in a lot of repair bills. Mind you – my father used to drive the same way although he never met with any accidents with repair bills running into tens of thousands. I wanted to be better – which meant I was never confident enough to take my parent’s car out as I was afraid of scraping it.

Once I started earning enough to afford ownership and running expenses of a car, my brother bought me an old rattling Opel Corsa Swing – assuring me that it was safe as a tank. Credit where it is due, the car did feel like a tank – for a newbie, it was hard to manoeuvre as a tank and I could feel the rawness of the mechanicals of the car. The car didn't cost much, but I had sunk quite a lot of money to get it conditioned and replaced the old CD changer unit with a Pioneer unit with a USB-In – I thought the old unit was dead, but it was just a blown fuse. I decided to let the car go after it leaked on a rainy day – and I am from Kerala where it rains half the year. Looking back, I think I should have kept this car since a station wagon is quite a rare sight on our roads.

The only place where I got a decent value for it was a Chevrolet showroom – and I became the owner of a new Beat Petrol LT (2014); the car had just been launched with a facelift. I had seen and driven only the previous model which had the ACC, read head rest etc. and I was in for a surprise when I did the PDI of the car. The facelift lost a lot of things I loved about the car. I decided to get the car anyway since I was eager to start driving. It was an uneventful ownership, barring a manufacturing issue with the dashboard and door plastic trim. They felt sticky as if they had melted in the sunny weather in Trivandrum. I had to make a scene at the service center to get it done, and the manufacturer was of no help. Once rumors started to pour in about GM planning to shut shop, I decided to part with it before the resale tanked.

As soon as I sold the Beat, I got myself a Hyundai Grand i10. By that time, I had also become a regular reader of the Team-BHP forum, thanks to all the goof-ups and issues I had with my previous cars. I had bought the facelifted Grand i10, Petrol Asta (2017). The car spoiled every other car for me. For the price, it felt more premium inside. It was loaded with features, and it had everything I needed – or so I thought. Soon the need for speed bug bit me and I felt the car lacking in performance. I always felt timid while overtaking on narrow roads in Kerala, as the car lacked outright punch. I had been driving my parent’s Brezza ZDI+ (2016) as well and I enjoyed driving it more. The car was perfect otherwise – the service experience was spotless, it was comfortable enough for city use, and the extremely refined engine made my drives peaceful. I had become a sedate driver since my wife and kids have motion sickness, and my car wasn’t suited for spirited driving.

Since my father was getting old, he had stopped taking his Brezza out for long drives and the car had not been running enough. My brother and I thought it was time to get an automatic for him. We decided to sell my car and get an automatic. In exchange, I would get the Brezza and continue to drive it until it gets scrapped.

The Contenders

We wanted a compact automatic in a budget of 10-15L. The body style did not matter. We considered:

Hyundai Venue/i20 DCT
Nissan Magnite/Renault Kiger CVT
Used Honda Jazz CVT
Used Ecosport AT
Maruti Suzuki XL6
MG Comet
Citroen eC3
TATA Nexon EV

The Venue and i20 did not feel like a great upgrade from i10. They felt too familiar – which at that point did not make me feel excited. I did a test drive of the ‘N-Lines’ but did not find the performance exhilarating or could feel the sporty exhaust note (with windows rolled up in chaotic city traffic it was hardly audible). I expected the transmission to be smooth and quick – and they were. I expected the car to be quick – and they were. I had lofty expectations and came back underwhelmed because it felt remarkably familiar and exactly as I expected it to be. The Team-BHP reviews were spot on, and it was as if I knew these cars.

Magnite was loaded to the brim with features – but all of it felt built to cost. The IRVM felt as cheap as the one in the Maruti 800 DX we had. The digital instrument cluster and 360-degree cameras felt cheap – they should have removed these and improved the cabin feel. The performance of the 1.0 was good, although it was not as refined as Hyundai’s. The car was comfortable, the price was good, and they had some great financing options if I ever needed it. I ruled this out because the brand gave me Chevrolet vibes.

We also looked at used samples from Spinny and OLX ads. Spinny cars were OK and having seen how Spinny runs their tests – I was OK with getting one from them. My brother found a Jazz CVT in Spinny and insisted I take a test drive. The car felt ‘used’ for a low-mileage car. Also, the seats were low slung and I thought my father would struggle with this. The performance and refinement were OK, but the rubber band effect was very much there when I floored the car.

For the heck of it, I also checked out an Ecosport which I found from OLX. I always loved the car and strongly considered it when we bought our Brezza. Although the guy who listed it said he was not a dealer, he seemed to be running a business on the side. He claimed the car to be his uncle’s. The car had several mods and some of the electronics were erratic. I decided to stop wasting my time and headed back. My brother found an Elantra AT from Spinny which seemed great, but we could not find any excuses to buy it – so dropped that too.

If Ford was still around, I would have bought an Ecosport AT with my eyes closed. Perhaps it is the fond memories I have with my father's Fusion (I like to believe the Ecosport is its spiritual successor). We also had a great experience with a Zoomcar rental.

Since we were anyway checking out cars that did not fit the needs, I decided to head to the neighborhood Nexa dealer. Found the guys who sold me my Grand i10 working at Nexa now, had a chat with them and they happily showed me the XL6. The car seemed excellent value – if only I had the need for it. I found the second-row captain seats and even the last row good enough for me – and I am 6 feet tall with a heavy build. The car had all the creature comforts I was looking for and the performance was adequate. I tried convincing my wife about selling both Brezza and i10 to get XL6 Alpha AT. She put some sense into me, and I dropped the idea. We hardly travelled together with my parents and on the rare occasions we did, my brother had an Innova Crysta for the job. Moreover, we thought my father would not be comfortable taking this out.

Now that I reaffirmed myself that I needed a compact automatic, I decided to test drive the smallest one I could find. The MG comet had just been launched and I decided to just check it out and use the excuse to check out the Astor and Gloster. There was hardly anyone in the showroom and when I saw the car from afar, I immediately wanted to turn back. I decided to check the car anyway since there wasn’t anyone else to catch me in a tiny car. To my surprise, the car looked all right up-close. It felt well put together and the doors were heavy, and the interiors were airy. I was excited and I quickly got into the back seat and to my surprise they were comfortable enough. The sales advisor offered a test drive for a short distance on a pre-planned route. I managed to get out of the sharp incline from the showroom without scraping the underbelly. The car could quickly pick up speed. Since this was the first time I drove an EV, I was mesmerised by the silent cabin. It felt so peaceful. The car had a lot of body roll, so I did not try anything stupid and drove us back to the showroom. He showed me all the variants in their yard, and I was convinced that this was the car I wanted to buy.

Smitten by the EV experience, I quickly drove back home and took my wife to test drive the Citroen eC3. Again, I was greeted by an empty showroom, and I had to call the number pasted on the showroom glass to get someone to come in. It was as if the company already packed up and left. The sales advisor quickly offered a price sheet and went back to get a test drive vehicle ready. There was an ICE C3 along with eC3 on display. They looked good and we loved the proportions. But all of it came crashing down the moment we got in the back seat of eC3. I felt more comfortable in the Comet back seat and that is saying a lot. I blame the thin seats along with the raised floor – the ICE version was much more comfortable. Just like the Magnite, the car had a lot of cheap bits. Soon we got the test drive car, and I took for it a spin; I am not sure if it was the bad patch on which I drove, I felt my Grand i10 was more comfortable than this on the same road. Perhaps they had overinflated the tire. Since I was bowled over by Comet, I find tonnes of reasons to not consider eC3. We left the showroom, and I quickly gave a call to MG sales advisor.

It was well after working hours, but the MG sales advisor waited for us since I called in advance, and he showed us the car again. My wife loved the car as much as I did. On our way back, we were thinking about how practical this car would be. It is an EV, so the whole point is to take it everywhere. Our two kids were little so they would be happy in the rear – but did not think our aged parents would feel the same way. The boot was non-existent, so we wouldn’t be able to travel to our in-law's home as we usually carry things like fruits, vegetables, and other farm produce. Comet had a roof cargo box accessory, but I was not sure if I wanted the car to look so oddball.

Now all that was left was Mahinda and Tata EVs. Did not want to pick up a Mahindra since the brand did not leave an impression the last time we went to their showroom (for checking out the Marazzo for my brother). It seemed the sales staff were trained for selling their commercial vehicles only. That left me with Tata, and I had checked out the Tiago while I was considering a replacement for my Beat. The showroom experience was average at best at that time. Since the reviews of Tiago EV were largely positive, I had a good feeling about it.

Booking Experience

Since there were a lot of Tata dealers where I live, I decided to go to the nearest one. I took my family as well to check out the Tiago EV, to speed things up. The showroom was jam-packed with cars ready for delivery and their only test drive vehicle was not available. The sales advisor got my number and promised a test drive the next day.

I got a call the next day and the sales advisor came with a Tigor EV meant for fleet sales. Tiago was still out, and he told me he would arrange a test drive by evening If I was happy with the Tigor. He explained how the EV is different and how things work – regen and all. The car didn’t excite me much till I floored it. The instant acceleration blew me away. I told him I was impressed and promised him a booking if he could get me the Tiago soon. He stuck to his word and got me the top-end Tiago LUX variant for a test-drive. The white leatherette upholstery uplifted the entire cabin compared to the drab interiors of the fleet Tigor. The LUX variant had all the features I had in my Grand i10 – so there is at least some feature parity, I thought. The advisor asked me to drive in sport mode this time and I floored the car when I got the chance – and my jaw dropped. The car had me hooked to EVs. There was no way I was buying an ICE car now (in that budget).

Now I wanted to get a feel of Nexon EV too. The advisor went back and got me a Nexon EV in an hour. I took the same route and switched to sport mode; the car was mental, and it gave me a scare. I did not think I could drive responsibly with this thing. I felt I could push the Tiago and still live for another day. Got the quotes for all models in their EV line-up and gave him a token amount without confirming a model.

I loved the Nexon since it felt like a proper upgrade. But it was out of my budget. The base model did not have a reverse camera and the advisor told me electrical accessories can’t be retrofitted without voiding warranty. I thought the advisor was just bluffing and gave a call to their toll-free number. The online customer service agent asked me to call the nearest dealer. I looked at ownership reviews at Team-BHP and found this is what they have been telling all EV owners. So, no base model EV for me.

Now, I knew Punch EV and Nexon EV facelift were due soon. Punch EV would be the ideal package, the tall boy stance would make getting in and out easier for my parents. The car is modern compared to the now-dated Tiago. I had no immediate need for a car, so waiting it out for Punch EV made sense. Since I had to confirm a model, I called up the sales advisor and told him to put it against top-end Tiago EV. There was a waiting period of two months and no discounts; I said that was fine and I would wait since I needed to make up my mind. I started watching ownership reviews on YouTube and reading about the ownership experiences in Team-BHP. Since we had a Tata in the family before (Zest) and from what I have read in the forum, I knew any car from the brand will have niggles. After reading about the HV critical alerts and premature battery failure horror stories – I thought the more I spent on a Tata, the more I might regret it.

I seriously wanted to wait for the facelifted Nexon EV and Punch EV, but I did not want to pay more and lose my peace of mind in case things went south. I thought I’d use the money saved to setup a solar power plant at home. Also, since the car is basically a ‘nerfed’ budget hatch, body part replacements should be cheap. My father would not have to worry about repair bills. Coupled with lower running costs – the car will not be a burden for a pensioner. My wife and kids had motion sickness in UVs and tall boy hatchbacks - so perhaps the Punch wouldn't work for us - I thought.

I made up my mind and called the sales advisor again and confirmed that I was going for Tiago EV LR Lux, without a fast charger and in Tropical Mist color. This color was unique to the EV version of Tiago and looked premium with the white interiors. They needed my Aadhaar and PAN for booking, and I shared a low-quality copy of them to avoid any funny business. They asked for a clear copy, and I said I would share them when they want to proceed with registration. Next, someone from the accounting team at the dealer called me and said they could get the car faster if I paid up upfront. I refused and told them if they could get the faster, get it to me faster and I will pay for it - the moment I see the car in person. I called up the sales advisor and protested about this. He apologized and told me to ignore it.

Selling my Existing Car

Now that I had confirmed what I was buying – the two-month wait had become unbearable. I was glued to videos and pictures of the car. I was not planning to take a loan, but I needed to sell my Grand i10, since I did not have covered space for three. I called up the Tata sales advisor and asked him if there were any exchange offers – and there was nothing. He said he can send an evaluator and I agreed – but the guy never arrived.

I listed the car in OLX, Team-BHP classifieds and contacted Spinny and Cars24 to get an estimate. Spinny did thorough check and later offered me a price that was around 50K lower than what they had shown on the website. The car just had 38k on odometer, had a proper service record, was non-accidental, had zero depreciation cover and was maintained well. Cars24 quoted 10k more than what Spinny offered, but much lower than what was shown on the website. I said no to both. Used the Orange Book Value price estimator and priced the car.

OLX seemed to have gotten worse with teens and dealers lowballing. The guys who offered better prices never showed up – guess they were testing waters. I paid to feature the listing twice, and after a month, I got one genuine buyer who was OK with the asking price. Since I had the car parked at my in-laws, I did not meet him, and it was my brother-in-law who showed me the car and gave him a test-drive. He was happy with the condition of the car, and we agreed on a price. I looked at Parivahan to make sure that I could initiate the transfer on the spot. Aadhaar faceless verification method made things easy. To my surprise, I could not do anything on the portal since the tax paid was not updated in Parivahan. I called up the buyer and apologized and asked for some time to fix this. I immediately went to the local RTO and submitted a written request along with a copy of the RC which clearly has tax-paid details. I was told to expect an update in a week – and it did get updated in a week. Called up the buyer to get things done and he apologized to me and told me he could not arrange for funds. He was a junior diving trainer in the Navy, and I think he was being honest. From what I understood he was trying to get a loan from his PF which I do not think was happening. I told him that I would update him if I sold the car.

Tired, I also listed the car on the Facebook marketplace. But the story wasn’t any different. I didn't like the Ad responses from strangers coming up as messages in Messenger - but I guess that is how it works.

After a week, someone from the local Cars24 office called and asked me what I was looking for. Tired of dealing with OLX, I told him what I think is respectable and he said he will revert. The next day he matched the price, and I had a deal. I asked for a week’s time, and he agreed to wait with the condition that the price he offered might change. I left a message to the navy chap that I sold the car.

Getting NCB before selling the car

Since my car had 50% NCB, I contacted the insurer (Acko) to claim the NCB certificate. I was afraid about Cars24 or their buyer raising a claim while the car was still under my name. It was all online since they did not have any physical offices. They asked me for proof of transfer, and I explained that I want to forfeit my NCB benefit claimed for the year (it was just over 1k) and get a certificate so that I can transfer it to my new car. They sent me a payment request for over 6k. I asked about the extra charge (it was around 50% of premium I paid) and I just got a standard response that it is their policy. I had read the terms and conditions in the policy document and nowhere was it mentioned about this. They had provided me zero depreciation cover for the sixth year for a marginal discount and I believe now they wanted to charge the full amount. I had no luck with their reps and supervisor, and I told them I am complaining to IRDAI and the insurance ombudsman. Now, before I could do that, I had to escalate this to their L1 and L2. L1 was not helpful and gave me the same story with their policy. Couple of strongly worded emails to L2 got me what I wanted. I got my certificate and new policy document emailed.

Cars24 - Post Sales Experience

I handed over the car to Cars24 after I got my new car. They transferred the amount to my account, and their staff got me to sign several forms (They had a handy booklet with all sorts of forms including NOC for each car they buy – must sign all of them). Their staff then drove off the car and I took a video of the parting shot. The car is still in my name to date and every time I contact their customer care, they tell me they have a buyer, and they are initiating the transfer. The associate who was in touch with me before, ghosted me and there was no response to any of my messages. I guess there was no reason for him to get involved now – not part of his job. I checked for the legalities of Cars24’s modus operandi, as there was a ruling that car ownership should be with the dealer for the interim. Their website said they are working on a license and that was it. They do promise legal and financial support on any eventualities till the transfer is done, but that does not mean you are off the hook.

Thanks to 'myHyundai app', I found that Cars24 had taken the car for accidental repairs to a Hyundai workshop. That made me nervous and I checked with the customer rep who confirmed that the car met with an accident and they got it repaired. I could see the bill was just under 3K - and not sure if they claimed insurance. Regardless, I believe getting the NCB prior was a good move.

Last week their call center executive called me asking for an OTP (guess the countless forms they had me sign don't mean they can do things without my help). They initiated the transfer and I could check the owner's details in Parivahan. Hopefully, I can get this over with before my insurance is due for renewal.

Pre-Sales Experience

I was getting impatient and there was just two weeks left for the two months waiting period the dealer quoted. The sales advisor was honest and told me they do not have a car yet. He said he was confident that he could get me the car before the regional festive holidays. I was getting frustrated but decided to stick to the sales advisor and dealer since he seemed to be honest.

Another week passed and that is when my wife told me about a contact at a newer Tata dealer. It was my brother-in-law’s buddy from college. He apparently joined the dealership a week back, to score some discounts for Crysta for his uncle. The dealer was supposedly from the same network that managed Toyota and they put him in the Tata dealership. I called him up and asked him about the waiting period etc. I didn't want to switch my bookings - it was just a casual chat. I knew a sales manager (SM) at the dealer network; his team had sold me my Grand i10 (the dealer had shut shop during COVID and the staff moved on to different showrooms). When I mentioned about the SM, he said that guy is his SM. Soon I got a call from the SM and we had a chat and I told him about my situation. The next day, he called me up and told me he can get me a car in a week as they have one in transit. I paid a small token via Google Pay.

I called up my first sales advisor and told him about this. He said he understand and asked me to give them a chance and offered some discounts. I told him whoever gets me the car first – will get my money and they have had a head start. Another week passed, and I called up both and it now seemed that both cars were in transit. I was inclined to get the car from my first advisor since he did all the pre-sale work – if they had the car in the yard around the same time.

But it was the latter who got the car first. I went down to check the car and they had the car washed and brought into their showroom. I decided not to do a proper PDI as per Team-BHP checklist – I was afraid I will never buy a Tata if I did a thorough check. I checked for the common issues in Tiago EV and the car had all of it. Wonky fuel filler flap (yes – but I knew how to fix it), hard to close front door (yes – asked them to do something about it). I decided not to check the car in detail as it will ruin the car for me. This was a grave mistake and I realized this later.

The car was manufactured in the previous month, although I was told the car is fresh from the factory. The car did not seem to have any glaring issues.

There were some paint chips on the rear bumper. Checked out some other Tiago's in the showroom and they had similar marks. Guess this is a QC problem.

Since the SM already had my quote from the first dealer – he gave me a matching quote to make the remaining payment. I told him about the discounts offered by the first dealer, and he went back and came with some more discounts thrown in. I called up my first sales advisor and told him that I got the car. He said OK and asked me if I could recommend him to anyone who wants to buy one and I said – yes. If anyone wants to buy a Tata EV from Kochi – DM me and I can share his contacts.

I had kept NCB off the table till I had the final quote. I told the dealer’s insurance desk that I have an NCB certificate. Now, these conversations were through my brother-in-law’s friend. They started to make things difficult and asked me for a physical copy of the NCB certificate with a seal. I reached out to Acko and their rep said they will take a laser print and courier it to me – and that nobody is going to put a seal or sign on it. Since they did not have a physical office – I did not have a place to get a seal anyway. We took a colour print and gave that to the insurance desk. Now, they wanted to see the RC of the car and the original policy. I shared the RC, and policy with and without NCB factored in. Finally, I got the NCB applied on insurance.

I transferred the amount and sealed the deal. The paperwork was simple since everything was done through Aadhaar verification and my address was the same as in my Aadhaar. For TCS (since the car cost more than 10L), they need the owner’s PAN. The backend team needed some OTP’s for registration and that was it. No visits to the local RTO office.

Delivery Experience

The car was to be delivered on a Saturday evening – just before Onam. I had opted for a choice number and the car was to be delivered with a 6 month’s temporary registration. I took my father with me on our Grand i10 to the showroom, before the delivery time to get a floor mat selected. Plan was to go to my in-laws, pick up my wife and kids and have my brother-in-law drive my old car to his place. The freebie was a universal mat, so had to get that swapped with a better one by paying the difference. When we came back to where the car was parked, one of the front tires was flat. I never had a puncture before. All sort of things started to go through my head – I like to believe that I’m not superstitious. I had mentioned to my father that Tiago does not have a spare as we were driving – and that it will not be a problem because I never had a puncture in any of my cars. Is my car now mad at me? I was after all getting her replaced - I got Herbie vibes. I cursed the decision to park on a murky spot, filled the tire with my inflator and drove to a shop nearby to get it repaired.

We had lunch from my in-law's and came to the showroom on time for delivery. Since mine was the only car being delivered the showroom was free. My kids played around while the staff did the paperwork. They had put up a photo wall – something my brother-in-law and his friend setup. The car was under wraps now. After a small cake cutting ceremony, we took the wraps off, and my father accepted the keys from the showroom manager. We also got a gift hamper with some snacks. There was a scratch-and-win coupon as well - which my father tried before I could. We won a crockery set.

Our Tiago had two Punch ICE cars parked on either side - guarding our cute little EV:

I did the honors of squeezing the lemon by rolling over it (I wonder what is the point since the staff has anyway taken the car in and out several times already). Since the designated sales advisor was new, someone else from their staff did the walk-through. He asked me if I know how to drive it and I said I got a test drive from another dealer. He took that as a yes for everything and went on his way. Since the first sales advisor did a terrific job – I knew what I had to know.

I noticed that the toggle button to unfold the mirrors were finicky. I was told that is how it is. Perhaps a sign of things to come. Looking around, I found the rubber dash mats I ordered were put all over the place. The accessory installer was brought in and he told me the part is common to Tiago and Tigor and hence there were some extra parts and some didn't fit. He had pasted the parts that didn't fit in the dashboard where he thought "it looked nice". We played a game of jigsaw puzzle for some time and found we could paste it somewhere else where I thought "It didn't look ugly". He had soiled the white upholstery with some grease, so we had them clean it up before we drove the car out of the showroom.

Honeymoon Period

OK, a car that runs on electricity isn't a new thing. After all, the 'the oldest Indian-made automobile' is an electric car.

Fly in the Ointment

The next day, while trying to install the dashcam the unit was not powering on. I tried the second socket near the hand break lever and that worked. I thought never mind, it’s a Tata after all. I reached out for the cabin light to check for anything on the socket and noticed that there is a dead cricket inside the light dome.

I didn’t know what to think of it – I felt sorry for the sad state of things at our home-grown manufacturer. Since I found issues that were not yet reported, I decided to check for more. I found that the left side horn pad didn’t work properly – one must really press on a particular point to make it work. There wasn’t any water spray coming off the windshield washer – I popped open the hood and the reservoir was empty. Filled it in with washer fluid I and checked for leaks – there wasn’t any. At last, some relief. I found some loose nuts in the boot and some broken plastic rivets – think they must have fallen off from the assembly line (couldn't find any place missing these).

Part of the Tiago now lives in my little one's trike:

Found one of the doors had a torn rubber beading. The roof liner had a minor imperfection too – but it didn’t bother me much. I was relieved that these were all I could find.

Couple of days later, the driver-side mirror started to work erratically - it didn’t unfold completely and seemed to be getting stuck at certain points (have replaced both my units now). I called up the SM and complained about the poor PDI done at the dealership. He promised to have all these ironed out when I came into the dealership next. I got most of these fixed when I went to the dealer's service center to get the HSRP plate fixed. The service center didn't open a job card to fix these (I should have insisted that they open one, so that I have proof that the car had far too many QC issues). The mirror assembly was replaced and others were taken care of. While fiddling with the horn pad they made some deep marks on the leather wrap of the steering wheel. I wish they didn't use a screw driver for prying it open - it was hard to unsee it every time I took the car out for a month or so.

Since I was complaining about service and QC issues, the Sales Manager offered to call up the service center which was closer to my parent's home. He said that he will make sure to ask them to give some preferential service if anything else cropped up. That is when I found out that the dealer used to own the Chevrolet showroom and service center from where I got my Beat and had it serviced. The Toyota connection was just a marketing ploy - Yes, they are related but the owners are different people altogether. Regardless, they are on an investing spree (the group owns a lot of dealerships now) and it is rumored that they are opening a giant showroom and service center which would become Asia's largest. I hope Tata improves things from their end too.

Getting a Choice Number

I had my choice number allotted the week after the car was delivered. The car now had my father’s first car’s (a Maruti 800 SB308) number – or at least the last 4 digits of it. The process is simple, once the dealer pays the road tax and submits an application for temporary registration – you can opt for a number from the open series in ‘Parivahan-Fancy’ portal. The details about the open series, current auction timeline and rates are listed on the website. If there are multiple bookings against a number, it goes to auction, and one can bid; the number goes to the highest bidder and the party who yields, gets a refund. You have 6 months to get a number before you attract any sort of penalty.

If there is no auction, you get the car number allotted and the letter is generated. You can let the dealer know and they will source the HSRP plate and stickers (they can see the cars they are responsible for from their end). Once the plate and sticker are ready, visit the dealer and they install it, take some snaps and upload it to Parivahan and you are done. The RC would then be printed and sent to your address. This has now become very convenient for the owner, since one is spared from visiting their regional RTO themselves.

Continue reading thomahawk's ownership experience for BHPian comments, insights and more information.

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