Multiple niggles with my Tata Tiago EV: I'm running out of patience

The tail lamps have hairline cracks everywhere. They are as bad as the ones on my 8-year-old Maruti Brezza.

BHPian thomahawk recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Got my car back from its 6-month service. Transmission oil change and general checkup was to be done and it cost me 1714/-.

I had a list of complaints:

• Erratic charging when the fan is required to start charging.
• Folded/Torn beading on passenger side rear window.
• Loose 12v socket (after the wiring was fixed a couple of days after delivery).
• Jittery motion of the driver-side mirror.
• Window rattle on the driver's side (had to keep the door panel pressed with my elbow to stop it).
• Metallic clanking sound from the rear.
• Front passenger side door was hard to close.

The service advisor was helpful and he got all my complaints noted and told me the car would be delivered by evening. I told him that I do not want them to fix the beading with a double sided tape - and he nodded. I also told him not to wash the car since I didn't want swirl marks all around. He tried to push interior cleaning and I refused since I had made it a habit to clean the white upholstery every now and then. I told him about the technician I met a couple of days back and asked If I could meet him before I left for home. The technician came after some time and he told me that he had checked the service history and it seems they might have skipped flashing the VCU and HVAC software after the replacement of the sensor. I decided to go back and not hang around till evening.

Got a call around evening and the service advisor asked if I could wait for another day. I said it was fine as long as they fixed all the issues. I was expecting it anyway since I was checking the Z-connect app from time to time. One can see stats like doors open, charge left, car utilization etc. I knew the car had not been tested for the charging issue - because the car was never put to charge. I decided to not make a big deal out of it since I overheard advisors talking to customers about another service center shutting shop and all the additional workload they have now.

I continued checking the Z-connect app the next day and finally found some activities going on. The car was never put to charge though - I had delivered the car with 41% charge as advised and the car now had about 39% left. Around noon I got a call from the advisor and he said the charging socket had cracks. He said they couldn't claim a warranty on the repair since it had cracks. I was puzzled since I did all the charging duties myself - and did it by the book. Thought it might be another QC issue. He told me it would cost around 700/- and I told them to carry out the replacement as long as it fixed my issue. Was a bit relieved that the part didn't cost a lot to replace. Since I had a meeting scheduled late in the evening - I followed up with the advisor multiple times and finally he told me the car was almost ready. I told him I'd pick it up in an hour and left home to get the car back.

Since I couldn't find the car in the delivery area, I went inside and met with the advisor. He said the car was now in the wash - I reminded him that I told him not to wash the car. He grinned and said it would just be over now and asked me to wait. After some time my car was brought in and I decided to check the work done.

• Erratic Charging when the Fan is required to start charging - Couldn't check as it was getting late for my meeting.
• Folded/Torn beading on passenger side rear window - fixed with 3M tape.
• Loose 12v socket - replaced with one from Tigor.
• Jittery motion of the driver-side mirror - didn't fix.
• Window rattle on driver side - couldn't check but they had clearly opened the panel.
• Metallic clanking sound from the rear - I couldn't reproduce it myself as I drove in. Think it went away on its own after I refilled the tires. They didn't find anything wrong with suspension or underbody.
• Front passenger side door was hard to close - they grinded some parts of the latch area - have some exposed metal now. Wonder if it'll rust without a paint job.

Since I couldn't find the replaced charging socket in the boot, I told the advisor that I need to see the part. He said he will get it and went to the service area. I decided to look for scratches and dings since the car seemed to easily get those, unlike the other Tata cars I knew. While looking at the inside (think they soiled the driver seat and never cared to clean it up after the job), I found the replaced 12V socket. Now I started to wonder if this is what the advisor was talking about. Looking around I found the tail lamps had hairline cracks everywhere. Did not think I noticed it before. I washed the car to take some snaps for my Team-BHP review thread a couple of weeks back. It is as bad as the ones on my 8-year-old Brezza. Could it be because they washed the car while it was still hot from being parked in an open parking area? They clearly had too many cars there.

My car is always parked in covered parking - and is still quite new to crack like this:

The advisor came in and I asked him about the socket - and he clarified that he was talking about the one inside. I told him about the repair done at the same dealer's service center a couple of days after delivery - and that I'm not going to pay for it. Also pointed out the cracks and he said they appear to be cracks from being exposed to harsh sunlight. He agreed that the car was still new and the cracks might be a defect. He said he will get the ASM (service manager) and had me wait more.

I messaged my colleague to push the meeting and decided to get things sorted. The ASM came in after some time and I called up the sales team to talk about the repair done post delivery. The service guys started talking and it seemed nobody wanted to own it. I got annoyed and told them that the car has far too many issues and I have already escalated the issues to their managers - and not to expect me to pay anything. The ASM agreed to get that crossed out from the bill and he got someone to take pictures of the taillamp clusters for a replacement under warranty.

He didn't say much about the jerky motion of the mirror or the beading - guess that is expected in a Tata. Since it was getting late for everyone, I paid the bill for the periodic service and left for home. I couldn't test charging but I hoped it would work since I believed the technician had found the root cause. Once I was done with my meetings, I put the car to charge only to find that the issue was still there. Took a video and sent it to the advisor. Sent another email to the regional manager and the service managers in the loop. I think there is something wrong with electricals and that is what killed my AC the first time. I remember that the car didn't charge for a few hours and I had to re-do the charging ritual to get it to charge - the AC malfunctioned on the same week.

I have asked for someone from Tata's technical team to figure this out. I have run out of patience running behind service technicians who clearly don't understand the issue. And I'm getting the car serviced at the dealer who is supposed to be the best of the lot - the golden child with Toyota genes. Tata clearly needs a better process for handling EV niggles. My patience is running out dealing with all the niggles which doesn't seem to stop. It is like a hydra - guess that is what I'm calling my car - Hydra!

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.