My Tata Zest XT: 7 years and 1 lakh km update

Transitioning from a Maruti Zen to a Tata Zest undoubtedly felt like a big upshift in terms of build quality.

BHPian vasanthn21 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Our Zest completed 1 lakh kms on the odo some time back, and I have been wanting to post an update ever since. Finally found the time to do it.

Long term ownership review

While we were in the process of finalizing on the Zest, my wife was suggesting buying a pre-owned car (she had seen the sheer value we got from the earlier pre-owned Maruti Zen), while I was insisting on a new one. One of the points I put forward to convince my better half was - to drive the car until at least one lakh kms on the odo! I really didn't know then, that I would actually do it.

A look back at the "Tata Zest: Official review" by Team-BHP in 2014. I read this review multiple times before finalizing on the zest.

Most of the miles on the odo were covered in the first 4.5 years of ownership. In Oct 2019, I had to travel abroad to work. I considered the option of selling the car before the travel. I visited a few re-sellers, but probably the fact that (a) Zest was no longer in production, and (b) the mileage on the car was nearing 1Lakh kms; meant that the quote provided was too low for my liking. I was going abroad for about 2 years, but my family could not travel with me, and I planned to return in about 6 months to take my family along with me (after the academic year). So we decided to retain the car.

My wife would start the car and let it run for a few minutes once in 4-5 days. But she was not comfortable driving it around as she was out of practice (for a few years now). We requested a very helpful neighbour to drive the car around once in a fortnight or so. This way, when I would be back in 6 months, I would have the car to drive around instead of relying on cabs or self-drive rental cars.

Come Mar 2020, Covid was quite rampant all across the world. We had to change our plans. I decided to move back to India, rather than risking my family traveling. But office formalities, project responsibilities and travel restrictions prevented me from travelling back immediately. Managed to come back to India in Nov 2020 after almost a year. I was glad that we had decided to retain the car as it was in good running condition. I would have to shell out a few big ones to buy a new car, had we not retained the car.

Its been WFH mostly since then, and most of the action our Zest has seen since then is from a couple of trips to my native.

Service

Over the years the statement in Team-BHP review about TATA's after-sales service has changed from "sub-par after-sales service quality" to "service quality is a hit or miss. Remains a gamble". Listing below some of my experiences with TATA's service.

"Tak" noise

It came on turning the steering completely to the right. This happened when the vehicle was about 8 months old. I took the vehicle to AADYA motors in Hebbal. The service engineer was not keen to look into the issue. In fact, he mentioned this is normal with most Zest cars! I told him categorically that this did not happen in the first 8 months of ownership, so he had to look into it. Although he accepted reluctantly, the issue was resolved in 2 days, and I have not faced this problem ever since.

Engine work mid-2016

One and half years after I bought the car, with the odo reading approximately 30K, this happened. It was a visit to the dentist. Right before the clinic, I took a right turn. Right after I took the turn, I heard some kind of a strange noise coming from under the car. Stopped the car, got down on all fours to investigate. There was a huge rock-like structure under the car, right in the middle, under the belly of the car! I tried pulling it to the sides of the car, but it was stuck. It could only be removed either from the rear or front center portion of the car. I decided to slowly drive the car forward, hoping it would come out from the rear around the middle without scraping the underbelly anymore. The plan worked (little did I know then, that the damage was already done!). After crossing the "object", I realized that it was a dried bag of cement that was kept in the middle of the road. It was placed there by workers carrying out some repair work a little ahead on the road. They had kept it to indicate that the road was closed. Not sure how I completely missed spotting it (because I didn't expect anything in the middle of the road) or it was in my blind spot (can't be the case, strangely even my wife didn't see it from the co-passenger seat), but somehow I ended up driving over it.

I parked the car after this incident as it was right in front of my dentist's clinic. I did a quick visual check under the car for any signs of damage, and couldn't spot any. After the appointment (a good one hour later), we sat in the car and drove away. While driving, I started hearing a faint clicking noise coming from somewhere in the car. I didn't realize it was the engine dying! The car stopped in the middle of the road, I cranked it many times, but it refused to start. Pushed the car to the side with the help of some good Samaritans and called the roadside assistance number. Had the car towed to the service center from there. (Yes, I did not check the instrument cluster, I did not see the Engine oil indicator lighting up!). While the car was being towed, I got some time to think and could put the sequence of events together in my head.

The rock-like cement bag had hit a spot near the engine causing the engine oil to leak out. When I inspected the under-belly after parking the car, I could not see this. Then we spent about an hour in the clinic. Came out of the clinic and started driving (By this time probably, some engine oil had leaked). In retrospect, if I had checked the underbelly once again after the appointment at the clinic before starting the car, I might have been able to spot some leakage.

After a few days of leaving the car at the service center, I got these gruesome pictures from the service engineer!

After the initial shock, the next few days were spent making calls to all known vehicle experts to understand the available options. One option suggested by the TATA service engineer was to get a new "half block". It would leave a big hole in our pocket, but we felt it was better than trying to repair the engine and cheaper than getting a completely new engine. In a way, even the half-block would mean we almost got a new engine. Although we were not sure how long it would last (depended completely on how good a job the TATA service engineers did). Didn't know how well it would perform after the open-heart surgery, but we decided to take a chance.

Fast forward to 2021, 5.5 years and 75,000+ kms later, our gamble paid off (touch wood). Still very much in love with the FIAT 1.3 Quadrajet engine!

I was worried about the long term reliability of this work. Any small mistake in the assembly, and I would have to lose my peace of mind. But, I was pleasantly surprised by the experience. There are no issues with pickup, mileage, no unusual engine noise, no excessive oil consumption, no oil leakage, no excessive heating or anything else. The engine just performs as it should. After this experience, I was (and still am) confident about TATA's service engineers' ability to carry out service/repairs of any mechanical parts.

Steering-mounted audio controls go kaput

Around early 2019, the SMAC stopped working all of a sudden with no likely triggers (service, or driving fast on bad roads or crashing into a big pothole etc). I did not worry too much about it as I guessed it might be a simple loose connection. I mentioned this in my next service, hoping it would be a simple fix, but the service engineer could not figure out why it stopped working. As a last resort, I was told they will have to open the steering and send the system to Harman in Delhi (If I remember the city correctly). This would mean I could not use the car for 2-3 weeks. I couldn't do that and hence decided against getting it rectified.

Recently, I tried my luck again in another authorized TATA service center. After a lot of promises, they said the same thing (about sending it to Harman for a few days/weeks). I have given up any hopes of this getting repaired now.

Although this doesn't hinder my driving, the ability to use audio controls to make a call or something as simple as changing the radio station with the flick of a thumb without taking hands off the steering (and eyes off the road) is a good option that I miss, at times.

Door rattle

After crossing 1,06,000 kms on the odo, I started getting some rattling noise from the door while driving on bad roads. It was rectified and hasn't come up since. This is something I love about the car. 1,08,000 kms and counting, and not a single rattle! This was my biggest pain point with my earlier car. In fact, every time the vehicle went in for a regularly scheduled service, it came out with a new rattle! And I hate rattles. I cannot drive peacefully if there is any rattling noise coming from anywhere in the car.

Bonnet cladding

During the reduced usage period (when I was abroad), rats got into the car and managed to eat through a bit of the cladding under the bonnet. Thankfully there is no damage to any wiring or plastic parts. I tried to get this replaced during the last service, but the cladding was out of stock. I was told by the SE that they have placed an order, and was promised a call once it was available. And I am still waiting for that call (even after 30 days)!

I can hear a bit of the engine noise in the cabin while driving now, but it is something that I can live with.

General cleaning after service

I faced this problem in the last two services only. Some kind of oil/cream is applied to the plastic parts. After some time, this somehow forms a sticky foggy layer on the windscreen that doesn't come off easily. I am assuming, the cream vaporizes when the car gets heated under the sun, and the vapors settle on the windscreen. I should remember to ask the service team not to apply this cream the next time I get it serviced.

Service cost and experience

I find the service cost much lesser than the Maruti hatch I owned earlier. Also, I do not see the service engineers hinting at unnecessary part replacements/repairs. In my personal experience, Maruti service engineers did that every time I went for service.

Having said this, in the last service, I felt like I was travelling with second class tickets when compared with the Nexon and Harrier owners who were travelling in First class AC compartments!

I do not want to pass a judgement here on the after-sales service quality, but leave it to you to conclude from the above experiences. Let me know what you think of it.

Build quality, fit and finish

Transitioning from a Maruti Zen to a Tata Zest, undoubtedly felt like a big upshift in terms of build quality. I have driven relatively fast on some really bad roads and have done this for a few years now. Despite this, there isn't a single squeak or rattle in the car. It is definitely put together well. The doors close with a reassuring "thud". The bonnet is heavy and the body is also not flimsy. The boot lid is the only tinny part in the car. The lack of cladding makes it lose more points.

Fit and finish - In my personal opinion, it is good for a car at this price point. The parts have held on well and do not show signs of excessive wear and tear.

Ride and handling

Balanced suspension offers compliant ride quality mated to neutral handling.

Quoting from the official review by Aditya. This statement summarizes it perfectly.

I have changed the suspension bushes at around 70k kms. I will probably have to do it again in the next 30-40k km.

On really bad roads (almost no road) - there is a good cushioning effect. Passengers will not feel the jerks so much, but the car does go a bit into "boat" mode.

On moderately bad roads, it is best to drive in third gear at about 30-35 kms, the shocks do a good job and the car doesn't wobble so much.

Kitna deti hai?

I compared the MID FE with the full-tank to full-tank method, and always found the latter to be about 1 kmpl higher than the MID FE. I assume the full-tank to full-tank method is more accurate.

City: The least FE I have seen on the MID with bumper to bumper traffic is around 13 kmpl. And the maximum I have seen is about 16 kmpl (actual FE of 17 kmpl).

Highway: With sedate driving and moderate use of AC, maintaining a max speed of 120 kmph, the mileage has been around 18 kmpl on MID. If I touch higher speeds, the highway mileage comes down to 16 kmpl as per MID. Note that I drive very rarely at speeds higher than 120 kmph. I do it only when the road is broad and good with very clear visibility, not only of the road ahead but also beyond the edges of the road (to catch any two-wheeler or canine accidentally running across the road)

No doubt, I am very happy with the FE considering the current fuel prices.

The mechanicals

The engine performance is still very satisfactory. Take the foot off the clutch in first gear, and it crawls immediately. Most speed breakers are manoeuvred in second gear. For overtaking manoeuvres on the highway, downshifting to fourth gear is mostly sufficient. I believe the engine still has a good amount of life in it.

The gearbox has aged well. No issues to mention here. Occasionally the rear gear doesn't engage fully, but then this was happening even when the car was new.

The clutch hasn't got hard. I have driven in extremely bad traffic, constantly shifting between 1st and 2nd gears for a long distance (those in Bangalore who know the Manyata exit "exercise" in the evenings; especially when the white topping work was in progress, will know what I mean). My legs never got tired enough to ask for an automatic.

Other points

• The horn pad has been a bit hard from day one. Thankfully it has remained the same and has not become harder.
• The blower noise has remained the same. With the fan at "1" speed, it is not something one would call silent!
• AC is still super effective (albeit with a lot of noise at higher fan speeds).
• Bluetooth pairing works seamlessly now. Initially, there were some niggles. Probably got fixed with some software upgrades.
• Almost non-existent turbo lag.

Conclusion

Overall, I have had a good ownership experience barring the engine's near-death experience (I only have myself to blame for that).

I look forward to trouble-free ownership for some more years, and god/luck willing, another 40-50K kms at least. So far it has been a real value-for-money car with rock-solid reliability. Yes, it has its flaws, but then every car does. Probably, I am not too bothered by the flaws and can live with them. (Depends on one's preference). Practically, it meets all my needs perfectly well and don't see the need for a change in the near future.

Will my next car be a TATA car? Probably - it depends on what I am looking for in a car when I want to change, and what is on offer. Looking at the newer offerings from TATA, it is looking promising. Probably even an EV from TATA if I have a trouble-free ownership experience for a few more years. (Will wait for the EV technology and infrastructure to mature a bit before I jump onto the EV bandwagon).

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