News

Tata Tiago AMT: Gearbox issue unresolved even after spending Rs. 93,000

17th November 2022, 17:17 by Ananth Iyer

After a thorough check-up they informed me that the problem is with AMT assembly unit. It needs a replacement at a cost of approx. Rs 93,000/-.

BHPian TheWanderer recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My relative is currently struggling with a major issue with his TATA Tiago AMT and the company seems to be trying to avoid taking responsibility of this major issue.

The issue that he is facing is as follows:

While the vehicle is running, the car automatically moves from "D" mode to "Manual" mode and selects some random gear. This happened few times. He immediately took the car to the service centre, but they sent him back saying it may be some battery issue.
Later, the problem occurred again. Also, in one instance, when the vehicle was started, before even doing anything, the gear indication in the display showed 5.

Following is the message/mail he has sent to the TATA Motors and the service/customer care IDs.

I own a Tata Tiago XZA 1.2 P Vehicle from March 2017. The car has been running smoothly and properly maintained by me and serviced regularly at Tata Motors authorised service centres.

For the past few days, I have come across trouble with sudden malfunctioning of automatic gear systems (VIDEO ATTACHED). I had reported it to the service centre then itself and on a preliminary analysis they suggested it might be due to battery charge variations. But, the problem occurred again and I approached them again.

Now, after a thorough check-up they informed me that the problem is with AMT assembly unit and due to TCU complaint. It needs a replacement at a cost of approx. Rs 93,000/-.

The extended warranty I had taken had expired one year back. A vital part of the vehicle needing a replacement within 5-6years is a rarity and is a huge burden on the customer.

Video of the issue

Till now, based on the emails and tweets he has sent, there have been some generic responses like they are looking into this and have authorised appropriate people to look into this (some contacts have been provided). No concrete "good-will" measures have been proposed in written form, but orally, some small discounts have been offered.

Few points

Looking at the fact that AMT gear box is the USP of this model and one of the most critical part, a major failure in this system within 5 years of purchase seems to indicate a major reliability issue (We typically expect the key components like engine and gearbox cars to run for 15-20 years!).

In all communications till now, not much information is forthcoming from the service centre/company side. Whenever the issue is highlighted, only a general response is being provided, without providing any details one exactly why and how this failure occurred.

Based on the response till now, looks like the service centre/company is trying to pass this off as an issue for which they are not responsible (and as if this can happen with regular use!) and are trying to get the customer cough up a large sum to get this replaced.

What are your opinions?

Has anyone faced similar issues?

Any suggestions on how to take this forward further?

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Feeling very sad for AMT owners. As we have frequently seen, it's not cheap (in the long run), it's jerky and it suffers from poor reliability.
What we really need are after-market specialists who can repair AMTs & CVTs. It is these gearboxes that need the most support.
Torque-converter ATs are the best for India IMHO.
I am going to write to Tata and try getting some kind of a goodwill warranty for this car owner.

Here's what BHPian Raj55 had to say on the matter:

Having owned a car with AMT (Toyota Aygo 2012) and having suffered many glitches and finally a total break down that needed replacement of actuator (the hydraulic part that actually shifts the gears for you), I have plenty of sympathy for any owner of cars with AMT. It is a gear box that has thankfully been superseded by CVT in Europe. AMT is like a time bomb and usually lasts only about 4 to 5 years before it fails and it is actually the "actuator" that starts hunting for the correct gear and sometimes choses neutral in the middle of a drive and then one fine day gives up altogether. Repair of the actuator is very expensive. My advise to any one is that if you do not have a local cheap mechanic who is a wizard with AMT transmission for cheap repairs of AMT, get rid of the car before it fails.

Here's what BHPian shivamk11 had to say on the matter:

I'm facing a similar issue in my Tiago AMT. The car randomly goes into manual mode while the gear lever stays in auto mode and also going in limp mode for a while before I can get it to move again. One quick fix is to turn off ignition and turn it on again. It used to happen once in a few months earlier but now it's happening very often and whenever it happens the check engine light and ABS light turn on. The service center in my area has said that the clutch has worn out and even ordered the part after taking some advance from me but honestly I doubt that's the actual issue. Attaching the image of errors I got from my OBD device.
If someone can help me then I'll be really glad.

BHPian TheWanderer had the following update to share on the matter:

Even after multiple followups from my relative's side and some help from GTO, Tata was not ready to provide any significant goodwill gesture from their side and just offered a 10% discount for the material and 20% labour. Since they wanted the vehicle urgently and they did not have any other alternate options, my relative agreed to go ahead with the proposed work.
The car was repaired (in fact, only replacement of AMT assembly, TCU unit alone was done) at a cost of Rs. 86,382.46/- which was paid on 15th October 2022 and vehicle delivery taken.
Unfortunately, even after spending so much money and effort and mental agony, the problem seems to be not fully resolved While driving the vehicle back to my home and to work thereafter for approximately 100kms, the vehicle did not go into 5th gear at all (even at speed of 90km - VIDEO ATTACHED)! Not sure what diagnosis and repair Tata Service centre has done after looting the customer!!!
If anyone can help to get this escalated to Tata Motors, please get back to us, we are now not sure how to proceed. We are very disappointed with this incident and are repenting on the decision to take a Tata AMT vehicle
I would also like to request help of members here to share this experience widely and give more coverage in other forums as well, so that other Tata customers and potential customers are warned of such issues and shoddy handling offered by Tata and can take an informed decisions when going for a Tata vehicle.