[krishnadevjs]

2023 has been a year of unusually high activity for me on the vehicular front.

It started in January, with us swapping out our 2014 Maruti Alto K10 AMT to bring home one of the very first BMW M340i LCIs in the country – in that spectacular shade of Tanzanite Blue.




A bit later, in February, we sold off our 2017 Skoda Octavia 1.8 TSi L&K as well, given it was mostly lying idle, with the BMW in the garage.

While the ownership experience of the M340i is chronicled in this (My BMW M340i LCI | A case study in YOLO | Ownership Review) thread, let me just quickly say that the M340i is THE BEST VEHICLE I’ve ever driven.

However, with great power does come great hassles as well – especially in a city like Mumbai with its pathetic excuse for roads.
The stiff suspension and low profile RFT shod M340i is not suited for Mumbai roads, with all its undulations and unevenness.
Within 4 months, I found myself changing out both front tyres, courtesy side wall bulges. Thankfully, they were both covered under Secure Advance.

Another major challenge in the city was the parking hassles, which restricted us to visiting only places which had proper covered parking.
Where the M340i did shine was on weekend drives outside the City and the extended long road trips we often undertook.
In just a span of 6 months, I’ve completed 11,000 km in the M340i.

However, the city pains continued, especially now with the monsoons around the corner.
While Mumbai monsoons have often been romanticized, I’ve found the season particularly horrible for driving.
Waterlogged roads, crumbling roads (even freshly paved ones), poor visibility and lack of general driving discipline make the city hell to drive in, during the monsoons. More so with a car that has 120mm ground clearance.

We definitely needed a beater car for the city – one which we could easily zip through town in, and which wouldn’t leave a burn in the heart or the wallet, if something untoward happened.

And that is how we ended up looking for our second car in just 4 months.

The criteria was pretty simple:

1. It had to be a very safe vehicle. Goodbye, Maruti Suzuki!
2. It had to be sub-10 lac. I had already made my YOLO choice. It was time to now be sensible again. Goodbye, Skoda and Volkswagen!
3. It had to be fun to drive and not a sloth. Goodbye, AMTs!
4. It should fit 4 people comfortably – maybe 5 for the occasional trip to the mall. Goodbye, MG Comet!

With these criteria, the choices were pretty limited for us to start with.
While I did look at the Hyundai i20 and the Hyundai Venue, prices for the DCT version steered us away.
We did briefly look at the Kiger, and even liked the vehicle until a test drive, when we decided to move away from it because of what I felt was a very un-engaging drive, with massive rubber band effect from its CVT gear box.

Given Tata’s meteoric rise in the passenger vehicles segment, especially in EVs, we decided to evaluate options from Tata as well.
There were primarily 2 choices- Tata Altroz and Tata Tiago EV. Both were around the same prices for the versions we were evaluating – the Altroz DCA XT and the Tiago EV MR XT.

Major factors which helped us make the decision between these two options were:

1. Running Cost:
The Tiago EV had virtually no running cost. By charging for free at office, I could essentially run the car for free.
Service costs too were expected to be much lower than the ICE powered Altroz DCA.

2. Drive:
The 1.2L Turbo petrol engine in the Altroz felt quite underpowered during a test drive. It didn’t feel as engaging as I would’ve wanted.
In complete contrast, the Tiago EV was super peppy and its instant torque electric motor helped it whiz past traffic in the city.
Its dimensions too were a bit smaller and helped it navigate through traffic better.

3. Novelty and Tech:
The Altroz had a turbo petrol and a DCA gearbox – both tech that I was very used to. There was nothing new about the car.
The Tiago EV in contrast was a newer technology and offered far more technology than its counterpart for the same price.

4.Usage:
This was to be a primarily city car. It did not need the range of an ICE car, and would go no longer than a maximum range of 100km at a time – all in the city.
Hence, an electric car made absolute sense, given the kind of usage it was meant for.

5.Tax Implications:
While I’m all for building the nation, being a salaried taxpayer, I find it super unfair that the Government overburdens the salaried class with taxes.
Sample this: to buy the M340i, I essentially paid 22 lacs of GST and would pay 10.5 lacs of road tax over the entire lifetime – a total of 32.5 lacs in taxes, all with income that’s already 35% taxed!
Essentially, I would need to earn 50 lacs just to pay taxes on the M340i! And then drive it on these roads.

Hence, the prospect of paying just 5% GST and 0 road tax for the EV gave me satisfaction in having to pay that much lesser to the Government.
Yes, it’s petty but it did play a role in my decision.

And so, the decision was made to buy the Tiago EV in the MR XT variant.
However, what ensued was one of the most horrible experiences I’ve had in buying a vehicle.

[krishnadevjs]

Buying Experience

In the last 10 years, I’ve had the fortune to buy 6 vehicles before this one:

1. 2013 Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500
2. 2014 Honda City VX iDTec
3. 2014 Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 AMT
4. 2017 Skoda Octavia 1.8 TSi L&K
5. 2021 Apache RR 310
6. 2023 BMW M340i.

If the average rating for all those buying experiences was 80, I would rate the Tata Motors buying experience at -20. Why? Read on.

Booking 1:

In April 2023, I enquired with Wasan Motors, Chembur about the Tiago EV.
Upon being assured ready availability of whichever colour we wanted, I booked a Signature Teal Blue Tiago EV in the XT MR variant.

Since we were out of Mumbai in May, I told them I’d take delivery in June, right before the start of monsoon, and they agreed that the car would be readily available then.

Mid May, I enquired with them if Midnight Plum variant was available, and they said it could be arranged by early June.
I changed my booking to plum.

Once we were back in Mumbai by early June, I contacted them again, and my SA told me he had moved companies and was now working with MG.
He gave me the contact details of his team lead, whom I then contacted.

The experience soured quickly after the departure of the SA.
The new guy said no cars or colours were available in XT MR except White. An XT LR was available though in Midnight plum.
I asked him for some time, while I quickly conferred with my wife. Called them back and asked them to confirm the XT LR Midnight Plum car.

To my surprise, he said there had been some issue and somebody else had taken the car in the time it took me to speak to my wife and confirm back to them!

Frustrated by the sheer lack of transparency and incorrect communication from their end, I asked them when they could get me a car of my choice.
The new SA said they’d have to book the car fresh from Tata motors and could give it to me in 1.5 months.
Since it was a rare colour, it could even go further.

By this time, I had lost faith in the dealer as he had already taken me for a ride with the XT LR Plum car.
I quickly checked with another dealer – Trident Motors in Vikhroli West about when they could arrange an XT MR car.
Given priority had now changed to get the new car before the monsoons, I was open to either of Signature Teal or Midnight Plum colours.

Booking 2

Trident Motors was initially very forthcoming and transparent.
They said they could arrange a Signature Teal car in XT LR variant by June 25.
Given their commitment, I went ahead and booked the car with them, and cancelled the booking with Wasan Motors.

By June 22, I got a message from the Trident SA that the allotted vehicle had reached their stockyard in Panvel, and asked me to pay the balance amount.

I insisted upon a PDI before transferring funds, and he reluctantly agreed.
The very next day, on 22nd June, I drove down to Panvel, did a PDI, found everything to my satisfaction and handed over a cheque for the balance amount.


At the Panvel stockyard. Lines of Hyundai and Tata cars were stored in the open, exposed to the elements at this stockyard.

My experience with Payable at Par cheques have been that they clear within a day, but it may be owing to delays in depositing it, but this cheque cleared on June 27.
I had taken the insurance on June 26 itself and since invoicing was also done on 27th, asked them to do the registration and give the car before month end.
I was met with radio silence.

After multiple follow ups, and an escalation to Tata Motors, finally Trident Motors gave me a delivery date – 6th July.
I was pretty sure they had damaged the vehicle somehow and was using the time, 13 days since handing over the cheque, to quietly repair the vehicle.

Trident, however insisted that there was some software update for which the vehicle was taken to their workshop. Finally, we agreed upon delivery of the car by 6th July, Thursday at 3:30 PM.

Delivery Experience

We reached the dealership bang on time, only to be told that there were 2 more deliveries before us.
And while normally, each vehicle delivery hardly takes 15-20 minutes, here, each car was brought in, cleaned, wiped down and then handed over – a process which took over an hour.

Not to mention that for the Nexon EV before us, they actually brought buckets and drained water from the boot! Was quite surprised to see the owners were pretty chilled out about it!

A funny/irritating experience in between was when they asked us thrice if we wanted refreshments.
The first two times I told them my mother would like a coffee and we’d like water, but nothing came after that.

The third time I told them that we’d asked for coffee and water twice, but since nothing was coming, we’d rather just have our car and go.
Think they took that literally, as there was still no coffee/water served!

Those of you who have small kids can relate to me when I say those 2.5 hours of waiting were excruciatingly long!
Both our kids were cranky, hungry, and just wanted to go home by the time our turn for delivery came.

In came our car, it was wiped down with the same cloth they’d used to clean the previous vehicle’s muddy wheels and underbody.
By now, I just wanted to get out of there and go home, so I let this slide.

They were yet to put in the accessories we had ordered – so another 20 minutes went by as they brought the mud flaps, rear parcel tray, mats etc and put them into the car.


After 'cleaning' and fixing accessories on the car in front of us, they put this shroud on top of it - wonder what the suspense was for!


Finally taking delivery, after a long and tiresome day.



As part of the PDI, I felt the paintwork of the car with my hand and immediately felt something wrong.
The rear glass and door hatch had a rough finish – as if there was an overspray. And the right roof area also had a coarse finish.

I pointed it out to the SA, who said it was due to being outside in the rains, and would go in a session of polishing.
I asked him if he had a paint thickness checking instrument to verify, which he promptly denied.

Having reconciled myself to absolutely pathetic service from Tata Motors, I decided to just let it go and completed the rest of my PDI.
Didn’t find anything else amiss at the time, and we proceeded with the delivery.

Throughout the ride home, I felt there was none of that new car smell – in fact the car smelt quite damp.
While my wife attributed it to the monsoon season, I wasn’t so certain.
Once we were back home, I checked the floor carpet, after removing the rubber matting, and found it to be soaking wet! This was quite a shocker!

Immediately, I called the SA and told him of the matter.
He asked me to take the car to their service center to sort the matter out.
By then, it was already late, so I decided that I had enough with these bungling fools.

Called up 3M Car Care in Chembur and set an appointment for a proper interior and exterior cleaning job on Saturday.

Early morning on Saturday, we made our way to the Ayyappa temple in Powai for a mandatory pooja of the car.
We'd skipped this on the M340i, as I'm the less religious one in our marriage.
Used the opportunity to get my keys blessed by Lord Ayyappa as well - just in case.


One of the reasons I didn't get a pooja done on my car was the 'decoration' the tantri does on the car. My wife loved it though.

Off I went to 3M next. They confirmed my suspicions – it was in fact some sort of overspray on the back door and glass – however those panels weren’t painted.

There was only a small section on the right side of the roof which was repainted.
There was no physical sign though – they’d done a generally good job with the painting and fading, just that they probably didn’t do the masking right and left part of the roof coarse.

3M also dried out the carpets and sucked out the water.
They did a good job washing and waxing the car – now, it almost feels like how a new car should.

And that concludes the buying experience.

While the car itself is definitely good, I’d never ever buy a car from Tata Motors again – unless they seriously improve their dealer network and I see/read an overwhelming number of positive stories about customer service from them.

All the while, I felt they were doing me a favour by selling their car to me.
Quite a shame, though, as the car really is good.

[krishnadevjs]

Observations about the Tiago EV


So far, we’ve done about 200km in the car over the last 4 days, with good long weekend runs within the city in the rains.
There were two brief paid charging cycles – a 20 minute one using a DC fast charger, which took it up from 31% to 64% and a longer 2 hour slow charging session which took it from 18% to 50%.

Thankfully, I have sufficient charging infrastructure in both my building and nearby, as well as at work, which helps with the ownership experience.

My experiences with the car over the last few days are chronicled here. Will keep updating as I use the car more.


Pros

1. Absolutely Silent Drive:
The car ‘starts’ without any sound. And while turning a key seems very odd in this day and age, that too in an EV, the feeling of being ‘Ready to Drive’ without any sound is surreal.
From a 6 cylinder M-Performance car that roars to life, this is a very different experience. Even while moving forward, the car is so silent that I’ve had to literally honk the horn to let people know the car was approaching from behind.
On the roads, it’s just the road noise and that of the AC. It’s a super silent drive otherwise, which is quite refreshing.

2. Zippy and Powerful Motor:
While I initially went to buy the lower power MT car, I ended up with the LT variant. That extra 1 lac is not something I regret, though.
As GTO said in one of my other threads, you never regret buying the more powerful variant.
The Tiago EV pulls away strongly and cleanly from standstill. It can out-accelerate cars much ahead of its class and cost.
Not to mention the fact that because of its small size, it’s quite zippy and weaves through traffic quite well.
I’ve found the power more than adequate in city traffic. Of course, it’s nothing compared to the M340i, but for the intended use – the city – it’s actually much more usable power than the Beemer.

3. Suspension:
This must be the best part of this car.
Tata Motors have done an absolute stellar job with the suspension of this car.
It’s very soft and gobbles up all the undulations on the road very well.
It’s a very welcome change for me from the M340i, where I had to slow down every 100m for the sake of either my back or my tyres.

The Tiago EV is much more comfortable in the city than the Beemer. And while it doesn’t inspire confidence in speeds above 80 kmph (the floaty, boat-like feeling starts around 75 kmph), this car isn’t meant for such speeds as a strictly city car.

4. Features:
For a car just slightly north of 10 lacs, the Tiago EV does come with many creature comforts.
It’s got wired Apple Carplay, a decent 4 speaker audio system (nothing to write home about, but gets the work done), connected car tech (which I’m told is laggy, I haven’t been able to use it yet because the dealer has to do some eKYC thing, and I’m afraid I’ll rip them a new one if I have to speak to them again), all power windows, central locking etc.
Basically everything you need. I do miss the auto headlamps and wipers though. Those come in the 1.3 lac more expensive XZ+ variant.

5. Range & Practicality:
With the LR variant, the realistic range claimed is around 200-220 km.
For my typical city usage, that implies 1 full charging cycle every 3-4 days.
And with free charging at the office, it’s a very economical alternative. Given maintenance and repair costs, it’s a very practical option for me in the city.

Cons:

1. Features:
Yes, I had just mentioned this in the Pros for this car, but the Tiago EV is quite absurd an offering, as it skimps out on some rather mundane features.
Halogen headlamps for starters – in this day and age, for a technologically superior EV, equipping it with halogen headlamps is criminal. They could’ve easily done with and LED system.
Similarly, having to turn a key in an electric car is absurd. There’s nothing to crank – why would you want to de-spec a car just for the sake of selling it as a higher cost variant!? Why, Tata Motors? Why?
Not even the top variant gets an Alloy wheel option, and despite the brochure calling out power folding ORVMs, my car doesn't have it.

2. Seats:
I found the Tiago EV seats too thin and lacking in neck, back and lumbar support. While the seating position is quite high, one does feel very exposed in the seat.
I don’t think I could drive this car for long (3 hour +) drives without back/neck pain.

3. Boot space:
The boot is a tiny 240 L space behind the rear bench, and while that can help with shopping runs, it’s not going to be adequate for anything more.
We cannot even load our child’s pram into the car when we go out, which is a bit of a bummer. Wish Tata motors could give a bit more of boot space.

4. Fit Issues:
There are still some niggles in Tata Motor's QC process, and they do not seem to have figured this out.
There are uneven panel gaps, the front door takes some extra effort to close, the charging lid has a flimsy lock mechanism which often gets stuck, the door panels aren't aligned well, and there are some rattles that stand out in an otherwise quiet cabin.

Overall, I feel that the Tiago EV is a wonderful city car – a well packaged, well-rounded offering at a very nice price point.

If it weren’t for their awful dealer network and lack of a bit more QC at their end, Tata motors would’ve truly had an absolute winner in its hands.
I’ll let some photos do the rest of the talking.


That we have a Tata Power DC fast charger around 500m away is really helpful with quick top-ups.


I quite like the Tata power EZConnect App. Even though it's a bit glitchy, it's quite cool when it works.


Tata Power even has a couple of semi-public paid slow charging stations in our building. I've chosen not to install my home charger as of now. Between the office and these paid chargers, I think we're decently covered.


A parting shot of both the toys.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the EV section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage later this week

[Tanu3000]

Congratulations on your purchase :-)

Looking at the 2 diametrically opposite cars in your garage, I had a question for you. How does the torque curve of the ICE M340i compare against the torque curve of the EV Tiago?

[Kkumar]

Congratulations on your new car and also on going green. It’s said that because of Regen EVs generally have better range in cities, what’s your feedback in this regard.

[mally2]

Originally Posted by Kkumar

Congratulations on your new car and also on going green. It’s said that because of Regen EVs generally have better range in cities, what’s your feedback in this regard.

I have personally never experienced this. I know everyone says that but I get 180-190km on my Tiago LR in city b2b traffic and 220-240 on highways. Albeit I am on 75-95kmph speeds on highway. My whkm in city hovers around 110-125 and on highway 95-100

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by mally2

I have personally never experienced this. I know everyone says that but I get 180-190km on my Tiago LR in city b2b traffic and 220-240 on highways. Albeit I am on 75-95kmph speeds on highway. My whkm in city hovers around 110-125 and on highway 95-100

Same with Nexon EV in my case. Stick to the 70-90 range on highways and you will be well rewarded.

[krishnadevjs]

Originally Posted by Tanu3000

How does the torque curve of the ICE M340i compare against the torque curve of the EV Tiago?

The Tiago has instant torque right from the start, and it pulls linearly. The M340i, I’ve felt takes slightly more effort to get going and hits you with a wall of torque when you accelerate, as the turbo kicks in.
The Tiago has none of that push you into your seat acceleration whereas the M340i, on hard acceleration, pins you to your seat as it rockets to insane 3 digits.

Near where I live, there’s a signal from where you take a right and join the Eastern Express Highway. With similar accelerator input, the Tiago smoothly gets up to 80, and then loses breath, whereas the M340i pushes you into your seat as it rockets to 100+.

Originally Posted by Kkumar

Congratulations on your new car and also on going green. It’s said that because of Regen EVs generally have better range in cities, what’s your feedback in this regard.

Honestly, I haven’t driven the car enough to notice this. But I got around 170km with 18% charge left for my first discharge from 100% test.
Regeneration does help with driving though, as you don’t need to brake as much, and can use the natural deceleration to control your flow in traffic. Does getting some used to, especially if you’re switching between ICE and EV.

[mally2]

Originally Posted by krishnadevjs

Regeneration does help with driving though, as you don’t need to brake as much, and can use the natural deceleration to control your flow in traffic. Does getting some used to, especially if you’re switching between ICE and EV.

Totally get your point getting used to rengen is a skill especially when you have to drive a ICE car another day. I have a Hexa XTA thankfully for longer trips but the comfort has spoilt me. Good thing the Tiago ev has great suspension.

[narula123]

Congrats KD on adding a good balancing factor to the garage. The combination of the 340i and the EV make it a very sorted fleet. The low running costs of the EV also make a lot of sense for urban use. That aside, hats off to your bravery for doing business with Tata . In their current state, despite some excellent products, I wont touch their dealerships with a barge pole.

Originally Posted by krishnadevjs

After 'cleaning' and fixing accessories on the car in front of us, they put this shroud on top of it - wonder what the suspense was for!

It was supposed to be a magic shroud; once peeled would have turned your Teal car to Plum
Pending software update caused the shroud to not work!

[abhatt]

You are nice enough to get everything fixed at 3M. I would have felt cheated and would have fought hard for this however I strongly feel that your decision was a better one. It's sad that they do such things to people who buy their expensive shit. I wish there was an easy way to sue them and atleast get your 3M money refunded.

I am in a similar boat today and with no option this seems to be the best boat. My 2nd car is a Jeep Compass manual which is not meant for cities. Wondering if I should continue with Polo itself considering the nightmarish experience that Tata always provides to their customers. Unfortunately I have had this with Croma, Tata Sky as well. It's just in their DNA it seems.

[biplab3110]

In a similar conundrum right now - having brought home a Q3 technology two weeks back, I am contemplating replacing my Seltos GTX DCT with something more mundane primarily to drive around within Thane City.
Can't drive a manual or an AMT, don't want a dry clutch DCT, a decent CVT would work just fine. Hence the choice is limited to Hyundai i20, or a Honda Amaze.
Just thought of checking out the Tata Motors stable for a budget EV. Walked into the Tata Motors dealership on Ghodbunder Road yesterday. There were only two customers. I walked around on my own, checked some of the cars, tried opening the boot of a Punch, which did not open. Spent a good 15 minutes at the dealership, but no one walked up to me. I walked out absolutely unimpressed. I don't think I will go back again!

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by biplab3110

In a similar conundrum right now - having brought home a Q3 technology two weeks back, I am contemplating replacing my Seltos GTX DCT with something more mundane primarily to drive around within Thane City.
Can't drive a manual or an AMT, don't want a dry clutch DCT, a decent CVT would work just fine. Hence the choice is limited to Hyundai i20, or a Honda Amaze.
Just thought of checking out the Tata Motors stable for a budget EV.

Never let a lousy dealership experience wean you off a good car. There are plenty more dealers around. Tata is the manufacturer to beat when it comes to EVs in India. As for you, pls wait for the upcoming Punch EV which will be launched in a month or two.

[krishnadevjs]

Just over a year done with the Tata Tiago EV.
While I bought this as a second car, the M340i is just so good to drive that I find myself almost always taking that.

So much so that the M340i has touched 26k km in 1.5 years and the Tiago has done 6.3k km!

Many folks had warned me of Tata, saying the quality is crap, the service is bad etc.
Well - they weren't entirely wrong.

The fit and finish of the car is actually quite nice. And it definitely feels solid compared to competition - say a Maruti Suzuki or a Hyundai even.
The car is put together decently well, and I haven't had any major panel gaps.

After the initial hiccup with the AC water pipe being left inside the cabin (leading to a soaking carpet), there wasn't any other issue in the way the car was delivered.

However, the service of Tata Motors has not been the best. I've been giving my car regularly to Trident Motors in Kurla, and they've scratched the car in multiple places after service.
I pointed it out to them, and they agreed to buff it out, but those scratches were too deep to be buffed out.
They did offer painting, but I was wary of the paint quality of these service centers and therefore let it be.
It was quite disheartening to see how badly they treated customer cars without proper care.

Given the bad experience there, I switched it up last month and gave the car to Keshva Motors in Mulund.
Well, they turned out to be equally bad - no damage to the car, but they did steal an IKEA cushion I had left in the car for my daughter to sit on!

In the midst of this, there was one instance of the dreaded, yet common HV Critical Error which creeped up on my car.
Tata Motors diagnosed it as a problem with the AC condenser, which was replaced under warranty promptly. This was 6 months into the ownership, and so far, there's been no other issue.

That is till today morning when I tried to drop my wife off at her college. The car would start but it simply wouldn't go into Drive or Reverse.
It stayed in Neutral and upon rotating the gear selector, it gave a ping like when you get when the Gear Selection is disallowed.

Tried a few times, switched off the car and restarted, all to no avail.

https://youtu.be/X9Ugw8OJ49w

Finally, I called up Tata Motors helpline and they promptly sent a tow truck to pick up the vehicle.

This time, they've taken it to Wellwisher Motors in Mhape. Hopefully, this service centre comes out better than the previous two.

Reliability-wise, I do not trust this car much now, given the 2 instances where the car was immobilized - that to in hardly a year and 6,000 km.

I still think Tata can do better - they need to fix these niggling issues as well as significantly improve their service centre standards.