[MudMover]

Till April 2011, I was using a Bolero Storm (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...tached-10.html), but I had to give it up due to health reasons and switch over to an Indigo CS. This thread is meant to share my experience of the Indigo CS and get other owners' perspectives as well.

I'd first seen this Indigo CS lying in my father-in-law's (FIL) garage in Nov'2010. Upon querying, I was told this had been bought for another member of the family but since that person had opted for FIL's Logan, this vehicle was being used for FIL's office staff. Being used to the sight of Indicas by a dozen in Bangalore, my first impression of the Indigo was... Hmmph! Taxi! A short ride in the Indigo somewhat altered my viewpoint since the back seat felt very comfortable and the noise levels, fit and finish of the cabin was quite refined. I did notice that FIL was racing the engine a lot in 1st and 2nd, saying it was needed because the vehicle didn't have enough pickup. I left it at that...

Following an appendix surgery in Jun'2010, I was feeling pain in the area of the stiches whenever I drove the Bolero. Since I needed to travel long distances during the weekends, I was having to endure the pain during the course of the travel and also upon reaching my destination. This was taking the fun out of my weekend drives. When I mentioned this to FIL, he suggested that I take the Indigo and he would sell the Bolero & buy an SUV for himself. This agreed, I dropped off the Bolero one fine day in April and got ready to take the Indigo. The day being Saturday, I didn't immediately go for a test drive -- test drive? what for? a taxi? I thought.

The next day, FIL and my co-brother insisted that I try out the Indigo on the way to Church to make sure that I liked it. Thinking nothing of it, I sat at the feel and was I amazed! The steering wheel with the wooden touch felt good to hold. The front seats were high-tech compared with anything I previously owned -- with electrical adjustment using two switches (even my friend's ANHC had manual controls for seat adjustment! Hah!). Since there was height adjustment, the first thing I did was to set my seat at the highest setting since I liked the high seating position of the Bolero and wanted to get a similar feel here as well. As I cranked up the engine, it sounded like your regular indica/sumo -- noisy. But once the windows were rolled up, you were in a different world and the engine noise was not an issue any more. I was in for a bigger surprise once I got onto the main road!

On the road, with the windows up and the AC running the Indigo felt just like the petrol Zen Estilo I had before the Bolero. Sure, it was not peppy and I occasionally stalled the car in the 2nd gear, where the Bolero would have chugged along pretty fine. My driving style is such that I change gears early, anticipating the engine's needs and also for braking at high speeds. Thus with my driving style, I felt that the Indigo's low pickup could be negated. Just as my co-brother was commenting on the Indigo being underpowered, I spotted a Swift behind me looking for an easy overtake. I played with the gears, used minimal foot brakes and pleasantly discovered that the Indigo was going to be a very interesting animal on the highways on my long weekend trips!

Here's a little more about the Indigo:

As I've mentioned above, the shift to the Indigo from the Bolero was mainly on account of comfort and on that score it has done pretty well...


Pretty good seating layout, with fake wood finishing here & there, nice small steering, stylish & comfortable gear lever, fit and finish of the interiors is good enough for a car of this class.


Front seats come with electronic seat control switches for 3-way movement. Hah! To think that my friend's ANHC has a knob for height control!


Side RVMs with built in side indicators... and I finally get RVMs which I can control from the inside!


Back seat legroom is just about okay, but since I keep the front seats up to the maximum height, legroom at the back becomes much better.


Boot space is enough for a 3-member family and when I need to carry something more...


... the back seat can be flipped over twice to increase the luggage carrying capacity.


Apollo Amazers have been just that -- AMAZING! considering the way I drive! But I suffer frequent punctures and so I plan to shift to tubeless at the next change with no change in aspect ratios.


The engine is definitely underpowered but like I said, with my driving style I'm able to squeeze out the kind speed I want...when I want it. Gives a pretty decent mileage of 16+ kmpl with AC.


The last stretch to my FIL's estate is a mud road, which is drivable during the dry season provided your vehicle has good GC and there again the Indigo does pretty well.

Thus far, I've been pretty happy with the Indigo but my main grouse is that the service experience has been below par and this car could've been much better if the servicing was good. The service interval is 10K, which works pretty fine for me considering that the Bolero had a 5K interval, but my last two services have come upto Rs.9400 and Rs.11500 respectively which looks kind of high. Also, something I regret quite often when I drive this car is how I spent a lot of money on my Zen Estilo buying tubeless tyres, alloy wheels and what not -- if only I had that money now I would've bought tubeless tyres & alloys and sythentic engine oil for this baby and then what a ride it would have been! And so the journey continues... nearing 50K kms for the moment and I hope it lasts at least upto 70-80K kms.

[suhaas307]

Note From Team-BHP Support-Team: Thread moved from Assembly Line to Long-Term Ownership Reviews section. Thanks for sharing!

[MudMover]

Some more pics to talk about the styling of the Indigo...The side profile of the Indigo seems to me as though its an Indica carrying a school bag!



And true to the Tata habit of 'borrowing' benz designs, the headlamp and tail light styling seems to have been lifted from some benz design.





So... after what I have experienced of the INDIGO over the past 9 months, would I recommend it to others? Well, honestly this is THE best car that I've owned in my past 5 years of driving but still I wouldn't strongly support this as being among the choices for a person buying a new car of this class. Reason? Because I feel that with newer cars coming on the block with better features, the INDIGO CS in it's present avatar still isn't a value-for-money deal. The only thing which would make me REALLLLLY pitch an INDIGO CS to a new car buyer would be if TATA are able to cram the engine & goodies of a MANZA into this baby and offer it at the same prize or less of a SWIFT DEZIRE diesel. SIGH!

[greenhorn]

heh, I drove a M2DI bolero for a trip to thenmala last week, and to say that its lack of poke was underwhelming. Simple overtaking maneuvers had to be planned minutes in advance. I was told by my friend who drives it that achieving and sustaining momentum is the key. My experience with a Sonalika rhino was much better. At times i wondered if it was turbocharged at all.
My indica felt much faster after driving the bolero, and it was an overwhelming relief knowing that you had power on tap of your left foot, though the ride quality in the bolero , especially over bad roads was vastly better.

I suppose the storm should take care of the lack of poke ( have never driven one). As always, as i say to all indica/indigo owners, try out system D and regular diesel, It'll make your car feel a lot younger

Be careful about the ORVM's. they can turn out to be pretty expensive if you hit them. (am guessing ~7k for the whole assembly, and tata won't give it to you any other way). I have a cheaper version , with a steel strip where the indicator light is - It's a lot cheaper, and the steel makes it a lot more damage proof

[MudMover]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

My indica felt much faster after driving the bolero

Ditto my feeling as well. Infact, on my first long drive in the Indigo, I felt as if I was driving a BMW... after being used to all the vibrations and pitching & rolling in the Bolero Storm.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

As always, as i say to all indica/indigo owners, try out system D and regular diesel, It'll make your car feel a lot younger

I do this religiously.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Be careful about the ORVM's. they can turn out to be pretty expensive if you hit them.

Yup, this is the main concern of mine. Luckily, Tata itself provides the solution -- I keep the mirror covers folded two-thirds and then keep the mirrors turned out to their maximum extremes. That way even though the mirrors look from outside as if they are fully folded, from the inside I can still see using one-third of the mirrors.



I hit 50k this weekend. Hoping that I don't face any major issues at least till 80K.

[greenhorn]

do you mind posting your bills ? tata service centers have been known to add superfluous charges, and most of them can be made out from the bill itself. Engine oil flushes, extra labour charges for items that are already included in a standard service charge

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...r-costs-3.html

[MudMover]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

do you mind posting your bills ?

Attaching bills below. In the second bill, items 11 & 15 could've been done without but I asked them to do it since there was the need to do those two items -- because 1) I had found a mouse in the engine compartment once so I thought having the engine coated with some chemical would keep the mice away 2) The seats and the interior were genuinely in need of some cleaning. So without those two items, both the bills would have come around to similar totals.

scan0001.pdf
scan0002.pdf
scan0003.pdf

[greenhorn]

7, 12 & 14 in scan 1
5,10,17,18 in scan 2

I'd fall for engine wax once, but multiple times ? Its supposed to last for a while (1+ years as per the tata motors website)
the rest (bardahl treatments) are supposed to be symptomatic and not routine treatments. but concorde seems to be piling them on
These 'value' added services add value more to the dealer than to you . Look at my bills ( or any one else's here or the ones on the indica user group).
If i were you I'd ask them to skip the treatments (or threaten to complain on your feedback call about how they were added against your will). Would easily shave a few k off your bill
Tata Motors Customer Care :: Anti-rust Treatments

[MudMover]

So much for all my care and precaution regarding my ORVM!! I lost my left side ORVM last Sunday. Was at a signal waiting for the green to turn right, while there was a green to go straight. In the thick traffic going straight, a BMP waste truck suddenly served towards me to avoid an auto and took away my left ORVM. I couldn't do anything but watch as the traffic coming from behind 'carried' the culprit away. After I took the right turn I stopped and surveyed the damage.




The only things I was left with was a stretch of wire with the mirror control motor and the top cover of the mirror.



I was totally devastated since I really treasured those ORVMs with the in-built lights, and also because I knew that new ones would cost a bomb. On Tuesday, I went and checked on J.C. road for new ones (didn't bother checking with TASS since they would really rip!). In most of the shops, they quoted Rs.1900 for the ORVM with just the steel strip and no motor, whereas the ones with the in-built light and motor would cost upwards of Rs.2500 I was told. As I was walking around checking out more stores I saw the 'gujri lane' on near JC road where they have all old spare parts of trucks and commercial vehicles. I asked a couple of chaps there where I could get old spare parts for cars and they all told me to check in Russell Market (Shivaji Nagar). Upon reaching Russell Market, I asked around again and was guided to a 'Chandini Chowk Road' where I was greeted by what appeared to be a morgue cum graveyard of old and accident subject vehicles.


CHANDINI CHOWK ROAD, SHIVAJI NAGAR

My mouth started watering as I saw all the old stuff hanging about and my heart started beating fast since I was getting excited thinking that here I would definitely get what I was looking for. Soon enough, I saw a shop where a young guy called Rizwan came running out to ask what I wanted. When I told him about my broken mirror, he asked me whether I'd be happy with just the steel strip ORVM (for Rs.750!!) or whether I wanted the motor also (Rs.800!!). I told him that I was looking for the whole deal (in-built indicator and mirror), but he told me that the indicator model was not available and he would give me the steel strip + motor model. So I told him to go ahead and he fitted the mirror. Only problem is that in the new mirrow the controls are all opposite -- if you want it to go 'up', you press the 'down' button, if 'right' press the 'left' button and so on. This might be because he's got the polarization wrong I guess, but since I was in a hurry and since he's told me that he can fit the indicator in place of the steel strip later on, I'll get it corrected then.


RIZWAN'S SHOP


RIZWAN - PHONE NO:9845956794


MY 'NEW' MIRROR WITH THE 'OLD' TOP COVER

I also got a wheel cap for Rs.220 (price at TASS Rs.420!) since one was missing. While I was at the 'graveyard', I noticed a swift being taken apart and watched lustily as they kept aside the wheels -- those were some really cool looking alloy wheels but when I asked whether they would sell them to me I was shooed away. But I plan to go there again and try looking for some alloys on the cheap.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by MudMover

I noticed a swift being taken apart and watched lustily as they kept aside the wheels -- those were some really cool looking alloy wheels but when I asked whether they would sell them to me I was shooed away. But I plan to go there again and try looking for some alloys on the cheap.

Do bear in mind that the swift alloys are 100 PCD and yours and 108. You'll need something off an indica turbo/indigo/figo

[MudMover]

My car was rear ended by an Innova Taxi on Mysore road some time back in May. The back of the car was extensively damaged and the car was in the garage for over 3 months. But finally now she's back to giving the good service she used to!

The Indigo crossed the 60k mark last week, just after I brought her out of the TASS after the 60k service. Prerna Motors, Kudlu Gate - Hosur Road seems to have done a decent service as compared to the Concorde Motors TASS where I used to give it previously. In the recent oil change, they seem to have put Castrol Magnatech which claims to have 'synthetic technology' -- is it a synthetic oil?! I'm hoping the engine becomes a little smoother than what it was.

These days I'm busy hunting for chrome inserts for the back number plate (just like the older generation Indigos had) and also the chrome beading found near the windows (like in the luxury cars). The search is proving to be quite futile. I'm sure the 'chroming' would give a classy look to this car. I've already got chrome bumber guards for the back and front.

[greenhorn]

http://www.ebay.in/itm/3M-Chrome-det...item1e71b175fc
something like this might help. Not too sure if this is wide enough though. Check local acessories shops also

[condor]

Originally Posted by MudMover

In the recent oil change, they seem to have put Castrol Magnatech which claims to have 'synthetic technology' -- is it a synthetic oil?!

These days I'm busy hunting for chrome inserts for the back number plate

My SA at Prerana has suggested Magnatech for me also, and I should take it. IIRC, it is semi-synth.

Can you post a pic of the inserts you are looking for ? Or is it the one that Greenhorn mentioned ?

[jeeva]

MudMover,
It's not a good idea to take your vehicle to the Shivajinagar gujri, or for that matter, any of such places.

[MudMover]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

http://www.ebay.in/itm/3M-Chrome-det...item1e71b175fc
something like this might help. Not too sure if this is wide enough though. Check local acessories shops also

Originally Posted by condor

Can you post a pic of the inserts you are looking for ? Or is it the one that Greenhorn mentioned ?

Thanks Greehorn! This is exactly what I'm looking for... but who's going to fix it for me?! I basically need it to be applied near the bottom of the front bumper (as shown by the yellow line in fig 1. below) and near the window (as shown by the red line in fig 2. below). The chrome insert near the number plate I'm talking about is in Fig 3. I'm also looking for the bumper guards shown in Fig 4 because the 4 small cheapo chinese ones I'd bought 3 days back have started pealing off already !

Fig1.


Fig2.


Fig3.


Fig4.

Originally Posted by condor

My SA at Prerana has suggested Magnatech for me also, and I should take it. IIRC, it is semi-synth.

I'm seeing that TASS is taking me down to the lower grades of engine oil with every service! At the 40k service they were using Castrol GTX 15W40 and now they are down to Castrol Magnatech 10W40. So will they go further to 5W40 next time around?!