[GKS]

couple of pictures. Sorry it took so long to upload the pictures. As you can see I have added front crash guard and the last two pictures will explain TATA's superior built quality

[GKS]

First of all let me say I am still in love with my beast, over the past year we have completed 30,000kms. And this is my summery of our first anniversary.


1)Right rear window never works, replaced the fuse at least 15 times, But ho no my beast is as adamant as my better half. Now planning to change the winding motor.
2)Even after wheel regular wheel alignment and balancing after every 500okms, both front tires gave up on me at 22000kms. Replaced both front with 235/70R16 instead of the original 205/R16
3)The canopy really leaks, leaking in the sense its as if its not there. Have tried several methods but so far nothing works.. Planning to change all the beadings at the back.
4)With the canopy on the visibility is drastically reduced. Even though there is a de fogger in the cabin glass there is non at the back. Haven’t figured out what to do there.
5)Mud flaps on all four wheels are too small for their original purpose. Have tried fitting Safari/Scorpio flaps but they are a real eye sore in Xenon.
6)Night vision was real poor but now with wider tires the problem is fixed.
7)The cabin noise got worse lets say after every 1000kms or so. Removed all seats and refitted them using better quality bush and bolts.
8) The on board clock was a real mess but got it fixed during the first service, and yes the arms does light up ones the head lamps are on.
9)City driving/parking the length of the beast was a real problem at first but now have gotten so used to her I am finding it difficult to drive any other vehicle.
10)Her road grip is fantastic, can take any curve at speed without loosing the back end just point her where you want her to go and she does the rest.
11)As the Onida advt says “Owners pride neighbors envy” in case of my beast its different it goes something like this “Owners pride everyone’s envy”. Once I had parked her next to a real expensive German car and it was as if the other car never existed, I was bombarded with all types of questions by on lookers and I really had to get out of there in a jiffy(not that I really wanted to but had to)
12) Even though the owners manual says the cargo capacity is only 250kgs I have loaded much more approximately 1.2t to 1.5t but still could not find the hay that broke the camels back.(with that load, going down hill is bit of a problem)

Will update the rest later (fuel consumption/total cost involved etc) soon.

[4x4addict]

Thanks for updating the pics. I am still on the fence. The price is putting me off from buying one.

Regarding the load carrying capacity. The official number has been reduced to allow private registration. If the load capacity is higher than the passenger capacity, then it has to get commerical plates. Mechanically the vehicle is rated for a ton load carrying capacity. The QC issues you are facing is typical Tata. Not sure why they can't get this right after all these years in products that cost close to 10 lakhs OTR. I understand shortchanging on their lower end products like Indica etc...

[GKS]

dear 4x4

You are absolutely right there regarding TATA's fantastic history they could and should have done some justice to Xenon. Its a perfect creation but not living up to the standard due poor built quality and use of cheep materials

On the other hand if you think, this problems can be attributed to teething issues(just for argument sake) may be the next generation Xenon or in that case another car from Mahindra will live up to the task.

As per getting one go ahead, close your eyes and get one. This one is "The real MUV". My average fuel cosumption is about 12kms/L city and 14kms/L on highways(With A/C on). The cabin and the cargo area are entirely separate. Load what ever you want in the back and dont worry about any foul smell or leakage into the cabin. I will soon find a solution for the leaking canopy till then i have to live with that issue.

The real problem here is that one one seem to know what to do .. Its all a trial and error basis. and any TATA authorised service center i take her they are seeing the beast for the first time. So its like this might work lets try it ...

[4x4 cruiser]

Hi GKS,

Your Xenon looks amazing, i had been to TATA showroom to buy one, their was a red colour on display with the canopy, the looks are very deceptive, if you are not aware that it is a tata vehicle you will always think its a import, looks really massive and lavish. I somehow didnt like the ride and the interiors are no match to the exterior, thus finally ended up buying a 4x4 Safari Dicor and currently living with all the possible niggles one would have heard from TATA.

[dinar]

GKS, good to read a report after a year of use.Have some question regarding issues you had.
Was the rattle from the seat only, was it solved after better bushes?
What was/is the problem that cuased the lingment not holding [tyre ware], is solved or just has to be checked and fixed few thousand kM.Any explaantion given by A.S.S.
I hope the truck is as goo d the Indica, I have one for past 10 years, still going strong, no rattles , it had it niggles in the first year but after fixing them no issues, it still rattle free.
Waiting for more photos and sevice cost and any other points.
Me to getting put off by the cost of the vehicle, may be 2011 will be the year for My truck.Hope TATA starts giving some discounts on this one like they did with the TL.

[sabretooth911]

@Gks:nice pics.
even i had couple of minor glitches with my Xenon during the course of one year,guess its part and parcel of all tata vehicles.(cabin noise being the annoying one).
One more point to add on is the poor service.Not one person in tata is trained to service Xenon XT.
other than this the car is awesome,suits my purpose as a pick-up truck for the estate and a weekend getaway vehicle.

[droolingvoyager]

@GKS nice pictures there with canopy. Please update about your ride if you can now. How does it take on to rough terrain with a lot of load, is what I am interested in. Did you face any reliability issue since now its 1 and half year old.

I am primarily looking for one Car/Pickup which I can confidently take where-ever I want, which occasionally lands up in slush and mud. I have broken my tried and tested esteem a lot of times and now looking for a change. My budget is limited and I can stretch to 10L max. My priorities are -
1. can load 5 to 7 people with comfort (for long rides exceeding 500 Kms per day, and let me add I have travelled one way more that 2.5K to reach a destination [http://*******.com/33lausw])
2. Lots of luggage space as I intend to travel for a month in a stretch. (kind of expedition)
3. can confidently tread where roads do not exist. example, once I was on a trip to Arunachal, and unfortunately we were stuck with a massive land slide in front of us and back of us. Somehow we came out of that on our Tata Siera, which we were traveling on. Fortunately we were the last ones who escaped from there. Later we came to know that a week was what army took to clean up the mess and open up the roads. I respect Siera hands down for that one event.
4. Should be easy on the pocket for a long keep (atleast 8 - 10 years)
5. Easy to maintain.

I have been eyeing on xenon as it kind of addresses almost what I need.
following vehicles are what I am considering -
1. Bolero Camper - we do not get the CRDi engine on this and the fit and finish seems a step below Xenon.
2. Scorpio Getaway - Dealer says - these do not have 4x4. I am not going to do any OTR, however when required I know 4x4 is a life saver from personal experience.

I am open to used vehicles - please suggest.

regards

[GKS]

Originally Posted by droolingvoyager

@GKS nice pictures there with canopy. Please update about your ride if you can now. How does it take on to rough terrain with a lot of load, is what I am interested in. Did you face any reliability issue since now its 1 and half year old.

I am primarily looking for one Car/Pickup which I can confidently take where-ever I want, which occasionally lands up in slush and mud. I have broken my tried and tested esteem a lot of times and now looking for a change. My budget is limited and I can stretch to 10L max. My priorities are -
1. can load 5 to 7 people with comfort (for long rides exceeding 500 Kms per day, and let me add I have travelled one way more that 2.5K to reach a destination [http://*******.com/33lausw])
2. Lots of luggage space as I intend to travel for a month in a stretch. (kind of expedition)
3. can confidently tread where roads do not exist. example, once I was on a trip to Arunachal, and unfortunately we were stuck with a massive land slide in front of us and back of us. Somehow we came out of that on our Tata Siera, which we were traveling on. Fortunately we were the last ones who escaped from there. Later we came to know that a week was what army took to clean up the mess and open up the roads. I respect Siera hands down for that one event.
4. Should be easy on the pocket for a long keep (atleast 8 - 10 years)

5. Easy to maintain.

I have been eyeing on xenon as it kind of addresses almost what I need.
following vehicles are what I am considering -
1. Bolero Camper - we do not get the CRDi engine on this and the fit and finish seems a step below Xenon.
2. Scorpio Getaway - Dealer says - these do not have 4x4. I am not going to do any OTR, however when required I know 4x4 is a life saver from personal experience.

I am open to used vehicles - please suggest.

regards

Dear voyager

Xenon 4x4 will meet all your demands except for what I have highlighted .. since I have free time now will update with full details.

[jkdas]

Good that you got the 235's, the stock looks puny! You should also add a pair for Hella's

Do you travel with 5 people onboard? If so, were they comfortable?

[droolingvoyager]

What would be the maintenance costs? I understand that you have first hand experience of the costs however, is it more of Tata quality issue or the way you drive (ie. maybe 90% bad roads). My average run is about 30% of time bad roads which includes slush and gravel.

I am very interested on this car, however if the maintenance is going to burn my pockets, I would like to avoid it.

[supremeBaleno]

Spotted this Uninor-Xenon near my home at Kerala. Somehow, the Xenon loses its butchness on adding the canopy at rear.

[fiat_tarun]

Originally Posted by droolingvoyager

.
.
.
2. Scorpio Getaway - Dealer says - these do not have 4x4. I am not going to do any OTR, however when required I know 4x4 is a life saver from personal experience.
.
.
.

BHPian MileCruncher has just booked a 4x4 Getaway. More details can be found on the following thread.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/suvs-m...getaway-4.html

[sabretooth911]

Originally Posted by droolingvoyager

What would be the maintenance costs? I understand that you have first hand experience of the costs however, is it more of Tata quality issue or the way you drive (ie. maybe 90% bad roads). My average run is about 30% of time bad roads which includes slush and gravel.

I am very interested on this car, however if the maintenance is going to burn my pockets, I would like to avoid it.

its a lovely pick up. n other than the cabin noise i dont see a reason to go to the service station.
I donno about other places but the service out here in mangalore sucks big time, some service guys have not even seen this vehicle around ,forget training in servicing it.
I got 4yrs extended warranty jus because it was a Tata vehicle. I had problems with the brake boosters initially n then i got it replaced under warranty.
you like it.. Just go for it!!!

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Spotted this Uninor-Xenon near my home at Kerala. Somehow, the Xenon loses its butchness on adding the canopy at rear.

I too have seen the Uninor Xenon's but at present neglected and dusty.Feels sorry.
BTW, to me the Xenon looks best with the canopy(a la American SUV) otherwise with a butch big size roll bar in the bed.
Without these two the Xenon looks kinda ordinary pick up(now that's not a bad thing either)