Team-BHP - Tata Hexa : Official Review

Hi Friends, this is with regards to the handling charges. When I was about to book Tata Hexa XMA, there was following news making rounds on the internet.

Tata Nexon handling charges dropped

During booking, I requested dealer to waive off the handling charges, he replied saying it can happen only if Tata Motors asks them to do so because all these charges are as specified by Tata Motors. All the Tata Motors dealers in Gurgaon are adding handling charges in the vehicle invoice so I decided to take this up with Tata Motors. I logged a complaint at their customer care, received a reply next day saying complaint has been transferred to regional office and they also shared regional sales manager contact number. I tried reaching out to him couple of times through mobile and email but all attempts went unanswered. Now I am chasing them and below is trail of events,

- After not hearing from them for almost 4 days, I called customer care again. The customer care executive told me that the complaint was being transferred to the head office and would be resolved soon.
- Nothing happened for 2 days so called them up again. This time customer care executive told me that Tata Motors is in discussion with dealer. Also pointed out that there is just an email from you but no formal complaint is registered :Shockked:. She did the needful and shared the complaint number with assurance that I will hear back from them within 48 hours.
- Nothing happened in 48 hrs. I checked with dealer he said no communication received from Tata Motors. I called up customer care again, they requested ‘sometime’ to get this resolved but were clueless about how long that ‘sometime’ would be.

Now I am not sure whether this will get resolved through this channel or needs to be escalated further, but to whom? Do Tata Motors expect each and every consumer to write to their CEO for waiving off handling charges? In comparison to the cost of the vehicle, handling charges are negligible. But it is not about the amount and more to do with the legality of the same. If handling charges are not legal then why manufacturers notify their dealers NOT to charge the same.

Mods - I am not sure if this is correct place for this post. Posting it here since it is related to Tata Hexa and there was no other dedicated thread for handling charges. There was one but was related to Hyundai.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anuruddhs (Post 4354030)

@ac3112 you can fit fog lamps and DRL at TASS, same unit which is there in XTA and many XM/XMA owners have done in NCR region at TASS itself. Costs around 12-13K for complete assembly and fitting.

Thanks Anurudhs. The engineer @ TASS (Active Automobiles) advised against it & as I expressed, I do not know why (I recall, some other member expressing the same difficulties). I shall check with other TASS in Ahmedabad. If you happen to know someone who has got it done in Ahmedabad, it would be of great help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tifosikrishna (Post 4354318)

Update:

TPMS - there's a back story to it. Had got the TPMS installed (same one that @abhi has), setup was flawless and worked well. But after the rains, when we were ready to go for our long trip, went to fill air only to find that I couldn't remove three of the sensors from the valve. Took it to service centre and with great difficulty (after trying out various types of lubricants) got it removed. I was told that it would be fine to use it and so inflated the tyres and fixed it again. Next time on the sensor (left rear to be precise) wouldn't want to get separated from the valve. Decided that it is no longer safe to use it and went to my friend's garage and got it removed (in fact it had to ripped apart). Wrote to ali express and they had their dispute resolution process or something (with some quirky processes), but seller agreed to refund the 90% of money and I shipped the product back. There on i did not try any other TPMS but promptly maintaining revised air pressure (35 to 36 PSI)

I never faced any issue in removing or re-installing the sensors. You need to use the round adapter to grip the sensor and rotate the bolt behind the sensor.

Once loose, the sensors come off easily!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Torquedo (Post 4341968)

Thanks for the kind words, Nissan.

Nano and a flagship product like the Hexa, I cannot swallow the fact that even if the Vendor is the same (should not be case after Nano PW failures in the first place), the quality checks and quality in itself can be comparable for the two products with opposite polarity.

While this experience is indeed frustrating and hope TML has attended to the problems adequately, I have a different perspective on quality.
Me, owning the Hexa and the Nano in the family, would, as a customer, demand the same standard of quality in both. The level of sophistication may be different.
In fact, it essential that a manufacturer applies the same standards of quality for the absolute entry level consumer as he would for the one on the higher end. It is a process of confidence building.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strangerintown (Post 4355133)

I absolutely hate having to choose between the 4X4 and AT besides losing TC and ESP in the bargain as well.

I pretty much would go for it if not for this! As you said its really frustrating! :Frustrati

I was reading about this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electr...bility_control

The ESP feature is usually an extension of the ABS and usually costs < 200 USD on top of the ABS. I can't believe they cannot integrate this on a top variant of a model costing 21.5L on road in Bangalore.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FirstRay (Post 4354361)

Hi Friends, this is with regards to the handling charges. When I was about to book Tata Hexa XMA, there was following news making rounds on the internet.
Tata Nexon handling charges dropped

Update:-
I called up Tata Motors customer care again today. After providing initial details (name, which vehicle, alternate contact number, city, state etc.) I need to give these each time I call them, once done, call then get transferred to complaint resolution desk. Today complaint resolution desk again told me that my complaint has already been sent to senior team and they are in discussion with dealer. While telling this, she quoted wrong dealer name (worst: the dealer name mentioned does not even deal in Hexa). I requested her to get that corrected which was done quickly with assurance that I will get a call back within 24 hrs. After the call I got sms from Tata Motors about registering the complaint but with new complaint number this time :Frustrati

In mean time I received chassis number of my vehicle. I don’t know when exactly vehicle will be available for PDI. BTW, how much time it should take for a vehicle to reach dealership once allocated to customer. I had booked it on 29th Jan and received chassis number on 6th Feb.

Quote:

Originally Posted by naddy (Post 4354510)

Hi,

Meet the AGM/GM of the concerned dealership and speak to him directly.
I am sure he will be helpful. Be polite yet firm on your reluctance to pay for the handling etc. changes :)

I can do that, or even get those charges compensated against some accessories here and there. But thought if I could get that done through Tata Motors, then it may benefit future buyers as well. Let’s see how it goes and then decide.

Quote:

Originally Posted by puntOOs (Post 4355101)

Is there any update from insiders on whether a 4x4 AT version is on the cards sometime in 2017? Or at least the current XTA with the ESP feature added?

I am no insider, but I feel 4x4 AT Hexa will never happen. Tata Motors may keep it exclusively for H7X. Not sure what is holding them back on XTA with ESP though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by puntOOs (Post 4355101)

Is there any update from insiders on whether a 4x4 AT version is on the cards some time in 2017? Or at least the current XTA with the ESP feature added?

During the Chennai launch, I spoke to a very senior management person and was categorically told that they have no plans for 4x4 with AT. Unless, something has changed between the launch and now, I don't think this will happen. I still don't understand whey they have deleted ESP in this version.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FirstRay (Post 4355477)

Update:-
I called up Tata Motors customer care again today.

Update 2:- It seemed whole machinery got into action yesterday. First, I received call from Tata Motors customer care on why new complaint with new complaint number had been registered. I was fine with it as long as new complaint had reference to the old one, as ‘age of the complaint’ is also important. In the evening dealer called me back and assured that no handling charges would be levied. Even though this is closed for my purchase now, but ideally Tata Motors should instruct theirs dealerships not to levy handling charges. If Hyundai can, then definitely Tata can do it.

Link to Hyundai News.

There is even a Team BHP thread on this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dZired (Post 4127854)

Hyundai India has stopped levying handling charges from new car buyers across the country after a two-year long legal battle with a Hyderabad-based techie.

Till the time it becomes norm, I think all future buyers should raise this with concerned dealership. Be polite yet firm on your reluctance to pay the handling charges, as suggested by @naddy :). If dealer does not agree, raise it with the manufacturer. Various social media platforms or respective customer care channels can be used to raise it with the manufacturer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4x4addict (Post 4355731)

With a big SUV like Hexa, TC and ESP would be extremely useful for highway drives in India, where sudden braking may be needed :)

I was hoping Tata would introduce this in Auto Expo 2018, but alas.

I am now in a dilemma in selecting the manual vs AT version for these + the drive modes functions

Quote:

Originally Posted by sridharj77 (Post 4356178)

I am now in a dilemma in selecting the manual vs AT version for these + the drive modes functions

I know a few other's in the same dilemma. With AWD + AT along with the TC/ESP, I feel Tata could have swayed some of the Endy/Fortuner/XUV500-AWD/AT Customer as well. Anyways, this is a company that I could never understand from the beginning. For example, you have you smallest screen in your most expensive model !!