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Fyi, my service advisor advised me get my battery changed as a precaution since its been 3 years. They observed that once the vehicle crosses the 3 years mark the battery, which seems absolutely fine dies one fine day just like that. So ya just thought it would be helpful if I shared it here.

Our Hexa battery died in the exact fashion, even a heart attack will give 3 beats notice :-)
It happened in an extremely narrow lane and car was loaded to the brim.

This is very true. Last October my Hexa battery died just like that. I had driven from Trivandrum to Tirunelveli with three stops in between. Just when I reached my place at Tirunelveli I switched off the engine and wanted to reverse to park properly. I crank the ignition and no response, even the MID lights were dead. I knew battery is dead. It was 38 months old.

Luckily I was not stranded in the highway or any of those small narrow roads enroute, otherwise it would have been a lot of trouble. I rang up the local TASS who sent RSA crew in a Tata Nano to jumpstart the car and I drove down to their place to replace the battery with Tata Green battery. I had no choice with the brand they offered, with only 2 year warranty/shelf life and had to pay a little higher than prevailing online rate but at least grateful that I was able to fix in 1 hour.

Just a month before the trip, my regular TASS at Bangalore cautioned me to replace the battery which I ignored rather was a bit overconfident and thought it would last another 3 months.:Frustrati So my request is if your battery is 3 years old just change it for peace of mind. Thank God I wasn't stranded in the Ghat road from Trivandrum during my pitstop for tea. I realise I was just lucky!

Which is the stock battery in (this) Hexa. I had this issue with my replacement Exide on the Storme.

Amaron, and even SF Sonic earlier lived a normal life :)

Mine came with Amaron. I think some got Tata green batteries as well. Fearing this sudden death, I replaced my battery at 3 years mark even though it did not show any symptoms. I think the manufacturer-supplied batteries are different from what we purchase outside with 44 months warranty. Those may be a special lot that is negotiated for bulk order and designed to fail at exactly the 2-3 year markrl:Just speculation though. I have seen many OEM batteries die suddenly at 2-3 year mark and the second set lasting 5 years.

Same here. I got the Amaron from Factory. I am aware of the issues reported with sudden death of battery. I am planning to wait out some more time as I am still using in city trips, however if a long distance trip comes up, I would first get this changed. Besides now at 3.5 yrs, I have already started seeing a small increase in crank time.

As marked earlier, I am in market for a reliable 7 seater.
It would be my primary vehicle for commuting within Pune city traffic, a weekend drive as well as 2-3 times a year of Pune-Rajasthan trip.

Family of 4 (me, wife and two boys who are growing faster then I anticipated) and occasionally visited by parents.

With above requirement, what would you recommend?
1) New Ertiga Vxi at 10L
Vs
2) Pre-owned Hexa XT (2017, 60k km) 6S at 11.5L

Has any of the hexa owners faced a sagging roof/ head liner?


One of the pre-owned Hexa I am evaluating has the roof liner coming off at the rear.
I want to access if this is something very serious or a usual thing to be repaired. If later, estimate the bill amount.

If you are fine with a pre owned car than definitely go for the Tata Hexa. You'll be getting a much safer car which punches a lot above its price class. The car you're considering being a 2017 model came before all the feature deletations by Tata.

Hexa is a tad cumbersome to navigate within congested cities such as Pune. The length will make it difficult to park on narrow streets.
That apart, a 2017 XT should cost no more than 9 lakhs, that too if in excellent condition.

Its not a usual thing of course - but its fixable pretty easily also. So not a huge worry IMO.
This I think would be a bit too optimistic. Unless there are chronic problems - nobody will sell a 3 year old Hexa in good condition at 50% depreciation almost. I'd be OK to pay 11L for it without much hesitation if the car is actually in a good condition mechanically (and has insurance cover for next 6 months or so).

Base price of the XT was 16 odd lakh ex showroom for the XT in 2017. Why should it cost 11 lakh after 4 years and 60+ k kms?
Moreover Hexa is an out of production car with low sales figure and almost negligible demand in the market. The owner can wish the sun and moon for his vehicle but in reality this car can be had for cheap.
A brand new Ertiga for Rs 10 lakh is certainly a better value proposition than an old Hexa for Rs 11.5 lakh.

I think Hexa and Ertiga (XL6) are class apart. Even if Hexa in question is 4 year old, I think a resale price of 10+ lacs justifies the features, built quality and safety features. Not to forget, getting a vehicle from two segments above.
The whole decision based based on production shutdown, in my view is very myopic. With new models coming up every year or so, many cars that way should loose demand in resale market.

Besides Hexa was never a mass car, it was mostly bought for its built quality and appeal to Urban SUV buyers looking for safety and comfort. Even now people who bought it as a love for superior built quality, comfort and as a safe, reliable highway cruiser, vouch for it.

Buying a HEXA also demonstrates one's mindset to choose over something built for safety, comfort and long drives as against something built to cost for a mass appeal. While a good Resale value affects the decision making, it is not comparable to the joy and satisfaction of living with a well built, comfortable Safe car. As they say, Quality is long remembered even after price is forgotten!!

A brand new Ertiga at 10 lakh odd is definitely better than Hexa at 11.5 lakh. The only problem is that an Ertiga ZXi costs 11.4 on road Kerala. And it still has only two airbags. And compare the driver side view of a Hexa to Ertiga and you may never think about that Ertiga again. To be fair, if you are looking at a manual, I would still pick the Ertiga for the peace of mind. Automatic is a different ball game though.

I would agree and disagree with you on this. Agreed on Hexa being a better car than the XL6. However, it's still a MUV with nothing special/desirable when compared to truly desirable products like a true blue SUV, an off-roader or a performance sedan/hatch.
Considering the above, in terms of pure reliable people moving a brand new Maruti is a better bet than a 4 year old Tata. Especially since one can't qualify how well the earlier owner maintained his/her car and how badly it was abused.
The Hexa automatic doesn't have any safety feature like ebd, rollover mitigation etc when compared with the manual. The XT has long throws, rubbery shift, long travel clutch and harder steering when compared with the XL6, not to mention a pain to park and maneuver within the city.
Also the post creator should negotiate and bargain down a sales dud like Hexa when and as he can. If not, the Maruti makes for a better bet

Roofliner is certainly fixable. Not very expensive either. 10-grand job at best. These soft to touch roofliners tend to sag down if the car in question is exposed to heat over prolonged period of time. A lot of VAGs which use a similar material for the roofliner do have this problem too.