[AJ-got-BHP]

Originally Posted by black_rider

Can you please elaborate, why is it not the best place for coolant reservoir?

Seen it in the SX4 and the case is same here as it is prone to damage with any front impact/ collision if the hood gets impacted. In addition to that, restricts view to the engine bay.

[GrammarNazi]

Originally Posted by parsh

This is not the correct way to get inside 3rd row.

There is a lever on side of seat base used to fold down the backrest....

and then the lever below the seat base to tumble seat forward making ingress/egress easy, although it is a 2 step process.

No, the captain seats don't tumble down. Only the bench seats tumble down. That lever on the side of the seat is for the lumbar support.

The captain seats can only be lifted as such, and only small children may be able to use this. Adults will need to use the isle to come out. This was also recommended during the Hexa Experience Zone event.

[black_rider]

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

Seen it in the SX4 and the case is same here as it is prone to damage with any front impact/ collision if the hood gets impacted. In addition to that, restricts view to the engine bay.

Radiator would be the first thing to leak coolant in a frontal crash, as its located ahead of the reservoir. About restricting view to the engine bay, well, the reservoir is a very integral part of engine bay!
That bay is tight on space. Maybe there was no other location to place it.

[parsh]

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

I know buddy !! The service center guys suggested the use the 2nd Row isle to get into the 3rd row instead. I guess it is a wiser option.

AJ, my mis-information. Bucket seats don't tumble down.

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

No, the captain seats don't tumble down. Only the bench seats tumble down. That lever on the side of the seat is for the lumbar support.

The captain seats can only be lifted as such, and only small children may be able to use this. Adults will need to use the isle to come out. This was also recommended during the Hexa Experience Zone event.

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

1. No, the captain seats don't tumble down. Only the bench seats tumble down.

2. That lever on the side of the seat is for the lumbar support.

3. The captain seats can only be lifted as such, and only small children may be able to use this. Adults will need to use the isle to come out. This was also recommended during the Hexa Experience Zone event.

1. Yes, confirmed, the Captain Seats don't tumble down.
Although was given that impression by the representative at the show yesterday and did not and was not able to try it self due to rush around. Guess got ill informed about this one.

One of the representative was also of the opinion that the rotary dial in AWD, is there in 4X2 as well, inspite of reasoning with him about the instrument LCD display showing 4X4 and the dial implying various terrain traction modes.

2. Yes, the lever on the side of the Seat Back is for Lumbar support.

However, the lever as I was referring to at the side of the Seat Base was supposed to tumble it down. But, it does not tumble down. It only reclines the seats by a small margin and very hard to use too as I just checked at a dealership, on way back from work.

In case of Bench, this recliner function is given with a pullable strap at top of Seat Back besides Head Rest. This recliner also tumbles down the bench seats.

3. Yes they can be lifted but can also be reclined using the lever I referred above and earlier.
However, it is very dangerous proposition to use in this hung state by children also as there is nothing to hold it down and can easily be cause of any mishap with children. Best to use aisle passage by anybody, which seems to be the correct way. I never let anyone use our Innova seats in hung state to get to 3rd row, but make sure to tumble them down necessarily.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

We generally tend to believe they may not be realising this, but its often been discussed in the forum about how very far would a longer term warranty go in terms of vehicle reliability and even resale - the primary concerns of a Tata car buyer (if we ignore A.S.S concerns). But there don't seem many realistic steps from TATA - things like the Service App help, but its not a solid USP as such.

If just the aspect about exceptional extended warranty is covered in the Launch (like the Crysta has a 7-yr optional warranty add-on package), then it'd help as a competitive selling point.

As things are today, you buy an Innova AT for 25L and a Hexa AT for (let's assume) 20L. 6 years later, when you sell them after clocking 1lakh km, will the difference in selling price also be 5lakh rupees? It will be much more. No matter how good Hexa is, this is where Toyota wins. Buying a Toyota simply makes more business sense. Innova/Fortuner pay you back when you sell them, and this is a fact. Toyota's entire pricing model is based on this one single point. Perception and abysmal resale are perhaps Tata's biggest weakness, especially in the eyes of the premium buyer This is why Tata must come up with assured buyback schemes.

The idea is that you are telling the customer that the past is the past. It doesn't matter what the used car market reputation is. You go buy a new Tata with full confidence. We trust our product. We are willing to guarantee fair value if you sell it back to us. Of course, a 5 or 7 year no questions asked warranty will only help.

It'd have been advertised hard if the number was significant. Demonitisation has definitely dented bookings, felt so from the interaction with dealership guys at the Hexa Experience event.

I really doubt the relevance of the pre-booking numbers when the booking amount is as low as 11000/- and is fully refundable. The picture will become clear after the announcement of the price.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

Coming to some of the Photographs taken during the Test Drive :
Under the Hood :
Attachment 1595837
[i]Note :
1.) A horizontal engine set up

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post2103550

Incidentally the XUV does the opposite!

Regards
Sutripta

[aviat18]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

As things are today, you buy an Innova AT for 25L and a Hexa AT for (let's assume) 20L. 6 years later, when you sell them after clocking 1lakh km, will the difference in selling price also be 5lakh rupees? It will be much more. No matter how good Hexa is, this is where Toyota wins.

I am afraid you have not accounted for the opportunity cost of saving 5 lakhs upfront. 5 lakhs saved today will be worth almost 8 lakhs after 6 years even at a modest 8% return pa. I am sure we can do a lot better than 8%. My 2 cents.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by aviat18

I am afraid you have not accounted for the opportunity cost of saving 5 lakhs upfront. 5 lakhs saved today will be worth almost 8 lakhs after 6 years even at a modest 8% return pa. I am sure we can do a lot better than 8%. My 2 cents.

We are perhaps going a bit off topic here, but it isn't just plain numbers. Its about the brand. Toyota built their's little by little, just like how Tata destroyed their's. I am putting Rs 2 million of my hard earned money on your product. I am going to be finicky. Its just the way things are. Only getting the product right is not good enough, there is some serious baggage too. We can't deny that Tata does suffer from a problem of perception.

Now that they want us, the premium customer, to believe they have turned over a new leaf, they have to put their money where their mouth is. If dealers go around telling existing costumers they are going to get peanuts for their cars, that's not going to help anyone.

[Tanveer_2558]

Had gone to the HEXA experience at BKC, Signed up for the Off - Road and On Road test drive, I have to give it to TATA! They had everything under control and the event was pretty well executed, Everyone was eager to show you the car or help you in anyway needed!

Coming to the car, It looks good, Interiors in terms of looks its good, Not very good or excellent, But the quality is TOP Notch! Doesn't feel like a TATA Car at all! The screen is pretty small for my liking though, And Totally loved the seats, They were just very comfortable, The Off road experience was good, And have to give it to TATA for trying to prove their product being capable, BUT !

When it came to the Test drive on the Road, I was TRUELY disappointed! I had gone to the event after a drive from Lonavala directly to BKC in my XUV W10 AWD, Hopped in the car, The interiors feels nice, Seats were very good, I was impressed, But the moment you start driving it you realise there is something wrong! The Engine may have more power on paper but if you compare it to the XUV in the real world, The difference is pretty big, Drive both the car side by side and you'll be amazed to see how easily the XUV gains speed and is easy to drive, To get the Hexa moving took sometime, The weight and the whole car can be felt very big, Unlike the XUV which drives like a sedan, I was driving the MT version which was the 2nd biggest blunder, Found it to be very very notchy and rubbery! 3rd biggest issue for me was the steering, You won't have to visit to the gym for your arms exercise!

In short :

Positives :
Looks good
Good amount of features
Ride quality
Interior Quality

Negatives :
Not At All fun to drive
Rubbery & Notchy MT
Heavy steering


These are just my observations after driving the XUV 500, If you will drive the car on your own, Look else where i feel, If you will be driven, GET IT! Its very comfortable, Seats will welcome you and you'll always feel nice with the interior quality.

[docjoe]

Hello everybody. I am posting on the forum, per se, after quite some time.

I am posted in Lucknow currently. The local Tata dealer, Motor Sales, was very quick in sending an AT 4x2 for the test ride. The sales rep was a youngster with hardly any detailed knowledge of vehicles, per se but knew enough of his product to satisfy a standard, non-techie kind of a customer.

The absolutely first impression was that the vehicle didn't look as large as it actually is. Definitely, it didn't seem to come on to you, in the manner of the XUV.

Other members here have written extensively about their TD experience so I shall not add to that; my take was pretty much the same. Some personal observations are:

1. The power steering seemed so effortless that lady drivers are going to love it. I drove thru the tight confines of my office block, many left and right turns, parking straight in and in reverse, start/stop etc. The car moved almost as an extension of my physical self. Yes, it was uncanny.

2. If the visual effect is of a smaller vehicle, then the drive strengthened this feeling even further. Not on a single occasion did it feel like a 2.2 ton, 4.8 meter long SUV/MPV, behemoth whatever you term it. Instead, it behaved exactly like a standard 3 box sedan. Very strange but very welcome.

3. Despite the published comparison between the performance of the XUV the Hexa, the latter can be deceptively fast. I moved out of the cantonment and on to the Lucknow Faizabad highway. The AT box moved very smoothly thru the gears with just a normal blip to indicate the change up. Casually looking at the speedo, I was stunned to notice that we were doing 120. It seemed so effortless - the acceleration was gentle, NVH was almost non-existent, the steering nice and light without being lifeless - that on highways, over-speeding this car is likely to become a real problem!

4. The one big difference between this and the XUV (IMO, its only, real competitor) is that while every single model of the Hexa is RWD, only the 4 x4 model of the XUV has the rear wheels driven. So, despite the lower power to weight ratio, the Hexa is likely to be much more capable off-road, even in 4 x 2 form, than the 4 x 2 XUV.

I have been promised a TD of the MT Hexa on 21 Jan - I visited the showroom and checked out the Arizona Blue static model there with the MT. Didn't think the MT box, at least at standstill, was as rubbery as is being brought out. One website spoke of long throws of the gear lever. Wel, I like my vehicles to have a slightly longer than normal throw to give me the feeling of a distinct and positive shift from gear to gear.

I would like:

5. An option to change the default wheel/tyre offer on the top MT version from 19 inch rims to 16 inch ones, with the appropriate tyres. This can easily be done by offering the set on the Storme on the Hexa and reducing the price accordingly.

My wife and kids stay in Pune. I am still uncertain of whether to get this beast or the VW Vento for them...

[handsofsteel]

Went to Concorde motors, Prabhadevi yesterday at 1700 hrs with wife in tow for a TD during rush hour. Dropped in unannounced to check out nano amt/ Tiago (option 1 - either one of them as a second car) and the hexa(option 2-the only car). After having heard of terrifying waits, was really surprised to hear the SA say, sir, all 3 cars available for TD. Wife liked the tiago but had to rule out out as it didn't have an auto option. Checked out the nano, made sense economically but somehow the interiors didn't tick that box. Saw the hexa Arizona bleu(was littered with droppings and loads of dust from the experience event at bkc the day before). It was the manual variant so wifey was not interested, when suddenly the AT trooped in post a TD. Wife drove it in rush hour traffic replete with u turns and bumper to bumper traffic. Had just driven a Xuv5oo w10 at. Following were her observations-
1. Poor ergonomics during egress with knees bumping against the corner of the dash. She's 5'8". I had the same issue a few days ago and am 6'2". Why Tata, why?
2. Extremely responsive brakes(much much better than the wooden brakes of the Xuv w10 at).
3. Steering- great feel, finish.
4. Ride quality- far superior to Xuv
5. Interiors- far superior to Xuv
6. Accelerator pedal- Xuv was more responsive from a stop.
7. Captain seats in the middle row- awesome but why don't they go back/ recline fully? How will our kids sleep?
8. Front arm rest- useless. Hey where are the cup holders?
9. Glove box- great looks(stitched leather etc, but poor plastics when compared to our civic). However, leagues ahead of the xuv.
10. Middle row doors/ boot door- very very heavy. Didn't like it (I loved the solidity).
11. Ovrms- no auto fold on shut off, why Tata why?
12. Boot space- no issues.
13. Turning radius- hmm... The jury is still out on this.
14. Size-The vehicle is big enough(read wide) to force you to think twice before entering narrow roads(could be common to all suvs, me being a sedan guy so far).
15. Sound quality- what's that? (She was petrified driving the huge vehicle in traffic) and therefore paid no attention to what was playing. however, she was impressed at the end of the TD.
16. Showroom response- great!! Much better than Hyundai/ Toyota!
17. Asked the SA the tentative price and were told that TATA have forbidden them from giving out anything till the 18th.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by handsofsteel

9. Glove box- great looks(stitched leather etc, but poor plastics when compared to our civic).

I thought it is an imitation of the stitched leather but essentially a moulded plastic part. Isn't it so?

[handsofsteel]

Originally Posted by Guna

I thought it is an imitation of the stitched leather but essentially a moulded plastic part. Isn't it so?

It certainly seems so, however, I didn't examine it thoroughly as I was busy motivating my wife to take the behemoth onto the road. The rush hour TD was a surprise for her which she would've never agreed had she known.
The extent of our examination was therefore restricted to things that were glaring, in this instance, the glove box looked so beautifully finished, We had to open it, and in doing so, didn't find the plastic so impressive.

[Eddy]

The car is on display in Cyberhub Gurgaon today, in case anyone is interested to check it out. And boy, it looks smashing in that deep blue color and sexy alloys.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by aviat18

I am afraid you have not accounted for the opportunity cost of saving 5 lakhs upfront. 5 lakhs saved today will be worth almost 8 lakhs after 6 years even at a modest 8% return pa. I am sure we can do a lot better than 8%. My 2 cents.

+1 to that.

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

We are perhaps going a bit off topic here, but it isn't just plain numbers. Its about the brand. Toyota built their's little by little, just like how Tata destroyed their's. I am putting Rs 2 million of my hard earned money on your product.

Since it's our hard earned that we are talking about, we have to consider the VFM or ROI too while making decisions. And many BHPians have shared that they found the Hexa to have a much better ride comfort, and even performance than the Crysta. Now, if you are paying significantly less for a vehicle which you like more, isn't it a win-win situation?

Originally Posted by Tanveer_2558

3rd biggest issue for me was the steering, You won't have to visit to the gym for your arms exercise!

Negatives :
Heavy steering

While everyone has been consistent regarding XUV being faster than the Hexa, I am confused with the feedback of steering feel. While some of you are comparing it with gym, some others feel it's so light that ladies will love it. And few Bhpians have been with their better half for TDs. They don't seem to complain either. Which is true?

I am yet to try my hands on a Hexa and don't have an opinion of my own. I am just wondering due to stark difference in feedback.

Originally Posted by docjoe

1. The power steering seemed so effortless that lady drivers are going to love it. I drove thru the tight confines of my office block, many left and right turns, parking straight in and in reverse, start/stop etc. The car moved almost as an extension of my physical self. Yes, it was uncanny.