[ramjiramu]

Hello All,

My long wait to own an SUV has come to an end with Tata Safari delivered on 31st Mar 2022.

Here is my overall decision making, buying and ownership experience.

I am no expert in mechanical parts and hence will keep it simple focusing on what my heart & brain felt. I had considered a wide range of options but will limit to few contenders.

1. Jeep Compass - My first choice and dream car, but utterly disappointed by lack of space (boot & 2nd row).
Driving pleasure is simply superb and unbeatable across all my choices. I loved the Diesel 4x4 top end model for its super silent cabin.
We got spoiled too much by Honda City's large 2nd row space and 500 ltr boot space. We carried entire world with us where ever we went.
Hence, overall sense of space and boot killed Compass for me.

2. XUV700 - My 2nd choice but can't wait for 18 months. I feel bad that I couldn't give it a fair chance by at least taking a test drive.

3. Tucson (not test driven) - Great package overall but worried about service as most parts are imported and not available easily.
Also, Tucson is seriously awaiting an upgrade to be launched in India.

4. Hyundai Alcazar - This was a wild card entry in my list. Family didn't like the looks or interiors and I wasn't super impressed with test drive.

5. MG Hector - Dealership experience over phone was poor. I asked for test drive many times but never got one.
Escalated to their customer care and they closed the ticket saying thanks for taking test drive. So, I also said thanks for not giving me test drive otherwise I would have not chosen Tata Safari.

Tata Safari test drive & buying:

Safari was not in my list and was strongly recommended by my brother and few friends.
Most of the SUV's that I shortlisted didn’t impress me and didn't have much hopes. Hence reluctantly took test drive while passing by Tata showroom on a weekend.

Test drive knocked me out in terms of many feel good factors and after few days of pondering and multiple test drives, me and my family fell for Tata Safari.

My overall feel factor across different categories for only the test driven SUV's is as below.
These are my personal parameters and thoughts. I am sure everyone feel factors will be different.



Some very interesting features that I felt were amazing.
1. Sound volume automatically reduces to lowest when reverse gear is engaged and returns back to normal when drive mode is engaged. I absolutely loved this feature.
2. Hand brake engages automatically when drive mode is set to "P" and doesn’t disengage when drive mode changed to "D". It has to be manually released by pressing the brake button.
3. Sunroof closes automatically when vehicle is locked.
4. Oberon Black has blue sparkle in the paint. It gives navy blue color when kept under sun.
5. AC cooling even under harsh sun is simply magical
6. Sound system in XZA Plus which also has subwoofer is definitely very good.
7. Brilliantly handles during quick low speed overtakes.
8. ECS kicks in very well during tight corners even at low speeds.

Some annoyances:
1. Auto AC resets to 22C every time car is locked.
2. No one touch auto up/down for all doors except driver side. Somehow for driver side, I couldn’t make it work.

Overall, it’s an absolute pleasure to drive. Its sheer size and dark looks is making heads turn and people giving way.
I have already driven around 150kms and it impressed me in every way.
Also, I feel proud to own an Indian brand and was simply wowed by Tata's work in putting this on Road.
Their showrooms and overall customer experience is at par with brands like Jeep, Hyundai & MG.

Thanks to our forum for their excellent unbiased opinions and views that helped me to choose something I started loving.
Special thanks to Kaushik's vlogs on YouTube and his drive vlogs for giving a sense of optimism with Indian car brands.

Some pictures now:

My wife did the pooja and daughter started the engine.





My BLACKY posing













Attachment 2293776



Thanks for reading and Happy Driving

[CARDEEP]

Congratulations @ramjiramu

I echo most of your observations re the vehicles that you had shortlisted. XUV700 is a tough choice to give up, but for soft seats (not suitable on long drives) & interior fit issues that I observed.

Hector was only viewed not tested as they never offered test drive despite me leaving contact details at 2 dealerships.

Coming from Aspire Diesel, engine tuning of the Compass automatic wasn’t much different. The engine performance was great but interior colour weren’t up to my liking. I wanted S variant, but could buy a small car for extra file on that.

Alcazar is there only for being the longer Creta, & is mediocre as compared to others.

I even tested the Innova Crysta but found it only better than Alcazar in terms of performance. In all other areas, except space & resale, it lags to others.

Don’t want Creta or Seltos for not being a major upgrade & safety.

Safari, along with XUV700, ticked most boxes & it could have been a tough choice if XUV700’s waiting period were similar.

Have just finalised the Safari as it offers more features over Harrier.

Yours looks majestic in Black, but I have finalised Grey. Just waiting for few bank related procedures & it will be mine in XZA+ trim.

[padmrajravi]

Originally Posted by ramjiramu

Hello All,

My long wait to own an SUV has come to an end with Tata Safari delivered on 31st Mar 2022.

Congratulations. Wish you many years of happy ownership. The Safari in black looks gorgeous. This is one car where I just can not find any scope for modification to improve the looks. The XUV700 just can not match the looks of Safari. In fact, no car in that bracket has the road presence of a Safari.

[ramjiramu]

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

Have just finalized the Safari as it offers more features over Harrier.
Yours looks majestic in Black, but I have finalized Grey.

Thanks for the kind words.
Daytona Grey looks fantastic, I have seen one on road recently and its a head turner too

[ramjiramu]

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

In fact, no car in that bracket has the road presence of a Safari.

Thanks @padmrajravi
I felt the same in looks department in this bracket.
I am planning for chrome door handles alone as part of modification in next few months similar to your Fortuner.
I believe, this small chrome element in the entireness of blackness will elevate the looks much further.

[neel911]

Safari is a looker and comes with some nice colours. For someone looking for 5 seater, I wish they add those missing features to Harrier from Safari(Auto Hold as an example). How is the car to drive/manoeuvre in the city as I've heard the steering is a bit heavy compared to XUV700?

I'm wondering why Tata is not giving AWD option in Safari/Harrier. For someone looking for mild off roading or needs that extra traction on slippery roads, they need to move to XUV 700. Let's hope TATA sends both cars for GNCAP as that is another advantage XUV 700 has with 5 star rating.

[irdevanand]

Originally Posted by ramjiramu

Hello All,
My long wait to own an SUV has come to an end with Tata Safari delivered on 31st Mar 2022.
Attachment 2293776

Congratulations and best wishes for a fuss free ownership and thousands of happy (s)miles. Saw one dark safari in our apartment last evening and it looked absolutely stunning. I think the ugly big eye of harrier/safari + the chrome grill is softened out very well ONLY in this color and this why it looks so very good.


Regards
Dev

[ramjiramu]

Originally Posted by neel911

How is the car to drive/manoeuvre in the city as I've heard the steering is a bit heavy compared to XUV700?

I am driving in some of the worst and congested roads in Pune everyday for 40kms.
Mostly speeds are below 30kmph due to heavy traffic and road repair works. I rarely get an opportunity to even cross 80kmph.
Believe me, steering is a breeze even at low speeds. I didn't find the steering hard at all.

I had been dodging road snails like water tankers & construction trucks in tight spaces.
I had been effortlessly overtaking insane driving rickshaw wala's and bikers.
I will soon share my dashcam footage to show how effortless Safari is in this urban jungle.

Originally Posted by irdevanand

I think the ugly big eye of harrier/safari + the chrome grill is softened out very well ONLY in this color and this why it looks so very good.

Thanks Dev.
I preferred Dark edition for the same reasons. The all black interiors are also game changers here.
Black interiors are giving a discreet look of insides from outside and occupants enjoy a sense of privacy.

[abacusv]

Congratulations @ramji. I should say we share the close date of owning the black beauty. I got my car delivered on march 30th XZA+ Dark edition.

While the car looks stunning and drive experience is cool, I think the Tata dealership for this kind of classy car should upgrade how they run the Showroom.

Most of the details have been discussed here but, even after so much noise from owners and forum here the bugs are not rectified.

The infotainment system is really low class, Didnt expect this kind of work from Harman.
Touch response is poor sometimes it wont work at all. And there is no restart, I guess the system offs only when the ignition is off and the door is opened else it keeps running even when we select off from the touch console. So if you end up having buggy situation and if it requires a reboot, you got to stop the car, off the engine and open the door.( Really who designs something like this?).

The USB reading fails sometimes, Apple car play fails to connect sometimes. It takes a while to show up the caller id when we receive a call.

Another strange bug which is really annoying.
1. Carry the key in your pocket and you can open the door, start the car without actually unlocking.. Cool right? NOOOO .. the side mirrors dont open.. I mean the Quality team must really be under paid I am sure to have missed this.

2. Safari hasnt released their Safety Test results, with these many obvious so easily visible bugs, I wonder if they will ever meet the safety norms. I doubt they will. I think we will end up living with the same old tata nitty gittys.

I may find more bugs, I will continue to post them. Mean while if current owners have faced these issue and got it fixed in someway please share, it will help many like me.

Thanks,

[Rolling_Stock]

Originally Posted by abacusv

Touch response is poor sometimes it wont work at all. And there is no restart, I guess the system offs only when the ignition is off and the door is opened else it keeps running even when we select off from the touch console. So if you end up having buggy situation and if it requires a reboot, you got to stop the car, off the engine and open the door.( Really who designs something like this?).

No doubt that the infotainment units is buggy, but there is an option available for rebooting the system without switching off the engine and opening the door.


All you need to do is to press both Volume and Mode selection manual buttons simultaneously which results in abrupt block-out and reboot which will take ~20s time.

Cheers !!

[SinghP09]

Originally Posted by SinghP09

The problem is with the USB ports around the arm rest. The one on the dashboard works just fine.


Accessories - I added the genuine accessory auto IRVM a couple of weeks back.

Update on the USB Issue, the fuse keeps blowing up. They have replaced it twice. They will be changing the USB ports next time if they stop working again. Funny thing is if keeps working at the service center but stops working next day. I haven't tested it after I came back from the service center.


Accessories update - Got the seat covers from Autoform.


Next in line-

1. A subwoofer - still not sure if i should get one, and will under seat active subwoofer will suffice and will it really make any difference.

2. A Dashcam

3. A decently fitting Car seat cover for my dog for last seat. - any suggestions welcome.

4. Stock yellow headlight bulbs replacement with White ones. Only direct replacement. Suggestions welcome.

Here is a view from inside the car

[SinghP09]

Originally Posted by SinghP09

Accessories update - Got the seat covers from Autoform

@mods i don't see the option to edit the last post. Please merge if you can. Thanks

Apologies for bad light pics in last post. Here are the daylight. Cost is a little high at 17.5 for these but they look and feel awesome.

pics

[revved_up]

Congrats on your new Safari. I also joined the bandwagon in feb and have completed 2000 kms till now. All good so far

Originally Posted by ramjiramu

2. Hand brake engages automatically when drive mode is set to "P" and doesn’t disengage when drive mode changed to "D". It has to be manually released by pressing the brake button.

If driver is wearing the seat belt, just put the car in D and press the accelarator, parking brake will disengage automatically.

Originally Posted by ramjiramu

1. Auto AC resets to 22C every time car is locked.

It wont if you dont manually turn off the AC before turning off the ignition.

Originally Posted by ramjiramu

2. No one touch auto up/down for all doors except driver side. Somehow for driver side, I couldn’t make it work.

Hold the button in up or down position for about 2 secs and auto up/down will work.

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

The Safari in black looks gorgeous. This is one car where I just can not find any scope for modification to improve the looks. .

Agree completely, specially the Dark edition with all chrome deleted. The only two modifications i have done are switching to 4200K Leds for Hgh beam and swapped the Horn to a Trumpet(skoda) one.
The only other thing i will consider might be switching to led fog lamps and install a wireless charger.

Originally Posted by abacusv

Another strange bug which is really annoying.
1. Carry the key in your pocket and you can open the door, start the car without actually unlocking.. Cool right? NOOOO .. the side mirrors dont open.. I mean the Quality team must really be under paid I am sure to have missed this.

It does work in my car. I just move up to the car, press the button on the handles, car unlocks and mirrors fold out. I get in the car and i can start and drive off without taking the key out of my pocket. If this isnt working for you, there is something wrong somewhere. Suggest you reach out to service center.

Originally Posted by abacusv

2. Safari hasnt released their Safety Test results, with these many obvious so easily visible bugs, I wonder if they will ever meet the safety norms. I doubt they will. I think we will end up living with the same old tata nitty gittys.

Thanks,

You are right, there is aparently an issue with the oil filter placement in the Fiat sourced 2.0 engine. Under impact it can intrude into cabin near the ABC pedals causing Safari/Harrier to lose crucial points and missing the 5 star. Guess TATA is working on this and once this is resolved, Safari/Harrier will be sent for GNCAP Test.

[revved_up]

Mods: Duplicate post, please delete.

[SinghP09]

Originally Posted by revved_up

Agree completely, specially the Dark edition with all chrome deleted. The only two modifications i have done are switching to 4200K Leds for Hgh beam and swapped the Horn to a Trumpet(skoda) one.
The only other thing i will consider might be switching to led fog lamps and install a wireless charger.

I bought my Safari XT plus white in Feb and have completed 3000 km so far. Not a day goes by when I don't think about how I should have gone for the dark edition.

I really have zero idea the headlight assembly but want to switch to white lights. I am looking to understand if it will be possible by just switching the bulbs, if yes, which one to go for?
The accessories shop where I got my seat covers from, told me it can be done and cost will start from 4k for a pair but I would rather do my homework before going back.