[charade]

For all the good folks saying that the OP shouldn't have taken delivery: do you know of anyone who has done something like that and got a replacement vehicle?

I am not being snarky, it's a genuine question. I have never heard of anyone doing something like this and benefitting.

We had an issue when taking delivery of our Mahindra Renault Logan in 2008. There was a small chink on one of the doors. Wasn't as bad as the OPs situation for sure. But nothing we could do about it. It was take it or leave it.

You've paid the money. You can leave the car lying around the dealership but I don't think that is going to guilt trip the dealer or the manufacturer to replace the car. Also, I think there will be numerous legal issues - the car is registered and you can't undo these things easily. The only option would be go to Court. And any large company will have their entire legal department while the small guy will be running from pillar to post. I don't think many people have the patience and time to do these things.

The issue, as pointed out in some posts, is that the laws in India are inadequate.

[Neversaygbye]

Originally Posted by JJo

Any advice on the issue?

Just to add one more point to the advice everyone else has given - if the problem is neither the sensor nor water in fuel, you should also ask the ASC to check the ignition system. I had a similar water in fuel check light problem in my Vista and my car would suddenly not start as well (despite cranking) on the first few attempts and it was finally traced to a problem with the ignition system. It's been two years since it was fixed and the problem has never resurfaced in this time.

I do hope that this is a genuine case of water in fuel though - that will surely be a relief for you.

[SN88]

Originally Posted by invidious

Few things come to mind. Probably written it before but here goes

1. Gadkari is proactive. He needs to introduce a lemon law. Any new issue in a car within first 3 weeks and you automatically get full refund or a replacement

2. Tata has engineering pedigree. One can't doubt that. I'd still trust it over some Chinese brands. But perhaps they are overloading their cars with electronics and bells and whistles which are outside the scope of actual automotive engineering? I have a feeling that's where the Koreans and Japanese with their Samsung, Sony, LG, Panasonic etc. have an advantage.

At the end of the day, there is so much information that a car gives the use that at some point it is just useless. A great ICE, distance to empty tank and some trip info should be more than sufficient for most people.

I have always been so keen on getting a Tata car or a European car. Last Euro cars I had were a Linea and a Vento and both were excellent except for the the After Sales. Now I have a couple Suzuki and a Hyundai and I couldn't be happier. Sure, the Europeans were firmer, better built and fun to drive. But the wait for parts and shoddy service was just not worth it. I have a feeling Tata is in the same boat.

Exactly. A company cannot just include everything under the sun and put it all together without having the expertise or absolute knowledge of the newer tech. Why not progress gradually? Tata made great strides in the build quality , design language etc. They outsourced the engine and gear box so why not ace the aspect of just getting everything together and sorting the niggles etc by the time saved by outsourcing the parts. Imagine if they had to make the engines and gear boxes as well. How many more glitches?

The amount of information many cars these days are giving out and the technology they are trying to incorporate haphazardly without bullet proof testing is kind of appalling. Tata and Mahindra need to ensure if they add a feature or a newer tech then they should have absolute knowledge how to deal with it, rather than say " loose wire" for every glitch that happens.

Having tech overpower ones own ability to use it is similar to somebody taking in steroids without proper medical consultation.

[soorya_sKa]

Originally Posted by gk.pavan

I am sure TML is reading this thread and this issue is unresolved for many days. Heck, the thread is now 7 pages long. Instead of a SA visiting the place, a senior member from Service center should quickly visit and atleast find the real issue. If TML is lucky, it could be a quick fix. Or at least assuage the customer that there is a serious technical attempt is being made.

Off the cuff:

TML may be worried that by giving a replacement, it will lead to a bigger PR disaster.. Headline/Clickbait writers will have a field day. "Tata replaces a brand new 25+ Lac Safari within a week" or allow me to be cheeky.. "Pray your next car is not Safari, coz this customers car broke down at temple itself before reaching home".

Fixing the issue won't repair the lack of confidence in the car. How can we trust such a vehicle to function properly on a long trip? Especially once there are a couple miles on the odo, how can I trust that the car will work properly?
Furthermore, seeing their lax attitude now, what would happen if the car breaks down somewhere remote, unreachable? Can't expect an on demand heli-lift then, can I?

On a more serious note, this is why I believe anything less than a replacement is not acceptable. And if they had given us a replacement proactively, by now, the news could have been used as a testament for their commitment to customers. Well, one can dream.

Originally Posted by Abhi1990

Seems like Tata wants to just wants to suppress this incident as soon as possible. But i guess we should use social meria to make an impact here with the trend so that Tata listens.

Yes, that is the aim. The more they supress, the more we'll publicize the issue. But tbh, we want them to accept their mistake, take responsibility and replace the bloody car.

[JithinR]

Originally Posted by soorya_sKa

The regional customer care manager had called and their stance is still "Replacement is out of the question and what they can do is cover these things under warranty. The warranty covers everything and they'll speak to the vendor who supplied the part and if required they'll replace the part. But replacing the entire vehicle is out of his purview." When enquired about the fact that the vehicle malfunctioned on D-Day, as in even before you could say the warranty period has begun, his argument was that "you have chosen a world-class brand and 100s of customers are satisfied with Safari." He simply doesn't accept that this car and its condition contradicts the customer care baloney that he keeps repeating.

I guess they might be satisfied, but definitely NOT US.

I really hope you guys are recording all these calls. I wouldn't hesitate to name these gems that TATA has employed.

These are the kind of idiots that TATA should fire. They simply don't have the common sense or rather the empathy to deal with customers who are already suffering by choosing to go with TATA.

I understand the seriousness of asking to let someone go but TATA needs to trains their employees on having basic empathy (what is point of telling someone who is thinking that he just blew 20+L of his hard earned money that many Harriers on the road are fine...does this idiot not know how QC processes work?).

I had the misfortune of having to deal with one of their TATA dealership CRMs. I didn't even know that TATA had its own CRMs. Not that they seem to better at thier jobs.

On another note, the kind of excuses that this guy is giving out is exactly the kind of crap that owners face when they post issues with their TATA cars on social media. A bunch of guys will proceed to liberally abuse the owner and tell him how their cars are running fine (looking at the comments you would think that TATA sells more cars in this country than Maruti).

[Gamerk]

Originally Posted by JJo

I just took delivery of Safari XZA on 26-May & drove it back to my house ~12km away. Since lock down is going on, couldn't take it out for a spin.

However, since kids were exited, today, I thought of driving a small circle in basement itself - to my horror I saw 'water in fuel' indicator blinking. I tried to restart, hoping it will disappear but it kept on blinking.



Any advice on the issue? the user manual just says: "The lamp remains on continuously if excess water is accumulated in the fuel filter. Contact the TATA MOTORS Authorised service centre to drain the water immediately to avoid serious damage to the fuel injection sys-tem."

First of all, congratulations on the new car!!

Secondly, don't worry, it's nothing major. I think the light is supposed to be constantly "ON" if there's actually water in the Diesel. It's blinking because the sensor has gone kaput.

I know this because one day, our Tiago's oil pressure warning light started blinking, called up T.A.S.S and they said it's blinking because the sensor has gone bad.
Drove it till the service centre, they fixed it and it hasn't come back.

Cheers

[rkw]

I think reliability & quality don't go well with Tata cars. Our first new car was an Indica. It was well maintained & serviced only at the ASS. Because of that, it never broke down during journeys. But I feel most of the parts except engine & transmission had undergone replacement. I used to keep consumables like coolant, oils etc. in stock for emergencies. Cost & efforts of maintenance is definitely high for a Tata car which I realised with subsequent ownerships of Honda & Hyundai vehicles.

[JJo]

Originally Posted by JJo

I just took delivery of Safari XZA on 26-May & drove it back to my house ~12km away. Since lock down is going on, couldn't take it out for a spin.

However, since kids were exited, today, I thought of driving a small circle in basement itself - to my horror I saw 'water in fuel' indicator blinking. I tried to restart, hoping it will disappear but it kept on blinking.

I tried reaching out to SA, but as expected 'no response'. Now over the weekend, I will have to hunt down service center and I just hope its a small glitch. After reading this thread, I am too scared of the ownership experience. 1st the booking / delivery experience exhausted me and now within a day after delivery, I need to look out for a service center

Any advice on the issue? the user manual just says: "The lamp remains on continuously if excess water is accumulated in the fuel filter. Contact the TATA MOTORS Authorised service centre to drain the water immediately to avoid serious damage to the fuel injection sys-tem."

I have just driven back ~12kms and filled half tank fuel from near by bunk (and there was no such indicator at that time), so how can there be excess water. What I understand after googling that this issue occurs only after vehicle has driven thousands of kms and in the process the excess water gets accumulated. How can a new vehicle get this kind of issue?

Update -
I started my car today morning and guess what - the indicator for 'water in fuel' was off! just to reconfirm, I restarted my car and this time too the indicator was off! drove the car for 2-3 km and indicator hasn't come back.

Nothing has changed between the time the indicator was ON till now - same fuel, same parking location & no one even tried to fix the issue. So, I believe, its a sensor issue. I will keep an eye for next few days and irrespective of whether it reoccurs or not, I will get it checked during the 1st service.

Thank you all for the concern and your responses did help me to calm down

[Cyborg]

Sad and bad reading about all the terrible experiences with Tata vehicles on this thread and our forum. I love Tata for what they do in today’s world, their morals, ethics and integrity. However nothing has percolated to their vehicle standards. Spending money on a Tata vehicle is something I just wouldn’t do.

Sure people are happy here and there but producing lemons and having so many issues with brand new cars is simply unacceptable.

Cheers

[Himanshu809]

Originally Posted by 07CR

We might be digressing here from the thread topic, however, Hector fits the bill perfectly. However, it's not something for a hardcore enthusiast, but still great car nonetheless. And yes, I agree, a used Fortuner (prefacelift) seems a much better alternative than Harrier.

Sorry for going off topic. I had just been thinking about it a lot and no car comes to my mind which has good built and decent reliability in the segment. Hector is ok I guess but, I personally don't like how they have diluted the MG brand and sell light weight Chinese cars in the disguise of 'British pedigree'.

But really TATA needs to pull up its socks and make Harrier and Safari reliable. Otherwise it will be dead in the water when Mahindra launches the new Scorpio and XUV. They have a window of opportunity as Mahindra's product launches are delayed. Come on TATA, man the f up.

[abhisheksircar]

I saw few posts of the Safari or Harrier accidents and it's holding up quite well but to woo the customers and to meet the current day's so called necessities, manufacturers these days are plonking the cars with electronics to the brim without being tested properly. All issues that I am reading around is all related to the electronics. The cars being tested extensively are usually stripped off versions to focus primarily on the mechanicals and build but electronics is as essential as the engine these days. A brand new car with no hassles could just stop in the middle of nowhere if the sensors are faulty. These are usually problems with manufacturers who are new to the electronics unlike the other brands where it is tried and tested and is added to a new car as an upgrade. I always had this fear of heavy electronics controling the car without being functionally tested as much. I'll be worried of other newer cars, soon to be launched, as well who are getting a million functionalities in as a first time to the car.

That said, it's really disheartening to live through the buyers experience. TATA as a very ethical company, as it's always projected as, should come forward and own it up. Jump start during a delivery is unacceptable at all levels. I personally would not have settled for anything less than a replacement for this lemon. That's the least that they could do. Does it not qualify for a consumer case for so many issues right for the word go?

What's the appropriate resolution provided that the Tata handle replied there was ? Really curious.

[Neil Roy]

If TATA is reading this, please do something proactive in instilling customer confidence. Its not in the fault in itself but how you rectify it that will cause customer satisfaction.
I'm saying this from a very selfish perspective here. I have booked a TATA Safari XMA Tropical Mist which has been allocated and even reached the chennai dealership. After seeing this post I'm in two minds as to whether to go forward with the purchase or cancel it all together as this is going to be my first TATA vehicle and many have been warning me against the infamous TATA after sales service. I'll be watching seriously how this unfolds.

[rpm]

Originally Posted by AZT

@Ram I remember your post a while back where you had mentioned engine placement issue is the reason Harrier is not being sent for testing. Can you also post the 2 star comment link, I don't remember the guys name but some poster was arguing with me saying we should assume all Tata cars to be 4 Star and refused to believe otherwise. From the above we can safely say only 3/7 tested safe so how people assume anything is beyond me.

Let me help you with your query. This (2020 Tata Harrier Automatic : Official Review) post might be the one you're looking for.

I wonder who that guy might be? Sounds like a Tata fanboy to me.

[shahadav]

As an ex owner of Safari DICOR during its prime time, it is disheartening to see TATA has not changed much even after a decade.

[swami]

Came across iamitp's post on power train failure on his ~ 7 month old Creta today. Reminded me of this thread and hence hopped over to see if the issue has been resolved. @soorya_sKa would you have an update for us?