[AdityaDeane]

What I like:-
* Small footprint, so easy to maneuver in the city and hills alike.
* A part time 7 seater at the price of 5 seater B-Hatchbacks.
* Looks bigger than C-SUVs. Big car feeling.
* Renault's famed ride quality. Love the pliant, planted ride.
* Biggest boot under 4m as a 5 seater.
* Feel safe factor with 2 Front Side Airbags.
* Doors have a nice Thud upon closing, they open and close in 2 or more steps (not sure if it is 3).
* Raised roof in the 2nd and 3rd row for additional headroom.
* Wide opening doors for easy ingress and egress.
* Charging points in all rows.
* Sliding and Reclining seats in the 2nd row.
* Individually removable 3rd row seats.
* Soft padded fabric armrests for 1st and 2nd row occupants on all doors.
* More than enough legroom in the 2nd row with the seats slid all the way back.
* Hidden drawer under Driver Seat for hiding valuable stuff. Additional upper glove box to keep mobile, keys, and other small items.
* Bottle Holders in all Doors. Cooled Glove Box and Central Console storage for keeping your drinks cold.
* Headlights and Dippers have good throw for hilly drives. Nice and wide coverage.
* Decent music system with 4 speakers, 2 Tweeters and an 8" touchscreen infotainment system display

What I Dislike:-
* Non height adjustable front seats or seatbelts, would have aided in front seat visibility while driving and driver comfort.
* A measly boot of 84L with all seats in place, can hardly store a few Laptop Bags, that is all.
* Lack of 12V charging point in the first row (the lower variants have it), only a USB Port is present for Charging or Android Auto or Apple Car Play. A USB/Aux-In and 12V Socket combo would have been much better.
* Lack of Power Folding ORVMs.
* Lack of Auto AC.
* Location of the Jack is very hard to reach. I scratched my fingers while trying to take it out the first and last time, I had to stow it away in my Emergency Bag for easier access. Haven't even tried taking the spare wheel out.
* Not so good Headlight and Dipper coverage out on unlit highways and dual carriageways.
* Lack of Dead Pedal. Also the space on the left of the Clutch is pretty narrow, so not usable as a Dead Pedal space, unless they move the Clutch slightly to the right in the future.
* Lack of Steering Mounted Controls for the Infotainment System.
* Lack of Automatic Transmission, but that is about to change soon (Link).
* Now I doubt the build quality after looking at this recent accident in Ahmedabad {Happens to me everytime. I bought my Nano, and the Global NCAP crash results were out just a few days prior to my purchase. I bought the Triber, and these accident images start pouring in!}

Link

Background

So, as the tradition goes, we BHP-ians love to pen down ownership reviews of the things we love, especially our cars and bikes. I already have one for my (now sold) 2014 Tata Nano Twist XT Dazzle Blue (Tata Nano Twist XT: 4-year ownership report) which served me well for the almost 6 years it was with me. Time goes on, requirements change, and fortunately or unfortunately, so do our cars. So, let me introduce my 2019 Renault Triber RXZ to you all.





The above pics are from the day of PDI!

The fact is, my favorite color is Turquoise, and all shades of blue appeal to me a lot, especially the metallic ones. We had a Blue 1995 LML Vespa NV Special in the family, which served us for a full 15 years and was sold in exchange for my Black Honda Unicorn. Then in order to take a quick delivery back in 2005, my father bought a Metallic Blue Maruti Suzuki WagonR LXi, which we kept for 11 years, and almost 1 Lakh kilometers. And because the WagonR was Blue, and Dazzle Blue was the only shade to offer full Black interiors, I bought a Dazzle Blue Tata Nano Twist XT in February 2014.

But things had changed between 2014 and 2019. I had got married, and you cannot choose the color of your next car based on your choice alone, can you? So, when we did book our Triber, the choice of color options given to the dealership was Silver (Wife's choice), Blue (My choice, of course), Yellow, Red and if nothing else, then White.

Why "if nothing else" you ask? Well, we work in Manali (Himachal Pradesh) now, and incidentally our nearest Renault Showroom is either in Solan (8 hours away) or in the Chandigarh Tricity region, again 8-9 hours away. So, the plan was to buy from Dehradun, my hometown. But, we had just joined this job from June 2019, and had little to no leaves to go and take the delivery. Due to excessive snowfall in December-February months, the hospital staff is allowed to take their Annual Leaves only during that time, and we had plans to come to my In Laws house in Algarah (Kalimpong, West Bengal) for the Winter Break (Christmas and New Year), which I am enjoying as I pen down my ownership review bit by bit.

So, we had to take 4 days Casual Leaves, (Max CLs allowed in our Hospital at a stretch) which would include 16 hours driving both ways to go to and come back from Dehradun. Do PDI, finish the payment formalities, and get the Temporary Registration done so that we can travel back and join work from the 5th day. A few days before we were to go take delivery, some RTO Official in Dehradun RTO got arrested for taking a Bribe for some work. And so, most of the RTO related things were taking more time than they should when we went to buy my car, so we weren't sure if we'll get the Temporary Registration in time to head back and join duty on time. More on that later...

The details of my purchase decision and the whole process will follow soon. Stay tuned as I take time to pen down my ownership review in the days ahead...

[TheHelix0202]

Let me be the first (?) to congratulate you on your brilliant possession! The Triber is a truly VFM car that definitely punches above its own weight. The price to feature ratio is really nice. It looks like a 10 lakh rupees car too, which definitely makes it stand out. Two questions though- why Renault in HP, is the ASS good there? How’s the headlights too? I see there’s no fog lamps.

[Durango Dude]

Congrats, Aditya, your car and color looks great keep us posted how it was on the long drive back to Manali from Dehra Dun. Make sure you do a thorough PDI and ensure all things are working, since your closest service center is 8-9 hours away from where you stay.

[AdityaDeane]

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

Let me be the first (?) to congratulate you on your brilliant possession!
Two questions though- why Renault in HP, is the ASS good there? How’s the headlights too? I see there’s no fog lamps.

Thank you, yes you are the first one in the ownership review to congratulate me!

Answer 1 :- No, as I mentioned, the nearest Service Centres are either in Solan or Chandigarh Tricity area, about 8-9 hours drive away. There was a Dealership cum Service Centre in Mandi, about 3 hours away, but closed down over 2 years ago. So, I am relying on Renault's Pan India Roadside Assistance service for my ASS needs, as and when required. Will share more details on the selection of my car as I keep uploading details on my purchase decision.

Answer 2 :- Dipper is nice and wide, the most important thing needed on hilly narrow roads. The Headlight beam is focussed centrally and is nice and crisp for my use till now. I do hope to install Fog Lamps as I find something that will sit flush in the area provided, hoping Renault brings something in the Accessories soon for it. Else, I hope I can find a way to not switch the DRLs off when switching on the Parking Lamps to aid as Fog Lamps. They're quite bright, and give a good visibility, much more than Parking Lamps.

[AdityaDeane]

Alternatives Considered

If you guys have been following my posts, there came a shift in my car search from the likes of Ignis and Nexon, to the people movers. Reason being, our son was born in May 2017, and we became a family of 5 adults and 1 kid. Then came November 2018, and my sister got married. Now if we need to travel together, we either need to take both the cars out everytime, or hire an MPV. Papa had already bought his Baleno in July 2016, and my Nano was munching miles and the itch grew to change to something bigger, some MPV. So, the hunt began..

1. Tata Hexa XE -> A look at the Hexa brochure was enough to decide that even the base model of Hexa is very feature loaded. And the review and ownership experiences of so many BHP-ians confirmed that it indeed is very good to drive. Coming from a Nano owner seeking a people mover, this was the worthy upgrade within the company portfolio. The service centre was also just about 30Kms away from my current location. The major deterrent was the price tag, my maximum budget was 10 Lakhs, and only a used Hexa would be available in that, not a new one.

2. Mahindra Marazzo M2 or M4 -> The M2, though within the budget, is too basic. And M4 is again way above the planned budget. M2 is over 10 Lakhs (ex-showroom) as per the website in both it's 7 and 8 seater avatars.

3. Renault Lodgy -> I loved the Lodgy for it's looks, it's practicality, and it's price. But, the only option I wanted to consider should have Dual Front Airbags, and that was the RXZ trim, which was way over 10 Lakhs. Even after discounts of up to 2 Lakhs running, it was a far stretch for me. RXL was good too with a Driver Airbag, but not up to my expectations otherwise.

4. Maruti Suzuki new Ertiga -> We almost booked the Ertiga in the ZXi MT and AT avatars. But I wanted to save some more bucks, and so waited for testing the Triber, before making a final decision. I did want the convenience of an AT in my next car, but living in the hills now, could sacrifice that for a MT car, if it ticked all the other boxes.

5. Datsun Go Plus -> Cheap and cheap, inside and out. Even after the many upgrades and supposedly compliance with new Crash Norms, the rearmost headroom, bench folding middle seat discomfort etc., all went against it. Even the new CVT variant could not make me to look there again, after seeing the modularity offered by the Triber at a slight premium.

6. Maruti Suzuki Eeco 7 seater -> Too utilitarian, no AC, no Power Steering, very hard suspension and no specific USP. Was ruled out even before consideration.

7. Mahindra Bolero LX 4x4 -> Yes, it is still sold in Himachal Pradesh, and I wanted to get one. But, it had no AC, Music System or Power Windows etc. I was asked to make a non-refundable deposit of Rs.50K for booking one, as they are made to order, and the showroom did not include the prices of adding AC and Power Windows in the Price Quote, and I didn't have the leaves or time to get them fitted from Chandigarh or Ludhiana myself later on. But would have been good for going for trips from Manali to Leh, Ladakh, Lahaul, Spiti etc.

8. Tata Sumo CX -> On the verge of discontinuation, i really loved the Sumo for the space and power. The top model would have been a good powerful car, but wife didn't like the design. Also, the option of 3rd row front facing Bench Seat wasn't available. In fact it is very close to my heart as we have owned not one but 2 Tata Sumos, and I learnt how to drive in a Sumo only.

9. Tata Xenon DLE 4x4 ABS -> Again a 5 seater, but boy does it have a road presence in Black color! Love it for all that it offers, wish the XT model wasn't priced so steeply. There was a lot of confusion on the end of the dealership about prices and stock availability of the vehicle. Also, they were not very sure about white plate Registration, so refrained from buying one, though I would still love to buy one later on.

10. Honda B-RV -> The only variant in our budget was the base variant, and it again lacked Airbags, despite the Government ruling of providing at least a Driver Side Airbag and ABS from July 2019. So, was put out of picture, even though I would have loved to have that 210mm ground clearance.

11. Renault Triber RXZ -> The most value for money, feature rich, compact and worthy alternative was to buy the top of the line Triber. No need to add any electrical accessories, feel of safety due to the 2 Side Airbags, lot of modularity in the seating options. My wife and I had done a test drive on the last row and then I drove the car while returning to the showroom, and we were comfortable back there. I am the tallest in my family, and there was enough leg and head room for me. The car looked great, and was priced decently with adequate features and gizmos. It drove well too with full load and both the ACs on in the plain roads of Dehradun. This was the car we would buy.

https://youtu.be/Llp9QENhCZc

But should we wait for the AMT model, living in Manali now, I didn't want to spend on an automatic and then keep driving it in Manual Triptronic mode mostly to keep it in the power band, so decided to take the plunge and book the RXZ MT itself.

As I was telling about the color options we gave to the showroom, well by the time we could plan our leaves and book the car, only Blue and Yellow cars were coming in the lot to my dealership. Confirmed with the better half, and booked the Electric Blue color, as a worthy upgrade to my Dazzle Blue Tata Nano Twist XT.

[AdityaDeane]

Complete Booking and Delivery experience with the dealership

So, after finalizing on the car and model, decided to book the car at Dee Dee Cars Pvt. Ltd., Dehradun. There used to be a Renault Dealership in Mandi, but that closed down over 2 years ago. So, now the nearest dealership and service centers were either in Solan or Chandigarh Tricity region. I could manage going to Dehradun, being my home town, but Solan and Chandigarh would become problematic if there are any delays. So, decided to buy from Dehradun.

Initial plan was to exchange my Nano at the showroom, as I wasn't getting a buyer for my Nano outside. But the showroom was quoting a price of 45-50K for my car, which was way below my expectations. So, I kept advertising, and a family friend came to my rescue and bought the car for their family use. At the price I asked!

The total on road price quoted was Rs.7,11,161/- (excluding final registration at Manali RTO, but inclusive of Temporary Registration). Got a car loan from Bank of Baroda for Rs.6,40,000/-. Transferred Rs.5,000)- as booking amount, and sent the Demand Draft of my Loan Amount for processing by courier to the dealership, so that they can do the formalities within the 2 days time we have to complete everything.

Attachment 1952991
Detailed breakup of price

The accessories I ordered were:-
Mud Flaps
3D Mats Premium
Body Side Cladding
Car Cover

Freebies given were:-
Perfume
Rear Trunk Mats
3rd Row Seat Bags (carry bags)
Folder to carry the car papers

The booking was done on 15th November 2019, with a promise to deliver the car when we visited Dehradun in the end of November along with Temporary Registration of the car from Dehradun RTO. I went and did the PDI on 28th November 2018, paid all the balance amount and waited to get the car delivered after Temporary Registration till 29th evening.


At the time of Delivery

At the time of delivery we were given a Black Forest Cake, box of Cadbury Chocolates, 2 sets of Smart Card Keys, Folder with all required Documents for travelling between Dehradun and Manali, a Wooden Photo Frame with photo taken during delivery (and a Renault logo) and a PayTM Fast Tag pre-fixed to the windscreen with a Rs.150 balance topped in.


Selfie at the time of delivery


Celebratory Cake


Feeding cake to my father


Feeding cake to my mother


Box of Cadbury Chocolates


Photo Frame

[AdityaDeane]

On Road Price and Discounts

No specific discounts, as it is a new launch and fairly in demand everywhere. Some discount was given on Insurance along with freebies mentioned above.

Ex-Showroom Price -> Rs.6,57,250/-
FastTag -> Rs.500/-
Temporary Registration -> Rs.2,000/-
Insurance -> Rs.28K something, was originally 34K something.
Extended 3 years Warranty and Roadside Assistance -> Rs.9,999/-
Accessories -> Rs.8,000/- something (forgot now).
Final Registration in Manali -> Rs.18,470/-


Engine Type and Variant

999cc Energy engine
Manual Transmission
RXZ variant offering Push Start/Stop, Smart Card Entry System, Rear Wiper-Washer-Defogger, Dual Front and Front Side Airbags, Front and Rear AC, DRLs etc.


Safety and related Equipments

Dual Front Airbags
Front Side Airbags
ABS with EBD and Brake Assist
DRLs
Driver seat Pretensioners and Load Limiters
Front Passenger Seat, 2nd Row both sides 3-Point ELR Seat Belts
3rd row non-ELR 3-Point Belts

[AdityaDeane]

Kilometers at the time of Review

Crossed a little over 1000 Kilometers, and the first service is due next week before I return to Manali.


Usage Pattern

I do not need a car for daily commute, as our house is within the Hospital Campus. We hardly need a car for weekend drives in and around Manali, and few times a year for Dehradun or Ludhiana trips. So, spending on the initial purchase cost and maintenance cost of a Diesel wasn't really my piece of cake.

Most of the time it is just my son, my wife and I. Few times in a year we need to carry more people, mostly just 4 adults and my son.

Rarely we need to carry more than those, and for those times the 2 last seats will come in handy. Triber fits like a warm cozy glove for people like me, we just need extra seats rarely, and it has them. Rest of the time it will be used as a small 5 seat hatchback with loads of luggage area.


Comments on Exterior Styling and Design

I love the looks of my car. I still fail to believe that it is less than 4 meters in length. It looks much bigger when placed besides other sub-4m offerings. The standard Projector Headlamps raised/stepped roof for the 3rd row are nice thoughtful additions. The colors and usage of chrome is good and pleasing to the eye.


Overall Build Quality (Exterior and Interior), Fit and Finish, Paint Quality and Panel Gaps

Build quality seems good. Doors have a heavy feel to them. The seats are comfortable and have good support. Even though they are not adjustable for height, but they offer good view of the road ahead. The dashboard has hard plastics, but is nicely designed and looks good. The door armrests have a padded fabric. Fit and finish seems good in my car.

Paint quality is good and I have not seen uneven and large panel gaps anywhere till now.


Wheels and Tyres

I was lucky to get 15" Steel rims with my car. They are offered with wider 185/65 R15 Ceat FuelSmart tyres. These have a good ride quality and grip while braking. I love the ride quality of these.


Interior Space and Comfort

The interiors of the car are really huge. You don't feel like sitting in a sub-4m car at all. Renault seems to have taken some interior space utilization cues from Honda. They really have created a perfect example of "Man maximum, Machine minimum" in the sub-4m segment for building a 7 seater. And the fact that the 2nd row seats slide and recline gives added flexibility to the seating options in the Triber.


Driving Position and Ergonomics

Even though the driver seat isn't adjustable for height, still the view of the road up ahead is good. The all round visibility is good too, thanks to the nice wide and high ORVMs and adequate IRVM. The positioning of all the switchgear in the front and sides is good, you don't have to stretch much to use them. After getting used to their placement, you can even almost reach them when unlit or in the dark.

Having a reverse gear in the front left position is a little problematic, but luckily the wiper and light controls are on the correct sides, in regards to Indian driving position. Lack of Steering Mounted Controls is a big downer on an otherwise well kitted car. No Power Folding ORVMs is also a big miss.


AC Cooling and Effectiveness

The front AC is adequately cold for my kind of use. Surprisingly, the Triber is also equipped with a rear AC Cooling Unit for use in the 2nd and 3rd row of seats. This was adequate for sitting even in the 3rd row, while test driving, as evident in the video above. The Heating function of the HVAC system is only there in the front AC/Blower, if you switch on the rear AC while having selected Heating function in the front HVAC, it still gives cooling at the back.

I believe that the front AC will be adequate for 4-5 passengers, like in many sub-4m cars which do not have a rear AC system.

[AdityaDeane]

Audio System and Sound Quality

The top end RXZ variant comes with a 8" Touchscreen Infotainment System with 4 Speakers and 2 Tweeters (up front). The system supports Android Auto and Apple Car Play. Attaching a video blog of the Infotainment System I put up a few days ago.

https://youtu.be/f_Uur2cl0Yc

I found the sound to be good and crisp. It is not as good as the Harman system in Tiago etc, but is good for low volume audio during travelling. I do not like very loud music at all, I love soft peaceful numbers, and they help to hear horns and sounds from outside the car also.


Interior Storage, Practicality and Boot Space

The dashboard gets a cooled lower glove box, which is pretty big. There is another smaller glove box above it. There is a cooled storage beside the Handbrake. 2 cup holders are provided ahead of it. All doors have a 1L bottle holder storage space. There is a parcel shelf to keep mobile or Smart Card Key which houses the Start/Stop button, and another space to keep your mobile or key below where the from USB Port and Aux In lies.

No central armrest is provided in the second row, even though the doors have padded armrests like the front row. The seats can Slide, Recline and Tumble Folded (40% part) and slide forward and recline forward (60% part) for easy ingress to the 3rd row. The seats have a healthy range for sliding front and back.

The 3rd row seats can be individually folded or removed and aid in increasing the boot space. They have dedicated roof mounted air vents and a 12V charging socket on the left side.

With all seats in place, the boot space is a measly 84L, and is very low for keeping any item of sufficient depth. It seems hardly 6-8" deep and in mostly unusable.


Engine Performance and Driveability

As my usage does not require moving with full load all the time, the performance is adequate for my usage. It drives well, can pull from low RPMs on inclines and Renault is known for providing good ride quality since the Duster days. There was an issue with my front right and sometimes left suspension making loud Thud sound on some potholes, but it seems much better after loosening and re-tightening the bolts holding the front suspension a few days ago. It has till date managed to move all 2.5 of us and our heavy luggage to and from Manali and never struggled anywhere on the hills or the highways.

Will get to check the driving with 4 adults and a 7 year old and a 2.5 years old with luggage from Dehradun to Ludhiana and then on to Manali next week. Hope it doesn't disappoint anywhere, especially on the inclines and S-Curves.


Gearshifts and Clutch

The Gearbox has good gates and the gears are smooth. Can be easily slot in any gear you want. Getting used to having a Reverse Gear in left front position is a pain. You even need to lift the collar for doing so, otherwise you just slot into first and move forward if not careful. The gear changes aren't as smooth as expected. Even my wife complained that my gear changes have become worse than in my Nano. I assume it has to be more because of the 3 cylinder engine, rather than my way of shifting and changing gears, not too sure.

Clutch has a long travel, and the bite point comes at almost 85-90% and takes getting time used to. I have stalled the car because of this many a times. I have been driving since 2004, and it feels strange that i still manage to stall the car sometimes.


Overall NVH Levels

Coming from a 2 pot Nano, I have no issues with the NVH Levels. I find it acceptable, and not excessively intrusive in the cabin. Most of my driving is with the windows rolled up all the way, and so I have no complains with NVH.


Fuel Efficiency

Till now, the average Fuel Efficiency I have got is 15.63Km/L. The best I have got is 17.48Km/L and the worst has been 13.1Km/L. Expecting some improvement after the first service next week and now that 1000Kms are over.

[AdityaDeane]

Suspension and Ride Quality

The car comes with Psuedo MacPherson Struts up front and they provide a good cushioned ride. The car is quite wide and has a loong wheelbase, and so the ride is very planted and pliant. Upgrading from the Nano, this is really in a league of it's own to drive and be driven in.

There were complaints of Thud noise from the front suspension which was resolved for free upon visiting the service center in mid December. Seems like there is a circular from Renault India about the same, as this was not an isolated complaint of Thud noise from the front suspension. Some nuts need to be loosened and re-tightened for it to be rectified.


Handling

Being a sub-4m car, the turning radius is good enough for the hills. The handling is good in the hills, beaten roads and the highways. I have become a fan of the suspension setting from Renault. Even my Father's Baleno doesn't have such a superb ride quality.


Braking

Having ABS and EBD, the car stops in a straight line without any drama. No complaints with the braking distance or sponginess in the brake pedal.


Ground Clearance

Triber comes with 182mm ground clearance. It is more than adequate as a 5 seater, not sure about with full 7 seats and luggage. Will practically check it out next week. The suspension does not move up and down as much as in my Nano, and that may be to control bottoming out on speed breakers with that long wheelbase. Yet to try it with full load on uneven stretches of roads.


Triber's first snowfall

I got to drive the Triber over hard snow while going for our BHP-ians meet in December, and it performed surprisingly well. Kept in control even without any snow chains. This was my first snow drive in a front wheel drive car, till now I had only driven my Nano in the snow.


At the Team BHP-ians meet on 14th December in Cafe Healing Stone, Rangri (Manali)


Next to the car it replaced


Another view

Forgive the dirty car images, we had just driven down from Manali and got a chance to park them side by side for these images.

Will keep updating on the ownership as and when things happen. Happy Motoring

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

Going straight to our homepage .

[TorqueKnight]

Hearty Congratulations Aditya for the new car! Triber is a VFM product in the MUV category. Happy to hear about it's acceptable performance in any terrain. Most of my friends and family are moving towards MUV and SUV category and your ownership review will be definitely helpful.
Thanks,
TK

[Stribog]

Congrats Aditya on your new purchase, lovely write up as well.

So jealous about the snow covered pictures...am in Chennai where it is peak winter and 30*c outside.

[silverado]

Congratulations Aditya for Triber. Your ownership review will add a new dimension since you are one of the very few team bhp members who stay in hills.

Curious to know how this front wheel drive 1000cc performs as your main car. Wishing you many happy miles ahead.
Sad to know you sold Nano, I hope it got a good second buyer

[Jagann13]

Thanks for the amazing review! I'm was waiting to see how Triber works in the hills!

Wishing you a very happy life with the Triber, luckily the R15 rims!

As we are, the Triber's tribe

Originally Posted by Stribog

So jealous about the snow covered pictures...am in Chennai where it is peak winter and 30*c outside.

Yeah! To live in snow covered places is a dream for many while a cold winter day is a dream for us, the Madrasi's.