[abhi_krao]

Hello Everyone and a Warm wishes for 2022.
This is the story of my Tata Punch and probably the first one here.

The background:
I bought a 2009 Ritz LXi when it was just launched back then. It was our family car, which I brought to Bangalore from my hometown in 2018 as my family bought a new Swift. The Ritz was a great car for tall people as it gave an airy feel due to the tall boy design and it was also very compact. The only negatives were the small boot and a spartan interiors of my LXi. I was thinking about replacing it in 2022/23. However, it started to show signs of the old age with rattling noises starting to become louder while being driven on bad roads and the clutch was becoming harder, which when driven in Bangalore traffic, was making the driving experience an unpleasant one. So, in Aug 2021, I made up my mind to replace our car during the Oct-Nov festive period.

The Good Old Ritz


The Discovery:
As a regular car lover, I was always checking the cars available in market which I liked and would suit me more. My basic criteria were petrol automatic, compact (4m or less) due to parking constraints and being in Bangalore urban and ex-showroom less than Rs. 10 lakhs after the additional cess and high taxes in KA. I shortlisted the Baleno, Venue/Sonet and Magnite CVT and was keeping my eyes and ears open for the TATA HBX.

I had a TD of the Magnite early in 2021 and liked the space and looks, but felt the car was very confusing. The exterior looks modern and great, but interior looks old. The space is good, but the build not so, and finally the most concerning aspect was the Nissan part. So kept away from it.

The first test with wifey was of the Venue in Aug. I had a TD of the Venue petrol manual when it was launched and felt it was compact and good looking but the space inside was less. I went and TDed the iMT. This time, when I drove on some broken patches, I felt the ride was a bit jarring, but otherwise, it was smooth. iMT does take away some stress and is quite flexible too. However, what put me off was the dealer response. They demanded advance payment of 30% or more for preferential allocation. If not, they would not advise me on any delivery time due to the pandemic times. Also the Venue SX iMT prices crossed Rs. 10 lakhs (by Rs. 10K) by the time I took the TD. I was not keen on any other variant, so this too was a roadblock. At the same time, Kia too had increased Sonet prices. The HTX variant that I was eyeing crossed Rs. 10 lakhs.

Next, I went to Nexa to check out the Baleno CVT. I was not keen on buying a hatchback with a low seating positing and with low set bumpers which need to be taken care of. Also was not a big fan of the H platform. However, the TD went well and I felt the ride and gearbox were smooth. Also the visibility and ease of driving was good. I decided to go ahead with this if nothing else came up.

Why not others? In Short, Brezza - poor interiors and seats and expensive old tech Automatic; i20 - lower height and missing features in Asta iMT; Nexon AMT - never liked the seating which is car like in a compact SUV. I disliked its sloping front and a lot of features were missing in the XM variant; Kiger - looks.

While all this happened, more and more spy pics of the HBX were appearing and it looked that it would be a less than 3850 mm car. I thought for a moment, "Will it be an upgrade from Ritz for me in terms of size?" But since the news was that it would be wider, I was kind of hopeful it would be bigger overall and Tata did confirm it would be launched in the festive season. So I decided that first I would check out the HBX when launched and then book either that or the Baleno.

Here then comes the teaser.
I was actively following the HBX both, on this forum and all available information on the net. I was able to follow all the teasers starting with the headlamp designs, the curves, and then the name - Punch. At the same time, I managed to join a WhatsApp group "The Punch Club" which was great and gave a lot of info. Someone in the group mentioned about unofficial bookings being accepted and I felt that with the chip issues hampering production, I need to take some risks if I like this car and want it by the festive season. So I decided I will visit all Tata showrooms and book it at whoever accepts. Went to the nearest showroom first - Adishakti in Hebbal on 4th Sept, requested the Sales Representative (SR) if they are accepting Punch bookings. He went inside to check with his Manager and came back saying, "yes." So, I was happy and booked it for 11k. The sales guy was happy to take the first booking for a Punch at their showroom.

A few more teasers followed in which, the car looked fabulous and I was quite sure this would be it. It was quite apparent from spy pics that it would have an AMT option also, so there were no worries. After Tata unveiled the car on 4th, I was a little concerned that it only had the NA engine and width wise, was not as wide as predicted. Finally the dealer confirmed that on Oct 9th, they will unveil the car in the showroom at 10 AM and invited me for the same. I was present with my family by 10:15 am but due to bad weather, the unveil got delayed as the RM of Tata was to be present and had to come from airport. He finally arrived at 11:30 and after a few minutes, we all gathered around for the unveil. To our Surprise, they called upon the 1st 3 customers and asked us to unveil the car. That was a pleasant surprise. Thank You Tamo and Adishakti for that. We saw the car in flesh and had the usual cake cutting ceremony and a few words to speak. After checking it briefly, felt it was similar to my earlier experience with the Venue with the raised GC, hard plastics and squared off windows and interiors. I did feel the boot was not as big as expected and the width was also less than expected with the car being a comfortable 4 seater. To our joy, the dealer did allow a TD on very same day. However, we had to wait almost till 1 PM till we got our chance as the bad weather had made the road outside chaotic. The short TD in traffic went smooth and I felt the suspension was stiff but compliant. Power was enough for city use and the AMT was slow, but predictable. I came back home happy about getting the chance to unveil the car, but a little concerned about the space. So next was the wait for launch by Tata Motors. My wife was happy with the car. so I decided now no looking back and buy the top-end AMT. So it was now confirmed. To help me with that, Tamo revealed the car's 5 star rating which was surprisingly the highest for any car. I had decided to go with the Tropical Mist shade as we preferred a light colour other than White. It was also quite a rare color. Only prices were pending to be announced and then when they were indeed announced, it felt they was about 50K more than expected considering it's smaller than the Altroz. Also, as expected, there were no discounts on the new car, but I was also surprised by some high insurance figures quoted by the dealer. The on-road price for my choice of variant Creative AMT iRA was coming to 11.09 L! It was still within my budget, so it was ok.

Then the wait started. The SR advised that they had a booking window before launch when all dealers were to book some models randomly for allocation and unfortunately, they had not booked the variant and color in that window. I was following up with them and was hoping to get the car by Diwali so that I could visit my native in it. But it started to look tight. The SR called back after a few days again (since I was pushing him to confirm my allotment) only to say that though they have placed a request for my variant. It was not allotted in the current lot that was open. He advised that the allocation happens about once or twice a week. He did, however, advise me that they have received one with iRA pack. This variant is 30k more just for iRA and I felt it was not worth it. However, I just thought for sometime and had to convince myself that maybe with so much digitalization, iRA may have some really useful updates, so called the dealer and asked him to convert my booking and allot the same to me. The SR asked me to make payment for the ex-showroom price once allocation is done and invoice is generated. I agreed and advised them that I will make the payment for registration only after completing PDI to which they agreed. The

The invoice was generated on 25th and the car must have arrived at the yard either on the same day or the next day. The SR informed me only on the 28th that I could now do the PDI. Due to my work schedule and health issues (blame it on the Bangalore weather) I could only manage the PDI on the 30th at their yard.

At the yard with other Punches, the one behind was a manual and the one in white was the Accomplished variant.


The PDI was smooth and short as I only checked the paint and panels mainly. They dealer did their own PDI which is quite comprehensive once the car arrived at their yard. Went back to the dealer and confirmed that I was ok with it. However, before making final payment, I wanted to push them for some reduction on insurance which I felt was simply overpriced. The quote received from outside was for max 30K where as the dealer was charging 52K. The SR said I needed to wait till Monday and as he needed to check with Sales Manager for discounts on new products. These 2 delays of doing PDI and waiting for discount on insurance meant I was not the first customer to take delivery. Someone took a temporary registration and he was the first customer to take delivery on 31st Oct. My inconsistent health meant I had to drop the plan of going to my native with the new car. So, I was now ok if the car was delivered by Nov 1st week. I was able to finally meet the Sales Manager and got a mere 5K discount on insurance after which, I made the full payment and pushed the SR for delivery by Nov 4th. Due to further delays by the RTO in BLR, the SR finally asked me to take delivery on 6th Nov.

In the midst of all these, there was a emotional goodbye to my Ritz. The Hyundai dealer had quoted 1.8 lakhs for it and the Nexa showroom had quoted a lesser 1.65 lakhs. I also put it up on OLX where it was more a nuisance with all second hand car dealers calling and quoting absurd prices. OLX too came and checked and quoted 1.75 lakhs for it in Oct. However, I held on to it till the last moment since the Tata Dealer was about 8-9 km away and I don't prefer public transport in Bangalore. The manager for exchange in the Tata dealership was not available for a few days and just 2 days before delivery, was available for quoting. They quoted 1.7 lakhs, which was fine with me. I left the car with them the same day. It was a pain to see everyone ripping open the door and boot rubber beading to check for damages in her last days with me.

Welcoming our PUNCH
Finally the day arrived on 6th Nov. We arrived at the showroom at about 12 PM delayed by the traffic and hence, decided to take delivery in the second half. After Lunch, we started the documentation and cake cutting. Due to the usual rush on Saturdays, the dealer was looking as if he wanted to push the cars out from his congested showroom ASAP. There were about 7-8 deliveries that day, mostly Nexons and Punches. We finally took delivery at around 3:30 PM and came back home straightaway. Later in the evening, we went to temple and did the rituals. We did see quite a few heads turning to see the new car.

The delivery


Living with the PUNCH:
The car has done 2400 Kms approximately till date, courtesy my 2 drives to my native Udupi. Averaging about 12 kmpl in the city and 18-20 on highways. Have driven the rest of the distance in Bangalore traffic with a mix of smooth Ring road drives and crawling traffic. First, I will discuss the positives. All concerns regarding space are gone and I am really happy that this car is the right sized for me. I only realized it late that if I actually had a 4m car like Venue or Baleno, parking in my basement would have been challenging every time. This is due to the way the pillars are placed in my parking area.

Also in my 2 trips to my native, I never felt a lack of space. I sat in the passenger seat, back seat and the car was also driven with a decent amount of luggage, 4 people, 5 people and my own small family of 3. Only when there are 3 full sized adults at back will they feel the lack of shoulder space. I rarely encounter such situations. The rear seat does feel a little too upright for long drives.

The seating position is great and gives a great view of the road ahead. The car really turns a lot of heads with its LED DRLs. The rear lights too are quite modern and attractive.


The AC is really powerful and one does not feel the lack of rear AC vents. Headlamps too are quite powerful and cornering lights too are useful. The TFT display is also quite informative.


Coming to bad bits and some things that I wished that could have made it a better package - the engine is the culprit. I wonder sometimes why has Tata engineers not made better engines with assistance from Jaguar/LR. At least refinement could have been better. There is lack of power after 80 Kmph and the AMT does not help either. AMT shifts are really slow till 3rd. Also, I would have liked it if the selected gear was lit indicating the gear engaged like Maruti or Hyundai.


Boot finish from inside could have been better. The section around the spare tyre is poorly finished and the metal is exposed at the lip. I managed to put some vinyl wrap tp cover it.


Also, the sensor for the boot open is exposed.


Overall it's a good car and a better engine would have made it a great car. The compact dimensions along with high seating position makes it quite easy to maneuver in city and tight spaces. It feels good to drive in the city but the slow AMT does sometimes irritate you.

The cars weak point would be driving on double lane highways since it struggles above 80 kmph. If you push it hard, it becomes noisy and fuel the economy also drops drastically. It does, however, feel great on twisty roads because of its well connected steering and good ride and handling.

I did some fuel economy runs in all conditions and got the following results. All were done in Eco mode and the reference is the MID, which is quite accurate.
City driving in Bangalore = 10 KMPL. In other non metro cities- 12 KMPL. Both with AC
Open Roads with AC and spirited driving = 16-17 KMPL
Open roads without AC, minimal traffic (early morning hours) = 22 KMPL

Since the car has a lot of cladding and also the front and rear bumpers are black plastic units, I am still trying to figure out how to maintain them. The car has been trouble free till date and hoping Tata quality is now much better.

I changed the cabin light to LED which was very easy, but am unable to change the boot lamp. It feels inadequate in its current form.
Unlike most new car buyers, I have not installed any seat covers and I think I will upgrade or put covers once the seats showing their age or become dirty.

I will continue to post timely updates and my Punch experience.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Reviews section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage this week

[quattroa4]

Congratulations for the most desirable vehicle available in that segment and the sell numbers do back up the claim .TATA has set a cat among pigeons and the cat literally eating them for breakfast in vast numbers . Since last two months Maruti and Hyundai both are having a negative y-o-y growth in their lower segment cars and Punch seems to be the reason .

[Sach_511]

Congratulations on your new ride, looking gorgeous!! Wish you many happy miles!!

[swageo]

Does it have useable hill hold/assist ?

[abhi_krao]

No, it does not have Hill hold.

[Wason4699]

Originally Posted by abhi_krao

No, it does not have Hill hold.

Abhi how did you change the cabin light to LED.

[abhi_krao]

Originally Posted by Wason4699

Abhi how did you change the cabin light to LED.

Just search for "Altroz cabin light" in YouTube. I bought a pair of Osram from Amazon. These look much better than the Halogen ones. Not sure why the Team in Tamo find saving some rupees on cost better than providing this good Led light.
I wanted to change the boot lamp too but it's too difficult to access.

[swageo]

Originally Posted by abhi_krao

No, it does not have Hill hold.

So using hand-break is a must for stop and start on slope ?

[abhi_krao]

Originally Posted by swageo

So using hand-break is a must for stop and start on slope ?

There is enough play in AMT that release of brakes does push it forward. However, if the slope is steep or the car is loaded, you will have to use handbrake.

[Piyush Kanthak]

Sir even I am planning for Punch, infact I stay near Adishakti showroom itself, is Punch worth that much money? Is it vfm?

[abhi_krao]

Originally Posted by Piyush Kanthak

Sir even I am planning for Punch, infact I stay near Adishakti showroom itself, is Punch worth that much money? Is it vfm?

It definately is a VFM. Except for the iRA pack option.
The accomplished with additional pack and creative do feel worth the additional money.

[AjinkyaP]

Congratulations on your new ride
Tropical Mist is one of the more unique yet subtle colour on the Tata Punch’s palette.
You did the right thing by choosing AMT , IMO.
Having MT with already 'not so eager' engine wouldnt have made things considerably better.

[mrdexter]

Originally Posted by swageo

So using hand-break is a must for stop and start on slope ?

We were 5 adults inside the car when we did the test drive and tested it on a flyover. Vehicle moves forward with ease once we release the brake.
Normally hill hold keeps the vehicle in same position without engagement of brake. Here we have to hold the brake, but when released, it moved forward.

[swageo]

Originally Posted by mrdexter

We were 5 adults inside the car when we did the test drive and tested it on a flyover. Vehicle moves forward with ease once we release the brake.
Normally hill hold keeps the vehicle in same position without engagement of brake. Here we have to hold the brake, but when released, it moved forward.

You mean foot brake and not hand break ?.

How steep was the incline ?. Someone mentioned in this thread itself that you may have to use hand break in steep inclines