[sreejith.j]

The Road to Nexon

I am writing a review on TBHP after 10 years. Please pardon me in case my posts are not up to the mark. Now getting on to the review of the Panda Car !!!!

My wife used to have a Wagon R AMT which had covered only 8K kms in a period of 5 years. We sold that car post covid as the running literally had come to zero. Fast forward to 2024 wife needed a car to commute to office and also for some personal reasons. She is only comfortable with Automatics and our search for AT cars began. We ideally looked at only CSUV's as we are more comfortable with them especially ingress considering our parents. I had completely ruled out AMT cars as the experience with WagonR was pathetic considering the gear shifts. I am fan of the DSG's of the VW group and have them already.

The first car we tested was Nexon. We went to Kropex on Hosur road. It was literally fish market with a lot of people around. We were quickly assigned a SA and he showed us the car. We liked the car and asked them to get one home for test drive. following which we left the dealership. We next went to VW showroom which is next door and saw the Taigun. The car was impressive and I was already sold on the DSG. This was before the price cut and SA had informed us there are discounts possible if we are interested. I asked them to arrange a test drive as well and later on the same day we ended up in the Suraksha Nexa which was on the other side. We saw the Fronx over there. The dealership was quite empty on a Sunday afternoon and we immediately took a test drive of the car. The car was impressive and performed well , The AT gearshifts were not as impressive as the Dual clutch ones. We kept this an option open as I had always read about the service issues of TATA. However the safety ratings of Fronx are not published yet and being a Suzuki I did not have much hope.

The next Monday the Kropex SA promptly followed up and got a car to test drive. The drive was good. The DCA performed Seamlessly and the features were impressive. The 360 camera, Blindspot camera and Audio setup was great as well. The only drawback I saw was that fuel efficiency on the MID was showing a measly 8 KMPL. The SA told that this being demo car is used aggressively and we would ideally get about 10 to 12 in city which seemed believable.

Next on the list we considered both Venue and Sonet. I know that they are essentially these are the same cars however I felt that they have a different character and to some extent I felt even the body shell is different. The venue seemed better built and doors seemed a little more heavier than the Sonet. Both the cars drive pretty similar but on the features wise Sonet takes a lead. The SA at KIA was very persuasive also and when I asked him about safety and how it compares with Nexon which has a 5 star, he informed that the car has all features to prevent an accident and the 5 star is not needed also. I was laughing inside but kept my composure with him. However I guess what he said is absolutely true and I realized this later as you folks would be able to read further in my review.

[sreejith.j]

The Decision of Nexon

Well after testing all these cars Nexon checked most of the boxes and it seemed like a no brainer to go for it. I did read some reviews on TBHP on the DCA issues, services horrors but when further reading into them it seemed that TAMO has fixed the issues and car seemed to be niggle free. We then went to Kropex to make the booking and proceed with Nexon.

The SA was cooridal and bought the sales Manager to discussion as I wanted to see if there is any better deal they could offer also. The SM was a gentlemen and assured they would provide the best deal they can and enquired which leasing company we were going with. My wife's company has partnered with Orix and I informed the same. However the buck stopped there as Kropex no longer accepts bookings for Orix due to some pending payments issues it seems.

We then checked with Orix who informed that Bellad Auto/Key motors is the new preffered dealer. I initially checked with Key motors as they were near to my house, however the SA I was assigned had a huge ego likely and was not even responding and adamant on pricing. They were not even ready to match the corporate discount offered by Kropex. We then got in tough with Corporate sales Manager at Bellad as the contact was provided by Orix. He promptly transferred our quiery to Vignesh who was Team lead for Sales. He sent us pictures of White Nexon DCT fearless S+ which was in stock. We did not like white color however we were informed that there would be a delay of two months which didnt seem to be true though. We agreed to the car in the white color as wife needed a car to commute and her mother was diagnosed with Stage 3 Cancer and we needed a safe and sanitised self used car and did not want to depend on taxi's.

Finally the car was booked and we transferred the initial booking amount to block the car and initated the leasing process also.

We were assigned a SA. I contacted him for PDI. However they told third parties are not allowed to inspect the car and hence I could not book the third part app. I had to make a trip across the city in BLR traffic to go see the car. The car was dirty and covered in dust. I roughly inspected the panels to see if there is any transport damage and any signs of repaint. I could not make out much as it was covered with a thick layer of dust. I further checked the ODO and took photos and also confirmed the VIN number. There were panel gaps I had noticed but didnt make a fuss about it as a lot of it has been said by multiple reviewers.

We gave Orix a go ahead , post which the PO was released and we got the insurance also through the company's provided which was 50% the cost of the insurance offered by Bellad with the same features including RTI.

Once the PO was received by Bellad team there was no communication or update from them. We had to follow up multiple times to know the status. We finally received the msg from VAAHAN portal and realized that the vehicle is getting registerted. However we were able to take delivery of the vehicle only 1 week post this as delear informed that there is delay is receiving HSRP number plates

[sreejith.j]

The Delivery Experience

The delivery of the car was scheduled on 5th June evening and were asked by the SA to reach by 5.30. I roped in my brother to drive our car and took our family to delivery as our kids were excited about the new car. The kids even named the car Panda , after Po (Kung Fu Panda movie). We reached the dealership and it was a sleepish scene over the there. The receptionist came to us and we informed that we are here for the car delivery. She asked us to wait and informed that someone would attend to us as our SA had gone out for a test drive for some other customer.

We obliged and waited. I saw the car getting cleaned at the delivery area and took a stroll around it. I was surprised and shocked to see that there is a paint chip off on the bumper on the brand new car. They have touched it up with a paint brush which made it look worse than my 3 year old's drawing. I then took a close look at the bumper and it seemed like there was repainting done. There was overspray on the plastic components and didn't seem like a factory finish job. I immediately called and asked the same to the Team leader who was dealing with us. He said his supervisor will immediately assist us. This experience had already become pathetic as the attitude of the staff at the dealership was as if they were doing us a favour by letting us buy this car. I did not want to take delivery, However I saw that my confrontation is making my family uncomfortable and I did not want to spoil a car buying experience for them. However the experience was pathetic. The supervisor agreed to the damage on the car and promised that they would resolve it in the first service and repaint and make it perfect. I have attached the pics however its more evident in person than in the pics

We finally took the car delivery and to be honest it was the worst ever delivery experience I ever had.

[sreejith.j]

The First Drive

Even with all the shortcomings of the dealership, the car was amazing and made us forget all the negatives. It has adequate power right in the City mode and we never felt the need to even shift to sport mode.

The gear shifts are seamless and we didn't notice any lags. I felt it comparable to the VW DSG shifts and it was choosing the right gears.

We first drove to the nearbuy fuel pump and filled up the tank post which we left to our house. The drive was uneventful and kids were excited for the new car especially our younger one who is only 3 years old and already wants to drive the car

The only thing they disliked was that they had to wear seatbelts even when sitting at the car as the car has sensors even for rear seats and the warning was annoying.

[sreejith.j]

The initial drives

Wife was happy with the new car and was comfortable driving it. The 360 camera also helped her in navigating smaller road. I was happy that she is independent now and can go anywhere and would not need to take cabs when I am not around. She started taking the car to office herself and her confidence in drive had increased.

The drives were good and the A/C was a chiller even in hot weather and sunny conditions. The seat ventilation is a great feature for sunny days in the crawling BLR traffic conditions. Soon we completed the 100 KMS mark. However surprisingly fuel efficiency was extremely low. When I did the next tank-full and calculated we hardly got about 6 KMPL which was abysmally low. We hope that car would return better mileage after the first service is completed.

Positives

• Futuristic design
• 360 camera
• Good ride handling
• 5 star safety rating
• Ventilated seats

Negatives

• DCA reliability
• Low fuel efficiency compared to other CSUV
• Iffy Tata service
• Plastic quality of interiors
• Panel gaps
• The infotainment unit has bugs and flickers
  

We had the car for almost a week and then I got a call from the first SA we had spoke initially to check whether we are going ahead with the booking and TAMO is offering currently a 1.5 lakh discount on the car net. I was shell shocked realizing that we have already lost money. I connected with the Sales Manager of Bellad to check and he confirmed that there are discounts being offered currently with the 7 year anniversary and we cannot get it. I recollected some of the posts made by other members on the Jimny thread and I was in the same predicament. We then shot an email to higher management at TAMO. The only thing that yielded was a call from Bellad saying that they cannot offer any discounts as its an offer from TAMO and they have no role in it. we just documented the pathetic experience we had with Bellad and ended the follow up as no one in TAMO is willing to listen to customers voice.

[sreejith.j]

The first Long drive

We offer prayers at Tirupathi once a year and this year we had got a darshan slot booked on 15th July. We usually do a quick one day and night stay trip and off late after the roads are improved its a quick and pleasant drive always. This time my wife made a little more elaborate plans as we planned to take Nexon and she could share driving also. We had made a plan to include 6 temples in a span of two days.

We started off on 14th June at about 8.00 AM in the morning as we had to get our kids ready and we left from our Home. We did not encounter much traffic in BLR as it was a Sunday morning and crossed KR Puram pretty quick. The car was performing well and I was driving initially as we had to reach the first temple before 3.00 PM. We had good time left and were on track and there was no need to hurry. I was driving sedately and was only doing smooth acceleration as we wanted the car to run in well. The odo was only 267 KMS when we left from home and we ideally wanted to take the first 1K kms slow with slow run in and not high RPMS. WE quickly reached our first stop for breakfast which was Paakashala at Mulbagal. we had a quick breakfast and continued our trip.

We had crossed KA border and entered AP. The drive was going well and I was occasionally doing 100 to 120 with not high RPM's. I noticed a shuddering whenever the car was doing above 100 and was a little worried about the same in a new car. It seemed like a braking shudder but I was not even braking. i assumed it might be the pads getting some fade and continued to drive.

We were crossing Palamner and there is a small ghats area and roads are a little twisting. There was some truck traffic and I was navigating through those and suddenly I had an error on the dash which said Transmission error Contact service center. I had a loss of power and vehicle was not accelerating. I could hear weird grinding noises from the car and no shifts were working. I tried the paddles and there was no response. I had trucks nearby and was on the right side of the road with a car which has no throttle response. Luckily I was able to navigate and parked the vehicle on the left side of the highway. I turned off the car and tried restarting the car and the dash showed the gear position as "F" and it was not slotting into any gear.

I was shocked and was thanking gods that we are safe and didn't get rear ended. This is when the dialogue of the KIA sales man came back to me as a dejavu moment where he said that we have all features that prevent an accident and this make us almost 5 stars. Its hard truth to realize that passive safety features make sense only when the car is reliable.

[sreejith.j]

The RSA

After I realized that we are stuck would need help as the car had broken down and would need to be towed. I asked my wife to dial the sales Manager at Bellad who told that he will connect us to the service Manager. Then he called back and asked us to call the Tata support number.

We called the support number and the RSA call center experience was below par. The exec mentioned that car can be towed only to the nearest Tata dealer and that would be Chittoor. It didn't make sense to me as that dealership would not be able to handle a DCA failure and needed a trained workforce to manage the same. They said they would check and get back and were left in a spot. I asked my wife to send an email to the same list where we had marked last week. Within in the next 20 mins we get a call saying that RSA is being arranged and vehicle would be towed to Bangalore. The challenging part here was that our car had broken down in AP area and it was close to the borders of both TN and KA. Finally a fine gentleman got in touch with us and informed that he is the Regional Manager of KA and assured us car would be taken care off. He also informed us that we can continue our trip by a taxi and they would pay the bill for the same. In the meantime another manager from Hyd area also got in touch with us as he was managing the Tirupathi sector. He was initially suggesting Ertiga however I didn't accept that as it has poor safety ratings and told Innova would be better as we were 3 adults and 2 kids. They obliged and arranged for an Innova who would take us to Kanipakam temple and then drop us at Tirupathi. It took about 4 hours from the time of breakdown to time of the cab arrival. They had arranged a towing vehicle from BLR and informed that it would reach only by night. Hence they had arranged someone locally to come and take custody of the car and we could leave.

The car was towed only at about 10.00 PM in the night

[sreejith.j]

DCA - Punch Powertronics.

The DCA used in Nexon is supplied by Punch powertronics, a Belgian company. They have formed a JV with Tata Components and setup a plant in Pune. They are supplying all the DCA units installed in TAMO and even in the upcoming Curv. The specs and technicals of the Dual clutch unit is impressive and they have made a single shaft by utilizing a hollow shaft and another shaft inside bypassing the need for two separate shafts.

Now our vehicle was towed to Key motors in Mysore road as they have experience in handling DCA units. The car was towed only at night 10.00 PM and reached BLR early in the morning.

We did not follow up much about the repair of the car as were busy with temple darshan's and it was a hectic schedule.

We reached back to BLR on Tuesday evening and informed the same to TAMO team. It was only on Wednesday we checked on what was going on with the car. We were informed that the DCA has failed and they are going ahead with replacing the entire DCA unit and ESP. There was no consent they had obtained from us before doing this. They had airlifted the part from Pune and it was delivered to Key motors. They replaced the DCA unit along with the ESP and took a test drive of the car for about 100 kms.

They informed us that car is fixed completely and now roadworthy and we would not have any issues going further. The RM also informed us that they would provide us 2 year extended warranty and Tata would take care of the DCA if there is any issue.

We took their word and I went to pick up the car on the following Tuesday as my daughters birthday was next day and also wife needed the car for Hospital duties.

I took the car from Mysore Road service center and had to go for a meeting in Yeshwantpur which was about 6 kms away. I finished the meeting decided to take the NICE road back home as it would be test also. I crossed the toll , however could not drive the car to max limit also as there is constant truck traffic.

Within crossing about 15 kms on NICE the error popped up again and I was frustrated with TAMO for playing with our lives. Luckily this time there was no power loss and car was moving. I called the RM immediately and asked why they would do this to us. They continued to have the same empathetic attitude and promised this would be resolved. I asked them to pick up the car from our residence the next morning and check the same.

[sreejith.j]

The Second Service Center

This time the vehicle was taken to Key motors service center in Kanakapura road. The team checked the car and informed that the error was related to clutch oil pressure sensor fluctuation. It is not a persistent error and it was cleared.

They further did a test of about another 150 odd kms and didn't notice any error post that. The RM called and informed me about the same. He informed that the DCA tech from Chennai is also there and I can take a test drive with them and the DTE to be satisfied. I went to the service center and took the car over from there to Kunigal via Nice road. The car was performing normally however I had an innate fear in me that this can fail at anytime and we would need to brace for an impact. The total test drive was about 150 odd kms. By now the cars odo is reading 960 KMS of which about 450 odd kms is only testing.

We felt like a jackass after paying and becoming Guinea pigs for TAMO to test. I am happy to be alive today to post my review here and thank my stars for not ending up in a crashed 5 star car.

[sreejith.j]

Current Status

The car currently is in Key motors Kanakapura road. They are asking me to take delivery of the car, however I am not inclined and insisted them to either refund the cost of the car or have a new car given.

They are offering additional perks like
1. Extended warranty.
2. AMC plan
3. Taxi charges
4. Bellad auto (additional accessories worth 25K) - I am still wondering what accessory they would provide on a top end fully loaded car.


I guess now the ball is in my court on how to handle this. Either look for legal remedies or accept the fact that i have got a lemon and live with it.

[GTO]

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

Going to our homepage today

[1.2TSI7DSG]

Bang on just before the Curvv ICE launch with DCTs. Only lets us know that DCTs are very complex

[deetee]

Felt so sad reading your ordeal. You must be undergoing lot of unexplainable stress and frustration having to deal with all these. I hope and pray that this thread gives you the necessary reach and visibility to get the matters sorted without too much of drama.

[psbali]

I am sorry to hear about your issues this shouldnt happen with anyone. I would suggest you remain adamant about a refund and go for a more reliable car from a better company.

Transmission faliure even once is not acceptable and you faced transmission issues twice.

We are a household with multiple cars. I have a nexon ev at and we desperately need another one. Touch wood that our case has been niggle free so far. But even with such great EVs such as Punch, Nexon and Curvv and such great prices I am still waiting for newer models to launch from other companies. I have a self made rule about owning only 1 Tata Motor Vehicle at a time.

After owning Aria (bought at launch), Nexon (bought 2 yrs after launch) and several horror stories I stay away from putting my self in a position to deal with TM in 2 instances.

[Palio_2005]

XUV 3XO is a much better car than Nexon IMHO. Spacious, well laid out interiors, solid engineering. Mahindra's in my opinion has better engineering and quality control as compared to Tata cars.

Now with Pratap Bose there, I expect many more exciting launches from them. There are cars like Sonet, Venue, Aricross, 3XO. Nexon is losing its sheen which is seen from the steep discounts offered.

Tata has milked this brand and time they face the heat. With their continued quality issues they will be in being trouble soon.