[omicron]

Background

We’re a family of four humans (two adults + two kids) and a dog. My 2017 Tiago XZA AMT had served me faithfully. The Tiago is perfect for a small family. It is zippy (even the AMT!) and it is compact and can go in places that large SUVs can’t.

I was doing some 6K km per year, pre-COVID, didn’t drive much at all during the WFH days and had done 10K km since then.

My average commute is around 53 km per day and it has mix of highway (NICE road) and city roads. Tiago is pretty decent for both.

Need for Upgrade

So, the Tiago was great ... within limits.

The AMT is decent but not great. I couldn't trust it to down-shift before an overtake - in order to overtake on single carriageway (aka undivided roads) which is mostly the state highways, I would put it in manual mode. It also used to upshift when driving on inclines (such as mall parking) and again, I would put it in manual mode.

As the kids grew up and graduated out of the car seats and into teens, I realized that the rear leg space seemed to have shrunk. My natural driving position required me to push the driver's seat back, which wasn't well received in the rear seat.
And in our last road trip, we found that the boot space was woefully inadequate. We seemed to have too much luggage for the car despite my best efforts to enforce prudence.

Then the dog. The dog complicated the situation massively. Because of the front airbag, keeping the dog in the front passenger seat well along with the wife was a no-no. The rear seat is great, but we need to knock off kids. The boot is small and if we put the dog there, you can’t keep any luggage. So, the situation was: dog, kids, luggage - pick any two. And in most cases of road trips, the dog lost out. The most heart-breaking thing was the betrayed look in the dog's face when we dropped her off at the kennel on the way out of the city ....

I'd been pitching for an upgrade for a while now. But my home+finance minister vetoed it absolutely. But the question kept coming up and once day, I got the go ahead to get a new one at around 20L max budget. This was partly marketing - the new cars are much safer, the NICE road is a dangerous place to drive on (and there was a when three fatal accidents happened on NICE road). You know the drill.

So, I wanted a larger car, a safer car and an automatic. I also wanted ADAS. I wanted a car that has really powerful engine and smooth automatic.

And a third row for the dog and luggage.

[omicron]

Down select

For peace of mind, I eliminated all except the top 5 car makers (I read the monthly sales figures). I then eliminated the Koreans and Japanese because of their attitude towards safe cars (so no Ertiga or XL6 or Carens or Triber). That left me with Mahindra and Tata and a potentially expensive acquisition - all were D segment cars and considerably more expensive than XL6.

The Tata dealer Key Motors was quite close to home and so we went there to take a look at the Safari. It looked premium and huge! And I wasn’t sure I could handle or park it in our apartment basement.

We then visited PPS Motors to take a look at the Mahindra cars. We discarded Scorpio N instantly. The third-row seats don’t fold 180 degrees (only 90 degrees) and when folded, eat up the boot space. The XUV700 was much much better. The SA offered a test drive but I had something else planned for the day and was in a hurry, so we had to leave (we’d regret this later).

I took a drive with the Safari automatic and I just felt that the car was too big. The SA was a lady who had no idea about the car. She camped in the rear seat and was glued to her phone. She couldn’t explain any features. After coming from the AMT of Tiago, the Safari automatic was just amazing - butter smooth and I didn’t notice the shifts at all. For some strange reason, the SA kept insisting the automatic was an AMT ! However, compared to a Tiago, the rear visibility was dismal. Did it make sense to go from an A segment car to a D segment SUV ? Also, with the third row up, there wasn’t much luggage space anyway. I was conflicted. So, the entire project ground to a halt.

Changing requirements

After pondering for a few weeks, I realised, maybe I don’t need a three row car after all. I just need a two-row car with large boot-space where both luggage and dog can be accommodated at the same time. I browsed the Team BHP pages and searched across Youtube, but there was no guidance. But I decided to try the C-segment two-row car anyway. But neither Tata nor Mahindra had cars in the segment that fit the bill. None had the large boot that I wanted. Again, the project stalled.

Falling in and out of love with Curvv

I then saw that Curvv getting launched, and I loved its looks. I also liked the large (500L) boot. I felt that could solve my dilemma. Called up Key Motors SA who I’d spoken to and they said that the car would arrive in showroom in a couple of weeks. Towards mid-September, they called up and said that the car was there for demo, but no test drive. We went to take a look.

It looked great from outside. The boot was very spacious. But I was disappointed with the interiors, which looked quite cramped. My daughter declared that the rear seat leg space was less than that of the Tiago. We’d taken a measuring tape and measured the boot dimensions to check if the dog could fit in there or not. And the answer was, while it could stand, it couldn’t sit (not without hitting it head on the rear wind shield).

And I really want to mention the cup-holders. In the top-end version (the one with ADAS), there were no cup-holders in the front (replaced by wireless charger that I have no use for) which was a very big deal for me. It was kind of trivialised in Team BHP review and by Tata (“we don’t have the coffee drinking culture here unlike West”), but that wasn’t the point. It all started a year ago when after analysing my routine health checkup results, the doctor told me quite strictly that I need to drink much more water. I also sweat a lot more and I keep the AC on constantly. And then I got this idea: I’d keep 750ml water bottles in the car cup-holder slot and drink whenever I stop for a traffic light. It worked (and still works) brilliantly. Over a period of time, I became much more calm in reacting to the traffic lights (because I have something to do during the stops). So, having cup holders in the front was imperative - both from peace of mind and health perspectives. And the Curvv had none.

And then, the test drive. Which didn’t happen. Because Tata didn’t provide test-drive vehicles for weeks after launch, and that too, only the manual. No automatic. I wanted to check out both the Petrol and Diesel automatic before I made my decision. I called up Key Motors, Prerana Motors BTM layout, Kropex Motors near City, KHT in Domlur, but the vehicles were simply not available !

In any case, I didn't think it was worth 23.8L on road.

Sorry Tata, you botched the Curvv. Just a bit of care, and you could have done amazing things with it.

[omicron]

Enter the Harrier

While on our visit to check out the Curvv, my daughter had fallen in love with the Harrier and kept bringing it up whenever we discussed this. After my Safari experience, I was quite reluctant. Harrier was 80cm longer than Tiago and some 60 cm wider. My wife was fan of the Curvv too, but we had just eliminated the Curvv. But I just thought to humour my daughter and take a look at it. I went to Kropex Motors near Ecity (since it was close to my office) to check it out and it was quite impressive. It had a large boot where I could keep the dog and luggage. It had great rear seating space. It ticked all boxes, except the budget. I slowly started liking it.

Tata has in the meantime started offering discounts which made it more interesting. For just an additional Rs. 5L, I could get a much better vehicle than Curvv. They offered to get the car to my office the next day for the test drive, but called up and said that the automatic variant had gone to another showroom and it wasn’t available. In the meanwhile, I had spoken to Key Motors and Prerana (BTM Layout), but though Key Motors was close by, Prerana was the quickest off the blocks and booked the test drive for Saturday morning (just a couple of days later).

My wife and I drove to the show-room, and we got the test drive. I had asked for a clued-in SA and they put me with one who knew the car well. I had also asked that I wanted to check the car parking in our apartment basement and he agreed. With his help and the 360 degree camera, I was able to park. Not easily, but able to. On the way back, it started raining heavily and the ORR became jammed. So, I got to experience the car in bumper to bumper traffic. And it felt really good. I felt I could get used to this. The blindspot indicators on the ORVMs were amazing. And then the SA started the ventilated seat and I felt like it was heaven.

What happened to the XUV ?

Did I mention the regret at not taking the test drive when I first visited the PPS Mahindra showroom ? Well, it never came to be. At first, they kept calling me and asking me to take the TD. I had some official travel that was happening and I couldn’t. Later when I had narrowed my Tata selection to Harrier, I called them again. They promised - three times - that they would have the TD, but each of the times, they said that they only had the manual version and the automatic was in another showroom. And twice, the reason was that the person I called was ill in hospital and I had to check with someone else. Due to the distinct lack of interest and what with my talent of making them admit themselves in hospital, I also lost interest in them in return.

Finalising the variant and the dealer

For my previous cars, I had simply gone for the highest variant. But here, the top end - Fearless+DT (AT) (the nonDark edition) - was coming to 32.2L on-road, whereas Adventure+A (AT) was coming to 29.3L on road. So, by sacrificing somethings, I could get a decent car which was only some 5L more than the Curvv (24.8L on road). That was much more palatable.

The Harrier doesn’t come in too many colours. We loved the light grey but alas, the higher variants only had the dark “pebble grey”. We settled for it.

Kropex offered 28.6L (mostly the insurance) and a very good deal for my old car. But they didn’t go down further, and they didn't put me in touch their lead or manager.

Prerana was quite aggressive with their quote. They initially offered around 28.5L (mostly the insurance) and then dropped it even further. But they didn’t offer as well for the old car. I liked Prerana because they were hungry for the sale and the SA introduced to the Lead and Manager which helped in getting the discounts.

Key Motors gave me a quote which wasn’t much discounted. I told them I was getting much better quote elsewhere and they were like "you show me the quote from the other dealer and where you got it, otherwise we can’t match". So, I walked.

By this time, it was nearing end of October and the sales guys from both dealers were pushing to book since the discounts were valid only till end of the month. Prerana was willing to give me a free side-step too. I booked the car that was already in their stockyard in Nelamangala (manufactured in July).

PDI Problems

The first thing I wanted was the third party PDI. I know my competencies and intricacies of the car issues isn’t one of them. Both the dealers said “no”. I called up Tata Motors and they also said “no”. I was like, what’s wrong with your cars that you don’t want an expert to look at it before buying ? Would you do it for the car I want to exchange with ?

I had some visa appointment at around this time, and that was the top priority. So, end of October came and went. I wasn’t in a hurry and took my time.

I restarted the thread and approached both. Tata had extended the discounted pricing. Kropex stuck to their stand of no third-party PDI and that's it. Prerana was more reasonable - they understood that I could bring my “cousin” for PDI and there was nothing they could do about it as long as no tools were used - use of tools (probably the OBD scanner) would apparently void warranty. I was co-ordinating with Zekardo and those guys said if they can’t use the tools, they can’t conduct the PDI. I tried to compromise asking if Prerana would use the Tata’s tools and they said no.

I then found CarX which is run by a detailer on Google. The guy seemed quite reasonable and we setup PDI with Prerana. Now the Prerana guys said that we need to visit the showroom in Yelahanka. I was really upset and wanted to know why the car is in Yelahanka if the showroom I’m dealing with is in BTM Layout and the stockyard is in Nelamangala. The SA was giving some silly reasons that made no sense at all. I called up the PDI fellow (I really forgot his name) and informed him that something is fishy. On the day of the PDI, the sales lead called me and told me that once the car booking at expired, the car was moved to the showroom in Yelahanka as a display vehicle and that it was in good shape.

On the appointed day, I went to the Yelahanka showroom and met up with the CarX fellow. And we waited and waited for the BTML layout sales rep to show up. It took two hours for him to come. The CarX fellow did a thorough PDI and found some minor issues that the dealer said they’d fix before delivery. The car was in very good condition.

I then paid the rest of the amount. I chose to not buy insurance from them, and got the insurance for 57K instead of 71K that the dealer quoted (the list price for 130K!). The dealer also said that the free accessory wasn’t there, so I went with no accessory option.

I contacted Cars24 to evaluate my old car, and they found issues that I really didn’t think were issues. They first offered Rs. 4.1L and then reduced it to Rs. 4L. The dealer’s quote + exchange discount was coming to the same amount, so I decided to sell the car to the dealer. It’d also allow me to retain the car till the new car was ready and then drop off while taking delivery of the new one. Two days later, Cars24 came back with a quote for Rs. 4.2L but by that time they had lost credibility and I didn’t want to deal with them.

Two take-aways:
• My Tiago had some minor dents and scratches. I think if I had done a bit of denting and painting, I'd have gotten a far better quote.
• For Cars24, reject their first offer and their second offer too. They will come back with better quote. You play with the time.

[omicron]

Delivery

The dealer had promised to deliver it on the weekend, but they couldn’t get the RTO stuff done, so they said they’d do it the next day. The number plates weren’t ready but I got the delivery since that day was holiday for my kids and I had already blocked off time on my office calendar. (I got the plates the next day).

They did the usual stuff like cake cutting etc which I wasn't really keen on but my kids were.

Accessories

Since the dealer refused to discount the accessories, I got all the accessories (including mud flaps) outside.

First order of business was the dashcam. I used to have a 6 year old Transcend Drive Pro dashcam, which was woefully inadequate. So, I ordered the Viofo A329 dual channel dashcam for around 40K directly from the dealer. I went to Konark accessories in Jayanagar and got the dashcam installed, the mud flaps and GFX floor mats. I thought of installing the side step but they looked to protrude and the guy who cleans the car said he just stands on the tire to clean the roof, so no need for it.

I also got door visor installed at Hamza accessories (on 24th Main, JP Nagar) since Konark only had a chrome visor and I really didn't care about chrome.

There is only accessory that I want from the dealer: auto dimming IRVM. They didn't have it in stock, so still waiting.

I got a Riggear ventilated seat cover (that doesn't affect the seat airbags) for the driver's seat off of Amazon.

The Harrier cupholder wasn't wide enough or deep enough for bottle. So got a cupholder extender from Amazon to ensure that the bottle stays upright and doesn't topple causing a safety hazard.

I also got CR 70 installed on the front and rear windshields, the front windows and the sunroof. The bite of the hot sun seems to be eliminated.

Getting used to the car

The car is much more sophisticated compared to my Tiago. So, here's what I did:
• Go over the manual thoroughly at home.
• Sit in the car while parked and go over the manual and try the settings. This gave me a good feel for the infotainment system and the different knobs
• Parking trials: Parked the car a few times figuring out the best and least risky way to traverse the narrow basement stilt parking paths
• City driving: Driving in the city at low speeds to get a feel for the car and its width in close traffic situations.

[omicron]

I have driven around 1300 km in the 1 month since I got the car.

Pros

• Butter smooth automatic: It finds the right gear at the right time. No issues at all. A huge upgrade from the AMT of Tiago.
• Amazing engine: I never feel short of power. The kick that happens when the Turbo spools up is really amazing. The Eco mode is adequate for both city and highway traffic.
• Adaptive Cruise Control: ACC is awesome if you can get used to it. It took me a while (a couple of hundred km) to get used to the ACC, but it is just amazing especially on speed limited highways such as MYS-BLR expressway. I set it at 98 kmph and only controlled the steering. The practically drove itself.
• Electric steering: It is much easier to steer the Harrier relative to my Tiago despite much longer and wider.
• Mileage: Not really a huge concern (especially having bought a 1.8 ton tank), but the MID figures are quite decent: 8-9 kmpl for Bangalore ORR bumper-bumper evening traffic, 14-15 kmpl for office commute (includes NICE road), 18-19 kmpl for BLR-MYS trip which was mostly on expressway.
• Blindspot indicator: The yellow blindspot warning indicator the ORVM is just amazing. It makes it really easy to check if I can change lanes or not.
• Smoother driving due to ADAS: In the initial few days of the car, I got a lot of warnings due to lane departure, blindspot indicator and even FCW. ADAS is a safety net for me and I want to ensure it doesn't have to kick in at all. So, I have made it my mission to drive better and eliminate the warnings. I don't think I'll be able to eliminate all but my driving has become much better.
• 360 camera: A god-send for parking. The yellow guidelines that appear on the display that show the path is just amazing because I know if I'm going to hit the car next or not. The contextual auto 360 display especially in close traffic situations in the city is very intuitive. As you can see below, the margin of error for parking is quite low in my apartment basement. Without the 360 degree camera, I think the car would have been severely dented.

Cons

• Touch panel AC: I keep switching the AC off when I try to change the AC temperature setting. Why do you need touch panel if the buttons don't change ?
• Wacky MID behavior: The MID, while customizable, is just weird. Even if I have chosen the display to say, show the navigation, the moment ACC or some ADAS warning comes on, the navigation goes away and Driver Assist mode is filling the screen and it doesn't revert back to the navigation display.
• I still haven't figured out how to ensure that media is off when I start the car.
• Lane departure warnings: While the lane departure warning is good, while driving on a single carriageway (think Kanakapura road beyond Malavalli), if you just cross the center line (even if safe) to overtake some farmer on bicycle on the left most lane, the warning goes off. It becomes just annoying after a while, and I can't easily turn it off.
• NVH could be better. You can hear the diesel grunt sometimes filtering into the cabin. This is my first diesel so I may be a bit sensitive to the noise though.
• Cockpit ergonomics: For such a large car, there isn't good enough space to keep the phone. It is much worse than Tiago despite having more space. The center console front pocket is occupied by the wireless charging pad, which makes it really shallow and it's very hard to place the phone or remove it without touching the terrain response knob. Tiago also had this nice cubby hole in the front right of the drive (just above the bonnet release lever) and I really miss it. If there is a way to get rid of the wireless charger pad, I'd do it in a flash.

Strange

• There was one time in the city when the AEB kicked in and braked suddenly. There was dense traffic and I was crawling and vehicles were slowing down due to speed bump but there was no need for the AEB to kick in at that time. No idea what happened.
• While driving on the expressway, while trying to pick up speed, the ACC kept the car in high RPM (~3K) for more than 20 seconds for no reason I could see. I just turned it off and took manual control.
• I got a TPMS malfunction warning but the TPMS kept working fine, so I haven't felt the urgency to get it checked out.
• I'm not able to set the AEB to low sensitivity. Looks like a bug.



The car seems to have firmware from Jan 2024, so I'm hoping that at the first service, a firmware upgrade may happen that might iron some of these issues.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[ike]

Congratulations and welcome to Harrier ownership. Wishing you hundreds of thousands of blissful miles.

Originally Posted by omicron

• I still haven't figured out how to ensure that media is off when I start the car.

Mine is a pre-facelift version without ADAS et al but I had the problem of FM radio starting as soon as the ignition is turned on. I rarely listen to music and when I do I do it from Amazon music from Android auto. I find that when you turn off the car with the music source as android auto, it does not start up automatically when you start the car next time.

• Cockpit ergonomics: For such a large car, there isn't good enough space to keep the phone.

I shove my phone in the cupholder or underneath the armrest. But with wireless Android auto it is mostly in my pocket.

[abhii176]

Many congratulations on your ride, she is a looker!
I got a Safari in Apr'24 and have driven 17k kms so far, and can tell you she is a hoot to drive!

Originally Posted by omicron

• Wacky MID behavior: The MID, while customizable, is just weird. Even if I have chosen the display to say, show the navigation, the moment ACC or some ADAS warning comes on, the navigation goes away and Driver Assist mode is filling the screen and it doesn't revert back to the navigation display.

This should get resolved once you go in for your first service and get a software update. I had the same issue when I got my car and it was a major irritant. But the software upgrade at the first service resolved it, so the warning just pops up now but the MID screen doesn't change to the Drive Assist screen.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by omicron

Enter the Harrier

While on our visit to check out the Curvv, my daughter had fallen in love with the Harrier and kept bringing it up whenever we discussed this.

Congratulations on your new car Wish you many happy miles!

You and your family seems to be Tata fans