My Tata Nexon: Booking, delivery & initial impressions

The AMT of the Tata Nexon is much superior to my Celerio's AMT. If anyone has second thoughts about the Nexon due to its AMT, please take a test drive before you reject it.

BHPian gearless recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The Nexon comes Home

After a 6-month waiting, finally, I got my Nexon delivered on the auspicious day of Mahalaya Amavasya on 6th Oct.

The story up to booking

When I bought a pre-owned Celerio AMT in 2018, it was already decided that we will upgrade to a new car in 2020. Then due to covid, we had to postpone our decision. In mid-2020, we had closed on the requirements and started the search:

• Good ground clearance, the approach road to my apartment in Bangalore is vengeful against sedans
• Automatic, proper automatic preferred over AMT
• Good safety features and rating
• Good space for 5, as I travel with extended family and friends a lot
• Max budget of Rs 15 L OTR, lower the better
• Not a huge car considering the tight parking spots and Bangalore traffic

In hindsight, the Nexon seems to be the only option that satisfies these criteria with minimal compromise.

However, it was not on my initial shortlist as I wanted an upgrade from AMT as well and was eagerly waiting for the Sonet to launch. Just after the launch, I was excited for the Sonet, but it went away from the list after the Seltos safety rating was released.

The other contender was the Ecosport, but I rejected it due to very less useable space in the backseat. Now, I thank my stars for that decision.

I ignored the Creta and Seltos even before seeing the safety ratings, as the automatic variants were beyond my budget.

The S-cross and Vitara Brezza were ticking most of the boxes, but they felt outdated after we experienced the Nexon.

The Nexon seemed to be a good option as I will compromise only on the proper automatic. By then, I had two years of experience with AMT and have tweaked my driving style to AMT. I have learned how to manoeuvre without head nods.

The booking

I was stuck in my hometown for a long time and couldn't come back to Bangalore. As my hometown is in a different state, I did not want to buy the car there. I delayed my decision of booking the Nexon till I get back to Bangalore. Finally, in the month of March, I visited three different dealers in Bangalore. I couldn't get any discounts as there was high demand and could get only the basic accessories as a freebie. Also, everyone promised a waiting time of 3 months.

I went ahead with the dealership closest to my home and booked on 28th Mar.

The long wait

Till June, I did not bother to follow up with the dealer as the waiting time was 3 months. Then started the follow-ups, false promises, escalations, cribbing in this forum and other social media channels, involving the ASMs and GMs. After a 3-month battle and a wait of 6 months, my car got allotted in September.

The dealer was trying to be helpful, but I think the delay was due to the mismanagement of Tata in terms of the variant and color balance. There was a huge demand for Foliage green color, but that seemed to be the least manufactured variant color from Tata. In fact, I have been seeing the car list which was allotted to the dealership from Aug (the sales advisor thought this was the only way to keep me from nagging him). I was 5th in queue to receive this variant color in their dealership throughout Bangalore in August and still, it took 3 months post that for Tata to allot.

The reasons I was given was the 2nd wave and semiconductor shortages but I used to point out that in the last 2 months, they sold 10,000 units which is much more than the average 6,000 which they had sold in Mar when I booked.

The delivery

The delivery experience was smooth. As I had to travel out of the station, I had to delay my delivery. By then I had also got my number and got the car with the original number plate fitted.

I did not opt for any accessories as I had booked the XZA+ S variant.

Now I am getting a side-step fitted to enable easy ingress for my parents.

Initial ownership

After spending a week within Bangalore, where I could drive only 150 km, the MID was showing just 8 km/l as the mileage. Last weekend, I had to travel to my hometown which is ~500 km. This trip is where I really enjoyed driving the Nexon.

My observations so far:

• The stability and steering control has been phenomenal. Especially after covering the same route last two times in the Celerio, I can't fathom the amount of confidence this car gave with its manners.
• Getting mileage of 14 km/l on highways and 8 km/l in the city. Though it is too early to make any judgements on this.
• The AMT is much superior to my Celerio's AMT. If anyone has second thoughts with the Nexon due to its AMT, please take a TD before you reject it.
• My wife appreciated the seat comfort. My son enjoyed the rear seat where he took a comfortable nap for a solid two hours.
• My wife just got her DL and is a new driver. She drove 20 km on this trip and she felt that the Nexon was easier to drive than the Celerio. I think the visibility and the power on offer were the reasons. She might not say the same when she drives this car in Silk board.
• Luckily, no niggles so far.
• Android Auto is lagging at times.
• Cruise control was helpful in some stretches of the highway.

My first service will be post-Diwali and planning to be back in Bangalore for it. Will be sharing more experiences as I take the Nexon for more drives. Cheers!!

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