Friends I bought my xeta(gle)-1400cc in nov. 2006. till now 5500km of run and one long drive of abt 600km in july 2007 from bhopal to Maheshwar via indore n back to bhopal via omkareshwar / indirasagar powerhouse. it gave me an avg. of 16.5 for 70% Ac ON. in city it gives me 12.3 km/l for normal iocl/ hp petrol but gave 13.3km/l for Essar oil and HP petrol from my one friend’s pump(JAI SHREE AUTO sales n service near Karond chauraha). I think its a good avg. for we people who drive less. if wagon-r gives 15 km/l but costs 3.7lac so premium of 70, 000 is 1000 rs/per month also wagon-r is not that spacious.
neway let me first share with you my selection of XETA. my budget was abt 3 lac so iwas thinking of taking ALTO/ Wagron-R/ Maruti 800. Alto n Wagon-r & Hundai-Accent is with my friends n I have drove these cars many a times. these are good n comfortable cars. but then accent was out of range. Alto is just 800+looks so I was not ready to pay more 60-70k over 800 just for looks so I decided to confine myself to 800 and decided to take a test drive. 800 was fully out of taste for it is small, not very comfortable; brakes etc not power brakes; no ac so idea to compromise was left.
Wagon -r cost 370000 & xing also in this range n you’ll have to make adjustment for sitting in back seat if you are 3. S I was perplexed. while returning back I tried to just to make a visit in tata show room. incidently XETA was there for test drive. Ohhhh so nice as soon as we entered into the car we felt as if enterinto Accent. rather seat height in xeta is in level so that we don’t have to make any effort to seat. Interior space is marvelous. Power is so good that it runs very smoothly. we were very much impressed n decided to go for a deal. Dealer gave 10thousand discount n one security system n 1 month delivery.
after 1 month car didn’t come n I was in anger so I tried to take it from other dealer. in the meantim, e I checked TATA WEBSITE wherein I found that the base price offered by the dealer was 4000/- more over the web price shown by the TATAs for Xeta in bhopal. I gave a ring to tata headoffice mumbai n they confirmed that web site price is final n gave me the no. of regional manager. he took interest into it n matter was settled for 4000/- further less price. I APPRECIATE TATA PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY GAVE ME A CALL ASKED WHETHER THE MATTER IS OVER OR NOT OR ELSE HE ADVISED ME TO JUST FAX THE BUDGET PRICE SHOWN BY DEALER N THE INVOICE. IT WAS REALLY VERY VERY NICE FEELING FOR TATA PEOPLE BEACUSEWE HAVE PURCHASED lot other cars but hardly the management side responds. while buying Accent we tried a lot n complained a lot about the hundai dear here but no response we got. really VERY VERY GOOD RESPONSE FROM TATA! n the dealer gave me a call n car was delivered I n a week time.
it s very spacious. leg space is very good for all the members compared to I-10, wagon-r, alto etc.
Engine is so smooth, gear is also very smooth.even with AC you won’t feel less power. regarding power one thing is astonishing for me that the engine delivers 12 Kg M @ 2600 rpm. no car even ford ikon(5.5 lac) gives this much power at such low rpm. although in practice you will rarely reach at this rpm in 5th gear(= 120 km/h). ikon gives 10.2 kgm @ 2500 rpm.
caution: initially upto 1000 km I strictly followed the speed/ gear pattern advised by the Tata. I think it helps the engine for smooth running. so much that even now I can’t hear the sound of my enmgine after start except in noise free areas.
I have faced one problem with horn in rainy season when it stopped working. I had to restart n it was normal then.
rest is fine n I with my family enjoying XETA at full.