After experience following are my comments on Tata Indigo diesel
At 10, 000 kms and after the third service, we went for a long drive. At 350th Km of the long drive AC discharge tube burst and the car was filled with black smoke. Luckily we were alert enough to open the windows and we are alive today. Had to spend Rs 3000 to get the AC working.
Vibration, noiseiness of engine is going on increasing as the car is being serviced and as it runs more kms.
Have doubts on the life of important parts in the car like shock absorbers which started squeaking after 5000 Kms.
Following are the areas of improvement for Indigo
1. Quality check done by company depends on the model (VS, LS, LX, SX) you are buying. Quality is directly proportional to money you are paying for the car. Check your new car completely for all functionality before taking delivery of the car. Surprises are common in a new Tata car.
2. VS has cheap grey plastic interiors with dashboard box lock which will break if forced to open in locked condition. Also experienced problem of RHS back door in VS not closing properly and has to be hit hard to lock properly. LX does not have these problems.
3. Dealer’s executive will be behind you till you book the car. After you book the car you will be behind the executive to take delivery of the car.
4. Escalation to GM of sales/ service centre helps to an extent. Soon you will be tired of it and will start hoping the car runs a lakh kilometres with their service. Do not worry about the looks of the car after service as you need not have to scratch the car while driving. Service centre will take care of making new dents when left for servicing. You should be happy that the tata car has seats for you to sit and has metal body to keep you safe. Beauty of car, glossy shine of body is meant for Hondas and Toyotas.
5. If your knowledge of car mechanism is poor and want to buy a car which you want to drive when you want to go places, Tata cars are not the cars for you due to poor service by dealerships.
6. Cars being damaged / scratched are part of service. Handling of car during service can be compared to a road side workshop. You will have to pester the service centre if something is not done to your expectation to get it done. Soon you will be tired of it. After a service, you should have a broken part (especially plastic parts). A broken part indicates that you have done a service.
7. Alignment problems will be created by service centre during service if they find you are happy with your car. All sorts of things will be tried once there is a pulling problem. At one time I had a difficult time finding out which wheel was previously where. All sorts of wheel rotation will be tried if the pulling is not solved. No systematic approach to solve problems.
8. Cars will be treated as metal objects once the dealer has sold it you. There will be no pride of brand name shown by the dealer / service centre
9. front windows in new cars (old cars are no exception) have problem of coming out of the groove in both motorised and manual versions. Praying to god that the glass should not come out of the groove will help.
10. In Potholed highways car has to be driven very slowly at around 20 kms/hr to avoid huge thuds in the front portion of car. Front shocks start giving noise in pot holed roads after 5000 Kms.
11. Putting on the AC with the blower in full speed 4 will cause outside noise not be heard and may result in an accident. Better to keep it at 2.
Normally People choose Tata for diesel and the relatively cheaper price tag compared to other cars in the same segment. The points mentioned above also comes as a bonus for the choice made.