Tata Indica V2

Hey guys at MS,

I am writing the review after pretty long time.

The reasons

1. I don’t like to review (or can not write, that sounds more polite) on movies. There are many good people who are doing this job nicely at MS.

   
   




2. I did not buy anything in last two months.

   
   

This was too much for me so went shopping with some bucks in my pocket.

Just happened to see a car loan mela somewhere on the road and an idea struck into my mind. Lets go and buy a car !!!My family members still wondering about this but I decided on that once..so here happened one story?.

My family is typical Indian family with my mother father, wife and daughter types?

Including me 5 people and with a budget of around 3-4 lacs.

By the way..I was having Maruti 800 for last four years and working brilliantly?

So as a loyal customer I went to Maruti dealer Sai Service at Pune.

Short selected cars at Maruti were:

1. Maruti Esteem Lxi (Later dropped this as it was going upto 5 lacs on road)

   
   




2. Maruti Wagon R Vxi.(Hmm?that is indeed a good car!!)

   
   

At Hyundai dealer, Kothari Motors, Pune I selected

1. Hyundai Santro Xing XS/XG

Tata Motors(Pandit Automotive, Pune)

1. Indica DLG, (Top end DLX was Rs.30, 000 more expensive.)

So, started with Maruti and Hyundai first, Prices are almost same for top ends but wagon R was much feature rich. And somehow with the odd styling(This is What other people say?I like the shape of Wagon R!! Pls do not bombard me with your comments?)

Another thing was space at the rear for passengers?.I feel Wagon R and Santro almost have same space..Forget those factory dimensions..This is real time observation..Only 2 person can seat comfortably in these cars..3 rd person with little efforts but not convincing enough..(That is the only thing which goes against Santro and Wagon R..Otherwise brilliant vehicles for city driving?)

So TATA BYE BYE TO SANTROS AND WAGON R??.VERY SADLY.

Next was Indica?..Being a Diesel model..you can not get Peppy nature of petrol engines but it works man?are you Ferrari fan?Do not go for this car..Ask Sachin Tendulkar for his Ferrari(Duty is already paid!..Why are you waiting for ?)

Being a person with above mentioned budget of 3-4 lacs..I chose Indica DLS and DLG but somehow settled for DLG model which has been launched newly to fill the gap between DLS and DLX models. On road price at Pune was 4.04 Lacs for DLG?.

So purchased Indica DLG on 17th December, 2004.Till date clocked 700 kms on this and have some observations

1. Drive carefully in Traffic, as pickup is little slow but absolutely good on highways..

   
   




2. Lacks raw power of Old 4 geared DLE but much more smooth than all earlier versions.

   
   




3. Overall good package with nice features?

   
   

I am not writing anything abt Tech. specs as everybody who has driven this car knows that?.

Go for diesel if you have running of around 30 kms daily. Passenger Speciousness is the key factor and Indica beats Santro and Wagon R hands down.But Luggage space is very less compared to Wagon R ..but that is OK?.

Go for Indica DLG than DLS if you can raise your budget by 25, 000/-

Some additional features are

1. Front power Windows

   
   




2. Rear Demister

   
   




3. HVAC(DLS has only AC and not heater?Now don?t say who requires heater in India??..That is essential if you have kids)

   
   




4. Provision for mobile charger/lighter.

   
   




5. FOG lamps.

   
   




6. Adjustable 60:40 seats.

   
   

Now I will say I am proud owner of Indica We2  ?not V2 :) If you need some more..let me know in your comments, I can add more lines(Technical) to my review... :)

Thanks for your Overwhelming response and great comments buddies... I am honoured !!As promised, I am adding some more info on ’Comparison of Interiors’ as ’subhadip’ has asked for

Interiors of Indica as compared to WAGON R, Santro: Indica has interior room comparable with most mid-sizers. Plastic quality has improved but not excellent. But functional enough to serve your needs.Old Indicas wer having problems of rough edges.I feel Tatas have taken care of this in V2.AC control switches are improved.

Wiper and Light switches are much much better now. I strongly feel Indica should change the Grey plasticky interior in next version and add some black touches to it.AC vents are black but still some touches are needed. I personally like Steering on Indigo which is leather wrapped but can not buy Indigo just because I like that .. :).There is no point in buying Steering of Indigo and fitting it to your Indica. That will be Sheep in Wolf?s clothing.So stick to factory fittings as far as possible.Electrical Odometer and 2 Tripmeters is standard on all models.That is best in Indica. In terms of equipment levels the Indica is more generous, boasting a tacho, power windows all-round(DLX)/Front Power windows(DLG), rear wash/wipe/defogger and central locking.

Santro: All cubby holes structure creates lot of space than actual..but to clean those holes is a big pain. Plastic quality and finish is better than Wagon R and Indica but I have observed one thing in Santro AC vents is that, due to pointing vents in Santro, the Air comes more forcefully to you which is sometimes very irritating.But gives immediate cooling effect.Tacho is not standard.

Wagon R: Good interiors but AC controls are very dull with Blue, red coloring on it. The Direction slider for AC is also not good looking.Only Vxi model gives you tacho which is not understandable for such a reputed car maker.I hope they provide tach in Lxi also.

Huge space at the back for luggage compensates the passenger space which is less compared to Indica.

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For Garuda 123:

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Garuda asked for Performance of Vehicle when AC is switched on.

1.When you switch on the AC, initially there is jerk if car is not in sufficient speed(atleast 35 kms/hr), but once you start cruising along, you will never feel the adverse effect , provided that your driving style is not like F1 driver.

2.For steep roads, you may find it difficult initially, but that is not suficient to say that performance has reduced too much.It is always manageable.I will suggest you not to use ac if possible on such roads.

3.If the car is fully loaded, then, it is good that you switch it on after sufficient speed is attained.

But, do not get disappointed, this is normal diesel limitations which can be taken as character of diesel engine.

Overall, Indica is excellent package.I got 17.69 kms/ltr mileage(this is real!!--230 kms for 13 ltrs) at steady speeds of 40-80kms/hr.