Well its been 3 years now since I am driving this car, a DLS model, It has covered 75000Kms.
The car is pretty good design attempt by TATA’s but needs a lot of refining to be established as a reliable product for average consumer.
I myself being into automotive R&D have felt it as a real good design attempt, but a poor finish, but I think that can be justified by low initial cost.
Pros:
Safety: it is the most prominent feature offered by indica than any car in this segment(even safer than some of the 3box so called big cars-no names). I am not talking about anti lock brakes, or ESP/airbags, but the structural rigidity & integrity of the, it is unbeaten. It is the only small car in to be crash tested as per most stringent European safety norms.
Stability & Handling: it is definitely a highway cruiser, & offers high speed stability on open stretches, & lot of feel & response, I have stretched my vehicle to+145Km/h speeds without feeling nervous.It offers excellent cornering characteristics with ability to manage tight turns with decent speeds & minimum body roll.
Fuel Economy: well this issue depends lot on the driving sense & habits, but most of indica owners get 16kms/litre of diesel(ask your cabby), my vehicle gives me 17.5-18kms/litre in city & 20+ on highway stretches(best I got was 23kms/litre with AC on in peak summer in rajasthan).
Cost: Being a diesel I think it is wisely priced.
Comfort & Space: well this is the point where it beats even so called big cars, the seat quality & posture is very good, suspension is ok, space is really wonderful, it can in real since accommodate 5 adults comfortably.Visibility from cabin is also ok though slight improvement can be done with A-pillar area(front pillar obstructs view while cornering), & rear window glass area can be made more practical to improve visibility while reversing.
AC: Given the size of cabin the AC performance is quite good, but keeping ac on in city traffic eats away power from engine, but no serious toll on fuel economy, my AC has never given a problem till now.
CONS: here comes the bitter part of owner ship
CUSTOMER CARE: my experice with TATA authorised dealers is very very pathetic, they are usually overloaded beyond there capacity, most of the time I do not get my car on promised time. Poor quality job done by technicians. unless you do not find out trouble your self & an idea to correct it, do not expect workshop fellows to correct the problem in one shot, they need lot of trial & error before fixing it up.
ELECTRICALS: electricals will start up giving away roughly after 1.5 years of use despite proper mantainace(my exeperience). Self starter motor has been a big trouble for me, its been opened up 3 times but still keeps stalling(despitea new battery), I think Starter motor by LUCAS india is a very poor quality & utterly unreliable product, topped by very callous service of LUCAS india. there have been many other instances of faulty wiring leading to car going dead in middle of the road. culprit being a low quality fusible link with battery causing engine to shut of if you operate any electrical like indicator or lamps etc. that was corrected after a lot of trial & error.
RATTLING: indica after 1 year of use will start up giving lot of rattling noice in interiors, giving up a true feeling of driving a mini truck. you just have to keep on locating vibrating interior parts & get them properly cushioned by foam at dealer’s place. but then something other will start up rattling after few weeks & cycle goes on till you get use to with noise.
UNDERPOWRED: you will feel a serious lack of power in city driving especially with AC on, this heavy weight baby takes time to pick up the rythum, but then as soon as you are cruising you will be welcomed by another traffic signal & prepared to be left behing struggling to get up the spped.I only switch on AC only after passing 40km/h mark to be comfortable.BUT ON HIGHWAY CRUISING INDICA IS THE BEST & RUNS EFFORTLESSLY FOR HOURS WITHOUT BEING TIRED(BOTH DRIVER & THE CAR), I have streched 500kms+ non stop in peak summer with AC on.
quick overtaking is bit tricky, some times you need to shift down to get power in emergency.
FIP: FIP(FUEL INJECTION PUMP) is the real poor part supplied by LUCAS again, this is the culprit behind lack of the power & SMOKE(most of indicas offer lot of special effect of smoke trailing after 1-2 years of use).Believe me LUCAS cannot fix up(in case your FIP needs servicing, usually after 40, 000kms) in one shot. my cars’s FIP has been opened up & recalibrated 3 times by poor technicians at TATA dealers & LUCAS india, same story after lot of trial & error they can it fix up, but not upto the mark, & FIP is the heart of any diesel engine be it performance or smoke control. it is still an issue. only good thing about this FIP is the fuel economy, but the many samller deisel engines offer more power & economy then indicas.
WHEELS & TYRES: well about tyres most people complaint of indica eating away tyres prematurely but that problem can be taken care of, if you regulary go in for wheel alignment & balancing at a good tyre shop(i will not recommend TATA workshop for alignment job).
keep correct pressure & get it cheked regulary(mind it to check for correct pressure on cold tyres).
if you dirve on highways with family & luggage then increase pressure a bit(32psi in front & 30psi in rear is the best as per my experience with indica)
REAR END: rear end has a peculiar curve which looks nice, but if somebody hits you from behind the dicky door(tail gate) gets the dent before bumper could absorb it(even low speed collisions), which is costly to repair.If rear bumper could have been more protuding it could have saved tailgate damages in city traffic.
SUMMING IT UP: A really nice car plagued by poor service & low quality parts, needs many refinements before being a reliable product. Fuel injection system needs some immmediate changes to be environment friendly & become power full(1405cc is pretty good engine size for performance if FIP is good). overall low cost of ownership, fun to drive on highways for long trips.
not good for city communting, rear luggage space is ok but can be good.
for:fuel economy, comfort, good ac, lot of space, good higway driving, high speed handling.
against:service quality, poor parts, lot of rattling.
I hope it gives a clarity for people going on to buy the indica, it is a pretty decent product & value for money but needs refining, please do test drive newer turbo versions ihope these problems would have been ironed out.
Arun