I won’t drag this long. If you are reading this, it is most likely that you are looking to buy an Indica. I bought an Indica V2(Diesel) sometime in first quarter of 2004 and ever since, the car has given me a horrible time. It’s less than 3 yrs now and I have almost everything except the engine changed.
So, if you want to buy this, I propose exploring a WagonR with CNG kit first primarily because the biggest USP of this car is it’s economy. It offers a mileage of 17kmpl. Let’s get to the problem areas of the car first.
1) Car’s overweight: While you are having a nice time steadily driving this car from inside, many of the parts are wearing out because of this car’s weight. Some of the stuff that wear out quickly are your front tyres(they rotate this, but that wont’ help), Brake pads, suspension kits.
2) Service: Tata is probably the only car that has the biggest network of poor service centres probably because of the way it has been driven from the top management. 14 services and every time I pull my car out of the service centre, I used to end up back there in a week’s time. You would really put the habit of living with problems here and there in your car than running up to these guys every now and then. Moreover, they try to change as many parts as they could on your car even if it could be stretched for another 5-10k kms. The whole model of trying to "MAKE MONEY WHILE SOMEONE DRIVES AN INDICA" is so popular. I have spent more than 30% of the cost of the car in service now. Every time it goes in, it comes out with something changed.
3) Noisy: Inherent bugs continue to be there, with noise from the belts especially on a cold start. Engine noise increases as the car gets older.
4) Bugs: Most of the super known problems that you would face are worn out tyres(and the service centre guys lying that it’s coz of a mis-aligned wheel), problem with Self-starter kit (Hot start), Noisy belts on cold start, Fuel pump requires a repair definitely within 3 years, wheels getting mis-aligned quickly.
5) Definitely can’t zip through as it is comparatively low on pickup with AC switched on and has all the inherent drawbacks that come with a diesel engine(non CRDi).
if ECONOMY of driving a diesel car motivates you to go for this, I recommend to think again with options like CNG fitted WagonR because in a long-term(less than 3 years time) you would realize that you have spent the same money that you would have spent on a petrol car. This especially if you plan to drive it yourself and not put it to any commercial purpose.
Good things about this car are the spacious and good looking interiors, mileage is good, stable drive, sturdy body.
70K kms and I almost have a new car with me as almost all the parts have been changed. Fuel pump has been repaired twice, diesel pipes, suspension brake pad/disc, clutch plate all changed.
The number of people fighting it out with the service engineers at the service station shows you the sorry state that this car is in(especially the people who have driven this for 3 yrs or more). I want to push on to a better car ( a higher segment) and I have a very simple criteria, NEVER A TATA CAR.