The Tata Nanao TWIST XT is a BIG small-car!
It has all the NEEDS of a modern car that one would want - AC, Power steering, Power-windows, Center-lock, Music-system, Hatch-back.
It is extremely SPACIOUS both in terms of leg-room and sitting-height.
IDEALLY SUITED FOR: senior citizens, working-ladies and for professionals who need to do a lot of commuting within the city.
PROBLEMS:
(1) FUEL INDICATOR: remains stuck at FULL and suddenly drops when the level has reached HALF; this is when the Fuel Consumption Indicator [the AFE] also STICKS.
(2) MUSIC SYSTEM: misbehaves some times.
SUGGESTIONS:
Here are some of the points that TATAs might like to consider, for future models:
(1)COLORS: POOR CHOICE AVAILABLE - Suggest TATAs look at BETTER shades of BLUE [lighter shade; don’t know why the industry never thought of a color blue like TURQUOISE/PEACOCK ]; even the red could be one shade DARKER. The GOLD is a no-no! Let them think about a light or, brilliant GREEN. In a nut-shell: Tatas need to THINK’VESPA’ > what truly fantastic colors they have on offer.
(2) SIDE DOOR STORAGE SPACE: POCKETS NOT WIDE ENOUGH, particularly front-doors
(3) GLOVE COMPARTMENT TOO SHALLOW: NEEDS MORE DEPTH; holds very little at present. Presently, as good as NOT being there!
(4) DISTRACTING GLARE OFF THE FRONT DASH : DARKER TONE NEAR WINDSCREEN is required; can be dazzling and distracting when the sun is almost vertical,
(5) LACKS FACILITY FOR FRONT WINDOW-OPENING MANUALLY
(6) BOOT NEEDS A BETTER HEAT-SHIELD AND THICKER BLANKET : gets pretty heated in there; suggest the Owner’s Manual carry a caution to NOT carry inflammables, right at the BEGINNING of the book.
(7) SLIGHTLY OVER NOISY: don’t know if this can be rectified at the muffler.
(8) OWNER’S MANUAL: has been written by someone WHO DOES NOT THINK IN ENGLISH! Needs to be re-done and provided with a slightly THICKER cover. At present, it LOOKS CHEAP. The section that covers the MUSIC SYSTEM is a disaster! The writer has NOT put himself in the reader’s place.
(9) SIDE-VIEW MIRRORS: ARE A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN - Presently, the mirrors will NOT PROPERLY swivel/fold in case some one impacts them. Within a month of using them, have already ’collected’ TWO hits from the rear-view mirrors of mo’bikes.
Nano’s mirrors need to be made EASILY swivel-able so that they DON’T break-off.
Reminiscent of the original Indica’s mirrors which were break-off-prone!
(10) STEPNEY/SPARE WHEEL: FACING WRONG WAY - positioned with the nozzle facing the wrong direction which makes it IMPOSSIBLE to top-up air from time to time. Needs a major effort to take the wheel out > no air-filler is willing to put in the effort for this .
(11) SLIGHTLY OVER-PRICED
(12) DEALERS DO NOT HAVE UNIFORM PRICING AND THERE IS NON-STANDARDIZATION IN SAME MODEL on offer: I checked out BOTH the Ernakulam dealers before I bought.
My dealer did NOT have 2 of the 3 free accessories that were on OFFER= the mud flaps & the window-visors; only the floor-mats were provided as the other 2 were OUT of stock. Finally got them after almost 2 months.
(13) ANNUAL MAINTENANCE CONTRACT: Thanks to wrong technique used by the Deal staff at BOTH the Cochin dealers, I rejected the idea of going in for an AMC. They totally forgot to tell me that this AMC is a TATA PRODUCT and is valid ALL INDIA. By the time I found out, I’d lost an OFFER which would have saved me around 700 INR. POOR MARKETING!
OBSERVATION
FUEL CONSUMPTION [CITY, W/O AC]: After almost 2 months, I find that the fuel consumption is gradually getting better. From 16kmpl, it is now hovering around 17 in city w/o AC. I also noticed something strange > after the second fuel top-up, after the fuel level lights STOP sticking, there is a sudden JUMP in the AFE!
OPINION:
For what it’s worth, I think the NANO is a GREAT car and with a few more refinements and SWITCH of colors, it should go places. I SAY: BUY IT WITHOUT SECOND THOUGHTS!
JUST DO IT!
After using it for a month-and-a-half, I’d say that I’m a PROUD OWNER of the Nano.
For those who feel UNSAFE in the Nano because it "might get squashed like a bug", I’d say that you seriously need to consider buying a battle-tank! [No offense intended].
LASTLY:
Please take time to rate this - even if U don’t like it!
HOT NEWS: The DIESEL variant is expected soon - don’t know if the engine will cope with the EXTRA weight, without a change in bore-size!