Well folks, I can and will write plenty on my experience. To start with I have bought one. The first one to be sold in Noida.
This is my 4th vehicle. My primary vehicle is a Honda Civic.
In Jan, I went to the Auto show in Delhi and though I went to see the Captiva and a host of other SUVs, I must admit, the sheer presence of the vehicle captured my attention ! It was captivating ! I stared, walked away, stared, walked, stopped, stared.....I was letting my senses absorb what I thought was a feast !
My experience in trying to buy a Grande is very interesting - something I would not like to go through again.
I visited the delears in Noida and Delhi (Patparganj). I ended up calling Bombay House and getting the number for Tata Motors in Mumbai due to the shoddy experience (Mind you....I still bought a Grande...)
The dealer, sales person seemed least interest in the customer. Customers were discovering the vehicles by themselves...the salesperson did not know how to fold the 3rd row seat....finally after much trying, my son discovered it...the rubber flap on top of the vehicle was just ripped off...something I have never looked at ever in the last 25 yrs of driving vehicles...non issues were becoming issues....a ’pully’ to fold the middle row seat was broken....as a result the strap went almost inside the seat....when I pointed these to the sales person, he gave a sorry smile...mind you this is week one of the launch and the vehicle was not on the road for a test drive but standing in the showroom !!!
Finally after contacting Mumbai and getting contact details of the Regional Sales head...mind you I told them - I want to buy one....please don’t stop me from buying it....
The next day, I had 3 people get the vehicle to my residence for a test drive. I fell in love with the vehicle. It was smooth, 3rd row Front Facing - something that I just wanted.....the scorpio had a huge ’thow off’ feel, 3rd row AC was effective and I could adjust the direction of the flow....defogger....tubless tires....
Driving was a pleasure.
Accessories at the Dealer were almost not available.
Seats were made to order and I got it. More expensive than the market, but Very Happy. However the last row got a little messed up as no space for the lever in the 3rd row was given. Which meant that to fold the 3rd row, I had to take off the seat cover....The fixing later on has missed out on the finesse - the reason I went to Tatas itself....
After I bought the Grande, I got a letter from the dealer thanking me for the purchase and informing me of the Service Telephone Number. I called up the number as the 1st service was due - no one answered. I called several times but no one would pick up. Finally, I called up one of the staff whom I had been dealing with and he informs me that there is no booking - that I should get the Grande on that day early enough as it is on FIFO basis. Something that I have never experienced with any of my other vehicles (Maruti, Ford, Honda)
A list was complied for what all I needed to get fixed at 1000 km (did this in almost 15-20 days of my buying the Grande). Some of them....a) the lever to fold the middle row seat has already broken !!! Now I cannot get into the 3rd row.....!!!! I have no idea when the replacement will come. They have told me that I would get a call !!!!!! b) The steering wheel is ’Out’ . I had to go back after 2 days of getting it serviced because they never did fix this in the first place c) I pointed out that the roof had some black marks - something that could have happend while the Teflon coating and the Anti Rust was being done (I had these done at Tata Motors dealer itself). When I got the vehicle after service, the brand new seats were all messed up. The seats were black all over - the explanations were that mechanics hands are usually black ! They had a brown paper on the floor mats on which it is printed to say that they cared about the floor and the customer and hence they were using brown paper...something to that effect.....They told me that I would have to get it dry cleaned !!! d) The plastic hook which is meant to keep the 3rd row seat up when folded was broken already. They were telling me what I was telling them - that it was broken ! No suggestion/ conversaton / mention of getting a replacement is forthcoming. I have since then bought a couple of ’harness’ from a Swiss Army outlet....there were many more little things that needed to get fixed, but rather skip it....
In the meanwhile, I notice some chaos/ people gathering and loosing their cool while they came to get their vehicles serviced. This happend on both days - 1000 km Service and going back again to fix the steering wheel which did not get done....People who had paid up could not get their vehicle out. One of them waited for 1 hour and still could not get out....(my driver had waited 45 mins after paying up just to get the vehicle out after the Teflon coating...). No one was stopping more customers from coming in....soon enough, some lost their cool, smashed the glass facade...police was called.....
While I pay the bill, I am told that the bill will be sent via email. The software did not have the Grande details and hence a bill could not be generated ! Imagine having TCS as part of the family......and not the first time that Tatas are lauching a vehicle.....I just wonder how UATs and check lists are done/made...
Back to the Grande.....I tell my Driver forget about the mess on the seats.....(other car companies put a seat cover, steering wheel cover, etc before sitting in.....mechanics have the hands black everwhere)....I buy Surf, cloth and tell my driver to get to work.....peace of mind after tipping the driver for the extra work....
What am I trying to say here ? I am still very happy with the vehicle. It drives very well....(I let my driver do the cleaning etc, but I am the one who still drives it)......space....front facing 3rd row seats....effective AC.....a Tata vehicle and hence can get it fixed anywhere.....I have also been told that the servicing is almost once a year for the first 4 years ! Yes, for I would not be driving it more than 12000-15000 km a year...sounds almost unreal ! And boy, what a looker it is !!!
What I am not happy about. Plastics - I could not understand what this meant till I saw and have been using the vehicle...I am already thinking about how I can get this fixed from someone outside....the glass/can holder in the front seat is so shallow that anything just topples over....but I surely dread the SERVICING standards.....I do hope they fix it fast.....The USB cable as advertised/ printed in the brochure was misleading - they have provided me with a IPod cable - now I got to buy an IPod....(It unnecessarily led to some arguments between me and the dealer when I was buying the vehicle...)
At the moment though, I am waiting to hear when the lever will be fixed - for I cannot use the 3rd row seat !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Overall, I continue to be still very happy !!!
Joby Joseph