Indica Turbo: 50% good + 50% bad. Review on Tata Indica V2 Turbo

First of all, I am thankful to mouthshut.com for helping me choose my first car. I found very good reviews here and have decided to contribute with my own experience. I hope this helps the new buyers.

I purchased Tata Indica Turbo - DLX vehicle from B U Bhandari's Pune Baner Show room on 3rd March 2006.Overall dealer experience was ok (not great), some officials were better helpful and knowledgeable that others. I shuttle between Mumbai and Pune (I work in Mumbai) every week and hence went for the diesel car within my budget. Car has crossed 50, 000 KMs already (before even completing 3 years).

I am a careful driver and have followed all service schedules and timelines religiously. I check tyre pressures every week and fill only HP Turbojet diesel.

Overall the impression about the car was good untill it crossed 30, 000 KMs

After 30, 000 KMS, servicings started getting expensive. 40, 000 and 50, 000 KM servicing have costed me Rs.12, 000/- (clutch plate, rear wheel bearings and some other parts had to be replaced) and Rs.8, 000 (wiper assembly, alternator belt, various bushes, hose pipe and some other parts were replaced). The performance also deteriorated and the mileage lowered to 13 KMPL on highways where it earlier used to be minimum 17 KMPL.

I have bad experience with electrical circuits of the car - Bulbs do not last more than 3/4 months, I have repaired the internal wirings of cabin lights and indicators twice and head lamp wirings were damaged thrice. Also, the famous problem of "water sipping from the bottom of the car" had to be dealt with my car as well.

B U Bhandari has good service workshop set up in Wakdewadi and has some good staff as well but there is nothing called pre-delivery quality check of the vehicle. I had to get my vehicle back to the service center due to problems that could have easily identified if the vehicle was proprly tried and tested before service delivery. Their 24/7 emergency service is good though. I had to use it twice, once when the power steering pully broke and then for a handbrake issue.

The suspensions of the car are not that great and the head lamps are not very powerful (even after the cut out fixture).

The engine noise and vibrations have increased by considerable amount after 45, 000/- KMs

So far, I have had either to replace or to repair almost all major parts of the car.

Now, some good points about the car.

1.Car is very sturdy and stable. Once you sit inside, it does not look like a small segment car.

1. Being a bit heavy it gives good balance on highways and driving is comfortable (though the clutch is a bit hard and your legs pain if you drive for more than 2 hours at a stretch).

   
   




2. The pick up is very good and it is stable even at 120 KMPH speeds.

   
   




3. Once in rainy season, it slipped from the edge of the highway shoulder but did not topple and the breaks were also applied neatly. If it would have been any other light car (like a zen or alto), it would definitely toppled down.

   
   




4. It has never broken down mid way so far (touch wood)

   
   




5. The tyres are good so far and haven't had much wear/tear.

   
   

All in all, it has been an economy car for me (being my first car) and has given me some returns on my investment. As it has started incurring high maintenance, I am thinking to replace it with a new one.

Any suggestions on which one I should go for (in mid segment) are welcome.