Jul 20, 2012 07:50 PM
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Dear Readers, I am well aware on writing a review on a car which is no longer in production, but I trust this review would help some one who already have this car and people who is looking out for a decent second hand buy. So Read on to “well understand” Indica GVS.1st ofall the engine of Indica GVS is developed by Europeans (Claimed TATA) and as per the design the vehicle will deliver promising performance/efficiency post 90 Km/hr and will offer a solid stability in highspeeds and was given an indian touch to minimise the landing cost, however the algorithm was little against our indian road’s that demands Power in slow traffic and efficiency under 70 KM/hr.Maruthi, Hyundai, GM and Honda have kept this mind while designing their car’s which has later realised by tata.
Baschandru021y I was looking out for a vehicle under 1 Lakh that’s under 5 years old, so did few searches, Maruthi 800 was my first choice but it was not very comfortable car and car that’s over 7 years old was quoted 1.25 Plus, Santro was good in space but way too expensive with intial cost and maintainence, Palio fitted my requirement but spare availability and skilled labour demand has to be considered, still I was convinced with 2006 palio that was quoted 1L, but since the owner of the car wanted to use the car for another week, I agreed to pick it up later, at that time Indica was not even in my rador due to Cab Image. On a Friday evening I was surfing for some of the used cars and saw petrol indica 2007 Quoted for 1.25 lakhs, just to kill time I visited the place with no interest and was surprised the car was in good shape and accident free, the engine and gear shift was smooth except for few sounds in front. the owner has installed Pioneer System with amp along with good quality woofers & tweeters. I called up my car freak friend and told about the car, he immediately told “FOR GOD SAKE DON’T GO FOR THAT SHIT”.
So as a formality I asked the owner if he could come down to 80K by putting upfront the small defects in noticed, the owner told he would get back to me, I came home and read some researches on net, read few reviews about this car , it was really funny people called it “Old Obese Lady”, ’Sluggish”, the major complaint was on the pick up and fuel consumption, but to my surprise no one complained on its quality and were happy about the comfort and stability it offered. Since my requirement was more inclined towards intial cost, comfort and service/spare availability, I thought of giving it a try as it fitted my bill almost in all aspectsSince indica is not liked by many of people the owner was not able to find any one to pick it up so he called me up to settle down for 85 atleast considering the recent insurance + additional accessories(Tyres, Leather seats, Music system, remote) he has spent, we settled for around 82K, My friends and Even TATA mechanic’s told I must be a fool to pick it up, still without any regrets I got this car and was ready to face the consequences, but surprisingly everything turned out to be positive.
I showed it to TATA showroom and authorised centers but they quoted huge amount to fix front noice, finally I went to a good mechanic, he told the front noise was not because of the suspension but was because of Ball joint, so I went purchased the ball joint, Castrol oil, Gear oil, Air filter on my own, including labour every thing costed me less than 4k which was Quoted earlier to be around 15k, .The recommedation given by him were valuable for getting a good Fuel efficiency, I am sharing them for your benefits • The mechanic recommended using an additive called “System G” while filling up the petrol (1ml/L) and told I could feel the difference only after 50 L of consumption, • Told me to fill up the petrol before morning 6:00 AM that’s when the petrol density will be higher, • Always fill up fulltank while fuelling by adding the required amount of additives and never have your car less than half tank, • Make sure that the front wheels have not more than 30PSI and rear wheels 28 PSI tyre pressure, check them every time when you fill the fuel, • Have wheel balancing and alignment corrected atleast once in every 1000-1500 KMS, • Clean your airfilter once in every 1000-1500 KMS, • @ highway always have mirror closed and have A/c at single point, many people say using A/c will reduce mileage which is completely incorrect when it comes to driving in Highways as the opposite force at highspeed makes the fuel to consume more energy when the air enters the vehicle and creates fake excess weights , if the windows are closed the air is stopped entering the vehicle which makes it consume less energy, • Use castrol or Shell oil and change them once in every 5000 KMS if you take it for a long drive or at 8000 if you use it only for city drives, please note this is applicable only if you use the above two brands. Its highly recommended you stay with the mechanic while chaning the oil as most mechanic will cheat by topping it up instead of replacing. So after getting my car ready for under 86 K including service, I decided to take my family to a temple that was 100 Kms away, as expected the car started with a little lower pick up (as compared to my previous Wagonr), but gradually improved and was absolute delight on Highways it was rock solid when my speedometer crossed 140 +from it’s 1400 CC engine and the handling was superb in all aspects starting from its power steering, suspension, ground clearance and some nice touches ( like Blue LED on Power windows, Fuel Reserve Indicator) by the makers which was absent in other cars of its kind, the car had enough legroom for the people in rear seats and was extremely comfortable for 5 people, it took a while for me to believe the fuel efficiency was 14 KMPL (With AC), the drive was 50% city drive + 50 % free road drive. Thanks to the gentleman who gave this car with a good music system, it was a drive with full of Sweet surprises . I drove the vehicle for 2 – 3 months and felt it was little difficult to drive in city limits considering its poor pick up, Consulted the same mechanic he suggested me to go for K & N Air filters and also told me to go for alloy wheels since rim pads of indica is the weakest of all, since I had 15 K in hands on my budget for intial cost, I spent it on above things, I was completely blown away with the quality of drive it offered me henceforth, I almost had a feel of driving a Honda and this car turned out extremly city friendly. With 22, 000 KMS so far I have not noticed any troubles in the car, in the past 17 months I have spent under 5000 for wear n tear like oil change, alignement, air filter change, etc., the spare availablity was never a concern for me as tata is established and was less expensive. As informed by mechanic I started noticing the difference after 2 consecutive filings of SYSTEM G, the car consistently gives me an Average of 15 KM/L in city and 18-19 KM/L in Highway, I never drive the car without AC no matter if it’s highway or city. Verdict:. • If you get this vehicle at a good deal and patient enough to do the above minor modifications its certainly worth a money and you will enjoy your drives at cheaper costs, If you are looking out for a second hand car that is just a take and drive this is not your cup of cake and you will end up in frustration.
For me, it was like a well-packed beautiful film to which I went due to ticket unavailability and minimal expectations, but if you expect Dhoom out of Raavan you could come out disappointed
