Indigo - the good with the bad. Review on Tata Indigo - Diesel

I and my friend had an idea of doing taxi business for which we were searching for a good second hand car. My friend liked  this car so we blindly obeyed and hence we bought it. From that day my good night sleeps have gone for a long vacation! The car had already clocked 45k on the odo and we have clocked a 12k kms. While servicing in an authorised service center we were informed that the car originally had clocked 80k. Somehow the Mr.Cheap has cheated us by playing trics with the ODO meter. So be careful while buying cars as there are many like Mr. Cheap. I will discuss the pros and cons of dis car

Driving:

The drive this car has is really so good. The power steering helps a lot in making the ride better. I was driving M800(with PS) before and I was amazed that dis car's steering was comparable to that. Its a good feel

Driving in the city though is on the harder side even with power steering as the engine doesn't do a good job. Turbo lag and is really a big nuisance in city as the lag can be felt upto 1600rpm. Accelerating the car in high gear with low speeds takes so longer that other people in autorickshaws and moped can easily overtake you. So for city with heavy traffic this car is a no no.

On highway this is a fun to drive. It feels a lot more powerful and fast. Doing at 90 kmph the tacho reads a meager 2700 rpm. Mileage hovers around 17 kmpl with speeds below 90kmph. The engine feels smoother on higher speeds unlike in slower speeds at which you can hear diesel clutter. Overtaking too is good as the car pulls good in its power band well. One can do 140+ with this which is good enough for our roads.

The gear shift is moderately good but is better than the latest Sumo Grand. Gear on sumo grand is very tough . even tougher than than the one in safari. Here Tata is very partial to Safari!

Comfort:

For seating and comfort this car is the best. It is roomier and have a nice seating position. One can drive the car all day long with minor pain in wrists. Many find back seats more comfortable than even Corolla . This we felt during the test drive of corolla. The legspace too is good.

Boot space is a big plus in the car as the seats are foldable and provides ample space for bigger luggages. A big plus for taxi.

Maintenance:

Here is where the car is at its beauty! The maintenance issues and problems faced are -

Clutch plates and assembly:

Having clocked 80k actually mean a bigger expenses for the car. It too happened with the car. The faulty clutch just stopped disengaging and hence gear shifting became a big problem. When contacted service center the estimate repair was Rs. 9000. So we had to depend on local garage and we had to spend Rs 5k for the same.

Starting Problem - starting motor:

The biggest and the frequently occuring problem in this car. The self motor dies out as though had weak battery. First checked the battery and confirmed the battery was at its best. We repaired it more than five times and the total cost involved for self motor is around 8k. Maruti scores well on this as I had not faced any problem with self motor untill it was sold out.

Starting problem - Glow plugs:

After the starter motor was repaired the car again refused to start. This time the motor cranks the engine well but the car simply refuses to start when cold. This would finally lead to discharged battery and the car would start atlast with some pushing. This was okay because of worn out glow plug which costed 1250X4(plugs)+700(lab)= Rs 5700.

Starting problem - Overheating:

This is one of the frequently occurting problem and probably with AC on on hot weather. Car's engine overheats to the full extent and refuses to start. After some half an hour it would start normally. So while driving on AC its a really big risk switching off the car while stopping on road sides as it would not start on pushing too!

This had occured frequently and in the middle of signals and does exist in all models of indica and indigo.  You have to have atleast two persons with you all the time for help.

Coolant disappearing frequently:

A small cut on the hose had caused dis problem. This was but very difficult to detect as the leak occured only with engine running for more than 10 mins. Mechanics were playing with the hose stopper for weeks after which did they realize a cut hose. This is a small problem and costed Rs 200 for replacement, but the stress it put on us and coolant replenish costs was more. A 1 litre coolant(approx Rs 175) bottle for 1 day.

Power windows:

Power windows on rear left door sometimes refuses to work and magically works all of a sudden. This is sometimes a headache for customers travelling in it.

*Overall:

*  To finish off we may say this a good with bad. With this car most probably you would face a starting trouble even with brand new battery. So better equip yourself with two persons who can push if you face any problem. Or if you go out solo remember not to switch off engine even if you have to park for 10 mins.