May 26, 2011 03:36 PM
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This is the first time I’ve written a vehicle review but I believe one is warranted so here I go…. My wife and I shopped diligently for a reasonably priced 4x4 SUV in South Africa. We needed an SUV that could carry us and any of our 7 grown kids and/or friends on tours around Africa, plus be a run-about car for local shopping…etc.
The crazy adventurer in me wanted a rugged off-road 4x4 that could jump sand dunes and climb mountains…. but my wife want a small pink SUV with butterfly wings painted on it. We test drove a few small SUV’s but finding any with “real” 4X4 ability was difficult. The smaller SUV’s were ok price wise, some had all-wheel-drive (not as good as 4x4), but all had low ground clearance and were not suitable for serious off-road driving. Plus, the smaller SUV’s could only seat 4 people with very little space for camping gear or luggage.
The bigger SUV’s we looked at were also big on price but had all the bells and whistles I liked, though too big for running around town and parking…etc for my wife. The Tata Safari was small enough for my wife, big enough for me and had the 4x4 capability I wanted….and the price “new” was cheaper than most “used” Land Rovers we looked at. We hesitated initially to buy because we’d read reviews that Tata was not good at servicing their vehicles in South Africa. However, because the price was right we felt it was worth taking a chance.
After buying our Tata 4x4 Safari in September 2010 we’ve driven all over South Africa….including the Kalahari and Lesotho (twice)....plus my wife drives it every day around town. We did have a few warranted items that needed repair…and at first service was slow. But after an e-mail to the Tata Country Manager the service has improved and our warranted items have been replaced and/or repaired. Also, on my last trip through the “4x4 only” trails in the Kalahari….I noticed all the Land Rovers and other expensive 4x4’s on the trail. It felt good knowing that my SUV could travel the same places they could at roughly 1/3 their price new. Lastly, with fuel prices increasing….we’re very glad we bought the Tata Safari with its small diesel engine that goes ~800k on a fuel tank. Now to be fair…the Tata Safari is not as nice as a Land Rover type SUV in looks and style, but it’s much cheaper to buy (1/3 the price), uses much less fuel and can take you on those same off-road adventures that expensive SUV’s can take you.
Bottom line…..my wife and I are happy with our 2010 Tata Safari and would recommend SUV shoppers consider Tata Safaris when shopping. I hear a new model / design is coming out this year. We might even buy another one, this time with butterflies painted on it…J….for my wife.
