The Sedan Class is First Class. Review on Tata Indica Vista Quadrajet

This is all about my experience with the Sedan class - Vista Quadrajet. I live in Chennai and was using Hyundai Accent GLS petrol before with which I was more than happy. Due to family requirements, I left it to my father; Thus wanting a new car for personal use. Having spoiled by Accent due to its great power and comfy feel, my expectations are always high. I was selfish enough to have a sedan or its equivalent in a 6 lakhs bracket. I initially thought of adding one more Accent to my parking lot somehow I heard from the sales that the car is almost in the verge of extinction. Leaving accent apart, I felt the petrol variants of i-series, the 10's and 20's were not even close to Accent with rRajeev_Vermact to power; they had all other features though.

The same story continued with the petrol variants of other auto makers in the specified budget. None stood close to my expectations. I later decided to look at the diesel cars, as they have better power, resale value, cheaper fuel prices and most important thing: fitting within my budget curve.After lot of research, I infered that the internationally acclaimed FIAT's 1.3 Diesel motor has the punch of a sedan in terms of power and performance and there is no compromise at all with this portable jet engine. I started listing down the cars that possess this power mill - The Swift, Ritz, Punto and the last but not the least TATA Vista.I drove the great Swift 2011 edition and Ritz. Both were very good to drive however the former missed in space and waiting period, the later failed in looks and comfort.

While Punto offered the best build quality, comfort and handling, it was less responsive in city. I found that the punto wasn't meant for city driving conditions and has a very bad service. Not only the weight but also from cost standpoint, punto is the heaviest of all in the list. Leaving all options, I concluded with the all new TATA Vista - Sedan Class. I myself, an employee of TATA Motors during early 2005s and know the level of quality and standards. Somehow my heart said to give a try. I visited Concord Motors - Velachery with a ton of hesitations, but the customtakeouter handling was incredibly good and the product was surprisingly superb. I was very much particular about the Quadrajet variant, as it owns Fiat's turbo heart. The car has good looks, great power, huge space, excellent mileage and ton of features in 6 lakhs range. Without wasting much time I bought this car - Cavern grey shade. I'm done with 2500 kms till now.

Power and Handling:

Vista Quadrajet has the best in class power in hatchback segment. Not to mention about the super refined Fiat's turbo mill. It's fast and furious. Vista has evident turbo lag, which is the only downside I see in the power delivery department but the phenomenon exists more or less with most of the turbo diesel cars. This is forgivable when the rpm needle touches 1.8 k rpm - The turbo kicks-in. A sudden power surge experienced beyond this point reminds me that this is not an ordinary hatchback. The acceleration is super steady till redline. During my road trip, With no effort the car reaches 3 digit speeds. This wasn't found in petrol cars due to the absence of torqy characteristics. I would say the Fiat 1.3L turbo engine is the best and advanced diesel engine available in present day market. Handling of the car is very nice too. Zipping through traffic comes subconciously.

Performance:

Vista Quadrajet is always known for good Mileage. Believe it or not, the mileage on my road trip was 23 kmpl @ 80 kmph during majority of my journey. I often touched 3 digits and returned to normal time to time but still the mileage wasn't compromised. The car returns an average of 17+ kmpl in city with Full AC. Huge saving is done.

Suspension:

Vista comes with a robust suspension system which can tolerate all abuses on our indian roads. It is the car for Indian market. The notable thing is that vista can easily pass through any types of pot holes and bumps. The suspension does its best in city limits, while on highways there comes the coffin. Due to a softer suspension setting and relatively higher ground clearance, the car rolls dangerously during highspeed cornering. My old accent could do a hard curve even at 130+ KMPH with no fuss, but vista fails to give me that confidence. May be this is all can be expected from hatchback cars? May be not...VW Polo, Fiat Punto and Swift can defy this.

Comfort:

The car comes with a huge cabin which can accomodate five people easily. If you are looking for a family car, this is the one for you. The legroom is adequate and spacious unlike swift. As mentioned rightly, The space parameters are similar to that of a sedan class. Well done TATA. No other hatchbacks has such space for its price. The AC is highly effective. Chills in a matter of seconds even in peak chennai summer.

Quality:

Far better than Indica. The refreshed version has better quality compared to its predessor, however there is still many miles to go. Rusting problems, Mis-alignment, Defects, fit and finish issues are always expected.

After Sales and Service:

Everytime when you leave the car at Authorised TATA service, remember that you are leaving the car at a junk yard. I experienced third rate service at Concord Motors, Injambakkam (Chennai). The technicians are found to be inefficient, perhaps trainees. The service center is like a government office, there will be a customer lounge but AC's will be switched off due to maintenance work all time. No body will ever bother your time and make you wait for many hours to open a simple service card. Service incharge don't have reasoning power, as they work mechanchandru021y like a machine. In my experience, The first free service took four days to resolve simple complaints such as headlamp focus adjustments, engine oil replacement, etc with three recurrent visits after service.

In fact, buying a TATA Vehicle will make you a frequent vistor to TATA MOTORS service station to keep their service personnel busy...LOL. A true survey shared by one their service personnel says that about 6 out of 10 cars serviced cars comes back to the yard second time for a re-fix, hence never expect your problem to get resolved at the first go. The lesson learnt was never buy a TATA vehicle unless you know a trusted mechanic working in TATA Service or elsewhere, otherwise You may have to practice a ton of patience in dealing with them.

Verdict:

TATA Vista QJT is a decent family car with sedan class comfort. The power punch is astonishing with best fuel efficiency in its class. The car can address both city and highway requirements without compromise in fuel efficiency. The car is cheaper in price compared to any other diesel cars with similar specification. My VX variant is almost fully loaded for 6.7 Lacs on road. It comes with ABS, Super refined Fiat turbo mill, All power windows, Keyless entry, Tubeless radials, Inbuilt audio with Bluetooth support and many more features. The Quadrajet variant can challenge any sedan on highways and hatch backs in city driving. The only downside in this car is the minor niggles and poor after sales and service, which is very much disgusting, it improves our patience though. Overall i'm a happy customer since day one. TATA is really putting efforts to make this super-hit machine into a mega-hit machine. May be one day, TATAs will compete Honda's in quality and Service department. Fingers crossed.