Having driven around one for 5 years and 90K Kms, went to look for the latest price and mods in the 2.2VTT(not storm/merlin).The best part is the show room did not have even one piece on display and struggled to find the price list finally they took some old price list and wrote the updated price with a pen.
When asked why the Safari is costlier than Scorpio there was no answer, also asked him for the asking price of 15.5 Lac how better and what new features compared to XUV500 only silence.
Last question was anyway you are not selling as I do not seen any vehicle on display or getting ready for delivery why is the price still high again only silence.
So looks like the the issues I had with the first verion of 2.2VTT is still there as I could not even see the new vehicle.
This vehicle is personification of lack of sync between engineering and purchase
My complaints with the old one are
1) Poor fit and finish, none of the plastics join together well
2) Hard clutch, get hard fast and gets stuck to the floor some times
3) very high cabin noise at speeds above 100 on highways, just switch off the player you wont hear a thing
4) Monthly to Weekly visit for running repairs
5) inconsistent mileage, changes from 10-12km/L. depends on when it last went for service
6) Cheap parts, one goes down takes down a few along with it
7) Poor braking skids forward, its crime to sell this thing without abs
8) Be ready to replace brake shoes freqently
9) Very poor service service staff, once they changed the battery and next day alternator failed!
10) Very costly and rare parts
11) cheap third rated interiors/plastics/seat fabric/rubber beading/ski rack/Everything
12) rough engine( but powerful)
13) Started rusting in three years
14) Poor paint quality, gets dull very fast
15) Lousy noisy wiper motor as if its fitted in my head
16) Poor position of the player, very difficult to operate
17) Noisy aircondion blower, almost deafnening with max blower speed
18) poor noise insulation can even hear people(gently) talking outside with all windows closed and engine running
19) Inconsistent engine power with temp, sorry cannot explain its better every day its different.
20) Drill's a big hole in your pocket, real big!
21) Rubbery gear shift, some times unpredictable and will not engage
Now the Good
1) Road presence
2) Nice looks, stand little far otherwise you will see the clear gaps and cheap plastics!
3) Space
Sorry there is nothing more!
Bit of advise
If its problem you can live with, don't fix it because in the process it will only get worse. Quality need to be from the factory and not at the dealer or at the service station. most of the parts once taken will not fit that well and then mechanics are often helpless and they resent to the fact.
If you observe you can see at least one customer shouting in the TATA service center, go to a maruti service center you get to see people sitting calm and quiet
I have seen people comparing the price of Ford Endev and Toyota Fortuner and other suv's and then saying ah great I just brought a great SUV, come on wake up
Question is, what is the engineering/features for which you are paying or is it the excise plus the profit which you are paying?.If the company is incapable of building it in India and pricing it at 18-22 lac paying the Gov excise and then asking you to pay both profit and excise?
This does not mean that you can be damn fool burning cash on a poorly built suv claiming that its better than others as its cheap.
If you are filthy rich buy, Let's burn some money!
- Thank You! We appreciate your effort.