My Own Tata Nano LXi Thread :)


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I got my Nano Lxi 2012 BSIV on 12th July 2012. It's Pearl White color.

Why Nano:

I was looking for a car for my wife. Frankly, budget was a constraint. Some technical glitch in my financial documents meant that I would not get a loan this year. So my choices were limited to Nano and Alto. Wifey and I unanimously choose the Nano. Even with all the exotic colors available, went with a "safe" color.

Dealer experience:

I bought the car from Wasan Motors, Chembur. Francis D'souza is the point man for Nano there. A pleasant enough fellow.

Price came to Rs. 231k on road. The dealer gave me Rs. 15k cash discount and I saved Rs. 1k by buying insurance myself. The dealer gave me invoice for the full price without mentioning the discount; and a debit note for the registration charges. And of course the original RTO receipts, receipt for payment to the dealer and usual stuff like owners manual, etc. I had to ask for the octroi receipt and was given a xerox. The RC smart card came by post after 10 days. I paid the dealer on 30th June and got delivery on 12th July. So it did take some time. The car is April 2012 make.

Freebies : Floor mats, mud flaps, anti-rust treatment, sun film and body cover. Plus they gave me a Ganesha idol and box of chocolates at the time of delivery. I'd asked for all dealer stickers to be removed including those on the license plates.

Odometer reading : 61 kms. The vehicle came with 3l of petrol. I filled her up later and she drank 15l. So the tank is 18l. Francis advised against using fuel additives.

Overall a good and hassle free experience and I'd recommend the dealer.

Driving impressions:

I've driven the vehicle about 1250 kms - about 400kms in typical Mumbai traffic, which is not exactly pleasant business at the best of times. Nevertheless, the car itself is a nice city drive. The engine feels quite peppy, even while maintaining the running-in speed limits. The gear ratios do seem odd - but the gear changing is smooth. The AC blower is too high even at the lowest level and about half level of cooling is more than sufficient. The ride can be a touch bumpy on bad roads. I'm used to disc brakes, so the Nano's drums don't feel upto it. They're also perhaps a bit spongy. The headlamps and wipers are adequate. The Lx also has fog lamps but I haven't tried them out as the owners manual does not recommend their use except in fog. Power steering won't be missed except perhaps while parking. The car feels assured on the highway and has no trouble taking on upward slopes. The car has given an overall average of 20.50 kmpl, with AC on ALL the time.


Car - Inside and outside:

The styling is cute and modern. Certainly looks better than the other cars in its category - Alto & 800. And beats them hollow in terms of interior space. The co-passenger can easily sit cross-legged even when the seat is not pushed all the way back! The rear seating too seems spacious but I have yet to try it out. The Lx has cup holders integrated in the gear console and also storage shelves in all the 4 doors. The shelves are long but narrow and will not hold standard water bottles - not even 0.5 l bottles. On the external front, the Lx has body colored bumpers and ORVM's, full wheel covers, rear spoiler, skirts, front and rear fog lamps.

Some reviews had led me to expect the worse in this department but the fit and finish is better than expected. The paint job is quite good. Interiors are of decent quality without any glaring gaps, etc. The fabric seats are good to look at as well as to touch. Seats are quite comfortable even for long drives.

The notable and well-documented omission is a glove box - quite a disappointment. However, TATA are now offering lockable glove boxes which sit in the large grooves on the dash. They're available for driver as well as the passenger side. Another TATA quirk is that although the Lx has provision for power socket, the dealers refused to fit them on the ground that they're not recommended! The lack of provision for fitting audio speakers is also well known. The power window buttons are at an unusual location - on the gear console! Not exactly ergonomic. For those who don't know, the Nano does not have an openable hatch. The rear seat collapses to give access to the boot and also the engine below it. But for the rear parcel tray, the boot may hold 2 medium "weekend-outing" sized bags.

After-market accessories:

I fit the JVC KD-X50BT HU with two 4in rear seakers. The set-up came to Rs. 6200 with bill. I insured the HU by paying additional premium of Rs. 236. Radio Antenna cost Rs. 300. Power socket and seat covers came to a further Rs. 2500. I got a Samsung car charger and Capdase mobile cradle, which came to Rs. 2000.

First servicing:

Gave the car for 1st service today (26th Aug) to the company service centre at Worli, Mumbai. I was surprised that they're open on Sundays. 1263kms on the odo.

Problems : Fuel guage acting funny, AC blower not running at consistent speed, hot air coming into the cabin from beside the clutch when running AC, noisy wiper which does not clean properly and slight scratch on bumper.

About the scratch, I was told that the whole bumper would have to be painted. So I skipped that. I wanted to fit a glove box but they don't have them yet!

Vehicle is expected to be ready by 4. Service rep told me that there would be no charges. I'll update after receiving the car, especially the fuel efficiency after few days.
 

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Re: My Own Nano Lxi Thread :)

Congrat's on your Nano buddy, white Nano with tint's look's sweet. at a later stage you can think of adding alloy's and body kit to further increase it's hotness quotient.
 
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Re: My Own Nano Lxi Thread :)

Fantastic and superb review from you of the little wonder nano [clap]
Loved your no nonsense style straight forward honest review .
Please do inform us about the a.s.s experience and when your car completes more then 6 months or whenever you feel is right do post your experience ( good and bad both in short unbaised ) here http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...motor-s-cars-ultimate-reliability-survey.html
 
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Re: My Own Nano Lxi Thread :)

congrats for your nano.

Many congrats for the NANO buddy, it surely does look smashing in white. One of our forum member too owns a white NANO and boy, his nano looks delicious after all the mods he has done. This might be an interesting read for you too :
Tata Nano – To Its Best

freakdude.
thanks for sharing my thread dude :)


i recently got the fuel additives for TASS during my 20K Kms service (25/8/12). i couldnt notice any difference.
 
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Re: My Own Nano Lxi Thread :)

Thanks a lot everybody for the encouragement :-)

Congrat's on your Nano buddy, white Nano with tint's look's sweet. at a later stage you can think of adding alloy's and body kit to further increase it's hotness quotient.
Actually, the dealer had offered me alloys for Rs. 10k. I'm sort of regretting not having them.

Many congrats for the NANO buddy, it surely does look smashing in white. One of our forum member too owns a white NANO and boy, his nano looks delicious after all the mods he has done. This might be an interesting read for you too :
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/ownership-reviews/6647-tata-nano-its-best.html

freakdude.
Thanks for sharing the link. That's a very well done Nano indeed! I shall think about doing some of those mods.

Hello athani,
Congrats on your Nano 2012 !
Your Nano looks cute.
I would say the fuel Efficiency you are getting is quite good.
Drive Safe
Thanks. I got 23.7 kmpl (with AC on ALL the time) from the latest tankful! All highway driving of course. I had an indifferent experience from Indian Oil xtra premium petrol. Got just 16.1 from tankful. That was mostly city driving but still...

Fantastic and superb review from you of the little wonder nano [clap]
Loved your no nonsense style straight forward honest review .
Please do inform us about the a.s.s experience and when your car completes more then 6 months or whenever you feel is right do post your experience ( good and bad both in short unbaised ) here http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...motor-s-cars-ultimate-reliability-survey.html
Service experience today was nice. No nonsense stuff and zero expense. I'll keep updating. I'm keeping detailed fuel and service logs for that purpose.

congrats for your nano.


thanks for sharing my thread dude :)


i recently got the fuel additives for TASS during my 20K Kms service (25/8/12). i couldnt notice any difference.
I'm certainly watching your thread for the interesting mods. The dealer had advised me against going for fuel additives. And I've not seen any benefit from Indian Oil xtra premium, which is fuel with additives. I'll be sticking to plain petrol.
 
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Re: My Own Nano Lxi Thread :)

Athani by any chance do you live in chembur or close by ?
 
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Re: My Own Nano Lxi Thread :)

I'm certainly watching your thread for the interesting mods. The dealer had advised me against going for fuel additives. And I've not seen any benefit from Indian Oil xtra premium, which is fuel with additives. I'll be sticking to plain petrol.
about the fuel additive and service records i updated it in my thread.
 

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