Love At First Sight: Two Years With Tata Nexon


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I was a bit reluctant about penning down my two years experience with petrol Nexon, as the feeling of not being able to portray the good and bad aspects properly was playing at the back of my mind. But the other part of my brain pushed me hard, “hey buddy a car is neither only about technical aspects nor are all the people who love cars techie. There are people who just love to hold the steering wheel and drive along.” Official reviews are mainly done by experts and they try to portray a complete picture of a newly launched car. The official reviewers talks about almost all the aspects of a car, be it technical, mechanical and many more but an ownership review is different, because an owner may not always have the sound technical knowledge to judge the performance of a car in terms of Torque and Power ratio, Gear throw or throttle response. To be honest many owners may not be aware of the term “under steer” but still their reviews can’t be underestimated as they live with the car every day. I am one such enthusiast and trying my best to share my experience with this beautiful car, which I proudly named “FALCON”..
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First Visual Contact

I first came to know about Nexon when the concept version was unveiled during Auto Expo, 2014. Till that time although I had the experience of being at the co-driver seat of couple of TATA cars but never thought about buying one for me. During that period of time CSUV was in its nascent stage and mainly monopolized by Renault Duster then Ford Ecosport and then the Vitara Brezza. Buying a CSUV was not at all in my scheme of things. I was happily spending time with my Chevy Beat. Still I liked the concept version of Nexon; it was kind of unconventional (not a conventional boxy squared off SUV design like the Maruti Brezza) yet attractive. Then came the production version at the 2016 Auto Expo and I got hooked. I fall in love with it at the first sight itself. It was very close to the concept's original look and design. If I’m not wrong then the last time that happened was when Jaguar launched the F-Pace! The feeling was like Oh! Man this should be my next car. By then I was not at all sure about how would I convince my wife to buy the Nexon when we were very happy with our Chevy Beat but I just wanted to have this car in my garage. I even visited couple of dealerships in Kolkata and asked about the launch date of Nexon but they could not give me any encouraging response. I kept on tracking the developments through various websites. Meanwhile couple of youtube channels started posting their first drive review about it and the official review in TBHP was most helpful to me. The word Diesel doesn’t attract me much so it was already decided that I would be going for the petrol one.
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Photo break on Lucknow Agra E-way.
Design elements I liked the most

Exterior

 The Funky and unconventional styling: As described in the official review, the design of Nexon was such that some may like it and some may not but you just can’t keep your eyes off the car. I was clearly impressed by the side profile of the car. The white ceramic line running from the “A” pillar to the tailgate. Many didn’t like this but it looked very attractive to me.
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The distinctive white ceramic line

 Muscular front portion: I was thoroughly impressed with the headlight assembly along with the DRL set up. The smiling humanity line. I personally don’t like much chrome on the car and minimal use of chrome at the front impressed me a lot.
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The 16” black and silver machine cut alloy wheels. Quite a style statement. Black plastic cladding runs along the wheel arches and on the doors giving a muscular look.

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The macho looking Alloys

 The dual coloured roofline and the shark fin antenna, making a distinctive statement.
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Stylish looking ORVM
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DRL, Projector and the Turn Indicator

Interior

The radical exteriors have been complemented by the stylish and practical cabin. The interior looked a lot futuristic to me with elements like, the floating 6.5 inch touch screen, the drive select dial, the classy sliding shutter covering the storage place, the arm rest. Everything just looks like perfect at their place. And yes I forgot to mention the umbrella slot. That was really sweet.

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The Harman developed ConnectNext infotainment system
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Land Rover? No it's a Nexon
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The three spoke steering is nice to hold
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Thick ‘A’ Pillar coupled with the ORVM blocks the visibility hugely, if seen from some angle.
uying Experience

When things started falling in place

“When you want something badly enough, you will develop the confidence and ability to overcome any obstacle in your war.” Tata officially launched Nexon in July 2017 and General Motors has announced that it plans to stop selling Chevrolet brand cars in India at the end of 2017. My Beat was 7 years old that time and still going strong; it didn’t give any hint of getting old. Gradually I shared the idea of buying a new Nexon with my wife and it took me couple of months to convince her that TATA has started making really good cars now. By the time I fully convinced her it was early 2018 and now it was time to look after the money angle. I visited the showroom and negotiated about discounts and exchange price of my Beat.The session with the showroom guys were quite fruitful. As Nexon was doing well in the market so discount was straightway denied by them and they offered 30K against exchanging my Beat which I readily accepted. I was so eager to bring Nexon home. The total payment I was supposed to make for the Petrol XZ+ DT Nexon was 9.89 Lac which included the Registration fee and Insurance. I paid the token amount for booking and consulted with finance department representative about sanctioning of car loans and interest rates on offer. After evaluating couple of Banks, I decided to apply for car loan from YES Bank Ltd as they offered attractive interest rates. Next I was to decide how much loan to avail.
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When i first saw Nexon in the Showroom
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As the decision to buy the car was taken all of a sudden and I was not in a position to arrange the huge amount from my saving element. So now the most important aspect was to make arrangement of cash from my side so that the loan amount can be minimized. I could arrange 2.7 Lac from my own savings and rest 7 Lac was sanctioned by YES Bank.

Everything sorted out. All the formalities were completed by mid march. It was decided to take delivery on April and two dated were shortlisted, April 15th , being the auspicious Bengali New Year (Poila Baisakh) or April 23rd , our marriage anniversary. Later we settled down for 15th April.

PDI

On 7th April I received call from the showroom that the car has arived and I can do the PDI. I was very eager to see my new car and immediately reached the showroom and from there to the yard. Followed the PDI guidelines provided in TBHP, matched the VIN that was given to me by then showroom with that of the car. Started the car and drove it a bit. Checked the paint thoroughly and looked for any mismatch in fit and finish. After getting satisfied I gave them the go ahead and requested them if possible then try to deliver the car before 15th April as I was in no mood to wait any further.

Time to bring Falcon Home

On 11th April I received call from the showroom that the car is ready for delivery and would I be interested to take delivery on 12th. I readily agreed. I was happy as well as sad. Sad because I would be bidding adieu to my Chevy Beat the next day, the Beat has been really a fantastic car and I’ve enjoyed every moment of my association with it. I was feeling guilty as I would be saying her Good bye permanently. That night I was confused whether did I make the right decision of exchanging my Beat. I still feel I could have kept it along with my Falcon.
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Last snap. Thank you buddy for the lovely memories.

On 12th morning I left for office one last time with my Beat. I had decided to take delivery during afternoon and accordingly asked my wife, mother and brother to come to my office and from there we would be visiting the showroom. By 2 P.M we reached the showroom and saw falcon being readied for delivery. Next 2 hours were spent in finishing up formalities. By 4.30 Falcon was officially handed over to me. No I didn’t get any free goodies with the car. I only opted for the carpets on payment. Didn’t like the seat covers so decided to get them from outside.
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Taking delivery with family members
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Happiest in the lot
Driving Experience

Till date I’ve driven 17,944 Kms. The ODO could’ve easily crossed the 18K mark had the situation been normal.
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Initially it took me few days to get adjusted with the three driving modes (Eco, City & Sport) and toggle between them but once I got accustomed, it was really fun driving this car. The car being on the heavier side, grips the road well and that provides the added amount of confidence. My daily commute is roughly around 25 Km since my office is very close to my nest and apart from commuting to office, I use falcon while dropping my kid at her school. Less driving during weekdays is compensated by weekend long drives.

Since I have taken Falcon out of town many times and made couple of road trips with, my driving experience is categorized three parts:

1. City drive in B2B traffic.
2. Weekend long drives.
3. Planned Road trips.
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Comparative illustration of drive pattern and distance covered

Now coming to the experience, Kolkata traffic being congested, most of the time the car has to be driven either in second or third gear. Fourth gear comes into business for very less amount of time. City Mode is the most preferred option in this type of traffic.
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I really don't mind being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic thanks to the generous seats, good entertainment package and most importantly, fairly light clutch everything makes the drive an affair to enjoy.
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Mostly I drive the car between 2000 to 2500 rpm and never push the throttle harder. Throttle response becomes a bit sluggish when the car is driven with AC. The smoothness of power delivery comes down by few notches.

In city traffic, on an average I’ve been getting an average between 11-12 KMPL.

Weekend Long Drives

Most of the time the drive distance covered is between 75 to 100 Kms and mostly driven through City roads and rest on Highways. Drive experience is better than daily commute as traffic congestion is less but still the fun of driving through long congestion free tarmac could not be felt. FE is slightly better during these drives and settles between ranges of 14 – 15 KMPL.
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Road Trips

Now this is the time when I enjoyed driving. Spending longer time behind the steering wheel helped me to judge the performance of the car and evaluate it. So far I have made three Road Trips. The first one being to Bhutan covering a distance of around 2000 Km altogether, then a trip to Agra covering 2700 Kms and the last one being a trip to Mandarmani where the trip meter read 400 Kms. The longest period I’ve spent behind the steering wheel is 14 hrs, during my journey from Kolkata to Varanasi through NH-19.

The car feels awesome to drive on highways. This is the place where I can push the needle up to three figure mark. My most preferred mode to drive on highway is the Eco mode. Just a gentle push on the pedal and the car cruises nicely on the highway. During my drive on the Lucknow Agra E-way, I have driven constantly at a speed on 100 Kmph in Eco mode where the rpm needle was kept within 1500 to 2000 mark. Here I missed the cruise control.
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omewhere on lucknow Agra e-way

During all my road trips, I never really felt tired after driving for such long hours at a stretch. Compliment to the lovely front row seats of Nexon. Even the rear seats are comfortable too. People sitting at the back have never complained of feeling fatigued. 350 liter boot space is also adequate to adjust all the luggages for road trips comprising of 4 or may be 5 adults.

During my Bhutan trip, most of the drive was made through the mountain roads. Many have said that the REVOTRON engine lacks in power while climbing up inclined roads but I never felt the car was grasping for power while climbing up. Falcon has comfortably negotiated the climbs to Chele La p the highest motorable peak of Bhutan situated at 13085 ft. The two drive mode used here were Sport during uphill drive and Eco during downhill drive. My total road trip has returned rough FE figure of 18-19 KMPL which includes 40% of total distance covered with the AC. Not a bad figure for a petrol head I guess.
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On top of the Land of Thunder Dragon, after a comfortable drive

Based on the above driving experience here are my observations:

Engine performance and drivability

This 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder petrol engine is a reworked version of TIGOR’s naturally aspirated engine and produces 108 BHP and 170 Nm of torque. The torque range is same as that of the 1.0 Ecoboost engine of Ecosport but it lags behind when comes to the power aspect, where the Ecoboost moves ahead with 15 BHP more power. Nevertheless this engine is a gem and delivers extremely strong performance.
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Heart of the car

Performance in City driving

The engine is fairly quiet and I don’t get to see the vibrations that are expected from a 3 cylinder small engine. On being pushed hard, the engine tends to sound a bit gruff, that’s not really noisy and irritating but audible.

Each of the driving modes has their own power and torque ratings and they do have an impact on the overall driving experience.
City mode comes out as a better compromise with smoother fueling and better access to power. In general, it’s more than sufficient for average general city driving. Tata has done a good job as far as engine refinement is concerned and be it at idle or when worked hard, this three pot motor never feels out of its comfort zone. Yes, it does get buzzy past 4500 rpm but never sounds harsh or strained

Performance on Highways

On the move, this motor feels really strong past 2000 rpm. The midrange is punchy and even past 4500 rpm, this motor doesn’t feel short on grunt. This makes the petrol Nexon a good highway car and overtaking is just a downshift away. City and Sport mode feel the best as difference between them is minimal. Its only beyond 4500 rpm, the torque curve fizzles out in City mode, while in Sport mode it keeps pulling strongly till 6000 rpm.
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The Turbo Unit

On the highways, it behaves very maturely. The steering weighs up very nicely at high speeds and body control is excellent. The small capacity turbo petrol engine has loads of turbo-lag below 2000 rpm and it requires constant work with the gearbox to keep it in the meat of the power band especially at low speeds.

Overall Performance of the Engine

It’s particularly sluggish at low revs and below 2000 rpm feels all but dead. The simple fact is that the small 1.2-litre engine just doesn’t have the lung capacity to quickly propel this car when the turbo goes off boost. Nexon’s heavy 1.2-tonne plus weight don’t help matters either. Power delivery is also quite uneven and the sharp spike once the engine wakes up makes city driving a chore.

NVH

It has excellent sound damping and there is minimal tyre noise and hardly any wind noise. The sound of engine grunt when pushed beyond 4500 rpm, becomes audiable inside the cabin but that's acceptable and never feels irritating.Overall, NVH level of Nexon is best and it scores higher than it’s closest rivals. Ecosport and the Vitara Brezza.

Suspension and Ride quality

TATA is famous for it's ride quality and it's doesn't disappoint either with the Nexon. It is equipped with the independent McPherson sturt suspension with coil spring at the front and semi independent, twist bean with dual path sturt does duty at the rear. Nexon’s ride feels a touch stiff at low speeds but it smothers sharp edges and broken roads brilliantly. Up the throttle and the ride only gets better. The suspension is well judged and is simply spot on for our road conditions. My car has been delivered with 215/60 R16 Goodyear Excellence tyres. It provides fairly good amount of grip but sound a bit noisy. I have seen many users claiming that Goodyear Excellence is not up to the mark but I guess I’ve been lucky in this count.I haven’t had a single issue related to puncture till date and have never had the opportunity to bring out the stepney for once. The car’s height makes body roll felt especially at the rear during fast cornering and at hilly roads with frequent twists and turns. But it never becomes too annoying at any point of time. Nexon feels soft initially and body roll is gentle but not excessive. In fact, the suppleness doesn’t come at the expense of stability and even at high speed on an undulating surface, Nexon feels rock solid. In terms of comfort too, the car shows great composure, be it at high or low high speeds and the ride quality is flat and it absorbs the worst of road conditions with aplomb. Overall, Nexon’s ride quality is spot on and may be best among the lot.

Steering
The three spoke electric power steering feels excellent to hold and it’s smoothness is impressive. Perhaps it’s may be the finest in business among the C-SUVs. It is very convenient for daily City drive & maneuverability is very good. The steering is light at city speeds and weighs up sufficiently as the car gains in speed. At higher speeds, the steering gives confidence with the straight-line stability.

Braking

The brakes are equipped with ABS + EBD. The brakes though could have been better. The pedal feel and initial bite felt a bit soggy. The car though stops comfortable in a straight line from high speed .

Nexon's 209 mm GC is a blessing for off-roading. During my Bhutan trip had taken the car through some uneven surfaces and never felt nervous. All credit to the high ground clearence.

What is perfect though is the air conditioning, which freezes the cabin in no time. Even in the blazing hot summer sun.

Reverse parking camera has good view during daytime but feels a bit less illuminated during night time.
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Daytime view from the Reverse Parking camera
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Falcon at Gangtey Monastery, Bhutan .
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Enroute Dochula Pass
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+
In different shade
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At Buddha Dordenma, Thimphu
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Resting on NH-19
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Falcon on NH-34

To ne continued........
 
Last edited:
Thread Starter #2
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Continued from previous thread......
Service Experience and Maintenance

TATA Motors used to have a bad name in passenger segment when it comes to after sales service. But with introduction of Bolt and Zest, it has improved a lot in this field. Since taking delivery of my car, I have not faced any maintenance related issue. I service my car from Dulichand Motors workshop at Kolkata. Earlier they used to service Chevrolet Cars and I regularly visited them with my Beat. On that term a healthy relationship has grown between me and the SC. So my car gets some extra attention whenever I visit the workshop.

TATA Motors has launched an android app named TMSC (Tata Motors Service Connect) All the important features and information related to the car, servicing, warranty, insurance have been brought under one single umbrella and those can be accessed with just touch of a finger. Quite impressive.
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Tata Motors service Connect app and the Welcome Screen.

Once the app is opened, it readily shares information about the car. Initial glitch about this app is it always shows the last service schedule as lapsed. It doesn’t show whether the service is up to date or due. Minor issue though but need attention.
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The info section gives host of information about the car starting from the Engine and Chassis number. Next service due date, last service date as well as the warranty status. That’s impressive. Further one can access the contact information.
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Info about nearest service centres.

I must say the maintenance cost of Nexon is quite less. Within these two years I’ve made five visits to the service centre for schedule maintenance and one forced visit due to a accident. I shall come to that issue later.

All the visit to SC was according to the laid down guideline in the service manual. The first year was all about three free services, which were nothing but related to general check-up and rectification of problems depending upon the customer feedback. Luckily I did not face any such issue barring just a rattling noice from the driver side window and that was promptly rectified by the SC during my first free service visit. Engine Oil change has been done according to the schedule. Other than schedule maintenance I had opted for anti rust coating on underbody and Exhaust from the SC.
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Total maintenance cost excluding bodyshop element is quite low.

During January 2020, one fine day my car was hit from back by a Maruti SX4. Although damage to my car was minimum comparing that with the SX4, still I had to leave it to the SC for repair. The repair was done and few parts were changed. The car was insured with TATA AIG and the claim related formalities was superbly handled by the SC. I just had to leave my car and wait for the call from SC to pick it up after repair.
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Two years total maintenance cost and the accident repair graph.

To buy complete peace of mind, I have extended my warranty by two more years and purchased the promise to protect (P2P) plan for 4 years or 60K KM, whichever is earlier.
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he details are readily available in TMSC app.

Personal maintenance apart from SC Visit

I strictly follow the Idling rule for my tubo charged Falcon.Every time I start the car, I make sure to keep it in idle for at least 1 minute. Once the car is started, the engine revs up to 1500 rpm and then gradually settles down at 1000 rpm. Once the rpm needle comes down to 1000 rpm level, then I gently push the throttle. I repeat the same procedure while switching off the engine.
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Taking care of Falcon at home.
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My helping hand.

Apart from SC visit I frequently visit 3M Car Care, Kolkata for wash and wax.
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Falcon getting pampered at 3M Car Care, Kolkata
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Looking fresh and a new car.

Falcon from different angles during night.
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Starboard DRL and the Turn indicator
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Starboard tail light from a different angle

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Glowing eyes of Falcon
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Just the taillights, nothing else

Modifications/ Extra additions

I like to retain the originality of the car. Hence didn’t go for any modification or aftermarket fitment. Just installed Xiomi 70mai dash cam pro, sourced from Aliexpress and am idol on the dashboard.
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The dashcam is fitted just between the IRVm and the Windshield
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Connecting People

Falcon turned out to be a lucky charm for me, during my first anniversary with Falcon; I got official entry in Team BHP. group.

Further I came in touch with many enthusiastic Nexon owners on a common platform called “The Nexon Tribe.” Quite a lovely group.
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I live to Drive – That’s a perfect tagline to introduce myself. Proudly displaying the TBHP and TNT stickers.
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Emergency Kit: Goodyear Digital tyre Inflator, Jumpstart cable, Car towing rope, Seatbelt Cutter cum Glass breaker and Adjustable spanner.

Conclusion

TATA Nexon is still the best value for money package available to buyers when the C-SUV segment is full of options and buyers are pampered for choices. By becoming the first Indian made C-SUV to bag 5 Star rating in Global NCAP, it has not only set the benchmark in safety standard but also compelled others to follow. An achievement that even the highest selling C-SUV is nervous to challenge.
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Picture courtesy: Fellow TNT member Ajay Banarwal.

Thank You.
 
Joined
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Welcome to the TAI forum Sujoy and congrats on the completion of 2 years of Nexon ownership. Wish you many more years, miles and smiles with it. [:)]
Cool shots from Bhutan and particularly the one on Agra E-way. Liked it very much. Just one suggestion about the car photographs, it would be good to blur the number plate part before posting it.
Do keep us updated regularly on your ownership experience. Happy driving! [thumbsup]
 

deville_56

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Welcome to TAI. Please don't put stickers on paint work, just a tip [:D] There would be color mismatch once removed and it would be hard to remove after it is exposed too much to sun.
 
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mayankdixit

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Very nice and detailed review . Thanks for sharing this with us. You have good photography skills. Very beautiful pictures.
How is the car performance now. Any niggles yet?
I won't be surprised if there are none.
 
Joined
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Wow! Wonderful thread, awesome details and just lovely pictures, Nexon in this blue is a looker and your photography adds to the charm! Do keep updated with your ownership experience.
 

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