Tata Harrier XZ: Ownership Review


Thread Starter #18
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Heartiest congratulations on the monster, beautiful colour, how do you find the NVH in the cabin? And the handbrake?
Regards
Vinod
Thanks.

Though some of the Harrier owners and even who took test drives complained about high noise inside the cabin, I would prefer to defer. There’s a bit of engine noise in 1st / 2nd gear but it gradually reduces as you move towards top gear. In fact, the tyre noise is much lesser in Harrier than Grand i10 at high speeds.

Just put on some nice music in low volume and you won’t even realize or hear any other noise (like engine / tyre) inside the cabin.

About handbrake - agree that it's a bit fancy but it serves the purpose and also gels with overall interiors. Good to have something different and personally I liked it more than the regular ones.
 
Thread Starter #19
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Finally, first Harrier drive of around 1000 km, Pune - Goa - Pune. Started on Friday night and came back Sunday evening. This trip allowed to explore and check a lot of features about the Harrier.

Hill-descent control - worked perfectly while driving down in Chorla ghat. Tried it first time and it really helps in long ghat sections.

Driving modes:
Rough mode - could actually make out the difference when this mode was activated. There were some rough patches between Sawantwadi and Nipani, and this mode reduced the impact to a considerable extent.

Wet mode - was lucky to try this out. While returning back from Goa, first got rains around Karad and thereafter it was a bloody hailstorm just before Khed-Shivapur toll gate. Saw lots of vehicles actually stopping on the highway, the rain was really that bad and it was dark as well. Anyway, activating this mode really makes you feel as if the tyre is deflated to half. The vehicle just sticks to the road harder. Don’t know the technical stuff, but it does make you feel a bit more confident while driving on wet roads.

Rain-sensing wipers - this was the most interesting stuff. The speed of wipers actually increased and decreased with the speed of rain. Wonder how it detected that, but this feature is bound to be very useful in rainy seasons.

AC - as usual, just superb. Even with outside temperature nearing 40 degrees, the cabin hardly felt any heat. And of course, no impact on power due to AC.

Stability & comfort - needless to stay, the Harrier is extremely stable at high speeds. I did try 130+ kmph and the vehicle just stuck to the road. But again, one has to be careful with steering as it’s highly responsive. The braking is just superb in Harrier and it only boost the confidence while driving. The seats proved to be extremely comfortable, just perfect for long journeys.
Again, as I had positioned driver’s seat height to it’s minimum, my left knee did not touch the dashboard even once in the entire journey. Mentioning it here as some people have raised a concern about left knee hitting the dashboard.

Headlamps - as mentioned earlier, I found them adequate for speeds up to 100 kmph though I would love to make them a bit more powerful, if possible.

Mileage - as can be seen in the images below, got FE of 19+ kmpl while driving at night towards Kolhapur with very less traffic on the road. Speed was in between 80-100 kmph. Thereafter, the FE was 18+ kmpl on reaching Goa. This included lots of Ghat section and rarely driving in top gear after crossing Belgaum. And the final trip FE was 17+ kmpl which included idling time of around 1 hour or so due to traffic. AC was ON all the time and it was just me and my son in the car, so it wasn’t really fully loaded.
These readings were as calculated / reported by vehicle system but even as per tank-full to tank-full, it was 17+ kmpl. Guess this is pretty decent considering the size and power of the vehicle.

All in all, it was a unique and enjoyable experience in Harrier. Looking forward to planned 4.5k trip next month - Pune to Chitkul (Himachal Pradesh.)

I have crossed 1.5k on ODO so time for first service, it’s merely a check up. Also, expecting firmware / software upgrade from Tata by end of this month.

Just a side note - Belgaum to Goa via Chorla ghat is a must-drive at least once, especially in monsoon :)
 

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Finally, first Harrier drive of around 1000 km, Pune - Goa - Pune. Started on Friday night and came back Sunday evening. This trip allowed to explore and check a lot of features about the Harrier.

Hill-descent control - worked perfectly while driving down in Chorla ghat. Tried it first time and it really helps in long ghat sections.

Driving modes:
Rough mode - could actually make out the difference when this mode was activated. There were some rough patches between Sawantwadi and Nipani, and this mode reduced the impact to a considerable extent.

Wet mode - was lucky to try this out. While returning back from Goa, first got rains around Karad and thereafter it was a bloody hailstorm just before Khed-Shivapur toll gate. Saw lots of vehicles actually stopping on the highway, the rain was really that bad and it was dark as well. Anyway, activating this mode really makes you feel as if the tyre is deflated to half. The vehicle just sticks to the road harder. Don’t know the technical stuff, but it does make you feel a bit more confident while driving on wet roads.

Rain-sensing wipers - this was the most interesting stuff. The speed of wipers actually increased and decreased with the speed of rain. Wonder how it detected that, but this feature is bound to be very useful in rainy seasons.

AC - as usual, just superb. Even with outside temperature nearing 40 degrees, the cabin hardly felt any heat. And of course, no impact on power due to AC.

Stability & comfort - needless to stay, the Harrier is extremely stable at high speeds. I did try 130+ kmph and the vehicle just stuck to the road. But again, one has to be careful with steering as it’s highly responsive. The braking is just superb in Harrier and it only boost the confidence while driving. The seats proved to be extremely comfortable, just perfect for long journeys.
Again, as I had positioned driver’s seat height to it’s minimum, my left knee did not touch the dashboard even once in the entire journey. Mentioning it here as some people have raised a concern about left knee hitting the dashboard.

Headlamps - as mentioned earlier, I found them adequate for speeds up to 100 kmph though I would love to make them a bit more powerful, if possible.

Mileage - as can be seen in the images below, got FE of 19+ kmpl while driving at night towards Kolhapur with very less traffic on the road. Speed was in between 80-100 kmph. Thereafter, the FE was 18+ kmpl on reaching Goa. This included lots of Ghat section and rarely driving in top gear after crossing Belgaum. And the final trip FE was 17+ kmpl which included idling time of around 1 hour or so due to traffic. AC was ON all the time and it was just me and my son in the car, so it wasn’t really fully loaded.
These readings were as calculated / reported by vehicle system but even as per tank-full to tank-full, it was 17+ kmpl. Guess this is pretty decent considering the size and power of the vehicle.

All in all, it was a unique and enjoyable experience in Harrier. Looking forward to planned 4.5k trip next month - Pune to Chitkul (Himachal Pradesh.)

I have crossed 1.5k on ODO so time for first service, it’s merely a check up. Also, expecting firmware / software upgrade from Tata by end of this month.

Just a side note - Belgaum to Goa via Chorla ghat is a must-drive at least once, especially in monsoon :)
Nice and crisp travelogue, great FE even before the 1st service.
A suggestion for TASS services, try and stick to one SE be wise in choosing one, avoid the pushing type underbody coating... rubbing polish... you get the hang.
I've been using the same SE since 2016 from my Nano XTA to Nexon XMA, no complaints.
Change engine oil and filter@5k km.
Does your TASS have a separate area for Harrier?
Regards
Vinod
 
Thread Starter #22
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Nice and crisp travelogue, great FE even before the 1st service.
A suggestion for TASS services, try and stick to one SE be wise in choosing one, avoid the pushing type underbody coating... rubbing polish... you get the hang.
I've been using the same SE since 2016 from my Nano XTA to Nexon XMA, no complaints.
Change engine oil and filter@5k km.
Does your TASS have a separate area for Harrier?
Regards
Vinod
Thanks. Taking Harrier for 1st service day after tomorrow (April 18th) to Rudra Motors. Not sure if they have a separate area for Harrier, will check and update.

Congratulations for the new Harrier
Wish you many happy miles ahead.
This colour is excellent for Tata Harrier more in person than in pictures.
Very true, the color is awesome and looks stunning in actual, especially in bright sunlight.
 
Thread Starter #23
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First service done at 1630 km. It was a general checkup, no issues identified, no official system update available yet. Tata is testing software with Apple CarPlay support and other minor bug fixes, waiting for this update.
 
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The Hunt Begins ..

After selling my Safari 3.0, I was looking out for a big vehicle, mainly for highway driving. Though I have Grand i10 and I did go for few long journeys in this car, still was missing the feel of Safari.

First choice ..

Initially I thought of buying a Toyota Fortuner though I was aware that it could be out of my budget. Still, I called and enquired about the finance options. Even for base model without accessories, the down payment was Rs.5.5 lac with EMI of almost Rs.50k. No way I was going to afford that at this moment.
Thereafter, spent few days browsing the net but just could not decide on any particular vehicle. I just wanted a big vehicle that would give me a sense of comfort and safety, along with driving pleasure, especially at nights, as I love long drives / journeys in the dark.

Second choice ..

On March 8th, visited Mahindra showroom to check out Marazzo M8. Took the test drive the same afternoon and no doubt it was very easy to drive with extremely light steering and clutch. Interior space was good too, but it still lacked the class that I was expecting. The infotaintment system and other buttons didn’t really impress me. Even AC was not that effective on driver’s seat though it was pretty chilling for 2nd and 3rd row passengers. On a positive side, almost 100% finance was available on on-road price of around Rs.17 lac and the EMI too was below Rs.30k.

Interestingly, the showroom I visited had Alturas G4 parked outside (in fact, right behind the Marazzo) and it's massive looks just blew my mind. Requested executive there to allow me to look inside and it was indeed a royal feeling.

After returning home, read multiple reviews and also saw videos of Marazzo. Lot of positives were mentioned but still it all boiled down to one thing - that it's a people mover. On top of it, after looking at Alturas G4, I just couldn't convince myself that I should go for Marazzo.

What next?

Third and FINAL choice ..

My son suggested me to have a look at Tata Harrier. So the next day (March 9th) I visited Tata showroom near my house to check out Harrier and Hexa as well. The Harrier was on display and the very first look made me fall in love with it. Interiors were cool & classy, tall and wide tires, big length and huge boot space, and of course, a powerful 2 litre engine - everything seemed just perfect. The price of Harrier XZ (top end) was almost Rs.20 lac and luckily 100% finance was available through SBI.

Also, had a look at Hexa, but Harrier seemed just too good. Requested executive for a test drive and he agreed to bring the vehicle to my place later as it was not immediately available.

Test drive ..

The executive came with Harrier to my place around 7 in the evening and we went for a short test drive. The first time I started, the vehicle almost lunged on 1st gear. I was on city mode but could still feel the immense power. Feeling inside the cabin was awesome, steering pretty light and responsive. The pedals were pretty dip and I had to pull seat close to the steering so that I could engage the clutch fully. I took a drive on a plain road and it was definitely a cool experience. At one point, I initiated sports mode and I was at 100 km/h within few seconds. The power was simply awesome. The cabin was not that silent, I could hear engine noise but that wasn’t a major factor for me for rejection. The sound quality with JBL speakers was great, AC was cool, and the boot space was good too. Plus considering all the other features that the top variant was loaded with, I made up my mind to go for Tata Harrier.

So, that was it. This was the vehicle I wanted and I just booked it as soon as I was back from the test drive. Handed over a cheque of Rs.30k to the executive and very next day forwarded all the documents to him to check loan eligibility.
Also, requested the executive to bring the vehicle for one more test drive during the day time and he agreed.

But unfortunately there wasn’t any positive response from the sales executive and it was I who was calling all the time and enquiring about availability of vehicle for one more test drive. Finally, after 4 days I realized that this is not the dealer I would prefer to buy the Harrier from. So I called the guy and told him to cancel the booking and refund the amount. Surprisingly, even he readily agreed and didn’t seem interested in pursuing the deal. Don’t want to get into details, but I did receive few calls from that dealer for the next couple of days to go ahead and buy the vehicle from them. But I just politely refused.

The hunt continues ..

On Thursday, March 14th, I visited Rudra Motors (on Pune-Ahmednagar road, near Wagholi) along with my colleague from the office and was greeted warmly by SA Chandan. Initially, I did not tell him about my earlier experience related to Harrier. He provided all the details and we again took the test drive. He seemed very interested in explaining and showing all the features about the vehicle.

After returning home that evening, though I liked Harrier, but just due to bad experience earlier, thought of exploring Hexa also. I just called Chandan and told him that I want to consider Hexa as well. Next day, he forwarded Hexa details along with price list over WhatsApp and I called and informed him that I would visit the showroom again on Saturday to discuss things further.

Eureka ..

Visited Rudra Motors on Saturday (March 16th) and the first question was if I had finalized on the vehicle. I was not sure and the discussion continued for some time. Soon there were more people (of course, staff from the showroom) around me trying to discuss and help in deciding between Harrier and Hexa. Finally, it was back to Harrier XZ again - Calisto Copper, signature color for this SUV. As I had all the required documents with me, we all decided to move quickly and close the deal.

Again, avoiding details, the loan was processed quickly (certainly took half a day for completing the formalities) and as the vehicle was available, I was even given the chassis number by end of the day. Three to four months of waiting period coming down to ZERO. No words to express my excitement :)

About registration of vehicle, I was told on Saturday itself that the vehicle would be registered with PCMC RTO as my address was from that area. But I was bit confused as the pin code of my area came under PMC and I thought that, may be, I could get the Harrier registered with Pune RTO. I called the showroom again on Monday morning to verify the same and they re-confirmed that it would be PCMC RTO.

As the vehicle was available in their stockyard I just thought of having a look at it hence visited the dealer one more time on March 18th afternoon. Had a quick discussion with executives there, re-verified the accessories that I had finalized and requested them to take me and my son to their stockyard to have a look at OUR Harrier.

Took some snaps of the vehicle without accessories as the looks were surely going to change at the time of delivery. The insurance was filed and done the same evening by them (got an SMS) and the Harrier was all set for registration.

The wait begins ..

THE HARRIER

So, after waiting for another 10 days with continuous follow ups with dealer regarding the progress on RTO registration, the delivery was confirmed at 4pm on March 29th, which also happened to be my son’t 18th birthday. The RTO tax was paid on same day by the dealer and coincidently got an SMS about registration number being allotted while we were at the showroom to collect the Harrier.

First look - it was just looking awesome. I had opted for base pack of accessories which included few chrome fittings and it only made the Harrier look more beautiful. The ODO read 138km - I asked about the same and they said that the vehicle was driven to conduct few tests. Got a coupon for 5 ltr of diesel which I immediately utilized so that I could drive home without any worries.

Without going into details here, we drove home our Harrier the same evening. The dealer promised to deliver number plates the next day.

First drive after reaching home - went to pick up my daughter from her friend’s place at 10 in the evening and also got tank full at Shell. Frankly, I still wan’t comfortable with the seating position as my left knee constantly touched the lower part of dashboard. Also, due to incorrect driver seat’s height, I wasn’t that comfortable using pedals. But all in all, it was good first day of Harrier.

Next day, I lowered driver seat position to it’s minimum and then all was good. My knee was comfortable and also using clutch / brake pedals was as desired. As I was driving Safari till last month, lowering seating position in Harrier didn’t affect the driving judgment as such. I could still maneuver easily through the city traffic. Big ORVMs were and are still a big risk and they seriously create blind spots. The only option I see here is to be extra careful and consciously make efforts to check for approaching two-wheelers and other road users from the side lanes.

Called the dealer on Saturday on status of number plates, they were ready but guys were busy so could not deliver them. Finally, collected my number plates on Sunday and I am all set now for new adventures.

What I think about Harrier ..

Looks - definitely “OWNER’S PRIDE”
Steering - pretty light considering the size of the vehicle and very responsive. But this again may need extra precaution while driving at high speeds
Clutch - it’s light but has a long travel, a lot of play and may take some time to get used to it
Brakes - a bit of play which I don’t enjoy but very effective. The stopping is quick and confident
Cabin noise - it’s not very silent but still ignorable. The noise inside does increase considerably when the AC is switched ON and especially when the blower is on high speed
Suspensions - seems a bit hard, usually feel it on bumps. Might prove more effective when the vehicle is fully loaded
AC - it’s good but blowers make too much noise

Driving modes:
  • Eco - just right for driving school candidates
  • City - just perfect for city driving with right amount of power and pickup
  • Sports - just what every Harrier owner would love to use all the time

Space & comfort - very spacious and one has to seat inside to feel it. Back seat passengers are sure to enjoy long journeys in Harrier
Infotaintment - yet to explore fully but it looks good though screen touch response is not as desired. Also, no support for Apple car play yet. The 7” screen on instrument cluster is pretty informative and useful, provides tons of information. Haven’t tried navigation yet

Anyway, this is just the beginning and hope to create lots of beautiful memories with my HARRIER. Will post more details and snaps soon.

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Pre-delivery

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Post-delivery..intend to do a nice photo-shoot with Harrier over the coming weekend.

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congratulations on your new drive ! fantastic choice of car and color too :]went through the details of the harrier ..could you please share details of the boot pictures and also the spare wheel area .have you got any accessories from TASS or outside for your steed yet?
I would strongly recommend a good dashcamera if you haven"t got one yet.
Please keep updating the vehicle experiences and TASS experiences together with your escapades on highways ..drive safe ![cheers]
 
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Hi,
Congratulations on your new TATA Harrier. Wishes to clock many more miles without issues.
This color looks great for this car.
Still not clear why the first dealer took so long to process your documents. These kind of sales executives will spoil the customers and showroom name.
 
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Thread Starter #27
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congratulations on your new drive ! fantastic choice of car and color too :]went through the details of the harrier ..could you please share details of the boot pictures and also the spare wheel area .have you got any accessories from TASS or outside for your steed yet?
I would strongly recommend a good dashcamera if you haven"t got one yet.
Please keep updating the vehicle experiences and TASS experiences together with your escapades on highways ..drive safe ![cheers]
Thanks. Will post boot pictures soon. Did buy few accessories from the dealer, especially the chromes. Also, bought dash cam VIOFO A129 recently. Got a big trip lined up next month, will post updates.

Hi,
Congratulations on your new TATA Harrier. Wishes to clock many more miles without issues.
This color looks great for this car.
Still not clear why the first dealer took so long to process your documents. These kind of sales executives will spoil the customers and showroom name.
Thanks. In the case of first dealer, my only expectation was timely communication from their side, which did not happen and they lost a customer or may be customers :)
 
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Many congratulations on buying this beautiful car . Heard from Concord Chennai that waiting period is now 2 months. Hope it reflects in sales dispatch month over month.
 
Thread Starter #30
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Just completed around 4400 km trip in Harrier: Pune - Chitkul - Pune. FE at the end of trip was 18+ kmpl and it included 600+ km ghat section plus AC all time in City mode. Hill descent control and rough road mode helped a lot especially while driving in Kinnaur district. Used cruise control (set around 90 kmph) considerably on plain highways.

Routes taken ..
While going: Pune - Mumbai - Surat - Vadodara - Godhra - Samalaji - Udaipur - Jaipur - Rohatak - Panipat - Kalka - Shimla - Chitkul
While coming: Chitkul - Shimla - Kalka - Rohatak - Jaipur - Mandsaur - Ratlam - Dhule - Nashik - Pune

Roads were 4/6 lanes till Kalka, thereafter it's all ghat section. Roads were really bad in Kinnaur district, often single lane near Sangla and thereafter till Chitkul.

What say Harrier? Just superb. Driving comfort as well as enough space for passengers. No body pain at all, except minor ones in neck and right shoulder as I drove continuously. Pick-up and braking was just perfect, boosting the confidence. Hardly played any music hence no complaints related to distortion or infotaintment (as observed by some.) Apple car play was connected all the time for navigation and did not face any issues related to that. The vehicle was fully loaded and suspensions played their part nicely. No major jerks even on dirt tracks at few places.

Steering was smooth and responsive at high speeds, though I felt it a bit harder in traffic, especially at low speeds. Gear shifting was just fine, though it made some weird noise few times while shifting, probably I tried to change gears in a hurry.

All in all it was a good and memorable trip in Harrier. No issues at all except few scratches on right side top when toll barrier fell on my Harrier at a toll plaza in Nashik.

Summary of our journey - it highlights the driving comfort in Harrier as I did drive pretty long hours, especially during return journey :)

Pune [5/9 11:15pm] - Vadodara [5/10 noon] (via Mumbai-Surat)
Vadodara [5/10 6pm] - Jaipur [5/11 10am] (via Godhra-Samalaji-Udaipur)
Jaipur [5/11 10pm] - Shimla [5/12 11am] (via Rewari-Rohtak-Panipat)
Shimla [5/13 8am] - Chitkul [5/13 7pm] (via Kufri-Rampur-Sangla)

Chitkul [5/16 7am] - Jaipur [5/17 8am] (via Sangla-Rampur-Kufri-Shimla-Panipat-Rohatak)
Jaipur [5/17 6pm] - Pune [5/18 5pm] (via Mandsaur-Ratlam-Dhule-Nashik)

Putting some snaps, will share the links separately of videos taken via Dashcam, especially of roads near Sangla/Chitkul.
 

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