Tata Indica Vista VX Ownership Review


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Hi all,

This is my review about Tata Indica Vista VX.. These are my opinions and I could be wrong and this is the first time ever I am writing an ownership review. So bear with me.

March 15th 2012 was the day I drove home in a brand new Vista VX (I call her 'Eirene')...

She has done about 4500kms in about two and half months. I always termed me getting this car as an arranged marriage(mean no offence to anyone [:D]). Why?.. I always wanted to buy a Jeep. I am a jeep freak. Mahindra Bolero Invader was my first car. I never dreamt in my life that I would be owning an Indica Vista. My parents had looked at the car and made me book it. I had a say only in the color.. I chose a Brilliant Blue one.

Coming to the car..

It has a very good engine, a Quadrajet Diesel engine which develops about 75bhp. It delivers the bulk of its 190NM torque between 1600-2500 RPM. If you keep your foot down she wants to go fast... fast.... and even faster.. I have driven to a speed of 140kmph, but I have heard that a Vista quadrajet is capable of more. Engine noise is refined. I am a jeep enthusiast, so I love the crisp rumble of a diesel engine. I miss that here. Transmission is smooth and feels good. But it kind of starts vibrating a lot when the engine revs over 1700-1800 RPM. Its not an audible noise but you can feel it if you keep your hand on the gear lever.

I have felt that the power output is linear till you reach about 90kph, then the rate of climb starts slowing down. You get a smooth power delivery when you shift at the precise moment. I am a guy who used to shift when the engine is at 1500RPM, but with this car I had to change my driving style, because I was getting very bad Fuel Economy. I now wait for the engine to be around 1800-2000RPM to shift. The ride has become smoother and I normally cruise at 5th gear @1700-2000RPM. At this stage the car is very lively and responds much better to the throttle. What I never liked about Tata Cars are that the throttle response was poor. I never was satisfied with them. But once the engine is around 1500RPM it feels much better. I notice this across all gears. I am not sure if my driving style is good, but I normally get very good mileage with any type of car, just that I need some time getting used to it. Tata cars have a bit of noticeable turbo lag. Things are kinda better here. But you can still make out when the surge of power hits you and the car just takes off.

Coming to Fuel Economy, I consistently get around 16kmpl in city with full traffic, AC and usually just me in the car(At max two.. In rare occassions three or more). I don't know if this is a good number. If somebody knows of a Vista which gives much better in city under these conditions please let me know, I want to know what I am doing wrong. I go for long drives often(just can't get enough of driving.. hehe).. In highways I get over 20kmpl. Even during a drive from Valparai to Bangalore, where I was averaging around 90kmph (I touched 140kph and frequently drove at 110-120kph), I got a very good mileage of 21.2kmpl. In cities also its good. I fill her twice a month with around 1500Rs worth of normal diesel each time. I average around 2000kms a month. I am pretty pleased with Vista's FE.

Ride Comfort of the new Vista is good. The seats are comfortable, even during long drives. You don't feel tired much. Driver seats have height adjust-ability and an adjustable lumbar support. There is lots of space in the front as well. I am 6'2" and I have to push the seat all the way to sit comfortably, even then there is decent room in the back. Vista has height Adjustable steering, though I never changed its standard position. I never felt the need. I can't comment on the back seat, because frankly I haven't travelled much in the back seat [;)]. But my friends say its comfortable. Suspension is kind of firm, and because of that ride can be bumpy at times. There are some bad roads near to the place I stay and things really starts shaking around. I have noticed that keeping the tyre pressure at around 24psi in front and 22psi in the rear greatly increases the comfort but the FE drops. Standard values are 28-32 in the rear and 30-35 in the front. I usually keep it at 29 in the back and 31 in the front.

On to the interior quality.. Tata have always tried to cut costs here. Bad quality plastics are common in Tata cars. After a while an average Tata car will start rattling and it just ruins the driving experience. The interiors here are decent though. There are still some niggling issues like rattling near the co-driver door and stuff, but nothing which takes your mind off the road. You can live with it . Compared to older Indicas Tata has done a decent job with the new Vista. I don't like the Dashboard design though, you can never keep anything on the dashboard. The instrument cluster being moved to the center. It helps in better visibility, but I don't know.. I am kinda 50-50 on that one.

Electronics and AC.. Vx model comes with an Integrated Console which has your standard mp3 player and options for plugging in your USB drive or Stereo-in. The quality is good, but I had to change the sound settings manually, none of the presets suited me. It also has blue-tooth connectivity and a nifty little screen which acts as the face plate of the music system and the screen for showing the incoming call number. It also has a keypad which lets you dial a number and call out, if your phone is connected to it over blue-tooth. But while streaming music over blue-tooth the sound is pretty low and you need to crank up the volume to get a decent level of sound. Funny thing about this is that I never could find the switch off button [:D]. If somebody knows, let me know.. Steering mounted controls are good and lets you do most of the basic things without you having to leave your steering wheel. Sound quality of the standard speakers are decent. I am not into over-the-top sound systems anyways. Coming to the AC, I have to say its very good. It cools pretty quick.

Headlamps in the Vista is something which I am very dissatisfied about. At low beam you can't see much above a certain point. It really doesn't help in Bangalore where people cross the roads just like that without looking. Its hard to make out people crossing from the sides at low beam and I don't driving around at high beam in city. Its irritating for me when other people do that, So I guess others might feel the same..

But all said and done, I love this car. Its good, has good performance, gives good mileage, looks decent, has very good space and lighter on the pocket on road. Major negatives are the Tata After Sales Service and Build quality(not so much in their new Indicas and Indigos)..

Yup that's all I guess, hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to correct me wherever I have made any mistakes..
 

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Congrat's buddy, you just bought yourself a pure value for money cruiser, Is this colour new cos i have never seen this coloured Vista before it's very Attractive.
 
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conrgats for the new car

looking good man and how about the mileage and also how about in cabin engine sound ?

I heard they used to be very loud
 
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Congrats for your Vista VX Buddy, Your Vista Looks good in Blue color. Especially your 5th pic is awesome[clap]

Even I also own a Vista VX 2012, You can check out my experience with my Vista in the below thread.

Brand New Sedan Class Hatchback (Vista QJD VX) Reached Home


Funny thing about this is that I never could find the switch off button [:D]. If somebody knows, let me know.. .

To switch of the Music system You need to press the volume button for more than 3sec.

BTW, Even I'm also getting low mileage in City, but our TAI members saying we will get proper mileage once the engine gets settledown.
 
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Thread Starter #9
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.. Is this colour new cos i have never seen this coloured Vista before it's very Attractive..
Thanx.. Blue is available for the new Vista refresh.. I picked blue because blue Vista's are rare and its looked very good out on the road..

.. looking good man and how about the mileage and also how about in cabin engine sound ? ...
Mileage is low on cities when running with full AC.. but without AC I have get 17-18kmpl..

Cabin noise is actually very less. You don't feel as if you are driving a Tata [;)]

Please Elaborate your buying experience and the final on-road cost, any mod's planned?
On-road price was Rs.6.85 Lacs. They had an offer of Rs10k going and I got the car on road for Rs.6.75 Lacs

Buying Experience was really funny actually. I never planned to buy a car in the first place. I and my parents just went to the showroom to look at the new cars. My parents wanted me to book a CAR and I desperately wanted a JEEP.. So I was never serious in the showroom..

The sales guys bowled over my parents with all the features of Vista. I was busy oggling over the Safari 2.2 VTT 4x4.

We left the showroom after promising the sales guy I will call(which I never wanted to do).. But eventually I gave into my parents' wish and called the guy up for booking. Surprisingly he said, the blue variant is readily available and I can take it home once I make the full payment.

The guy at the dealers' was really helpful, he made sure I felt comfortable about the decision all along the way. He made most of the arrangements and gave me the car on the agreed date as well.

One thing which was a miss on my part was while taking delivery I forgot to check for all the tools, the wheel spanner was missing. I realised this when taking the car for the first service(Thank god I didn't get a puncture till then). When I called the dealer up, he said he can get it for me in a week's time. I passed on that option since I didn't want to ride around feeling anxious. I got a 17-18 spanner from a hardware shop.

First service was good, I gave the car at the KHT Motors Service Centre near Kundalahalli Colony. They did a good job.. Will keep you guys posted on the service experiences. I will be giving the car for second service in a couple of days.

..Hmmmm Any mods??? oh yeah.. [:D].. I want to get a nice set of alloy wheels. apart from that I don't want any alteration in the looks. I was looking for getting a tuning box for the ECU, probably a better exhaust and a new Air filter.. Not sure about the exhaust because I have read in many places changing the exhaust in a diesel car won't help much, I just want the car to sound a bit better. If anybody here knows about a good exhaust for the new Vista, let me know.. These are all planned but not in the near future.. I want to run the car for atleast 7-8k Kms before messing with it..

Oh and here are the interior pictures I promised..
 

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Oh thanks Appu and Ajith

thats a good achievement

In here people buy VW passat and all in diesel and they are quiet inside , like your in a hybrid car .

how about the quality of plastic for dash and door trims? good or appears cheap ?

does it rattles when at certain rev range?

Mileage is good man !!! 17-18 Per litre [surprise] I wish! My car does 4-5
 
Thread Starter #11
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Plastic quality is better than older Indicas. Rattling is not there now. Hope it doesn't come also.

The materials used doesn't feel cheap. It appears quite good to me. But I still can't be sure, since I've had bad experiences with My old Indica and Safari. I do believe Tata has changed and they pay more attention to detailing and quality than they did before.

@codename47.. You have a Nissan Skyline?
 
Thread Starter #13
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OEM rims from the dealer are very costly.. the dealer told me Rs.26K for a 5 piece set. I am searching for aftermarket alloys. But my office work prevents me from spending time to hunt for good ones. I will have to search.

I had asked a couple of shops before they told me they can give me Neo Wheels rims for Rs.22,500(doubtful if it costs that much) including workmanship charges.

Anyways, I need to save up.. Funding is a bit short after the purchase of the car [cry]
 
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Plastic quality is better than older Indicas. Rattling is not there now. Hope it doesn't come also.

The materials used doesn't feel cheap. It appears quite good to me. But I still can't be sure, since I've had bad experiences with My old Indica and Safari. I do believe Tata has changed and they pay more attention to detailing and quality than they did before.

@codename47.. You have a Nissan Skyline?
thats good to know
I have driven one about 4 years ago the diesel knock on the engine was so annoying but I heard they are getting better as you said ,I believe you on that man.

yeah that market phase has now passed and now its time for TATA to rise and shine . they should make a Euro style cars means every single detail on the dash and refined leather options etc etc

Yes, I have a Nissan Skyline R33 Series II and a Ford Falcon XT Mark II

http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...-nissan-skyline-r33-gtst-series-ii-tuned.html
 
Thread Starter #15
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That's a beautiful car.. kudos to you !!.

Tata is improving, they made a good choice for Manza and Aria as well. They made it very good.

I guess all Indian manufacturers are getting better, eg, Mahindra XUV500.. You wont believe Mahindra made that car.. hehe [;)]
 

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