HAL 9000
Honorary Master
- Joined
- May 27, 2008
- Messages
- 21,785
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- 25,333
I have had two Tata Indica models over the last 5 years, firstly a 2005 1.4 LSi which I purchased pre-owned from a dealer in Feb 2011 for R 38,500, (with 59,000 kms on the odometer - it came with 14" mags and 4 new tyres), and sold privately in Nov 2015 for R 29,500, with 133,500 kms on it.
Apart from regular servicing every 15,000 kms - I had an extended service plan up to 90,000 kms (which thankfully included the cam-belt replacement), the only other items I had to replace were regular 'wear & tear' items, such as tyres, brake pads / shoes, the odd blown bulb now & again, V-belts, a new battery and, at around 116,000 kms, I also fitted 4 new tyres (185/60 R14), a new clutch as well as a new radiator expansion tank & hoses.
I also check all fluids and tyre pressures at least once every 2 weeks or so, and top-up as needed.
It never left me stranded on the side of the road - apart from one occasion when I left the lights on all day at the office and roadside assist had to jump-start it - and my overall highway fuel economy was around the 7.5 l/100 km mark - I got it down to about 5.5 l/100 km once on a trip to Durban, but town driving saw it jump to around 9.0 l/100 km or so.
In Nov 2015, I saw an online ad for a 2008 model 1.4 LXi (with 69,000 kms on the odometer) which, in addition to the aircon and power steering (also fitted as standard on the LSi), came 'fully loaded' with additional features such as Dual Airbags & Seat-belt Pre-tensioners, ABS & EBD, electric windows & remote central locking, a lights on / door open / key in ignition buzzer and was fitted with a more powerful 63kw / 120Nm engine, as opposed to the LSi's 55Kw / 110Nm engine.
As the new LXi was originally fitted with the standard 14" steel wheels / plastic hubcaps and 175/65 R 14 tyres when I took delivery of it, I simply did a direct swap and put the mags / tyres from my old LSi on the new LXi and vice-versa (I had the wheel alignment / balancing done on both cars, once the swap was complete).
Just over a year later, the odometer on the LXi is now at around 83,300 kms (14,300 kms later) and, apart from the 75,000 km service in April this year, all I have had to replace so far is a set of H4 headlight bulbs (with the Philips XtremeVision bulbs) when the dipped beam filament blew on one of them.
Other than that, it has been trouble-free motoring for me and I expect it will remain so for as long as I decide to keep it & have it regularly serviced & maintained.
My eye is definitely now on the new Tata Tiago (which replaced the original Indica v2 in India in 2015) - apparently due to be launched here in SA in Q3 of 2017 - and, as soon as the petrol AMT version is also available here, I will be trading in my LXi for the Tiago AMT.
So, in summary, to all the nay-sayers of the reliability (or lack thereof) of Tata vehicles, my experience has been exemplary so far and has definitely instilled a sense of confidence for me in their products, both old (Indica) & new (Bolt / Zest / Tiago).
Apart from regular servicing every 15,000 kms - I had an extended service plan up to 90,000 kms (which thankfully included the cam-belt replacement), the only other items I had to replace were regular 'wear & tear' items, such as tyres, brake pads / shoes, the odd blown bulb now & again, V-belts, a new battery and, at around 116,000 kms, I also fitted 4 new tyres (185/60 R14), a new clutch as well as a new radiator expansion tank & hoses.
I also check all fluids and tyre pressures at least once every 2 weeks or so, and top-up as needed.
It never left me stranded on the side of the road - apart from one occasion when I left the lights on all day at the office and roadside assist had to jump-start it - and my overall highway fuel economy was around the 7.5 l/100 km mark - I got it down to about 5.5 l/100 km once on a trip to Durban, but town driving saw it jump to around 9.0 l/100 km or so.
In Nov 2015, I saw an online ad for a 2008 model 1.4 LXi (with 69,000 kms on the odometer) which, in addition to the aircon and power steering (also fitted as standard on the LSi), came 'fully loaded' with additional features such as Dual Airbags & Seat-belt Pre-tensioners, ABS & EBD, electric windows & remote central locking, a lights on / door open / key in ignition buzzer and was fitted with a more powerful 63kw / 120Nm engine, as opposed to the LSi's 55Kw / 110Nm engine.
As the new LXi was originally fitted with the standard 14" steel wheels / plastic hubcaps and 175/65 R 14 tyres when I took delivery of it, I simply did a direct swap and put the mags / tyres from my old LSi on the new LXi and vice-versa (I had the wheel alignment / balancing done on both cars, once the swap was complete).
Just over a year later, the odometer on the LXi is now at around 83,300 kms (14,300 kms later) and, apart from the 75,000 km service in April this year, all I have had to replace so far is a set of H4 headlight bulbs (with the Philips XtremeVision bulbs) when the dipped beam filament blew on one of them.
Other than that, it has been trouble-free motoring for me and I expect it will remain so for as long as I decide to keep it & have it regularly serviced & maintained.
My eye is definitely now on the new Tata Tiago (which replaced the original Indica v2 in India in 2015) - apparently due to be launched here in SA in Q3 of 2017 - and, as soon as the petrol AMT version is also available here, I will be trading in my LXi for the Tiago AMT.
So, in summary, to all the nay-sayers of the reliability (or lack thereof) of Tata vehicles, my experience has been exemplary so far and has definitely instilled a sense of confidence for me in their products, both old (Indica) & new (Bolt / Zest / Tiago).
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