Tatas whose had one?

[Grahame Collins]

I read lately that the Indian Tata marque has released the cheapest car in the world.

I have been the owner of a Tata Telcoline turbo diesel (ute) for 54.000 pain filled kilometers and only dropped $12.000 in 3 years on it.

Given that Tata crowd has built the cheapest vehicle in the world, I am wondering what other views of the brand are?

My personal experience has been that cheap went hand in with nasty as evidenced by 37 dealer visits in the said 54,000 kms of ownership.Things like the rev counter needle fell off, the fan idler pulley bolts backed out ( in the first 900 kms ), the rear axle seized at 9000 kms, the steering wheel rake angle adjuster lock failed, the alloy cylinder head was head porous and leaked.

These things were nearly daily occurrences.

I am wondering was it just me having the ability to wade through quality and unerringly select crap or are there others who have suffered as I have.

Given that this cheap vehicle may show up in Australia, I think the subject is worthy of discussion.

Grahame

[MICKYG]

The Indian goverment should say "sorry" to any poor soul who happens to have one of these vehicles. The only two I have ever seen were worse than lemons with one dissapearing into smoke, the other a wrecking yard.



Regards Mike

[q9]

They used to sell them around here, but I think they've been dumped by the only dealer that was brave enough to stock them...probably says something in itself. Most of the "Jap" utes - BT50 (and by extension the Ford Ranger), Triton, HiLux, and the Rodeo are all made in Thailand - so they are quite cheap already - they'd have to just about give the Tata away to compete.

[echnidna]

sounds like they are modelled on Lada's

[Wood Borer]

Many people with 4WD's including myself are highly aware of the consequences of breaking down in remote or difficult areas.

Two aspects to this possible dilemna are that firstly you want a vehicle that is not likely to break down and secondly, if you do break down, it would be nice if there was a mechanic and parts to get you going again.

I drive a Hilux which may not be the most comfortable vehicle but it is reliable and there are tons of mechanics who know how to work on them and who can get their hands on spare parts quickly in remote areas.

The vehicle you are talking about is not widely known and does not seem very reliable. I wouldn't take it on road or off road if even if you paid me.

[wattlewemake]

I havent had anything to do with the tatas but the new cheap models do ask a few questions though.

If I was a car manufacturer I would be concerned that it would put pressure on my profit margin. Especially as holden and ford have been doing it tough in the US.

It would also be of a concern to 2nd hand car yards. Would it be worthwhile buying a small 2nd hand car or buying a brand spanker with a warranty? Will it push down the value of 2nd hand cars?

If I was a concerned parent, and my child was about to get thier licence, I would seriously have to look at such a car. The fact that it doesnt have all the fruit like stereos and air con would make it not such a joy to drive. So by rights not driven as much for triveal stuff. Another plus is that it is very limited in its top speed. Very hard to get into too much trouble at 60kmh. Admittedly, it wouldnt be suited to all areas but in the main I think it would reduce the incidence of hooning and you would think the amount of accidents that inexperienced drivers are involved in.
A negative that would have to be looked at would be the reliability of the car. A warranty might help soften the anoyance of it breaking down. But that in itself might help teach a few of life's lessons to the child. Eg it takes money to keep vehicles on the road so look after it!

Just my 2c.

Shane.

[solid art]

I have a HONDA RIDGELINE, best truck in the world.
-solid art

[dazzler]

TATA is french for NO NO........sad sad piece of crap :-

[Grahame Collins]

TATA is french for NO NO........sad sad piece of crap :-

Hi Dazzler,

There is a another set of 4 letters that I often used to describe it but the forum censor bot would give us ****.
I thought TATA stood for CRAP in Indian.

Grahame

[Clinton1]

The UN bought a heap for their missioni in Timor Leste in 2001 - 2002.
Cheap to purchase, expensive to get here from India... I believe the price ended up being the same as a Toyota sourced from Darwin.

I think the entire fleet had pretty much disappeared after 3 years... almost literally with all the parts that fell off them.

In my experience the only thing they are good for is keeping wreckers yards busy.

[Andy Mac]

Its a shame in a way that someone can't make a decent well engineered basic vehicle. I read some of the press about this new Tata and initially thought it had a lot going for it, on paper. No gimmicks, economical to run and all that.
I must admit to being pretty undemanding as far as vehicles go. I don't have a car with central locking, power windows, air conditioning (well not working and hasn't for years:rolleyes:), no CD stacker, never owned an auto, and unless a vehicle is large I reckon power steering is a just a luxury! (I have owned an HQ wagon and a '72 Kombi so I know what unassisted steering is like! Small cars aren't in the same category) So many of these features, what I class as luxuries, are just problems waiting to happen, but are somehow considered standard and it seems most people here wouldn't buy a car without them. Maybe there's no choice?
I would however be interested in a car without all that baggage, if it meant a lower purchase price and fewer things to go wrong. Being able to work on the thing yourself, without an electrical engineering degree would be a bonus. I'd even consider no expensive duco a real plus, with less worry of scratches, fading in the sun or repair bills after a bingle!
Guess I'm just a Luddite bushie, and will stick to my fading old gem.:D

Cheers,

[Vernonv]

I love tata's :2tsup:... boiled, baked, chips, but my favourite is tata salad.:D

[Grahame Collins]

Hi Andy,
I think what we see with this particular company is that it uses double standards.The standard it has for its own country is that the consumer does not have the power that they do in our country. Most of the population who purchase the vehicles there don't have access to means of making their views heard though its probably improving through electronic media.
Moreover, the impact of their complaints would have a much less effect than it would in Australia.

The standard it applied locally was to spruike that the company assembled Mercedes Benz in Indian and the vehicle sported MB design and indeed the Puegot diesel engine design (obsolete) technology.This implied all the MB construction standards. Unfortunately they did not apply when building the Tata Telcoline utes.

Ford and Holden produce far fewer vehicles than these blokes, but if they had the same attitude to quality as the Indians producing high volume of vehicular stuff ups they would be out of business quick smart due to consumer reaction.

I believe Tatas have done the dash in Australia due to their inadequate QA/QC policies and the fact the Australian consumers use word of mouth as a purchase factor.The same word of mouth has made Toyota utes a near legend in Australia.

When I owned mine I used to approach other owners to see what they thought of them. All of them complained about volume the volume major and minor faults which where rarely seen in a comparative vehicle available locally.

On top of that there was no such thing as a workshop manual available and spare parts were fairly dear.The support is now gone as dealers wont touch them any more.

I have no problems with a basic car as proposed. Surely it would be expected to run cheaply reliably and safely and given the track record of the marque, I don't think this is likely.
Having said that if I could see that the Tata crowd were finally going to embrace a genuine quality philosophy I would buy one again.In my heart I think it will never happen.
Grahame

[Gra]

I love tata's :D

So do I, I have some pictures here, but the forum censor wont let me post them :wink::D:D

[Ironwood]

I heard on the radio the other day a business in Prosapine was going to stock "Mahindra" utes, (another Indian brand).

Another one to steer clear of methinks.

[dazzler]

Actually to be fair (and to echo graham a little) they are made for a market where the vehicle needs to be simple and easily repaired. In ET we had a TATA and a Land Rover Discovery.

The TATA had bits falling off of it, handled poorly and was rough as guts. The Landy was very smooth, handled well and was a bit better built.

BUT, when the Landy stopped it stopped. Red light would tell you to get a technician and that was that. The TATA would stumble along and you could get it fixed in the field a lot easier.

Ours was like a series one land rover, only assembled by the UN after a big drinking session :).

I had heard that the TATA big trucks are very tough and well built.

Just digressing, while in mission a Sri Lankin Inspector (very much a desk jockey) was over the moon at being promoted to the next rank and he was to get a new TATA and a driver as well.... very chuffed.

The other Sri Lankins thought it most funny because;

"They will be sending him to the Tamil area and the Tamils will eat him and then drive around in his new car....." much laughter........

[Wood Borer]

I too like the idea of a basic but tough vehicle. I would like to see such a vehicle in a 4WD made by someone like Toyota.

The number of vehicles I have seen on the back of trucks heading out of the centre because the local mechanics have not got access to proprietry software to get these expensive pieces of junk going again.

For example, if you do a sump in a BMW, repair it and fill it up with oil it still won't start until it is connected to the special software only available to the dealers.

Mazdas and other vehicles will fail to start if the brakes get down to when the senson touches the disc. Even though the pads might still have 10,000 Kms left in them and you bend the sensor out the way or ignore the light, you can't start them until they have been reset by the PC only available to an authorised dealer.

Air bags in Rovers also have the same problem - can't just cut the bags out and start them. You can trip an airbag negotiating the lips of sandhills early in the season.

Some Merc 4WDs with their expensive traction control and half a dozen other useless features have been known to stop 1/3 of the way up a Sandhill because the on board computer sulks when it has done everything it can to make your vehicle operate as if it is on a bitumen road. You have to wait for the computer to stop sulking (normally a reset) before you reverse down and give the sandhill another shot.

So what happens if you are off the beaten track? Well your RACV/NRMA/RACQ etc won't cover you unless you are on a designated road. The French Line, Rig Road etc in the Simpson are not designated roads.

Cost to you to be towed from Dalhousie to Birdsville is $8000. Less if you are closer to Birdsville. Then the vehicle has to be trucked to Adelaide just so a nerd can hook up the computer and click the box.

A basic vehicle would not have any of these time wasting and expensive problems.