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Tata Safari – Ownership Review
In continuation of our series on ownership reviews, this time we have interviewed Mr Sudhakar, the proud owner of a Tata Safari Dicor 4X2. Mr Sudhakar is a business person with great enthusiasm for long drives. He purchased his Tata Safari 4 years ago and has heavily used it since. Read on for his ownership experience with the Tata Safari.
Details of the Tata Safari
Mr Sudhakar owns a Tata Safari 4X2 diesel. It features a 4 cylinder, 2179cc engine delivering power output of 140PS@4000rpm and torque of 320NM@1700rpm. The Transmission is a 5 speed manual box, while the engine uses an advanced common rail injection.
The car’s fuel efficiency ranges from 10 KMPL in city to 12KMPL on highways. The car has been fitted with Alloy wheels with tubeless tyres.
The features of the Tata Safari include power steering, power windows, leather upholstery etc.
Tata Safari | ||
2.2L VTT Dicor EX | ||
1 | Engine | |
2 | Engine capacity (cc/cylinder) | 2179/4 |
3 | Power in BHP | 140PS@ 4000 RPM |
4 | Torque in NM | 320NM@1700 RPM |
5 | GearBox | 5/M |
Dimensions in MM | ||
6 | Length | 4650 |
7 | Width | 1918 |
8 | Height | 1925 |
9 | Ground clearence | 205 |
10 | Tyre rating | 235/ 70 R16 |
11 | Fuel Tank Capacity | 60 |
12 | Average Mileage in KMPL | 12 |
13 | Gross Weight (Kg) | 2650 |
14 | Turning circle radius | 6M |
15 | Seating capacity | 7 |
16 | Steering | Power |
17 | HVAC | Yes |
18 | Music system with 4 speakers | Yes |
19 | Front Power window | Yes |
20 | Third row opposite facing seats flat folding | Yes |
21 | Digital Clock | Yes |
22 | Roof Lamps | Yes |
23 | Door Open Roof light ON | Yes |
24 | Vanity mirror | Yes |
25 | Inner grab handle | Yes |
26 | Tachometer | Yes |
27 | Glove box | Yes |
28 | Front Fog Lamp | Yes |
29 | Body colour bumper | No |
Current Price in Bangalore BS IV | ||
Ex show room | 9.35 Lakh |
We asked Mr Sudhakar a number of questions. Read on for details.
Question: Since when do you own the car, what motivated you to go for the brand and model?
Answer: Our Tata Safari car was bought in 2008. We were looking for a spacious Utility vehicle with best combination of power, interior space and comfort. We were impressed with the performance of Tata Safari and the on road image of the same.
We bought our Safari used since we did not want to go for a new car.
Question: Tell something about present status of your Tata Safari
Answer: Our Safari was driven for around 80,000KM when we bought it and now it has run up to 1,12,227 KM. Actually, we had worried if maintenance cost would go up as it had already run 80,000KM. However till now we have not come across any major problems.
Question: What was the cost of purchase?
Answer: We had bought it for approximate 5.5 Lakhs.
Question: How about cost per service?
Answer: Most of the time the service cost was around 5000 Rs, including change of oils, wheel alignment, washing etc. We do a service every 8 months or so.
Question: Any accident repairs done, insurance claimed?
Answer: So far we have had no accidents and thus no body repairs have been done.
Question: What has your Tata Safari mileage been?
Answer: So far we are getting around 10KMPL in city and in highway around 12KMPL average. We are quite satisfied with the fuel efficiency
Question: Can you tell us about your experience in long drives?
Answer: We usually take our vehicle for long drives such as Touring for various tourist places for a week or so which includes driving around 500KM or per day. It has so far given best of performance and never let us down. With spacious interiors and hence comfortable seating going on long drives was never tiresome. There is ample space available for putting luggage also. Though it can be driven at around 150KMPH, we generally drive max around 125KMPH average. Generally we never come across situations needing rash driving as we plan our tours properly and keep up with time. The suspension is very good and so is the upholstery which ensures good enough comfort for occupants. We have driven even in cross country roads without much fatigue. Also the on road image created is great. Though many competing models are available, Tata Safari has its own majestic image and still rules the road.
Question: Any breakdown faced and how did problem was solved?
Answer: So far no breakdown has occurred, it could be due to getting maintenance repairs done as per schedule.
Question: Any good and bad experience at service station?
Answer: Tata service back up is good. There are no problem in availability of spares. The wide spread service network and availability of spares is a great advantage.
Question: How do you rate the overall ownership, would you recommend the same to others?
Answer: We are satisfied with performance of the car. Maintenance was never a problem with the highly reliable engine and overall quality of vehicle. It will justify the investment made with best of comfort and dependability it offers.
Contradicting the general opinion of high maintenance cost of Safari, we can say that the maintenance won’t be a huge burden. However, one must always keep in mind that the spare cost would be related to the cost of vehicle. We highly recommend the same to others.
Question: If going for new car which brand and make would you choose and why?
Answer: Currently we don’t have plans of going for other car in near future. However to mention one, we would to like to consider Toyota Fortuner for its better features, performance etc.
Conclusion
The above is the actual ownership experience of owning Tata Safari for more than 3 years. One can gauge the general maintenance one can come across at the usage of around 1Lakh km.
It is to be appreciated that the performance of the Safari remains good, even after 1.1Lakh km. We welcome our viewers to share their experience with Tata Safari and its maintenance.