Buying Facelifted Aria: A Good Option?

[abhijeetp]

I am planning to buy a new car primarily for highway usage (yearly run of 10K KMs).
My budget is around 12-14 lakhs. My family comprises of my wife, 2 kids (5 yr and 1yr), and my mother.
I am looking at a spacious 7 seater car which can provide a comfortable ride and can also accommodate occasional guests and in-laws.
I have had a look at Aria,Safari Storme, XUV and Ertiga.
XUV and Ertiga has minimal boot space when all rows are up. So have ruled those out. Storme's last 2 seats are not front facing so have ruled out storme.
Presently -Aria(Pleasure variant) is the car that I have fallen for. It has lot of boot space even after all rows up. It is super-spacious and looks really classy.
The only problem (and a very BIG problem) is it hardly sells any and there are quiet a few negative reviews which I have come across on the net.

What do you guys think, will it be difficult/expensive to maintain Aria in the long run? Is the newly launch Aria facelift a good option?

 

[vikyjoshi]

Re: Is facelifted Aria a good option?

Hi Abhijeet,

If you are aware that Aria is not high selling car like the XUV and Ertigas. So there are negative sentiments around that car.

But if you test drive it, you would see the magnificence of vehicle.

I have TD'ed aria several times, and one my office colleague has brought that car and is extremely happy with it. he has a pure variant . in 2 months he has covered around 6K KMs and is in love with car. In his latest trip to Bangalore, he told me it was great to drive that car. it cruises happily at 150KMPH. Handling and ride quality is great.

Not a single issue or rattle in his car yet. Ride quality of aria is much better than storme.

There are others in TAI like sbhokray and sarb19 who have purchase 2013 models of aria. Do go thru their reviews.

http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...-4x4-gentle-giant.html?highlight=gentle+giant
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/ownership-reviews/14611-its-my-pride-my-tata-aria.html

The new aria 2014 has a storme's 150 bhp Varicor engine.

So Aria 2014 does make lot of sense to go for.

Only would suggest you to go for a any variant except PureLX. it does not have ABS and EBD. It is necessary for such a big vehicle. Airbags could be taken but not a mandatory option. My storme LX has ABS but no airbags.

 

[350Z]

The only problem (and a very BIG problem) is it hardly sells any and there are quiet a few negative reviews which I have come across on the net.

Welcome to The Automotive India, Abhijeet. There's nothing wrong with Aria as an overall car. Primarily it suffers from brand positioning and lack of snob value in this segment. On top of it, certain negative experiences of users with after sales further become a spoilsport too. Yet, at the same time there are also a large group of users who are content with their cars. If at all you are not convinced, Innova is still an undisputed classic choice. Your running justifies a Petrol car as well. Or look out for upcoming Honda Mobilio.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[abhijeetp]

vikyjoshi , Your inputs are really helpful. thanks for the review links. For past one day have been going through almost all the reviews that I could search.

350Z, I did read about Mobilio. From the photos and videos it looks impressive from the back, but somehow didnt like the front view of the Mobilio. If my purchase gets delayed will consider Mobilio.

Presently concorde motors is offering 30K as discount and 5K worth accessores free, I think only the floor mat might come in this 5K. Told the sales rep that after going through all the discounts that have been going around every year on Aria this 35K discount is very less. The reply from him was that there are no stocks left , and this is the newer model. The dealer places order for Aria only when they customer places order.

I will go for the testdrive this weekend and then decide depending on discounts.

 

[pravin1987]

Aria is a great car. if it was manufactured by mahindra or Toyota(mahindra aria or toyota aria), it will sell like hot cakes. this is the only car that tirumphs over safari in ride quality. heard that the new aria is 150bhp. you will enjoy munching miles in highway.

 

[rsrs_in]

What is the on-road cost of the new Aria Pleasure - the mid-level model?

Concorde mumbai is still to get the model in their showroom uptown

 

[amitpshelke]

ARIA is well fitted in your requirement. My cousin has opted for ARIA instead of having another Innova. I personally drove ARIA continuously around 450 kms [Mumbai - Kolhapur] through huge city traffic in Mumbai and express highway to Kolhapur. Handling ARIA is far better that Innova.

ARIA Pride 4x4 is a great car with lots of features and plashing interior. When I pull car in 4x4 mode in "Panahala Ghat" on a bad road condition, the Adaptera give me lot of confidence while cornering.

The 17" wide tyre was able to handle the small & middle size pot holes very easily without even bothering me. The cabin is well insulated so give a quiet environment & enjoy the ICE.

A test drive will help you decide it.

 

[DJ bro]

The Aria is the best choice for you sir.
Tata service is also improving rapidly and all the issues in cars are being sorted out.
It is the best highway cruiser with 150bhp although bettering the Innova in fuel efficiency.
Though I wish the 3rd rows could have been designed better, with more space by compromising a bit of the boot.
But no worries, if your in-laws can learn to adjust, it is whale of the roads.

 

[abhijeetp]

What is the on-road cost of the new Aria Pleasure - the mid-level model?

Concorde motors is quoting 14.56 on road hyderabad.

ARIA Pride 4x4 is a great car with lots of features and plashing interior. When I pull car in 4x4 mode in "Panahala Ghat" on a bad road condition, the Adaptera give me lot of confidence while cornering.

The 17" wide tyre was able to handle the small & middle size pot holes very easily without even bothering me. The cabin is well insulated so give a quiet environment & enjoy the ICE.

I am thinking of going for the Pleasure model which comes with 16" wide tyres. I believe this size would be good enough.
Pride model has lots of additional features but is going way beyond budget .Considering my driving style, I dont think I will ever use 4x4 so I am considering the Pleasure variant which comes with front airbags and ABS.

 

[vikyjoshi]

Concorde motors is quoting 14.56 on road hyderabad.



I am thinking of going for the Pleasure model which comes with 16" wide tyres. I believe this size would be good enough.
Pride model has lots of additional features but is going way beyond budget .Considering my driving style, I dont think I will ever use 4x4 so I am considering the Pleasure variant which comes with front airbags and ABS.

Pleasure is the best model. Also go for the 2014 model with upgraded engine. You may be offered 2013 model but its better to go for the 2014 model only. Front Airbags are good enough.

 

[abhijeetp]

I had a test drive of around 30 KM's along with my family and we were very satisfied with the ride. The last row will mostly be suitable for kids or adults upto 5'7 - 5'8 height due to limited head room. This is a very minor issue for me and this car does meet all my requirements. I have gone ahead and booked Aria Pleasure 2014 variant.

There is no confirmed delivery date as of now, but will probably get it before 10th May.

I am also thinking of going for Insurance from Royal Sundaram, zero depreciation quote is almost 10K less than the Tata Motors quote. Please advice if its ok to go for outside insurance from the first year itself?

 

[vikyjoshi]

I had a test drive of around 30 KM's along with my family and we were very satisfied with the ride. The last row will mostly be suitable for kids or adults upto 5'7 - 5'8 height due to limited head room. This is a very minor issue for me and this car does meet all my requirements. I have gone ahead and booked Aria Pleasure 2014 variant.

There is no confirmed delivery date as of now, but will probably get it before 10th May.

I am also thinking of going for Insurance from Royal Sundaram, zero depreciation quote is almost 10K less than the Tata Motors quote. Please advice if its ok to go for outside insurance from the first year itself?

Hi Abhijeet, Congratulations on your new Aria. Pleasure is indeed a very great variant. You get best of both the worlds. Insurance its ok to go for outside insurance (Just that the car seller should agree) In case of Tata you should have no issues on this point.

Ensure that you do details PDI. we have very good and exhaustive PDI checklist available on this site.
Heres the link:
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...pre-delivery-inspection-exhaustive-guide.html

Also as a word of caution, I would like you to resist yourself from temptation of going for affter market customisation on you new beast. Atleast for the first year, do avoid to do any kind of modifications, especially with electricals and adding Aftermarket alloys.
Use the car with OEM fittings. If you dont have reverse sensors you could get them fitter and seat covers. But other than that try to keep your car as original. Once your car is an year old and with proper running in and service you can then venture into doing mods.

 

[sarb19]

Congratulations abhijeetp

I guess you have already gone through my thread : Tata Aria Pride 4X4 - The Gentle Giant

2 years back I was in a similar situation like you. Trust me, there is no alternative to Test Drive. Long TDs helped me the most. And I made a comparative scoring between the possible vehicles and leaving all confusions my final choice became evident .

One suggestion, please go through a very detailed PDI. There are standard guideline for PDIs in internet. But in addition to that, download the softcopy of Aria manual. Make a Excel sheet with every features given in the manual. I made one such with more than 200 points. For example: There is a on/off key-hole in the left side of dashboard, below the left-front door, which is used to manually on/off the front-left airbag. Unless you go through the manual you can never come to know about it. There are more than 20 lights which needs to be checked. All the tyres including the 5th one's age need to be checked. Remember, for tyres new unused threads does not ensure quality and age is a major factor. There is a separate manual for ICE including SATNAV. Check that too.

(You can use my Aria PDI Checklist: View attachment PDI_ARIA.xls

And you must PDI before the registration so that the ball remains in your court and you can command the dealer for any change you find while PDI.

I personally got highly benefited by PDI and changed tyres and foglamps.

Personally, I found Aria Pride 4X4 is the best VFM because of 6airbags, ESP and cruise control and also some cosmetic features.

Nevertheless, prepare yourself to give more time in driver's seat.

Post your experience with visuals.

Congrats again.

 

[rkg123]

I had a test drive of around 30 KM's along with my family and we were very satisfied with the ride. The last row will mostly be suitable for kids or adults upto 5'7 - 5'8 height due to limited head room. This is a very minor issue for me and this car does meet all my requirements. I have gone ahead and booked Aria Pleasure 2014 variant.

There is no confirmed delivery date as of now, but will probably get it before 10th May.

I am also thinking of going for Insurance from Royal Sundaram, zero depreciation quote is almost 10K less than the Tata Motors quote. Please advice if its ok to go for outside insurance from the first year itself?

What was the offer/discounts? iam planning to book pure LX

 

[vijay]

congratulations for your booking of 2014 Aria. Can you share what final deal you got hold for, how much discounts and accessories were offered, and which shade you finalised.
As other members suggested, do not forget to do a proper PDI before giving it for registerations and ask for morning time and spend with your alloted car, check out every thing patiently and go ahead.
Looking forward to see your ride.