Tata Safari Storme EX: Ownership Review

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Hello all.

Let me begin the ownership of my Tata Safari Storme - Ex.

Our connection with TATA is more than two decades.
Well this safari storme was never ever planned for purchase , though safari remained one of my fav vehicle. This was one the reason for my sierra ownership! i like big vehicles

Some of them may know that i had a Manza err two manza. One is mine and another is my uncles. For the manza ownership refer the link

http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f.../20770-my-tata-manza-vx-ownership-review.html

Moving on , i wanted to proceed with a practical car. Hatches were never considered. This time i checked the ertiga and the breeza from maruti. Being used to the comfort of TATA , the ertiga failed in that dept. The ride quality was not good. except that everthing else was practical in that vehicle though with the same small engine 1.3 Qjt.

Next the breeza was too highly priced for the car. the cabin was tiny feel.

The other cars that were considered were duster and lodgy from Renault.
Actually it was the Lodgy that i considered seriously. slightly cheaper than ertiga but had loads of best things , right from sheet metal to seat / plastic quality etc. The ride quality was simply the best. Since i was at the showroom to check lodgy the duster came in which was approx 60K extra after all the discount. Its ride quality was simply superb. the only negative of these two cars were the bit hard clutch. Its not that hard , but hard compared to other new cars.

Back to Tata showroom , showroom full of dull appearance / sleepy sales team illogical hospitality and well funny service i am tata vehicle owner for many many and many years for the only reason - TATA makes best cars at better price value. The service is worst but atleast spares are available and i can manage it on my own. that was the way Manza kept me happy!.

Delivery of the storme happened on 24th Nov 2016. The odo stands 9340 today and due for second service in couple of days.

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Re: Tata safari storme ex

To begin with this journey here is a picture in action.

Pic Credits : Our member Gandhi . Thanks for the wonderful clicks

 

[Ambylovers]

Hi,
Congratulations on your TATA Safari Storme. Wishes to clock many more miles without issues.

 

[bhvm]

IG,
Congrats on the King of the roads. Wish you many happy miles with the beast.
TATA has wonderful products, Service is hit or miss but they are surely improving.
Good luck.

 

[vikyjoshi]

/Illango, so what did you do with your sierra? and tell us more in details about your storme purchase? your initial impressions, your family's impression about your new acqusition? and yeah lots more pics.

 

[RockyBhai]

Congratulations on your buy mate!! did u also consider the Scorpio as a contender and if it is so, what are the pointers which made the storme tick over the Scorpio? does it really feel like a mini truck while navigating within the city roads. Enjoy ur drive buddy!!!

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Hi,
Congratulations on your TATA Safari Storme. Wishes to clock many more miles without issues.

Thank you,

IG,
Congrats on the King of the roads. Wish you many happy miles with the beast.
TATA has wonderful products, Service is hit or miss but they are surely improving.
Good luck.

Thank you. They do seems improving the system. But in real it is not. For any complain they need the car to be with them for 3 to 5 days minimum and they keep saying stories. this was the case with my manza. Even on warranty the brakes vibrated when pressed hard and normal in light braking at 100plus kmph. they checked for ONE week and said that suspension ball joints etc need to be replaced ( 36000) at that time and quoted 15000 approx. i changed the tie rod end and lower arm ball join for 2500 spare and 500 labour and still the problem continued. next we faced the rotor and problem solved. Tricky part is we didnt suspect the rotor and so do the tata service because it was fine to see and also to measure with simple tool. it had a minor fault and was corrected at lathe. So if i had trusted tata service it would be a waste of 15k. this is NOT the only incident. The fault is not the tata designer. its the service team knowledge etc. They didn't approve warranty from beginning stating that it is wear and tear problem

/Illango, so what did you do with your sierra? and tell us more in details about your storme purchase? your initial impressions, your family's impression about your new acqusition? and yeah lots more pics.

Sierra was sold 3.5 years back. It was a wonderful vehicle. it was sold as i we wanted a practical ingress and egress vehicle for parents. i am not in a position to maintain two cars. hence had to sell that and get manza. Now with the storme , though my mother feel bit difficult to ingress , but she feel it is better than sierra.


Overall everyone feel like they are traveling with a privilege , Kind of. The spl attention on road.

Congratulations on your buy mate!! did u also consider the Scorpio as a contender and if it is so, what are the pointers which made the storme tick over the Scorpio? does it really feel like a mini truck while navigating within the city roads. Enjoy ur drive buddy!!!

Thank you, I didnt considered the scorpio. though after buying the storme i just checked . though its middle variant is bit cheaper than storme , many features are not availble in S4. Also i have driven some scorpios and feel that it is not yet matured like the storme. the plastics are not yet in acceptable stage. Storme they have improved a lot. Yes i miss the 4x4 in S4 for the same price of this storme EX. Also the storme EX misses the airbag. . Summing it up , i felt that the Storme was better in ride quality , better responsive engine ( though same block) and a complete solid feel. Scorpio felt half baked in terms of the aesthetic design. If Safari was stopped production my choice would be definitely the Scorpio.

Also many ppl asked why not the XUV500..

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Few Pictures taken from Mobile !

The jog fall - picture was enroute to Goa. The Goa trip was a official drive and the maximum ever i went was 100kmph. I was happilly cruising at 90kmph avg.

No ownership review is complete without the FE . Surprisingly the avg FE was 15.8Kmpl
The first refill showed an avg of 16.4Kmpl ( fill to fill )

Inside the city i never have the opportunity to check fill to fill however i feel , based on the fuel gauge ( i know its wrong procedure) storme gives a FE of 10Kmpl. My city is the worst conjusted place known to me. the city traffic speed is 20 to 30 kmph max with 2 - wheeler surrounded all over. Guess it would be bit more in a city like chennai where the though the traffic is high at least the roads are wider and vehicle keeps moving at 40 ~ 50 kmph.

The final pic in a lift is at my company - checking a new " to be release" machine

 

[nishant12]

Few Pictures taken from Mobile !

The jog fall - picture was enroute to Goa. The Goa trip was a official drive and the maximum ever i went was 100kmph. I was happilly cruising at 90kmph avg.

No ownership review is complete without the FE . Surprisingly the avg FE was 15.8Kmpl
The first refill showed an avg of 16.4Kmpl ( fill to fill )

Inside the city i never have the opportunity to check fill to fill however i feel , based on the fuel gauge ( i know its wrong procedure) storme gives a FE of 10Kmpl. My city is the worst conjusted place known to me. the city traffic speed is 20 to 30 kmph max with 2 - wheeler surrounded all over. Guess it would be bit more in a city like chennai where the though the traffic is high at least the roads are wider and vehicle keeps moving at 40 ~ 50 kmph.

The final pic in a lift is at my company - checking a new " to be release" machine

guy truly like the last quote , love ur safari colour

 

[CasualSurfer]

Congratulations on the beast. Many many safe miles.

The jog fall - picture was enroute to Goa.

Pondicherry - Goa & in Goa, how was the A/c performing? EX comes with side-facing seats, is it not. Can longish drives be comfortable for children there (at-least like a play area)?

Inside the city i never have the opportunity to check fill to fill however i feel........My city is the worst conjusted place known to me.

Slightly OT. Pondy is congested? OMG. Parking is a huge issue. Roads are very narrow, I guess that is the problem. Driving a beast in peak traffic is a nightmare by itself! Imagining it in the Raja theater signal with all those 2-wheelers around you, oof. We must make you drive from Electronic City to Whitefield in peak traffic, then you will know that Pondy is a bliss.

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

guy truly like the last quote , love ur safari colour

Yep , have seen just one safari in this shade , that is prior to this colour. It was named black ( guess) , Varun from bangalore has that colour!
Dealership said this is first time they are delivering this colour

Congratulations on the beast. Many many safe miles.


Pondicherry - Goa & in Goa, how was the A/c performing? EX comes with side-facing seats, is it not. Can longish drives be comfortable for children there (at-least like a play area)?


Slightly OT. Pondy is congested? OMG. Parking is a huge issue. Roads are very narrow, I guess that is the problem. Driving a beast in peak traffic is a nightmare by itself! Imagining it in the Raja theater signal with all those 2-wheelers around you, oof. We must make you drive from Electronic City to Whitefield in peak traffic, then you will know that Pondy is a bliss.

Bliss.. Did you say bliss I never take my vehicle to the placed that you mention esp in peak hour. About 2 kms before that junction My grandma lives. I park it safely in front of the house and walk. Good for both of our health.


Rear seats were not my priority during purchase. Only once it went loaded with 8 adults and that was a short trip max 4 kms. It was my dad and his elder bro. Both of them do not complain for anything in their Life!!

But truly its a place to punish ppl. Even kids of class 8 would find uneasy. Do not consider it as 7 seater.

AC is fine and cools effectively for its size. There is no covered parking at office. It takes approx 5 Min to feel the cool after taken from Hot Sun at 1 PM

 

[Driveright]

Wonderful short write-up of your first long drive .Have you done any cosmetic upgrades yet to your interiors and ICE?

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

ICE is the one that came with the vehicle. My add on are very minimal and DIY.

1. Reverse sensor. Since this is EX model , reverse sensor is not available.
2. Mats : I bought noodles mat , rs80/- per sq feet. I got about 16 sq feet and 85% of it was used in front and middle. For rear i got the one that floor mat (plastic thing) which is done car liner shop. It is removable kind of.
3. Dash cam: Rexing make , bought by my friend from USA. cost approx 7000/- same thing in amazon.in is 15000. Did a hard wire thing using a fuse tap.
4. Now recently fixed sunfilm (just 3 weeks back) 75% VLT from wurth.

And yesterday completed the 2nd free service at 9475Kms . Though there is no need to change oil as per manual , i changed it. 15W40 do not hold good more than 6~7 K Kms as per my theory - Oil was charged and oil change was also charged Rs400/-.

However as per free second service they do oil top up free.

I declined washing the vehicle at their place. The so called washing at service center is worst job. Old rags used for washing.

 

[Prabhagar]

Congrats on your Storme, Ilango. Wish you millions of happy miles. I own a Tata and can't agree more to your points about service experience, spot on .
Also I am glad you ditched Scorpio S4, I drove one of them from Zoomcar for about three days and nothing impressed me other than the Mhawk engine. Third row passengers cursed big time for the jumpy ride, no usable bottle holders, rattling gear rod, to name a few. Interior quality of Storme (saw Varun's at TAI Chennai meet) is far better than the Scorpio, good choice there .

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Congrats on your Storme, Ilango. Wish you millions of happy miles. I own a Tata and can't agree more to your points about service experience, spot on .
Also I am glad you ditched Scorpio S4, I drove one of them from Zoomcar for about three days and nothing impressed me other than the Mhawk engine. Third row passengers cursed big time for the jumpy ride, no usable bottle holders, rattling gear rod, to name a few. Interior quality of Storme (saw Varun's at TAI Chennai meet) is far better than the Scorpio, good choice there .

Thanks man!! My storme and & varun's storme are refresh model with 10 months gap. Very minor changes between the two. I am yet to meet varun though we regularly keep updated over phone and whatsapp.

Some pic , taken on same day by Gandhi.