Tata Safari Storme EX: Ownership Review

[ilango[speed thirst]]

UPdate 37790Kms,

Dec 31 2018, gear box bell house area same seepage found. It was not there for about last 1500 kms after the cleaning in previous update.
only change was did a 990 kms trip to dhanushkodi. This drive is different as i was completely in higher RPM in highways. Vehicle was 120 ish most of the time in highways.

so at higher rpm the oil seem seepage.

Jan 1 2019 - Happy new year :P went to TASS.
car returned on 2nd Jan with some turbo charger flanges and its packing replaced.
However in the invoice its mentioned as turbocharger replaced. I asked the Service Manager and he confirm no and only packings replaced.

No idea why its invoiced. SM says during material pickup in PC this was picked wrongly. God knows what and why . Not my probs though
The famous turbo sound termed as "gargle noise" all over internet found in all hexa and storme, went missing from my vehicle after this new year. HAHA.

Same way read in another forum HEXA has a recall of head and the forum as of now closed it as rumour.
Rumour or not. No idea. But in mine head has been replaced and its a year back exactly.

Due to rains and cold climate and low dust settlement , have postpone the 3M treatment for a month or two.


Ah , how can i forget a major change in look update. Replaced with VX used alloys. Got the 4 for 15800 including shipping from Pune from a member of safari group.

God knows when will be the next leak hehe.

cheers.

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Update after a LONG time

ODO is 46500.
50 Kms back change the tyres to Conti AT. Stock bridgestone was all good thread and can hold min 15K kms. However the tyre had hardened and also lot of cracks like structure.
Decided to replace and did that two days back.
Thanks to our member , Vinoth for getting the tyres and sending it to pondicherry through another friend.

All i can recall the two issues which didnt resurface again:
1. It was raining and went through water in roads at chennai and halted for dinner. Started back to home and found speedo was not working and pick up was not normal. However in 5 min the door locked and speedo went to 80Kmph and all fine after that. Checked with another member here and speedo sensor issue and since it didn't resurface not bothered. Also the part cost is around 300/- so not a issue if it fails after warranty.
2. Car alarm went off and it kept honking madly. unlocked and locked and exactly after 5 min again. Repeated and along with ignition ON. Showed to TASS not able to narrow down.
They adjusted door lock. Plus was mild rattle in bad road is vanished now. phew!


Last 10k kms was fine. Somewhere around 39k kms i changed the oil ( just the oil not the filters etc Myself) since tass follow 15k or 1 year i changed myself inbetween.

Around 2K kms back, a friends friend had opened a Decarb shop. I had a mild roughness in the engine note compared to new engine ( very mild and its negligible) tried with them and end result was so cool , at 2k rpm the mild roughness has vanished.
However the cost was 1700/- and also the air filter was removed and revved for 40 k kms in dusty area. i have a apprehension on that since dusty air is sucked inside.

next month Nov 24 the car will turn 3 years old. and scheduled service will be on Nov.

During tyre change noticed a torn tie rod end boot however no shakes. will check the price with TASS and will replace myself if oem branded like talbros or rane are available.
Brakes feel have lessen the bite. Guess the pads need attention.

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

UPDATE on Scheduled service.
Vehicle went to service on 4th Nov and returned on 5th evening.


Experience : As usual irritating. Not with the work but with the TATA CRM attitude. Read further.
Exhaust pipes found cracked in the vehicle.
Warranty denied as the warranty date is completed. Is it ?? NOO

Vehicle has 3 years wty and 1 year extended wty.
Vehicle was registered on 22nd nov 2016 and delivery on 24th nov 2016.
Vehicle reached dealer on 19th nov 2016.

WHY DID THEY INVOICE on 31 oct 2016. All other vehicle like the tigor and manza which is in our circle was invoiced after we saw the vehicle. not when the vehicle was in transit.

TASS found the issue and updates to tata for wty. IT seems a known issue for all hexa , i guess silently affected hexa are replaced with new exhaust muffler side end.
TATA rejects wty . reason.
1. vehicle out of warranty by 2 days. ( though date of delivery is still 24 days available)
2. extended warranty not applicable for exhaust where i was said entire power train has the extended warranty along with electricals and AC.

Time and again TATA proves. GOOD vehicle bad service & quality.
Time and again it makes me think WHY didnt i pick Toyota after these many tata cars at home.

ALL Safari storme exhaust can be affected with this issue. Pls check yours!!

I have esclated to GM of service dealer. Lets see what that guy can do. In phone he sounded hopeless. Irritated to fight with them . Already had a tough time for engine head replacement in jan 2018.

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

TASS knows devil. Its useless to speak to them. Just for the wty i go there.

About the vehicle. As usual its fantastic.
Bajaj avenger tag line : Feel Like God.
My Safari Storme doesn't stop to excite me in each and every trips. Service at 47000/- changed Oil , oil filter , diesel filter rear brake pads, wipers and tie rod ends.
Cost was 13728/-. Could have saved 4K approx if done myself at FNG. Few recent pictures of storme below.

 

[bhvm]

Sad to hear about that. This confirms my doubts about TATA having stupid & lethargic warranty policy. Time to learn something from Mahindra.

P.s- Get Rustoleum Engine paint and paint those exhausts. I am in process of painting each and every vehicle as I find time. They do seem to corrode over time.

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Discussed with friends in automotive industry and confirms that the crack is due to dress and design issue.
Welding locally may help for further years .

Clearly a design issue for which current hexa have already changed the exhaust design.

 

[raj14]

UPDATE on Scheduled service.
Vehicle went to service on 4th Nov and returned on 5th evening.


Experience : As usual irritating. Not with the work but with the TATA CRM attitude. Read further.
Exhaust pipes found cracked in the vehicle.
Warranty denied as the warranty date is completed. Is it ?? NOO

Vehicle has 3 years wty and 1 year extended wty.
Vehicle was registered on 22nd nov 2016 and delivery on 24th nov 2016.
Vehicle reached dealer on 19th nov 2016.

WHY DID THEY INVOICE on 31 oct 2016. All other vehicle like the tigor and manza which is in our circle was invoiced after we saw the vehicle. not when the vehicle was in transit.

TASS found the issue and updates to tata for wty. IT seems a known issue for all hexa , i guess silently affected hexa are replaced with new exhaust muffler side end.
TATA rejects wty . reason.
1. vehicle out of warranty by 2 days. ( though date of delivery is still 24 days available)
2. extended warranty not applicable for exhaust where i was said entire power train has the extended warranty along with electricals and AC.

Time and again TATA proves. GOOD vehicle bad service & quality.
Time and again it makes me think WHY didnt i pick Toyota after these many tata cars at home.

ALL Safari storme exhaust can be affected with this issue. Pls check yours!!

I have esclated to GM of service dealer. Lets see what that guy can do. In phone he sounded hopeless. Irritated to fight with them . Already had a tough time for engine head replacement in jan 2018.

I have bought a user safari storm last year. I too had seen this issue though it was fixed by first owner. But recently some sort of sound started coming my FNG mechanic told its due to some rust inside the exhaust it need to be opened and cleaned . I left it as its not much of a big issue .

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Update 54400Kms (17th may)

17th may Sunday did a oil change at my local garage. Running was low due to COVID19 and offices were shut down for 3 weeks approx.
This time i felt in last nov 2019 oil change at TASS i felt cheated. oil had burnt smell at just 7k kms of running. TATA recommendation is 15-20K interval. Though i follow 7k interval always. This time as usual i got shell 15W40 CI4 grade. Immediately next day the difference was felt. the engine was smooth and free revving. As usual i feel the TASS has cheated with no oil change or duplicate oil or something else. i was billed in November approx 3K plus for this.


Another major thing was surface rust in chassis was found some months back and bought a rust converter from amazon and also black Canister spray paint. sprayed the rust converter chemical all over . It was foam kind of and after 20 hours that itself was giving a look of painted surface. then painted matt black all over the chassis and saved my chassis .


Changed air filter.

Things noticed.
1. Driver Side door handle opens only at the extreme end of the pull. Opened up the door pad and the lever connecting the handle side to lock has a adjustable head. Two anticlockwise turn and problem solved. However the reason took 2 hours to narrow down the root cause. Luckily found it.
2. Area below the windshield. there is (WAS) a L clamp holding the wiper motor socket. it has a foam around it ( may be for NVH??)
that was damp for all these 3.5 years and rusted. On clearing the rust a good big HOLE is created. sanded and painted with a grey paint what was left in home as shops were closed in lock down in covid19. i found this is initial lock down period.
3.One of the hose from power steering to reservoir seems damp and guess having crimping issue. Have ordered the spare through boodmo and the parts are yet to reach. Tass must change that at FOC in extended wty. However i don't want to spoil my mood speaking with those dumb ppl. They are yet to arrive a solution for my exhaust cracking. the hose is 1750/-
4.Also ordered the bigger cracked exhaust part ( Rs1650/-) at boodmo.

 

[bhvm]

TASS i felt cheated.

I always stand when work is being done on my Beast. Though TATA hates this at times.

surface rust in chassis was found some months back and bought a rust converter from amazon and also black Canister spray paint. sprayed the rust converter chemical all over . It was foam kind of and after 20 hours that itself was giving a look of painted surface. then painted matt black all over the chassis and saved my chassis .

Good job. I got XUV professionally coated and I am Hand Painting my Other vehicles with Oil Paint as I find time. Lot of stuff on the Safari is Hand painted.

Driver Side door handle opens only at the extreme end of the pull. Opened up the door pad and the lever connecting the handle side to lock has a adjustable head. Two anticlockwise turn and problem solved. However the reason took 2 hours to narrow down the root cause. Luckily found it.

Typical Safari Issue. I use a Copper wire as a washer to provide tension for my Door Mechanism (Where those rods meet). As my nuts cannot be adjusted any more.

On clearing the rust a good big HOLE is created.

Ah darn. Same Issue on my Blue elephant. I ended up Painting entire Wiper cowl with 3 thick coats of paint. Also Sealed up the Grilles Below wiper to prevent further leaves and junk from falling in.

That hole is dangerous as water directly falls into dashboard and relay panel. Seal it with Neutral cure Silicone.

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Update: 57400kms
The exhaust part ordered in boodmo never arrived eventually me cancelling and getting the refund.
Nothing major to update with the previous update post. No running just office and home. This sunday crossed pondicherry border after relax in the E-pass funny things. Vehicle touched 110kmph after long days.

Got ADDON D additive bottle from indian oil just to try. First tank full . Nothing change observed for 3-5 days. I folled 1 Ml per lit strictly.
next tank fill i poured 100ml in place of 40ml. 2-3 days later i felt engine was rough in cold starts. continues 100kms and filled again to dilute.

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Update 57800Kms
During engine bay cleaning just noticed the power steering oil and it was reddish brown colour.
In couple of days changed the power steering fluid along with brake oils Dot 4( bleeding method)
Also changed front brake pads ( RANE make 1650/-) old one has 50% life still and no issues. changed it due to ageing.
Replaced coolant with wurth blue colour coolant concentrate and locally sourced distilled water.

Old coolant was 1.7 years and seems good changed at Tass. however the aux tank of coolant has smudge deposite!! cleaned as much as we can.
Similar lines would be in coolant path and radiator. Should i use any flush kind of thing next time !! worried.

have driven 100kms since then and brakes seems to bud in well.

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Update : 58300Kms
Very sad
That is how I feel now. The car was bough with long term goal and owning safari was one of the dream for many 80s born!
I didnt go the used route even though used is lot cheaper.
I bought the new one just to enjoy the proper fresh car

All those are shattered . A big hole in the chassis. Whole of the dealership say its new and first time and quickly say they can repair them.
A HOLE in tata safari storme chassis bought in nov 2016


My mind is paused.
I don't have strength to fight for new chassis!. Whole of the car is spic and span even in other parts of chassis and body. So my area where I live or the water that i use cannot be blamed. Any how took with the dealer and waiting for their reply at the moment. ( Tata wont be customer supportive anytime and hence no surprises)

I can afford two things.
1. sell this car - bite the loss and at the moment i cannot move on with anyother car.
2.Repair the chassis and live with this thing.
The above points will not be changed until 2030.

So metallurgy guys & other in mechanical field who deal with steels and structures please pour in your ideas to repair this.
Few member I have already contacted and i must thank Mr. satish ( Mr.Boss) for his numerous suggestions on this.
I have parallel checked with my company fabrication and machine shop team and they confirm this hole area only is affected and nearby seems okish. Fingers crossed.

reg, ilango

 

[bhvm]

Safaris have been known to be rust buckets however holes in Chassis is something new. Have you tried tweeting the Head Honchos of Tata on this issue?

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

I am tired of Tata customer service. The worst i have seen till date than any other manufacturer. Skoda used to be the worst some 12-14 years ago.
When a issues is shown to the service , isn't it the duty of the dealer to work on that? Every time the customer must run around them begging/ nagging/ threating etc.

i am tired of all these as done previously for all the earlier manufacturing issue.
Since I cant sell and buy a decent vehicle now. I have the two choices as said previously.

Now I chose to repair the chassis at my cost at local garage.

General advice : if people without mechanical background or who has knowledge to check the vehicle now and then , pls stay away from any tata vehicle!

 

[mayankdixit]

Update : 58300Kms
Very sad
That is how I feel now.
All those are shattered . A big hole in the chassis. Whole of the dealership say its new and first time and quickly say they can repair them.
A HOLE in tata safari storme chassis bought in nov 2016
reg, ilango

I can totally understand and sympathise with your pain. Please do not lose sleep over it. It can be patched up. Other nearby parts of the chassis are clean with no rust,so maybe moist air pocket / wet area was left over while underbody coating was done.That air pocket caused repeated or continuous collection of water,resulting in rusting.
But any good metallurgy worker can repair it in a very good way,with no issues in future. Afterwards the welded area can be painted and all. Since rest of the chassis is alright,you need not worry about future cracks building up on stress areas (provided you do not overload the car or use it very-very roughly).