Tata Tiago Petrol XZ - A Layman's Long Term Ownership Review

[Prabhagar]

6 Years Up!!​

My Tiago just turned 6 years on 02-June . Car is ageing very well and has never given up all these years! I just wish there was more power on tap from the engine.
Here's some stats from Fuelio (started using this app after first 3 months of ownership)

• Odo - 76K on the Odo
• Fuel - 5000+ liters
• Fuel Cost - Close to ₹4 Lakhs

Fuelio Stats:

Sharing some of the recent changes in the past few months below:

- Charging Port: The stock charging port was of poor quality and the cap's hinge broke within a year or two. Swapped it with the Hexa's part (boodmo sourced) based on a DIY by an ATOM group member. This one looks and feels premium with a sturdy build quality.

- Waxpol Rain Repellent: Never expected this will work wonders on the windshield during rains. Given the low cost, it realy surprised me with its wonderful water repelling. On moderate to heavy rains (& 45+ speeds), there is no need to use wipers at all. It had a very strong chemical odour and may require masks and gloves for safety.

- Tailgate Struts: For a long time, my tailgate wouldn't go up due to weak struts and I had to pull it all the way up. Turns out to be a simple DIY with just a screw driver to remove the struts. Sourced the new ones from boodmo (Ideal on right, Gabriel on left)

- Oil Change & Service: Visited my FNG for an oil change and periodic service at 72K km. Also got the NGK iridium spark plugs installed. The noise from brakes kept recurring and this time we skimmed the brake discs to see if it helps (sadly the problem crept up within a couple of months). Damage to wallet ₹5000 with below breakup (rounded off)

• Total Brand Oil & Oil Filter - 2K
• Air Filter - 400
• Rotor Skimming - 500
• Spark Plugs - 1600
• Wheel Alignment - 500
• Labor & Consumables - 1700

- New Dashcam: Most of my car's bruises and damages were from the rear end which raised the need for a cam at the back too. Got the Viofo A129 Plus Duo thru a friend from USA along with some other car stuff. More details on the dashcam in a separate post/thread later on.

• Dashcam & Hardwire kit
• Megs Polishing Pads for DA Adapter (Planned to use with my drill machine)
• Megs Microfiber Applicator Pads
• Chemical Guys Clay Bar

Signing Off

 

[allhyundaicars]

How's the car doing now? Long time with no updates.

 

[Prabhagar]

How's the car doing now? Long time with no updates.

Hey @allhyundaicars Thanks for checking in buddy. Car is doing fine, closing in on the 1L mark soon. I'll share a brief summary of updates shortly :)

 

[Prabhagar]

Nov 2023 Update
Car has clocked 95.5K on the odometer without much change in driving behavior. I hope to hit the 6 digit mark by the end of this year.

Dec 2022:
- Oil change at a local garage.
- Replaced both front suspensions (OEM parts). Didn't realize how bad the old ones were until I got these changed. Ride quality has greatly improved.
- Poured Liqui Moly Ceratec as well.
- Damage to Wallet - 15k Parts + 3K Labor.

Jun 2023:
- Insurance renewed from Reliance General for ₹8870 with zero dep add-on and an IDV of ₹2.4L.

Jul 2023:
- Glad I spent the extra ₹2500 on zero dep add-on, had an incident that required tailgate, rear windshields to be replaced.
- As usual, Tata ASC messed up with lot of carelessness requiring multiple revisits to sort them out (mostly jugaads).

Aug 2023:
- Just at the 47th month, my Amaron battery gave up one fine day.
- Got it replaced for ₹5300 from the same shop that sold previous battery (home delivery + free installation).

Oct 2023:
Pressure Washer:
- Purchased Bosch Aquatak 125 pressure washer during Amazon sale for ~₹8000 bucks.
- Accessories: Foam lance, quick connect adaptors, quick connect nozzles of multiple sizes, high pressure extension hose.

Tyre Work:
- Got the Apollo Alnac 4Gs for ₹3700 (amazon) to replace the unused 7.5 year old stock spare. It now matches the upsized Continental UC6 on the running wheels.
- The old Good Year spare was sold for ₹2500 to serve its remaining life as spare wheel in a Tata Zest cab.
- Rotated, balanced and aligned the wheels at MRF Tire Tok, along with the spare tyre replacement.
- Conti UC6 on the wheels are doing great and are worth every penny.

Roller Brake Test:
- The tyre shop had a roller brake tester and got my car tested on it just out of curiosity (and it costed only ₹300 bucks). The results were underwhelming with some failures around front axle.

Upcoming:
- Oil change is due soon and will be done at FNG (already bought spares from boodmo, amazon).
- Noise from the front right wheel area during braking is still an ongoing issue. It goes away for a couple of months after they grease it. Recently, brakes are also felt in an uneven pattern and juddering when braking at highway speeds. I have decided to replace the rotors with new ones as skimming the old ones didn't help.
- Brake pads (currently Rane) will also be changed to OE because of their sub par braking prowess.
- I have also been facing an unusual issue with minor choking for a few minutes during cold start (can feel it when there's load on the engine before it warms up, like turning ON the Aircon, or climbing a ramp etc). Suspecting throttle body, fuel pump areas as of now but don't have the patience to work with ASC on this until I can demonstrate this to them without fail.
- Bought the Shinemate 605 DA Orbital Polishing machine from Autofresh during Diwali sale and will use it to do a full detailing on the car soon. Thanks to @CRACING for sharing the sale as well as reviewing his unit before I ordered it.

That's all for now, will update after next service is done. Signing off!!

 

[nsas02]

How is the Viofo A129 Plus evo dashcam? I'm looking for one currently, would be helpful if you can share your +ive and -ives on it.

 

[Prabhagar]

How is the Viofo A129 Plus evo dashcam? I'm looking for one currently, would be helpful if you can share your +ive and -ives on it.

Hi @nsas02 Please see my thoughts below. If you have any specific questions, please let me know.
+ Small and stealth installation - most folks won't notice its presence.
+ Very good day time videos and good night time videos in city roads with street lights. On unlit rural roads, the cam will struggle - most cams will
+ Viofo dashcams are pretty reliable and work without any problems
+ Hardwire kit helps conceal the wiring and also enables parking mode features (with multiple low power modes)
- WiFi is only 2.4GHz and quite slow when copying via smartphone. I ended up not using it anymore and removed the SD card instead

PS - I have just upgraded my dashcam to A229 Plus (thanks to a friend who traveled from US) so planning to sell the old A129 to its new owner.
Viofo A229 Plus:

Viofo A129 Plus Duo for sale (Front Cam, Rear Cam, CPL Filter, HK3 Hardwiring Kit, 12V charger & wire, Rear camera wire)

 

[nsas02]

Viofo A129 Plus Duo for sale

Let me know if you have not found a new owner yet. I may be interested ;)

 

[Prabhagar]

Let me know if you have not found a new owner yet. I may be interested ;)

Congrats on taking ownership of my A129. I'm sure it will serve your Honda City very well. :)

 

[Prabhagar]

1 Lakh Milestone

The car ages very well at 8.5 years and drives great, as long as one comes to peace with the engine's performance. I drive it daily for work (22km up & down) and on occasional long drives (both work and personal trips) with decent mileage numbers.

1. Crossed the 1 Lakh milestone in Feb-2024

2. Crossed the 111111 magic number in Oct-2024

3. Another flat tyre caused by a longish screw. Luckily spotted it at Mettupalayam (breakfast stop) before climbing the hills and fixed it at a CEAT tyre shop nextdoor.

4. LHS headlight bulb has gone kaput. The RHS bulb is wide enough to cover the entire road and that keeps me lazy enough to not replace the bulb for over a month.

5. Thanks to my AC vent phone holder, the center vent is 90% broken and the flaps may fall off anytime soon.
6. AC acts weird at times and won't cool the cabin as expected. Probably it requires a proper inspection and repairs.
7. Probably the "C" engine mount has to be replaced soon as Tiago is notorious to chew up the mounts every few years.
8. Cold start crank times are higher (about 3 seconds) and engine gets choked (I'm suspecting throttle body issue) upon sudden load (eg, AC compressor) until it gets warmed up to normal temperatures.

Car Upgrade on the Horizon:
The itch for a new car has already began few months ago but I couldn't find a replacement that fulfills my key requirements. The Mahindra 3XO impressed me and I went ahead and booked it online on the opening date. During PDI after 2.5 months of waiting, I was bummed at spotting lot of dirt & usage marks (must have been used for test drive) and rejected to accept it. Eventually cancelled the booking due to long wait times and lethargic dealer behavior. From my experience, Mahindra is on the same boat as Tata with no control over dealers in resolving customer issues.

Cars short listed and test drives done (only manual transmissions & top variants):
- Taigun GT Plus 1.5 / Kushaq 1.5 - Exceptional engine which has the best of both power & mileage with its Active Cylinder tech (shuts off two cylinders while cruising). That said, its interior quality has gone down and does not justify the premium pricing. These two need a serious price correction.
- Mahindra 3XO AX7L - No test drive of the GDI engine in manual transmission, Poor variant spread at the top end (Only the L variants get 360 camera)
- MG Windsor Essence - The only EV I liked among the current models because it is BEV and screams quality inside out. Excellent space and pricing but short range will be a squeeze for highway trips. Besides, longer wait times of ~4 months is something I don't want to wait for. Might consider it after the initial hype is over and wait times reduces reasonably well. I also hope they don't hike prices just because of good reception by the market.
- Tata Curvv - Quite a looker on the outside but nothing more than a Nexon on the inside. Plus its got all the infamous fit & finish, QC issues with Tata cars (can't believe Tata didn't care to improve this for 8+ years now)
- Honda Elevate - Excellent engine + gearbox + steering combo. However, its seating is quite low (same as a sedan) and does not feel like a tall body car. Also cabin insulation is quite bad and misses out on several features.

Upcoming Launches:
- Mahindra BE 6E (Born EV) - Again, I'm not positive about M&M's launch & delivery woes but the teasers looks interesting.
- Skoda Kylaq (No 1.5 engine though)
- Honda Amaze Facelift
- Taigun/Kushaq Facelift (hopefully in mid 2025)


That's all for now. Signing off with a pic from our recent trip to Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.