Tata Indica

Willy · January 12, 2011

Hi guys,

I would like to buy a Tata Indica. So I contacted a person who owns such a car. It's JX XXXX numbered and 35000 Km mileage. He says 9.5 lakhs. Please advice with regard this

harshansenadhir · January 12, 2011

did you check the interior of this? go around and take a good look at the interior of few vehicles, you'll give up the idea. Plastics are crappy and it tends to crack very very easily like egg shells. I don't know whether I'm wrong here to generalize but the I had close inspection of two specimen's and both had the same issue and it was quite evident. Only thing I noticed was A/C was blowing ice cold in my friend's car I've been. No hands on experience about the mechanics and electronic related stuff though.

MasterDon · January 12, 2011

Ahh the guy from the chat room...welcome to the forum!

Untill others reply please checkout these links and see if they answer your questions first.

samishka · January 13, 2011

One of my friends use a petrol Indica (KA-Series), and he is very satisfied with it.

The only drawback is the dashboard plastics which 'melts' and become sticky under the heat of the sun. (A common problem found Indicas made 5 years ago)

Then there is one of my aunties who bought an Indica Turbo Diesel(KF-Series/YOM2007) with her 'Duty-free' permit.

It turned out to be a 'Lemon' with frequent Gasket failures, fan belt failures, Power window motor failures etc.

Since D*MO has offered a 3-year warranty for Tata cars they sold to permit holders, they rectified all those problems free of charge (of course, after several e-mails were exchanged between her and the Managing Director of D*MO).

Now that 3-year warranty period has been lapsed,but she is unable to sell her car for another 2 years since it was bought under Duty-free permit.

Ripper · January 13, 2011

One of my friends use a petrol Indica (KA-Series), and he is very satisfied with it.

The only drawback is the dashboard plastics which 'melts' and become sticky under the heat of the sun. (A common problem found Indicas made 5 years ago)

Then there is one of my aunties who bought an Indica Turbo Diesel(KF-Series/YOM2007) with her 'Duty-free' permit.

It turned out to be a 'Lemon' with frequent Gasket failures, fan belt failures, Power window motor failures etc.

Since D*MO has offered a 3-year warranty for Tata cars they sold to permit holders, they rectified all those problems free of charge (of course, after several e-mails were exchanged between her and the Managing Director of D*MO).

Now that 3-year warranty period has been lapsed,but she is unable to sell her car for another 2 years since it was bought under Duty-free permit.

i somehow can't understand why somebody would use a duty free permit to by an indica

recently saw a permit plated maruti...

BLu3HaZe · January 13, 2011

she is unable to sell her car for another 2 years since it was bought under Duty-free permit.

Hasn't the 5 year ownership before selling been reduced to 3 years with the new circular?

BLu3HaZe · January 13, 2011

i somehow can't understand why somebody would use a duty free permit to by an indica

recently saw a permit plated maruti...

Not much money in hand, only cares about F/C for a cheap price, intends to run a lot (a person I know got an Indica again for the permit after selling what he had as he ran around 70000 km per year) and get rid of, not willing to take loans or lease etc.

But it is a waste, many I know who got that stuff regret buying Indian vehicles for the permit after selling Japs.

Watchman · January 13, 2011

We've been using a 2003 HG-XXXX diesel for a while. We too blew a gasket twice due to the engine overheating. Couldnt place the problem at first, but finally realized it was a faulty cooling fan (the brushes were partially worn out so it worked 'sometimes' and it was never caught cos when inspected it was running ok). Spare parts are quite cheap.

Very basic interior (ours is the pre-Xeta model) so the interior doesnt look as fancy. The Xeta has a few more bells and whistles so seems more competitive against other vehicles in the market. Havent noticed the melting or cracking of the plastics on ours though. But i agree its not the classiest plastic in town.

But if you're looking for a decent and (very) specious run-around for colombo it'll suit you I guess resale value aint that high, but i'm sure its better than a maruti 800

@Ripper: A B/N diesel Indica had been going for about 1.4 mil on the permit, and I guess thats only diesel car you'll find in the market under 2.0 mil.. So in a way it'd make sense for someone who does some heavy running and had a permit in hand.