{"id":121738,"date":"2023-11-27T10:20:50","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T10:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cottontailsonline.com\/?p=121738"},"modified":"2023-11-27T10:20:50","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T10:20:50","slug":"120000km-with-my-indica-vista-a-look-back-at-a-decade-of-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cottontailsonline.com\/auto-news\/120000km-with-my-indica-vista-a-look-back-at-a-decade-of-ownership\/","title":{"rendered":"120000km with my Indica Vista: A look back at a decade of ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Typical Tata issues with fit and finish literally stares me in the face every time I get behind the wheel<\/h2>\n

BHPian Neversaygbye<\/strong> recently shared this with other enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

I was actually in two minds on whether I should write on this topic, considering that the Tata Indica Vista has been out of production for many years now and it’s not as if this post will help someone in their buying decision, unless they’re looking to pick up a pre-owned one.<\/p>\n

Then I thought that we are at our very core, a community of people who live and love cars, and from that perspective a decade and over one lakh twenty thousand kms to go with it is a landmark that demonstrates living and loving a car, so here is the post! (What also swung my decision was the backing of our TBHP WB community, especially Abhi_1512, who wholeheartedly supported the idea in one of our breakfast meets)<\/p>\n

For the sake of readability, I have tried to divide this long term ownership review into a number of sections:<\/p>\n

Background:<\/h2>\n

We got our first car in the late eighties when dad got home a pre-worshipped Fiat 1100D. We had that car with us till the turn of the century when we replaced it with a Matiz. All this while I was happily riding my Hero Honda Splendor which my dad got me back in ’97, and I even took the bike with me to Delhi when I moved there in 2001. In the meantime, Tata launched the original Indica and we were pretty smitten by its looks and my father suddenly got the itch to get a new car. However, the initial batches of the Indica were an unmitigated disaster in terms of reliability and overall quality and adverse reports from many people in our circle made my father reconsider his decision. So life went on, with me riding my bike in Delhi, and my father driving the Matiz in Calcutta.<\/p>\n

However within a few years, Tata relaunched the Indica as V2 and the initial reports were promising this time around. So my father went for it with our wholehearted support (We didn’t really understand much about cars then but we all loved the looks of the Indica). He got an Indica V2 DLS in 2004, and the Matiz came to me in Delhi the same year.<\/p>\n

However, come 2007 both me and my better half were back in Calcutta along with the Matiz (and the Hero Honda Splendor). Now that both cars were in the same location, I used to also drive the V2 quite a bit, especially on highways, since I found the highway manners of the V2 to be more confidence inspiring than the Matiz’s. Apart from the truck like clatter of the diesel engine, the lack of refinement all around and the horrible fit and finish, I found the V2 to be a competent vehicle and it was definitely more planted, more powerful and more spacious and comfortable than the Matiz, especially on long highway runs. It also helped that our V2 was super reliable and never let us down during all the time it was with us.<\/p>\n

By and by 2011 rolled around and the Matiz had got a bit long in the tooth by now, having done over a lakh kms in eleven years, and it had also become a huge headache to maintain and was the very definition of the word “unreliable”. My better half and I were totally fed up with the car and there were multiple occasions when someone had to push the car while I was trying to start it. There was a problem with the relays that no workshop was being able to solve. So, with the frequent breakdowns and an absence of genuine parts and mechanics who could fix issues permanently, we replaced it with the Beat. The Matiz stayed with us for some more time before we let it go for a song once someone showed interest. Later life issues notwithstanding, it had been a great companion over twelve years and had gone with us to many places in and around Delhi and Calcutta and I was sorry to see it go. I still have a soft corner and fond memories of the car, but moving on is part of life, I guess.<\/p>\n

So it was back to a two-car garage, with the Beat doing primary duties. The V2 became the beater car and while it was still going strong, by 2013 it had also done well over one lakh kms and the rough edges had become even more pronounced (if that was even possible) – the NVH levels (which were never great to begin with) had become very high although the car continued to be reliable and fuss free to maintain. However, with dwindling sales it seemed to us that the model was on its way out, and also with the mileage on the odo, we felt that we should sell it while it still had some semblance of a resale value. So we decided that we would look for a replacement. And that is how our search for a new car began, which culminated with us getting the Vista.<\/p>\n

Before I move on to the next section, here are a few pics of our Matiz and the Indica V2, as well as the Beat that replaced the Matiz. All the cars were\/are close to my heart and all of them served us really well for the most part. I suppose we have been lucky with our purchases that way. The Beat is now the beater car.<\/p>\n

During the three years that the Matiz was with me in Delhi, I went to many places near Delhi in the car. This trip to Agra was one of them.<\/p>\n

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Kasauli 2006:<\/p>\n

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Shimla 2007:<\/p>\n

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Jaipur 2007:<\/p>\n

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Humongous jam on our very first trip to Tajpur in 2009. A distance of less than 200 kms took 12 hours to cover:<\/p>\n

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Final odometer reading of the Matiz when we parted with it.<\/p>\n

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Not too many pics of our V2, unfortunately. This was one that I could find:<\/p>\n

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And another one – from the time when one could still drive on Mandarmani beach<\/p>\n

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The Beat replaced the Matiz. This trip to Mandarmani was among the first trips in the new car:<\/p>\n

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On the Ganges riverside at Falta:<\/p>\n

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Shortlisting process, cars considered:<\/p>\n

The Indica DLS was a diesel, and while we had not really thought about fuel type initially, my father’s friends and colleagues and even the showroom folks had recommended the diesel over the petrol so he had gone for it. However, after spending almost a decade with the V2, we had become well aware of the advantages of a diesel car, like better fuel efficiency and higher low end torque. The V2 had also required much less maintenance than the Matiz and the Beat (The Beat LPG dual has a 5000 kms service schedule, which is a joke). We were not particularly hung up about Tata and were open to evaluating all OEMs with a diesel hatchback in their portfolio. However there were some common criteria that we would evaluate all the cars on. These were:<\/p>\n