Tata Tiago – evo fleet

The Tiago has received more than a few awards from various publications and for good reason. It’s a car that has been appreciated by everyone for its smart design, equipment levels, generous space and value for money. But one telling factor that an award giving jury doesn’t consider is the ownership experience of a vehicle. After our previous long term stint of over 6000 kilometres in the petrol Tiago, Tata motors decided to send over the diesel variant for long term evaluation. Having driven most of the kilometres on the petrol version, I am looking forward to another good experience with its diesel powered sibling.

However, when we received the car which was allotted to us, there were a few issues that needed to be sorted out immediately. The air conditioning wasn’t working properly, the steering mounted controls were dead and the key handed over to me was one to manually lock and unlock the car, no remote locking. So the Tiago had to make an unscheduled trip to the service station. As soon as the Tiago entered the service centre, work began promptly.
The AC filter was completely choked, which explained why it decided not to throw out any cool air in this blistering heat. The steering mounted controls were not working. To sort this issue, Tata would have to either replace the controls or the wheel itself. But at the time Tata did not have either of the two available, so we decided to get it fixed as soon as the parts arrived. As for the key, well it was lost at the time of the Tiago’s transit to evo India’s HQ. So Tata has promised us a new key soon. Even though it was an unscheduled stop, the service manager checked all the fluid levels along with other moving components and found everything to be alright, before giving me the thumbs up to take the Tiago, a few hours after I had dropped it off.

Despite my extensive travel schedule, the Tiago has been sailing smoothly without a fuss. The excellent fuel efficiency and road manners have made it my default weapon to travel within the city and even the longer Mumbai-Pune journeys.

The suspension is well set-up and remains the highlight of the Tiago, so much so, that it does not give you the feeling you are driving a small car. It quietly smoothens out undulations and bumps along the way and the roads I travel on aren’t the smoothest and would most likely reduce the lifespan of a car, but to the Tiago’s credit, it hasn’t developed any squeaks or rattles. And make no mistake about it; this car is not brand new. It came to us with over 8000 kilometres already on the clock. It has already gone through one long term test with another publication (living the hard life) before coming to us. Maybe that is one of the reasons I see quite a few Tiagos on the road.
While it doesn’t prove to be the most involving car to drive, it goes about its work as a commuter and daily driver very well. If I were to be very critical, I’d say the Eco mode makes the car cumbersome to drive, as the ECU calibration to the engine is not sorted properly, unlike the petrol. There are flat spots and power delivery is a bit jerky. But apart from that, I quite like the diesel Tiago.

Date acquired: March 2017
Duration of test: 3 months
Total mileage: 17,100km
Mileage this month: 4325km
Overall kmpl: 20.1kmpl
Costs this month: Nil