Tata Cars vs Other brands, a contest of Reliability

Tata cars are well known for durability and their ability to tank head-on collisions with bigger vehicles and survive. But they also have quite a bad reputation for being unreliable and it’s a problem many of their models have been plagued with for years now, just surf through social media and forums and see for yourselves. Quality issues, engine power loss & noise, suspension issues and electronics problems are some issues that have been repeatedly pointed out by owners, leading to the question “Are Tata cars reliable?”

See, not all the models are bad and break down right from the factory. If that were the case, the brand wouldn’t be among the top 3 highest-selling carmakers in India. While it’s true the brand does have thousands of satisfied customers across the nation, the high number of complaints raises lots of questions and doubts regarding the reliability of Tata cars and whether they are worth buying or not.

Tata cars are reliable but there’s an issue

Before going straight to conclusions we have to know what the word “reliability” means in the context of vehicles. So a car that doesn’t break down is pretty much a reliable car, it’s as simple as that. Now, Tata cars are pretty reliable and those minor problems that occur are pretty rare and are often disproportionately talked about on Social media. In fact, search “Are Tata cars reliable/unreliable?” and visit forums like Reddit or just browse and you will find that owners will mostly say their cars are running just fine with zero issues.

But there are issues. The first and foremost one that is continuously being reported by owners is the lack of proper fit and finish which can be pretty much seen in every model like Nexon, Tiago and Punch. That’s a minor issue and does not affect reliability much but it is there and it drags down the brand behind others like Toyota and Hyundai, both of which provide top-notch fit and finish.

The bigger issue however is Tata’s lack of ability to fix these minor problems. It’s not they can’t, but Tata service centres across the country have a bad reputation for providing inadequate services. Some even complain that Taking a car to a Tata service centre to fix an issue causes it to have more problems. The service centre guys seem to find it difficult to identify a problem and resolve it, so the after-sales service of Tata is kind of a hit or miss and that’s the reason, why it currently lags behind brands like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai. Other complaints such as long waiting times for parts availability, service staff rudeness and panel gaps are common too.

But is it as bad as others make it out to be? Maybe not. See, while these problems are not in every Tata car. If that were the case, Tata wouldn’t be anywhere near Top 3 in sales. Yes, it has some quality control issues, engine noise issues and electrical problems, but those problems are not present in every model. It is just that the sample numbers become large as more cars are sold alongside the typical media masala for views, that’s why you see so many complaints regarding Tata models. Service centres too are a hit or miss and are a region-based thing but it definitely lags behind other top brands.

See, every brand has issues like Maruti’s bad build quality and Hyundai’s engine performance but they aren’t getting as much heat as Tata does. Even Toyota has some problems with faulty airbags and recalled over 1 million vehicles in 2023, but even though it doesn’t get as much hate as Tata.

In conclusion, Tata cars definitely are reliable enough for you to consider. Although, their reliability is not on par with Hyundai or Toyota, their robust build, top safety, muscular design and affordable prices are acceptable trade-offs and make Tata cars a balanced package.

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