Tata Bolt - An Expensive Lesson

I bought a brand new Tata Bolt XT 1.2 Turbo for R143000 in November 2015, which I thought is a bargain with the improved looks and engine, from Tata Motors Pretoria North (which closed down in the meantime). I also took out a full maintenance plan for 3 years which covered services up to 45 000 km. I was quite impressed with the car except for the turbo and gears. The turbo is not giving even acceleration and the reverse is hard to select at times. Upon enquiry I was told by the Tata technician at Kia Wonderwaters that it the type of gearbox. The Turbo I barely used in Sport (default) mode – mostly City and Economic mode because I seldom drove long distances, and I believe the fuel consumption is better in the second and third modes. After the first service in 2016 at Kia Wonderwaters, they did not put the old parts back in the vehicle, and I was told they don’t do that because they don’t want to spill oil in the vehicle. My driver side doorhandle was chipped during the service and even though |I reported it, nothing came of it. After the second service in 2017, they only put the empty boxes of the parts in the vehicle and after the third service in 2018 no parts nor boxes. Driving the vehicle after November 2018’s service, it truly did not feel like it was serviced, but I did not want to make accusations that I could not prove. I was stuck once without fuel while the distance to refuel indicator showed 88 kilometres, so they recalibrated it. I also started experiencing problems with the ConnectNext Infotainment sound system from Harman that comes with the vehicle about a year ago. Suddenly one day the sound was gone when the engine was started but when you stop and switch of for a while, the minute you switch the ignition on again it was back. There was no way I could reset to the factory default settings and no way to update the software. This is very frustrating. I found out recently that the warranty on this system is only three years. A couple of weeks ago I started my vehicle one morning and the Engine Management System light stayed on. I drove 1.5 km to work, switched off the engine and upon restarting it, it went off. On 4 September, I drove to Lanseria Airport to fetch my sister from Cape Town and once again, the turbo was acting strange, almost shuddering as if it does not get enough fuel. On Friday night the 6th, on my way home, the engine gave a slight shudder and again, the Engine Management System light came on and it has been on since then. The air conditioning or climate control system does not work anymore, and the engine sounds like a spark plug is dead and there is a lot less power than before. It is almost as if the turbo does not work anymore. This morning I phoned Kia Wonderwaters to explain the situation and asked them to have a look. I was told to book an appointment. I phoned Tata Silverton but a friendly Service Advisor advised me to rather phone the Menlyn or Centurion branches (which is far from Pretoria North where I work and live) as they are having problems obtaining parts. I phoned Kia Wonderwaters again to make an appointment, only to be told they are fully booked for the next two weeks. I then phoned Tata Customer Care, spoke to a man called David and explained the situation. He asked me what I expect of him. I said he can try to get me an earlier appointment? He rep**** that I cannot expect them to cancel a customer’s appointment just to fit me in? I told him I thought Warranty issues deserve at least a form of higher priority like it is the case with Nissan SA, where I bought my previous vehicles. I am really at the end of my wits. My car is not even 4 years old and has 37499 km on the clock and it is still under guarantee. I work at a Toyota workshop with five technicians around me who can’t touch the engine because I will lose my warranty. One of them who worked for Tata previously identified it a running on three cylinders and said that there has always been problems with the coils on Tata’s. This is unheard of and unacceptable! I will definitely dissuade anyone wanting to buy a Tata in future to be careful. Today I regret wasting my money on this car.