I have a small confession to make. I have held on to this particular long-termer for far longer than I had intended to. I played the ‘getting hitched soon’ card to keep the Tucson for so long and even used it as my grand chariot for my wedding. I’ve personally put 15,000km on the odo that’s now crossed 21,000km. Expectedly, I’ve developed a bond with the car. It is no surprise though. There is hardly anything I could point out as a fault on the Tucson. It has a punchy diesel motor which is fairly refined and frugal. The six-speed automatic gearbox works smoothly, and the selectable drive modes like Normal, Eco and Sport only make it better. If I really had to nitpick, it would be that the suspension setup is a bit on the softer side and could have done better with a bit more travel, but the Tucson does a great job of keeping its occupants comfortable over most surfaces. It is also one of the busiest workhorses in our long-term fleet. Apart from its daily city commute and the long work assignments across the border to Nepal, the Tucson was my constant companion on the numerous Mumbai-Goa trips I made to ensure wedding arrangements were in order. I think it’s safe to say our Tucson has seen more action in a year than most Tucsons do in their lifetime.
Boot space is something I really admire about the Tucson. However, if you overload it – as I did on one of my outstation trips – the smart tailgate won’t shut on its own as the luggage fouls with it. Desperate to fit in the extra luggage, I did find a way around this problem. All I had to do was switch-off the smart tailgate and shut the boot manually with a bit of pushing and tucking, of course. This could be done with the smart tailgate on, but I wouldn’t recommend it, as it may damage the system.
A few months ago, the Tucson developed a minor electronic glitch that caused its electronics, including the electric power steering and air con, to malfunction. The culprit, as we found out from the workshop, was corrosion around the ECU connectors. The fix, however, was rather simple – a spray of anti-corrosion liquid around the connectors did the trick. There were two more niggles that cropped up later – the air con cooling became inconsistent and there was some squealing from the brake discs upon braking at higher speeds. Frankly, the brake wear was expected considering the lengthy journeys the Tucson has undertaken, and most of its running has been on the highways. A quick visit to the workshop revealed a leak in the EVC valve and it had to be replaced. Thankfully, it was replaced along with an air-con sensor, under warranty. If it had to be done without the warranty, a new one would have cost me Rs 10,000. All the brake pads were changed as well, and that cost Rs 4,200 for a new set.
Our Tucson has many more miles to cover in the future. And I don’t intend to hand over the keys to my colleagues any time soon, as I’ve got big plans and many road journeys in mind. Maybe it’s time to use the honeymoon card!
Sergius Barretto
Nikhil Bhatia
Hormazd Sorabjee
