Accessories
Basic Accessories
Did you know, every car buyer irrespective of the budget and segment always buys some accessories to suit his needs? Our recommendation is to take electrical accessories like fog-lamps, illuminated T-Logo, Illuminated scuff plate etc from dealer and non-electrical accessories like seat cover from aftermarket accessories shops. Lets look at some of the basic accessories that a typical owner would buy. Although there is nothing called compulsory accessory, below are a list of basic accessories that we recommend. It is assumed that you already have a spare cable to charge your mobile phone.
Seat Covers
Mud Flap
Floor mats
Steering Cover
Stereo system & speakers (for base model)
Dash Cam
Seat Covers
There is so much discussion on seat covers, that we thought, we'll make this our first. Since we are in Tamil Nadu, where the weather is hot for almost the entire year, we recommend using fabric seat covers.
Types of seat covers
Fabric
Rexine/Art Leather
Leather
Fabric is most comfortable for TN weather as it is hot throughout the year. It doesn't produce heat and people feel comfortable sitting on fabric seat covers. Turkish towel material starts at 3500/- and goes upto 15000/- for King Velvet from elegant. I use king velvet and its really awesome.
Art leather means Artificial Leather or rexine. It is easy to clean and maintain but heats up fast and is not comfortable to sit. Prices start at 3500/-. It can he had in any combination of colours, designs and patterns you want.
Pure leather is pure bliss. It is soft, comfortable and gives a royal feel to the car. Leather doesn't cause sweat as much as rexine but still isn't the most comfortable to sit on. Imported Nappa leather can cost as high as Rs. 1,00,000/- . Customized coloured hides can go upto 7,00,000/-
Sun Film
There is a craze about sun films and almost everyone wants to install one. Sun film helps to prevent heat inside the cabin. There are numerous brands available in the market at various prices.
Please note that Sun-Film is illegal as per CMVR (Central Motor Vehicle Rules). The rule says the glass should be tinted at the factory so as to allow 70% visibility. Basic models of some cars from some manufacturers have 100% plain glass. Even in such cases, it is illegal to stick films like 3M CR 70 which allows 70% light. In short, no film should be pasted on the glass, irrespective of the type of the glass. Police and RTO can stop you, levy a fine and also tear the sun film.
Body Cover
OE body from tata, costing 3250/- is really good. They have a special zipper for driver side to access the inside, in case you forgot something after installing the body cover. Attention to detail is good quality is decent. It is however very thin.
We also recommend C-Track NXT body cover as it is easy to install the cover in minutes. We haven't tested it still, but we trust it'll be as good as the OE cover, if not better. The MRP of this product is 4500/-.
Our review of the body cover can be seen at the link below.
Wrapping your car
It is nowadays a common trend that is catching up to personalize one's ride by installing a wrap of one's choice. I know many owners who save money by wrapping their single tone variant into a dual tone variant. Dual tone costs approx 15,000 over and above the single tone variant. So is it smart enough to buy a single tone variant and wrap the roof for 5,000/- and save 10,000/- ?
The answer is yes and no.
No - Legally speaking, you would have to get the color change endorsed in your RC book. If not, the policeman and RTO have the right to levy a fine under the category alteration of motor vehicle without permission. They also have the right to seize/impound the vehicle and/or remove the wrap too.
Yes: If you are adding a wrap of the same color. Say, you are adding a Matt Green wrap / Military green wrap on the "foliage green" Nexon variant. This is perfectly legal.
Side steps
Foot step is necessary if there are elderly people who would be traveling in your Nexon. Although Nexon isn't as tall as Xylo/Scorpio, the foot step definitely aids ingress & egress. The OE foot rest retails for 15,000/- incl taxes and fitment but i do not recommend it as it is costly and getting spare parts for this accessory is a problem. There are lot of branded side steps available in the market starting from 8500/- all inclusive.
GPS tracker:
If you are a simple common man, with no goon, political or police influence, then you definitely need a GPS tracker. GPS Tracker won't prevent theft but will help you locate the car on a map, where you can go and recover it. You may reach the police , but there is a fair chance, they will ask you to relax, not take tension, get the detailed information from you, by when the vehicle would be driven outside their jurisdiction. If you have a GPS tracker, you can hire a private armed security guard, recover the vehicle & then lodge an FIR at the police station. Advanced versions have fuel cut-off also, where the car can be stranded in the middle of the road. It will also ensure that your service centre doesn't misuse your car joy rides or station/bus stop drops. GPS trackers also reduce the premium on insurance by a couple of hundreds. GPS trackers make your vehicle easily locate-able in case of a theft and that reduces the risk on your vehicle, thereby reducing premium. Given the deteriorating law and order situation in India, increase in number of vehicle thefts, I definitely recommend a GPS tracker.
Alloy wheels:
If you car is a basic or mid model, the chances are you are stuck with steel wheels. Alloys look classy and also have lot of real-world advantages compared to steel rims. Alloys dissipate heat on the tyres and also are much safer compared to steel. However, one must be really careful while choosing alloys. Ensure the alloy you select are capable to withstanding the load of the car + people + luggage. It is always better to buy OE alloys but the design is mostly not attractive. OE Nexon alloys costs approximately 10,000/- per alloy, including valve and fitting.
Sun-roof (For gen 1 owners):
Sunroof is offered as an OE accessory by Tata. There are two options available, a manual and an electric. Manual one costs 20,000/- all inclusive & the electric costs 1,00,000/- all inclusive. It is a TATA original accessory but it is sub contracted to Webasto. Webasto technicians travel to the dealership and install the same. It takes 6-8 hours to install a sunroof on the Nexon. It comes with three year warrant & it doesn't impact the structure.
Steering Wheel Cover:
There are lot of options available aftermarket. You can choose between rexine(art leather) , leather and velvet fabric. Touch and feel the material before you give the go ahead. Don't go by your friend's recommendation at each hand(palm) is unique and react differently to the same material. The average price for a decent quality including fitting would come to 1000/- to 2000/- depending on the quality.
Floor Mats & Floor Lamination:
Floor Lamination refers to the process of installing a plastic sheet on top of the factory carpet. This will protect the factory carpet from wet spills and slush during rainy season. It'll protect even from liquid spills. Typical cost of this varies from 2000 - 4000/- including labour and taxes at any accessory shop.
If ones doesn't want this, they could opt for 3D mats available at all accessory shops. This will prevent 90% of spills and damages to the factory carpet. This is sufficient in my opinion. Typical ones will cost you between 2800/- & 7000/- depending on the brand and quality.
The 7D marketing gimmick
In reality all are 3D mats. There is no 7D even in real life. all the advertisements for 4D, 5D and 7D are all 3D mats only or tray type mats.
I guess you are familiar with 3D, like 3D movies, where you see depth or the Z axis.
4D in reality is external feeling of air, water, cold, hot, rocking movement etc. Some may say time travel but time travel is 3rd dimension only (like air/apace travel)
5D is internal feeling pain, sorrow, happiness etc.
6D is Death.
So technically all are 3D mats only. Please don't get fooled when the seller tells you "No this is not 3D, this is 7D".
Dashcam or Dash Cam:
Given India, Yes we really really need a dashcam - Why? There are two simple reasons - Trust and bigger vehicle is at fault.
There is no trust in India, compared to foreign countries, so in the case of an accident, we can be safer. In foreign countries, if there is an accident, the person responsible for the accident will gladly and openly accept his mistake, apologize and offer to pay for the repair of your car, either from his own pocket or from his insurance. This ethical behaviour is non-existent in India. We need a dashcam to prove that we are right and the other vehicle was erring, leading to an accident.
Most of you would have read articles in media which reads "Train hits bus". So did the train chase down a bus on the highway, hit the bus, cause an accident and then jump back on the track? In reality, the bus would have ignored the railway signal and would not have given right of way to the train.
Similarly, If a Nexon hits a bike, to the common people or the local guys, it's always the fault of the Nexon. If a bikes turns abruptly or changes lanes without looking for clear passage, it is the bike's fault, irrespective of what vehicle hits the bike. Similarly, If a vehicle rear ends another car on the highway, it is usually the fault the rear ending vehicle, except in the case, when the vehicle in front stops abruptly for no apparent reason. I have seen numerous people travelling on the right most lane and as soon as they see a shop on the left, they apply their brakes suddenly. This is not the right thing. If one rear ends a car in the above scenario, your only friend will be the footage from your dashcam. Dashcam footages are easily accepted in a court of law. Dashcam will save you in such situations. Dashcams start at Rs. 1000/- for really low cost ones with average clarity and go upto Rs. 20,000 for 8K ones with 1 yr warranty. It is recommended to have front and rear dashcams for all round protection. Usually one needs to buy a micro SD memory card for a dashcam. 32GB ones cost around Rs. 500/-.