Renault Triber real user review (Avg Mileage 9-10.5 Kmpl)

Posted by: Prassoon Suryadas on: November 27, 2019

• In: Civil Rights
• 24 Comments

You might have seen and heard about all the goodies about this vehicle by “Review Professionals”, so what I’m going to share with you are those things that they haven’t told you. This review is done after 800kms with 185/65/15 Apollo Amazer 4G tyres on 15” wheels. 2cm wider than  stock tyres might have contributed to low mileage but I don’t expect much difference in mileage solely because of these tyres. Here we go…

 

1. Fuel sucker – If you expect a vehicle with 1 liter engine and weighs less than a hyundai i10 is going to give you 15+ kmpl, combined, then this is not a vehicle for you. It gives you 9 to 10.5 on an average. There are two reasons that I can think of, why it performs like this.First reason is, when you shift gear from 1^st to 2^nd and from 2^nd to 3^rd, if you pay good attention, you will notice the engine revs unnecessarily without you stepping on the accelerator. That means your petrol is getting burned without your knowledge. If you drive in heavy traffic zone then, now you know where the petrol is going. I discussed about this with the dealer (Keralites are not given any option other than TVS) they said this is “as-designed”. Seems like Renault wants to hide some drawbacks of their unrefined 3 cylinder engine with user’s fuel!. This ugly “feature” becomes a terrible nuisance when you are driving uphill and you want to quickly shift to 2^nd gear without loosing the momentum; here you will see the vehicle doing a rough jump causing discomfort to the passengers. They may even think that you are lacking driving skills!!! So obviously you will end up driving in 1^st gear.Second reason for low mileage is because the engine inherently produces less power; which means you will step on the accelerator much heavier than usual to avoid a down shift.
2. Reverse Gear – There is horrendous vibration on reverse gear. You have to apply more clutch and give more petrol to make yourself comfortable inside the cabin. Another point to note is that Renault gives you only one reverse light on the rear end! A cheap cost cutting effort!
3. Foldable seats – The much hyped seat configuration is just another marketing gimmick. Apparently there is only one seat that is foldable fully flat. The right second row seat can not even be folded. If you like full flat foldable seats go for Honda jazz.
4. 3^rd row seats are only good for kids. Adults get zero thigh support. If you think you can fold the 2^nd row seats and stretch your legs all the way then you will get disappointed. The flip over seat will fall on your legs when the vehicle moves and the other side seat cannot be folded. Moreover you will only get straps, not proper seat belts on third row.
5. Central locking – There is speed sensing central locking and impact sensing central unlocking feature but when you turn the ignition off none of the doors get unlocked automatically; for this you have to use a button given in the dashboard which is annoying.
6. Window locking – There is window locking switch on driver side door but it will not lock the front passenger side window! If you have kids this may turn out to be a serious safety issue.
7. Ignition – While you are driving if the engine gets turned off, you are forced to turn the ignition off in order to fire it again! Another annoying “feature”!
8. Inserting the ignition key is also not as comfortable as in other cars; Initially, I thought its just me but not so!
9. Digital console – The digital console is fancy looking but it is not very intuitive and accurate. It shows Trip B but it doesn’t show Trip A. If you reset Trip B’s average mileage, it resets entire average. Sometimes it shows 18.8 mileage but when you calculate the fuel used and distance traveled you know what it shows is just to fool you around.
10. Climate control knobs are barely visible in day light. You will have to touch the knob and feel the indicator to know where exactly it is set. In the night it is illuminated, which is good.
11. Wiper – You will long for more Wiper speed settings. The first and second speeds have huge difference; you will definitely wish for something in between.
12. Exposed carpet – Carpets are exposed on the door steps. Most cars will have a plastic cladding covering the area where you step on. Another cost cutting effort! Plastic is easy to clean, here it is hard to clean. This becomes a real problem near the flip open seat on the way to third row seats! It’s going to get real ugly in few months!
13. 3D Floor mat – You pay Rs.4000 for 3D floor mats which won’t cover the area that you want to cover! The one on the driver side is too short; sand goes underneath the mat. The one on passenger side is long enough. The one on the third row does not cover the area under flip open seat leaving the carpet exposed! Not worth spending money on this expensive crap!
14. Mist is a real nuisance while using A/C. Upon delivery the staff at the dealership did mention to use heater if there is misting issue. I was wondering why they mentioned it, but now I know why!
15. What you get as Eagle beak tail lamps are actually Eagle beak reflectors! Beaks wont glow![Start – updated on Dec 6, 2019]
16. Sheet metal used is very thin. No wonder it weighs less than a Hyundai i10! This is very evident when you close the tailgate, you can very well see the metal fluttering.
17. High idling speed is causing wastage of fuel. This is adding up to the low speed poor mileage. Dealer is acknowledging this and also the “Ghost Acceleration” mentioned in #1, but they are helpless, saying these are all software managed (no old-fashion tune up can be done); Renault has to provide updated software to fix these. (Another nice way to say its a manufacturing defect)
18. Turn indicator switch has sporadic misbehaviour when operated manually. There are occasions where steering wheel wont spin enough to disengage the turn indicators; hence you have to manually do it. What is happening in this vehicle is the opposite side indicator gets engaged even though the switch is in middle position. Initially I thought it is user error, but it is not!
19. Unusually long antenna! This is causing issues in automatic car washes.
20. Bonnet hood is not tightly closed. Seems like the bushes are not holding it fully tight when closed. This can be tested by placing your palm (just above the wrist) right over the hood lock part and slightly push up and down. You can hear the tak-tak sound. This could be adding up to make the vibration in reverse gear intolerable. I noticed this while inspection before making payment, but except in one RXL model lying there most other Tribers have the same issue. I didn’t notice it in Duster but Capture showed the same behaviour too!

The following trip info is just for you to know how this vehicle performs under real life scenario. This is same route with no traffic congestion (12.4kmpl) and with moderate traffic congestion (10.3kmpl). If your driving condition is with heavy crawling traffic, then you can expect only single digit mileage. Triber is tuned to give more mileage when your average speed is around 50 and low idling during the trip. For eg:- If your average consumption shows 12.5, you can literally watch it coming down in a matter of couple of minutes! (That high is the idling consumption!). Just to mention that if mileage is your primary concern then Maruthi vehicles are the best option, they have very well tuned engines for optimal fuel efficiency (both under low & high rpms) than any other vehicles in India. Build quality of Maruthi vehicles, when compared to Renault vehicles, are more or less the same, leaning towards the better side. Feature wise, you get more from Renault for less money.

[End – updated on Dec 6, 2019]
I’ve driven this vehicle in Idukki’s very steep hilly areas where some of the roads are competing with off-road trails, with 4 adults onboard. Though I have to go on 1^st gear and also turn off the A/C quite often, I could manage to bring back the vehicle but I strongly DO NOT recommend anyone to try this adventure with 7 adults onboard! If your daily driving is on hilly areas then this vehicle will definitely  give you frequent headaches.

Now you know what you are going to get for the money you pay. If you are looking for a stylish vehicle having low mileage that lacks power, then this is the one you should buy lol. And the kicker is, if you are in Kerala you will also have to deal with TVS!!!

Triber may look better than Venue, that white one in the picture; but it is worth a serious consideration.

[Updated on 14-Jan-2020]
One of our fellow Triber owner met with a dangerous issue yesterday which was reported in Facebook group “Renault Triber Kerala Owners”.

Video shot at site of breakdown.

Tags: Is triber a good vehicle, Renault India, Renault Triber Mileage, Renault Triber user review, Triber, Triber performance, Triber poor mileage, Triber powerless, Triber value for money, TVS sucks