Tata Harrier and Harrier.ev repeat faults: two 2026 refund orders

Owner threads on Tata's big SUVs have moved from niggles to workshop time. Search results on Team-BHP show a cluster of Harrier.ev ownership posts with titles such as one on 40 days of ownership with 30 at the service centre, one on a brake failure on a new Harrier.ev with no solution in sight, a five month ownership report, a long running Harrier.ev review thread and a separate thread comparing Tata and Mahindra EVs on after-sales. Those pages would not open for us, so we are using only what the search results showed. We are not giving post counts, dates or quotes from them.

What is documented is what two consumer commissions did about the same complaint pattern this year.

What the two 2026 orders say

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Kangra at Dharamshala decided CC No. 318/2024 on 22 June 2026. The complainant had bought a Harrier XZA+ Dark Edition on 10 May 2022 for ₹21,40,775, as reported by LiveLaw. Knocking and steering vibration appeared inside the first 1,000 km, the power steering assembly was replaced under warranty, and the timing belt failed twice by 26,711 km, in August 2023 and March 2024, both times on a highway. Tata Motors argued that the repairs were done free under warranty and that belt wear came from driving conditions. The commission found a misaligned timing bracket assembly and treated it as an inherent manufacturing defect.

The second order is on the EV. A Hyderabad district commission ruled on 7 September 2026 on a Harrier.ev bought on 1 August 2025 for about ₹28 lakh, The Week reported. The owner listed starting failures, smart key and range detection trouble, and a central locking system that failed four times in a month. The dealer, Tata Select Motors, said there was no deficiency in service, that the first complaint was closed quickly, that the central lock was replaced under warranty and that a dealer is only a middleman. The commission still ordered the refund, with the vehicle to be taken back.

Tata's side, and the other half of the picture

Tata Motors has said publicly that after-sales and software were a problem it went after. In May 2025, Autocar India reported managing director Shailesh Chandra saying the company placed "disproportionate focus" on after-sales and product quality, that 73 service outlets were added in FY2025, that 21 cities were identified as having service capacity gaps and that comfort levels improved in 16 of them. In June 2026, Autocar India reported Chandra pointing to AI based diagnostic tools that map the fault tree, with chief quality officer Mohan Savarkar talking about detecting early signals, and the company claiming a 60 per cent reduction in early-life vehicle issues.

Not every owner is in trouble either. Autocar India's Harrier.ev owner review page showed 4.6 out of 5 from 28 ratings and reviews as of 3 November 2026, with range and ride quality praised. Two commission orders are not a recall, and neither order says the model is defective across the board.

What an owner can do

Paper first. Insist that every visit goes on a job card with the complaint in your words, the parts replaced, the date in and the date out, and collect the technical report when a major assembly is changed. Keep roadside assistance and tow records, and for an EV keep a note of every software update done at the workshop.

If a fault repeats, write to Tata Motors customer care and ask in writing for a repeat-fault investigation, a loaner and a warranty extension on the replaced part. If that goes nowhere, the National Consumer Helpline takes complaints on 1915, on WhatsApp at +91 88000 01915 and through the NCH or UMANG app, and it forwards the grievance to the company. The next step is a district consumer commission under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. Both 2026 orders show two things worth copying. Name the manufacturer and the dealer, and build the case on repeat failures of the same part rather than on one bad day.

Harrier and Harrier.ev owners in the club, how many workshop days has your car cost you this year, and what did the dealer put on the job card?

Sources