Bolero GLX @ 45,000Kms

[jp1]

Make Mahindra Bolero GLX 2 WD, 7 Seater
Engine : XD-3PU IDI
Year of of purchase 2001 May
Done 45000Km
Average mileage in City : around 9 Kms/litre with a/c
Mileage On highway - 13 Kms/litre with a/c
Max speed done : 120Kms/Hr
Normal driving speed on highways: Around 80 Kms/Hr

I owned a Gypsy before going for Bolero GLX. We are a family of four and my two kids are growing up, so had problem getting in/out of two door Gypsy and decided to go for Bolero. Gypsy was quite expensive to maintain even though I used it for 3+years
It was pleasant upgrade from a Gypsy to Bolero (eventhough I miss the Gypsy 4WD option) with Powersteering, a/c, music system, more comfortable seating, my kids can easily get in/out without asking our permission unlike in Gypsy.

Immediately after getting the vehicle, I had to redo all seats, the original seating was not that good. Even managed to fix a hand rest with a glove box between the front seats. A/c is really good. Changed to alloy wheels in 3rd year.

1st Year : Within 2 months of owning, when my wife was driving, met with an accident, one Tata Sierra guy coming opposite lost control and rammed into the side of Bolero, on the driver side rear door. Due to the impact, the Bolero turned almost 90 degree, but nothing much happened to the vehicle except a slight dent on the door extending to the rear. Since it was new and under insurance the dealer suggested to change the door to a new one which I did.

2nd Year, On our way back from a Chennai trip, another Jeep (Commander) rammed behind my vehicle when I had to apply sudden brake, the damage caused was very minor, the spare wheel which is fixed on the rear door got its air blown off due to the impact and the rear foot board got bent. Total cost of fixing the footboard and the spare wheel Rs 300.

3rd Year, on a trip to Kerala, the fan belt (Bolero has couple of them, 5 of them), got snapped and brake failed. Luckily I noticed the handbrake indicator glowing on the dashboard and guessed some problem and when trying to stop, it did not stop, to my shock I realised the brake failed and stopped the vehicle using hand brake and downing the gear. On checking I found almost all belts snapped except the A/c belt. I don't blame the vehicle for this, I feel the problem happened due to the loose belt which was not tightened properly during servicing. Just few week before this trip, I had changed all the belts which was suggested by the dealer at around 30,000 Kms. I feel, at that time the guys did not tightened the belts adequately.

3rd Year : There was minor oil leak noticed from the power steering which was fixed by replacing the oil seal.

4th Year : Original Battery (Amaron) died, replaced with a new Amaron battery
A scary accident happened towards the end of 4th year , near Hossur a guy ran across the road and we were at 80-90Kms/Hr speed. The guy was less than 10 mtrs from the vehicle and I had to do a sudden left turn in avoid hitting him which resulted the vehicle going into a spin, rolling thrice and landing on its side. Myself, my wife and two kids, Gods grace, nothing happened to any of us, not even a scratch. Me and my wife were wearing seat belts (but kids had no seat belts, Bolero did not have them at the rear seats). Believe me, nothing much happened to my vehicle, except a broken wind shield and the left front door glass. Everything else was intact, headlights, parking lights, everything intact. We got immediate assistance from Highway patrol guys, using their crane they lifted and put the vehicle on its wheels. I could drive back to Bangalore on the same vehicle. Forgot to mention about the guy who was trying to cross the road, nothing happened to him!.

Made many long trips with my family, number of trips to between Kerala and Bangalore (around 1500 Kms round trip), Trip to Chennai, Mahabalipuran, Bandipur, Wayanad, number of trips to Coorg, short trips to Bannarghatta national park, Nandi hills, Ercaud etc and the vehicle never gave us any trouble.

To summarise, in terms of break downs or replacements, hardly any, no electrical problems, no power windows problem, no power steering problems, no a/c problems, no suspension problem, to uneven tire wearing out. Everything worked for me except few issues which I mentioned above. Nothing got replaced in my vehicle in this four years except the routine oil change, brake pads (once) and fan belts (once), battery (once).


Finally in its 5th year, I decided to sell my Bolero, which I did, and bought a Brand new vehicle, Guess which one!!, BOLERO SLX

[humyum]

Dude..Awesome review man..Truely good..

[hari_rama]

oooh very horrible story...lots of accidents.....btw i always liked bolero for tough nature......also pls drive safely.i hav heard tht brakes are not adequate for bolero

[jessie007]

Nice review. Considering you are accident prone for no fault of yours, it is a good thing that your replacement vehicle is solidly built - another Bolero. I admire vehicles made by Indian companies (Mahindra and Tata) as they are economical to operate. Servicing and spare parts are a fraction of what foreign car-makers charge.

We also met with an accident in our Tata Sumo on the highway and it resulted in the vehicle falling on to its left (passenger) side. Nobody out of the six people travelling including me were seriously hurt. The vehicle was picked-up with the help of some passers-by and we changed the oil filter which had got punctured and topped-up the oil and the vehicle was driven more than 200 kms before we reached our destination late in the night and got the windscreen installed the next morning. I swear by the solidity of these vehicles. The amount of metal does add to the weight and make the vehicles a little sluggish but only those who have been saved can value the metal Tatas and Mahindras put in their vehicles.

[fieroid]

@jp1 - awesome review
buddy, i'm seriously thinking of buying a used bolero..
just want to know what are the normal inherit problems on the vehicle, how is the ground clearance for bad roads, brakes, service interval etc
pls shed some light

[sgmuser]

Jp1,
You scared me really me man! rolls and spins...GOD! Happy to hear that you ppl came untouched!

Btw, pls write about the new Bolero, pickup, interiors, gears and brakes! I heard brakes need a bit of rework in old Bolero.

btw safe driving! :-)

[chaxy]

Great review!!

My 2002 Bolero glx has done 55K now and i havent changed anything on it except the water pump that broke down at 35K. Thats it.
The Battery (amaron) is still running

-Chaxy

[nevertouchme]

Wow, that's a good review... And in city you get only 9? How much ill a scorpio give? Sorry about my ignorace... That was an amazin' review...

Well, post some pics of your OLD Bolero... Waiting to watch de 5 yr old strong beauty... also pics of new Bolero Plz...

Jai

[jp1]

Guys, thanks for the replies. My intention of writing that review was to highlight the ruggedness of the vehicle. And no breakdown at all. You would be amazed if you see the vehicle, it looked brand new and top condition. Ofcourse I maintained it so well. It will take any amount of battering without complaints!
Mileage in city: Somebody asked the mileage in city, it gives only 8-9 in city
Brakes, not that good as a car, but once you know how to handle it, it is not a problem. None of the incidence I mentioned above was due to the drivers fault or weak brake. It is 2 tonne vehicle with high body, so you need to be little cautious on cornering at high speed. I dont see any improvement in the new model (slx)
Gear : I find it smooth, not as good as a car, but not bad. My wife also drives the same vehicle with ease within the city.
Ground clearance: good, taken to many places where there is hardly any road

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by jp1

Finally in its 5th year, I decided to sell my Bolero, which I did, and bought a Brand new vehicle, Guess which one!!, BOLERO SLX

Great review jp1. I didn't see any comment about the ride comfort, how was the ride comfort in the old one and has it improved in the new one? BTW, why didn't you go for 4WD for the latest one, you did say you missed it in the GLX.

[Jaggu]

Nice review, hows is the jeep holding up jp1

OT: Samurai i suggest you drive a bolero also, the new TDI are not that bad i heard and ride is OK, might not be as good as Trax (with bigger wheels and better suspension) but more passenger friendly, hate the looks though of new one.

I had used one (bought for my friends farms) for couple of months, this one was a second hand one and did 75k kms when it came, would say was a neglected car.

Issues were
1: wouldnt go beyond 100 kph. Should be better with new engine
2: rear seat space is minimal
3: Gear used to clash with stereo, if i remember especially in 3rd and 5th
4: steering had a great amount of play and needed to be flicked from one side to other to hold her in straight line at high speeds.

Otherwise the car was bullet proof and squeaked a lil which could be sorted out with some greasing during car wash. Very cheap to maintain and any local garage is equipped.

Once drove from Trivandrum to Mangalore for my friends college admission (2 of us taking turns) and was quite ok wrt driving strain. AC was also pretty decent, but i think it was an aftermarket fitment.

[Samurai]

This is line from Bunny Punia's review:

The ride is definitely bumpy but she handles way better than I expected, the only grouse being the over-assisted power steering, a joy to use in city traffic, but life-less when the jeep is pushed around hills or during triple digit highway cruising.

The bumpy part is a deal breaker, that's on a 2wd SLX. The 4x4 version has an undertorqued engine and leaf type suspension in the front and rear, the ride would be worse. Anyway, I'll do a TD to feel it first hand.

Mahindra Bolero Turbo - Play Time | Complete Road Test - CarWale.com India

[condor]

Samurai, JP1's Bolero has a IDI engine .. the current, new Bolero may have only the clatter-some DI engine. Pls do check out that point when you do the TD

[chanapli]

Originally Posted by jp1

Average mileage in City : around 9 Kms/litre with a/c
3rd Year, on a trip to Kerala, the fan belt (Bolero has couple of them, 5 of them), got snapped and brake failed.

Jp1, Nice report. And the Fan belt thing is common. I too had the main drive belt broken in the middle of the road 30kms away from Krishnagiri town ( where I could manage to get a mechanic (9:00PM) who could replace it)

Originally Posted by jp1

it gives only 8-9 in city

Not sure why only 8-9 in your case. My 04 Bolero sportz get constant 10.5 in Bangalore HSR Layout-HosurRoad-EC bumper to bumper traffic ( Full time A/C on Shell diesel).

Originally Posted by Jaggu

AC was alsopretty decent, but i think it was an aftermarket fitment.

I thought A/C was a standard on All boleros!.

[GTO]

Great review, and what better attestation for a product than a return customer! I hope you went for the 4x4 since you clearly missed its presence.

2nd Year, On our way back from a Chennai trip, another Jeep (Commander) rammed behind my vehicle when I had to apply sudden brake, the damage caused was very minor, the spare wheel which is fixed on the rear door got its air blown off due to the impact and the rear foot board got bent. Total cost of fixing the footboard and the spare wheel Rs 300.

Boy, getting rear-ended in a Jeep is fun. I was standing at the SiddhiVinayak traffic light once, and a school bus slammed into me at a speed of 30ish kph. The Classic leapt forward a couple of feet but no damage except for a slightly bent rear tail-gate. Cost = Rs.1000 odd. The Vtec or C220 would have been finished with such an impact.

3rd Year, on a trip to Kerala, the fan belt (Bolero has couple of them, 5 of them), got snapped and brake failed. I feel, at that time the guys did not tightened the belts adequately.

Standard issue with old-school Mahindras. Fan belts and hose pipes give way very easily and are the number one cause of breakdowns. Always good to carry an extra set with you, even on a brand new Mahindra.

The bumpy part is a deal breaker, that's on a 2wd SLX. The 4x4 version has an undertorqued engine and leaf type suspension in the front and rear, the ride would be worse. Anyway, I'll do a TD to feel it first hand.

Samurai, using soft-rubber tyres, lowering the air-pressure for city use and removing a leaf from the rear suspension greatly improves the ride quality and makes it very compliant. Of course, it also rides better when fully loaded. Still not in the league of say...a Sumo...but way better than stock.