Indian 4x4's

[mamba24]

Hey all...im john aka mamba24...ive written a short intro for all those who wanna knw about me..

Rite so to business...im a SUV fanatic...yea love those guzzlers..i own a range rover and my wife not to be outdone owns a Jeep Wrangler. i own a 3 series and she owns a A4...

rite so for those who dont know me and are assuming how i can afford these cars its cause i live in the USA and they are basically cheap compared to what they cost in india so dont assume im a rich boy lol...simple indian brother...

i love that country although i was born in the US...and i gotta say you guys got some awesome cars...chicks and roads...aka no speed limits lol...


yea so my dads settling down in goa...hes had enuf of Pea brain Bush..
and hes a SUV fanatic himself...me and my bros were thinking of gifting him a SUV so i got some choices so would appreciate the input....i know alot of you guys own these vehicles...



Mistubishi Montero 40 lack Rupees
Toyota LandCrusier Prado 40 Lakh Rupees
Mahindra Scorpio 10 Lakh Rupees
Tata Sumo Grande 9 Lakh Rupees
Ford Endevour 15 lakh Rupees


I am aware of some petrol Suv's like Grand Vitara and Honda CR-V..but to me Petrol and SUV dont mix...and are TATA selling Range Rover? what about BMW X5?

your input would be appreciated...honestly i kinda like the scorpio...cant beat the price and the looks and its got that rugged look...while at the same time it doesnt void you of comfort..

later bros tc... oh and ive been reading through some posts and it seems like 90% of you guys work in the IT Sector...lol

almost forgot...i am due to make a trip to mumbai in June...business but ill extend my trip and if someones willing we can do some country tripping....

[nitrous]

Grand Vitara,man!

I am aware of some petrol Suv's like Grand Vitara and Honda CR-V..but to me Petrol and SUV dont mix.

So, your range rover and your wife's wrangler have diesel engines in the US of A?

[Ram]

Can a Tata Sumo Grande be bought for Rs. 9,00,000 with four-wheel-drive?

AFAIK, only some restricted military models of the Sumo are available with Borg-Warner four-wheel-drive hardware. And Tata imports that, exclusively for Indian military use.

[supercars]

I have a question. I know it may sound rough but it better be answered now.

Is your father financially fit ? If yes then he would love the big SUV. Does he drive himself still ? Does he like to show off his ride ?

I was in the same predicament as you are now my friend. I ended up not buying any vehicle as my budget was not exactly fixed.

I will suggest one good and pricewise cheap vehicle. The TATA Sumo. It has the best ride of any SUV till date.

If your father likes a really big SUV then get him a second hand Suzuki Grand Vitara. The new Vitara has a smaller engine and it is uncomfortable from the inside.

Forget the CR-V. It should only be used onroad.

I drove the Pajero some years back(The 40 Lakh one). The Ride is very bad but the pickup is great for a diesel vehicle.

I do not advise you to buy the Prado as it will give your father an image of a politicain. You have already told us he is not pleased with them. I think the power in the Prado is cool too.

There is also an older version of the Pajero sold around 20 lakhs. I drove it as a import and it was uber cool.

Please try to avoid the Scorpio. The current version rolls too much and many accidents happen.

The Ford Endaevour is a good choice but as you know it, that model is also sold in the US. It is quiet bumpy but I have heard it is good for offroading.

The BMW X5 would be cool too but would you want to take it offroad ?

Why not buy the New Mercedes M Class or the Porsche Cayenne or Audi Q7 or VW Toureag ?

You could also look at Tata Safari.

I do not work for Tata and I am not even a dealer. I will give my choices in ascending order or choice and price. I think the best SUV is the Tata Sumo for it's price and segment. My next choice would be a second hand Grand Vitara(older version). My third choice would be Ford Endeavour. Fourth Tata Safari. Fifth Old Design Pajero. Sixth Mercedes M Class. Seventh maybe even the Range Rover or why not get your father a Land Rover Defender.

[dinar]

First off welcome top Tbhp.....
The BMW x5 and Rang rover/land rover are sold in India , but servicing these vehicles is difficult outside of metros most places don't have service stations for these, You mentioned your father is settling in goa, than the toyota,Mitsubihi,Ford, suzuki and a another mercedes will be your options, as all these have authorized service stations in goa, also VW is setting up a service center soon, so that can be considered.
In the Indian SUVs , You can go in for the new SAFARI 2.2,Sumo grande,Scorpio, sumo is not yet announced with 4 wheel drive , rest have a 4x4 option.
But than there are few questions you will have to think on, will your father drive by himself? is he comfortable with flashy cars? what about the fuel efficiency of the vehicle [critical choice here ,As prices of fuel keep rising] and also choosing between petrol and diesel?, will he be traveling out of goa often [ service centers ]? , will he be doing a lot of off roading [4x4 or not]?

[jkdas]

A guy with a 40lac budget and hence why a Scorpio in it? For FIL ? No right?

My vote for Montero.

[Samurai]

The 4x4 scene in India is really dismal. You can't get a real 4x4 with a normal sedan kind of features for decent money.

Check out this old thread: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-of...x4-s-gone.html (Where have the real 4x4's gone)

[mamba24]

Thanks for the input guys. Actually my dads not the kinda guy who likes to show off his ride. Me and my bros wanted to gift him one. you know for all the things he did for us kinda thing.

Actually we have spoken to him and his choice is a vehicle that should not be expensive to maintain. and one where he can go offroading once in a way.

He is keen on the Mahindra Scorpio as he wants to join club Mahindra and be a active member of their outdoor events.

I guess our budget would expend to about 18 lakhs.


Besides the Scorpio, he will look to the Sumo Grande and Endevour.

Also i have checked out the Pajero online. Is that the latest model or is the picture not updated? I mean to my knowledge the model shown in the picture is actually a 1987 Pajero. They are Modern era classics here in the US.


Also could you guys let me know if the cheaper variants are all trust worthy for off roading events?

Thanks in advance guys.

[Mpower]

Both the Old and new Pajeros are sold in India side by side. Both really competent off road. By US standards, the Scorp is rather crude but is quite a workhorse.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by supercars

I have a question. I know it may sound rough but it better be answered now.

Supercars, some parts of your reply couldn't be any further from the truth.

I drove the Pajero some years back(The 40 Lakh one). The Ride is very bad but the pickup is great for a diesel vehicle.

The 3rd gen and 4th gen Pajero / Montero (40 lakh ones) actually have fantastic ride quality. You can cross-check with any review, or take one for a test yourself.

I do not advise you to buy the Prado as it will give your father an image of a politicain.

Thats a first. Even if it is unbelievably true, should someone stop from buying a competent off-roader only because of a so-called politician image? I fail to see the sense in a statement like that. Or maybe all of us should stop buying white Accents, Esteems, Octavias, Corollas, Mercs etc. because of a handful of them roaming around with red beacons.

Please try to avoid the Scorpio. The current version rolls too much and many accidents happen.

So you recommend the Tata Sumo, but not the Scorpio because it "rolls too much"? Let me assure you that the Sumo rolls atleast as much as the Scorpio, if not a lot more.

The Ford Endaevour is a good choice but as you know it, that model is also sold in the US.

The Ford Endeavour is NOT sold in the US!

[dinar]

You can go in for the the Scorpio , it's good offroader ,will be quit cheap to run and maintain, [part will be cheap comparted to other and a lot of service center thruogh out the country] and your dad likes it...... the new M-hawk does not come with 4x4 option as yet but M&M should launch it soon..... but with your budget you can look at the new Endeavour , the new 3.0 L engine with 156bhp and 4x4 standard, it's just launched, and dad won't miss the U.S........it huge.
I think the Endeavour is base on the last generation ford ranger sold in the U.S, but with new engine from Mazda [diesel engines]

[mamba24]

In regards to some comments about the Scorpio, i have to say i have driven it in south america. in chile, well i think its the scorpio. is it sold there?

I dont think the endeavour exists in the US. Ford is the largest producer of pikup trucks in the US.

The landcruiser in the US is totally different from the one in india. Is the Prado powered by a V8?

And not to be mean or anything but damn 100K dollars for a SUV is steep...my Range Rover Sport cost me 55K about 25 Lakh Ruppes , but its amazing how everyone can afford the expensive cars in India.

Yea so back to topic. My dads broken it down to the Scorpio. What can you tell me about this SUV? The pros and cons. I checked out the website with a SUV featured the mHawk.

Also now that my dads gonna be in India i will be travelling to india often, say a month a year. I would like to purchase a used SUV. What can you suggest. Nothing expensive . My budget would be 5 lakh Rupees? can i get a used car for that price?

[dinar]

The prado here has a V6, and landcruiesr is not sold in India, it's landcruiser Prado, this is the smaller version of the landcruiser [i believe it's similar to the Hilander in the US].
same specs.
as for the scorpio , search the forum for road test, long term report, ownership experiences, there alot of them for all the models.
scorpio is sold in south america.
you should be able to find used car for 5 lakh.

[raul]

I know there are a lot of Scorpio fans here so I must thread carefully, but from what I have seen, heard and experienced the car is simply not safe. It has too much body roll, feels very unstable on curves on highways and accidents with things like the top blowing off is not reassuring. This is not the ideal gift for your Dad IMHO.

With a budget of 18 lakhs you have 2 decent choices, Grand Vitara which is petrol and Safari 4x4 diesel which will be much cheaper than Vitara and very much within your budget. Another alternative is Nissan X-trail which is Diesel and available at 22 lakhs or less I think. That would be the best compromise if budget allows of a diesel SUV at the moment.

[krazydriver84]

Hey Mambo,

Its true that that you have narrowed your search down to the scorpio, but I think you'd like taking a look at the Tata Safari Dicor 3.0 as well. It comes as a 4x4 as well and has really good stability. With Tata having a very good network spread all over the country, you won't have problems in servicing it. To top it off it, the comfort within the Dicor is amazing and comes with a host of features.
You can check out: TATA Motors - Safari DICOR

for more info in the Dicor.