[roy_libran]

Congrats on the vehicle, and the Mods make it look even better.
Looks awesome, and I love it in this colour.

However, the Fit and Finish and overall build quality seems to be becoming a horror story.
Although, I love this type of vehicle, I just cannot justify to anyone or myself, why I should spend my hard earned money on something that will start falling apart from day 1! So disappointing...

[NetfreakBombay]

Congratulations, and a great review.

Originally Posted by Janjua

Ex-Showroom price – Rs 6,09,000
Insurance – Rs 17,804
Vehicle Registration – Rs 18,640
I was not offered any discounts or things like mats, etc. I also opted not to go in for the extended warranty for the Thar.

Curious about this. With components like turbo, it might make sense to go in for extended warranty.

How much does that cost?

[Janjua]

Originally Posted by mdsaab

Wow! That was some review. Just could not put it down, had to read till the end.
First of all congratulations!
The Thar is one that pulls you by the collar, grabs the eyeballs and commands your attention.
Absolutely love it! Also read tha'red's review which scared me a bit, what with all those niggles croping up. But reading how much you enjoy your vehicle and have the confidence to take it anywhere. Again makes me confident about owning one in the future. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Wishing you many miles of joyful motoring with your Thar. Btw love the colour, glad you waited for it.
Drive safe!

@mdsaab Thanks for the kind words. There are certainly a few niggles (some of mine are common with Tha'Red) but nothing that cannot be rectified easily. Thar is an enjoyable ride indeed. Yes, I only wanted the Rocky Beige colour and am glad that I got it.

Originally Posted by sumathindra

Congrats on the THAR! Oh it so much reminds me of the willys my father used to drive way back in the 60's. I will try and post those pictures. He drove the left hand drive one

@sumathindra I would love to see your pictures. Retro-look is the USP of the Thar I guess.

Originally Posted by KMT

I was wondering why there no ownership reviews on the Thar all this while, now we have two excellent reviews in one week. Thanks for thie comprehensive review.

Am I being unreasonable in comparing the Thar to the ISZ Ambassador that HM launched?
Compared to old Ambys it was a great step forward, but compared to its competition it was still way behind.

The Thar is similar, old body with new engine/GB engineered on a shoestring budget.

The key difference is that it has very little competition in its niche segment.
So M&M can can push its luck a bit more.

I guess the secret is to keep expectations low and then you are happy, if one expects a genuine new-gen vehicle, you get a dissapointed.

BTW, the tyres enhance the look of the Jeep greatly, really cool overall.

@KMT I am glad that you liked my review of the Thar. You are right when you say that lack of competition in this niche segment is probably the reason that the Thar is not up there as far as the build quality (interiors) is concerned. But, I feel if the Thar came with a HT & an AC option, people would lap it up, provided M&M don't go overboard with their pricing of the vehicle. Still, I am loving the Thar and once I get my registration done, I would probably make some changes.
Will keep you guys posted.

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

@Janjua: Congrats on the THAR! Feels good to know that you are using the vehicle as your daily drive and enjoying it to the fuLlest.

BTW doesn't the 255 profile tyre protrude out of the wheel well or foul anywhere?

Wish you many miles of happiness with the THAR.

Cheers

@MileCruncher Thank you very much. With the plastic fender extensions, the 255's really don't seem to protrude out. Without them, I can't say (will take some pics and post them).
I had put up the query to the head-mechanic at Bansal Autozone regarding the 255's touching the body. He assured me that they won't. Also the tyre dealer told me that I could put the tyres on and check out with a TD. If I was not satisfied, they would put on a different set of tyres.
Once I drove the vehicle (post tyre exchange), I did not encounter any problem at all. Till date too, no issues. So, I guess 255/65 R16 are doing ok in the Thar. I am sure things would be different if I had gone for a bigger rim size.

Originally Posted by slalom

Hey Janjua , comprehansive report and a realistic one too !

Great to know that you and your kids are in love with the Thar .

A couple of people have put 245 70 's which have a higher profile than the 255 65 yokos , and removed the fender extensions , is there a problem with the 255's touching the plastic fender extensions at any point ?

Have loads of fun with the Thar !

@slalom Thanks. Yes we do love the Thar. It is an incredible ride.
No, I have had no issues till date regarding the 255's touching the plastic fender extensions. I feel even if I was using 245/70 with stock rim size, I would not have any problems of the tyres touching the body. There is still a lot of space between the tyre and the body at any point.

Originally Posted by theMAG

Congrats. Plan on any moderate/serious offroading anytime ?

@theMAG I would love to do that in times to come.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Very good report - good to see you liking it. I can see that like Royal Enfield, the vehicle still has its charm minus the quality! Let us know once you've gotten AC & hard top installed boss!

@phamilyman Thanks. I will surely post as soon as I have the AC thing done. But first, some one needs to have a clue how to go about it!! At present, no one know

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Nice review Sir.
I have been noticing quite a few thar's in and around chandigarh,and few have already gone the bling way,Faaaaaaat rubber,no ST and Chrome alloys.
Hope to catch up with yours too sometime in chandigarh.

@akshay4587 I will never go the bling way. I have not even switched over to alloys. I love the looks of the Thar as it is.
I would like nothing better than to catch up with one of these days.

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

Very good, detailed report. Mahindras do have a peculiarity. The mechanical bits are strong, but the cosmetic bits just keep falling to pieces. As Jaggu suggested, whenever some OE crap falls off, replace it with after-market stuff of better quality. Will look forward to your long term ownership views of the beast.

One question. Does a Pioneer HU and Hertz speakers have any effect on producing good SQ in what is basically a soft top vehicle? Can you post pictures of the HU and component installs?

@predatorwheelz Thank you very much for the appreciation.
Yes, M&M does have some issues there. I plan to do just as Jaggu Sir said. Will try and look for better quality after-market stuff to replace any OE stuff that falls off!
Sir, the Pioneer unit that I have installed is a basic one (DVH-P4390UB) and so are the Hertz speakers. The sound quality is pretty ok, keeping in mind the soft top. I will click some pics and post for you to see.

[carrot_eater]

Originally Posted by Janjua

A Pioneer CD player and Hertz speakers

Thank you for that very comprehensive report. Can you please let us know where the speakers were installed.

Cheers
Carrot

[gonewithwind]

Congrats on Thar Crde, Where you have placed the speakers? Can you put a picture?
Thank you.

[shk 8896]

Congrats on the mountain goat,januja.Phew ,I got exhausted after reading this review.Superb and detailed review.Nice color.
Drive safe
Sreehari

[NIP]

Wow...your Thar looks k-i-l-l-e-r in that colour !! Congrats and please do keep posting pics when you can.

One small question...how come there's no spare wheel on the rear tailgate ?

[Janjua]

Originally Posted by roy_libran

Congrats on the vehicle, and the Mods make it look even better.
Looks awesome, and I love it in this colour.

However, the Fit and Finish and overall build quality seems to be becoming a horror story.
Although, I love this type of vehicle, I just cannot justify to anyone or myself, why I should spend my hard earned money on something that will start falling apart from day 1! So disappointing...

@roy_libran Thanks. Well, it is not a bad product if you ignore the minor niggles. I agree, something like this happening in a new vehicle is heart breaking, but then in my case, I was prepared for these shortcomings.
I am sure the Thar will grow on the new owner day by day till the time they absolutely start adoring the vehicle.

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Congratulations, and a great review.



Curious about this. With components like turbo, it might make sense to go in for extended warranty.

How much does that cost?

@NetfreakBombay Thanks. I don't know the actual cost but will check and let you know from the dealership. By the way, I am entiltled to go in for an extended warranty within 3 months of the delivery date.

Originally Posted by carrot_eater

Thank you for that very comprehensive report. Can you please let us know where the speakers were installed.

Cheers
Carrot

@carrot_eater Thanks. The speakers are not installed per se. I have just placed them between the front seats and the rear seats and they fit snug and nice. I have the option of drilling holes in the body and getting them fixed for good, but since the current arrangement is sufficing well, I don't think I will go in for actual fitting of the speakers.
I will click photographs and post to show you the arrangement.

Originally Posted by gonewithwind

Congrats on Thar Crde, Where you have placed the speakers? Can you put a picture?
Thank you.

@gonewithwind I have placed the speakers between the front and the rear seats. I will click photographs to show you how I have done it.

Originally Posted by shk 8896

Congrats on the mountain goat,januja.Phew ,I got exhausted after reading this review.Superb and detailed review.Nice color.
Drive safe
Sreehari

@shk8896 Thank you very much for the kind words.

Originally Posted by NIP

Wow...your Thar looks k-i-l-l-e-r in that colour !! Congrats and please do keep posting pics when you can.

One small question...how come there's no spare wheel on the rear tailgate ?

@NIP Thanks. I will definitely click some more snaps and post them.
Regarding the spare wheel, I removed it on the first day itself.
Two reasons - 1) Since my kids are unable to operate the rear door, they climb into the vehicle using the rear step and the spare tyre made their job a bit difficult. 2) I feel the heavy weight of the spare wheel might have a bad effect on the hinges of the rear door in the long run.
I might put it back on as and when I am going on long tours.

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Nice unbiased and honest review. Where have you placed the spare wheel?

Spike

[drrajasaravanan]

Hi
Very neatly written review. Congratulations on your buy. I had enquired about THAR which has not been released in Chennai couple of months back and the representative told me that M&M is planning to fit AC and hardtop before it is launched in Chennai. Dont know whether its true, till date there has not been update from them. So till i get to drive one i will be glued to your post (and couple of others too). Cheers.

[BlackRaven]

Originally Posted by drrajasaravanan

Hi
Very neatly written review. Congratulations on your buy. I had enquired about THAR which has not been released in Chennai couple of months back and the representative told me that M&M is planning to fit AC and hardtop before it is launched in Chennai. Dont know whether its true, till date there has not been update from them. So till i get to drive one i will be glued to your post (and couple of others too). Cheers.

My daughter and wife were there in chennai last week an told me they saw a brand new black thar CRDe with TN registration. At the drivers seat was according to them was an elderly gentleman.

Now that we are getting OE a/c for thar, has thar been soft launched in TN? Vinod?

[Janjua]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

Nice unbiased and honest review. Where have you placed the spare wheel?

Spike

@Spike Thanks for the compliment Sir. The spare wheel is stored in my garage. I plan to put it in action when I do the first rotation of the tyres.

Originally Posted by drrajasaravanan

Hi
Very neatly written review. Congratulations on your buy. I had enquired about THAR which has not been released in Chennai couple of months back and the representative told me that M&M is planning to fit AC and hardtop before it is launched in Chennai. Dont know whether its true, till date there has not been update from them. So till i get to drive one i will be glued to your post (and couple of others too). Cheers.

@drrajasaravanan Thanks Sir. Since Behram Sir has now detailed an OE AC installation in the Thar, I am sure things will start moving in the right direction. I am myself going to the dealership to enquire about it and provide them with details that Behram Sir has posted on this forum regarding the AC installation. Let us see how things go.
I will post updates.

[shankar.balan]

this was a very nice read indeed.

My suggestion to you, since the Thar has a Turbocharged Crde engine and in general does have some fiddly bits, is please do go for the Extended Warranty. The incremental cost is negligible and it does contribute greatly to an owners peace of mind. For the price paid, it is really worth while because the Warranty even covers the Turbocharger during its validity period.

[Janjua]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

this was a very nice read indeed.

My suggestion to you, since the Thar has a Turbocharged Crde engine and in general does have some fiddly bits, is please do go for the Extended Warranty. The incremental cost is negligible and it does contribute greatly to an owners peace of mind. For the price paid, it is really worth while because the Warranty even covers the Turbocharger during its validity period.

Thank you for the kind advice Sir. I will seriously look into the Extended Warranty issue. Will talk to Goel Motors and see how it goes.

[shankar.balan]

since you just bought the vehicle you should ask them to give it to you at the reduced/ advantageous rate.

If I remember right it costs Rs 9999 for the 2 year extended warranty (from the date of purchase) if you buy it along with the vehicle or within the first few months.

I bought this about 2 years after buying the vehicle, just before their standard original 2 year/ 50000km warranty expired, because I wanted that extra protection for 2 more years/ 100000km whichever came earlier. I paid about Rs 12999 for this in March 2010.

To take this into perspective: the extended warranty which gives you the coverage for an additional 2 years or a total of 100,000 kms whichever is earlier, comes to a very nominal Rs 416 -541 per month depending on how much they charge you (either 9999 or 12999). The upside that you get of course is complete peace of mind.

Originally Posted by Janjua

Thank you for the kind advice Sir. I will seriously look into the Extended Warranty issue. Will talk to Goel Motors and see how it goes.