[RS_DEL]

Originally Posted by Harbir

i test drove a 1998 Land Cruiser Prado today. Diesel with manual trans. Its odo showed 55,000 km and it drove very nicely,

I am beginning to suspect that there is a lot of odometer tampering going on.

I was thinking in terms of a used Safari at one point in time. At that time I had asked for advice from the owner of a well known garage in my residential area, whose wife and mine are colleagues ( they teach in the same school). His advice was when buying used vehicles [1] in 99% of the cases diregard odo numbers as they are fudged - bare minimum add on about 750 KM per month usage ideally a 1000 atleast , and [2] insist repeat insist on evaluation by company A.S.S. for any major maintenance expenses that you may have to face even if the seller provides you with a service track record.

[Turbanator]

I am beginning to suspect that there is a lot of odometer tampering going on.

Yes for sure - more so in these range of cars - I also saw few LC - few with prominent second hand dealers in Delhi - with odo never above 55 - 60 - one look at interior will tell that these have been abused at least 10 times - mostly 3rd or 4th owners - better you should stick to first owner direct sales or even if broker is involved see only those cars which are still with direct owners

I've no idea about the current prado

After making up the mind for new Montero - I started looking for pros & cons with LC Prado, one of my known is handling Toyota dealerships and I will try to get a Drive - concerns about Montero are resale as well dealership network . Yes Prado is about 15 Lac expensive but has much higher list of features few very useful including ride height adjustment - The single most Deal Breaker seems to be Fortuner engine at the moment .

why not a new montero, for me the answer was very simple. for about 40 lacs, we could get a pajero and new Accord and get both a better off roader and a better on road luxury vehicle.

I am in similar situation though in a different way - upgrade my 2011 - 530 D to 730 D - pay difference of about 35 Lac to dealer or keep 530 D and buy a Montero

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

I am in similar situation though in a different way - upgrade my 2011 - 530 D to 730 D - pay difference of about 35 Lac to dealer or keep 530 D and buy a Montero

OT but why would you do that? I mean the 730ld won't be as much fun to drive at the 5. If it was a 750li then it would be a separate story though.

[Turbanator]

730ld won't be as much fun to drive at the 5. If it was a 750li then it would be a separate story though.

ya - this is the reason i haven't exchanged yet . I have major problems with Rear Seat of current 5 series which is supposed to be better than E or A4 - because of nature of my job I have to travel extensively . This car is fun to drive but the moment you shift to back its a different story . The rear seats are too low for long travel .

7 series is a totally different class - for rear seats comfort i don't need to write anything & with recent chiller & trey options ( Plus Discounts ) as standard on 730D its too tempting . But even the front Seats are way different from the 5 series - you can adjust upper back of the front seats and there are other numerous settings above the 5 .

730D is still equipped with old 6 speed transmission & is without gear paddles on steering but it still does accelerate quickly . It stops in much better way than 5 .

So the dilemma is either to spend 40 Lac on new car or upgrade to better . should i start new thread ?

[Harbir]

to be honest, the potential for odo tampering is very disturbing. its interesting. the place where I buy meat and chicken, there is a shop next to it that is full of old gauge clusters and claims to "repair" them. I have always wondered whether there was enough business repairing gauge clusters to support this shop. Now I am virtually certain that these buggers are providing rollback services to brokers and dealers.

and thats got me really concerned. I was preparing to fly down to Bangalore where a 2007 with 25,000km is being offered for about 22lacs. but for all I know its 125,000km. how would i know?


I had thought a complete service history would do the trick on assuring mileage claims, but would it?

This is making me think I ought to forget about monteros and just buy a new Pajero and ton of peace of mind.

[DirtyDan]

Originally Posted by Harbir

....and thats got me really concerned. I was preparing to fly down to Bangalore where a 2007 with 25,000km is being offered for about 22lacs. but for all I know its 125,000km. how would i know?

I had thought a complete service history would do the trick on assuring mileage claims, but would it?

This is making me think I ought to forget about monteros and just buy a new Pajero and ton of peace of mind.

This is what I would do. Pajero. I also think it is more likely to support a heavy rack on top for deep trekking...just from the look of it, without research.

By the way, on that Thar matter, I don't know if you already found this but there is a nicely written review of the Thar on this site. Newer reviews get written in a precise way by moderators.


http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ve-review.html

[Turbanator]

I was preparing to fly down to Bangalore where a 2007 with 25,000km is being offered for about 22lacs. but for all I know its 125,000km. how would i know?

why just 125000 ? it can be even 225000 or even more who knows - getting service history here may not be always possible as not all companies have online system . I am not sure if mitsubishi dealer at Delhi or Chandigarh can dig details for the car you ar e looking for & as far as records with owners is concerned not everyone will have , I always maintain my cars with dealerships but may not have records for last service .. - during my recent search , I was offered 2008 Caynne - fully loaded , scratch-less blah blah and when i asked VIN he said to revert back in couple of minutes and that was 4 days back .

If you do not want to spend too much for Montero - don't look further than Pajero - if you are still not sure how about Old Pajero from someone known - this will have less problems than an Old Montero . All Advantages of New Pajero will be there in Old as well & you can easily get this for about 10-12 lac - can still save money for a brand new honda city !!

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

730D is still equipped with old 6 speed transmission & is without gear paddles on steering but it still does accelerate quickly . It stops in much better way than 5 .

So the dilemma is either to spend 40 Lac on new car or upgrade to better . should i start new thread ?

Difficult dilemma. But IMO makes sense to get the Montero/Prado for long distances. You don't wanna take a 7 over some of the crappy highways we have here. Nothing better than a Jap SUV for that.

[Harbir]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

why just 125000 ? it can be even 225000 or even more who knows - getting service history here may not be always possible as not all companies have online system . I am not sure if mitsubishi dealer at Delhi or Chandigarh can dig details for the car you ar e looking for & as far as records with owners is concerned not everyone will have , I always maintain my cars with dealerships but may not have records for last service .. - during my recent search , I was offered 2008 Caynne - fully loaded , scratch-less blah blah and when i asked VIN he said to revert back in couple of minutes and that was 4 days back .

If you do not want to spend too much for Montero - don't look further than Pajero - if you are still not sure how about Old Pajero from someone known - this will have less problems than an Old Montero . All Advantages of New Pajero will be there in Old as well & you can easily get this for about 10-12 lac - can still save money for a brand new honda city !!

1. service history, I was thinking the service book. My dad's car is now 10 years old and has every service and repair noted in the service booklet right up to the present. It doesn't show the repairs done outside the dealer network, but those are mostly dings and dents. if you wanted to verify the KMs driven, its a beautiful record. THough I guess, he could have kept the book empty then falsified at time of sale.

2. the Cayenne, was it for sale by a chap named Gaurav? the place I was at yesterday where I drove the Prado and looked at the S Class, he had a Black Cayenne as well

[Turbanator]

service history, I was thinking the service book.

Oh Yes , if its a Genuine sales you should be able to get one - sorry i have almost forgotten this after couple of Years with Beemers where most of the information is stored & up dated in key . So does this Banglore guy has one ? you can always ask him to mail or fax it over to you .

no i didn't saw cayenne as it was through broker , the guy referred by you is he owner or dealer - what was he asking for cayenne . I love the old ones but am unable to find in good condition.

i saw your other thread on mazda since you can do lot of things on your own - why don't you buy a old pajero - our fellow member RICK has one and that car has a rear arm rest in middle and most likely has front arm rests too as it was direct import - he is in gurgaon .

[Ricky_63]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Oh Yes , if its a Genuine sales you should be able to get one - sorry i have almost forgotten this after couple of Years with Beemers where most of the information is stored & up dated in key . So does this Banglore guy has one ? you can always ask him to mail or fax it over to you .

no i didn't saw cayenne as it was through broker , the guy referred by you is he owner or dealer - what was he asking for cayenne . I love the old ones but am unable to find in good condition.

i saw your other thread on mazda since you can do lot of things on your own - why don't you buy a old pajero - our fellow member RICK has one and that car has a rear arm rest in middle and most likely has front arm rests too as it was direct import - he is in gurgaon .

My older Pajero has armrests in the front seats & the rear seats. The picture in my garage shows the front armrests.

[simply_sunny001]

Originally Posted by Ricky_63

My older Pajero has armrests in the front seats & the rear seats.

I thought it was sold already. do you still have both of these ???

[Ricky_63]

Originally Posted by simply_sunny001

I thought it was sold already. do you still have both of these ???

As I mentioned earlier, it was sold to a gentleman in the South, who paid a deposit also, but due to certain financial constraints in his business requested me to sell it off & return his deposit. BTW he had never seen the vehicle, all just in good faith.

So yes I do have 2 Pajeros as of now



Cheers

[Harbir]

guys, I am sorry to ask this a second time, but I really need the specs on the 2007 Montero. I can't verify if its the common rail from the 2008 montero or if its a more primitive engine, closer to the pajero's.

I have had both answers in this very thread, I get both answers in all the googling I do. and I've not had any clear answers on this forum searches either.

[Ricky_63]

Originally Posted by Harbir

guys, I am sorry to ask this a second time, but I really need the specs on the 2007 Montero. I can't verify if its the common rail from the 2008 montero or if its a more primitive engine, closer to the pajero's.

I have had both answers in this very thread, I get both answers in all the googling I do. and I've not had any clear answers on this forum searches either.

Harbir, with all due respect, I think you are pretty much going with the Pajero considering your needs. Why do you want to research & research that all over again - just to be doubly sure - & then run the answer on Wikipedia or Google etc etc etc.

My advice, if it is worth anything. Keep it simple, go with what your head tells you, and I can say for a fact you are a smart Joe.

If things have to go wrong they still will inspite of the humungous research..I totally respect the thought process ( you want the best trouble free car for your dad ) appreciate that & more

You have the $$$$ you have the grey matter, you have all going right for you (from what I can tell)..

Take a decision man..."sab da rab rakha"

Just do it !! I do hope you will take my viewpoint in the right light !




Cheers