[Aroy]

Till date I have yet to find a good low milage Pajero at a reasonable price.Most of the sub 50Kkm ones are stuck around 15-16L, hence I would not be bothered by the resale value of the SFX model.

The Pajero Sport may have a modern engine, but like most of the CRDI engines with the turbo, there is a definite lack of "grunt" at the low end, so I would any day go with the SFX if I do not have to do extensive high speed highway travel

[D.V.R]

It looks like a case if the mind v great.While your mind says fortuner your heart roots for the pajero.Even if you listen to your mind and get the fortuner every time you see a pajero you are gonna have a strange feeling.

The pajero suits all your requirements, even the engine is fine its not as bad as it made our to be.the in gear acceleration is pretty good it gets slow after 120kph.

[Endeavour333]

Originally Posted by D.V.R

It looks like a case if the mind v great.While your mind says fortuner your heart roots for the pajero.Even if you listen to your mind and get the fortuner every time you see a pajero you are gonna have a strange feeling.

The pajero suits all your requirements, even the engine is fine its not as bad as it made our to be.the in gear acceleration is pretty good it gets slow after 120kph.

I fully agree with this. The PAJERO is EXACTLY what you are looking for. If you buy a fortuner you will regret that decision every single day. It will be horrible.

[dipen]

Harbir,

If a little practicalness is growing in you with respect to the resale values; how about considering a used Pajero.

Remember that for a resale dub car, you are paying minimal money and hence there are chances of you loosing less money than buying a used good-resale car or new good-resale car. A highly hit depreciated car tends to lose less value as it has already lost most value.

Supposed good Honda resale value turned very sour with Civic loosing it value highly.
2006 - 4.5
2007 - 5.5
2008 - 6.5
2009 - 7.5

So the net depreciation is higher than what a market dud Cedia owner would have to bear if he choose to go with the heart and buy a 10 lakh Cedia over a 14 lakh Civic.

Pajero prices in the used market would be very highly quoted. You will even find 1-2 year examples quoting ex-showing price after 2 years of ownership. But you need to remember that the actuals are very low.

Your Lotus experience should have enlightened you about how buyers offer prices considering which all factors.

[Harbir]

I hear all the views. Thank you.

I have been agonizing over this the whole day and have now arrived at a position where I can honestly say from being 99/1 in favor of the pajero 4 days ago, it now stands at 50/50, which it was not even this morning.

I have decided to stop agonizing any more about it. And keep it that way, till the full amount is ready in hand to buy on the spot. I will then tap the toyota and mitsubishi dealers for a final review of both vehicles, make a decision, and hand over my money.

[Harbir]

Fortuner waiting period is 13 to 15 weeks. nearly new fortuners with ~4000km are being offered at 23Lacs.

I am not happy at the thought of being forced to make a choice by delivery times, rather than by all other considerations. and it reinforces just how much the market prefers the fortuner to the pajero.

Not happy this morning.

A forum member has prevailed upon me to check out a 2006 Touareg v10. I am extremely skeptical because the 2006 touareg was found to be the least reliable vehicle in the US (the last thing I need), a VW with a v10 engine and complex electromechanical systems will surely mean huge repair and service bills, parts availability will be hard, and I am very wary of odometer fraud and unknown history. But the prospect of the 10 TDi engine is so enticing that I will atleast check out the vehicle.

[AVR]

Originally Posted by Harbir

A forum member has prevailed upon me to check out a 2006 Touareg v10.

Wiki says it had like 850 NM torque. If that isn't tempting what is! How much is the seller asking for the Touareg?

[Blow Horn Ok]

I would suggest, Book the T fort now. If you finalize it, you will have to wait less. Else you can cancel the booking and walk over to the Mitsu dealer.

[Harbir]

Something to think about.

AVR, 24L

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Till date I have yet to find a good low milage Pajero at a reasonable price.Most of the sub 50Kkm ones are stuck around 15-16L, hence I would not be bothered by the resale value of the SFX model.

i am also looking for one and the prices you have mentioned, i have not come across. These are insane rates, the paj is a slow mover off the used car dealer shelfs in delhi, and in case of the paj it makes sense to go for a good used option, as the depreciation hit wont be that much. you will be amazed to know the margins used car dealers play on in Delhi!
2006-2007 GLX 2.8 Good car you can get for approx 9-10ish
07-08 Sfx low mileage good car for around 11.5-13 lakhs.
i missed out on a good car just day before blue white sfx paj 2008 gurgaon registered 57 k ON THE ODO the dealer got it for an insane amount of 9 lakhs

The bugger palmed it off in an hour to someone for 11!

[Harbir]

so I am FINALLY ready. Got the full amount in the bank, ready to make the payment and get my vehicle. And I find that all options in this price range are in short supply.

Fortuner has a 4 month wait.

Pajero Sport 5 month wait.

Even the damned Pajero SFX has nearly a 1 month wait. I have found only 1 in stock anywhere remotely nearby and its not a color I want (graphite). Another dealer says HM can supply 1 vehicle within 10 days but will confirm the color to me this evening.

I want the vehicle immediately. I leave for the mountains on June 15th and expect to traverse much of kashmir, ladakh and himachal, and I need the vehicle broken in and serviced before then. So, lets see what I can do.

Since the conversation earlier had mentioned a V10 TDI Touareg, I decided to check out the touareg. The V10 was sold but I did see a V6. claimed 54,000km, asking 24.5 lacs. What a turd. More lying and deception going on. The interior was so heavily worn that all the regularly used switches and buttons (windows, AC, map light etc) had not only lost their icons, the black surface plastic had been worn right through to the cream/white/clear plastic underneath. The suspension and brakes were in lousy shape, the structure of the vehicle creaked and groaned over bumps. The door pull on the driver's door broke away in my hand when I tried to pull the door shut.

There is no way on earth that car had 54,000km. The cheek to ask 24.5lacs for it! I wouldn't pay more than 4 lacs for it. In fact, now let me correct that. I wouldn't even pay 1 lac for it.

So thats that with the Touareg because all the others are out of my price range, and this one just reaffirmed the long continuing story of this thread of deceit and cheating in the premium used car market.

If all goes to plan, I will be buying a Pajero SFX very soon. I am most concerned about the severe shortage of legroom for the driver, and slightly concerned about what the resale value will be like, but apart from that, I have decided that the Pajero SFX is the one for me because I am not buying this car as a daily driver or for urban and highway travel. I am buying it to perform well on bad roads and no roads, and supremacy there trumps all.

I just hope the legroom issue doesn't drive me crazy. I intend to find out if I can get the car modified so the seat will travel further back.

So, if the vehicle that I've been told will take 10 days turns out to be red or blue (or even white), I will have my truck finally!

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by Harbir

so I am FINALLY ready. Got the full amount in the bank, ready to make the payment and get my vehicle. And I find that all options in this price range are in short supply.

Fortuner has a 4 month wait.

Pajero Sport 5 month wait.

Even the damned Pajero SFX has nearly a 1 month wait. I have found only 1 in stock anywhere remotely nearby and its not a color I want (graphite). Another dealer says HM can supply 1 vehicle within 10 days but will confirm the color to me this evening.
.
.
.

If all goes to plan, I will be buying a Pajero SFX very soon. I am most concerned about the severe shortage of legroom for the driver, and slightly concerned about what the resale value will be like, but apart from that, I have decided that the Pajero SFX is the one for me because I am not buying this car as a daily driver or for urban and highway travel. I am buying it to perform well on bad roads and no roads, and supremacy there trumps all.

I just hope the legroom issue doesn't drive me crazy. I intend to find out if I can get the car modified so the seat will travel further back.

So, if the vehicle that I've been told will take 10 days turns out to be red or blue (or even white), I will have my truck finally!

That is life.

With recent hike in Petrol Prices, the demand for a diesel vehicle (any diesel across the value chain), will go up further, so unless it is a Lemon, you will not get any diesel vehicle off the shelf.

I am glad that you have finally decided on the Pajero SFX. It is one tough vehicle for taking to the hills. Coupled with a very low tech engine, you will rarely face any problem in the wild that you cannot attend to your self.

I found out that the original Pajero engine was BS-II 125 BHP, which has been progressively been detuned to 118 for BS-III and 108 for BS-IV. It would be interesting to know if the detuning can be "tuned back" so that we get the 125 BHP engine for the hills.

Best of luck and congratulations on the Pajero (when it comes)

[Harbir]

Well, I have handed over the booking amount to a dealer who was able to get me a red BSIII by the 10th of june (he promises). Other BSIII supplying dealers are talking around the 20th.

The two delhi dealers are offering me Navy blue BS4 around the first week of June. After craving a red pajero for a long time, I have come around to my family's point of view that the navy blue looks much more sober and elegant without looking dowdy like the graphite, carbon and granite colors, and the the red and white combination looks bad compared to the blue and white. Earlier delivery of the Navy, plus this factor, would make me pick the Navy blue in delhi, but those are BS4s and I am not at all happy about the 108hp rating on it.

I found a graphite BS3 in stock at a dealer all ready to be delivered, but this was really not to my taste because in that color the pajero looks to me like its tired and fatigued and has nothing to live for, whereas the red has a lot of pop and the blue is quite elegant. So I didn't go for this one even though its immediately available.

The 10th is the absolute last date by which I must have the vehicle (really its the 7th) because I leave for srinagar on the 13th and I want the car driven 1000km and have its first inspection before I go.

Since I wasn't willing to take the BS4 Navy blue (though BS3 navy would be the first choice), and since I wasn't willing to buy the BS3 Graphite, i was left only with the option of this BS3 red. Which is strange considering that after 2 years of driving everybody nuts about how I must have a red pajero, I finally went off it and then found myself going with Red.

No worries however. If I don't like the red and white, its no worry because for me the best part about the red is that I love seeing the bonnet's expanse of red while sitting in the driver's seat. Since thats the view I'll have the most, I am perfectly happy to go red.

Now, unless they give me a googly, I'll have a red pajero SFX in two weeks!

yay!!

[MileCruncher]

Congrats on finally deciding and going with the Pajero that your heart yearned for the most.

Look forward to seeing how your capture the Ladakhi terrain with this mountain goat.

Cheers

[Harbir]

I have run into a dilemma. The dealer that has my booking on the red tells me that the car left the factory yesterday and is expected in about 8 or 9 days.

Another dealer tells me Pajero production was stopped in may and will not resume till June and so it is not possible for what this dealer has told me to be true. All the dealers except the one who has my booking tell me I cannot expect to receive a vehicle before about the 20th of June, which jives with what I've been told about may production being stopped.

The one thing I do not want is to jerked around by the dealer about how there is delay but "sir, bas aney vali hai ek do din mey" for the next 3 weeks. and I am inclined to just go and buy the graphite one that I have found in stock and cancel the booking for the red.

Any thoughts?