Team-BHP - Live Young, Live Free - My Mahindra Thar CRDe 4WD
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-   -   Live Young, Live Free - My Mahindra Thar CRDe 4WD (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-vehicles/131384-live-young-live-free-my-mahindra-thar-crde-4wd.html)

Note: The information in this thread is my experience and perceptions about my vehicle and I have no intention to offend anyone here. Also I am not branding any product or company.

For full technical review of Mahindra Thar CRDe 4WD please visit TBHP official review here:-

Live Young, Live Free - My Mahindra Thar CRDe 4WD-148496_10151194589433837_1229996282_n.jpg
Image reference: Mahindra Thar FB page

TBHPian Manveet has said it very well on his Thar ownership thread that every Thar has its own story and so is mine.

"Chase your dreams because dreams do come true. Mine did when we won the World Cup after 22 years." --Sachin Tendulkar

I had a dream of owning a Thar CRDe 4WD about 2 years ago when it was launched in India. I still remember that day; I was hooked to the webcast DB sir and the team were presenting on the features and specifications of Thar. I was not a TBHP registered member at that time and was trying hard for to become one. I got my membership approved around the same time which I thought was the first sign of getting close to my dream to convert it into reality.


Live Young, Live Free - My Mahindra Thar CRDe 4WD-mahthar05.jpg
Image reference: Our own TBHP review thread.

This is the poster I always kept with me to keep my dream alive.

Ok let's not get into emotional (atyachar). Fast forward.

I always followed the thread of the official review of Thar from Khan Sir along with the other ownership reviews to learn more and more about the vehicle. First thing I do after I’m logged in on the TBHP site is type ‘Thar’ and filter with the title to check all the comments. I must say everyone has really penned very valuable information in their threads.

There was news from M&M about launching refreshed Thar with AC. I started doing the financial calculations in my mind. I tried hard but somehow couldn't arrange the finance. Got so frustrated that stopped visiting 4x4 vehicle section, left almost all off roading and 4x4 groups on FB. stupid:

It was not just finance but the damn practical thinking which was holding me back. Went back to normal life and started looking at the other choices which are globally acceptable. Spent lots of time studying other SUVs and finalized one but there was something different written in my horoscope (BTW I don't believe n that ).

I like to go with less traveled path but life was forcing me to the normal one. I bounced back with full energy and achieved what I wanted.

Presenting a Rocky Beige Thar CRDe 4WD aka. Wild Bull

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Likes:

Exterior styling: Its jeep thing. Look is awesome, head turner.
Mechanicals: It is an advanced jeep and crazy to drive. Wow! What a power. 110 horses for such light weight vehicle. Floor the pedal and experience the takeoff.
Space: Acres of space inside, I moved from the Estilo so, a huge increment in the space- an obvious reason to be happy.
Air conditioner: Very powerful and effective in soft top jeep (surprising… but true…)
Stability: 245/75/R16 is more than sufficient.
Driving position: Driving position and commanding view are teh plus points. Steering wheel is bit off the center but I observed it after reading one of the views and didn't think that to be an issue.

Dislikes:

Seat support: Not so good but not a deal breaker as well.
Comfort: Lots of compromise on comfort for family.
Fit & finish: Interior design & quality is not up to the mark, and hard to convince family that this costs 8 L
Ride quality: I am finding it bit bumpy on speed breakers.
Equipment level: Lack of small gadgets like 12 V socket, clock on dash etc. for 8 L vehicle.
Build quality: Old style bonnet hooks which scrap the paint, it could have been better.

Alternatives considered:

I have Maruti Zen Estilo in mint condition, completed 35000 kms, I thought of replacing it. I did some check for exchange but it was fetching just 1.5 L so no point in exchange instead I can keep it for city drive.

Bolero LX 4WD: This was the second choice after Thar. It didn’t work due to the lack of knowledge of the dealers which I experienced in my many visits to the showrooms.

Socrpio LX 4WD: This was a game changer, I never thought about Scorpio but it came in list only because of LX 4WD launch. I was more keen on comfort (if you spend more than 10 L, naturally you tend to expect that from a vehicle.) I found it to be VFM, with the cost 10.62 OTR in Pune but more than my budget which was an EMI maximum of 10 K. With all calculations, the EMI would have been as much as 15 K due to which even this option was dropped out of the list.

Safari Dicore LX: I never ever liked Safari but when I started reading ADC's thread it started growing on me I started developing interest in it.Tried a test drive and found it awesome for long distance drive but heavy for daily use in the city.After discussing with friends and few Safari owners, I decided to book the Black EX model for a lucrative deal.

Completed all the formalities as even the family members were happy with the vehicle, but guess what? The whole game got spoiled by the launch of new Storm. Had to wait for its price in which lost some time. Couldn’t go for the Storme due to the higher price point. This forces me to wonder if Tatas really want to sell the Storme or not. Entry of the Storme also meant the exit of the old Safari from my list as it would be discontinued any time.It was just not worth spending more than 8 Lc for a vehicle I was not fully convinced by.


Frustration creped so much that I dropped the idea of buying an SUV and started thinking of bikes again. I had an RE STD 350 which I had thought of modifying earlier but then thought of buying a new generation lighter, faster and more hi-tech vehicle instead.After trying few test drives of different vehicles, in dilemma, booked the Classic 500 Ocean blue as I was now used to ride a bullet. There was still a feeling of something missing or not being right to give me full pleasure and satisfaction of what I was doing.

Booking/Buying & Delivery experience:

There was less work in the office as it was the X’mas season. Quickly called the Mahindra dealer to enquire about the Thar. There was no discount but what made me excited is the immediate availability of the vehicle.
Went to the stock yard with couple of office friends. What a day it was… I was so excited. The stock yard guy was nice who offered me to switch on the vehicle as I wanted to listen to the engine, and that sounded great…And that’s when my decision to go for the Thar was finalized. I was so anxious to own it that I deiced to buy one of the available vehicles in the stock yard. Next was the toughest task to convince my wife who went furious when she heard my decision. Rightly so… It was all my fault. My mind had travelled from the Thar to the Bolero then the Scorpio to finally the Safari and then had almost settled on the Bullet Classic 500 which I had already booked.

It was 13th Dec 2012 when we went o stock yard and came back excited.
On 17th Dec 2012 called SBI executive, submitted the documents and the suffering started. SBI had their terms and conditions which I didn’t agree to and I still wanted SBI auto loan. It was not working and I thought I have almost lost it.
However ICICI bank came as a savior as I have an 8 yr old salary account with them. The executive came to my office on a single call with all the details. I was shocked to know that they don’t finance the Jeeps though. After some 15 minutes discussion he agreed to talk to his senior. After 1 hr he confirmed they can finance the Thar. Then everything happened very fast on 21st December and I was granted a loan of 90% of the ex-showroom cost.
Bank paid the money to the dealer on 24th and so did I. How excited I was as we decided 27th Dec as the delivery date which was quite close.
Do you think I got delivery on 27th Dec?
I ensured everything to be going as per the plan. Called the dealer on 26th, and I was told to take the delivery from the stock yard as the vehicle was still not registered. I finally agreed to go to the stock yard after some fumed argument.

It was a long endless night of 26th. On the 27th morning I called them 3 times and got 2 SP's number and got information that one of them will be at the stock yard for the delivery. The delivery time was 3pm however I went there on 4 PM giving them some more time. Was disappointed to know that the vehicle had been sent for washing to a local washing center.
After a long wait the jeep arrived shining and was parked on the ramp for the delivery, we did puja and drove immediately from there as my baby had become a bit restless because of the heat and dust. This means the experience at the time of delivery is not so pleasant. You don’t feel as if you are buying and taking a delivery of a vehicle worth 8 Lc.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the great feeling of driving a Jeep. How different and better it is than driving a small car.
Reached home and parked Estilo inside my long parking lot and the Thar at the opening. After dinner I again came back to just have a glance of jeep and it was standing tall shining in my parking, for a moment I thought is it’s not real, I’m still fast asleep watching a dream.


Following are some details of the showroom, finance and vehicle:

Dealer: Silver Jubilee, Camp Pune.
OTR price: 7.83 - Pune out of octroi. No accessory, no single rupee discount from the dealer.
Finance: ICICI Bank, 10.75 % for 5 yrs with offer to close loan without any charges after 2 yrs.
Insurance: Reliance
Engine: NEF TCI- CRDe 2498 cc. For other details please visit this link
Color: Rocky Beige.

Usage pattern: I have no plan of core off roading, I like the look and 4WD system and that's why I brought the Thar. The only off roading I will do is Leh Ladhak in next season. Till then, it will be used as a daily commute vehicle. I find it very cool in bumper to bumper traffic, just put in first and it starts crawling, no need to use clutch, and break.

Engine performance & drivability in the city and on the highway: Engine is bit noisy under 1000 RPMs but runs smooth after 1000. Haven't got chance to go beyond 2500. It idles around 700 RPM. When it goes around 1700 the turbo charger kicks off and gives a very nice feel. In city it provides sufficient power in first gear and I find it easy in bumper to bumper traffic due to its crawling ability as an off-roader.

Gearshift / transmission quality, smoothness, response: Gearshifts are smooth as per the jeep standard however I found bit hard as I am used to Estilo gear shift which is butter smooth. First gear is very responsive but second and above need efforts on pedal. May be I am not able to frame it right but I am finding it confusing sometimes.

Fuel efficiency: I have completed 1000 Kms on mixed roads, Most of the part in city then hi-way and some part in ghat section. It gave me an efficiency of about 12 km/lit. Filled it 3 times, first time it gulped 59 liters, then 42 liters and 46 liters respectively.

Issues recorded:
ODO is above 1000 kms now and have following niggles.
1. Left rear bench pushing soft top.
2. Tail gate lock not working.
3. Cabin light not working.
4. Door alignment.
5. Door beading are missing or incomplete.

Quality of after-sales service: Visited service center for the above issue and it was a very bad experience. I am used to a quick and nice Maruti service, so it was a shock when the service adviser asked to come back after 2/3 days for a scheduled service. I can't imagine how it is going to be for all the services. I went to Silver Jubilee Pimpri facility and found it not so good. They park vehicles in a side by lane which is not inside the service center. So, any damage or misshape to vehicle can happen easily.

Modification planned:
1. Front facing rear bench/bucket seat.
2. Hard Top. But I am still not convinced that I really need it because it looks true jeep in soft top. Only issue is dust and security.
Accessories planned:
1. SA Rollover bar
2. Extra set of lights.
3. 3M car paint protection.

To conclude- I am more than happy to own the Jeep however not happy with the sales and service staff. So below is my rating in details:

Sales Inquiry: *.
Booking: **.
Delivery: *.
For Vehicle : *****.


Mahindra & Mahindra are you listening. Please Rise

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the 4x4 Section. Thanks for sharing!

A very frank , from the heart review In a very simple uncomplicated language , thanks for sharing.

I know you are a guy who has his feet firmly on the ground & does not hesitate to count his own shortcomings , so your POV carries weight . Please continue to share your views as openly & frankly as you can .

What I will expect from your experience is ;
1) real fuel economy of the vehicle

2) its maintenance costs

3) the ASC experience

4) things related with the build quality

5) overall life of components & problems

Please do share

Sudarshan

Good review. Hope minor niggles will be ironed out at 1st service. And I m sure this time you are trying Hadpsar facility.

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Congrats on the purchase !

A nice, honest, simple review. Wish you many happy miles with the Jeep.

Spike

PS- Noticed that your Thar's number is similar to one of the registration numbers of DB Sir's Fiat (IIRC). Call it luck?

Decent rugged dash board, it look awesome in night.
Live Young, Live Free - My Mahindra Thar CRDe 4WD-img_1923-copy.jpg

AC, Heater panel.
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Bridge Stone HT 235/70/R16
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Cabin space
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Mighty heart CRDe 2.5
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Closer view
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Thanks,
Vishal

Hello Vishal,
Let me start by first congratulating you on this wonderful purchase
I know you were initially so keen on Safari and then you made up your mind for the that, but a thoughtful wait i believe, we dont buy such things daily and hence better to buy what you like and from the posts i can see you are liking it a lot
Not an expert in 4X4 hence will not comment on those aspects

I hope this is not the TD vehicle standing at their showroom for a month and a half. And whatever you do, don't go back to Silver Jubilee for ANY kinda service - free or paid. Find a trustworthy private mechanic and get everything done in front of your own eyes. I never thought this to be possible but Mahindra after-sales service (Silver Jubilee or Sahyadri) is worse than that of Maruti's (Sai, Chowghule, Kothari, or Wondercar). Have experienced all.

Congrats on the purchase of the Thar. It's a nice and sincere review. Almost any decision related to Jeep is a matter of heart :). Hope you have found favor with your home ministry. Have a safe and happy motoring. Enjoy the Jeep life.
P.S: What happened to the Enfield booking?

Is this some new engine or the engine from the Scorpio? Because the specs say 2.5L engine!

http://www.mahindrathar.com/specification.aspx

Quote:

Originally Posted by navpreet318 (Post 3025935)
Is this some new engine or the engine from the Scorpio? Because the specs say 2.5L engine!

As of now, it is a 2.49L engine. MHawk is 2.2 and comes with a TMIC, this is 2.49 with a FMIC.

One "may" see a scoop if the 2.2 L is plonked in, all depends.

Vishal, you are lucky you got it without the mHawk engine.

Spike:D


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