[GTO]

Originally Posted by Captain Haddock

Pardon me, but is not the 407 a lorry with 6 tyres. (I have seen such vehicles but never a pick up version of 407). 407 competes with vehicles like SML Samrat (old Mazda). I think 207 is the pickup. Please correct me if I am wrong.

This is the smaller 407 Pickup. Length of 'merely' 4700 mm (like a Fortuner).

[Captain Haddock]

Thanks for the correction.

Xenon is more car like and 407 even with four tyres will be a handful to drive in the city.407 will be a better option only for a seasoned heavy vehicle driver.Width will be still that of a lorry so in the city it will be a cumbersome to drive and park

207 is cheaper than the Xenon. From an economic point of view 207 will be the ideal choice. It's got bullet proof reliability and is tried and tested extensively. It has less things to go wrong. Xenon may drive better than the 207 and has finer looks.

[amit_snk]

Originally Posted by w8763

Thanks Amit_snk and turbospooler for your suggestions. The available options at Tata dealership is basic Xenon (with power steering ,non AC) pickup or Tata 407 pickup. Xenon with dicor engine is around 2.5 lacs expensive @9 - 10 lacs ex showroom approx. Tata is subtly changing engines and models innovatively in the commercial vehicle space. Hopefully the old one gets sold soon and festival season discounts will help. Isuzu maintenance may be expensive as all suggest. Mahindra may lose on brand loyalty else it's competent I know.

If selected xenon go for DI version, crdi apart from having high initial cost will have costly spares also not every mechanic will be well versed with crdi engine, thus can be a problem in remote areas. But please confirm the turning radius of both these vehicles as tata motors website specifies turning radius of crdi/ di as 6.35/12.7 mtr. Seems something is wrong here, there cannot be such a huge difference for mechanically same trucks apart from engine.

[Geo_Ipe]

Originally Posted by Captain Haddock

Pardon me, but is not the 407 a lorry with 6 tyres. (I have seen such vehicles but never a pick up version of 407).

The 6 tyred lorry you're talking about is the Tata 608, the 407's big brother.

[Turbanator]

By our experience with Isuzu - Cab Arch version should be avoided for loads / driver usage , regular flat deck should be OK as long as weight is not very heavy but you will need to add 1or 2 leaf springs in rear otherwise ground clearance is very low specially when loaded . Overall floor sheet is not solid and is prone to dents as in our case . For new locations even I am inclined towards Bolero.

[gthang]

Originally Posted by w8763

But Xenon single cab suits me better I think.

Any reason why Ashok Leyland Dost was not considered?

Not sure of your load requirements, but it seems like a competent small pickup.

Cheers

[w8763]

Originally Posted by gthang

Any reason why Ashok Leyland Dost was not considered?

Not sure of your load requirements, but it seems like a competent small pickup.

Cheers

Yes Gthang, shall check it soon. But it seems like competitor to Ace and hence probably a downgrade.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

The 6 tyred lorry you're talking about is the Tata 608, the 407's big brother.

There's also an LP410 SFC, which comes with 6 tyres.

Originally Posted by w8763

Yes Gthang, shall check it soon. But it seems like competitor to Ace and hence probably a downgrade.

AL Dost is pitched against the SuperACE and Mahindra Pikup. The Dost is also offered in a 2.85T GVW version, with a rated payload of 1600kg - more than the PikUp's, while the first version was available with 2.5T GVW & 1.25T payload. Also, Dost can negotiate narrow city roads well, compared to the rest of the vehicles you'd shortlisted.
Some threads for your reading pleasure:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/commer...xperience.html
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/commer...land-dost.html

Consider the after-sales support for any vehicle that you choose in your area of operation. I hope you know well that the cost of operation would include the fuel, tyre, maintenance expenses in addition to the cost of the vehicle, so spending a little extra in the beginning but something that's cheaper to maintain/visits the garage less frequently will turn out more profitable in the long run.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

regular flat deck should be OK as long as weight is not very heavy but you will need to add 1or 2 leaf springs in rear otherwise ground clearance is very low specially when loaded . Overall floor sheet is not solid and is prone to dents as in our case . For new locations even I am inclined towards Bolero.

Very interesting - thanks for sharing!

It sure looks like the Indian brands are 'overload-friendly' while the foreigners aren't. There's a saying that, when an Indian company builds a truck for 1 ton, it's actually capable of handling anywhere between 2 - 3 tons. The Europeans and Japanese - however - believe 1 ton should mean 1 ton only . Not cool in a market like India where everything is overloaded....even people carriers. E.g. A 10-seater Mahindra Bolero will carry 20 villagers on a daily basis!

I believe this was one of the (many) reasons that the Tata 407 completely annihilated its competition in the late eighties.

[gthang]

Originally Posted by w8763

But it seems like competitor to Ace and hence probably a downgrade.

As far as looks and image are concerned, you are probably right.

But considering the ridiculous turning radius of the Xenon, the LX variant of Dost with Power Steering and A/C seemed like a more practical alternative for city use.

Cheers

[w8763]

Originally Posted by gthang

As far as looks and image are concerned, you are probably right.

But considering the ridiculous turning radius of the Xenon, the LX variant of Dost with Power Steering and A/C seemed like a more practical alternative for city use.

Cheers

A/c isnt a requirement gthang. But 1.5 litre 3 pot of Dost against a 3 litre 4 pot of Xenon for load lugging seems a disadvantage. Turning radius is better in Dost but safety seems better with a couple of metres in front in Xenon. Buying a vehicle is not a walk in the park

[nitinmurali]

I will share our experience with these vehicles in the last 5 years. We have a roofing sheet profiling industry. We currently have 1 Bolero Pickup, 2 Bolero Maxi Truck Plus, 1 AL Dost and 1 AL Ecomet. We had a Tata 407 Pickup and another Dost in the recent past which we have sold. Our vehicles run around 50,000 kilometers annually. Extra leaf springs were added in all Boleros.
My outlook of the above mentioned vehicles are as follows.

1. Bolero Pickup- Very sturdy vehicle. Good to drive according to drivers and a good load lugger. Average fuel efficiency is between 11-13 kmpl. Drivers love this vehicle. Zero maintenance other than regular service. Using this for past 6 months. Did about 18,000 kilometers till now. Carried up to 3.5 tons. Can be repaired any where.

2. Bolero Maxi Truck Plus- The first Maxi Truck was bought 10 months back. Done around 35,000 kilometers. Good to drive according to drivers and a decent load lugger. Done about 35,000 kilometers till now. Fuel Efficiency is around 13-14 kmpl. Zero issues other than regular service and maintenence. A new Maxi Truck was bought a week back, and is on the process of adding leaf springs. Carried up to 3 tons. Can be serviced any where. Cost about one and half lakhs lesser than Bolero Pickup.

3. AL Dost- The first Dost was bought in August 2012. It is a good vehicle but not as rugged as the Bolero. It did around 1,60,000 kilometers before selling it off. Had some maintenance issues on the later part of its run. The other Dost was bought in June 2013 and has done around 90,000 Kilometers. Average fuel efficiency was around 15 kmpl. Both of these were easy to maintain. Dost is the easiest to handle in town and has the highest fuel efficiency but lacks ruggedness for our business. But we may still buy another Dost in the near future.

4. AL Ecomet- Bought in 2011. Done around 1.2 lakh kilometers. Very reliable with zero issues. Fuel Efficiency is around 5kmpl. Carried upto 12 tons on it. It needs an experienced driver, unlike the above mentioned ones. Probably the one with highest reliability. I believe that the Bolero will be as reliable as Ecomet at least for 4-5 years.

5. Tata 407 Pickup- Brought in 2012. Did around 1.5 lakh kilometers. Very rugged and Excellent load carrying capacity. But was difficult to drive for all drivers. Had a very hard clutch. Fuel efficiency was relatively bad averaging around 7-9kmpl. Had some minor issues but none major. It definitely needs an experienced driver. We probably wont buy another 407 in the future.

Note: We had plans to buy Isuzu D-Max recently but settled for Bolero for the last purchase. We might experiment with a D-max in the future. Very sure about its Engine capability but not so for its 'over load friendliness' and service with maintenance aspects. I might be terribly wrong here. Please correct me if wrong.
For your use, I believe Bolero Maxi Truck Plus will be the best bet for the price. But, if fuel efficiency is the main concern, go for AL Dost. I felt the Pickup a wee bit sturdier than Maxi Truck Plus. Decide accordingly.
I have no idea about Tata 207.
Thanks.

[HillyThar]

Just wanted to chip in with my experience, for my fruit processing business, we also got the Bolero Maxi Truck Plus with power steering, leaf springs were added, and a GPS tracker from Tracking Genie.

Its only run 6000 kms in 6 weeks, but it seems to have the hallmarks of a good commercial vehicle - (hopefully) low maintenance, is pretty solid and the driver is comfortable with a power steering. Since its driven in the hills and needs to climb steep gradients with a load, Tata Ace, Dost etc were removed from the consideration list, besides their service network is really poor in the interiors of HP. I called up Tata several times to figure out from where can I get the Xenon pick-up, and visited their service centre - the service was more than dismal, I didn't get any clarity or response, therefore I stuck with Mahindra.

The mechanics I spoke to in the area all vouch for the vehicle's reliability and lack of major repairs.

The Bolero Maxi Truck Plus is able to carry up to 1.8 tonnes of load on sustained steep climbs, which makes it an asset, the regular Bolero carries a bit more but for a lac or more lesser, its something I can live with as most of times the pick-up isn't carrying dense loads like cement, sand etc. but fruits, for which, it works just fine. The average has been close to 13 or so, am hoping that'll improve since the first servicing.

Originally Posted by nitinmurali

2. Bolero Maxi Truck Plus- The first Maxi Truck was bought 10 months back. Done around 35,000 kilometers. Good to drive according to drivers and a decent load lugger. Done about 35,000 kilometers till now. Fuel Efficiency is around 13-14 kmpl. Zero issues other than regular service and maintenence. A new Maxi Truck was bought a week back, and is on the process of adding leaf springs. Carried up to 3 tons. Can be serviced any where. Cost about one and half lakhs lesser than Bolero Pickup.

For your use, I believe Bolero Maxi Truck Plus will be the best bet for the price. But, if fuel efficiency is the main concern, go for AL Dost. I felt the Pickup a wee bit sturdier than Maxi Truck Plus. Decide accordingly.
I have no idea about Tata 207.
Thanks.

[Turbanator]

GPS tracker from Tracking Genie

Can you share some more details on this , I am looking something similar.