[Neil Roy]

First Off, I dont hate Mahindra. I'm more angry that they take us for granted when it comes to delivering "quality" products. With that out of the way, my gripe.

Got a Mahindra Thar 700 on August 2019.



Kids loved it and it behaved as any Thar/MM540/International/Armada/Commander should. Nothing fancy, nothing out of the ordinary. At around 11.75 Lacs on road, Chennai it was way overpriced. Then again nothing about the Thar has logic. Decisions are usually taken by the heart.


I started noticing the rust on the stepney wheel after the recent rains in Tamil Nadu. It did get me reasonably worried as such things are not meant to happen in a new vehicle, that too in one costing upwards of 11 lacs.


Today morning I opened the hood to see the same rust in the headlamp housing on both the left and the right side.


The engine bay is not exposed to rains, there is no moisture accumulation there due to the engine temperature and still the bolts started rusting within 2 months and 3000 kms. I dont live near the seashore and hence that is not a possibility.
Out of a gross vehicle weight of approximately 1500 Kgs, the bolts and nuts must be maximum 100 Kgs per vehicle. Ordinary bolts retail at Rs. 55 per kg and properly galvanised ones retail at Rs.90/kg. The price difference is only Rs. 35 per kg which works out to Rs.3500 per Thar. For such an expensive, overpriced Vehicle signed by Mr. Anand Mahindra himself, cant he ensure that at least the bolts dont rust.
The bigger concern for me now is the bolts which are holding the ladder on frame chassis. It is one thing to not be up to mark with international R&D but quite another thing to use substandard cheap products which may compromise the owner and still demand a premium. I'm so angry that I think I will register myself on twitter and send these pics to Mr. Mahindra himself.
The Thar was actually meant to be a replacement for my aging MM540 4WD which is doing our estate runs. Given the Thar's rust bucket attitude, Im wondering whether to keep the Thar or the MM540