[charan]

Hello all, i recently picked up an Armada Grand for the love of driving a jeep. A casual browsing in the ad-mag had a 1999 model, fully loaded Armada Grand. I was impressed with the condition of the body and the OEM paint when i saw this beauty in person. She had an electronic (BW) 4WD, OEM A/C, Power steering, all 4 power windows and even remote locking. In the following few weeks, after a little negotiation quickly managed to take possession of her.
My objective of purchasing this one was :
- A second vehicle, for casual off-roading (although my car has become the second vehicle now)
- Should be practical for daily city drives, occasional highway drives, around farm lands, jungle treks, estates
- Love the commanding position; specially when the auto rickshaws give way with out even me honking !
- Needed a Hard top for safety and practicality (Rain/Sun/Thieves etc.)
- Accomodate atleast 6 adults with moderate luggage for pleasure drives to Chikmagalur, Coorg and other malnad regions
- Always wanted to drive a Jeep
Been about 6 months since i have picked it up, have been using it daily (and effortlessly; although bumpy) to office; about 22 kms 2 ways daily. Never regretted the buy, although have made some changes in the looks (will post pics soon). I am getting around 11~12 kmpl with occasional AC use.
Following changes/mods done so far:
- Replaced the AC kit with that of the latest Bolero
- Diesel pump service and oil change
- Leafsprings overhaul (with an addition plate in the rear)
- New set of 16" Alloys and BF Goodrich tyres
- replaced the front bench seat with scorpio buckets
- Minor tinkering and alteration to extend wheel arches to avoid mud and slush being thrown up.

[charan]

Here is a link that was quite helpful in deciding picking up of my Armada. Also has details on the pregressive fetures across the years.

BUYING USED CARS TIPS

Regards

[sagar iswalkar]

Hey Charan, congratulations on your purchase. Must say your Armada Grand is in perfectly clean shape. Would love to see more pics of her. Just wanted to know how much did those Scorpio seats cost you? and are those height adjustable?

Thanks.

[charan]

Thanks Sagar ! I picked up used scorpio seats from the scrap for 5k (pair). My tinkering man at the worshop helped me find them. They are not height adjustable. After a thorough wash, seats were in good condition. Will post more pics soon.

[jeeva]

Thats a clean Grand that you have picked up. Congrats.

Was this vehicle posted up in some classifieds for sale earlier? It looks very familiar.
With additional leaf springs at the rear, how is the ride now? Doesn't it feel bouncy?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by sagar iswalkar

Oh that is true. I found this old print-ad on some other forum, and they have mentioned it here. Those were post '98 models.
Attachment 497611

Hey thanks for sharing! How times have changed. Only 12 years back, car makers were still advertising about:

- Air conditioning
- Glow plugs that *only* require 7 seconds of heating!!!
- Front disc brakes
- Laminated windscreen
- Halogen bulbs
- Radial tyres

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

It was not the Armada but the Armada Grand that DC transformed with his hideous touch.

-Biju

Originally Posted by GTO

@ Pjbiju : I'm pretty sure it was the original Armada (pictured in this thread). I believe this was one of DC's first ever projects. Unless you have concrete info?

The Grand I believe came much later. I don't know whether DC designed the front of the Grand, but I quite like it (especially when compared to the original Armada).

Re: Armada Grand:- Don't think it was DC. Vague recollections that it was Manvendra Singh.

Regards
Sutripta

[charan]

Originally Posted by jeeva

Thats a clean Grand that you have picked up. Congrats.

Was this vehicle posted up in some classifieds for sale earlier? It looks very familiar.
With additional leaf springs at the rear, how is the ride now? Doesn't it feel bouncy?

Yes, the previous owner had posted the pics on a website as well (thats where these pics are from). I'll share the new pics over the week end.

The ride is still quite stiff ; didn't seem to make much different with this addition. Any advices/mods appriciated ! For now i always drive with a full tank has helped to a small extent.

[anjan_c2007]

sagar iswalkar liked the ownership report.M&M was just evolving from those rugged post WWII jeep variants on offer, with tinkering and the extended to super extended chassis' on the CJ4A almost every few years. The Armada was their first fresh offering for civilised city driving and some off roading.It was a good effort and its ruggedness was vintage Mahindra. However the Armada ornamentation (mud guards, foot boards, bumpers, grille and so on) getting battered and the graphics fading earlier than blue jeans made the Armada look scarred. I have driven the MM 540DP softtops for very long distances (also with the 2112 cc 540DP and not the XD3P as you have stated-the XD3P appeared with the Bolero and is a 2498 cc engine)and can only comment that after handling the older MM CJ500D's with the tractor engine (MD2350 International Harvester),the new 2112 cc 540DP came as a breather. The MD2350 however was too crude, rattling and may have been one of the worst (NVH wise only) four wheeler engines ever produced in India .It could take a lot of battering-it even ran without a battery for some days with me in a forest area when a new battery was tough to come by. The MD2350 to the 540DP transition illustrated the theory of evolution at its best to me!! But I believe Mahindra understands our Indian conditions the best and its products withstand many odds as far as our driving environs are concerned. Lastly I would say that your swapping the Armada for a new SUV may keep its fond memories with you for years to come.

[sagar iswalkar]

Thanks Arjun for this useful information.
Well the clutchplate has givven-up all of a sudden and its time for a costly replacement. But my dad is suggesting to sell it soon (after the repair job obviously). Any suggestion where should I advertise it.

[jeepster]

nice to see a fellow armada lover.

i too bought one 1999 armada 4x4 just today at a government auction.

cant wait to get it running.

@ GTO: thanks for that pic of the armada.


& its my 777th post too.. (just after i become owner of a 4x4)

[sagar iswalkar]

Hey jeepster, huge congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the Armada family. Wow an Armada 4x4! Please do pose some pics of it. Would love to see it. And some details too

Chears and have a blast.

[charan]

Congrats jeepster ! Is it an Armada Grand ?

[sagar iswalkar]

Hello Guys, faced a small tragedy last week.

Before that I wanted to tell, last month me and other seven of my friends planned to go to Lonavala in my Swift and a friends i10, but his car got cancelled at last moment so we had none other option than to take my Armada. Well I was really surprised that she managed the whole trip of 10 hours without any trouble at all, in fact even the water level didn't drop that night (most of the time it was on full throttle), she climbed the twisty ghats on the road to Tiger/Lion point and even did what seemed like 115-120 kmph on E-way with full load!

Btw the incident that I was talking about happened with my dad on 1st June while he was on his way back home. Near Inorbit (Malad), while driving he heard some loud 'thud' from the engine side but he ignored it thinking it must be some stone, also that night Mumbai experienced the beginning of monsoon with very heavy unexpected rains. Some half kms later he heard some dragging noise, so he pulled over, switched off the engine just to discover the starter motor fallen on ground and dragged all the way by wirings. He called me and a mechanic, I rushed to the place (just half a km from my place) by the time the mechanic had disconnected the starter motor and we needed to push start the Armada. Mechanic said that its lucky that the wiring dragged the starter motor or else the whole assembly would have cost a lot. As of now, only the mountings have broken that need to be replaced he added.

So I need your comments on whether he is right about that? As of for one week, she is resting again!