[Sebring]

You're right. Kids can get hurt. Mahindra has not gone into too much detail I see. But a smaller length screw can be fitted to go completely in (guessing here), or some padding can be put over it. Not a deal breaker, for me.

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

with those exposed screw heads below the rear window, there is no way on earth I would put my kid on those back seats. The Thar is good, nay great, as a two seater. It definitely cannot be a substitute for a family car.

[The Rationalist]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

with those exposed screw heads below the rear window, there is no way on earth I would put my kid on those back seats. The Thar is good, nay great, as a two seater. It definitely cannot be a substitute for a family car.

Not only your's nobody's children should be in any back seat without being in a child car seat! I have 2 kids, the youngest is less than a year, they travel in car seats. There is no danger to kids in a car seat with those screw heads. I would be worried about kids below 12 sitting in adult seats with belts! I don't know whether Thar has ISOFIX mounts in rear seats, if it's there that would be too good, even if not a child seat can be secured using three point or lap belts. One can't blame Mahindra or any other manufacturer if we don't take adequate precautions while allowing kids to travel in cars.

[highwaypatrol]

Does any one know what this slot is for? Is that a styling statement or some slot for any accessory?

[asingh1977]

Originally Posted by highwaypatrol

a) A reverse cam
b) Auto dimming rear view mirror which you can easily source from aliexpress.

If MM is providing reverse cam. How will it integrate? A screen bolted on the dashboard—driver side. Or some other way ?

Still this Jeep looks so jeep out in the wild, seeing the pictures floating in.

[//M]

Test drove the Thar diesel manual today morning. At present, the TD being offered is only for a short distance of around 5 kms so I cannot comment much about the car but here are some first impressions -

What I liked about the Thar -

• Commanding seating position, almost everything else on the road looks puny

• The diesel motor barely has any turbo lag and flies off from the word go quite literally. That said, the top end is not that good as vibrations creep in post 100 kph (there was only one instance where I could push the car beyond 100 kph in this short TD)

• Quality of parts way better than the outgoing Thar

• Road presence is exemplary, everybody takes notice of the Thar even the cops were staring at it

• Rear room is acceptable for 2 people, legroom is decent for my 6 foot frame. Hard Top might be a tad claustrophobic for rear passengers over long journeys due to all black interiors

• Reclining rear seats are a nice touch

• Comfortable front seats, enough room to move around

• Overall touch and feel of interiors is more than acceptable


What I didn't like -

• Driver's footwell is extremely cramped, no room to park your left foot, other than on the clutch pedal. AT variant would sort this issue to a great extent

• Rear passengers also have a cramped footwell due to the intruding wheel arch, though legroom is sufficient

• Boot space is limited

• The ride quality is far from comfortable when compared to similarly priced vehicles but it's much better than the older Thar.

• Glovebox is the smallest I've ever seen on a car. It may be a little harsh to say this, but I guess some motorcycles might have more room for stuff under their pillion seat than the space available in the glovebox of the Thar


Overall, I can say that I loved the Thar. However, I would need a longer test drive to judge it properly, which looks unlikely in next 15-20 days due to the mad rush of fanboys and prospective buyers.

I was there at the showroom for about 30 mins waiting for my turn to TD the car. In that 30 mins, saw two bookings being made. The sales staff mentioned that this particular showroom took 40 bookings yesterday itself, almost 90% of them were for the LX variant.

[TokyoDrifter]

Managed to stop by at the Panvel showroom for a detailed look at/inside the THAR. They had LX MT Diesel HT black - both display and TD vehicles. Missed the opportunity to TD the MT - but I’d just not even TD it given the pathetic spacing of pedals. AT TD will commence in a week or two.

TL;DR:
The THAR IMHO is not going to fulfil anyone’s needs as a single car (be it family or 1/2/3). Also, definitely not a VFM pricing. Reasons, below.

1. Probably the looks and stance of the car are the biggest highlight. Looks classy to me. Unless I have 1.6 million INR lying in the MF/Stocks portfolio as profits, tough to plonk it on this one.




2. The luggage space is BAD, even with the rear seats folded down. Best use I can think of is to remove the rear seats altogether, and use it as a strict 2-seater with reasonable luggage space for Safaris etc.




3. The luggage space is good for 2 bags at the max, if one intends to use it as the airport car.


4. The rear defogger wires are reasonably concealed. Not a problem.


5. The cabin does look/feel claustrophobic from the rear. Nothing to talk home about it from a see-good pov either.


6. The driver’s seat does have good range of height and front/back movement range. Didn’t get to play with the steering adjustment; but with the seat height adjust and the backward movement, no problems at all with the left knee touching the dash. All good here. I’m 5’8.5”

The dash does look a bit higher than I’d have liked though, especially since I like a low seat height.


7. 50:50 rear seat split can come handy. But then again, might be worth if there was a level adjuster for the boot surface.


8. Plastic/look/touch/feel of the cabin and the knobs looks OK. Can live with it. Decent quality.


9. Gear levers are good to hold. Well spaced too.


10. Good luck to all MT drivers. Pathetic space between pedals! Surely won’t work in city traffic or even highway cruising. Sigh! Plain awkward again.


11. Ingress isn’t seamless. Even for fit adults. Funnily, the display vehicle had faulty front passenger seat - entire SA team had to try their hand at helping me get out of that rear seat - just won’t budge forward. Niggles are apparently there, and will take a while! The Brute force with which the SAs were trying to make space for egress, and even then it not budging made me capture a LONG video! Sigh.


12. Feet have to be swept together in the rear seat. No other option - awkward for adults!


13. No way would I want to sit on the rear seat for more than a quick drive. Feels at best like a pillion rider on a bike! Best for kids, adults will cry (inside).


14. Accessories - just a feel good photo, from the rear - to show the visibility through the rear window.


Misc. Pricing:
Incidental charges: 9090
Insurance 1 Yr OD + 3 Yr TP: 84,594
Zero Dep Insurance: 10,790
4 Yr/1.2 lac KM Extended Warranty: 11,209
Value Added Service pack: 9,000
Lifestyle accessories pack: 35,000
RSA 1 Yr: 2021

Ex-Showroom: 13,75,500
TCS: 10,313
Registration: 195,550
RST: 3,850

Total: 17,46,416 (Thane Registration)

Even if one were to remove the accessories pack, and negotiate on the insurance,

OTR of LX D AT HT will come to a good 16.5+ lacs. I don’t see HT really serving the need even if I were to consider getting this as a lifestyle vehicle; hence might consider CT.

Of course, all this only eliminated MT. And made me consider CT AT. Test drive will help make final decision. But 75% made up mind to look elsewhere, given the price point + initial 1P impressions.

Also, I drive a polo MT currently.

[himanshugoswami]

Originally Posted by //M

T

Attachment 2062812

Looking at that price list, one can easily knock off 87 K of the OTR price of the LX Petrol AT-

Take insurance from outside
4th year extended warranty
Essential Kit
Logistic Charges
TR charges

So effective OTR is approx 15.30 L which is good VFM

[Nithesh_M]

Interestingly there were some videos and twitter photos of a 2020 Thar broken down during test rides and it was getting looked at by technicians on the road. It was linked via rushlane group's facebook page. Today all the posts have been deleted.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/206140...86579371851658

[TokyoDrifter]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

Looking at that price list, one can easily knock off 87 K of the OTR price of the LX Petrol AT-

Take insurance from outside
4th year extended warranty
Essential Kit
Logistic Charges
TR charges

So effective OTR is approx 15.30 L which is good VFM

Doubt anyone would think twice before taking the extended warranty. Too many chances that niggles will appear, of all kinds!

[udy]

On a side note, the difference between a Convertible top and a Hard top is around 11 to 12k. Didn't understand the reasoning behind this, if Hard top is cheaper or Convertible top is expensive to make.

On the previous gen Thar, aftermarket Hardtops were going for 80k to 1.5 lakhs , so it might actually make sense to buy a Hardtop Thar and then buy a aftermarket Convertible top ( I am sure they will be available in the grey market very soon and must be reasonably priced) for someone who was planning to do it the other way around. What do you guys think?.

[drmohitg]

With the number of bookings various members are reporting from different showrooms across the country, I fear that in coming times we may see every tom, dick and harry driving a Thar on our roads - specially with the kind of "wanna be" culture prevalent in Delhi NCR territory. I am only concerned that the brand value of Thar may get diluted in the coming months as many of these would have absolute no connect with what the Thar represents and would be instead driving these on speeds and using them to bulldoze other vehicles on the roads. Just an observation!

[TokyoDrifter]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

With the number of bookings various members are reporting from different showrooms across the country, I fear that in coming times we may see every tom, dick and harry driving a Thar on our roads - specially with the kind of "wanna be" culture prevalent in Delhi NCR territory. I am only concerned that the brand value of Thar may get diluted in the coming months as many of these would have absolute no connect with what the Thar represents and would be instead driving these on speeds and using them to bulldoze other vehicles on the roads. Just an observation!

Much like iPhone trend? Quite possible. I doubt Mahindra would feel bad or worry about dilution though. But yes, “bulldoze” “macho” “road-presence” “lifestyle” - these do rule the perceptions these days.

[batish]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

With the number of bookings various members are reporting from different showrooms across the country, I fear that in coming times we may see every tom, dick and harry driving a Thar on our roads - specially with the kind of "wanna be" culture prevalent in Delhi NCR territory. I am only concerned that the brand value of Thar may get diluted in the coming months as many of these would have absolute no connect with what the Thar represents and would be instead driving these on speeds and using them to bulldoze other vehicles on the roads. Just an observation!

Valid observation but I think many will cancel their bookings. 1.5 million for a 2 seater SUV with not many comforts and fuel economy <10, it is not for everyone.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

With the number of bookings various members are ---snip--- vehicles on the roads. Just an observation!

Delhi ncr wannabes may book, even buy the thar, but remember that these are luxury ensconced buttocks which will bounce out of the thar when it goes over it's first pothole, right back into their Endys or Qxs.


I had looked at this car as my next drive, but comfort is primary. Even managed to look slightly past the lack of space, or the trouble with getting in the back, but this can't be the family tourer.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

...I fear that in coming times we may see every tom, dick and harry driving a Thar on our roads... no connect with what the Thar... instead driving these on speeds and using them to bulldoze other vehicles on the roads.

This is what happened to Royal Enfield. It cannot be seen anymore as the legendary bullet that it was once upon a time. Wish Thar's fate will not be like that.