Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Official New Car Reviews (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/)

-   -   Mahindra Thar : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/228360-mahindra-thar-official-review-14.html)

Now this brings us to the next point of discussion:

Dealer 1 : Sir we can take your booking but we can't assure you a delivery date as there has been an unprecedented demand for the Thar and production just won't be able to support the demand as of now.

Dealer 2 : Sir please make a booking as soon as possible. Once you make a booking we can assure you delivery within 30 Days! It doesn't matter what the other dealer says, we have enough clout to assure you that the vehicle reaches you on our promise date.

Now my question who would you make your booking with?
There would be less than .01% who would be able to see through the lies of Dealer 2 and make a booking with Dealer 1.

See dealers are humans too and when they're investing so much in a dealership, quite possibly most of them are well educated and have a logical mind.

But what happens when Dealer 2 gets 90% of the bookings and Dealer 1 gets minuscule bookings owing to his honesty? He just back off and ask the staff to use the same tactic.

Human perception has gone down the drain in the recent years. How many of us like you and me would be able to understand a truthful comment? We all want things fast. We're ready to accept that someone has a clout with a company like mahindra but won't accept the simple truth of a honest dealer.

Hence customers will be dealt in this way only! A honest dealer will always make losses. I'm not saying that the second dealer cheated the customer financially. No. But only tact works. This is the reality of the market!

Again, who would you make a booking with? Be honest. Forget this above explanation.
Secondly who would 99% of the Junta make their bookings with?

I booked the Thar LX HT Diesel Manual Red Rage on 3rd Nov EOD from NR Autos, Kolkata.

Explaining my booking process here: Kolkata has 3 major dealerships, Royal Automobiles, Shree Automotive and NR Autos (Mahindra Customer care guys later said, NR is a sub dealer)

I enquired the on road price at all the dealerships. And, at Shree and Royal, they were charging 15k to 25k extra for accessories which were a must to purchase. Actually, its the chrome kit and black applique that they were charging for. I liked neither of them. But, booking via these 2 dealerships, I had to pay that extra amount. + At both of these dealerships, 5k extra was being charged if I changed color. I am still confused between the Napoli Black and Red Rage.

Only, at NR Autos they said that they won't charge any extra, if I decided to change the color. But, changing the color meant the waitlist would be reset to the maximum. Secondly, they removed the optional accessories of 25k from the quotation. On the booking day, they said that the delivery would be between 2nd to 4th week of November. Later, after much persuasion, I got the booking ID and delivery promise date from their Dealer website as 3rd week of November.
Just a week ago, I finally received the mail saying that the delivery date would be 3rd December.
Anyways, I hope that they stick to the date of 3rd Dec at least. Changing the color is now out of question as going for Black means I might get a delivery date in the later half of next year.

Also, the insurance has been quoted at 65k for 3 yrs of TP + 1 yr OD. I enquired with other insurance companies and getting the insurance done outside would cost me around 30k for 1 year OD + TP.

Now, I think I have saved some money on the initial on road price but registration charges included in the quotation was for 5 yrs. I wish to go for the LT registration of 15 yrs which will set me back by another 70k approx.

With the extra warranty + RSA + few accessories which I need like the RV Camera, the on road price would be somewhere near 15.5 lacs in Kolkata.

Do you think there is some unnecessary charge that I can still avoid?

So the black beast paid me a visit this morning, in the ubiquitous Diesel LX Hardtop Manual (quite a mouthful!) guise - and here are some views/ observations that compliments what has already been discussed here.

I had my wife accompany me from the front seat (and my friendly sales advisor in the back seat) initially, and then has my wife and two kids (9 and 5) in the back seat for another spin.

Ride & Handling
I can only agree with these two observations partially -
In city speeds, the ride is pretty good. The suspension feels soft-sprung, though with a high damping co-eff. - does not have overt vertical movements. My family did not complain from the backseat, and I was asking them way too often throughout the drive.

The TD vehicle had 31-32 PSI all around.

At ~50+ KMPH over surfaces that are uneven and hence the front wheels articulate in a non-uniform manner, things get pretty interesting. This is somethings I completely agree with -
...and this should be the minds of those who're new to driving 100+ BHP SWB ladder-frame jeeps -
What adds to the complexity when things get "interesting" is the steering feel/ sensitivity -
Unless you have a firm hand that does not let the steering move and shake when the Thar loses its composure, you will lose the Thar and will need a prayer or guardian angel, especially if you are doing 3 digit speeds.

Don't take me wrong, I am not saying you should never drive it at 100+ KMPH - but do not do so until you clock a few thousand kilometers, and have a good understanding of how the Thar behaves under various road and driving conditions. And if you do not, recovering even from 80 KMPH will involve a lot of drama.

I did not try any offroading - but took it down a dirt road with enough potholes, slush and unevenness. The ride and handling at 30 to 40 KMPH was more then composed.

My view - it is acceptably composed in city speeds, but if you expect a sedan-like ride and handling, you should be TD'ing the Verna or Octavia - not the Thar :)

Brakes
I was pretty concerned about the different voices about the brakes - I did not find any problem though. The braking was progressive, predictable, and in line with my expectations - no complaints.

NVH
Is Awesome, 'nuf said. It remains to been seen how much of a compromise I am making - my booking is for a Convertible Top.

Underbody Protection
While I do not have much to add here, there are two aspects I wanted to call out -

I'd be happy if M&M gave the Thar an underbody shield (like Fiat Punto, for instance) - I will be exploring accessories/ after-market options to see how to protect the base of the engine/ transmission. Not quite happy "seeing the ground" through the engine bay.


The second aspect - the image at the top is from the first post of this review, and the one at the bottom is from this post by @A.P.S.Grewal. The press cars (like the one reviewed by Team BHP) are Aug manufactured, and the one that I test drove is a September manufactured car - and both seem to have different "skid plates". But like @A.P.S.Grewal had called out in his post/ tweet, this definitely looks like an Achilles' heel. The skid plate in the TD car is plastic, was okay for on-roads. I will not be comfortable driving it over surfaces that I cannot fully see - like water-wading. This is also something that I will assess changing in the accessories/ aftermarket route.



My Thar should be delivered on or before 3rd December - and the wait seems like an eternity already!

Onelivinglife- presume you did you Booking on 3rd October.

What I hear from my dealer is that
a) The soft top ones is delivered earlier
b) The convertible is at least 4 weeks better than the HT
c) The maximum wait time is for the high end - Diesel , Hard top , Automatic.

I think the Lead time from the vendor for the Auto gear box must be high. Their Production capacity for the Auto transmission might be very less.

Sorry for the Typo. That should have been 3rd Oct EOD. (Mods, I can't find the edit button. Can that post be made editable again?)

Yes, in my case the dealers say the same, but I just hope they stick to the date they have finally mailed.
Also surprisingly, all the Thar's in Kolkata are Black ones. I wonder if there is a red or different color Thar here in Bengal itself. I am willing to travel to other cities to see the Red in flesh.

I fail to understand the difference in shape and finish of gear lever of transfer case as advertised in official TVC versus in actual final product.

Please update if anyone is aware of this change in final production version in automatic Thar. Attaching the picture below for reference.

TVC/ Media drives and pre-production AT Thar:


Production version/ TD Vehicle at dealerships:

Are you sure the actual production car photo you shared is not from the lower AX variants?

Yes, i am sure its the LX variant HT in Napoli Black. The screenshot is from the YT video. Link is below. Watch it from 08:40 onwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMYcoVCkYt4&t=525s

Also i stay in Surat, there is a RED HT AT LX in diesel for TD with gear lever of transfer case like in the other picture i shared and not as shown in official TVC.

I can confirm, I have seen the same non-chromed lever on the LX HT AT Diesel when I test drove one earlier this month.

The manual LX HT Diesel though had the chromed transfer case.

Well that's odd. The car in the Official Review has the nice shiny non-plastic finish. See here:
https://www.team-bhp.com/carpics/202...ra-thar-01.jpg

Not sure what is going on here.

Also, watch this video @30:00: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwt2ft9Gqf8

Relax guys! The shiny printed cover on the knob and its silver ring must have just come out after some "rough" use. You will for sure have it on your vehicle, if you are getting one.

Doubt that.

I have also seen multiple cars with and without the chrome rings. Highly unlikely that they will fall off so easily on so many cars. The first car I TDed had that gorgeous chromed 4x4 lever, while that wasn’t the case with the next car at a different dealership. They had cars with two different looking 4x4 selectors, chromed as well as basic.

This to me indeed looks like a deliberate cost cutting adjustment and not some random occurrence.

Oh please, don't post for the heck of it, I have seen it, the knob is different, rough use ?, Checkout the Ciaz knob, please do the same on Hyundai models.

Don't know how this is panning out but yes, I have seen the unfinished knob on the HT AT Diesel.

Manufacturers cut cost but then this is too cheap, being penny wise pound foolish.

The video and the picture you have mentioned are media drive vehicles. The talk here is about the TD AT Thar reaching dealerships. I have seen and driven the TD AT in my city it didn't have that chrome finish ring. Also you can go through numerous YT videos of walk-around new AT Thar at dealerships, all have that chrome ring missing. Below are couple of reference videos of AT Thar at dealerships.

1) Watch 05:25 onwards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgi8pA1RJE4&t=259s

2) Watch 02:02 onwards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xssjGeQ6H34

Thats definitely not the case here. Its been hard getting membership at TBHP (9 years). So I wouldn't post without confirming my observation in at-least 10 AT Thar. I have asked SA too for the same but as usual he has no answer.

While i don't know what will be coming to customer vehicles, i request fellow BHPians to notice the transfer case lever finish in AT Thar whenever they go for a TD.

Definitely not a major concerning factor but the chrome ring enhances the appeal and appears durable. But appears as unnecessary cost cutting from Mahindra. I hope its done just for the TD and demo cars and the customer Thar would come with the chrome ring. Fingers crossed.

Has it crossed any of your minds that it might have been a simple case of the vendor not being able to supply on time. Maybe the vendor plant is facing some supply crunch due to Covid. There are several plants which are facing intermittent shut downs due to covid.

And in this case Mahindra just made up with the next option available to ensure the vehicles roll off and reach the Dealerships.

Personally if that is a Leather 4x4 transfer-case knob, I'd prefer that. Even if it gets worn off after a few years of usage I'd get a new one but would still prefer a non chrome unit.

And someone hurry up and get a delivery. We're down to discussing gear knobs now.

Edit: it's not leather. I'd get a leather one if possible.