[GNG19]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

On a related note, what would be the delivery timeframe for a booking made now? Folks who have made a booking recently should know.

My wife booked a Petrol HT AT 3 weeks back. The Customer Promise Date is towards the end of November 2021.

[Venkatesh]

Here's how the Made In India plaque on the Mahindra Thar getting etched with its unique serial number.







Video : Evo India

[MithunSathianat]

Finally got call from dealer telling that vehicle has arrived.
Went and did a PDI today at showroom and was all good.
Serial number is 9711
Make is 2021 January
This one had the infotainment fitted.
Ordered the below accessories :
1. Reverse Camera
2. Wheel Arch Cladding
3. Mudflaps
4. Mirror Applique
5. Scuff Plate
6. Head and Neck Chrome Line
Total cost of accessories was approx 20k. Dealer has agreed to give a small discount on accessories.

Cost Breakup:
Ex-Showroom: 1384292
TCS: 10382
Road Tax: 187481 (calculated based on revised ex-showroom price)
TP & Fast tag: 1110
Extended Warranty: 20767
Insurance: 53950 (online)

The delivery is promised within 7 days Fingers crossed.

[lurker]

You were saying you booked black, how is it that you ended up with grey ??

[MithunSathianat]

Originally Posted by lurker

You were saying you booked black, how is it that you ended up with grey ??

Even though I have booked black, I was open to all colours. I have informed the same to dealer so that they could call me incase of any cancellations.
Fortunately there were few cancellations

[WemaKadphises]

My Thar booked on 17 October in Lucknow(LX HT MT Galaxy Grey) is yet to arrive, but my dealer has promised delivery of a Thar in Black colour which seems to have garnered the largest amount of bookings, depending on cancellations. He seems pretty confident I can be allotted a black Thar by the end of this month. Keeping fingers crossed. And the sad truth is dealers are free to decide who they want to deliver a Thar to, and all the talk of a transparent online delivery by Mahindra is a load of baloney. From what I understood after my chat with the dealership executive is that the dealerships first allotted the Thars to powerful people in the city- politicians, police and administrative officers and also people who were wiling to pay an extra buck. For lesser mortals like us, the only way out is to wait out the frenzy and massive cancellations due to the waiting period.

Thanks a ton. That cleared up my apprehension to a great degree. Im treating the Thar as a 2 seater 4*4 with the option to seat two extra guests And yes for revenge mission

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by MithunSathianat

Make is 2021 January

Many congratulations! The jeep looks lovely. Galaxy Grey is my next favourite colour on the Thar, after Napoli Black. It goes very well with the character of a jeep, IMO. Wishing you many happy miles on the Thar.

On a related note, why is a Jan manufactured vehicle being delivered now? Was it waiting for infotainment system?

[MithunSathianat]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

Many congratulations! The jeep looks lovely. Galaxy Grey is my next favourite colour on the Thar, after Napoli Black. It goes very well with the character of a jeep, IMO. Wishing you many happy miles on the Thar.

On a related note, why is a Jan manufactured vehicle being delivered now? Was it waiting for infotainment system?

Thank you cool_dube.
Yes, the delay was only due to the infotainment.

[ph03n!x]

While I posted about this in detail in my ownership thread, thought it's worth mentioning here -

My Oct 2020 manufactured Thar (#1798) went in for the 2nd service (10k KM), and had the following parts replaced/ serviced in accordance to M&M's advisory:

• Wiper motor breather cap addition - to better protect the wiper motor from moisture
• Thermal bypass valve replacement
• AT Shifter Knob screw re-tighten
• Seat shoulder bezel shaft replacement - this is a part of the seat adjustment mechanism
• Remove 4WD shift cable from mounting clip - adjusting the shift cable for smoother shift operation
• Cam shaft kit replacement - this is the known recall
• Hood catchers replacement - this is also known
  

Those who have a similar model can check - later VINs may not have all of these in the advisory, but please check with your service advisor!

[darkLightning]

I was one of the few people who had locked in Thar Hard Top as a sure shot purchase once initial niggles were sorted (approximately by Diwali 2021 was the estimate).
However this was all done without looking at the car in flesh. The only two concerns being were
a) How much wifey finds it practical, even though she loves Thar more than me.
b) How much I can trust Thar on highways.

The main purpose was primarily exploring whole India (tow of us) and when required it can serve as the second car in family (We have a Celerio as primary family car).

We had put any kind of TD/ Showroom visit on hold as we were not in any hurry to purchase Thar.

However yesterday while doing some shopping we saw a kind of Auto Expo in a mall where Mahindra had also came with Thar and Marazzo.
Wife and I decided to finally get the feel of Thar in flesh and it went as follows -

1. Service Advisor was very enthusiastic and polite so that's a plus to Mahindra. (I am looking at you, Tata)

2. Thar is built like a tank, more solid build than even Marazzo.

3. The variant of display was Black Hard Top Manual, Driver footwell is super cramped, I am 6'2" with size 10 shoes and there was just no place in footwell. AT would be better but it will still remain cramped for me at least.

4. Seats are narrow, neither me nor my wife is on the wider side but we both felt that these seats won't cut it for longer hours, On the contrary Marazzo's seats were really comfortable in this regards.

5. Wife took trial of passenger seat as well as the rear seats. This was one bargain from her side that if she does not find any discomfort stepping into rear seats then I will buy Thar, she is a former NCC cadet and definitely fitter than me so she was betting on win here as I had absolutely no interest in ever stepping on rear seats of Hard Top due to my height. As per wifey passenger seat was narrow and sitting on rear seats gave feel of sitting in a toy car. And yes she had discomfort stepping on rear seats, By her own admission it won't be fun.

6. Boot space I would say is neither laughable nor as good as our Celerio, surprisingly Marazzo also had similar boot space. It can be lived with by using some tricks.

7. The mechanism to fold rear seats was really good, just pull the belt below seats and you are done.

8. However the bummer came with hollow seat backs. As one of the primary tricks to make do with smaller boot space we would have put our luggage over the folder rear seats and although we knew from reviews that seat back is hollow from rear but it is even worse in flesh. I can bet I would have been able to make a hole if I pushed harder on it.

9. Our final verdict was that as good and desirable Thar is it just won't cut it for us, at least not in this guise.

We walked away just imagining what could have been if only Mahindra had not made Thar a sub 4 meter vehicle.

[Peaky_blinder]

Got in touch with the dealer today. He says that earlier Mahindra was dispatching Thars without the infotainment system however now, they have decided not to send the vehicles to dealers without the system and wait for it to be fitted at the factory which is causing delays. Any idea on the veracity on this statement ?

[justwheels]

Originally Posted by Peaky_blinder

Got in touch with the dealer today. He says that earlier Mahindra was dispatching Thars without the infotainment system however now, they have decided not to send the vehicles to dealers without the system and wait for it to be fitted at the factory which is causing delays. Any idea on the veracity on this statement ?

At least the narrative is the same, that's all I can say. My Thar is scheduled to be delivered next month (fingers crossed) and when I asked the question about the infotainment issue, my SA was very clear, all fitments only at factory now. So possibly that would be adding to the delays further.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by darkLightning

However the bummer came with hollow seat backs

This is indeed a bummer! With such minimal/limited boot space, it would have made all sense in the world to provide hard/rigid back for rear seats, so as to allow luggage loading without having to worry about damage to seat backs. Might have to look for workarounds like flat plywood or similar, to be placed on folded rear seats, before loading the luggage. Another option is to switch to "softer" luggage like duffle bags!

Originally Posted by justwheels

my SA was very clear, all fitments only at factory now

I'd say this is any day better than leaving this to the (doubtful!) expertise of dealers! Factory fit is factory fit, at the end of the day. Also, jeeps are better off in the factory, waiting for infotainment systems, than lying in dealers' yards. Good move by Mahindra

[navpreet318]

Originally Posted by darkLightning

.........

8. However the bummer came with hollow seat backs. .........

Well I hope you had other strong reasons to reject the Thar because I cannot see how this point can be held responsible for completely rejecting a vehicle!

Agreed that the company should have thought this through and made proper amends. But this is a very small issue which can be resolved with a very very simple sheet of acrylic, plastic, ACP or any other similar thin light sheet to be inserted below the seat cover.
Very easily doable by a seat cover guy. And voila you have a solid seat back.

Way back in 2007 I wanted to mount the amplifiers and wiring on the seat back of our swift ZXI. Asked the local seat cover guy to fit a relatively thin MDF sheet below the seatcover. And done. Now there are tons of options.
Just not a point of rejecting the vehicle on solely this point.

Also I have a size 11 shoe. I didn't find the foot well cramped as mentioned by a lot of people here. This is the manual I'm talking about. I drive a Storme as my daily. Didn't find any difference. I'm sure the AT will have more than adequate space.

I'm now pleased with my choice of P AT HT. And calmly waiting for it to arrive as per the initial forecast. As by then a lot of items will be recalled and issue will be settled. Also production will be in good order and reworked aggregates will be minimum. I haven't even talked to the dealer where I've made my booking. Ofcourse it's another matter that he is a dear friend. Still don't want it any sooner.

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by darkLightning

...
...
As one of the primary tricks to make do with smaller boot space we would have put our luggage over the folder rear seats and although we knew from reviews that seat back is hollow from rear but it is even worse in flesh. I can bet I would have been able to make a hole if I pushed harder on it.
...
...

I wouldn't want to test the 'make a hole' () part, but... (contd. below)

Originally Posted by cool_dube

This is indeed a bummer! With such minimal/limited boot space, it would have made all sense in the world to provide hard/rigid back for rear seats, so as to allow luggage loading without having to worry about damage to seat backs. Might have to look for workarounds like flat plywood or similar, to be placed on folded rear seats, before loading the luggage. Another option is to switch to "softer" luggage like duffle bags!
...

...I folded down my rear seats (after removing the head rests) and carried 6 boxes, 2.5 ft x 1.5 ft x 1 ft. and weighing about 30 KG each - I drove from Hyderabad to Coimbatore, about 950 KM.

Nothing's wrong with the seat, it's been a month since I did this trip. If at all, the Thar felt more planted on the road, what with the added weight

All I'm saying is, the seats are not delicate. Maybe if I load the weight right in the middle of the backrest, it may end up with a hole. But then, be it cabin or mid/ large size luggages, you'll always be able to position the weight on the frame of the seat back - and nothing will break.

Maybe the next time I do this trip (ETA June), I'll click some pics too!