[Parm]

I would like to invite suggestions, advice and any kind of comments to help me decide on the purchase of a 4WD for a budget of 15 lakhs rupees.

Of the above mentioned two vehicles, a new Storme 4WD or an used Fortuner, which one fits more VFM in terms of technicalities, capabilities and maintenance.

Both will be used for same roles in terms of family touring vehicle, visits to hill stations and for soft OTRs. Both will be used a 5 seater vehicle.

thanks in advance.

PaRm.

[totaloverdoze]

A new car is always more reliable but in this case it's a TATA so i guess Fortuner is a better bet. ofcourse if you can find a good used one

[richie4u]

If you can find a proper, non-abused Fortuner in your budget then I'd say go for it with your eyes closed.An old Fortuner is more value for money overall anyday over a brand new Tata Safari Storme.

[akshay4587]

@Parm,you wont find a good Fortuner in 15L,Decent Fortuners go for ~18L.

[D'Artagnan]

Fortuner is a good handling car is good vfm, the interiors will grow on you and its quite roomy inside, after 50k kms it still drives smoothly and is built tough. The visibility is great, it's quite good in the city too. You will love the torque of this engine and it sounds like a hovercraft. Only gripe is since its an SUV your legs will pain during a long journey (its a ladder type chassis I suppose) you can negate this by shifting your leg position or stopping once in a while.

[navpreet318]

Have you given the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport a thought. Agreed that its recently been launched and the used car prices will be high if at all available but I feel that its a far far safer vehicle than any of the two you have mentioned. I have driven that vehicle at high speeds. It is rock solid. Dare I say it is more stable than my civic at triple digit speeds reaching the other end of the double ton.

It has a more flat ride which is better than the see saw ride in the safari or the fortuner. and it handles offroad escapades with a great deal of ease.


Other than the above points, in incase you are only considering the storme and the fortuner, I would suggest the fortuner due to better reliability than the storme. This is purely based on the facts that Toyota has a more robust manufacturing system and that the Hiluxes abroad have lasted the test of time by completing lakhs of kms.

[rrsteer]

My take is this - money should always try to buy the best, even if the best may not seem worth the money.

Fortuner in my emind is overall the best SUV available given the available choices. But the question is will you find a sample for INR15 lacs? I keep scouring the used car market and at least I haven't com across a Fortuner going for under 18 lacs.

I am a huge fan of Storme, but I equally distrust the serviceability of 4wd parts by the Tata dealers.

All the best and keep us updated!

[mayuresh]

No doubt fortuner is a good vehicle, but I'd have preferred a new storme to a used fortunner. (It's more about used vs new than fortuner vs storme).

There would be other options besides the two, though I presume you have already shortlisted these.

If there are specific reviews or reports of problems or specification mismatch with Storme, you can weigh those in your decision. But if you ask me I'd not reject it just because it's Tata.

I am a happy Safari (pre-Storme) owner and there are quite a few like me on the forum.

[Parm]

Thanks for your inputs, friends.

By the way, I have a Toyota Hilux as my daily drive in Dubai. Its a 2.7 ltr Petrol Engine 4WD. I have done 200,000+ KMS on it since I got it in 2010.

So, I'm well aware of the drive of the Fortuner, but the heavier 3.0 ltr diesel engine will certainly make a difference to the drive.

Even the petrol 2.7 ltr Fortuner doesn't come with all four discs, so the braking is an issue in the older models of Fortuner.

One more thing guys, the economic down turn in India, will it effect the 2nd hand car market? my guess is that the price of the used vehicles will go up!

regards,

PaRm.

[kailashnj]

Parm - I think you are right when you say that the cost of the old car will go up.

I would still suggest you the Safari Storme over used Fortuner - only reason being old v/s new. I have bought some used cars earlier (only a year old) and was utterly not satisfied with the car and sold it off in 11 months in all. The feel of the new car is something that cannot be matched by even the best maintained used car. Sorry for the comparison - but we all love our brides to be Virgins.

[theMAG]

If the choice is strictly between the two, I would buy the used Fortuner, assuming the Fortuner is in good shape. Buying an end-of-life product such as the Storme is generally not recommended - primarily for the depreciation.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by navpreet318

Have you given the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport a thought. Agreed that its recently been launched and the used car prices will be high if at all available but I feel that its a far far safer vehicle than any of the two you have mentioned. I have driven that vehicle at high speeds. It is rock solid. Dare I say it is more stable than my civic at triple digit speeds reaching the other end of the double ton.

It has a more flat ride which is better than the see saw ride in the safari or the fortuner. and it handles offroad escapades with a great deal of ease.

You spoke my words Nav. I have found the Pajero to be more clued than the Yeti I drive around. And I am serious when I say this.

The Pajero Sport has a bit of roll when compared to the SFX, but nothing compared to other ladder on frame SUV's. It is just so much more & better Car for your money. I just wish Mitsubishi gets pro-active with its dealerships (don't see that happening)

Drive a Pajero Sport & drive the other Car which is its immediate competition & give me one reason (forget 3 or 5 reasons) why Mitsubishi isn't better. (Give the ASC thing a break)

On the topic, I too have seen Fortuners going for exorbitant prices in used Car market. Makes sense to go for a new Endevour at prices close to 18 & above. Or the RX-5.

[TheARUN]

I think a Fortuner is a better bet, provided you pay the same price for it as you would for a new Storme. A refresh has been launched in Indonesia so it should make its way to our market latest by the Auto Expo next year, that will depreciate Fortuner prices further. Another advantage is that the import content in earlier Fortuners was high and that would mean better reliability

[neon]

Mod Note : There are several spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the forum experience for other readers.

Kindly ensure that you proof-read your posts prior to submission. Also, it would be a good idea to use spell-checkers.

[abhijit 2284]

Originally Posted by theMAG

If the choice is strictly between the two, I would buy the used Fortuner, assuming the Fortuner is in good shape. Buying an end-of-life product such as the Storme is generally not recommended - primarily for the depreciation.

i would disagree with the storme being a end of life product . the aria platform on which it is based is relatively new and i would envision it being used for the next 5 yrs at least

Having test driven the storme on a couple of occasions at the 2000 km and 12000 km mark odo i would suggest the storme on a used fortuner. the fortuner also suffers the same body shake as the storme to a significant extent.

plus tata has made major changes in the quality control processes wrt the earlier safari. now the storme is a product that you can own without being worried about bits and pieces falling off