[Puffdamgcdragon]

Hello All,

Season's Greetings!

Long time I haven't posted. We need to buy a second go-anywhere car for home. As my little hometown get's more congested, Our Innova's now too big and ponderous for daily duty like School and shopping, town etc. It's crossed a Lakh, thirty kms now and we are just using it for Outstation duties.

I have the Fiesta Sport as my personal car and family was using an old beat up, re-conditioned Maruti van till now.

I considered various small cars but it needed to be slightly higher as Mom's pretty old now, and ingress and egress would be a problem.

The Wagon R was perfect in many ways but for the fact that we need to go to a lot of rural areas with broken, kuccha road (where my Fiesta's Australian tuned "Sports Suspension" trembles and weeps), and since we always seem to be constructing something or the other, we need the flexibility of a bigger, tougher Veh. Preferably Body-on-Chassis.

So I trudged along to the Mahindra showroom to have a look at the New Bolero Power Plus, more or less decided! I'm not too keen on the veh. Hate the Interiors and find it slow and all over the place. but heard a lot of good things about the New detuned engine from the TUV.

Here, I find some good Year ending discounts. The Bolero (complete Range) has a discount of Rs 32,000 and the TUV has a discount of Rs 70,000 across the range.

What that means is that, The Bolero ZLX ex showroom - 8,07,899 less 32,000 discount comes to Rs 7,75,899 and the TUV T6 Variant with an ex showroom of Rs 8,45,413 less a discount of Rs 70,000 comes to Rs 7,75,413.

This is actually a couple of hundreds cheaper than the "Top End" Bolero. Even the T6 + Variant with the Airbags comes to Rs 8, 01,000.

I would love to buy the 100BHP top end model of the TUV, but it's a bit out of my EMI comfort zone.

Guys, should I go in for the Bare T6 version of the TUV or the Bolero?
Actually my question is, with the new Engine, does the Bolero make more sense?
I'm slightly concerned about the TUV rear wheel skidding on sharp bends in inclines (The whole countryside here is Sharp bend inclines) but then the Bolero keeps popping it's Balljoints out without warning!

Also, how much difference is there in the Torque delivery in real world between the Bolero with the 71bhp (?) tune, the regular TUV with the 85 bhp/ 220nm and the Top end with the 100 bhp/ 230nm?

I'm going for test drives tomorrow but i would like feedback for others also, please.

I'm a bit rushed as these discounts are only for a few more days and i have to decide soon. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Wongchuk.

[.anshuman]

We are in the year 2017(almost there) and Bolero is not the vehicle to buy, it is a big compromise especially in Safety, Ergonomics, Seating, Handling.... It does not stand a chance compared to how the cars have evolved over the years.

If these two are the only options, i would recommend any variant of the TUV over Bolero. And if you are open to other cars, consider the small crossover SUV's like the Ecosport or Brezza.

[heydj]

Why only these two choices? Do you want 7+1 seats?

Are you with all these discounts thinking you are getting more space or seats for less price? If yes then consider TUV.

I would suggest not buying either of these two and instead looking at Ecosport as it has good build quality, safe, relatively powerful, and adequate ground clearance.

[Rahul Rao]

I would suggest that you go in for a TUV300 in T4+ or T6+ variant, The + gives you airbags which are a necessity for your safety. The rear skidding and loosing line when you accelerate out of a bend is only due to over inflation, While running empty or with only front seat passengers one should follow the inflation recommended for 1 to 3 passengers where as tyre shops blindly fill up to higher end of the recommendation band which is for 5 to 7 passengers.

Rahul

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by Puffdamgcdragon

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

If a petrol vehicle is okay, then you could look at the Ertiga too. It's very easy for senior citizens to get in & out of an Ertiga, and it is as compact as the TUV/Bolero. I might be wrong, but 8L should probably fetch you the VXI variant.

Cheers,
Vikram

[Puffdamgcdragon]

Thank you guys. Yes, the Brezza should also be in my consideration. The Eco Sport is a bit cramped.

The reason I was leaning towards the Mahindras are that apart from the fact that they are very popular here( much better re-sale value!), it's the Body on Frame layout, Ground clearance, the extra two jump seats, cheap spares, torque very early in the Rev range and most importantly, the ability to handle abuse.

These are the factors that are important here in the hills. That's the reason why every second car here is a Mahindra. Stuff like Peak Horsepower, rail like handling, steering feel etc. are not much in consideration coz we don't have the roads. We only get to see 60plus kmph when we go down to the Bengal plains.

I remember buying a Baleno in 2005 after advices from lots of fellow enthusiasts on our forum. Loved the car! But it was quite useless here. I would enjoy driving down to Siliguri and back but for any serious work in the countryside, I'd bounce around in my Gypsy.

Even now, I love my 2008 Fiesta Sport. I revel in it's handling capabilities when I'm in the mood and when the highway opens up. It's also quite tough and I've carried Bolero, Scorpio Engine and gearbox numerous times in the boot to Bengal and back. But for serious work, I'm back in my Gypsy/ Innova.

[KMT]

Puff
A most interesting thread. I too am looking to replace my Ritz, and face the same issue of my hometown in Coorg becoming a congested (tourist ridden) nightmare.

As a city/ moufissil runabout the TUV is broader than a Scorpio and may be a tight fit in some places. The Bolero will give your mum neck and back pain although as you point out it will be great on ruggedness and resale.

The Brezza is worth looking at and I am also considering the Ignis.
I haven't explored the ugly Mahindra sibling, the KUV, it might also fit the bill.

Keep us posted.

[himanshugoswami]

Im going to suggest something left field here. Look at the pre-owned route.

Given your requirements, the perfect vehicle for you is the Safari Storme. Look for a 2-3 year old EX or LX. They both came with ABS as standard. Given the poor resale of the Storme, you can easily get a good example in under 7 Lakhs.

Give it a thought.

[condor]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

Im going to suggest something left field here. Look at the pre-owned route.

Given your requirements, the perfect vehicle for you is the Safari Storme. Look for a 2-3 year old EX or LX.

OP has mentioned that roads are getting congested in his part of the country. Then how much better would a Storme do over the current Innova ? The search is for something more compact.

[silverado]

Originally Posted by Puffdamgcdragon

As my little hometown get's more congested, Our Innova's now too big and ponderous for daily duty like School and shopping, town etc.

I considered various small cars but it needed to be slightly higher as Mom's pretty old now, and ingress and egress would be a problem.

the fact that we need to go to a lot of rural areas with broken, kuccha road

(The whole countryside here is Sharp bend inclines)

My advice would be use a separate small car for city and shopping only.
Buy a second hand Nano if one is available, you get them really cheap.
If you don't like it after some time, you can sell it off/or just gift it to someone.
Really easy to use in city and has 180mm of ground clearance.

Nano is the best car for elderly people to use.

[Skyline_GT]

I would vote for the Bolero.
To begin with it's a much practical vehicle compared to the TUV 300. For the amount of money you spend you get a more value for money product in the Bolero. It offers more space over the TUV as well. You get a robust engine as well. Plus it can take all kinds of beatings the rough roads have to offer. Quality wise I don't feel there's a massive difference between the Bolero and the TUV. Of course the TUV being a much more recent and modern car has better looks and interiors. But when it comes to hauling heavier goods or people the Bolero is still a safe bet.
In my opinion Bolero is the cheapest and the most robust no nonsense goods/people mover one could get in our market.

[procrj]

The bolero wins hands down when you mainly have to transport goods but if you will moving goods + using it for family travel, then the TUV scores. I have driven my 84 BHP TUV up some steep inclines and through some bad patches and I must say that as long as you work the angles, the car delivers and you dont need to worry about wheelspin. If you havent faced wheelspin issues with your innova, I dont think you will have a problem with the TUV.

Having said that, I would worry about the niggles that the TUV still has - FDM, Resonator, Modulator etc. spares for which might not be easily available in your location and could ground the car for longer time periods. Also note that the T6 & T6+ does not have fold-able rear bench and hence you will need to use the area around the jump seats for transporting goods.

If I was in your situation, I would lean towards finding a used car. A well maintained new gen scorpio might be a much better bet though even that seems to have the same resonator/modulator issues as the TUV.

[Puffdamgcdragon]

Thanks for the input fellows.

Buying second hand is out of question as I would have to put in cash upfront. I'd love to come to Delhi, put in about 9-11 Lakhs and pick up a decent Pajero SFX. It's perfect for our parts. But Alas, Modiji's demonitization has cut off the Cojones of most of small business like mine. Am struggling to stay afloat but then that's a rant for another discussion.

Silverado's suggestion of keeping a small car just for town duties makes a lot of sense. Then I'd pick up the Wagon R and a couple of months down the line, replace my Big Red. Family wants another Innova, I'm looking at the Hexa!

Guys, have all the issues in the TUV300 been ironed out? Need i worry?

[Puffdamgcdragon]

IGNIS!!! Now that's a thought! More upmarket, better interiors, engine and a bit of a status symbol than the Wagon R. Hope they don't price it near the Swift/ Baleno!

It's funny isn't it? You set out to buy a car without a fixed budget and as you do a little research, the next better option tempts you. You then justify to yourself why that is a good option for you, until a slightly more expensive vehicle from another manufacturer looks attractive.... and so on and so forth.. A week later you are considering cars almost double the price of what you set out to buy in the first place...

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by Puffdamgcdragon

Thank you guys. Yes, the Brezza should also be in my consideration. The Eco Sport is a bit cramped.

The reason I was leaning towards the Mahindras are that apart from the fact that they are very popular here( much better re-sale value!), it's the Body on Frame layout, Ground clearance, the extra two jump seats, cheap spares, torque very early in the Rev range and most importantly, the ability to handle abuse.

These are the factors that are important here in the hills. That's the reason why every second car here is a Mahindra. Stuff like Peak Horsepower, rail like handling, steering feel etc. are not much in consideration coz we don't have the roads. We only get to see 60plus kmph when we go down to the Bengal plains.

I am also a Mahindra man and would lean towards Mahindras especially for a place like Sikkim, where I was posted in 2005-06. The Bolero was even then the most sought after personal and also official vehicle. Most of the Sikkim Ministers and bureaucrats had an official Bolero. I am not sure as to what their official vehicle is right now ?

In fact, Mahindra taxis apart from Sumos and Taveras too are seen all around performing their duties from Siliguri to Gangtok and beyond Gangtok and so on.

The terrain one traverses is extremely rugged, landslides are frequent and while traversing the hilly roads, one has to take a detour, every once in a while. There are road construction bottlenecks, minor slides, rock falls and everything one expects in a hilly and mountainous region.

The TUV is not yet fully certified I believe by the buyers and it may be still making its buyers guniea pigs for experimentation, as is the case with many newly launched Mahindra and Tata vehicles in our country.

My choice will still be the Bolero - a good variant suited to your tastes.