[abhayshanu]

Picked up a 2009 Fortuner. Had shortlisted a Pajero Sport and a Montero. Both in excellent condition and price. But I was just not able to pull the trigger. Just kept on talking price, regular maintenance, part availability, meanwhile trying to find good shops for their parts, checking out buying bigger more expensive parts and how I would need to either be lucky or order it from Dubai or Thailand.
Fortun(er)ately, last Saturday as I was talking to a friend, he told me a mutual friend was selling his Fortuner. Talked to him immediately, met and saw the car on Sunday and I was ready to take it home. But my friend wanted to take a day to finalize. We then spoke again in the evening and we arranged to meet on Monday at 14:00.

So, I picked up this SUV which satisfies all of my needs

• Proper 4x4 with Low Ratio Gearbox
• Seat 6
• Reliable

It also fulfilled some needs which I was ready to adjust on, but luckily I didn't need to

• Manual
• Easy repairs
• Parts availablity
• Great aftermarket stuff
• White or Black Colour
• First owner
• Buy from the ower itself, no dealers

Some additional things, which really don't matter, but helped me push on this car

• The number (Total comes to 1, all of my vehicles share the same)
• Pioneer HU with decent speakers
• Reverse Camera
• Upgraded Headlight bulbs, to good quality Leads in all holders, Fog, low and High Beam

All in all, in the span on 7 days, I have already cover around 1000 kms and really happy with it. There are ofcourse some things to work upon, but those will be dealt with sooner rather than later

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by abhayshanu

My current requirement are as follows
4x4 which can good some decent offroading
Should seat atleast 4, 6 is better
Realiable
Diesel
Automatic would be a welcome option

All the cars that you have mentioned, fall slightly short of one thing or the other.

Remember that seat count is relative. When they say 7 seater SUV for touring, it actually mean 5 seater + luggage + touring, as no one likes to sit in the 3rd row on highway drives, especially on touring. In case of the four seater Thar, it actually means 2 seats + luggage + touring.
Although the Thar is the best off roader among the cars that you mentioned, it may not be very comfortable for long highway tours, even though the new Thar is refined and leagues ahead of the old one.
Centre row comfort for three persons is also important. Even cars like Fortuner, Endeavour, Pajero do not have very comfortable seats in centre row for full blown adults. So even that becomes uncomfortable. Among the many cars that I have owned and traveled in, the XUV500 has the best centre row seats, comfortable for three adults for long drives. But XUV500 has only AWD variant and would not recommended a used one. There is difference between AWD and 4WD.

Cutting the story short, the pre-owned 3.2L 4x4AT Endeavour suits and ticks all the boxes. It's robust and a pre-owned 2016 model can be bought for as low as 22 lakhs depending on the condition. And it can easily last you for another 8 years easily. Do consider this option. For the occasional city drive also, although the vehicle is big, it is comfortable because of the light steering.

[EightSix]

Originally Posted by abhayshanu

Picked up a 2009 Fortuner.



All in all, in the span on 7 days, I have already cover around 1000 kms and really happy with it. There are ofcourse some things to work upon, but those will be dealt with sooner rather than later

Congrats on the purchase, unfortun(er)ately I missed this thread.

I personally loved this generation of the Fortuner the best, it looks awesome in black in the picture. Looking at the list, it appears you got a well equipped car. Some people just turn out lucky in the pre owned market and seems like you did too. And you’ve already 1000 km in 7 days! You seem to be really enjoying the car.

BTW, may I ask you how many kilometers had it covered on the ODO when you got it? All used fortuners have atleast over a hundred thousand km on them.

[abhayshanu]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

All the cars that you have mentioned, fall slightly short of one thing or the other.

Cutting the story short, the pre-owned 3.2L 4x4AT Endeavour suits and ticks all the boxes. It's robust and a pre-owned 2016 model can be bought for as low as 22 lakhs depending on the condition. And it can easily last you for another 8 years easily. Do consider this option. For the occasional city drive also, although the vehicle is big, it is comfortable because of the light steering.

Thanks for the input, but already bought a old fortuner, manual and very happy with it.

Originally Posted by EightSix

Congrats on the purchase, unfortun(er)ately I missed this thread.

I personally loved this generation of the Fortuner the best, it looks awesome in black in the picture. Looking at the list, it appears you got a well equipped car. Some people just turn out lucky in the pre owned market and seems like you did too. And you’ve already 1000 km in 7 days! You seem to be really enjoying the car.

BTW, may I ask you how many kilometers had it covered on the ODO when you got it? All used fortuners have atleast over a hundred thousand km on them.

Thanks. More than enjoying, using it. It has some 85xxx kms right now.

[prateekswarup]

Congrats on the Fortuner!

My inclination would have been to go for the Pajero Sport for the ride quality over the Fortuner. Aftermarket Parts availability is better than before, with various FB / Whatsapp support groups.

However, hassle free ownership experience, Toyota wins hands-down.

Any major upgrades planned?

[abhayshanu]

An update.
I guess it's time to start a thread of this car.


Covered some 20k kms. Sorted out most niggles only a few remain.