[ankan]

Water splashes because the front wheels protrude out of the wheel well. This happens when during rains you encounter sudden patches of water on the roads and cannot slow down for it. The wheels protruding out also makes the car dirty. But these should not be a deal breaker, the tires change the look of the car and you will get used to dealing with the water splashes.
I am sorry if I put you off from changing the tires, I just gave you my opinion about the tires. I have been using them since the car was new. These are less than 2 and a half years old, run 30000 kms and good as new. Also never had a puncture till date, touch wood!

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

And how's Bolero a Jeep?

There are CJ genes in a Bolero that is why it is a Jeep.
You either get a Jeep or you dont.
It cannot be explained explained using left brain analysis.

[Ashley Nair]

They are stock specification tyres, Bridgestone Duellers 215R15HT, changed at 60000 kms. The ride comfort is good in the front seats, but as usual the last row is jumpy, thanks to the rear leaf springs. The Mahindra logo and sabre tooth is a DIY, which I removed later.
The driving lights are Neolite, a show piece, and do not serve for any practical purpose as the beam throw is pathetic. But I have upgraded the headlamps to 100/90 and the visibility is good.

[Simple_car]

Hi Bydesign,

Congrats on your bolero, it's my kind of vehicle. I had the same thoughts when it came home as you.
My 2 cents:
1. Do have the nuts and bolts of the chassis tightened (this is what the A.S.S. calls it here)
2. Grease the leaf springs judiciously. Seriously helps in prolonging their life. Mine takes up 1kg of grease every 20k kms.
3. Be on the lookout for rust. Early ones had notorious rust issues. Mine looks like 'mater' from the 'Cars' movie

Above all enjoy the vehicle. This one is for keeps.

[ByDesign]

And she's home!

First went to Sai Mag Wheels in Delhi for the alloys BEFORE taking the delivery of my tank (yes, I'm that fanatical about upsized tires and alloys). Got the HRS H427 15" as shown below -



Delivery was alright, the salesman, Mr. Deepak Sharma was warm and friendly. He explained all the features of the car, and took me through all the documentation that came with it. They gave me a 10 liter diesel coupon and I filled that up the first thing when I drove out.

POINT TO NOTE
The speedometer (digital) was stuck at 0 kmph, the voice messaging system wasn't working, the odometer wasn't moving (it was stuck at 64 kmph), and the digital gear indicator was always showing 'N' (for neutral). I was a couple of kilometers away when I actually noticed this. The fuel and temp gauges were working fine, and the tachometer was fine too.

The salesman assured me that the problem was minor and that a couple or wire must have come undone during the pressure hose washing or some such hoo haa.

The next morning I drove to the showroom, a technician ducked under the front left side of the car for about 3 seconds and all the features started working! Though I was happy that this was so easily resolved, it shocks me to see that if that coupler is removed, the kms aren't recorded on the odo!!! That's proper 'jugaad' to me. Just imagine what dishonest people could do with that. Take your car anywhere for a spin, and make sure the miles don't show up.

Anyway, the long and short of it is, the cars tip top and all ok now (I haven't got to the minor niggles yet).

Moving on, I went straight to the tire dealer after delivery, sold the old tires/rims/wheel covers, and got the Yoko Geolandar's (235/75, R15). I was rest assured that the 75's didn't scrape under load etc. So far she's driving like a champ.

Plus points

• Road presence is massive
• The new bulky tires and alloys add such stance and brutality to the looks of the car
• I LOVE the way the jeep is so squat on the road!
• The AC is a bone chiller. Even with no rear vents, my friend was chilled in the rear most jump seats with the AC on the lowest speed!
• The sound quality in the default kenwood system is more than acceptable all through the ranges. I noticed the speakers tearing only on heavy bass tunes on louder volumes.
• The system telling you "You're running on reserve fuel" or "please wear your seatbelt while driving" and "careful, your handbrake is on" can be very helpful (PS: there's no background music when the messages are playing like in the Scorpio!)

Niggles

• Tiny little squeaks from somewhere in the rear (probably the jump seats) when the tank is trundling along.
• The right side air vent air flow rotary control doesn't work. This means, air flows whether it's on or off. Promised to get fixed tomorrow.
• A few of the chrome scuff plates are not suitably fixed. Promised to fix tomorrow.
• The steering wheel isn't perfectly aligned. For example, when I make the steering wheel straight with it's vertical axis of symmetry, the tires are actually just slightly turned right. Therefore, when I'm actually driving in a straight line, the steering wheel faces a wee bit left.

Call this OCD, but it's one of my qualities to notice all these tiny things. Let's see how many of these will get fixed. I'll keep the thread posted.


The real time FE display at best showed me 14 kmpl with 100% AC usage. The rear seat isn't super comfy, in fact it's rather jumpy with wavy bumps. So far so good! Now enjoy the pictures!





Makes me smile every time I see this photo





The digital instrument cluster is really helpful and a pleasure to look at. One glance at my dash and I know which gear I'm in too! That's a neat touch indeed.





My Optra Magnum and my darling Stile MJD welcome home the new juggernaut





A closer look at the tires and alloys





The pink ribbons is like making Arnie wear a frock . They were all removed subsequently





Even closer to the Yokos





Yokohama Geolandar 235/75 R15 with HRS H 427 15"





My personal favorite pic of her














The diesel musketeers - Diesel powered oomph all around

[Viju]

Hearty Congratulations on your Bolero! It's a car I would buy just for the macho looks!

And great choice of wheels and tyres!

Drive safe!

[madhkris]

Bydesign, Congrats on the Jeep! The stance looks fantastic and menacing. Indeed its a tank. Wishing you many miles of safe motoring. Please keep the thread updated.

[ankan]

Congrats! your Bolero looks great and the yoko's are looking brilliant! Wish you lot and lots of trouble free happy miles!

[shyamk]

Damn. Your personal favorite pictures has pink ribbons on it !

Congratulations on your purchase and wish you many miles of "traffic moves when they see the bolero in their mirrors" driving.

Shyam

PS: My engine run-in was a Chennai-Goa drive. Where is yours ?!

[chaunfa]

Originally Posted by ByDesign

IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR ALL

New discount schemes for Bolero 2013 just released a couple of hours ago. Cash discount of 20,000 INR confirmed. I am now getting the Bolero top variant ZLX with 2 years additional warranty for 8,40,000 INR!

Tomorrow, i.e. the cheque signing day, I will be bringing it down to about 8.35L and getting some floor mats too. Depends on how well my posse and I can haggle.

Yes I noticed the offer too, though I bought my CRDE almost two and a half years ago. Much gnashing of teeth and wailing in the outer darkness has taken place. I have a chocolate square now. Beats most of the mini suvs in looks and sheer value. By the way Black Bolero s are stolen more often, so auto cop and steering lock are essential. The square starts to look really menacing with these feet.

Regards,

Chaunfa

[rahul4321]

Incredible By-Design!!! Love the looks of your Bolero!!! Those alloys make it smoking hot!! Welcome to the Bolero Club!!!

How was the dealership experience during the delivery of your Bolero? Mine was quite good- but not that good; I mean the guys at Hyundai treated us like God's while taking delivery of the Santro and Accent respectively while the guys at Mahindra treated us as if we were special customers no doubt; but on a completely different scale compared to Hyundai. However i have seen on Team-bhp, the delivery experiences of guys purchasing the XUV and the Scorpio and it indeed seems that they are treated in a different manner as to guys buying a Bolero.

Congratulations once again on your Black locomotive !!!

[amtak]

Congratulations on buying this beast ByDesign. I have always had a softcorner for this machine and would love to buy it someday in the future. You own two of my most envied machines - Palio and Bolero Congratulations once again and if possible, do post interior pictures.

[ByDesign]

Originally Posted by Viju

Hearty Congratulations on your Bolero! It's a car I would buy just for the macho looks!

And great choice of wheels and tyres!

Drive safe!

Thanks! Will do

Originally Posted by madhkris

Bydesign, Congrats on the Jeep! The stance looks fantastic and menacing. Indeed its a tank. Wishing you many miles of safe motoring. Please keep the thread updated.

Thank you. The alloys and tires were a complete game changer in this experience.

Originally Posted by ankan

Congrats! your Bolero looks great and the yoko's are looking brilliant! Wish you lot and lots of trouble free happy miles!

Definitely man. Thanks.

Originally Posted by shyamk

Damn. Your personal favorite pictures has pink ribbons on it !

Congratulations on your purchase and wish you many miles of "traffic moves when they see the bolero in their mirrors" driving.

Shyam

PS: My engine run-in was a Chennai-Goa drive. Where is yours ?!

Haha! Hence my Arnie comment in my post. The pinkies came right off after that photo shoot. Plus the shots on the road were devoid of them too! Not sure where my run-in will be. The chaps want to take this one to the hills.

Originally Posted by chaunfa

By the way Black Bolero s are stolen more often, so auto cop and steering lock are essential. The square starts to look really menacing with these feet.

Regards,

Chaunfa

This claim intrigued me. Do you have any evidentiary support to your claim of black boleros being stolen more? I'm definitely getting a gear lock soon.

Originally Posted by rahul4321

Incredible By-Design!!! Love the looks of your Bolero!!! Those alloys make it smoking hot!! Welcome to the Bolero Club!!!

How was the dealership experience during the delivery of your Bolero? Mine was quite good- but not that good; I mean the guys at Hyundai treated us like God's while taking delivery of the Santro and Accent respectively while the guys at Mahindra treated us as if we were special customers no doubt; but on a completely different scale compared to Hyundai. However i have seen on Team-bhp, the delivery experiences of guys purchasing the XUV and the Scorpio and it indeed seems that they are treated in a different manner as to guys buying a Bolero.

Congratulations once again on your Black locomotive !!!

Thanks Rahul. I still remember your post about Mount abu and the Bolero chugging up the slopes in 3rd gear! I've smiled a lot at that post and it was one of the reasons why I finalized the Bolero over the Scorpio. That really spoke to me the way you described the engine and it's true capabilities. The dealership experience was fine. Nothing too special. If you read my first post in this thread, you'll see. They were a little surprised that I wanted to test drive this vehicle because apparently Bolero owners just 'buy the car'. But apart from that the sales guy was super nice.

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by amtak

Congratulations on buying this beast ByDesign. I have always had a softcorner for this machine and would love to buy it someday in the future. You own two of my most envied machines - Palio and Bolero Congratulations once again and if possible, do post interior pictures.

Nice! Thank you. I will get new seat covers and floor mats before I post the interor pics. I will definitely keep the thread updated.

***UPDATE***

• Got the govt. issued number plates today.
• FE is going up! 14.5 kmpl on the drive back from work in the city with 100% AC.

[ankan]

Yes definitely buy a gear lock preferably MINDA. Mine was about to be stolen once from our house. The thieves broke open the door lock, opened the steering column to jump start the car. But, the gear lock became the hurdle, they just couldn't break it. In the end they had to bend the gear lever to move it out of the lock. They were just about to start the vehicle and get away but while opening the gate my dog started shouting and we woke up and switched on the lights. They then ran away. All in all total cost was around 6-7 thousand for the new lock and repairing the damage done by them. The gear lock saved the car as it gave us some extra time. the lock was not damaged but the part holding it to the chassis was damaged.

[akshay4587]

Congrats Man,do not listen to what other's say or think about it.
Have fun with it,at legal speeds,it easily keeps up with the traffic,and rugged go anywhere attitude,cant be matched by any other vehicle in its price range.
We had one for about 10 years and 1.7L kms have fond memories associated with it,post more shots,and be careful while going through water,it comes straight to the windshield(Not sure if they have fixed it in later models).