[Sanjivvohra]

Originally Posted by VRJ

Overall, the Thar looks fabulous, drives well in city speeds, has comfortable seats, low NVH levels, lovely diesel engine, but bad brakes and steering. Will go for a long test drive on the highway next week.

Bad brakes and an iffy steering? The sheen is quickly wearing off!
Both being safety related issues, I wonder if it's worth any price?
I guess I'll wait for a real life long term review (or hope M&M fix these issues), before plonking 18 big ones on an unsafe car.

[haisaikat]

What percentage of total Indian car sales in cross overs and SUVs of 10 - 20 lakh segment is attributed to 2nd car purchase in Indian family where the owner will retain both eventually? How many of these 2nd purchases are just for maintaining a hobby?

Why did Duster AWD, Scorpio 4x4 and XUV500 AWD did not end up being chart busters?

That's because no matter how much we mature and evolve as a market and mentality, buying an attention grabber like Thar will always be a heart vs mind decision and mind will dictate to purchase a C-A-R that can house the family than a Jeep in most cases. Of course, barring die hard enthusiasts who may also drive this to the office as a style statement like Mahindra is marketing. And yes, local muscles will follow for sure.

Commercial segment who buys Bolero 4x4 may not upgrade due to space practicality and FE.

I am sure Mahindra has researched all of these and eventually for numbers they will be targetting government and military as Gypsy upgrades.

4 door Thar may be an appealing option to masses but that would end up being just another face lifted Bolero with a more powerful engine.

So after the initial spikes in sales, I think 700 - 1000 Thars will make it to the charts monthly.

[KPR]

Each variant is costly by a Lakh. It's pricing where Tata scores better than MM. I'm sure they're also testing with such pricing. If they want to create sales then the pricing isn't going to help. Else its going to be iconic as before.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Saurav_Nair

Here is a link to a YouTube video of the grill installation :
(This video is only a part-1 of the process with no footage of the Thar after the grill is installed. Part-2 is awaited for the same.)
https://Youtu.be/wHmQAYcTtzw

Here is part 2 - New Thar is shown with both the Jeep as well as angry grill.

https://youtu.be/yrH1J4Y4wwE

Please excuse the language guys. Video is in Malayalam. Sharing because I don't think there would be a better source available. Crazy that these guys have experimented with an aftermarket grill change so easily, that too, at a Mahindra showroom.

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Please excuse the language guys.

Some context from the conversations -

This is SS Mahindra showroom's service center. Trivandrum.
They are trying out the 5-slot Angry Birds grill, and the 7-slot Wrangler style grill on a display/ TD car.
The grills are not finished in their final colours, and are in matt black.
I didn't catch the cost for this mod, but they have given the contact info in YouTube - Auto Ignite/ B A Distributors.

[amol4184]

Something wrong with the angle of the "eyebrows" instead of angry it makes the car look like sad bird or a a nerdy bird.

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by VRJ

Couple of observations:

1. This should settle the legroom debate. I’m 6’2, sitting behind my driving position (I sit upright and don’t lean back like few of my friends), my knees just about touch the front seat. This shouldn’t be a problem for me as most of my friends are around 5’8. If you’re wondering why there’s only one leg and not two in the below picture, I’ll explain why in the next point.

Cheers!

Thanks for the detailed report. Couple of questions I am very eager to know, since I am the same height as you:

• Did you feel the issue of the narrow footwell causing your left knee to foul with the laterally protruding part of the central console? GTO had alluded to it in his first drive report. The Harrier also had this same issue and it was one of the reasons I dropped that car from my consideration set. This can be a constant irritant and get painful during long trips, especially if the area that the knee is touching is hard.
  
• Does the front seat slide back sufficiently yo accommodate tall drivers? The first gen Thar was severely limited in this respect and tall drivers had to literally sit with the steering wheel in their faces. I don't care about the rear seat space, but very concerned that the driver seat should offer enough travel to sit in a relaxed and comfortable way for long drives.
  
• How hard is the armrest position on the door? It feels like very hard plastic from the reviews, this again can get painful on long journeys since there is no center armrest and one tends to use the available armrest more when there is a missing one on the other side.
  

[thenewsymbol]

Off late, all the higher variants are priced heavily when compared to the value they add when compared to base variants, Thar is no exception to this.

All this is because of the weird rule that cars costing less than 10L are being given preferential treatment by the government through tax policies.

Companies must be having water thin margins in base variants which they are recuperating in higher variants, particularly top end variant with a very fat profit margin on them.

[bolbolerobol]

Without test driving the Thar, it's so hard to confirm the booking. I made the booking yesterday but I am asked to make up my mind by end of today.

I booked a Petrol Automatic, hoping the extra 20BHP will help for better highway cruises and extra 20NM of Torque will help for better off-road 4WD- Low range situations. Please let me know if these assumptions are correct.

I'm also hoping that petrol would be lot quieter and refined (looking forward to it after owning a Bolero for a very long time).

I've also heard on some video reviews (Autocarindia?) that Diesel felt better than Petrol version. And the Diesel will perform better in off-road conditions?

Added to this, additional cost of ownership, considering Fuel Efficiency and not knowing if the petrol AT in a Mahindra will have any reliability concerns/issues, it has become very difficult in making up my mind.

Average daily driving is 50km in Hyderabad to work, about 6 roadtrips averaging 1000km in a year, and 12 farmhouse trips averaging 300km in a year. And not much of extreme off roading, but a goal of participating in all local Mahindra events and local Hyd off-road events.

Any help with this dilema is greatly appreciated.

[indian21r]

If there was an option of LX automatic in soft top I would have gone for it and got myself a HT done separately. But since that is ruled out how easy will it be to remove the hard top. As there was lots of crowd at the dealership, I did not check that in detail.

Also the Hard Top felt like it is made of 2 pieces. Will there be an option to remove only the rear part. All said and done, our cities are polluted. HT makes better sense due to this as well safety point of view. But Heart wants Convertible while head says Hard Top.

A few questions regarding the convertible

How noisy is convertible driving with top closed. Will speeds of 95 kmph be too noisy. (My primary drive will be on Hyderabad ORR where I can happily cruise at 95 kmph). One option I want to explore before closing the booking is:

1) Buy a Convertible top
2) Get a removable Hard Top designed for this variant. HT to include openable windows at the rear. CT's zipper windows will be permanently removed. Rear window to be designed in such a way that one does not have to open the hatch.

Removable HT has to be at the maximum a 2 person job. (maybe a Hoist option like the wrangler). That way the car can be used as HT regularly with occasional open top driving.

How feasible do you all think this will be. Guess I want best of both the worlds. If HT is easily removable that should also be fine I guess.

[Arjun Bharadwaj]

I belong to a category of people who start looking at vehicles from the entry level model and may buy a mid variant at the most so the top end pricing usually doesn't matter to me

Speaking of the new Thar, the base variant may sell for less than 12 lakh on road Bangalore(many tin cans sell around 10 or 11) and even in the base form in my opinion is more liveable than the existing model of Thar - just make sure to add the hard top!

You end up getting awesome build, scary road presence, go anywhere ability and a minimum of 140bhp below 12 lakh on road(base or almost base variant) - all this screams value to me(could be the heart influencing mind here)!

[KPR]

Originally Posted by bolbolerobol

Without test driving the Thar, it's so hard to confirm the booking. I made the booking yesterday but I am asked to make up my mind by end of today.

I've also heard on some video reviews (Autocarindia?) that Diesel felt better than Petrol version. And the Diesel will perform better in off-road conditions?

Added to this, additional cost of ownership, considering Fuel Efficiency and not knowing if the petrol AT in a Mahindra will have any reliability concerns/issues, it has become very difficult in making up my mind.

Average daily driving is 50km in Hyderabad to work, about 6 roadtrips averaging 1000km in a year, and 12 farmhouse trips averaging 300km in a year. And not much of extreme off roading, but a goal of participating in all local Mahindra events and local Hyd off-road events.

Any help with this dilema is greatly appreciated.

You are more fitting customer for an Isuzu Dmax range. Get a used one if you don't have sentiments and you can enjoy more of your Farm house trips. Put some mods for suspension and remapping you'll be happy owning that.

[motorworks]

I would say that the pricing is on expected lines. This is not a Car where a traditional value for money equation applies. The Thar is a lifestyle vehicle for select individuals and families. I dont think there would be anyone cross shopping between other Cross overs and the Thar. The Cross overs like the Seltos, Creta or even the Venue and Ecosport serve different needs and purposes. Whereas the Thar has a very selective audience and its everyday usability is not surely at par with the other cross overs. Novelty aside, if someone buys the Thar and does not even use it for very occasional off road use, then its money badly spent. The initial novelty will wear away soon and one would be able to make sense of the purchase only if its put to use for the purpose its been made for.

Having said that, this is an excellent choice for people who stay in the outskirts, hill stations, have farms etc. I can see a good response from customers based out of Kerala, Coorg etc.

[highwaypatrol]

The problem here is most of the wannabe customers of Thar is of those kinds who wish to be seen in a proper jeep, yet not ready to sacrifice the comforts of a hatchback, sedan or a mini pseudo SUV luke creta or seltos. I have a suggession to those people - Stay away from a proper Jeep like Thar.

[bolbolerobol]

Originally Posted by KPR

You are more fitting customer for an Isuzu Dmax range

Wow, wherever you are, you read people's minds

If the latest V-cross that's launched in Thailand showed up before the Thar did, I'd have owned that, if pricing was right.

But having owned a Wrangler Sahara for over 12 years in the US, I was desperate for it in India. I drove a modified Bolero for about 10 years coz the original Thar didn't suit my requirements. Now with the new Thar it changed my mindset.

I left America after living there for about 15 years, gave up several things that I liked there but when the Wrangler had to go, it felt like a part of me was leaving. I actually feel the same way about the Bolero if I'm thinking of trading, I might just keep it.

So I'm desperate and hoping that this new Thar will bring back the ownership of the Wrangler I had for years. And this Thar will never leave me.

So I want to make sure I buy the right model.
Petrol AT or Diesel AT.

I'm going to get the Hardtop and in future will pursue getting a convertible top that I can swap out as needed. I'm sure that's possible with some juggad.