[Machine_Mania]

Thanks, Axe77! Enjoyed reading your posts.

Tuned in after ages, & surprised by a few harsh comments on this thread! My Meridian 4x4 has now done ~17,000 km over ~1.5 yrs.

For anyone reading without a bias (anyone out there?), FYI:

• No rattles (no, it's not a fairy tale)
• FE ~10 (city) - ~14kmpl (highway) (moderately careful driving)
• No manufacturing faults (it's built like a tank)
• Great after-sale services (courteous, prompt)
  

Overall: A very pleasurable experience so far

Pros: Comfort, Space, Safety, Infotainment, Driving Pleasure
Cons: Diesel lag

TWO INCIDENTS TO REPORT

(1) AdBlue Incident : Similar to Axe77's Experience
Within 20-25 km of getting a different AdBlue, an error message popped up. Same day, I checked with SA & drove to Jeep Service. They diagnosed the issue in the first 5 minutes itself, but kept the car another day to run detailed tests. After flushing & refilling AdBlue, issue was resolved. It confirms that some AdBlue are inferior (Hindustan Petroleum in my case). This was not a Jeep issue - on the contrary, the car did its job by throwing up an error message & SA was fantastic. AdBlue has been filled every ~5,000 kms, it's not an inconvenience for me to get it during regular service or pick-up the prescribed brand (about INR 500/ 5L).

(2) We had a Tyre Burst Accident! Meridian was fantastic in keeping us safe
We hit a huge crater & burst at nearly 100 kmph. The crater, sadly, was unavoidable because of adjacent vehicles. We hit it very hard. The Meridian continued straight - extremely steadily. I felt a change in the way the car drove. But it was only because of the live TPMS warning that I immediately figured what had happened.

As I gently pulled the Meridian to the side, we saw a car behind us hit the same crater & come to a swerving stop. Whole family was very impressed with the Meridian. The occupants included a newborn child with their mother, you can imagine the fright. Big validation of the safety features of this well-built tank of a car.


The family has been in love with the Meridian. My brother has a Kodiaq & we often get to drive each others' workhorses. Both Kodiaq & Meridian were consciously picked over the likes of Fortuner for a long list of reasons. Family's opinion is unanimous - the Meridian & the Kodiaq are both amazing beasts, & while we enjoy the Kodiaq's elegance, the Meridian is more rugged with an edge in the feature list & the more 'adventurous' long distance traveler. In some aspects, family feels Kodiaq feels a bit boring - the new gen launch later this year is long overdue. By the way - not much difference in resale price (relative to purchase price) we've been offered on either Kodiaq/ Meridian which are similarly aged, fwiw.

Dealing with hate / "Bhai.. Faartuner kyu nahi li?"
Hearing/ reading some comments makes me smile - I certainly don't mind owning a less-than-ordinary beast of a car which delights me in every aspect of its ownership! At times my "automobile expert" friends have voiced some thoughts followed by a ride in the car completely changing their opinion! Turns out, no dearth of "experts" amongst my friends with run-off-the-mill or prejudiced comments formed without experiencing a car. Anyone with an open mind has certainly walked away with respect for what the Meridian offers - irrespective of whether they prefer the Kodiaq or Fortuner or any or any other car for their own garage.

No offence, but reading some of the strongly worded negative comments on this thread (from those who don't own a Meridian) made me smile as well! I'm accustomed to owning the 'dark horse' cars which the "market" writes off as "less successful".[/b] I loved my Chevrolet Cruze every km I drove it & my journey with the Meridian is turning out similarly. A close friend who also owns a Meridian has had an almost exact same experience.

... Until, of course, hopefully an upgrade to a higher segment German SUV after some years just like Axe77. Meridian has surely set the bar high in what I'll expect from that future luxury SUV

Cheers to all,
no offence meant to anyone

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Mr.Independent

Hi Axe77,

Thank you for sharing your meridian journey with us.

As you have driven (experienced) both the vehicles, I am curious to know the ergonomics around the driver seat of Meridian in comparison to Compass as I am planning to upgrade to a bigger ride. I own a Compass Model-s Diesel Automatic.

Hey buddy. It’s been more than a year and a half since I drove the Compass and I honestly can’t recall what the exact difference was. I’d suggest taking a longish test drive of the Meridian and given your extensive ownership experience of the Compass the differences should be apparent very quickly.

I’m relatively short (for context) but I’ve never had any ergonomic / comfort issues on long drives. One thing I do recall as a difference is the Meridian has a slightly supportive structure on the centre console where my left leg / knee rests quite comfortable - if I’m not mistaken the Compass doesn’t have that.

All in all if you love the Compass and hanker for a bigger machine with the same attributes the Meridian will be a very nice (albeit overpriced) upgrade to it.

Originally Posted by Machine_Mania

Thanks, Axe77! Enjoyed reading your posts.

Tuned in after ages, & surprised by a few harsh comments on this thread! My Meridian 4x4 has now done ~17,000 km over ~1.5 yrs.

For anyone reading without a bias (anyone out there?), FYI:

• No rattles (no, it's not a fairy tale)
• FE ~10 (city) - ~14kmpl (highway) (moderately careful driving)
• No manufacturing faults (it's built like a tank)
• Great after-sale services (courteous, prompt)
  

Overall: A very pleasurable experience so far

Pros: Comfort, Space, Safety, Infotainment, Driving Pleasure
Cons: Diesel lag

Thank you for the kind words. This is pretty consistent with my own experience over about 19,000 kms as well (FE stats aside). The Meridian actually took up a wildly disproportionate amount of my running during the time it overlapped with the GT and that’s testament to how fantastic it is in its own right. It’s just that I hankered for something much more luxurious much sooner than I expected and I advanced my timelines on key capex spends for some specific reasons.

I had the occasional squeaks but nothing unusual although some folks have indeed faced this problem so I wouldn’t discount it. Similarly there seems to be a lot of angst even amongst owners (some of it seemed genuine while some I feel seemed unduly amplified) but again, touch wood, I never had any of such issues during my ownership. The DEF (off market) was something Jeep had advised against and was an unfortunate incident. Again, my experience following that with A.S.S was absolutely fantastic.