[shashankjain16]

Three years ago in 2019 I became an owner of Duster AWD. It was an unconventional choice back then, given the car was already over it's age. But I have not regretted choosing it for once. From Spiti to Ladakh, some of my most memorable trips have been done in that car.


With the Duster in Spiti in Winters


The land of High Passes - Ladakh

So why upgrade to a new car in just 3.5 years?

Well, multiple reasons:

1. I became a father and a sudden need for a safer car arose. Duster has two airbags and I know it's not so stable during a crash. I knew it at the time of purchase, and I thought airbags and AWD's ESP should do fine. But now, I could absolutely not compromise on safety.
2. Duster's NVH levels were pretty bad and even after the entire car's damping, and upgrading tyres, they still managed to get on my nerves.
3. I absolutely hate Duster's engine noise.
4. I needed an automatic. I do a lot of driving on hills and frequent gear changes are really tiring.
5. Also, I needed a bigger boot, as my daughter's luggage was getting out of control.
6. Lastly, for a simple reason, it was the right time to upgrade. I was doing decent in my career and my daughter's responsibilities had not yet kicked in and had a fair bit of savings.

So the hunt for the perfect upgrade began somewhere around October. I set my max budget to 75lakhs initially but then my wife bought some sense in me and we looked at max of 50 lakhs.

Requirements

My requirements were clear and I posted a TeamBHP thread in the What Car section (Upgrade from Renault Duster AWD: Hyundai Tucson vs Skoda Kodiaq vs Volvo XC40 vs Others):

1. Ride Comfort for Long Drives - I am spoiled by Duster's ride quality. The other day I sat in my friend's Hector and found it so bumpy, it was off-putting. Also, I absolutely need an automatic this time.
2. Less Body Roll - for a comfortable ride in the mountains
3. Superb NVH Levels - This is the biggest pain point with my current car. The poor NVH level spoils otherwise excellent ride quality. I have done the entire car's damping yet the noise is just too much. I am okay with Petrol if it gives better NVH levels.
4. Safety - Given now I have a daughter, the safer the car the better.
5. Reliability - I often do long drives to off-beat places in the mountains, including Ladakh and Spiti Valley. Even Duster AWD has its own reliability concerns with diesel injector failures, but my ownership has been fuss-free thus far.
6. AWD - Not sure about this now. Duster AWD has been helpful with some crazy trips we have done in the last 3 years. But we will be a lot more careful being parents and might not venture to unknown roads too often. Also, I think most trips we have done can be done with an FWD vehicle if driven carefully.
7. High Ground Clearance - My duster has 210 mm and it has served well everywhere. Lower ground clearance would be a pain on patchy terrains in remote areas.
8. Little Badge Value, if possible - I have had a long-standing dream of owning a luxury SUV, and I think this might be the best time. In future, my responsibilities and commitments will only grow, and I might not get the chance to spend so much on a car.
9. Long Ownership - I want to keep this car for the next 7 - 8 years unless I change upon a lottery and have enough money to throw at an even more premium car.

I watched numerous review videos and read entire TeamBHP threads of multiple cars before even starting test drives. Somewhere around November I began taking test drives. My first one was Audi Q5. It was a short drive and couldn't judge much from it. I asked for extended test drive from sales guy. He scheduled it without informing me. So, that didn't happen. Then I lost interest in that segment all together.

Citroen C5 Aircross

Likes

• Absolutely phenomenal ride quality
• Excellent NVH levels
• Solid build quality and premium-looking interiors
• Exterior design
• 230mm ground clearance
• Massive boot space
• Their sales team - gave me multiple test drives, one of which was almost 40 km long

Dislikes

• Glaring lack of features - no 360-degree camera, no ventilated seats, no premium sound system, no seat memory (seriously?)
• I personally hated the rotatory wheel-type manual adjustments of the passenger seat and lumbar support on the driver seat
• The 3 split rear seats - This was the real deal breaker. My wife just couldn't find herself comfortable in the rear seat of the car. I was ready to make peace with the above dislikes but seating comfort was something that could not be compromised. If they had bench-like rear seats, I would probably have chosen C5 Aircross

Hyundai Tucson

Likes

• Loaded with features
• Diesel engine refinement
• Rear seat comfort - the best of all options I tried
• AWD system
• Hyundai Service network and reliability

Dislikes

• Ride quality - I tried multiple test drives and even took a fellow bhpian's Tuscon for a spin. But for some reason couldn't connect to the car and its ride quality
• Lack of buttons on the centre console - an ergonomic disaster
• Lower ground clearance

Jeep Meridian

Likes

• Luxurious interiors
• Solid build quality. Just by sitting in it and closing the doors, my wife said - "gaadi to solid hai!" (The car is a tank)
• Massive boot space after folding 3rd row
• The button + touchscreen-based centre console
• The right combination of features - Meridian has all the necessary features like ventilated seats, and a 360-degree camera, but lacks features like ADAS which I thought I might not use much or use in warning more anyway.
• The ride quality - I absolutely loved the planted feeling of the car at high speeds. Coming from Duster, I could feel a difference of night-and-day in high-speed stability
• Controlled body roll
• Steering feedback - light at low speeds and heavy at high speeds
• Good ground clearance
• An abuse-friendly, capable off-roader (or say soft roader)

Dislikes

• Rattling noises - the test drive vehicles had a lot of them
• Engine NVH levels - The diesel engine was not as refined as C5 or Tucson. But its sound was not so irritating as Duster. It was a grunt I could live with
• Jeep horror stories and reliability

Why I finalised Jeep Meridian?

After first test drive, I was not much impressed with Jeep Meridian, because of rattling noises and engine noise. However, when I posted my experience on team-bhp (Jeep Meridian Review), I got feedback that it might be a problem with that particular vehicle as the demo vehicles go under a lot of abuse and off-road events. A fellow bhpian zepp1108 even invited me to join him during his PDI.

I promptly obliged. That day I drove another test vehicle which had 11k on ODO, much less than the previous one. Somehow, I could instantly connect with the car. The vibrations were there but not too much, and the NVH levels were not as good as C5 Aircross, but not bad either. And what an absolute delight was it to drive at high speeds.

At the back of my head, I was convinced that this was the car, but my wife was not there with me that day. So, the next week I scheduled another test drive and promised I would book if my wife liked the ride.

Sure enough, she was convinced on the second test drive. And we booked our Jeep Meridian Limited (O) 4x4. We also got a massive 3.2 lakh year-end discount, making it a sweet deal. It was a big day for us - buying a 40 lakh car was a big deal for us and I was rightfully afraid if I was making the right decision. That night I was having second thoughts, even thinking of cancelling and trying Tucson.

The car was in transit for 7 days and finally arrived of 29th December. I did PDI on the 30th, paid the amount, did the loan work and took delivery on 1st of January 2023. What a start to the new year







Early Hiccup

When I came for PDI, I came to know the car was in July 2022 manufactured. I instantly became sceptical and bought the issue to sales person's notice. He assured me that they had received the car in December only and even showed me an invoice from FCA India to Landmark Jeep. I did a quick search on TeamBHP and got to know that issue mostly was with cars parked in dealer yards. Factory cars are much better kept and also 6 months is old but not too old.

I clarified everything from invoice to warranty will start from the date of purchase. Finally, I decided to go with it. There wasn't much time anyway as the year was ending and prices increased from January. Also, PDI had gone smoothly.

Niggles Begin

On the day of delivery, as soon as I sat in the driver's seat, the electronic seat adjustment stopped working. They were working perfectly during the PDI 2 days ago. Finding this out I was smiling at my wife as if saying, "Kya musibat mol le li hai" (What have we got ourselves into!!)

Anyway, the team got into action straightway and after half an hour of trying different things, they zeroed in on a loose coupler. They got it fixed.

Now before I go into my experience with the car, let me answer a few questions that I had in my mind. They might help others make a decision.

Q. Why 4x4?
A. Yes, I would not use 4x4 99% of the time. But for those 1% times, I would use, would surely be memorable. I have very occasionally used my Duster's AWD. But when I have used it, I have been to the most memorable places of my life. So, yeah 4x4 is definitely worth it as the experiences it gives are priceless.

Q. Why not -
Jeep Compass - Small car, small boot. very low ground clearance. Trailhawk was only option I wanted to go with, but it was already around 36 lakhs including discounts. I found Meridian with its extra space, reportedly better NVH and comfort, to be better suited for my needs.
Fortuner - Too bulky, high seating body roll, bumpy ride, pale interiors. Moreover, I was appaled by attitude of Toyota dealership. I went of a test drive at IJM Toyota and got an answer "Sir fortuner to naam se bikti hai, iski test drive nhi hoti." (Fortuner sales for it's name, we don't give its test drive).
Kodiaq - Non-availability, not even for a test drive, 7 lakh premium over Meridian, doesn't come as a rugged vehicle. Didn't have confidence on durability of dynamic suspension on tough mountain terrains
Tiguan - Missing features, petrol mileage, also I called VW dealer in Gurgaon to take a test drive, but it went to IVR and got disconnected. There is no direct way to call even the dealer
MG Gloster - Too bulky, 4.9-meter long vehicle, BoF body roll, the looks not to my taste, also 47 lahks on an MG vehicle felt just too much, although it was loaded with tech
XUV700 - 2 years waiting? Seriously? Also lower ground clearance
Scorpio N - Abysmal Boot space, even after folding the last row, 1-year waiting. I just didn't have energy to join the mad race around Mahindra vehicles.

Q. What about reliability?
Ans. Initially, I was concerned with Jeep's reliability. But then I thought there are only a handful of brands with rock-solid reliability, and those brand's car was not fitting my criteria. Also, I know people in my circle happy with their Skoda's (1,25,000+ km without issues), and Jeep compass owners that were happy with their cars. So, I took a risk of going with my heart than my brain. I did the same with my Duster AWD even though there were multiple reports of its diesel injector failures, but my 50,000 km+ ownership has been absolutely niggle free.

Also, I am not selling my Duster as of now. So, I have a backup vehicle in case Meridian spends significant time in workshops. Worst case, if the car turns out to be a lemon, I would sell it with an (expensive) lesson learnt.

Q. Why 7 seater for a small family?
Ans. Simply because of lack of choice. There aren't many 5-seater vehicles in this segment. And those that are weren't matching my requirements. Meridian's 7th row is a joke anyway, and we are going to use it mostly for luggage space.

[shashankjain16]

Initial Ownership Review

Likes

• Rock-solid stability at high speeds, excellent highway cruiser, triple digits are effortless
• Excellent NVH levels - outside noises are well-kept outside
• Luxurious interiors with a good combination of colours and materials
• Physical buttons for essential features such as AC controls, volume, etc. These important buttons should be considered as a safety features by manufacturers these days
• Smooth automatic gearbox - gear changes are not felt
• Well-controlled body-roll
• Lights are very good and help illuminate the road at night
• Loaded with all the essential features - ventilated seats, 360 camera, automatic headlamps, panoramic sunroof, wireless android auto/apple car play, etc

Dislikes

• Engine can get boomy when accelerating hard
• Engine vibrations are not fully insulated and are felt on the steering wheel and in the cabin. They will increase as the vehicle ages
• Already feeling rattling noises (although very minor right now and mostly on bad roads). Due to excellent NVH levels, even minor rattles can feel loud
• Wind noise starts creeping in above 100 km/hr
• Lack of front parking sensors
• Bumpy ride at lower speeds - there can be a lot of swinging on bad roads, and these swings are hard (not as soft as Duster)
• Niggles and issues - On the day of deliver our electronic driver seat adjustment stopped working. Haven't faces any other issues since, but keeping fingers crossed

Exterior

The car looks elongated from the sides mainly because of its design. It's hardly 7 cm longer than XUV700.



I love the Grey colour, as it provides the right mix of elegance and ease of maintenance. (Although my favourite was Maroon, my wife had the final say here)



I like the rear - doesn't look too busy or trying to do too much



The front looks smashing as usual. You can easily make out a Jeep from a crowd of cars.



The wheel wells have decent travel. Tucson has limited travel, making me doubt its articulation and off-roading ability



Much has been said about the placement of the boot closing button. But I think it's a wise design decision. The car is tall and the close button on the tailgate may be difficult for short people's reach. Also, If you want to close using tailgate...



You can press the open button again.



I love the extending concave shape of OVRMs, which provide extra visibility and reduce blind spots.



Lights are phenomenal, and provide excellent visibility both during low and high beams

Interiors

The cabin feels luxurious and beautiful. A perfect combination of colours and design



I like the placement of the infotainment screen at near eye level. I can make a quick glance without moving my head and away from the road for long. In Tucson and in my Duster, it is integrated into the centre console, which forces me to turn my head and look down.

The seating position is high, much higher than my Duster. I like the feeling of sitting above a lot of cars on the road.



I am glad they kept the necessary buttons and didn't go all touch screen way like Tucson and C5 Aircross



The quality of the 360 camera is excellent



I have made a shortcut to the 360 camera in the status bar. Gives me one-touch access to it in tight situations. I have it always on during bumper-to-bumper traffic.



Can anyone tell me what this option does? It surely doesn't do away with the 80 and 120-speed chimes.



Also how to permanently turn Auto-Stop/Start off? It turns on at every engine restart



This is the default position of the rear seats, space will mostly be used for luggage.



Got AmazeFit mats from a local shop. I paid Rs 7000 for them (all three rows). The quality is good but I am not sure if I overpaid for them.



The cup-holders can also hold 1ltr bottle (Bisleri)



Have installed 70mai dashcam both front and back. Ordered from amazon, self-installed





Tyre Pressures can vary greatly based on temperature and load



Fuel Efficiency after 400 km (mix of highway and city)



The rear legroom is excellent for the five-footers like me



The massive sunroof makes the interior so much more spacious. I dream of driving on Ladakh roads with an open sunroof!!!



Some panel fittings are not perfect.



At a mall parking, I was pressing this button to open the boot but it didn't work. Later I came to know that it works only in Park mode. But I didn't need to open the boot as guards glanced from the rear mirror and that was enough for them.

[shashankjain16]

First Road Trip

We had taken the delivery on Sunday and for the entire week, I was itching for a road trip! Every morning I used to take the car for a spin for about 20-30 km on Sohna Expressway.

Finally came Saturday and we decided to go to Amrik Sukhdev for lunch. The total road trip would be above 200 km, covering a stretch of city traffic, then extended run on Western Peripheral Expressway.





At the end of the trip, I was more than happy with my choice. I had decided to go for Meridian for the sole reason of driving pleasure, and it scored perfect on it and how!

Here are my impressions:

• The suspension is bumpier than my Duster, yet overall the ride quality of Meridian is much more comforting, thanks to great NVH levels and rock-solid stability.
• NVH levels are excellent - although the engine can get boomy when accelerating hard, it is mostly quiet during sedate driving, and at high speeds. Road and wind noises are also very well contained. During my drive yesterday, the cabin was so quiet I was hearing a strange clinking sound from the back seat. I asked my wife and she identified it to be the clinking of zips of our bag.
• At high speeds, the car doesn't bounce around like Duster. It is extremely planted on the road. I was able to glide over highway expansion joints at 100 km/hr speed with confidence. On my Duster, perhaps due to soft suspension, the car would bounce too much and force me to slow down on the same joints.
• On Western Peripheral Expressway, I touched 120 km/hr and it still felt like the car was going slow, it wasn't even sweating. From steering feedback to braking and planted road manners, everything works to give you confidence at high speeds.
• Overtaking wasn't an issue, unlike some reviews pointed out due to the underpowered engine. In my opinion, as a leisurely driver, the engine has enough grunt in it for the car. Not sure how will it perform at full capacity though.
• My daughter slept peacefully during both the onward and return journey. She would often wake up in the Duster. So, that itself made 40 lakhs well spent
• I am absolutely in love with the convenience of the automatic gearbox. I haven't driven any other automatic car, so cannot really compare on shifts and all. But I can say that gear changes are not felt, the car responds predictably to throttle inputs. I had zero learning curve, I was operating it as if I had been driving it for ages.
• It is easy to over-speed in the car. Excellent suspension and NVH levels don't make you realise the speeds you are doing. On city roads, I was doing 60 km/hr on roads with a limit of 50 km/hr. I had to cautiously slow down multiple times. On the expressway, I was able to do 100 km/hr effortlessly.
• The car is not punchy and takes its own time to accelerate. But when pressing the paddle hard, it downshifts, making it easy to do highway overtakes. The engine gets quite boomy at high RPMs when the gearbox downshifts.
• Body roll is very less which I fell is even lesser than Duster. Sharp turns and high-speed manoeuvres can be done with confidence.
• The music system is excellent, more than adequate for my taste.
• Wireless Android Auto is a huge convenience. Now I don't have to fiddle with cables every time I get into the car.

Overall

The main reason I chose Meridian was its balance of ride quality and off-road capability. And on those front, I am absolutely loving the car. I am already planning multiple long road trips in it.

The only thing I am with is that car doesn't give up on me and leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere. Minor niggles and issues I am okay with as long as the car keeps running and munching miles.

Side Note: Minor Rattles

I was hearing a minor rattling noise from the left side second-row door. When I went to collect my number plate, I informed the landmark Jeep guys. They tightened some nuts on the door and that seemed to have solved the issue for now.

On bad roads, there is a noise coming from doors, which seems like the moving of a heavy object against something. Not too intrusive, but it's there. Let's see how it ages.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by shashankjain16

Can anyone tell me what this option does? It surely doesn't do away with the 80 and 120-speed chimes.

Congratulations on the car and a lovely review. Meridian is a phenomenal highway cruiser and should serve you well.

This option allows you to set a speed warning at any speed of your own choice. It is there on the pre facelift Compass as well.

[Eco_boost]

Congratulations on both the car and your cute daughter
Niggles aside, Meridian is a very capable machine with excellent highway manners. Grey colour looks stunning ! Wishing you a very pleasant ownership experience

[bullitt1]

Congrats on getting the Meridian. Grey and black combo looks terrific. As previous owner of Duster 85 and currently Compass 2D MT, i can relate to your comparison. Wish you many happy miles ahead and please do keep sharing your experience.

[Pkumarblore]

Congratulations on your new acquisition. The Meridian surely looks fabulous in that color. Not sure about the Maroon. I am keenly following threads about 7 seater SUV's since my time will come in a year or so when I have to replace my Alturas G4. Will be more than happy to see an alternative to the Fortuner. Please keep the thread updated with long term ownership experience.
Happy and safe motoring!

[Blue Vitriol]

Originally Posted by shashankjain16

The main reason I chose Meridian was its balance of ride quality and off-road capability. And on those front, I am absolutely loving the car.

THIS! I've been telling everyone that every product: be it a vehicle or a smartphone can never be perfect, however depending on the use case, they can almost hit it out of the park when chosen correctly as per the requirement.

Congratulations on getting a very well engineered car and I hope you all the great happy miles! I am on fence about the colour choice though... but it's not mine. Black, grey or white ain't colour, they're the amount of overall light present. Colours.

[streetfighter]

Nice balanced review, all the pros and cons have been written beatifully.. Great to see you considered the C5 Aircross too and then made your decision. Wishing you a great ownership with your Meridien !

[car-o-holic]

What a wonderful review, shashankjain! Thank you!

These are the exact same thoughts I am going through as well; we got our 4 X 4 delivered last weekend and in the 100 km I have driven so far, loving it!

We had booked the Kodiaq - never ending wait! Then we had booked the MG ZS EV but after the second long test drive, just could not find a suitable driving position (I am 6 ft. 3 in.) & family found the back seat uncomfortable. It was then the Tucson we almost decided on, but somehow did not like the interiors (no offence to those who like it, we do not prefer light coloured seats) & finally the Meridian seemed to tick most of the boxes for us!

While the list of likes is more in our Meridian, a couple of other dislikes I am seeing now:

1. Diesel Engine grunt - Coming from the Honda BRV & Seltos DCT, I am still taking time to get used to the diesel sound!

2. The wireless charger in the Meridian does not charge my iPhone 14 Pro max; this isn't an issue in my Seltos though! Wonder why and if there is a workaround that! (other than using a cable, of course )

[Baddychat]

Lovely review Shashank and congratulations on your new ride. Wishing you thousands of happy and safe miles on this !

Quick question. What OEM tyres did your Meridian come with.

[achyutaghosh]

Congratulations, Shashank! Big fan of your Youtube channel- BornIdiots. Hope to see you travelling and vlogging soon with the Meridian

[yashg]

Congratulations and welcome to Jeep Life O|||||||O

As a new Compass owner I know you always feel anxious while buying a Jeep, but the moment you drive it, and the kind of joy and elation it brings you, everything else is forgotten. Wish you a trouble-free ownership and many a miles with the grey beast.

[VinsWagen]

Nice review.
I had almost made this purchase and for the same color and at the same time. But it was not to be.
Wishes for a long ownership and many thousand memorable miles in the Meridian.

With diesels dying off and manufacturers shying away from launching good diesel models, I feel that Meridian will become an aspirational car in the coming years. With the diesel grunt, torque, economy, 4x4, and the ride comfort that Meridian gives, it sure has a shot at it.

And I feel that buyers need not worry too much about the NVH of Diesels. All the cars are getting more and more silent these days. In my opinion, this will only increase the desirability of soft grunts like that of the Meridian in the future. Just like RX100s, Yezdis, and old Bullet exhaust notes have become aspirational now, the diesel grunts also may become so in future. That’s the funny way our human hearts work. What’s rare becomes more desirable. And it's not that they are too loud or irritable. I just hope that Jeep will improve its QC process and ensure reliability for the buyers. Their cars are real standout ones otherwise - There's nothing like them in India.