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Old 15th July 2009, 00:45   #1
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Safari Vx 4x4 Pearl White

Hi Guys,

Just bought a Safari VX 4X4 Pearl White last week. Just want to share my whole experience. So here goes:

After about more than a year of comparisons, test drives and whole lot of research on Team Bhp and other places I finally took the plunge of booking the beast. This in spite of stiff resistance from the whole family- Wife, Dad, Mom, Bro, Uncles, Aunties, Cousins etc. They all felt the scorpio would be a better buy, but I felt otherwise.

Anyways i had a choice of two dealers, (1) Bharat Motors, and (2) Swapna Motors, the former being well established from quite some time and the latter quite new. I thought Swapna Motors would be better as they were new and would want to establish themselves here. But to my surprise we were treated quite shabbily when we went to the showroom. Had to wait in a really hot showroom with almost no air conditioning. I asked them to find out if I can get a VX 4X4 immediately(wanted it billed in June as there was a discount of Rs.15K and a scratch card offer), they said they did not have it in stock but offered to find out from the factory about its availability. Had to wait for 15-20 minutes and nothing seemed to be moving, here i lost my cool and called up a sales guy from Bharat Motors and asked him to find out the same for me, and within 2-3 minutes I got a call back saying a the same is in the factory and can be invoiced if i wanted it. So that was it & we left for Bharat Motors immediately. The welcome and treatment here was top notch. The MD even invited us to his cabin. Here the deal was struck with a good discount and he even called up someone at the factory in our presence and got the vehicle invoiced immediately, and promised delivery in 10 days. this is the time I had to get my loan sanctioned and my NCB certificate issued.

To my surprise and shock on the eighth day I got call from the showroom saying that the vehicle is being unloaded from the truck, but alas my loan and NCB certificate were not ready, so I had to follow up and get after people to get this done. To my sheer luck both happened real fast, and so off I went to the showroom with my NCB certificate, Loan Sanction note and my cheque book.....

As soon as we entered the main gate, there it was standing in all its glory, I could instantly recognise it because of the 4X4 sticker. The sales man invited me to check out the vehicle. I was overwhelmed by its sheer presence and good looks, went around the vehicle checked for any nicks or scratches, checked the interiors, popped the hood saw the VIN (Manufactured in April) etc. finally sat in the cockpit and fired up the engine, it was like music to my ears. I took her forward a little and then reversed her. Now i decide it was time to pay up for the beast. After all formalities were dealt with I got Teflon paint protection and undercarriage rust protection done, Mud flaps and floor mats followed. After a short puja and demo we were off……..

After filling her up to the gills with Hi Speed Diesel we went to get Yokohama Geolander AT’s fixed. The deal involved buy back of the OEM tyres and a free Tubeless tyre repair kit. After fixing these I got Philips Xenons H4 fitted, some tints for the beast and yes an end chrome can for the exhaust. Am planning to get metal clipon pedals, manual footpump and maybe a steering cover.

Here are a few pics, and more will follow:

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Old 15th July 2009, 02:09   #2
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Congratulations!

Congratulations on your buy!, it really is a stunner!. Can you please post the price paid for the car and mods (tires & Lights) done so far?
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Old 15th July 2009, 06:08   #3
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Congratulations - great looking car. I would be happy to hear your thoughts about how the interiors are built and how they hold up. That was the one thing that stopped me from looking further at the car. Also, be sure to not engage the 4x4, even inadvertently in any place where you have decent traction for the tyres, because you can cause the car serious damage that way. Take some care in the running in too, it is the foundation for getting long and reliable life from the engine, even now I believe. That includes an oil/filter change after 1000 kms, by the way.
All the best!
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Old 15th July 2009, 08:46   #4
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Congrats ! Welcome to the Club.

Please do more pix ; want to see how the xenon look at night.

And are the Yokos of stock specs?
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Old 15th July 2009, 09:07   #5
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Congrats. Good Choice both in terms of Vehicle and Color. I saw the same HID Xenons Kit in Hyundai Showroom . How much did the bulbs cost ?
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Old 15th July 2009, 09:18   #6
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Sid! You did it!

Congrats!

Did you get the warranty card for the anti-rust protection coating?

And yes, as asked by JK, some more details of the Xenon's please.
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Old 15th July 2009, 09:19   #7
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Congrats mate, enjoy the 4x4 beast. It is a very capable 4x4 that is at home on road and off-road too.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sidcruise79 View Post
....promised delivery in 10 days. this is the time I had to get my loan sanctioned and my NCB certificate issued.

... went to the showroom with my NCB certificate
Hey, could you detail out the EXACT steps/procedure for this? I want to know how this works in detail and it would benefit many others also.
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Old 15th July 2009, 09:27   #8
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Congrats,Beast looks fine.
IMO,Leather seats are OEM and comes with the car.right.
But the fitting is not good so many swirls are visible (Rear Seat and near the LCD's).
Please check with TASS.
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Old 15th July 2009, 09:40   #9
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Congrats dude

Superb looking vehicle in its top end trim and color. By the way, how much did everything cost you, the truck on road, the HID kit and the tyre swap??

Like the others have said, be careful during the running in period and the rest should be perfectly ok....Happy Motoring...
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Old 15th July 2009, 09:47   #10
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Congrats & Best of luck, mate.

Everything looks good, except the fake wood in the central console of the dash board and on the door hand rest. Also the front passenger carpet seems not fixed properly.

What is that switch just on the left side of the steering wheel, on the dash? Does the car have reverse parking cameras?

Wish you a very happy & safe motoring!
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Old 15th July 2009, 09:57   #11
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Congrats! Now its time to start driving.....and then looking back on your life

Quote:
Originally Posted by Abes View Post
What is that switch just on the left side of the steering wheel, on the dash? Does the car have reverse parking cameras?
That's the shift-on-the-fly switch for the 4x4

Last edited by suman : 15th July 2009 at 09:58.
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Old 15th July 2009, 10:29   #12
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Congrats. Looks awesome.
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Old 15th July 2009, 10:31   #13
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Thanks Brathan, Sawyer, JK, Undead...

Was dying to start this thread. Thanks for the pointers Sawyer, will definetely take care.

The vehicle cost me 11.5K ex showroom, with mud flaps, and mats. Had to pay for the perfume & car cover though LOL.... Stock specification Yokohama's cost me 10K after exchange, Philips HID's were 11K, Tail pipe end can (will post pics) the original ones that come for the innova were Rs.750/- and 5K for garware Ikool tints (dont like these tints too much though)

About the interiors..... the quality of plastics may not be top notch but decent enough for the cost of the vehicle, once inside the ride/drive is so good I can't pay attention to those, so I can live with that. However as for the comfort and seat quality theres nothing to beat it, have driven the Endeavour, Pajero etc but comfort wise 'The Bull' rules.
Will post more pics when the rains settle down here, because its pouring cats and dogs continuosly.
Another observation .....
When I first drove the beast I was apprehensive, beause of the size of the vehicle, my first diesel vehicle etc etc... but to my surprise once driven, its as easy as a Maruti 800 (slight exaggeration) if you dont try to pull stunts like weaving in and out of traffic. Another thing now people make way much sooner (two honks or one flash) and belive it or not my travelling time has reduced compared to my Opel Swing or Uva.
Please also advise whether the xenons void the warranty. The accesory shop owner said it does not as there is not cutting or splicing of any wires.
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Old 15th July 2009, 10:39   #14
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Congrats on your new beast, happy and safe motoring.
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Old 15th July 2009, 10:55   #15
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Hey buddy,
Congratulations on your brand new Safari, Its definately a great choice.

Happy Driving.

VT
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