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-   -   Review: 1st-gen Mahindra Thar (2011 - 2019) (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/94711-review-1st-gen-mahindra-thar-2011-2019-a-256.html)

Where do you get the OEM. The ASC have it ?

I had ordered from Boodmo.com but got the Type-II design with rear sloping angle. Had to send back and order from ASC later as mine is the Type-I design.

Thought I'll refresh the looks a little. Installed this grille. And black piano finish around windshield. Next up, a bumper but in two minds still.

Hello All Im looking for some one who can fix a soft top for me for my 2018 Crde. There is a small leak over the drivers seat from one of the Velcro strips there. I also need to change the entire back panel or reinforce it some how as the portion near the zippers is fraying a little. I wanted to know if there is some one experienced in and around Malad or Mira road area or even a little further..

Alternate suggestion is to get a used original canopy from owners who have changed to hardtops.

Agreed but being in Mumbai it is not as easy to get in touch with another Thar owner.. I try to look and see every time i do see a Thar on the road, to see if the person driving might be even remotely inclined to park and chat for a bit but so far no joy. Until i got mine i used to be like most of us guys on the road stop and look at the Thar going by most times even point at them to annoy my wife until she finally got fed up and said just buy one all ready.. Come to think of it i still do the same thing while sitting in my Thar. rl:rl:rl:
Mine is a custom M&M like 80% day break edition will do a full ownership experience soon.

Thar holds its value well and how!
I have sold my 2013 crde (bought used, five and half years and 70k kms ago) for exactly the same amount I bought it for.:Cheering: Reminds me of GTOs lateral upgrade thread. Bought myself another crde yesterday, a 2019 model, sparingly used and still under extended warranty. Besides it was never taken offroad:D
The car feels like a good upgrade and everything is spot on. The only issue is that the soft top is a bit faded, maybe due to overenthusiastic cleaning with detergents etc. Is there any product like dye/ polish that can restore the black of the soft top? Found some restoration dyes for vinyl top convertibles on the net but not sure those products will work for canvas top. Any suggestions will be helpful.
A pic for reference

Thar CRDe is a Timeless shape. No doubt the new one drives better and has creature comforts, the JEEP CJ5 shape is like a Magnet.

For the faded canopy, use Forever Black Soft-top restorer.

Wow that's an amazing looking machine you got there.. I wish they would get my warranty extended but since the previous owner of my that which is a 2018 didn't even take it once to the ASC the declined my request even though its only done 8k on the odo. I just bought this but haven't got the opportunity to try it out yet since I'm still travelling but will as soon as i get back home. Chemical Guys convertible top cleaner and protector and repellent

Buy Camel water bases canvas colour Black from stationary shop and add same quantity of water and by small brush paint the entire canvas black. It will last till the material of the soft :) I have already used it...

Thanks for the suggestion but wont it wash off during rains n washing? How is yours holding up?
As per the suggestion above, I have already ordered forever black off ubuy, will ship from the USA. It is a bit pricey at 3.5k. Will update once I receive it and use

Living life with a Custom built Mahindra Thar.

Good things come to people who wait, but only what's left from those who hustle! "Abe Linchon".
I would like to believe the above but in this case i don't think the latter applies here as i waited and i got exactly what i wanted and more.

So this started about ten years ago when I told my father-in-law that I would get a jeep shortly after asking for his daughter's hand in marriage. Somehow the timing never seemed to be right just because I travel a lot for work or over the years it was just not a feasible vehicle to own especially when you're living in Mumbai City it just doesn't or didn't make sense at the time.

Come pandemic we started living at his farm to be properly isolated from the world, which is on the outskirts of Mumbai and the search continued but never seemed to find the perfect one. I did look at a few options on olx and other platforms and did zero in on a few good potential ones. My daughters are really little and me who grew up partially in Goa and who started driving and riding when I was in school (different times back then & living the village life had its benefits) owning a thar was a want that grew even more.

I learned to drive on a Mahindra Inter yes the one which had 4 wheel drive and only 3 gears forward and the one which made a awkward sound every time you pressed the clutch. It was a common fault with that version of the jeep or so i'm told. Every sunday was car wash day for me i used to wash all 4 or 5 cars our family owned just to be able to reverse them up the slope outside the house and get it close to the water tap. That's how I got the clutch release correct. This was when i was in the 7th Standard. My youngest cousin one Sunday evening said let's go to the beach so I reversed our jeep for him and was going to get off when he said "you drive" hearing those magic words was a dream come true for me. As i had only used 1st gear and reverse during my practice sessions when washing the cars i had never shifted gears on the fly as in from 1st to 2nd but watching my cousins drive for years I got the hang of it quickly. After that every opportunity I got to take it out, I would for any excuse. Gotta take paddy to the mill yep on on it.. Mangoes from the farm need to be brought home i'm going. So on and so forth.

Coming back to current times. My daughters ask me for bed time stories and after exhausting all the ones i knew we started making up our own. So we made up one of travelling to Goa by a Black jeep that i would buy. Black Panter named by my older daughter and Blitz added by me from the Call of Duty game which is the mode me and my wife like to play. I had narrowed in on a vehicle that i was interested in and told the dealer was going to come and check it out the next day. It was black in colour which was a prerequisite and seemed to be just what i liked 2016 with 48k on the odo. That evening the dealer called me back and said the vehicle was sold and i told my wife the same without realizing that my older daughter overheard this and bitterly started crying in the corner. When Grandma asked her what happened she said the jeep is sold and now if we get stuck in the mud we wont be able to put it in 4wheel low to get us out. This really broke me and the search was on even more. I found one that was good and a little more than i wanted to pay but it seemed good with less than 8k km on the odo late 2018 year of manufacture. This time I didn't wait as much we left immediately the next day to check out the vehicle my wife, my father-in-law and myself. My wife looked at me dressed and said you wearing that old tshirt and i said yes gotta go under the vehicle to check it out. She chuckled and nodded her head. We reached the place and the guy took about 10 min to come down and took me to his partially covered parking to check out the vehicle. I could not believe my eyes it was a custom M&M see pics below.

Now following all these 4x4 threads here over the years and my prior experience of tinkering around with the jeep in Goa as a kid i was overjoyed to see such a beautiful piece of art. I couldn't show it to the seller for obvious reasons. We took the jeep for a quick spin all 4 of us it was flawless checked the 4x4 transmission it was never used. Once we got back to the owners building i went under the jeep to check out the body and was shocked to see it was never taken offroad. Few minor electrical issues were there but noting that was a deal breaker. The person showing me the vehicle was a close friend of the owner and didn't want to haggle too much on the price which i will not disclose. Please don't ask me to either. My father in law looked at me took me to the side and said if you don't buy it i will. Now him coming from a long line of owning Gypsys and even confiscated petrol imported jeeps that he bough at auction in the early seventies so he's pretty well oriented with vehicles in general. That was the go ahead i needed to shake on the deal. The owner was out of town and his friend showing us the jeep on his behalf needed to contact him to approve the deal before anything else was agreed upon. 15days went by with me following up everyday as to what's going on. He finally gave the green light and turned out to be a friend of a friend. He still didn't budge on the price though but he was kind enough to let me take the jeep home with partial payment since we had mutual friends. We drove the jeep back from his house on Aug 22 last year but because the owner had lost the original RC it took time to get a new one and then to transfer it on to my name with just happened on Valentine's day hence posting it now after a sigh of relief that its all good.

The ultimate joy is when i take my daughters to the beach every evening when im in town. Just seeing their faces smiling when we go for our evening drives assures me they will be jeep lovers too if not allready.*
Coming to the vehicle its self any and all mods done by Mahindra customization.*
Custom matt Black paint with red highlights
Chunky 31 inch tyres.
Active short snorkel*
Fender flares*
Combo tail lights Jeep Wrangler
Bumpers front and back
Bonnet hi lift jack mount*
Jeep wrangler Rear view mirrors
Roof lights custom rack with Hella marker lights
Front grill change*
Headlamp change*

Interiors:
Original Custom colour Sparco seats in the front with the 4point seat belts*
Custom front facing back seat*
Roof mounted speakers*
Soft top done by Mahindra itself
Custom color dashboard
Ambient lighting when doors are open
Power Windows
Central Locking (needs to be replaced)
There are also quite a few other bits done by Mahindra on the inside small touches that go the extra mile and some annoying ones too.

All in all its not over done like the daybreak and neither is it underdone like a stock vehicle.*Things i want to do soon :Tumble seats so that i can take cargo but want to convert the existing ones to like a xylo front tumble mechanism. Can any one help with this in and around Mumbai.*Metal HT looking for options. Relocation of roof speakers to the front door and the ovals which are under the seat to the roof. Making the vehicle more stable in general at high speeds right now honestly it feels like a Church an wheels so going to look at some proper suspension upgrades ARC are my first option so far but have read a few not so good stuff about them here. Suggestions welcome. Thinking of spacers at the back too was looking at some on Blue Garage as from what i read they seem to help with stability up to some extent.

Welcome to the hood Zooster, the black CRDe looks pretty cool and has been a childhood dream for many. My only 2 cent is wait for a year before jumping on any mods, it’s like a wife you have to give time to both (you and the CRDe) to adjust.

All the best and wish you happy miles with the CRDe !!!!

I like your Thar but I love your dog!!

Amol4184 Just checking if you had an update on the handling of the vehicle after installing them?? Where did you get them from as i was looking at the ones from blue garage for mine but am torn between the swastik fab ones and those!