17000 km on my Mahindra Thar: My Indian substitute for Jeep Wrangler

For me, this is just a standard daily driver - a Grand Tourer in which I can fearlessly go anywhere, at any time, in relative comfort.

BHPian shankar.balan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

A few thoughts from an average Joe new Mahindra Thar Petrol AT HT owner. 20 months down the line.

I moved to petrol vehicles completely at the end of 2019. That marked the end of Diesel in my garage.

My running is really very low and I have a few vehicles to choose from. I can manage to do perhaps 15000-18000 kms per annum across all these vehicles, no more than that.

Therefore, I believe that Petrol is perfectly fine for me. I now use the AT Petrol Thar. I booked it on Day 1, October 2nd 2020 and specifically requested delivery by March 2021. I got it in Feb 2021.

Having driven my Thar to multiple places in Southern India including rocks and grasslands and slushy places and hills and seaside and jungles and rivers and all, I find the Petrol and its torque and top-end more than adequate. That's why I find the MStallion to be a genuinely lovely engine.

While it isn’t the greatest in Fuel Efficiency, it still gives me an unparalleled thrill with its ‘whoosh’ under acceleration. It inspires me with an incredible sense of confidence with its indestructible demeanour, on the frightful roads of Bangalore and indeed anywhere else as well.

With the AVO Suspension upgrade and the addition of Aluminium Underbody Armour from Arka and the big Hella 700FF Fog lamps, the vehicle feels even stronger.

Yes, a lot of people may find fault with my having put the Jeep Wrangler grille and some decals, but that's ok - these things fulfil my own happiness quotient.

I am no longer into that heavy-duty off-roading and getting my vehicle all mucky and slushy and being a he-man. I have been there and done enough of that and more from my teens up until my mid-30s. Good fun though, remembering some of the off-road and slush and swamp drive stuff of long ago.

Am not really aspiring to do a Kanyakumari-Kashmir run in my own Thar and nor am I really inclined to drive across the unknown, the empty quarter of the Sahara or the Namibian Deserts or to the virgin snows of the Himalayas in it.

The Thar, for me, is just a plain standard daily driver - a Grand Tourer vehicle for two persons or three persons, plus luggage, in which I can fearlessly go anywhere, at any time, in relative comfort and which has the basic modern conveniences that I need.

More importantly, it is a vehicle which can be serviced easily and whose parts are available nearby. It's a tough Indian Mahindra vehicle after all and that's why I bought it.

The three-door version is simple and yet brilliant with its short chassis and negligible overhangs and really good approach and departure angles and all. While I'm waiting to see what the 5 door version brings, I think the real cult vehicle will always remain, the 3 door Thar.

The service experience has been great. The folks at Sireesh in Bangalore are really helpful. I've done 16800 kms now but I have finished the 20K Kms service.

Without putting too fine a point on it, it is my much loved ‘Desi’ substitute for the original All-American Jeep Wrangler that I cannot afford to buy. But then, I'm getting around 80% of the useable stuff the Wrangler offers, at 20% of the price.

So it will be churlish to complain too much.

That said, this Thar is here to stay and continue to allow me to Explore the Impossible, in my own small way. As long as our Lords in power allow us to continue to enjoy Fossil Fuelled vehicles!

More Power to Mahindra is what I say!

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.