Upgraded to a Mahindra ScorpioN after having Maruti Swift & Honda City

I felt the pros outweigh the cons for the Scorpio N and considering the fact that BOF SUVs are a dying breed, I thought it was now or never opportunity for me to own and experience one.

BHPian G13BB recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Hi fellow BHPians!

This is probably the most important post for me yet! This is the story of me finally getting my hands on a brand new car after dreaming for about 25+ years and slogging in the IT industry for 4+ years. This is going to be a long post, so please excuse me if it is boring, but I wanted to make this post as detailed as possible. Also, you can directly scroll to the required segment if any of the sections is uninteresting.

Background

I have been into cars for as long back as I can remember. When I was young, we did not have a car in our family, and neither was my dad an enthusiast, so that is not the root. There was no TV / Social media back then, so that is not the root either. I don't know how, but even before my brain could process anything else, I used to get fascinated whenever I saw a car on the road. At an age when I couldn't even pronounce my own name properly, I used to recognise every damn car on the road. My relatives were blown away and every time someone visited us, they would take me out on the road and ask me to tell the names of the cars visible (I was such a great source of entertainment for them back then lol)

Now coming to the car-buying journey, I completed my Engineering in 2020, but as you all know, it was the year of the pandemic. Even though I had three job offers through the college placement, none of them got converted into actual jobs due to the uncertainty caused by COVID-19. After going through the Applying-Interviewing-Rejection cycle for a couple of months, I finally got a job. Even though the job role was good, the pay was peanuts! Nonetheless, I accepted the offer as it was not easy to find a job amidst a pandemic. Even with whatever little salary I was getting, I started saving on a monthly basis from day 1 with just one aim, that is to buy my own car.

After almost two years, in April 2022, I got this urge to own the OG Honda Civic, and I went ahead and bought a 2010 Honda Civic (more on it here After 1 year of redlining the VTEC, in May 2023, I had to sell the car (reason mentioned in the same review). Whatever money I got after selling the Civic, I saved and then continued saving.

I bought a OnePlus worth 26k with my 1st salary, and even after 3.5 years, I use the same phone with a cracked screen and a broken back cover. I never felt the need to upgrade as buying a new car was more important for me. (Also for me, a phone is just an appliance that is used for calling and some social media, so why fix something if it ain't broke?) So, month after month, I just kept saving and saving with just one motto. Fast-forward to August 2024, after switching to a job with good pay and enough savings for the downpayment, I finally made up my mind to own a brand-new car.

Shortlisting

The selection process was pretty straightforward. I wanted a safe and fairly reliable car that was fun to drive. We have the 1st Gen Swift at home for city runs (hence the username G13BB) and a 5th gen Honda City ZX MT for corner craving (both belonging to my dad, City is dad's daily driver, Swift is mine). So, I thought of getting an SUV. I wanted an SUV that was practical enough, comfortable and capable of doing long journeys, so Jimny and Thar were out.

With a 30-35 lakhs budget (OTR), I had options such as the XUV700, Scorpio N, Safari, Harrier and the Jeep Compass. I never bothered to even check out the Tata twins as their QC and ASS are still a hit or a miss, and the fact that the Tata Nano Twist MT, which we owned from 2014-2021 was not very reliable did not help either. So the Safari and the Harrier were eliminated.

So I test drive the XUV700, Scorpio N and the Compass (All diesel). The Compass impressed me the most for obvious reasons: the gearbox was amazing, the steering, even though heavy, was very precise, and the car felt very solid and the most premium out of the 3. But when I realised the cost difference, my brain said, "Welcome back to reality" and I also thought, why not a true blue SUV with 4WD creds? Also, the family suggested a 7-seater, keeping in mind the growing size of our family. Hence the Scorpio N Z8L D MT 4XPLORE was finalised!

Safari/Harrier

Pros:
- Great looks, especially the dark edition with 19 inch alloys!
- Loaded with features
- Solid build quality
- Good ride and handling balance for its size

Cons:
- Inconsistent QC
- ASS is still a hit or a miss
- The dashboard layout is a little overdone and not to my liking
- Horn pad on the steering wheel and touch controls for AC are a let down
- Sole diesel engine on offer which is not the most powerful or refined

XUV700

Pros:
- Amazing engine and gearbox options with class leading power figures
- Solid build quality
- Great ride and handling balance

Cons:
- Non-sliding second row leaves the third row with very little space which literally makes it a 5 seater
- Looks can be subjective, but I find the XUV design a little outdated
- Glaring feature omissions such as manual dimming IRVM (The car can drive itself, but not dim it's mirror lol)
- AWD not available with a manual or a petrol engine

Compass

Pros:
- I still love the looks, doesn't look outdated to me
- Gets all the features you would ever need
- Solid build quality and the materials feel the most premium of the lot
- Great handling, almost sedan like!

Cons:
- No 4X4 available with a manual gearbox
- Engine is far from being refined
- Not the most comfortable at low speeds
- Severely overpriced, even after the discounts
- No cruise control on a car which costs almost 35L OTR Bengaluru

Scorpio N

Pros:
- Wide range of engine and gearbox options
- Rugged! Only true blue SUV in my budget
- Amazing off-road hardware and software
- Ladder frame construction
- Surprisingly easy to drive for what is a BOF SUV
- Has all the features you would ever need
- Solid build quality

Cons:
- The rear end could've been designed better (Gives me Xylo vibes)
- All though the ride and handling balance is very good by SUV standards, at low speeds, there is a lot of jiggle and there is no escaping the fact that it is BOF
- Third row is very cramped and doesn't get AC vents or any sort of charging options
- Even when the third row is not in use, it tumbles and sits on the boot eating into the boot space. Not the most practical layout as the boot space is limited.
- Steering is feather light which is a boon in traffic, but doesn't go well with the size and character of the Scorpio, should've had more heft
- Gearbox is clunky and not the smoothest shifting

However, I felt the pros outweigh the cons for the Scorpio N and considering the fact that BOF SUVs are a dying breed, I thought it was now or never opportunity for me to own and experience one. Coupled with family's and friend's approval, I finalized the Scorpio N.

Continue reading BHPian G13BB's post for more insights and information.