All-New Mahindra Thar: Ownership Review

[SandeepJohn]

With Odometer reading at 602Kms in 5 days, the following are my observations for on-road characteristics

• Good Road presence and good view for city & highway driving
• Good to drive over pot holes/ bad road at low speeds, but feels unsettled over bad roads when driven at high speeds
• Comfortable seating positions for 4 persons, but getting into is bit uncomfortable as the vehicle is high
• Well powered vehicle and the weight is not felt during acceleration
• The slotting of gear would take some time to adjust, its not as smooth as my Honda Mobilio (Yes I understand that comparing these cars are like comparing apples to oranges)
• In 3rd Gear, it can be driven like automatic inside city, has excellent low end torque
• The clutch is softer than my Honda Mobilio (would revisit this statement after 10k Kms)
• The clutch ply in my car needs slight adjustment for less travel for clutch dis-engagement
• The engine noise is well insulated in the cabin and considerably less out side too (P.S there is no bonnet padding for noise insulation)
• Steering is soft, and has good feedback
• With mixed driving the mileage of 15 to 16 Km/l. At Highway with constant speed of 100Kmph to 120Kmph had a mileage of about 19 Km/l
• Comfortable to cruise at 120Kmph. The maximum speed I had clocked is 140Kmph. Beyond 120Kmph the wind noise is evident but surprisingly the tyre noise is not heard. (My Thar has been fit with MRF Wanderer and not CEAT Czar like in most cases and I am happy about the MRF as OEM)
• Even at cruising speeds the engine revs slightly above 2000RPM and happy to rev higher too
• The gear ratios are very well selected, for quick acceleration the gears will have to be down shifted quit often.
• The Brakes are good to stop this massive vehicle, but it nose dives for emergency breaking. Rear passengers should wear seat belts. My kids were sleeping in the rear seat and I had to apply brakes at 120Kmph and they were tossed down on the floor. The brakes are good for emergency stopping, but could get uncomfortable inside.
• Front foot well is quit narrow, but not very bad as the seat position can be adjusted for our requirement.
• The luggage storage space is less but could be managed with duffle bags instead of suitcases
• The headlights & fog lamp lite up the road very well. (Planning to upgrade to Philips X-treme Vision)
• Windshield, being in upright position, this attracts lots of bugs and will require cleaning often in the highway
• Rear arm rest is a miss, but 3 adults can squeeze in for short rides without the arm rest
• “U” turns in city is not going to be easy
• Thar is really a broad vehicle, needs to be suitably anticipated while driving & parking

Thar required to be recognised as a Body on frame vehicle and driven suitably, its not a sedan or a compact SUV but a proper full-fledged Off-Roader with good On-Road characteristics.

 

[J.Ravi]

Took delivery of my Thar on 12th Jan 2021 from Zulaikha Motors, Nandanam, Chennai. I would rate the team 5 star for the experience right from enquiry, test drive, booking, waiting period, periodic updates and the delivery experience. I should make a special note of Mr. Raheem, Team Lead at Zulaikha Motors for the coordinated efforts to make me feel special.

Congratulations and best wishes. Wish you infinite miles with smiles on your Thar.

 

[SandeepJohn]

With Odometer reading at 813Kms and exploring my Thar over the weekend, there were pleasant surprises waiting for me.

Just realised there was in built navigation system, and I need not to use Android Auto for navigation. Yet to really test the efficiency of the in-built navigation system.

Another surprise was that the headlights are glass dome and aluminium reflectors, not the plastic ones. This means that I can upgrade my headlights to higher watts with dedicated wiring and cut-outs.

I was able to fit in 2 suitcases of standard flight cabin baggage horizontally (missed to click). This gives me confidence for weekend get away luggage. I have ordered 2 duffle bags so it can be used during travels. The storage space is about 42 inches by 12 inches in plan and based on rear seat reclination the clear height can be adjusted.

Planning for a day road trip in East Coast Road (ECR) again on 26th Jan. 1st Service is planned on 27th Jan by Zulaikha Motors Chennai, with expected odometer reading at about 1100Kms

Stay tuned for service experience and updates.

 

[nmm mithra]

An Well deserved garage for a commanding SUV in your post #10.

 

[Kumar_CarFreak]

Hey Sandeep ... Congrats man !!! You know what you've got your beast delivered on my B'Day, 12th Jan.... Keep rocking. Even I am a fan of jeeps but utilization and affordability factors stop e from owning one.

I do drive a Santro Xing Petrol 2013 and I do try to enjoy a jeep when driving with open windows.

 

[SandeepJohn]

With Odometer reading at 1056Kms, the 1st service is planned for tomorrow.

Took up 230Kms of highway ride and few Kms of sand dune rides on the ECR. ECR is East Cost Road between Chennai & Pondicherry.

When I was driving on ECR at about 8:00PM, a bat flew in and hit the windshield with a loud bang. I was driving at about 100Kmph at the time of impact. Checked for damages, but the windshield was intact.

Few Clicks from yesterday’s drive

Snap from Navigation

 

[MoRa]

nice choice of colour and a damn good-looking Jeep you have there. Pls udpate log regularly for other users to savour. Even though few may comment, but still people do enjoy reading well written ownership logs with lots of photos.

 

[SandeepJohn]

1st Service update

The following complaints/ observations were noted and provided for rectification,

1. Cutch is to be fully pressed to engage the gear; can this be adjusted for less travel?
2. 3rd gear slotting is difficult sometimes, especially when shifted from 2nd gear
3. Noise in rear door/ seat when driven through bad roads
4. Occasional Humming noise in internal roof light
5. Bluetooth paring with mobile phone is lost sometimes and needs to be paired again
6. Driver information system went blank for a second and came back. 3 times in last 2 weeks.

Long gear throws and long clutch travel is what I should get used to in Thar, its bit different from my Honda or TATAs. Not much can be done to this as this is the way the vehicle has been designed. The gears can’t be changed in very short duration (i.e. time gap taken to change from one gear to another) as compared to Honda.

3rd gear slotting has become better than earlier, not sure what exactly has been done in the service. Need to driver more to ascertain this.

Noise from rear door has been rectified. The door hinges were lubricated and adjusted.

Humming noise in internal roof light has been rectified. Looks like there was lose contact in the bulb fixing.

Bluetooth pairing issue, I will have to wait for a software upgrade. Meanwhile, I should figure out the conditions that lead to unpairing of the phone, as this doesn’t occur at all time.

Driver information system going off for a second or so, I must wait and watch.

I am happy about the service experience. Had a call from service station as soon as the vehicle reached them and then a call from service advisor. Had well understood the issues and had rectified it well.

On the flipside the driver side floor mats holding down clips were damaged and its slipping all over (the guy who does the washing needs to be educated on how the clips must be removed). The floor was polished I guess, and this make the floor bit slippery, next time I should tell the service guys not to polish the floor. Thar doesn’t come with usual floor carpets but with plastic (remember the Thar’s interiors can be washed down with water), but this make the additional floor mats to slip. I will have to figure out a method to avoid the floor mats from slipping.

 

[SandeepJohn]

Quick update on 3 days of 1300Km round trip (additional details from earlier posts). 1200Kms of highway driving and 100Kms of city & village roads. With total odometer reading at 2850Kms

There has been lots of review of laughable size of storage space in Thar, I was able to fit in 1# trolly bag, 2# Duffle bags, 1# camera bag, 1# Shoe bag & other small bags. The travel was for a wedding, 2 adults & 2 kids (was able to take all my lady & girl demanded). Let the picture do the talking.

If you are taking boxes & travelling alone, the best place would be at the front floor

Taking about performance, the snap shot from the trip statistics for your ready reference. (Don’t miss to note the top speed, average speed & milage of the onward journey)

The milage for the complete trip with tank full method was 10.77Kmpl. Most of the time I was cruising at 120Kmph and touched a top speed of 150Kmph. Engine revs at 2500 RPM at a speed of 120Kmph. The wind resistance & noise are evident beyond 120Kmph.

The head light bulbs were changed to Philips X-Treme Vision G-Force, the good stock lights have become better. I was not able to change the Fog bulbs to LED (to match 19Watts of stock bulbs) as there was inadequate space behind the fog lamp assembly. There was no space for heat sinks behind the bulb mounting space. I might have to change the complete fog lamp assembly.

The trip was wonderful with highway driving and driving through village roads. Thar is a heads turner and had many unknown people enquire about the vehicle while parked or in fuel station.

About 200Kms from Chennai, I had a small stone hit the windshield, leaving behind a crack. The extend of crack was marked but found that it had extended by 15mm for rest of the drive. Just checked with service station for replacement, to my surprise the windshield was readily available and would take couple of days to replace as the sealant would take time to cure. I will be replacing it through insurance and the bill would cost about 15k. Along with the windshield replacement, the fastag & RTO Sticker is also to be replaced. The aerodynamics of the windshield is prone to such hits during highway/ highspeed driving. The windshield with its angle of inclination, acts like an insect magnet .

 

[SandeepJohn]

There is an official news for Cam shaft recall for certain Diesel Engines of New Thar. Those who want to check if their Thar is in the recall list - service-action
Enter last 8 digits of your VIN in the link provided above.

My Thar is not in the recall list and I had check this before last trip. Missed to mentioned this in the last post.

 

[SilverEyez]

@SandeepJohn
Amazing thread on Thar with timely updates.
Every Thar owner or prospective buyer should definitely read your Thread.

 

[SandeepJohn]

Had my windshield replaced through insurance. Total bill of around 9500 and had to pay 2000Rs from my end.

Zulaikha Motors, Chennai took just one day to replace the windshield and their service was super quick.

Based on my discussion with the dealer, I understand that Mahindra has asked the dealers to stock-up critical spare parts of Thar. This is a good gesture and is useful at such times of mine for a quick replacement.

Update to issues rectified on the 1st Service,

Rear door noise was heard after 2 days of service and had to take it back to the service station before my road trip. This issue was resolved by spraying lubricant aerosol (Like WD40) at the door hinges. I was provided with one spray from the dealer to be used if the noise reoccurs in any of the doors. This noise was due to dry rubbing of the internal parts of hinges. I have read about this issue else were and there is no proper guidance to resolve the same. This is quick and efficient fix to the door noise problem.

Regarding the floor mats, I had reached out to Mahindra for the poor quality of original accessories especially the holding clips that gets damaged easily. Before getting these floor mats kindly look for yourself and be super careful when removing the holding clips.

Regarding the humming noise from internal light, I have noticed that the LED bulbs hum when its in dimming mode and does not hum when its fully bright. I will have to still explore a method to resolve this. The humming noise is not loud could easily be missed. I have not heard of this problem from anyone else.

I would also ask the experts advise on options for Fog lamp replacement on my Thar. I would like to have the colour temperature close to 4000K, use the existing H16 holders and preferably LED to have the watts closer to stock 19w. Kindly give in your suggestions.

 

[ccprakash]

Hello Sandeep, is there any possibility to fix the carrier rack on this new generation Thar..?

 

[SandeepJohn]

Hi Prakash, I have seen few roof carriers for New That from Bimbra4x4, based from Delhi. You can contact Shanu +91 78277 94988, Gaurav +91 98991 11539. Website Bimbra 4x4

Another modification team from Banglore namely Prad4x4 is also in process of developing roof carriers for New Thar. Contact +91 8043702119. Website Prad4x4™ in Bangalore, India
For latest product details you can contact, as the websites are not very well organised in both cases.

Both have very good reviews and are all capable of provided what we need for off-roading & Thar customisation.

 

[SandeepJohn]

Hi all, do any of you know good shops in Chennai to buy Off-road recovery materials like Snatch Straps, Bow Shackles, long handle spade/ shovels.

Thank you in advance.