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18th September 2013, 13:07 | #151 | |
BHPian | Re: 10000kms update - 10 months of ownership Quote:
I was expecting they would, but am now forced to think otherwise. Added some pics to the main Thar thread. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post3240817 The root cause is something that I am unable to figure. There is no extreme bending - not at the point of fracture. The service center suggested a stone injury - but I am not willing to agree to that. Seems it just gave up. A steel braided one might be a good move after this encounter. For now, keeping a watchful eye on the condition of both the hoses - the weekly checklist increases. | |
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25th September 2013, 01:12 | #152 | |
BHPian Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Bangalore
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| Re: 10000kms update - 10 months of ownership Quote:
I have to visit the ASC again for fixing a new handbrake cable before I forget that it ever existed. Without the handbrake it's difficult to keep the engine running during quick stops since it keeps rolling most of the times. Unfortunately, I can't even leave it in for service currently since it is being used by my wife for her office commute while I'm mostly using the bike for errands. Soon the wait shall be over once the new sibling arrives next week and the jeep will be freed from it's daily duties. | |
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24th October 2013, 13:00 | #153 |
BHPian | Re: A Biker to a Jeeper - Mahindra Thar Crde amolpol: can you some more feedback on the P245/75/R16 BigHorns. I am planning to get a second set of tyres (M/T) for my Thar for OTRs and am looking towards the Bighorn 764. However, I plan to stick with the steel wheels - I read in your thread that it was causing issues - but the Offroad academy Thars are running the 764s - so I hope that will be liveable. Adding a set of alloys pushes the entire idea out of my budget. Road noise should be a non-issue. I will be retaining my H/Ts as they've done some 25k and I cannot sell them for much anyway. |
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24th October 2013, 21:01 | #154 | |
BHPian | Re: A Biker to a Jeeper - Mahindra Thar Crde Quote:
The issues that you have experienced really scare me to bits and spoil an otherwise amazing experience i am having with my Thar. I haven't experienced anything serious till now (almost 15000Kms) and warranty runs out next month. I am scared. I sincerely hope Mahindra does a recall and upgrades brakes on all Thars. Keep up the good work and hope all you issues get resolved pronto. happy Jeeping. | |
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28th October 2013, 15:48 | #155 |
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| Braking Woes and a possible resolution The handbrake cable that was ordered in August had arrived some time in September but I hadn't been able to have it fixed since my wife was using it last month for her office runs. I didn't want to leave it at the ASC at that time since it never has made it back on time ever in this one year, being the only car until the Fortuner arrived we couldn't afford any downtime. Finally, on Friday Oct 18th, I confirmed with the ASC manager and left the jeep for the cable replacement. The other two things to do were
As usual, I was told that it may not be possible to deliver the jeep by evening and I could collect it on Saturday afternoon. I didn't need it immediately so it was okay to wait a day. Saturday when I called, the ASC manager informs me that they have found some problem with the clutch pedal which was getting stuck or something to that effect. He obviously couldn't tell me what exactly the issue was but said that his team will take care of it nevertheless. It implied that he'd now give the jeep on Monday afternoon after verifying everything so it just added two more days of stay at the ASC. I wasn't expecting this but finally said okay and that he needs to explain what exactly was the issue when I come on Monday. Now, on Monday afternoon when I call, I am told that the vehicle will be ready shortly and that everything has been fixed. Casually I ask the SA on how much the bill would be since if it's not much I could very well ask him to drop off the jeep at my place. This is where things became a bit unnerving, the SA looks for the bill and tells me that the bill is approx 5700. I'm very amused by what he was saying now and ask him for details. He goes on to tell me that they found another issue with the lower ball joint assembly and it has been replaced, although not under warranty. The summary of work as per what he told me was: - Handbrake cable replaced - but it wasn't covered under warranty. I'm charged about 500 for the part and some more for labor etc - I'm told that they have replaced the ball joint on the front right suspension since the rubber seal had cracked. I asked them what could have caused the problem, and he obviously didn't have a good answer but just kept telling me that it was wear and tear damage so wasn't covered under warranty. - The wheel stud has been replaced as per my request. Monday was anyways a busy day for me and I didn't have time to visit the ASC and verify the issues. I told him that we'd talk on Tuesday and close it. On Tuesday, I spoke to them again since I was unable to visit them in the morning and their version has changed a bit. Apparently they changed the ball joint as preventive maintenance since the rubber casing had cracked and it could have led to a failure shortly, but the part had not failed as yet. So the cost of this preventive maintenance was nicely put on my head for a part that should have a much longer rated life than measly 10700kms I've done so far. What ticked me off was that the ASC never kept me informed on what was being done and no cost estimation was done, putting me in the spot at the end to pay up with no obvious choice. On speaking with the M&M Area office, I was heard and they agreed to spare me of the replacement cost of the ball joint. The average life of the part is much more than what I have done in the 11 months so far so I wasn't liable to pay for such replacement. I wanted to ask him about the handbrake cable also since that has gone kaput since August which means in just 9 months since I bought it. Anyway, I didn't want to sound too pushy about everything so decided it was not worth the struggle. Work schedules didn't permit me to visit the ASC even on Tuesday and so it wasn't until Wednesday morning when I met the service manager to close on the issue and get my jeep back. I paid about 1300 for all the things apart from the ball joint replacement and have told the ASC guys and the Area Manager that I would need to get my jeep checked by the Mahindra engineer who would visit the ASC next time. I need to understand whether the torsion bar settings are correct and clarify on a few other things that keep coming up every now and then. If you were thinking that this is how my story ended to live happily ever after, it's not so easy! Last weekend I attended the BODA Offroading Jamboree which was organized by the BODA guys in Bangalore. While the event itself was pretty well managed and presented a nice set of tracks to challenge the offroad ability of most participants, I realized that the sinking brake pedal issue had emerged again. I had some narrow misses on the way to the trail and on the trail as well. Finally, I decided to not take this any more and have raised a complaint with the M&M guys. They seem to have diagnosed it as an issue with the brake booster and a replacement shall arrive soon. Hopefully, that should take care of the issue. I did check on whether I could get an upgrade done to the booster and vacuum tank from the scorpio instead of just changing the booster. I don't expect M&M to cover the upgrade under warranty and offered to pay the differential costs. But I was told that the Scorpio setup isn't recommended because of the excessive stopping power that it carries. Wonder what are the downsides of having higher than needed braking power. You may need to apply the brakes judiciously since too much stopping power could throw the rear occupants out of their seats under sudden braking. In general, isn't it better to have more and use less rather than have lesser braking to begin with. The answer to that question may be very obvious, however, the engineering team at M&M thinks that the current system is adequate and no change is required. Given that the Thar brakes have been criticized by everyone, M&M seems to be playing the fool by ignoring the voices of customers who have already paid them more than the worth of the vehicle. Only if this weren't India with the infamous judiciary system, the customers could have made M&M to actually RISE. |
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28th October 2013, 17:32 | #156 | |||
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| Re: A Biker to a Jeeper - Mahindra Thar Crde Quote:
Plus: - Superb side wall protection - Really effective mud/slush traction - Aggressive looks enhance the jeep stance - Overall a very good off-road tire option Minus: - Road noise is an irritant above 80kph - Braking distance is much higher than the AT/HT tires - Lower top speed rating of 140kph - Lower tire life - tread wear and tear is much faster than regular tires when used all the time. (For you, it may not be an issue if you use it selectively) - The tyre used to touch in the front on full turns - this shouldn't an issue for the other mechanicals but the tire wear will be higher in the area where it touches. Most of the Mahindra Adventure Thars have stock alloys and not steel wheels, I'm not sure if the issue exists with the alloys. Quote:
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Like what BD sir said in one of his posts, just use it out of the box, don't change anything on it and it won't break on you. The build quality is definitely (if not better) at par with the M800 that used to sell 20 years ago and if used on the roads, it shouldn't give you much trouble. Afterall, CMVR regulations haven't really changed too much ever since you see. Auto manufacturers are still allowed to skimp on some of safety basics and get their vehicle to pass the "stringent" CMVR norms. Now when CMVR okays a "lifestyle" vehicle, it doesn't mean that the vehicle is ready to go on a mission right out of the box. That is where owners like me just tend to "misuse" it by taking it out of its comfort zone like it was built to do all that. It is only when you take it off-road as advertised by some ignorant fools in M&M that the problems start. Things start falling, breaking, creaking, wearing out and there are just complaints all the time. It is times like these when the owner is left wondering if he/she made the right decision of buying a urban city purpose jeep for offroad use. But you knew all that before you bought it, didn't you. Exactly my point, I did too, and so I have made peace with it and don't really get perturbed by the frequent visits to the ASC. A lot of people have told me that they're scared after reading what I have gone through, but I'm not. I asked for this and am going to live through it till a point when I can afford something better. Simple as that! As per design, this was built as a Jeep to satisfy male egos and to help woo the pretty things of opposite gender by way of showing off. The product placement was done thinking of a boys' childhood fantasy and how he always wanted to own a jeep to go to office everyday and feel all macho about it. I must admit, it does all that beautifully, no complaints whatsoever. Only problem for me, I don't drive it to office daily and am happily married with a lovely wife and daughter so I may be late for the party already! A lot of times I see similarities between the dinosaur companies like M&M, Tata and Enfield - all of which I've been associated with. Take the Continental GT cafe racer for example. I'm not sure what would you "race" with if you've got a 535cc engine putting out just 29 horses with a single cyl in the year 2013! The company expects people to pay 2.5L or whatever the price is, for something that they would have adored 20 years ago and feel super happy about it now. More than the quality and performance of products, these companies are selling childhood dreams to people at exorbitant prices. Don't know how long this fashion trend will last, hopefully the Indian consumer will eventually start getting the worth of what they paid for. Coming to the brake issue, don't expect any upgrade from M&M coz there ain't going to be any. Not now, and may not be in the future as well from the way I see it. I don't think this is a product where they'll want to invest too much. They have it out there and its probably selling more than what they originally thought, but the relative numbers ain't gonna keep the management excited forever. Today's sales growth is tomorrows expectation and such niche products can never keep up with that harsh reality to command R&D attention like what the XUV would get for improvements and bug fixes. | |||
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14th November 2013, 22:50 | #157 |
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| Re: A Biker to a Jeeper - Mahindra Thar Crde So a couple of weeks back I did get the brake booster changed under warranty and the new one was with the updated part #. I was told that the 'sinking pedal' issue should be done away with after this upgrade. Unfortunately, it is not so! Last Sunday, I took the jeep out for a offroad meet and there it happened again. Atleast 3-4 times the pedal just lost pressure with minimal to no braking effect. I've raised this concern again with M&M and will be leaving the jeep for yet another session with the service center tomorrow. I've told them clearly that this is not an issue that I can live with, even though I'm okay with the poor braking overall. Lets see how it goes from here. For now, here's a pic of the jeep in its natural environment, doing what a jeep is supposed to do. |
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18th November 2013, 16:17 | #158 | |
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| Re: A Biker to a Jeeper - Mahindra Thar Crde Quote:
How do you like the performance of your Hella lights? I was planning on getting a similar 7" set up front with some rectangular worklights up top. I hope you get the brake issues resolved. I saw during PDI that they are giving the tandem (double diaphragm) booster standard now, but the vacuum tank is the same small one. Here's hoping the sinking pedal feeling does not happen in the models. | |
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18th November 2013, 20:22 | #159 |
BHPian | Re: A Biker to a Jeeper - Mahindra Thar Crde
Hi showboat, congrats on your impending purchase. Just need one clarification. To my knowledge, the Thar always came with tandem booster as standard. And its remained the same since launch despite two upgrades, the recent one being in Sep 13. Have checked the same in a 2011 and my own late 2012 thar. So are you sure that yours is an upgrade. Will post part no in mine tommorrow. |
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19th November 2013, 05:21 | #160 | |
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| Re: A Biker to a Jeeper - Mahindra Thar Crde Quote:
Thanks. | |
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19th November 2013, 10:58 | #161 | ||||
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| Re: A Biker to a Jeeper - Mahindra Thar Crde Quote:
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The new one is bigger than the one I got on my NOv-12 thar, so I know its an upgraded part. | ||||
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19th November 2013, 21:18 | #162 | |
BHPian | Re: A Biker to a Jeeper - Mahindra Thar Crde Quote:
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20th November 2013, 05:52 | #163 | |
BHPian Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: BLR/MAA
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20th November 2013, 18:46 | #164 |
Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: MUMBAI
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| Re: A Biker to a Jeeper - Mahindra Thar Crde [quote] THAR has never let me down. In the last 2 x competitions I finished 3rd and 2nd, kicking most of the big name brands bye-bye. One issue I would appreciate some guidance on is the 4x4 front hub auto-lockers. Is this a common fault that it does not unlatch itself? TWICE now I have had the left from wheel literally being held on by the disc brake caliper!!!, both axle locknuts off, circlip broke into pieces. Is there something special that we could do to ensure the auto -locker mechanism is free ?? Would going into reverse for 1 meter help to make sure the auto-locker has dissengaged ? Is the 2014 change, having constant engaged 4x4 a good thing? Can I get a workshop manual with exploded view or assembly drawing of the front hubs for the 2014 type hub?? Just keen to sort this front hub lock unlock mechanism out real soon. Is there another part we can fit , that allows MANUAL hub locking. I don't mind climbing out to lock. [Unquote] Dear amolpol and all - I learnt something new I am so sharing. Please refer eagle888's post number 2833 dated 18112013 in the official Thar test review thread. Amolpol, you had a similar failure mode on your vehicle. Could this be the root cause? Let's put on our thinking caps and analyse, we will all learn. Please revert. Best regards, Behram Dhabhar |
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20th November 2013, 20:23 | #165 | |
Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Calcutta
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| Re: 10000kms update - 10 months of ownership Quote:
Did you loose braking completely? Wonder if ARAI check whether dual circuit (failsafe) system work as advertised. Regards Sutripta | |
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