[sunilch]

Originally Posted by tilt

Pakistan sells six variants of the V-Cross and India sells only one?

Cheers

Hehe, yes that is true but only partially. Isuzu has entered there very recently. The six variants of the vehicle being referred to in the video includes the commercial pick-up variants too which you might be discounting when you say we have only 1-2 on sale in India. Also, they don't get the Isuzu MUX for now.

The market for Pick-ups, 4x4s and high-end cars in Pakistan is more developed or matured you can say. They have options such as Toyota Hi-Ace, Toyota Hilux (the big daddy among Jap Pick-ups), Toyota LC, Toyota Rush, and Nissan Navara.


On the other hand, their market for popular mainstream cars (of type hatchbacks or regular sedans) is under developed. They still get the old Maruti 800 (sold as Mehran with Euro II compliant engine), old Swift (our first gen one), old Honda City (our 3rd Gen Arrow design). VW and Hyundai are not present there and the market is dominated by Suzuki, Honda and Toyota. Suzuki still sells many old vehicles there as the regulation on sale of old cars is not really there.

[Max63]

My monster Vcross has arrived at the dealership and went to JMD for a pre - RTO check. Checked for any damage while on transit and found to be perfectly alright. Checked the odometer and recorded the reading which is just 33 Kms. Checked the VIN number and could not make it out the month of manufacturing as the decoding process for ISUZU was not there any where. Can any one decode the VIN of Vcross, please help me out to identify the manufacturing month. Sales Manager also could not say at that moment but told me that it will be of the last quarter and the latest one. Relying on his words on a good faith after all going to have long relationship with JMD.

Taking the delivery on 18th Jan as wifey says that Pousa is a inauspicious month to acquire any thing new and I should take the delivery only after the Sankranti. She consulted her Panditji and fixed date of 18th Jan, Friday.

Waiting for the D day.

Uploading the pictures

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by Max63

Checked the VIN number and could not make it out the month of manufacturing as the decoding process for ISUZU was not there any where.

Congrats. Just take a confirmation from manufacturer that vehicle is from 2018 Manufacturing unless you have purposely negotiated on a 2017.

[Max63]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Congrats. Just take a confirmation from manufacturer that vehicle is from 2018 Manufacturing unless you have purposely negotiated on a 2017.

Thanks Turbanator

It was 2018 only but I am looking for the month of manufacturing.

[Max63]

Took the delivery of my monster on 18th Jan. The entire team of JMD were vice nice and hospitable. Immediately on our arrival us to light refreshment since we traveled all the way from Vasai to Sanpada. After they performed the puja where we both (my wife and me) took part and performed it. Then the Sales guy gave me a demo of the car with more emphasis on the 4X4 function and the cruise control and the service schedule. Surprisingly the service interval is 10K kms and not 20K kms as reported earlier by the other members. The first service is after 5K kms or 6 months whichever earlier. may be they have changed the service schedule after getting the opinions from various owners and also considering the Indian conditions.

Now after taking the deliver have planned for the modifications of the Monster. Have contacted Mr. Nilay Mehta of Bon Auto Tech, nice guy and very helpful. Thought of putting the D Box, changing the front bumper, snorkel, Wheel arch and tire upgrade to 17 Inches with steel rims. The offer was very attractive and reasonable in comparison to the offer made by the JMD.

Will update once these are done.. Here are the pictures taken during the delivery of the Monster.

Thanks,

Subrata

[VivOverland]

Originally Posted by Max63

Took the delivery of my monster on 18th Jan.

Welcome to this very special club, Subrata! The best part about owning this car, is the camaraderie among owners, instigated by joining the dealer's WhatsApp group. Unlike many other leisure oriented vehicles (Harley, Triumph) the owners themselves also drive the fun element with lots of meetups, casual drive bys and of course the JMD hosted drives.

Expect to be recognized by your truck, and be able to recognize others - very soon!

[TwistedFaith]

Originally Posted by VivOverland

Welcome to this very special club, Subrata! The best part about owning this car, is the camaraderie among owners, instigated by joining the dealer's WhatsApp group. Unlike many other leisure oriented vehicles (Harley, Triumph) the owners themselves also drive the fun element with lots of meetups, casual drive bys and of course the JMD hosted drives.

Expect to be recognized by your truck, and be able to recognize others - very soon!

Heh, congratulations on the purchase Subrata. Love the black colour - but it is a nightmare to maintain. I have managed to keep it just about manageable by not letting the local rag and bucket fellow have a go at washing it. I wash it myself - about once a month. In retrospect I wish I had picked white or grey


I was very keen on a bumper change - but have held off due to the current RTO and Supreme Court rulings. The rules actually haven't changed at all, but the authorities seem to be keen on enforcing them where in the past they didn't look too closely. I would recommend that if you have not changed the bumper yet - then you leave it stock till the situation settles down.


Small correction to the above post as well. Viv, minor correction to your post being that the whatsapp group is not run by JMD - we have a Pan India group which owners have banded together to create with various local chapters as well.


I suspect that since the JMD owner was also a V-Cross owner himself (I have not been in touch for a while but I believe thats Girish right?), he may well be one of the admins of the Bombay chapter.

[VivOverland]

Originally Posted by TwistedFaith

Small correction to the above post as well. Viv, minor correction to your post being that the whatsapp group is not run by JMD - we have a Pan India group which owners have banded together to create with various local chapters as well.

Hi TwistedFaith,

I'm specifically referring to the dealers' WhatsApp group, which is definitely run by JMD. There are several other groups, but I'm not referring to these in my post. The JMD group is very active and boasts a lively community that meets often.

In hindsight I too should have chosen a colour other than black. No bucket washermen for me either, and the trusty Jopasu is good enough for daily dry season duty. Pressure wash twice a month seems to work, based on my experience the last 8-9 months, and more regularly during the rains.

Offroad bumper, yes, and agree it's worth waiting for clarity before charging in. Will be a major investment along with a suspension upgrade and winch, so I'm in no hurry.

[Auto freak]

Happened to spot what appears to be the V-Cross facelift this evening at Chennai!

[Mr.501]

The pizzeria hands me my “Chicken Dominator Pizza”(Don’t judge, it was a Sunday),I am twiddling along the road so as to reach my parking spot and there it goes swooshing past me and shaking me to the core, with it’s muscular body that was wider than the sky and the road presence of a Tyrannosaurus-Rex in room full of chickens. Now I always had a soft spot for the loaded and luxurious pick-up trucks that were sold in The States, they always seemed to appeal to me for how they looked and what they were capable of. I swear to God if someone was to come up to me and inform me that a Ford Raptor just scaled the Mount Everest, I wouldn’t even be surprised. India on the other hand has always shied away from these butch looking beasts and I simply can not figure out why. With the amount of bad asphalt and potholes in our country I am surprised how all of us just simply never take a proper Pick-Up into our purchase decisions.

The Isuzu D-Max V-Cross is a breath of very and I repeat very fresh air into this stagnant segment. Some of you would argue that we have had our fair share of Pick-Ups in the form of the Mahindra Getaway and the Tata Xenon, but I strongly disagree, these two examples never really egged me on whereas their American Cousins were after my own heart. Maybe it was the fact that the interior were always dud and they never had any kit on offer, or maybe it was the fact that I could never live with a pickup truck that was no good at triple digit speeds on a smooth tarmac highway. I do believe that these were some of the few reasons why these Pick-Ups never really PICKED UP (Ok I am going to stop with the puns now). So India as a market never really had a decently luxurious Pick-Up that was just as good on the road as it was climbing mountains, that was until The V-Cross arrived to our shores.

Exterior


The V-Cross had the details down to the T, the looks, the road presence, the grunt and above all the character. I do believe that the biggest appeal of a Pick-Up is the giddiness it generates within a person, now I am all for the performance cars that are on offer, I love carving out a beautiful mountain road in a low slung sports car or a peppy little hot hatch just as much as you but you would have to agree that the commanding view, the no damn given attitude to the terrain conditions and the intimidation imparted to the plebeian cars offered by the V-Cross has it’s own charm. On first glance the Isuzu ticked all the right boxes and I was trotting with excitement to try out this automotive behemoth as I was pretty sure I was about to fall in love with it. The bold double slat chrome grill, the flared wheel arches ,the chrome rear bumper and side steps, the projector headlamps, the LED Drl’s and LED tail lamps and the 16 inch Alloys made it look like one tough brute. The loading bay was a rolling room with no room ,it should easily be able to carry anything from the furniture you want to shift to another place to loading up your favourite motorcycle to take to the track, the plastic lining makes it easier to clean although drain holes for water seepage are sorely missed, two people can easily sit on the loading gate without any creaking or stress on the opening mechanism which is completely manual to my dismay, I would have loved to see the hydraulic opening mechanism as standard instead of an add-on accessory.

Interior


As I sat inside the cabin I could see that a lot of thought had gone into it, the cabin was simple and understated but it had everything and more that I would require from it. Now it was no German interior but the fit and finish was excellent and the plastics although hard touch felt well put together. Turning the key I was greeted with a nifty animation on the MID display but the display was rather low on resolution quality, a bummer but not a deal breaker. As the 2.5 litre Turbo Intercooled Oil Burner roared to life I was quite surprised at the lack of noise inside the cabin, the NVH levels at idle were at bay so much so that blindfolded I wouldn’t have realised it was an engine used in a Pick-Up.



Talking about the interior, it comes with a decent 7-Inch touch screen which although has basic looking graphics is very responsive.The bluetooth pairing process was a regular affair, the speakers sounded above average with a heavy emphasis on bass but the high’s and low’s seemed to get a little mudded, it was a more than average infotainment system never the less.One of my gripes with the infotainment system would be the usage of buttons instead of a knob for controlling the volume, the knob to me is just way more intuitive.


The steering mounted controls felt really good, the left side had the buttons for controlling the infotainment system and the right side had the ones for the cruise control. The two metal buttons for the volume and setting the cruise speed with a knurled centre slat felt really premium to touch.The steering wheel was nice to hold on to ,albeit slightly on the larger side but went well with the looks of the interior. The centre armrest was like a pit of the doom as it was very deep and should be able to store most items.The twin glove box, multiple cup holders and sunglass holder aids towards the practicality on an already very practical machine.The Automatic Climate Control (has a pollen filter and a rear defooger) was a love affair, it chilled the cabin within 5 mins of driving off and I was might impressed with the temperature regulation, the fan on full blast was a little noisy so much so that u couldn’t hear the engine at all at normal speeds and that goes to prove how refined the engine is and how low the NVH levels are, but putting the fan on medium or low settings and it goes silent.I would have loved if the V-Cross would have come with a cooled glove-box as it would have helped on the hot off-roading weekends to keep ur water and soda chilled. The parking camera was decent but without adaptive guidelines and the lack of parking sensors was missed as reversing this beast in a tight spot is not a task for the faint hearted.The rear seats were acceptable and there was decent leg and head room but I do feel that the seats are a tad bit too upright but the lumbar support is admirable.The front seats were adequately bolstered and I was able to find a comfortable driving position with the 6-Way electrically adjustable driver seat and the rake adjustable steering( no reach adjustability) before I set off in the 2H setting of the 4*4 Rotary Dial.

First Drive


As a first drive I would like to point out that there is a decent amount of turbo lag present but not something that hinders the driving experience much. The 5-speed gear lever slotted into gear with minimal effort but the throw was on the longer side, also there were some vibrations that one could feel creeping through the gear lever even on idle.The clutch is also on the lighter side and all of this combined makes it easy to drive in day to day traffic .Pushing the car on the Mumbai-Pune Highway I was pleased with it’s high speed cruising attributes. The engine seemed decent on power with it’s 134 bhp @ 3600 rpm and 320Nm of torque coming in at as low as 1800 rpm but I would have loved a little more go from it as it does feel a little underpowered when the turbo hasn’t spooled up or the driver is out of the power band which is approximately 3000-4000 rpm(A simple ECU remap should fix that to the tune of north of 180 bhp ).The vehicle was stable on high speeds and changing lanes wasn’t much of a challenge due to the large sized ORVM’s.After enjoying the spoils on the highway I took the coming exit as I turned the V-Cross to a pothole ridden road, this is where one of the trade off’s was pretty evident, the ride which was planted on the highway became a little jarring as although the V-Cross couldn’t care less about the potholes as it ploughed on due to it’s high ground clearance and soft suspension, it seemed to get unsettled by the very bad patches due to the Body on Frame chassis and the use of Leaf-Spring rear suspension, now I do understand that Isuzu needed to put this archaic suspension setup on the V-Cross to have a more competent off-road characteristic and to make it capable to tow and load up extremely heavy weights in the back it does make the passengers a little green on the inside, placing some weight in the loading bay does make a noticeable difference to the ride quality over potholes but it would still never be able to compare to a fully independent suspension setup. Switching over to 4H(available on the fly) I could feel the mighty Isuzu grip a little better while exiting corners at high speeds which I was able to undertake due to the body roll being manageable.I was a little disappointed with brakes as they are discs in the front and drums in the rear and frankly it could have done with discs all around, although the brakes do stop the car in an acceptable fashion the pedal feel and feedback is almost non existent.

The V-Cross comes with ABS and EBD as standard while the High Variant which I was piloting also comes with switchable Traction Control System and Electronic Stability Control which makes it safer on-road and more capable and fun off-road. It also comes with Isofix mounts to keep the little one safe in the back while you plough on.Driving the V-Cross pretty aggressively for a short stint of 40 mins, it returned an average fuel economy of 11.7 kmpl which in my books is more than acceptable and I sincerely feel that if driven sedately on a smooth highway it would happily be a lot more fuel efficient.Although I did not have an off road course at my disposal I did take the V-Cross over a couple of off beat tracks and it didn’t even break a sweat, the tracks although didn’t require me to switch to 4L as the 4H was more than enough, I still did shift to 4L just to get a feel of it, to shift to 4L the driver has to come to a halt and turn the 4*4 knob to the left by pressing down and you can hear a slightly audible clink that assures that the 4L is engaged which is also shown on the MID display.I then set off in 2nd gear and bucket loads of torque was available on tap which wasn’t even a requirement at the current landscape.I really wished to go properly off-road but alas I was on a clock, I shall reserve my excitement to drive it properly off-road for some other day as the V-Cross begs you to do just that.I would also like to point out that the V-Cross comes in with a whole host of modification options right from the factory which includes luggage bay covers and chrome treatment among others.

Thoughts
So as for my conclusions I came back home mightily impressed with the Isuzu D-MAx V-Cross and actually considering buying one for myself. It is a great companion to anyone who likes their weekend trips, be it a long distance cruise to a remote location or taking out your significant other for a nice dinner , going to the grocery store,or even during your everyday commute to office while you blast your favourite music and feel the chilling AC on your face, everywhere the V-Cross goes it turns heads and gain a lot of attention which follows up with even more questions as to why did u buy such a different looking vehicle.Seeing how well the V-Cross has been selling I don’t think I would be wrong in stating that maybe the time of Indians actually considering lifestyle vehicles as an option for their next vehicle has come.The Isuzu V-Cross has actually changed the game in the Indian market and the fact of the matter is the gamble has finally paid off for Isuzu as well as for us enthusiasts, India is finally getting a “Grip”.

[NaXal]

Originally Posted by tilt

Pakistan sells six variants of the V-Cross and India sells only one?

Cheers

Pardon me for going off topic.

Pakistan has no official presence of Isuzu. There is a company which has some monopoly from Isuzu on imports.

Isuzu doesn't honour warranty, Isuzu doesn't cover recall. Not necessarily all Isuzu are zero meter vehicle, many of them are second hand auction cars from other countries. They retrofit/fix before putting up sale.

Only official presence are from few japanese/South Koreans with really old products. Rest of all the products are all imports. No official backing of parent company even though it's selling lower level cars with their official presence.

Really few Pakistani automotive websites or YouTube channels actually understand the difference between official company presence & an import via 3rd party company. But those who understand, they paint a really clean picture of their market. Unfortunately, that picture is terrible from customer point a view.

[raja_ys]

Originally Posted by Max63

Thanks Turbanator

It was 2018 only but I am looking for the month of manufacturing.

It's a November 2018 manufactured vehicle

[satya180]

Hello guys,
We recently sold our 2011 Innova G as it did not have any airbags. Also selling my Tuned 2013 VW Vento 1.6 TDI, and replacing it with the DMax VCross. Have booked a Titanium Silver High MY18, with a Carryboy Series 6 Canopy (the only canopy i like, design-wise. But i am still not sure of the canopy, prefer a steel/ aluminium or even ABS canopy as opposed to the fiberglass built Carryboy one.
Any suggestions regarding a high quality full canopy?? I quite like the Sammitr SMM Executive V4 steel canopy. Please help me choose one, full canopy only.
Thanks a lot.
This will be my first 4x4, really looking forward to the 4x4 life!
Im excited just thing about all the places, all the hill tops that i can now drive to in the evenings or early mornings, chill there for a bit and then drive back down, and thats what made me take the leap. Delivery is in 2 weeks max, still torn between silver and white. Will see both in the flesh and then decide.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by satya180

Hello guys,
We recently sold our 2011 Innova G as it did not have any airbags. Also selling my Tuned 2013 VW Vento 1.6 TDI, and replacing it with the DMax VCross. Have booked a Titanium Silver High MY18,

Why not wait for facelift expected in few weeks time?

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by Mr.501

Attachment 1851512

The Isuzu D-Max V-Cross is a breath of very and I repeat very fresh air into this stagnant segment. Some of you would argue that we have had our fair share of Pick-Ups in the form of the Mahindra Getaway and the Tata Xenon, but I strongly disagree, these two examples never really egged me on whereas their American Cousins were after my own heart. Maybe it was the fact that the interior were always dud and they never had any kit on offer, or maybe it was the fact that I could never live with a pickup truck that was no good at triple digit speeds on a smooth tarmac highway. I do believe that these were some of the few reasons why these Pick-Ups never really PICKED UP (Ok I am going to stop with the puns now). So India as a market never really had a decently luxurious Pick-Up that was just as good on the road as it was climbing mountains, that was until The V-Cross arrived to our shores.

Exterior
Attachment 1851513

I believe it would make you glad to know that the professional brochure pics of the DMax you posted are clicked by our very own mod Rudra.