[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by tilt

These look fantastic. I wish there were people doing this here.

Do check with these local upholsterers. They fix these captain seat type armrests to the seat which are foldable. We got one made for our Santro too, from the local upholsterer.

Lovely write up. Enjoyed reading every bit of it.

[mail2sekh]

This is the kind of post which:

1)I read again and again while rolling in laughter :-) It randomly popped up in the news feed and am grateful for a morning well spent.
2) Made me login to tbhp forums after ages and rekindle the embers of the dead-traveller in me.
3) Inspires you to re-evaluate your true calling as a writer/automotive fan/wanderer amidst the ongoing chaos in the world !

So thank you @tilt for all that at so many levels
Out of curiosity, how long did you take to compile that review / work of art rather?

[tilt]

Originally Posted by mail2sekh

*SNIP*

Out of curiosity, how long did you take to compile that review / work of art rather?

The observations were noted down as and when I observed them while driving - over a couple of days - in bullet form.

The actual writing of the post took about 30 minutes and maybe ten minutes of editing/proof-reading.

Cheers

[tilt]

Originally Posted by deepfreak15

*SNIP*

you have Thar I have camera, if you know what I mean :wink

Much gratitude to deepfreak. With just one properly working arm he still managed to shoot these amazing photos of my Thar I mean, he did click many more but these are the ones that I wish to present here

Cheers

[wooka]

Originally Posted by Crosscountryman

1. You can get the Scorpio type arm rest made for Thar. I got it done for mine.

May I please know where you had this done - and for how much (I'm still struggling, despite many a helpful PM from a few members - I am looking for someone in NCR to help!)

Originally Posted by Crosscountryman

2. My Thar also has this whistling sound from the hard top roof, at speeds above 80KMPH. And the service folks haven't been able to resolve it.

Two Qs (that I'm sure all of us are keen on knowing about) as under-
A. What have they already tried to do to remedy it? In fact, in my scenario, there are distinct muddy water stains along the inside of the roof by the passenger's side.
B. Is there a known recall or do we need to push for one? If so, I plan on logging the same defect with my service center. They had a callus attitude last I checked (I just bought the vehicle a month back) saying 'sir iss gaadi me yeh avaaz expect karo, aapki toh purani thar bhi hai toh aap so samajh hi sakte ho' - Sector 2 Koncept, NOIDA.

I'm not even going to go into the poor quality of accessories mandatorily sold to me and the fact that they're either blistering(!) or falling off the body due to horrendous workmanship and build QC.

[Crosscountryman]

Hi Wooka

I got it done at Sector -18 Gurgaon. You can contact Mr. Rajkumar at 9560583820. It'll cost Rs 8,500.

To remove the roof noise, they tried tightening the front corner screws and some moderate beating around the upper panels of the driver co-driver seats. But nothing worked.

I think we should log the same complaint with Mahindra to push for recall. My complaint has already reached their HQ and I'm waiting for some resolution. I follow-up every fortnight.

The accessories point is surprising. None of the accessories fitted in mine seem to be sub standard or falling off. Can you specify the poor ones?

[wooka]

Hi,

Thanks for the quality lead.

I emailed a bunch of issues. Summary points -
1. Shoulder chrome lining falling off.
2. Door cladding falling off.
3. Seat covers ridiculously loose.
4. Water ingress left top roof and high noise at top speeds. I have another CRDe as well...
5. Windows making quite a noise if not fully up.
6. Brake squeal.
7. Cruise control doesn't work often.
8. Android connectivity issues. Frequent disconnection.
9. Bluetooth failure on cold start.
10. Playing FM after taking a Bluetooth call and not resuming ( shows paused.)
11. Playing FM after taking a BT call while showing android media playing.
12. Fender cladding bubbling and falling off.
13. Rattles from sunshades (both.)
14. Seat covers have a protrusion where the Mahindra label is. Sadly the service GM cut his hand on it today. Its a solid health hazard esp if you have kids or pets.
15. Rattles in the food tray accessory (I fixed this.)
16. Camera quality is often black and white and absolutely abysmal.
17. Rust issues all over the underbody. What's the point of taking a coating that'll only accelerate the process?
18. Passenger seat often doesn't come up with just the tilt lever.
19. Alignment of the wheels.
20 dashboard foam isolator isn't affixed. Was bent and simply not where it should have been.
21. My wipers were bad day 1. Day 5 they were changed after much ado. Day 6 one was broken. Day 7 I paid for yet another one. I can't understand how they can't get this right. What a mess!
22. The foot mats are useless. They're falling apart with 4 days use with foam slippers! My CRDe has original mats that are 6 years old and look brand new.
23. The chrome grill applique and a bunch of other stuck on accessories are either falling apart or were not applied with adequate surface preperation.
24. The microphone on the Bluetooth module is absolutely useless. I used to think Chinese OEM Android units without external mics were bad. Well, Mahindra, thanks for being a revelation. The person on the receiving side can't hear a thing I say. Even Google maps can't react to a word I say.
25. If you install the mud flaps, the front parts need drilling of holes in the side step. Mahindra is woefully lost in their expectations since there are no clips and or mounting holes for the front pair! And still, there is a massive gap between the wheel arch and mud flap. A lot of muck gets through.
26. The OVRM applique is coming off. Poor surface prep again. I'll have to take matters into my own hands.
27. The fender cladding fell off! I had a hard time getting a replacement from the dealer after showing that the same part on the corresponding side was also falling off.
28. The AC keeps coming on if the defogger function is on. This happens even after the AC is once manually toggled to the OFF position. This also hapoems when the rear defogger goes off naturally.

Its been a month with the car, and I've been to the service center 5 times already in different towns (Dehradun, Noida, Udaipur, Abu Road.)

Some fixed things -
1. At delivery all wheels and Tyres were grossly misaligned. All three params on tyre alignment (toe, castor and camber) were well off axis!
2. Post delivery this was fixed at Dehradun.
3. Post fixing, this was rectified yet again at Noida.
4. I still have doubts regarding tyre alignment. Driven enough cars to know when something is not right. A lot of Thars are pulling to the left and have minor tyre correction to drive straight (at the expense of.... Tyre wear?)

I'm contemplating starting my own thread. Let's see how tomorrow pans out.

General issues with the delivery and support system -
1. Multiple days within the first month of delivery have been spent at Mahindra.
2. The alignment was not done when all I insisted on before delivery was an alignment. Even the wheels were very poorly balanced. Someone upset with their salary really took out on my car!
3. Clips were missing. For example, the clip to the manual jack mat, and then to the tyre fender liner.
4. Zero Fuel on delivery despite 9k INCIDENTAL charges.
5. Up selling 'mandatory' accessories in another's 'cancelled' booking. Even though some weren't even in the vehicle at the time of PDI.. I had to fight to get some things struck off.
6. Service and support channels at Mahindra are not discreet. I opened my email and closed it with one thought - do not forward that email to the dealer, since I have two more XUV 790 bookings with them and do not want to ruin our relationship over their (hopefully) temporary mismanaged way of things. Surely, the first email that went out in response was to the dealership. There goes a bridge..
7. Dealerships charging 2x the rate that Udaipur dealership charged for a quality job (steering wheel cover.) heck on a 2500 rupee camera they were billing me 5000... Since when did labor become that expensive? (Noida sec 2.) for a 300 rupee steering cover Udaipur charged me 350 labor (it's a lot of work, I must concede) when Noida asked me for 750, with a disclaimer that the end result will not look like the picture on the website. Well, Udaipur did a fab job!
8. An indifferent tech support team who disregarded three prepared videos and said let's replicate the issue first hand. I finally flipped and said I'm here to help you fix your product. I don't owe it to you. And some issues take quite a while to replicate on a road trip. Why doesn't a short 20-30 second video suffice? Well cause you it can't be replicated, it's a thing of the past.
9. Maruti (JKM Noida) is far better with regards to custom pick up, drop, vehicle pick up, and drop. Sector 2 Mahindra always has an excuse to say they have no field engineers, and what not!
10. (not related, but then is it not?) I've got some old Thar replacement parts that I have backordered for many months. No follow up action is taken. You can keep trying with this lot. I suppose I have learned the hard way - strongly worded emails get the ball rolling.
11. This dealership wants to overcharge for everything! A 425 rupee mug is being sold for 650 by them! Why? Don't things have MRPs?

[wooka]

Meanwhile, good tidings (Mussoorie!)

[dr_TJ]

Originally Posted by wooka

Meanwhile, good tidings (Mussoorie!)

My side body cladding on the door is in similar condition as you. It is coming off from one side. I am also not satisfied with the side steps. They feel flimsy and flex a lot when using them for ingress and egress.
Replacing the side steps with Rock sliders will be a good idea?

[wooka]

It's quite alright. No need to change it.
All rock sliders are fragile. Some bend less than others.

The best are highly raised and practically useless
Just keep the current ones - they can be hammered back to shape when they bend if they ever do. They also carry a 1-year warranty so that's long enough to know whether something's a mess.

Getting it removed is a chore.
Today the mechanics spent 3 hours and FAILED to remove the double tape, scratched up the paint, and then used petrol AND a heat gun, all bad things for paint. My paint needs buffing now! The replacement accessories are still in the back, waiting for the panels to be clean before anything is done.

[DarkerThanBlack]

Originally Posted by tilt

And then my brain went “HOLYYYYYYYYY SHIIIIIIIT this is really happening - I am actually getting a Thar - OH NO NO NO NO, I have no parking - the car is too tall for the slope leading to the basement - OMIGAWD OMIGAWD OMIGAWD I NEED TO BUY A HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My brain finally settled down to a steady cruising speed and accepted the fact that I do not need to buy a house; and that the Thar had to stay outside on the street. Well, it’s a big boy and can handle it.

I wish that you buy more cars in the future so that we can have many more witty reviews like this to read.

Best of Luck with the Thar.

[abirnale]

Do you know this car? I do

[tilt]

I just did a BLR-HYD-BLR drive and did a couple of experiments since I had time.

Experiment 1: Fuel consumption.
I have always been complaining that my Diesel Automatic consumes exactly as much fuel as a Petrol Thar, city or highway. Meaning the best I have ever managed was 12 on the highway, driving very very sedately and accelerating very very sedately too. I normally get anywhere between 7 and 10, with 11 being occasional and the 12 being a one-time exception.

This time I decided to cruise (meaning I used cruise control) at 100 on the way to HYD and 80 on the way back. This need a little clarification. I set cruise control at 105-110 on the speedo; and on the "Adventure statistics" screen in the ICE display it showed 100. Same with the 80 - it was at 84-85 on the speedo and 80 on the display.

On the way to HYD I got 13 km/l and on the way back I got 14.4 km/l.

Experiment 2: Driving speed and gear selection
Please remember my Thar is an automatic and diesel. So, what I say here pertains only to this specific variant.

When driving at 80 or 85, the car does not shift to 6th gear at all and it is not possible to force it into 6th.

In fact, it is only at 90 or higher that the car shifts into 6th; and the moment the brake is applied or so, it shifts back into 5.

Remember I mentioned that I was cruising back to BLR at 80? The car was in 5th all the while, at around 1600 RPM.

However when I drive at 90, the car goes into 6th and the RPM drops to 1500.

My contention was that the fuel consumption would be lower and the economy higher at a lower RPM; and therefore (counterintuitively) I should get better economy driving faster than slower.

I wanted to see if there was any way I could force the car to be in 6th at 80 instead of sticking to 5th, so I tried something:

1. I set cruise control at 80;
2. I then turned off cruise control and then accelerated to 90 where the car shifted to 6th (this did not happen if cruise control was on - it stays in 5th past 90, hence the turning off cruise);
3. I let go of the accelerator and hit "Resume"
4. The car slowed down to 80, and wonder of wonders - the gear remained in 6th with RPM of 1400.
5. However, if for some reason I had to brake (meaning get out of cruise control either by braking or turning it off manually), the car will go back to 5th at 80 and stay there - i have to repeat the above steps to get back into 6th.

Cheers

[ph03n!x]

Missed you in Hyderabad!

Using cruise anywhere you can - even at 45KMPH / 4th gives better mileage!

And yes, spot on with 80 KMPH/ 6th gear too - you can find such sweet spots for every gear. And the best mileage I have is (iirc) 15.5 in 65 KMPH / 5th gear, when I was driving in undivided state highways in TN.

But your overall mileage is in line with what I've seen, 12 KMPL across 35k KM, highways getting 13 to 14 KMPL and city drives at 10 to 11 KMPL.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by tilt

Experiment 2: Driving speed and gear selection

Does cruise control work if you use manual mode on the stick? That way you can always set the gear to 6th, upon braking or slowing down, it will choose whatever appropriate gear for that speed and when you resume, just manually shift to 6th again? Something like on those lines?