Daily driving a Thar petrol: 11 useful observations for future owners

Driving at three-digit figures in the SUV doesn't feel too comfortable.

BHPian NajSaf recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hi All. I bought my Thar in Sept 2021 AFTER reading the review here.

It is my daily driver and to date, I have driven around 16,000+ km on the Thar -- Petrol, 4WD, Hardtop, Automatic (supposedly the top-end model in petrol). It cost me around Rs. 17.7 L. The main reason why I went for petrol is that my daily commute is less than 10 kms and the whole day, there are frequent start-stop within a very small distance. Before it left the dealer's showroom, I got the following fitted:

• Halogen headlights
• LED Fog lamps.
• Front and rear hand supports
• Rear view camera (integrated into the MMI)
• Floor mats (of course. Part of every new car any dealer sells in India)

I felt that these are the very basics needed. Later on, I got the dummy footrest also fitted along with ceramic coating which I did within 15 days of getting the car. I also fitted the Pipercross typhoon air filter which I had with me from my previous car (Honda Civic, 2008 edition which I sold after 1.6 L kms and 14 years).

Subsequently, after the first rain of 2022 in July, the hardtop roof started leaking. Initially, the dealer said that the roof would need to be replaced, but later on, basis Mahindra engineers' diagnosis, they refit the top with proper sealant and returned it back. Took around 10 days, but it worked and there is no further leakage to date.

I had to replace one tyre as I climbed one wheel at a corroded I-beam while backing up.

2 weeks back, while I was going with my son to get the petrol tank filled up, suddenly I saw smoke coming out of the bonnet. Obviously, I do not keep an eye on the temperature graph (as in hindsight, now I always do). I parked the car on the side and called up the Mahindra Helpline. Although the people at the other end were very polite and helpful, I was unable to get the towing help needed and arranged it myself. The car went to the dealer and was returned again after around 10 days -- out of which 2 days were lost due to it being Saturday. First, it was stated that the radiator fan is not working and would need to be changed.

They ordered the fan on Tuesday and it arrived on Saturday. On Monday, I was informed that the new fan also did not work and it seems to be some ECU problem. On Wednesday I was informed that there is no ECU problem but some sensor problem. On Thursday evening, I was informed that there is no sensor problem but one wire was getting earth and thus, the sensor was not giving feedback to the ECU and thus the fan was not starting.

One small observation that I recollected was that the powerful AC did not cool as only the blower was starting 2 days prior to the breakdown. This should have been a warning, but I thought that maybe the filter is clogged or maybe the AC Gas pressure is less. I never suspected a radiator fan issue. The distance from my home to my office is hardly 2-5 kms and we have a speed limit of 30 km/h on most of the road thus, the car was not getting heated up sufficiently.

At 10,000 kms after the service, I put in Liqui-Moly also. All said and done, everything that was written in the review is perfect. I would like to add a few non-essential points that other readers may find useful.

1. The steering is hard -- quite a bit of it. If you go off-roading or where there are a high number of turns at low speeds, your hands will ache.
2. The MMI is slow to boot up. This is true in XUV 700 also. 2 USB plugs are provided in the front. One is only for charging while with the other, you can connect your phone and use Carplay or Android Auto. Backbenchers have nothing.
3. Street presence is awesome -- it really turns heads.
4. Due to low speeds and less distance travelling, I get an average of around 7.5 km/litre. But even otherwise, I do not think the petrol, 2.0 litres turbo-charged Mahindra will give more than 10-12 km/l -- that too under pristine conditions and excellent drivers.
5. In automatic cars, as soon as you engage the "D" drive mode, the car literally jumps to reach around 10kmph. So you need to be very careful with bumper-to-bumper traffic conditions.
6. There is a noticeable "bump" when you move the lever from drive mode to parking mode. I don't know if it is good or bad.
7. The MMI graphics look a bit dated to me.
8. The information dashboard shows the tire pressure -- the pressure readings are not the same as what we see at the filling station. So if you fill up at 30 psi with tire measurement done outside and compare it with what is seen in the MMI, you will find a large difference. So when you fill-up the tire pressures, do fill up basis the MMI.
9. The ride is bumpy. Since the shockers are tuned hard, you feel every small bump, but when you go on big potholes, it is easy breezy for this car.
10. I have touched three-digit speed on this car, but believe me, it was not a comfortable feeling because of the tall boy design. The wind factor is huge. At 80 km/h, it is comparatively calm and you get the best mileage.
11. When you engage the cruise control, the car jumps and wants to reach the target speed asap. Irrespective, I do find cruise control a useful feature when you go on a long run. Surprisingly, cruise control is missing in XUV400, Mahindra's electric car.

Overall, Thar is not a daily driver. It is a fun car. The average is bad and will hit your pocket. If you frequently travel on bad roads, this car will laugh at the opposition and gleefully take you in tire-deep mud or 500mm of water column on the road.

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