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BHPian Omkar recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
The car that we’re going to talk about needs no introduction. It was the Team-BHP Car of the Year in 2020 and has sold over 1,50,000 units since its launch. That’s a big number for a 2-door lifestyle off-roader and shows how much people have loved the Thar. At the time of launch, the Thar was available only in 4x4 configuration with 2.0-litre petrol and 2.2-litre diesel engines. Both engines were offered with 6-speed manual and 6-speed automatic transmission options. Later on, Mahindra introduced a rear-wheel-drive variant as well with the 2.0-litre petrol (only with an automatic transmission) and a smaller 1.5-litre diesel (only with a manual transmission).
The second-gen Thar will be completing 4 years soon. So it looks like a perfect time for someone considering a used car. Given the high sales numbers, a lot of them have found their way to the used car market. Of course one of the reasons is that people realise after buying that they can't live with the 2 doors and a bumpy ride. There are different powertrains to choose from as per your requirement and also you can choose between a hard top or a soft top variant. So if you were in the market for a used lifestyle off-roader, would you buy the second-gen Mahindra Thar?
Huge! Just look at the ownership reviews of the Thar on the forum, a lot of them are customized already. In fact, GTO modified his Thar completely even before the odometer crossed 500 km. The Thar has always been a car that people have loved to modify. You will see many highly modified previous generation Thars and the same applies to the current generation. Aftermarket aesthetic mods are plenty and companies like Bimbra and Azad 4x4 have huge catalogues for Thar modifications. Also since the Thar comes with fixed rear seats, plenty of owners are opting for a split-folding rear seat for more boot space.
In performance mods, there aren’t many ECU tunes for the petrol engine, but there are some tuners that have remaps for the diesel engine. Do note that with a limited number of Mahindras getting tuned, there’s not much data for the tuners to rely on. Although, honestly the stock performance figures of the Thar (150 BHP in petrol and 130 BHP in diesel), are more than enough for the dynamics of the car. If you are going to use the Thar for off-roading, then mods like underbody protection, all-terrain or mud-terrain tyres, auxiliary lights, etc. are worth investing in. Here's an interesting thread on modification options for your 4x4 with pros & cons.
Given the amount of hype around the Thar, many people bought it. However, some inherent shortcomings of the Thar are difficult to live with in the long term. The most common are bumpy suspension, single-digit fuel economy (Especially of the ATs), impractical 2-door design, poor NVH in the soft top version, lack of boot space and more. Hence you will see quite a few examples in the used car market with very low mileage. The availability is good and you can easily find well-maintained, under warranty Thars. Check out some examples on sale here.
Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.