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Used Force Gurkha Explorer 4x4 3-door: Ownership review

24th August 2021, 13:27 by Chirag Moro

In summary, Gurkha is not a vehicle which would be likeable by most of the people. It is a heart over head decision if anyone buys it.

BHPian karthikd21 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My Pre-worshipped 2016 Force Gurkha Explorer 4x4 3 door

Love for SUVs

My love for SUVs started almost 7 years ago when I bought my first SUV, a Mahindra Bolero ZLX. It proved to be an amazing workhorse and was able to take my family in decent comfort for 15000 kms. With heavy heart I had to let it go as I had to work in the USA for about 3 years.

With the contract being in US for 3 years only, I had to limit my budget. Within my budget, I picked up a Used Toyota Highlander 3.2 ltr Petrol 4wd. It had run only 55k Genuine Miles in 10 years of ownership. It was super reliable, very comfortable, had ample power on tap and we clocked 50k miles in 3 years and drove across the length and breadth of the USA.

Fast forward to 2018, we were back in India. I had saved some money for building a house and initial thought was to just use cabs when needed and focus on building our dream house. But, not having the convenience of a car at home and cabbies cancelling trips at the nth moment bit us hard. Now, the challenge was that the budget was limited and yet I did not want to settle for a small car. With the budget set at 3 lakhs, I started my search. I was always a fan of Hyundai Getz. But, we pack a lot of luggage. So, extended my budget and we bought home a used 2009 Hyundai Verna (this has always fascinated me with its locomotive like 1.6 ltr crdi engine). The car had run about 30k (could not verify the detailed serviced records, but the seller was a retired person and felt very genuine). The car was maintained very neatly inside out. We have covered over 20k kms since last 3 years and it has never let me down other than regular services.

Buying the Truck

2020 - We finished the construction of our house and moved in. Now, the love for SUV started to resurface. I had been following the new Thar thread and was really looking forward to it. My wife never liked vehicles that look like "Jeeps" and had also hated my decision to buy the Bolero back in the days. She was clear this time, "Do what you want, but Verna stays " she said. I still had a hope that I would convince her with the new Thar and its promises of good interiors with AT. However, all the dreams got washed away when they launched it and made it a 4 seater! Come on Mahindra!

So, my dreams of owning a Thar got pushed by maybe 4-5 years as there is confirmed news about 5 door Thar. I got to thinking. The 3 door is 16 big ones OTR and the 5 door would be around 2 Lakhs more. With me developing hatred towards the IT career and the associated mechanical life, I dreaded at the thought of having another big loan. This started a new chapter in my search to own a 4x4. "Used" car it is!

Requirements

4x4 a must, maybe not for hardcode off-roading, but I should not be limited in the ability to explore the unexplored
Lots of TORQUE. Driving mostly diesels in my ownership, this is a must for me.
Sturdy
Reliable
Not much Electronics, I am old school!
Budget 6-7 Lakhs
Factory finished Hard Top
Space for 5 with Forward facing seats.
If not ready made seat belts, must accommodate room to fix them. I can live without Airbags, but not without seat belts for every passenger. This is a good lesson I learnt from my stay in the USA
Good bootspace - a Must. I am not a big fan of Roof top carriers
Last but not the least, the car must be after 2015. I need at least 10 years of peace of mind before going to RTO to get FC

With this in mind, I started looking and considered below cars:

Mahindra Thar

This was first on the list. I have always loved the Thar. Knowing that there was no factory built Hard-top, I still did not want to let it go. So, I looked at a lot of Modified Thars with hard tops, modified forward facing seats etc. None of them met my requirements. I guess the width of Thar cannot accommodate forward facing 3 seats at the rear. Thar in the older avatar needed heavy modifications from my side in order to meet my requirements. So, Thar was out of my list!

Mahindra Scorpio 4wd

Next on the list was Mahindra Scorpio. However, could not find good ones in my budget. There were a few available for around 12-13 Lakhs. Going for this meant, another loan! So, Scorpio was off the list too.

Mahindra Bolero 4wd

Could not find any in Karnataka as I guess the 4wd LX version was sold long time ago and was discontinued. I was ok to get one from Kerala. But, all were very old, ~2005 models. So, Bolero was also off the list.

There are many more alternatives like Pajero, Fortuner etc. However, I did not even bother looking at them as they would be way out of my budget. With this, I was very disappointed.

Force Gurkha was not on my mind until I stumbled upon @trojan's review of his Force Gurkha and it impressed me! A big shoutout to @trojan.

I started reading about the Force Gurkha. There were a lot of rants about its negativities mostly around after sales service. However, I always felt that Force Gurkha did fit all my requirements. I am a fan of Force vehicles for their engines as I used see plenty of them throughout my growing days in the northern part of Karnataka. The drivers always vouched for the reliability. Only concern was the service network. For me, that was not a problem as I have one service center within 4 kms from my home. So, the decision was made and I started searching for a used Gurkha. No surprises here. There was only 1 available in Bangalore! A 2016 model that had run 72k kms. I kept an eye on it as I wanted to check some more samples before taking the plunge. However, I could not find any during the lockdown in 2021.

Buying experience

The day lockdown 2.0 was lifted, I went into to check the vehicle with Classic Automotives, Mekhri Circle, Bangalore. I was blown away! Took two test drives, successfully engaged 4wd equipment, negotiated the price from 6.45 Lakhs down to 6.05 Lakhs and closed the deal. The General Manager Mr. Srinivas is a very humble gentleman. He made sure I had a pleasant experience as a customer.

So, presenting you - The Force Gurkha Explorer 4x4 3 door!