ಮಹೀಂದ್ರ ಥಾರ್‌ My Experience with the Red Beast

It took me 5 years to come to final conclusion of buying Mahindra Thar. Phew! It was a long time. My daily commute was Hyundai i10 and I drove almost 80,000 kms and with this long endeavor I got many issues such as injector problem, turbo leakage and change of the timing belt. My friend bought Mahindra Thar CRDe when we were in second year of engineering. We used to fling through many off road events together and I too had the opportunity to drive the SUV. I got to connect with the beauty of nature and how perfectly the car handles all the undulations like a breeze. That's where my mind clicked and it was time to make some tough decision. Finally, my heart won over my mind and it was the beginning of this year I bought the brand new Red Mahindra Thar CRDe. In terms of performance, I have never faced any problem in pottering around the city. But to unleash the real Thar, you have to deviate a little and embrace a bad route. However, at long highways stretches, the seating could be a pain, especially in the ass. I really felt this during my trip to Jaisalmer. Also, on highway driving you will feel a lot of fluttering from the soft canopy. In terms of looks, My God I have always loved this car. I have recently replaced the stock with the alloys and yet waiting desperately to get them dirty. However, I do feel that the front bumper flanges and the wheel arches will start losing its shine in a few months. Coming to the interiors, a lot has been done over these years by the car maker to make it a tempting buy among the enthusiasts. The dashboard layout has been improved while the new AC set-up allows you to shut the vents individually which is a nice update. And I must say that the AC is quite effective and efficient. As Mahindra Thar is known fuel guzzler one can?t expect more than 10kmpl in cities and 13kmpl on highways. And if you are driving on the rough terrain, you can imagine the fuel efficiency. Finally, I will talk about the service and maintenance. The ?With You Hamesha? App has made it quite easy for me to track the service record. In the first three free services I never billed more than Rs. 2500. Lack of music system and safety have always been the weak points of this car, but if you are ok with these, then the car is one of the best off-roader you can have in your garage.