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This is my first time, writing an ownership review so please bear with me if I make mistakes, thank you. Also, wherever I mention top variants, I mean S8 and S10 models.
Caution: Long review. Proceed at your own risk!
Deepest apologies for back to back posts. Had to do that because of some last minute editing requirements. Mods, please forgive me!
About us and the reason for the change:
Hope you all don’t mind. We’re a family of four – Dad, mom, my brother who’s married and now lives in Bangalore and me. Dad, brother and I are SUV and bullet lovers whereas mom likes hatches better (she also likes the bullet though – score!). We bought a 2003 model Jeep in 2006 – it’s still with us and is going strong! Ever since it’s advent, dad and I began to use our faithful Maruti 800 less and less. It simply wasn’t enough. Getting in was a pain, driving on the nightmarish roads was a worse experience because no one bothers to give way for a small hatch and adding to that was the fear of hitting the underbody thanks to the one-foot-deep potholes. Mom however, liked it and even started to talk about giving away the Jeep instead, in antagonism to which I started world war III.
As the days rolled by, the M800 went out less and the need to give it away became glaringly evident. It was more than 12 years old but here’s the surprise; odo reading – 24000. Yes, you read that right! As good as new with only one small dent caused by our gate. Engine was teenaged, no underbody damage at all, interiors still looked showroom-fresh, even the gloss was intact as can be seen in the pic below, taken in 2014 (that dent is visible on the rear door, near the window).
We started looking up resale prices and all the websites showed numbers between 30k and 40k. However, because of the 24k odo reading (USP? ), we got a sweet deal for 65k. I talked shop and convinced the owner by taking him out for a drive in it and he was more than pleased.
So, within a week, the little white girl left our home. Did feel a little sad at first but not much. Now, the new-comer had to be decided.
Criteria:
1. Should be a genuine 7-seater. No compromise.
2. Should have at the very least, an AC.
3. Should be fairly high-positioned. Ground clearance should be appreciable.
4. Should be within Rs 9L maximum.
5. Used cars were okay but odo reading should be below 50k
6. At least some visual appeal.
Options:
1. Bolero:
Reliable, trusted, widespread, very economical on the wallet. Yes, to all but one of dad’s friends owned one and dad and I did NOT like the jump seats. We felt like some stage performers trying to fit their body in a one-cubic-foot box! Immediately ruled out.
2. Xylo:
Excellent engine, loads of legroom but too bulky and could rank nowhere in the looks department.
3. Innova:
Ticked our boxes but pricey. Used ones were either too used or too pricey. No, thanks.
4. Chevy Tavera:
Ticked our boxes but was a sure way to befriend the petrol-station guys. I already have good friends and TAI is also contributing to it wonderfully. So, no thanks.
5. TUV 300:
Really good vehicle. Very nice interiors. Very good value for money. Dad was totally into it while I was totally against it. For me, the short, abrupt rear end simply didn’t cut it. Looked as if the designer got a phone call from his angry wife and left the job unfinished but our guys thought that it was the design and implemented it. My disinterest and the third-row space drove us away (phew!)
6. Scorpio:
Again, a wonderful box-ticker but was a bit out of reach. Used ones with the mHawk engine(we were particular about that) were either costlier than the new base variants or were terribly used. We saw one with 5L kms on the odo!
Our search ended fruitless. It was then that one of dad’s colleague talked us into getting a new Scorpio. Though reluctant, we still went to Kodai cars, Nagercoil to see the new Scorpio (cat-face as my dad used to call it).
There was a white S4+ in the showroom. We were told that it’d come to a little over 11L OTR. I sat in all the front and middle seat positions and was more than satisfied. When the back door was opened, there came the real shock. The jump seats were wide with a capital w! We were told that it was the nine-seater variant. Nine? Meh, maybe for a short trip to the train station but nevertheless, we were drawn to the car as a whole and dad was willing to squeeze out another 2L if needed. We went through all the models and had our eyes fixed on the S4 because we did not want anything extra, just an improvement over the Maruti. 4wd was also unnecessary because the Jeep was a 4wd vehicle.
Booked the silver-coloured S4. Tentative date was two weeks from the booking date but you know how stuff works. It took about a month. Here are the monetary details.
Ex-showroom price: Rs 9,67,654
Tax and Registration: Rs 1,00,945
Insurance @ Mahindra: Rs 43609. Opted out and availed from United India Insurance. So, insurance amounted to only Rs 24000
Temporary registration and delivery charges: Rs 4355 – no idea what this was.
Extended warranty: Rs 20038
Value added services and accessories: Rs 13000 (approx.) Opted out of that.
Loyalty bonus for owning the Jeep (Mahindra product): Rs 5000. In case we had exchanged the Maruti at Mahindra, we would’ve gotten only Rs 25000 instead of the Rs 65000 it deserved. Don’t exchange old cars at Mahindra. As a matter of fact, don’t exchange your old car at any dealership without researching and finding buyers yourself.
Offer: Rs 25000. Actually, it was Rs 32000 but since we didn’t avail insurance from those guys, they swallowed Rs 7000 from the offer which was still a profit for us anyway.
In all, it came to around Rs 10,62,000. Calculating from the above details gives a lower value, I know. Maybe, I missed something.
Delivery was smooth. No damage or anything, 88 kms on the odo which was inevitable because we asked them to drive it from the Tirunelveli showroom to Nagercoil instead of going there and taking delivery ourselves. Lazy much? Nope, college much.
Anyway, on to our journey that started off with the ribbons coming off before anything else.
P.S: Pictures were taken on my Lumia 540 so please don't expect DSLR quality
Caution: Long review. Proceed at your own risk!
Deepest apologies for back to back posts. Had to do that because of some last minute editing requirements. Mods, please forgive me!
About us and the reason for the change:
Hope you all don’t mind. We’re a family of four – Dad, mom, my brother who’s married and now lives in Bangalore and me. Dad, brother and I are SUV and bullet lovers whereas mom likes hatches better (she also likes the bullet though – score!). We bought a 2003 model Jeep in 2006 – it’s still with us and is going strong! Ever since it’s advent, dad and I began to use our faithful Maruti 800 less and less. It simply wasn’t enough. Getting in was a pain, driving on the nightmarish roads was a worse experience because no one bothers to give way for a small hatch and adding to that was the fear of hitting the underbody thanks to the one-foot-deep potholes. Mom however, liked it and even started to talk about giving away the Jeep instead, in antagonism to which I started world war III.
As the days rolled by, the M800 went out less and the need to give it away became glaringly evident. It was more than 12 years old but here’s the surprise; odo reading – 24000. Yes, you read that right! As good as new with only one small dent caused by our gate. Engine was teenaged, no underbody damage at all, interiors still looked showroom-fresh, even the gloss was intact as can be seen in the pic below, taken in 2014 (that dent is visible on the rear door, near the window).
We started looking up resale prices and all the websites showed numbers between 30k and 40k. However, because of the 24k odo reading (USP? ), we got a sweet deal for 65k. I talked shop and convinced the owner by taking him out for a drive in it and he was more than pleased.
So, within a week, the little white girl left our home. Did feel a little sad at first but not much. Now, the new-comer had to be decided.
Criteria:
1. Should be a genuine 7-seater. No compromise.
2. Should have at the very least, an AC.
3. Should be fairly high-positioned. Ground clearance should be appreciable.
4. Should be within Rs 9L maximum.
5. Used cars were okay but odo reading should be below 50k
6. At least some visual appeal.
Options:
1. Bolero:
Reliable, trusted, widespread, very economical on the wallet. Yes, to all but one of dad’s friends owned one and dad and I did NOT like the jump seats. We felt like some stage performers trying to fit their body in a one-cubic-foot box! Immediately ruled out.
2. Xylo:
Excellent engine, loads of legroom but too bulky and could rank nowhere in the looks department.
3. Innova:
Ticked our boxes but pricey. Used ones were either too used or too pricey. No, thanks.
4. Chevy Tavera:
Ticked our boxes but was a sure way to befriend the petrol-station guys. I already have good friends and TAI is also contributing to it wonderfully. So, no thanks.
5. TUV 300:
Really good vehicle. Very nice interiors. Very good value for money. Dad was totally into it while I was totally against it. For me, the short, abrupt rear end simply didn’t cut it. Looked as if the designer got a phone call from his angry wife and left the job unfinished but our guys thought that it was the design and implemented it. My disinterest and the third-row space drove us away (phew!)
6. Scorpio:
Again, a wonderful box-ticker but was a bit out of reach. Used ones with the mHawk engine(we were particular about that) were either costlier than the new base variants or were terribly used. We saw one with 5L kms on the odo!
Our search ended fruitless. It was then that one of dad’s colleague talked us into getting a new Scorpio. Though reluctant, we still went to Kodai cars, Nagercoil to see the new Scorpio (cat-face as my dad used to call it).
There was a white S4+ in the showroom. We were told that it’d come to a little over 11L OTR. I sat in all the front and middle seat positions and was more than satisfied. When the back door was opened, there came the real shock. The jump seats were wide with a capital w! We were told that it was the nine-seater variant. Nine? Meh, maybe for a short trip to the train station but nevertheless, we were drawn to the car as a whole and dad was willing to squeeze out another 2L if needed. We went through all the models and had our eyes fixed on the S4 because we did not want anything extra, just an improvement over the Maruti. 4wd was also unnecessary because the Jeep was a 4wd vehicle.
Booked the silver-coloured S4. Tentative date was two weeks from the booking date but you know how stuff works. It took about a month. Here are the monetary details.
Ex-showroom price: Rs 9,67,654
Tax and Registration: Rs 1,00,945
Insurance @ Mahindra: Rs 43609. Opted out and availed from United India Insurance. So, insurance amounted to only Rs 24000
Temporary registration and delivery charges: Rs 4355 – no idea what this was.
Extended warranty: Rs 20038
Value added services and accessories: Rs 13000 (approx.) Opted out of that.
Loyalty bonus for owning the Jeep (Mahindra product): Rs 5000. In case we had exchanged the Maruti at Mahindra, we would’ve gotten only Rs 25000 instead of the Rs 65000 it deserved. Don’t exchange old cars at Mahindra. As a matter of fact, don’t exchange your old car at any dealership without researching and finding buyers yourself.
Offer: Rs 25000. Actually, it was Rs 32000 but since we didn’t avail insurance from those guys, they swallowed Rs 7000 from the offer which was still a profit for us anyway.
In all, it came to around Rs 10,62,000. Calculating from the above details gives a lower value, I know. Maybe, I missed something.
Delivery was smooth. No damage or anything, 88 kms on the odo which was inevitable because we asked them to drive it from the Tirunelveli showroom to Nagercoil instead of going there and taking delivery ourselves. Lazy much? Nope, college much.
Anyway, on to our journey that started off with the ribbons coming off before anything else.
P.S: Pictures were taken on my Lumia 540 so please don't expect DSLR quality
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