I was never a Maruti fan and I had never owned a Maruti in the past. Nor was I a huge fan of petrol powered vehicles.
BHPian rahul4321 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I ended up booking and buying a Jimny Zeta Manual – all in 8 hours. It was a completely head over heart purchase.
For those of you who know me; I used to have a Mahindra Bolero DI 2WD. The Bolero was a non-power steering vehicle with Leaf Springs on all 4 wheels and the tractor like DI engine. I was in the process of converting it into a 4×4 when it was stolen. Although I was able to recover it as the thief had managed to topple the Bolero as a result of an accident and then I had it repaired, I had to sell it off shortly as the car was just not the same as before.
I sold the Bolero but the hunt for a 4×4 always remained in my heart. I looked at the original Mahindra Thar DI / CRDe but dropped the idea as I did not want an open top / soft top vehicle. The new Thar 2.0 was amazing but at 18L On Road for the Diesel was out of my budget. I watched every year as the price crept up by a few thousands (and Mahindra also removed some standard items like the MLD and made it optional). I had no intention of spending 20 Lakh rupees so kept checking the used car market for the Thar CRDe and the Thar 2.0 incase an interesting unit came up for sale.
Fast forward to 6 months ago when I saw the Jimny getting launched. Now, I was never a Maruti fan and I had never owned a Maruti in the past. Nor was I a huge fan of petrol powered vehicles as my Bolero-Punto-Aspire was all diesel powered. I kept following the updates on the car until the pricing was launched. At 14.50 L On Road for the Base Variant; it was overpriced. I did not even feel like checking it out in the flesh. Not having a particular affinity towards Maruti or Petrol powered vehicles; I also did not keep sub-consiciously salivating at the thought of the Jimny like I did with the Thar.
Fast forward to Monday this week; I woke up and Google started giving me alerts about this new Thunder Edition of the Jimny and the price drop to 10.74L ex-showroom. It piqued my interest a bit but not by much. I thought to myself that at this price – I should atleast check out the car. So I popped over to the NEXA 2 kilometers away with my mum (who had the least interest in the Jimny but was rather accompanying me because I promised I would take her to the supermarket next door to NEXA).
Saw an Alpha Variant inside the showroom and thought the car was nice. It was not fancy but functional which is what really liked. It did not tug at my heart strings like the Thar but it appealed to my brain (which was rating Value for Money rather than outright desirability). I told them I will come in the next day for a test drive and left within 10 minutes
Went to the showroom next day morning and the Sales Executive tossed me the keys to their TD Delta variant and said I can drive it for as long as I want to. He told me that we can go down a nearby cliff face to the Sabarmati River bed and I took him up on that offer. I had no intention of testing the car on the River Bed simply because that is not the kind of offroading I intended to do but rather I wanted to see how it goes up and down the cliff face to the river bed through a steep rocky slope. I intend to use the car for touring but with an ability to take everything in its stride. Last Mile roads on mountains, forest reserves or even homestays off the beaten path are usually trails and I wanted a vehicle which can take me everywhere. I will never use this car as for heavy duty offroading but rather to tackle whatever comes my way during the course of my touring. Coming back to the test drive, the Jimny went through like the trail a mountain goat; skipping up through rocks and crevices with beautiful poise and articulation. 4×4 High took care of much of the trail while I shifted to 4×4 Low only to explore how the car behaved and not because trail needed me to use 4×4 low.
Came back up the trail after 25 minuites and drove the Jimny on some empty highways. The car’s heavy gearshifting, heavy steering and a general reluctance to change gears quickly reminded me of my Bolero. Over small potholes, rumble strips and small bumps – the car would just trundle across with the ride quality being relatively compliant without any exaggerated jitters or wobbles. The car would cruise at around 85-90 km/hr without any issues and speeds higher than 90 would need some planning. I aim to use this car like my Himalayan 411 so 90 kilometers per hour is just fine – it is my sweet spot.
Went back in the showroom and sat down to finish the paperwork. The dealership had 1 black Zeta and 2 Alpha’s (White and Black). I did not feel the need for a Zeta as I am not a fan of Alloy Wheels on offroad vehicles but prefer heavy duty steel wheels to be in a position to take on any abuse. The additional gimmicks of Cruise Control, Push Button Ignition etc did not appeal to me so I finalized the Zeta.
An hour later I had my final deal; In additional to a 2 Lakh discount offered by Maruti, I got an additional 50k off and also opted not to take the Thunder kit accessories package for which I got an additional 25k off.
On road – including RTO, TCS, Insurance etc – I got the car for 11.22 L on road which I thought was a pretty good deal. Paid by RTGS and asked them to get the Black Zeta from their stockyard. They got the car in a couple of hours later and I took delivery later that evening.
This was completely a head over heart purchase. The car’s VFM quotient at 11.22 L appealed to me as I knew I will not be able to get another competent 4×4 at this price point (complete with 6 Airbags, Reverse Camera and a 7 inch infotainment system). If this was a Heart Over Head purchase, I would have gone in for the Thar Diesel 4×4.
But all said and done, I am very happy with my purchase and aim to use it for highway touring + where ever the trails take me after the smooth gravel ends.
