We had test-driven a Grand Vitara, sat as passenger in an XUV700, also considered Scorpio, Scorpio N, Thar 5-door but all were dropped due to low space, higher price, no 4wd available etc.
BHPian dual clutch recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Hi Team. Wanted to share my experience of buying a 10-year-old Fortuner from Delhi and cosmetically restoring it since the previous owner had not taken excessive care of the bodywork and interiors.
I had bought an MM540 off OLX during Covid and changed literally everything except the bodyshell in a project that took 2 years only to find that the comfort and speed required for my usage would never be achieved. Used the Jeep during 2 vacations and sold it to a TBHPian from Telangana at a much lower price than amount spent.
Despite pressure from wife and kids to buy a new SUV, decided that spending around 30 Lakhs was unwarranted since my vacations in India are about 15-20 days max in a year. SUV needed to be AT and 4WD as the plan was to keep the vehicle as long as Gadkariji allows. We had test-driven a Grand Vitara, sat as passenger in an XUV700, also considered Scorpio, Scorpio N, Thar 4 door but all were dropped due to low space, higher price, no 4wd available etc.
Around then we started seeing YouTube videos of used car dealers in Kerala selling Fortuners from Delhi and Haryana at about 15 Lakhs price range and thought about it as an option. Most were driven 150,000 kms average and i was looking for something around 70,000 km maximum, possibly with service history and only one owner.
I contacted a broker who supplied cars to dealers in Kerala. He would source cars from Trade-In deals, inspect them for damages and history and drive it down after applying for NOC. The guy seemed to be genuine, and I had found his address in Kerala as a safety backup. We discussed many cars and found one company owned example driven 79,000 kms and had service history. This was reconfirmed by a friend working in another Toyota dealership. The amounts were transferred, documentation completed, and car was on its way to Kerala in about 15 days. Overall a smooth experience except some issue with bank mortgage documents of the first owner.
Fortuner was delivered to my mom soon and my friends went to check the condition. There were scratches, tyres were at the end of life and seat leather was worn. The mechanicals seemed intact and a technician who worked with Toyota dealer confirmed this later.
I saw the car after a couple of weeks and used it during the summer vacation (July – August 2024) and decided that it needs some TLC. Mahesh, my friend owns HOT WHEELS tyre shop in our hometown (Ottapalam, Palakkad). All tyres were changed to Yokohama Geolandar G015. Bilstein shocks + King spring were installed next day at MOXIO CAR TECH, Palakkad. They also performed an oil change using Wurth synthetic 5W30. Their owner Manoj passed by the garage around tea-time and I recognized he was my senior at pre university 30 years back. Had a nice chat about good old times when he had a Roadking and I used to steal my dad’s Bullet to show off at college arts day/sports day etc.
When I met Mahesh later for the Tyre payment, he mentioned that he had opened a paint booth in Chennai (TOUCH UP PEOPLE) and offered to do any paint jobs that was required. I did not think about it then because of time constraints, RTO inspection, Re-registration etc.
Vacation over, back to Dubai and watched some Insta reels of Touch Up People and contacted them to take the car to Chennai to inspect body panels for any rust etc and offer a quote for a full repaint. The initial plan was to keep the White exterior shade. Later we decided to change it to Ice Grey and rims painted to Satin Platinum (both Porsche options). Their team was on WhatsApp to discuss and execute the exact job. The body colour on the front grille shroud was my idea and I take full credit if anyone likes it.
I was discussing the purchase and jobs within TBHP Dubai WhatsApp group and Senior TBHPian Nitrous (Mahendra) offered to do up the interiors of the car and upgrade the audio system. These jobs were in the plan but I did not realize Nitrous had a shop in Chennai named AUTO EXPERTS (He has a shop in Alain, UAE which I was aware of) We went with the Porsche theme and got seat inlays in fabric and contrasting stitching in light grey. The audio was Nitrous’ idea and I have no clue what he has set up except that it sounds good according to my friends.
I have not seen the car after the jobs but friends who have seen is really impressed with the results. I am personally happy that my car has been worked upon by people whom I know although it was not planned at all and happened like a miracle.
Please have a look at the images and let me know what BHPians feel about the outcome.
Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.
