Because of difficult terrain and general neglect, most roads in the Himalaya remain in terrible state, making automobile owners prefer vehicles with a high ground clearance. Multi-purpose vehicles (MPV) are therefore favoured transport in the mountains.
Mahindra jeeps and their derivatives dominate the region. They are the taxis, carrying, often in violation of law, as many as 15 or more passengers. Private owners who do not wish to get bogged down in mud and slush of rains also own them. Since 1996, Tata vehicles, especially Sumo, are the new entrants in the hills.
Apart from their higher ground clearance, Mahindra vehicles provide a big added advantage in price. Depending on the buyer's choice or need, a Mahindra, can be around Rs. 1 lakh cheaper than a Tata Sumo. The third important advantage is their easy serviceability. Almost all roadside mechanics are familiar with Mahindra vehicles. Replacement of parts, genuine or duplicate, are available in towns along the roads. In UP hills the Tatas have just two service centres, in Dehradun and Hald wani, where also parts are not easy to find. One has to drive some 500 kms to Delhi, to a Tata authorized, repair shop. The cost of Tata parts and repair are expensive. Mahi ndra vehicles, in spite of their affordable price, cheaper maintenance and parts availability, are poorly put together. Their diesel engines are noisy, steering imprecise, leaf-springs creaky, seats uncomfortable, body rubber mountings inadequate, and on twisting, climbing, tough mountains roads these develop rattles within a short time. A friend used to say, after a year's use, every part of his Mahindra Armada made noise except the horn! In the winter, with a couple of feet of snow around, its glow-plugs failed to warm the thickened diesel in the oil pipeline, and the vehicle would not start. One kept churning the starter until the battery was drained. Boiling water had to be poured over the engine and a fire lit under its sump to stir the solidified diesel and ignite it in cylinder-heads. I drove it down to Dehradun to replace the battery and the glow plugs, but once back in the hills the freezing temperatures defeated them both.
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The Sierra had superior, coil-spring suspension,air-conditioning, tilting power-steering, power-windows, central locking, atachometer, and a 2 litre engine that sang. But it had only two doors, making it cumbersome to put people in the back seats, and the rear-windows were sealed, making some people feel claustrophobic. Driving on twisting hill roads made some suffer sudden attacks of nausea. Those in the back were unable to take their heads out of the sealed windows, and had to throw up inside.
Its back door carrying a massive 175-75-15 spare-tyre, began to rattle after a while of hill driving, and to my surprise, the clutch started overheating and burning while going up on steep gradients and slipping. I took it to Tata's own workshop and was told the clutch needed to be changed. At 26,000 kilometers?
The radial tyres started showing signs of excessive wear. The glow-plugs worked better, but winter starting took toll of the battery. The power-windows jammed often. Air-conditioner blew fuses. Five months after putting in a new clutch, when the vehicle had hardly done 5000 kms more, the same problem of the clutch overheating reoccurred. Another long journey to Delhi and a visit to the same Tata workshop revealed that the clutch needed replacement! Almost immediately I found someone selling a very little run Tata Estate at a low price, and decided to buy it for the saving in the initial outlay and to luxuriate in its comfort.
But rattles surfaced soon, power-windows jammed, gas-filled struts supporting heavy rear-door gave up, door rubber gaskets got loose, letting in dust and cold air, the inside arm connecting the two wipers did not work after replacement, and other problems, drove me to advertise its sale in a newspaper. Those who came began offering Rs. 75,000, for the three-year-old Estate, which over Rs. 600,000 when new.