Gaurav Posted June 22, 2023 Report Share Posted June 22, 2023 1 hour ago, Nilakantan Erode said: Lance Armstrong's autobiography "Its not about the bike" Or rather you meant "It's not ONLY about the bike" As in off-road power-weight is king, followed by skills and experience. 1 Let's root for each other & watch each other grow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nilakantan Erode Posted June 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2023 @Gaurav True that!!😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nilakantan Erode Posted July 6, 2023 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2023 @Gaurav@Frederic@Looper@Hisham Masaad@Gautam Banka Thanks to you and so many others from the Carnity forum for giving your unbiased and candid views and feedback on my query to buy off road vehicle. Gained some valuable insights and knowledge. Did not anticipate this when i asked the question. Simply awesome folks... And great community! After checking a few preowned and new vehicles and frustrating some sellers and car dealer salesmen ...have decided to go for a new one ( i want to have some level of control over repairs and warranty!). The pre owned prices for FJC (new ones are not available anyway) and LC Prado are quite high...in my opinion. same for other 1-3 year pre owned vehicles. My final choices are (taking to consideration offroad capability plus maint plus resale etc.) : 2023 Prado GXR (or VXR) with a delivery of minimum 3 months (but is summer anyway) . @Gautam Banka had mentioned that some modifications may be required for intermediate and beyond approx 30K! Would be good to get some more info on stock prado and modifications required! or as @Gauravhad suggested may go for a 2023 Wrangler Rubicon (after managing to get a contact for some discounts)...and stock may be good enough. Its is also readily available. Would like to know of any limitations / caution in taking a new wrangler off road! Had fun though test driving (on-road)lots of vehicles including Bronco and nissan patrols. Cant rent a car in Dubai to take a car off road else would have liked to try that or maybe join join carnity folks for a drive or at least take some training / refreshers. But that will have to wait. 4 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaurav Posted July 6, 2023 Report Share Posted July 6, 2023 You can't go wrong with either, Prado with little mods, and Rubicon is a perfect beast for sand offroading. Go with whichever suits your style, comfort, preference, budget, and availability. Rubicon will be a tad better in performance and Prado will be a tad better in comfort and reliability. 2 1 Let's root for each other & watch each other grow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DP1011 Posted July 6, 2023 Report Share Posted July 6, 2023 Absolutely agree, Being a proud Rubiconer for last 18 months, my take away would be : If your usage is 70:30 Offroad Vs Onroad, Rubicon deftly, and if its more than 30-40% Onroad, then Prado. Rubicon doesnt have a great sitting comfort room for rear passengers, so its more for 2 adults and 2 kids, but more than that, Prado is better. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASAD. Posted July 7, 2023 Report Share Posted July 7, 2023 @Nilakantan Erode just a piece of advice if you choose to go with a prado, go for the GXR as you plan to take it offroad. The vxr comes with leather seats sure but it also has those bumper spoilers that you will need to immediately get rid of as they dont have much clearance for sand driving. GXR on the other hand should be good to take offroad with out much modifications upto fewbie level. Btw if you already have a primary car and buying one to mostly go offroad, nothing more capable than a stock rubicon for any level of drive. 2 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nilakantan Erode Posted July 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2023 Thanks @Gautam Banka Appreciate the thought. Will connect: New Prado is still a couple of months away at Al futtaim….so would be good to checkout good preowned ones! I did some test drives on Bronco and seem to like that. New ones are not available right now ( same issues on delivery as Toyotas!) but seen a couple of decent pre owned broncos… price is a different issue though! And….managed to get some offer on new wrangler rubicon … with some old management connections. The search continues but hope to be ready for the desert drives by September!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Nilakantan Erode Posted August 24, 2023 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted August 24, 2023 So my Carnity friends...I have finally got a 2023 Bronco Wildtrak. Thanks @Gaurav@Looper@Rizwanm2 @Gautam Bank @Hisham Masaad @Frederic @Alexanderrr @Stumpy Flowers @Bravoecho @Krishna R @Pavel Pashkovskiy @Benjamin and all others those who had shared their wisdom and tips on the card ...ranging from Pajero, Prado, Patrol, Safari. Rubicon and Bronco. Had something to learn from all your experiences / suggestions. Also explored some of the other chats on the car forums. Lots of insights there! Last time i owned a 4WD in Dubai was 22 year back was when i had a 1997 Mitsubishi Pajero (Classic Green). Used to do some desert drives then but after that it has been only family sedans / other cross overs since 2001 ...once i relocated to Singapore. But it is great to be back here in Dubai after 2 decades. The off road landscape and vehicles have changed a lot. And...some really great offroad communities are here now. Last couple of months have been very exciting as i was looking for my off road car with all the advices, research and test drives . The new car prices (and availability) and used car prices (and the evaluations / conditions) have also been humbling revelations. Was also lucky to get some management contracts at Ford that facilitated the final Bronco purchase and delivery. But had nearly finalized and bought 4 other vehicles! Have been the desert in the heat a couple of time now...and driven a (reluctant and worried!) friend's Nissan Patrol V8. Great experience. And..no nothing happened to his V8 Y62 ..though he was biting his nails (more worried about his car than me!!). Ultimately ..as per my learnings here in the Carnity Forum...it is the driver, temperament, skills (and willingness to continuously learn more from all) and the community (for support and encouragements ) and not entirely about vehicles and modifications. Looking forward to seeing some of you soon! 4 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted August 24, 2023 Report Share Posted August 24, 2023 16 minutes ago, Nilakantan Erode said: So my Carnity friends...I have finally got a 2023 Bronco Wildtrak. Thanks @Gaurav@Looper@Rizwanm2 @Gautam Bank @Hisham Masaad @Frederic @Alexanderrr @Stumpy Flowers @Bravoecho @Krishna R @Pavel Pashkovskiy @Benjamin and all others those who had shared their wisdom and tips on the card ...ranging from Pajero, Prado, Patrol, Safari. Rubicon and Bronco. Had something to learn from all your experiences / suggestions. Also explored some of the other chats on the car forums. Lots of insights there! Last time i owned a 4WD in Dubai was 22 year back was when i had a 1997 Mitsubishi Pajero (Classic Green). Used to do some desert drives then but after that it has been only family sedans / other cross overs since 2001 ...once i relocated to Singapore. But it is great to be back here in Dubai after 2 decades. The off road landscape and vehicles have changed a lot. And...some really great offroad communities are here now. Last couple of months have been very exciting as i was looking for my off road car with all the advices, research and test drives . The new car prices (and availability) and used car prices (and the evaluations / conditions) have also been humbling revelations. Was also lucky to get some management contracts at Ford that facilitated the final Bronco purchase and delivery. But had nearly finalized and bought 4 other vehicles! Have been the desert in the heat a couple of time now...and driven a (reluctant and worried!) friend's Nissan Patrol V8. Great experience. And..no nothing happened to his V8 Y62 ..though he was biting his nails (more worried about his car than me!!). Ultimately ..as per my learnings here in the Carnity Forum...it is the driver, temperament, skills (and willingness to continuously learn more from all) and the community (for support and encouragements ) and not entirely about vehicles and modifications. Looking forward to seeing some of you soon! Enjoy your new car 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisham Masaad Posted August 24, 2023 Report Share Posted August 24, 2023 Congratulations @Nilakantan Erode wish you all the best, enjoy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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