Lifestyle SUVs are a sub-category that has seen immense growth in popularity over the last decade in India. From flat-bed pickups to hard-core and capable 4x4 machines, buyers today have a wide range of options to choose from. While these SUVs may not offer the ideal mix of practicality and comfort, they certainly do offer maximum bragging rights and that is the reason behind their fandom.
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Perhaps the most popular lifestyle SUV in the country right now is the Mahindra Thar 4x4. Now in its second generation, the 3-door Thar was refreshed from a utilitarian 4x4 into a proper lifestyle SUV back in 2020. In its new avatar, it got an upmarket design, new features and a cabin that came
with all creature comforts. However, because of its 3-door format and limited storage space, the Thar off-roader was not able to reach a wider audience until the 4-door Thar Roxx arrived at a much higher price tag.
However, if you are still looking to fulfill your ambition of owning a 3-door Thar, then you could consider going the pre-owned route. Half a decade since its launch, there are several used Thar SUVs that can be a good fit and will cost you a lot less than a brand new vehicle. Here's how much a fairly used Thar would cost after a typical 5-year and 50,000 km first ownership.
For this assessment, we will consider the residual value of a 2020 Mahindra Thar LX Hard Top Diesel AT 4WD variant. The parameters we will set to determine the SUV's condition would be a usage of 50,000 km in a 5-year period. We would further determine the percentage of depreciation based on the fact that in 2020, the top-end LX variant of the Thar cost approximately Rs 19.29 lakh on-road.
Based on estimates of several online resale value calculators and quoted prices on pre-owned car portals, the average cost for a 5-year/50,000km used Thar LX Hard Top Diesel AT 4WD is between Rs 8.00 lakh to Rs 9.15 lakh, depending upon its condition.
Comparing the above-mentioned resale estimates with the SUV's original on-road cost of approximately Rs 19.29 lakh, it can be concluded that a fairly used Thar 4x4 still retains 41.5 percent to 47.5 percent of its original purchase value.
This means that a Mahindra Thar 4x4 is better than the majority of cars in retaining its value. That is because in India, a 5-year-old vehicle retains between 30-40 percent residual value after a typical 50,000 km first ownership. Which means that the impractical but aspirational Thar 4x4 is at par, with any other practical car in the pre-owned segment, if not better.
Keep reading Times Now Auto for more depreciation estimates on popular car models.
