Ideally it takes 2-3 years to recover the cost of the vehicle while the vehicle lasts profitably upto 5 years. The driver of the Innova said his boss owns 63 taxis (including TFort, Mercs and BMW) which includes 37 Innovas. The operators are happy as they get the premium rent and bullet-proof vehicles. Today Innova is the preferred choice among taxi operators because customers demand these cars for the sheer comfort while paying a premium. (Mind you, I am ignoring a few extra steep slopes where these cars burnt clutches and struggled a lot in the 1st gear too and also not discussing their performance on the plain roads). Sometimes the driver was losing patience while over-taking the long Army convoys and used to rev the Innova to 4k+ RPM and yet the vehicles felt sluggish. ![]() I even coaxed the drivers to refrain from the 1st gear but they refused saying Innova will not pull easily. But I was surprised to see the frequency of use of 1st/2nd/3rd gears in the twisties (which I am sure could have been done in atleast one higher gear) and yet accelerated slowly. It cocooned us in the best possible way and took all the abuse just like they had been for the past 4 years. Given the pathetic road conditions along 50% of the trip distance, Innovas were the best thing that happened to us (apart from the scenic beauty of course). While one was new (4 months,20k kms), the second was fairly old (4+ yrs,250k kms). Ever wondered why you find so many Innovas in the higher reaches of Himachal, Uttaranchal, Leh-Laddakh etc?Ī couple of months back, me and my friends went on a 1700 km road-trip of the NE states in 2 Innovas. I agree on plain straight highways, Innova will be huffing and puffing to keep pace with other cars, but on the twisties and ghats, it still shines. You can enjoy your car (alone or with your family) and I can enjoy mine :D. This does not mean I am questioning your decision on going for the Safari and then the Storme, I am only justifying mine. Would a Storme/ SCorpio be able to do that, probably not. ![]() I always wanted to carry 6 passengers (in my family) and the occassional 7th or 8th from the extended family (with their holiday luggage) on long journeys with decent comfort. I agree Storme is more pleasurable to drive and has definitely more power/torque than the humble Innova, but I care more about passenger comfort. I want to rest my case and don't want to stretch this Storme Vs Innova debate any further. ![]() But a naive question here, why didn't you choose a Safari/ Storme over an Innova while you were in Kashmir? I do agree ghat roads can induce motion sickness in some passengers. Innova is not a sports car to shine up twisties, it can barely keep up modern traffic, and the body roll in the last row is puke inducing, I have experienced this first hand for 15 days with my family in Kashmir, where we traveled in a hired Innova. In your previous post you mentioned, "Even an auto rickshaw will climb the ghat" and I believe this article refers to a "cycle rickshaw" (please correct me if I am wrong)lol: ![]() There is no mention that he has completed the journey or reached Khardung La pass (not nit picking here). "Throughout the day he pedals to cover around 40-50 km every day and for night halt he looks for a religious place like temple or gurudwara where he can stay safely for free." Expecting to complete the expedition within five months, he is also eyeing an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records for his feat" This article dated J11:38 IST, mentions, "A rickshaw 'walla' has set out on a daring 3,000-km expedition from Kolkata to the famous Khardung La pass in Ladakh, which has one of the world's highest motorable road. Rickshaw up the ghats is not new, there are enough articles out there which a simple google search will provide.
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