Re: “Thunderbolt” Mahindra XUV5OO Detailed Review (3 Years Report)
60K Service experience at Jitendra Motors, Nashik.
We reached at 9.00, Our usual SA, Mr Amol was ready to attend. Service took whole day and has a few perks that you may want to read on. Service costed roughly 19k, Excluding Food, Tolls & Fuel. So here we go-
1. Gen Service & Check up- General Service done. Costs 2.5k Including washing. Washing cannot be canceled. Engine Oil was changed. Air , Oil & fuel filters were changed. I had to remind them about suspension Re-torquing & Battery check. The mechanic appointed this time was Less satisfactory than my usual guys. Spraying some lubricant on Door Beadings (Rubber) was included this time. Probably helps with rattling.
2. Air Filter & Cabin Filter replace- Replaced as Said. Replacement for Engine Air filter is 40k Kms! This is way too much considering the Dust & Pollution in India. The filter costs 950. I guess I'll ask them to replace every 20k.
3. Very poor FE only 10.8 KMPL,- Now here comes The mistry part. My 1st complaint was that Car is delivering Very poor FE. The SA suggest it will Improve as we do service. Filters may be dirty causing poor FE. Seemed logical. And we got comprehensive service done. My usual Oil change/Service schedule is 15k Kms as opposed to 20k by Mahindra.
Guess what? No avail. MID displays FE in range of 9.5~10.5. It goes MAX till 11.7 if driven too carefully (Earlier it would shoot till 16 KMPL if driven that carefully). In my regular Run & Gun style, Hitting 150 and what not, the FE would be in the range of 12.5 KMPL. We had a lengthy discussion with SA on this. Had loooooong test runs. But discussion had to be left open & Incomplete as it was closing time. The SA demanded vehicle to keep overnight which is not possible for me. Here are the possibilities-
a) During replacement of turbo, maybe turbo was not fixed properly was not tuned well to the car, causing poor FE. (Note- Turbo was replaced just 3~4k Kms ago)
b) All the ECU needs to be check, Flashed and reset. They'll have to be re-learned which will need 3 hours to get done (1 whole day in my books). Maybe then ECU will learn new turbo and work better.
c) I have installed AT tyres causing poor FE. Now drop of 0.5 KMPL is in my perception. But not a drop of 3~4 KMPL. To confirm the same, SA installed bridgestones from a nearby car, Took a Test run and came back with FE of 9.6 KMPL!. The bridgestones are quieter though.
4. Car not running Free- Replacing Filters and Service Brought back the performance. SA suggested Carpeting is not done properly (Carpeting was done my Jalgaon Mahindra Dealer) and is causing pedal to be obstructed some times. I gave the carpet a slight cut and feel is better now.
4. Grinding Noise in brakes, Brakes check- All Brake pads replaced, giving better brake feel
5. AC not effective- AC effective once again after replacing Cabin Filters (There are 2 filters)
6. Sideglass Greasing (Creaks when folding)- Some lubricant sprayed Costing Rs 70.
7. One Fog lamp is dull/dark- After a lot of Coaxing they agreed to open fog lamp and blow dust out. But I dont feel they actually did it. Dust is the same.
8. Middle row Cabin Light- Only Half LED working.- Some of the LEDs have fused. Disappointingly, lamps are not covered in Extended warranty. I argued saying that these are not filament bulbs that keep blowing every now and then, But an Integrated LED unit that is sealed. But got the same Reply from Bombay office so decided to skip. New Lamp costs 850. Decided to Ignore. Will probably do a DIY or replair at home. I learned from mechanic how to open the lamp. Ha ha...
9. Some speaker Rattling- Rattling not found during test. Maybe I am pushing too Much bass through them
10. Clutch Check- Clutch is fine and often lasts 1 lac+ kms.
Perks & Messes-
1. Most SAs never knew this vehicle can cross 160. I hit 180 During test run and they were like.....OH my god. They're Instructed to never cross 120. And I see that is a good thing.
2. Rear Brake pads have lasted 64.7 Kms. This the HIGHEST RECORD since XUV launch (2011) in NASHIK service center. Rear Brake pads are designed to last 40~50k Kms. Makes me feel proud indeed.
3. Oil was Found to be good. Mechanic Suggested I should've driven 5k more before replacing.
4. Thinking about K&N filter to help this massive diesel breathe better. If Air filter replacement can open so much performance, K&N should be impressive. And is safer than a remap.
What say folks?
5. There is no Hub/Bearing Grease for XUV. There are sealed bearings which last about 1 lac km
6. Upon Raising The Vehicle, I found that Underbody Guard was MISSING!. Alarmed, I asked SA if he misplaced my guard somewhere. Talking with Mechanics etc, I was told that my vehicle din'nt come with Guard from home. Oh! Horror Horror.
Then SA got a spark that maybe Guard was Missing since I gave my Vehicle at Dhule for Turbo issue. Now That was November. I made a few calls to Bombay office explaining my issue that guard was forgotten at Dhule. And guess what! In a few minutes literally I got message that a new, Sealed Guard is being installed to my vehicle!
Amazing out of the ordinary service & Courtesy I may say.
What I liked-
1. Performance, definitely.
What really opened up was revv range from 2800 to 3500 RPM. This Is what I use for overtaking. Earlier the vehicle would hesitate to cross 160. Now it cleanly Hits 180. The Train like Pull in 3rd gear is back now. 80-120 Figures have improved. It is once again possible to do 120 in 4th.
2. Engine noise has reduced. I can hear bass at 140 now. However, hearing one's own horn is impossible at 180. I asked SA (doing 180) “ Sirji Horn nahi Chal raha”. SA was “Kya sir?” I need to get rid of the roof rack to cut down some wind noise. The wind noise is silent but makes it presence felt. Its difficult to explain. You do not hear wind noise, but when you talk, you will hardly hear yourself. Strange feeling. Going Near Terminal velocity has its perks & mysteries!
What I didn't Like-
1. Washing was not very neat & clean. Greasy stains were'nt removed. Glasses were Blurry & Smudgy. I had to Request for a second wipe.
2. There is Mild steering vibration at 140. This was absent before I got Balancing/ Alignment done here. Also there are Vibrations are present in brake pedal (esp when braking).
3. Vehicle Pulling very slightly to Right. Apparently, their Alignment/ Balancing services are not good so I'll skip them next time. Rs 1500 Wasted.
4. Cabin LED lamp should've been included in Extended warranty. They are givng everything else, this small stuff would've made no difference to the Company as a whole.
5. FE issue not solved. Not even diagnoised properly. As it was 6PM Already, all staff was in a hurry to leave. Had to pay Bill hurriedly and depart. Will write to Customer car regarding this.
6. Service costs- 19K for (Majorly) oils, Filters & Brakes. And there was not one out of the ordinary replacement. Definitely not cheap as TATA. Probably same costs as Ford.
7. Couldn't get a clear answer when Brake/Steering oils need attention/ Replacement.
8. Speed for work definitely going down. Only one Mechanic per car. I requested a person be added and car taken as prority but they didn't listen. Regular Service consumed time till 5PM and washing till 6 PM. We could not pay attention to FE issue due to time mismanagement.
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