Mahindra XUV500 Clutch Plate and Flywheel Gone Bad, Twice in 49K Kms

[bhvm]

sir. the links are on gear heads. TAI does not encourage sharing such links over here.

one of the members there clearly said that newer vehicles started using plastic clutch cylinders which are horribly failure prone. the older metal designs were very good. we may be ok. with a little less chrome on our cars but clutch cylinders is the worst place for cost cutting and Weight reduction.

and Sir,
xuv or storme are NOT cheap vehicles by any means with respect to Indian context.

 

[TSIVipul]

sir. the links are on gear heads. TAI does not encourage sharing such links over here.

Sorry sirji, please provide the source of information
I couldn't find it there actually or maybe I missed something.

one of the members there clearly said that newer vehicles started using plastic clutch cylinders which are horribly failure prone.

But plastic cylinders do fare well in case of clutch or brake master cylinders. Maybe an another quality issue or wrong selection of material or design or both.

the older metal designs were very good. we may be ok. with a little less chrome on our cars but clutch cylinders is the worst place for cost cutting and Weight reduction.

Sirji I have been appreciating M&M mechanical bits/underpinnings for being rugged and long lasting. I doubt if M&M have intentionally done a cost cutting in this area. Eh.. I can't understand if it's a severe quality control failure or design failure or both.

and Sir,
xuv or storme are NOT cheap vehicles by any means with respect to Indian context.

Saarji, when someone declares them better than Fortuner (Sorry to say but I (I == my personal opinion) don't find these vehicle even at par with Innova, Fortuner left aside), then this perspective only comes into my mind. Vehicle is not just about 0-100, FE, suspension etc. There is an another perspective which is called quality and it in itself commands a premium over everything else. Be it cheap in terms of quality or price, cheap is cheap. Ehh, that's my brutal way of replying over a brutal comparo actually.

 

[cparate]

Guys,
After filing complaint in "Jago Grahak Jago" and sending a detail mail (with proof) twice to Mahindra's top executive including Anand Mahindra, i got a call from my dealer. He told me I am valuable customer to them and as a goodwill gesture dealer wants to pay 45K amount to me. They have transferred 45K amount in my account today. I asked him why dealer is paying for Mahindra's mistake, according to him dealer will adjust this amount in future transaction with Mahindra...which is not digestible to me...it seems Mahindra dont want to be part of any such transaction and ask dealer to pay this amount which they will adjust internally.
Thanks guys for your help, this was not possible without your help.

 

[sriram_mk]

They did the same with me. They said, they will waive off as part of good will. But the reality is they are doing this , just to cover their problems.This happenned after i wrote to Anand Mahindra. Looks something fishy.

 

[bhvm]

I just paid a visit to service center for regular 50k Kms service of my Thunderbolt XUV.

I met 3 owners over there who had came to SAME kind of clutch failure. When I talked to the CRM and then to Branch Manager. I also showed them the TAI thread.

Some of them had to pay (Cost is about 4600). Some got it Free. SO Its a very grey area.. The talks were same "Mahindra has no Warranty on Wear-tear items, But some replacements were provided in good faith"

Unfortunately, I've been meeting people with clutch failures on my EVERY visit. and I don't visit very often, once can conclude this must be a very common occuring.

 

[vu2gte]

In my opinion Mahindra and Tata make the worst cars, and feel that the Indian consumers are Guinea pigs for their products. The misguided loyalty and immense patience of the Indian consumer is what allows these companies to survive.

 

[Akash1886]

In my opinion Mahindra and Tata make the worst cars, and The misguided loyalty and immense patience of the Indian consumer is what allows these companies to survive.

If you are being so straight-forward in rejecting the vehicle quality of Mahindra and TATA then please also add Maruti and Honda because these two as well don't build battle-tank-like strong vehicles and yet people go for them.I own their cars and yet I am not happy with the build quality. The techno-mechanical reliability of both i.e Maruti and Honda however is entirely a different ball-game altogether.

Regards

Akash

 

[bhvm]

friends,
it does not mean anything to blame particular manufacturer.

the'tank like' Toyota and very sophisticated VAG / Germans have had their fair share of recalls, niggles and cheating issues. I'll say Indian manufacturers are Atleast honest when whey screw up.

 

[chevrolet]

My friend who worked in a spares supplying industry, said that car makers have to cut down the individual production cost of the vehicles, so they try to change suppliers for parts .Brands like toyota,vw,ms have better standard in sourcing parts, but the unreliable brands have lower standards and often change vendors.

He said if a vendor x sells brake pads for 2000 rs , and vendor y sells it for 1500 the car maker buys free sample from y and installs it in like 100 vehicles. Then they keep track of the vehicles during service, if no complaints are received the orders for vendor y increases, but when vendor z comes later with a lesser price the car maker shifts to him.

So when vendors are often changed, it is difficult to maintain a proper quality.
Brands like toyota are costly and underequipped, but they dont often switch vendors.
Also xuv is a vfm, more for less money vehicle, so reliable issues are common.
The rate of defective parts is high among cheap vendors, even if found they will ship it, also the car makers who source from cheap/ new vendors have weak quality policy.

I thought xuv has become better after these years and was planning for a xuv, now iam done . Going for the new innova that too after 15000 bookings/6 months from date of release.

@ bhvm
the only reason mahindra is respecting customers is because of Mr Anand mahindra, who wants mm to become a success, if not for him the brand would have been extinct long time back.

 

[vu2gte]

I still stand by what I said, both companies experiment with the consumer, vfm is exactly that you are getting what you paid for, even though the hype built up through marketing seems to indicate much more. I own an ertiga and after 3 years I'm still satisfied. That is what I call true VFM. As a matter of fact I didn't even take a test drive before buying, just did a lot of research online.

 

[harry10]

Why is it whenever a problem arises people are quick to bring Mahindra and Tata down? Just cos they are Indian brand. Well, our so called Japs and Euro brand aren't failure proof. Recalls have been made by all manufacturers. Build quality has gone down drastically.

My City Idtec has not experienced any major issues till now but I know people who have several issues in their 15000 km ownership itself. Atleast Tata and Mahindra don't cheat on emission like the no. 1 car maker in the world VW group.
Car is a mechanical product and irrespective of the brand an issue can crop up anything anywhere. What matters is how the concerned brand and their service personnel deal with it. Imo it's great on Mahindra or its dealer to refund some amount. Try getting it from VW, Skoda, Honda or Toyota and you will get to know how considerate they are.

It's good if you have a fuss free experience. Doesn't mean the other person with the same car is also enjoying the same. So, let's not generalize all the time treating Indian brands as inferior.

P.s- I have 12 years of experience of owning Tata cars, extensive travel in Scorpio and XUV n so on, owning Honda and Maruti cars. So, I know how all brands operate. When it comes to service it completely depends how well you have maintained your relationship with the service center.

 

[vu2gte]

12 years of driving Tata cars that definitely makes you the expert. The point I am trying to make is the 'engineers:seem to take parts from here and there throw them together and think they have created a car. Then when problems crop up try and solve them.

 

[chevrolet]

@vu2gte
also mahindra and tata are newcomers in passenger car segment compared to other car makers, so they are in a process of learning from mistakes. Mahindra is younger than tata, which atleast made vehicles like sierra ,estate.

Carmakers like honda are trusty because they use their tried and tested 90's tech, but the quality has comedown due to cost cutting.
The affordable and reliable brands for me are vw, toyota ( tin cans),ms. But i think vw ticks them all.

 

[chevrolet]

A taxi driver i know was telling that his relative bought a new innova for taxi and the guy burnt the clutch within a week of ownership. The guy already a amateur driver took the innova on the hills and burnt the clutch.

He said that this guy was afraid of the vehicle going downhill when climbing , so he half clutched too much and also used to hand brake and revv the muv and released the hand brake to make the muv move up. Such behaviour burnt the clutch quickly.

I had a chauffeur for my honda city who spolit the clutch in chennai traffic and ultimately another driver burnt that clutch in a hill some months later. The car was 70,000 kms old.

 

[divakarvinda]

Re: XUV 500 Clutch plate and Flywheel gone bad, twice in 49k Kms

I'm from Mumbai, I do own a XUV500.

I have changed the clutch plate before 6K kms n now service centre is telling is that it is burnt again.

Total kms is 45k. Cost is much higher to do it again and again.