Mahindra XUV700 (AX7L D AT) Ownership Review: The Silver Surfer

[A.G.]

Quick update on the version 10.35.21 after 2K Kms

+ Alexa connectivity is much better and there are fewer 'sorry'
+ Overall stability is improved with only 1 blank screen encountered while booting

- Without changing any setting, Clock is now Digital instead of Analog once the AdrenoX system is OFF
- Sound quality is much inferior to the previous version

 

[A.G.]

Completing 02 Years

On the 2nd anniversary, the odo was just short of 65K Kms having covered in-excess of 32K Kms in the year. Out of this, close to 8K Kms were dedicated to temple runs with almost 4K Kms being covered in 8 days (link to thread) and two 2K+ Kms trips to Ayodhya & beyond just 2 weeks apart.

However, it’s not all been smooth journey with Fuel leak severely hampering confidence. Also, ‘it’s a Mahindra’ attitude for niggles with NO solution is becoming frustrating.

Revisiting the Good, the Bad and the Ugly after an year:
The Good:
G1 – Drivetrain still continues to impress with it’s power and frugality.
G2 – Ride & Handling balance has improved with the new Pirelli tyres.
G3 – ADAS is really a boon for mile-munching.

The Bad:
B1 – Shaken faith on drivetrain & Mahindra’s RSA highlighted during the Fuel leak fiasco.
B2 – ‘It’s a Mahindra’ attitude for niggles (squeaks from door rubber seal, air noise from Driver door, wheel-bearing like sound, etc.)
B3 – Sony sound system has become poor with the latest update (ver. 10.35.21)

The Ugly:
U1 – Various noises (the famous football-in-boot, Brakes noise especially when crawling with brakes applied), and rattles (unable to pin point but somewhere from front), Suspension noise (despite Lower Control Arm replacement).
U2 – AdrenoX experience is still marred by frequent disconnections, poor Mappls functionality and no projection of Google Maps on Instrument Cluster despite the cheaper 3XO getting it
U3 – Random errors magically vanishing with a system reboot (i.e. Battery disconnect & reconnect).

Fuel stats for the 02 years of ownership

Some parting shots

 

[A.G.]

The second drivetrain related issue

The Engine Oil Pressure sensor was replaced under warranty and this is the second drivetrain related issue after the Fuel leak. Luckily for me this time the issue occurred when I was already on the way to Mighty Mahindra for an alignment check and getting DEF in preparation for an upcoming trip.

I was having an apprehension with the passenger side rear tyre looking out of spec visually and wanted to get the alignment checked. On the way to Mighty Mahindra while just accelerating smoothly after traffic cleared-up, I heard a ‘Ding’ which notifies an alert and the corner of my just caught the Engine Check icon on the display. As a natural response, I immediately lifted off the accelerator to stop but the error immediately vanished as if nothing had happened. No alerts were displayed or stored in the Alert History sub-menu which made me think I might have imagined it all or might have mistaken some other minor alert / error.

Upon reaching, met the Cotek and informed him of the experience I just had in a very casual manner as no Alert was stored in the History but he immediately got to getting this checked for his satisfaction. Surprisingly there was an error code stored related to Engine Oil Pressure and they suspected the Sensor to be faulty. By the time I reached back to Cotek after getting the job card opened in hardly 15 minutes, they had already approved warranty replacement and the team was in the process of replacing the sensor which just took another 5 minutes.

New sensor part

Part number

Waiting for general check

With 10L DEF, it’s filling charges and alignment, the total bill came to Rs. 1,816/- with a fast turn around time of under 2 hours.

Key takeaways:
1. At 67K on the Odo, this is the second drivetrain related issue just 13K Kms apart from the last one which is unacceptable.
2. It is shocking that the Engine Check Icon came and went with NO alert being stored in the Alert History sub-menu – ideally once a crucial Engine alert comes, it should have permanently lit the icon till an ignition cycle or atleast retained the error in the user accessible Alert History menu to take corrective steps as per the Owners Manual which mandates to contact the service center.
3. Exemplary support from Mighty Mahindra once again.