My Ambhaari: Mahindra XUV500 Buying & Ownership Experience

manuman · Feb 7, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

@Krish_go: I was prepared to make a trip to stock yard in Nelamangala, but IG promised to get the vehicle to city. Moreover, I got what I was looking for – Year/month of manufacture, color, tires, and thorough check/PDI.

The SC, where IG services XUV exclusively (Mahadevapura), is 7KM from home. And on the way to one of my office (I shuttle between 2 offices). That’s a big plus for me.

The close family is 4 and extended family is ~8, including my sis/BIL/nephew. And 90% of my relatives are in Bangalore! (my kids complain about this, but hey, I did not have a choice [;)]

). For fully loaded trips within Bangalore, the trips would be short and there is enough leg space in the 2nd row. My long trips is mostly with immediate family; it is extremely rare that the car will be filled with 7~8. In such cases, I don’t mind renting the carrier; or why not rent a taxi ?!

The W8 comes with GPS and reverse sensor, but not camera. The cost difference between dealer and outside vendor is few hundred rupees. Most of it is due to tax by the dealer! Considering there is lot of electronics in this car, I have decided to go with the dealer for camera and may be LED scuff plates. For mats and side step, I don’t mind. Will hopefully get this done over the weekend.

@Gurrala74: I am in two minds, whether to name the car or not. Once you name it, you have emotional attachment to the car. As I wrote, this car is on lease and may / may not own it after 3 years. But am very happy with the number I got, and don’t have any other car; hence might retain it after 3 years. Still thinking...

Configured my iPhone for Bluetooth – it took less than 30 seconds! Pretty smooth and straight forward.

Audio quality is not that great. This car did not impress me much on the audio front; I think it is the speakers. By my standards, I would rate the audio 5/10. I love music and dont mind investing on good gadgets; but may not change anything on this car.

This evening, let the kids freak out on tearing apart all the plastic cover. It was fun [:)]

The kids took the last row and quite liked it! The kids felt, it is the ideal place to snooze on trips.

Can someone comment on my ‘Teflon’ question please?

Iron Rock · Feb 7, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

My 2 cents no need to spend on teflon or any other coat for a new car, you might as well do it in an year time

Tornado · Feb 8, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

manuman said:

You are lucky to have such wise kids . And they too are lucky to get a father like you who bought them a rear seat with a front facing for safty , kudos to you all , are made for each other.
My kids sit on the single front passenger togather but never oblige to take a back seat of my sedan. sometimes my daughter obliges but then she sits on the rear armrest. [cry]

manuman said:

It is not just a cam but the the angle which matters , and you have those artist 's eyes.I miss fellow Tain Highway Ranger to comment on this.
Pics in post#23 are also stunning. Believe me these are the best pic of a xuv I have ever seen.

AFA arthritis is concerned , sidesteps are must , almost like a addon safty feature.But as an auto enthu I agree with you, but Mom is always greater than the son , so go for them.

dharmesh · Feb 8, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

What about name "Silver Surfer". [clap]

Tornado · Feb 8, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

Iron Rock said:

with IR , also, teflon coating is a brutal procedure to watch while they do it on a new car and in case of you on chetah.

The 3 M or meguierr's paint restoration+ enrichment + coating is a better option to go for on first anniversary which would take care of minor scratches also.

manuman · Feb 8, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

Thank you gents, on your compliments.

@Iron Rock: I will not go for the Teflon coating for now. Let me see a year down the line. That will also save me funds. Thank you.

@Tornado: Thank you for complimenting my kids. They will be thrilled if I show them this post [:D]

I agree with you; my mom 'needs' a side step and I shall have it installed. Height was one of the criteria for me before I decided on the car.

I dont know about artistic eye, I just wanted to break the mundane angle. Probably that gave different perspective to the pictures. I am planning to borrow a DSLR from my friend and take some more pictures in near future. For now, I will continue to use my phone to capture as many pictures as possible.

I enquired about ctrack R200/R300/R400 side step, with a local dealer. The dealer claims, all the 3 are available for XUV but the ctrack website shows only R200 for XUV. Probably will fix it over the weekend. I like R300 and R400. Checked with Kumar Auto Accessories (J.C. Road). The guy is quoting R200-8K, R300-9K, R400-12K. I think it is little expensive. Any one, any idea what is the market price?

Some first day experience:

Took the car to office today, almost 55KM journey (2 way). I usually start my day pretty early, so could enjoy the car. Took elevated highway to Electronics City. For the first time, I could switch to 5th and 6th gear and the car sails smooth as silk! If I refuse to notice odo, I won’t even know that I am driving at 100+ !! I have decided to keep it below ~120KM at least for initial 1000KM (is that enough?). I was able to seamlessly switch lanes and even took couple of sharp turns; tried out cruise control. No issues what so ever. I am quite familiar with cruise control hence played around a bit without any glitch.

There were short stretches of bad road and some killer humps; faced no difficulty in tackling them.

Yet to test the brakes. Need to go for a long drive to test ESP and ABS.

The engine start/stop worked pretty well. I learnt recently that, (through a program on Discovery turbo), this feature improves fuel efficiency at least by 10%. The program even talked about how vehicle runs on battery whilst it is waiting for the engine to kick-start again. The host of the program also mentioned that, the computer in the car will automatically start the engine (irrespective of pressing the clutch) if it senses that there is burden on the battery. Any comments?

Took my colleagues out for a lunch and the car was loaded with 6, with A/C on. Everyone was able to get in and get out comfortably, including the last row. None complained (probably, they were being nice to me). There was no noticeable difference in the pickup. It was a short drive hence I can’t claim much.

One of the colleague manually forced the ORVM to open (he was ignorant). When I tried to demonstrate the same open/close feature using the button, it did not work! I thought either he broke it or I will have to restart the car. But on the way, I tried again and it worked to my relief.

What I have observed on ORVM is - if I switch it on/off (open/close), it doesn't close when I turn off the car. Only if I let the the normal open/close (when the car starts / stops), is when the ORVM closes automatically. Will continue to observe this and notice if there is any difference.

Another challenge I faced whilst driving today - old habits die hard. I generally dont use the ORVM before I overtake, and rely on the rear view mirror which is inside the car. Hence I closed the ORVM for most part of the drive. But the XUV has small rear windshield, which doesn't provide enough visibility; I even try to turn my head right and left (to eliminate blind spot, the US driving style). I had to switch on the ORVM (open) at times before overtaking either sides. I am afraid, some one will hit the ORVM and it is not cheap to replace!

My wiffy liked the vanity mirror in the front-co-passenger seat. She had an interesting question though – what if the driver is a woman? Do you expect her to move to the co-passenger seat to view the mirror? I had no answer, but gave her goli that it is not advisable for the driver to view the mirror whilst in driver seat. Valid, but not very convincing. [:)]

Well, tomorrow I am off to the SC to install reverse camera, and probably matts / others (outside). Will keep you posted.

Tornado · Feb 8, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

manuman said:

With
330 nm @1600 rpm at your disposal , it is ridiculous expect /look for pick up problem , just because 6 adults were on board with AC on. Low end torque is the biggest USP of xuv IMO.

BTW, what is the exact deficiency you felt about music system?, I have experienced Iron Rock's xuv 's music system, it is quite impressive.IMO.

Woman driver can use irvm instead of vanity mirror. Lol.

manuman · Feb 8, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

Well, @Tornado, I wasn't expecting any pick up issue per say but its something what I want to observe. 6 people loaded, with too many humps, I was expecting some lag but thankfully it wasn't the case. I stick to 2nd gear and nothing below, even with worst of the humps. You may be right, it is unlikely that I will face the problem.

Lots of my experience and comparison is with my earlier M&M vehicle - Scorpio. Scorpio had great pick up until I faced some A/C problem. Fixed the A/C problem, fine tuned the same, changed filter, etc., but the pickup was never the same. Without A/C, I did not face any problem.

On the music front, I tried to tune the equalizer today hoping for better output. It is still inferior, compared to my earlier Pioneer system and speakers. I think it is more than just tuning - probably the product quality itself. I am not a car audio nut to compare the specification; my perception tells me that watts are fine, bass is fine, but the sound is not just crisp. I am not comparing it with my bose headphone; I am only comparing with my earlier Pioneer system and speakers. Any suggestion to fine tune and improve the quality will be appreciated.

manuman · Feb 17, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

Last weekend installed the rear view camera and tail gate accent (chrome); also bought the 3D car mats and car cover.

The rear view camera and tail gate was installed at Mahindra service center in Mahadevpura A.S.S. Both together, including installation and tax, costed me 4440/- If I am not wrong, it is ~3500 for the camera, and ~940 for the chrome plate. As suggested by fellow TAI’ians, I went to M&M A.S.S. ‘coz everything in this car is about electronics and did not want to mess up the installation or warranty. Along with the camera, the sensor too works, overlapping! So the camera shows me the picture whilst the sensor shows me the distance to obstruction, in centimeters. I like it! [:)]

The RM asked me to come over at 9.30AM, and I reached at 9.40AM. To get hold of the RM it took 45 minutes. Once he made the job sheet or whatever, it took another 1 hour to get started! I had to vent out my frustration to the customer care lady, and then the ball started rolling. But once the camera installation started, it was completed in less than 90 minutes. There were 3 guys involved, doing multiple things in sequence hence probably it was completed in 90 minutes.

There is nothing special about RM, as I experienced. I don’t expect him to be in tie/suit but definitely not ditto as SA (Service Advisor)?! He could not answer my question related to this. I called the IG sales person immediately and shared my experience and displeasure. He promised to talk to his boss. Whether it makes an immediate difference or not, I will ensure I reach out to every ‘responsible’ person in Mahindra. I am not concluding it is bad, but as a customer, I will ensure they get the message. It is up to them to take it in right stride and fix the issues.

Bought the carpet from a local but reliable vendor. He started with 7.5K but finally settled for 6.5K. The brand too is 3D; includes the last row seats too. It is made for XUV 5OO hence fits perfectly, corner to corner. Couple of pictures attached. Pictures taken after installation hence you see some dirt on the mats.

Bought the car cover from a different vendor. Negotiated the price for 1K. Though I park my car in the basement, it is for those days when the car is parked outside the house in the sun/rain. I don’t intend to use the cover when I park it at office or elsewhere obviously.

I have deferred the plans to install side step for now, ‘coz I did not find anything appealing. I don’t like the silver side step, but the steel ones available in the market is not impressive. Will continue the hunt but will not rush. My mother is not a regular passenger, hence should not be a problem; however, planning to buy a small stool to help her board/alight the car.

Whilst I was at the A.S.S. took some pictures of the XUV which were on the workshop floor. There were few with bad accidents. Here it is for your view and comment. One of the XUV’s front left tire was completely scraped (highlighted in red) – I wonder how could it have happened? And there is another one bad external dent on the left side. The picture I have highlighted in red is actually ‘fiber’, and the one in yellow is ‘metal’! From my Scorpio experience I can tell you, Mahindra has got it right – fiber in the corner and rear which are the usual spots where car would receive dent/scratch. Difficult to repair but cheaper to replace (?).

But, very importantly, I looked for the interior damage. Almost none! I did not check if the air bags opened but going by the interior, I am pretty sure the driver/passengers are safe.

As I write, my colleague took the delivery of a XUV – W8 – Moondust Silver in color (ditto as me). My another colleague is taking the delivery next week – same model, but not the same color. So its 3 XUVs in colleagues circle, in less than 2 weeks.

TheG2 · Mar 17, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

Congratulations Manuman! Nice Car!
More pics please...

Gurrala74 · Mar 17, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

Those accident pics looks to be pathetic !! when will you name your XUV ??

krish_go · Mar 18, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

@manuman- 3D mats looks good. you should have also tried the transparent/smoky mats.
They would have costed 2k for set of 5 and have a special grip holding the floor/ original mat from MM.

bhvm · Mar 22, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

manuman said:

Congrats man. Very nice car. I'm getting and XUV too, soon.
I'm planning the camera from dealer as well and price as same 3.5k. few bucks here or there but i don't want warranty issues!

Please name the car!
How about silver speed?

I agree, Audio Quality is mediocre and im thinking to get a sub installed.

manuman said:

My mom (moving from the Fortuner) said that she won't need side steps. This vehicle is noticably lower than Fortuner/Safari. Esp the accessory price is 14k!

Start Stop Hybrid= Stay away like plague. All the fuel savings and more is lost in battery premature failure and starter wear. Also these are NOT full Hyrbids like they've shown on discovery. Such cars are not practically available in India.

Good observation on OVRMS

manuman said:

I feel its the physical quality of speakers that's the culprit. I spend a few minutes tuning the MANUAL EQ of 10 bands and speakers started distorting whenver i boosted any bass. very poor speakers. I have given up and an amp+Woofer will be required.

manuman · Mar 24, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

Well, am back! I was away for couple of weeks on business to Dallas. BTW, I have a post on 'Cars and Coffee' with some more new photos. And for the first time, I am revealing myself in nothing less than a Ferrari [;)]

Don’t forget to check it out.

Back to my XUV. Overall, it is much much better than what I expected. The pickup is fantastic (better than Scorpio), the clutch and gear-shift is very smooth, ride quality is superb on higher gears (tried on elevated road), noise levels are low, so on. I feel it is worth every penny I paid. The service experience is what will sustain this in the longer run, and I am eagerly looking forward to the same.

I read so much about ‘spongy brakes’. That’s not been my experience driving in the city. Let’s assume that’s true; one has to adapt to the car’s style – just the way you would adapt to the car’s length/breadth, power, and so on. After all, XUV comes with ABS with EBD and ESP; you can’t ask for more in terms of safety.

@Gurrala / @bhvm – I am yet to decide on the name. If you guys followed the thread, I have taken this car on company car lease scheme. Not sure if I will own this car after 3 years. Hence, I am hesitant to name the car. Once you name the car (or anything you love), you develop an emotional attachment. And then you can’t let it go! That’s my experience. BTW, by no means I drive the car or take care of the car, thinking I don’t own it. Till the last day I own this, I will treat it with love and respect.

Thanx for all the suggestions though; keep them coming. May be I’ll get emotional with my car one fine day and name it after all [:D]

I agree with @Tornado. On the audio quality – actually it is not as bad I thought it would be. The speakers aren’t that great. But I went to Manual EQ, set all of them to 0 (ZERO) and started tuning way up. Spent good 30 minutes on listening to the same set of songs (mostly western) and tuning the equalizer. Now I find the sound much better! And these settings could be different for you, depending on what you listen. You could try tuning the audio likewise.

@bhvm – I have not installed the sidestep yet; my mom has not complained much but I will install the sidestep sooner than later once I find something aesthetic.

My car is still showing an average mileage of 11KM. I completed 1000KM just yesterday, after 6 weeks. The past 1000KM has been only in the city and I hope the mileage would increase after few thousand KMs and/or after the first service. Attached is a picture of speedometer showing 1000KM.

I haven’t taken many pictures, but here are two pictures I took today, parked under a tree. I park it either under the tree or use the car cover when parked outside. Of course, I park it in my basement every night. [:)]

.

Heading towards Chennai for a short trip. Will be covering nearly 700+ KM in 2 days, Bangalore~Chennai~Bangalore. Looking forward to the lovely highway and experience many features/ability of the XUV. Will also try to take some pictures en-route and post it here upon my return.

srid68 · Mar 25, 2013

Re: My, Yet To Be Named, XUV5OO - Buying and Ownership Experience

Hi manuman
Just came accross this post today. Your silver beast looks fantastic. Though I am not much of an SUV fan, this does look and feel great. I would like to know more about your experiences down the libne so that I can think of this while changing my Polo (after about 3 years)

My Ambhaari: Mahindra XUV500 Buying & Ownership Experience

manuman

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Iron Rock

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Tornado

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dharmesh

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Tornado

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manuman

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Tornado

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manuman

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manuman

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TheG2

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Gurrala74

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krish_go

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bhvm

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manuman

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