My Red Highway King: Mahindra XUV500 W8 Ownership Review

[mayankdixit]

My XUV Key fob totally disintegrated and I had to change it. It was getting softer and softer .Rubber on the pressing points was wearing away over the years. I was dilly-dallying for the past one year. When ultimately holes started appearing on the pressing points, It got very difficult to open and lock the car !!
I was worried about the water entry onto the green chip in daily usage and car wash etc. Went ahead the changed it .It is very tricky and there is high risk of green board(motherboard?) damage if you use screw driver to pry it open. The key cover was stuck with some glue like substance from the factory ,maybe for sopping water entry.

XUV in present state. This pic is taken from inside the glass door, so pardon the dirty glass coming in-between.

These are the pics of DIY

 

[kinshuk.arya]

Hope you didnt forget to replafe the black coloured chip.

 

[mayankdixit]

Hope you didnt forget to replafe the black coloured chip.

Thanks for the warning. Did replace it. Without that micro chip( which is immobiliser) the XUV was not starting, although the door was getting unlocked and all, but the XUV wont start.



Also noticed that this red light on the remote has started working now as before, post the DIY.

 

[kinshuk.arya]

Yeah, i had forgotten, and then had to take it to the key maker to get a new one.

 

[mayankdixit]

Hope you didnt forget to replafe the black coloured chip.

This chip is very delicate and can get damaged easily. Moreover it is encased in a box like plastic covering. Be very cautious in pulling it out.

For those of you who need part no. and price here is the pic showing the details. Feb manufactured genuine part. Price 919/-

 

[bhvm]

It is very tricky and there is high risk of green board(motherboard?) damage if you use screw driver to pry it open. The key cover was stuck with some glue like substance from the factory ,maybe for sopping water entry.

I can relate to your ordeal. I had changed XUV keyfob shells a few year ago. The entire key is glued with some strong epoxy and does not want to come out. I finally gave up and gave those shells to the ASC who changed it for me. 900 bucks something per piece.
Then I got these Orange and Blue Silicone key covers to further protect the shell.

 

[mayankdixit]

The entire key is glued with some strong epoxy and does not want to come out. I finally gave up

very tricky and there is high risk of green board(motherboard?) damage if you use screw driver to pry it open. The key cover was stuck with some glue like substance from the factory ,maybe for stopping water entry.

I think I was very lucky I didn't ruin anything.
Had things gone south with this DIY,15,000/- for new key set from M&M, someone said.
Plus It would have looked quite stupid in my own eyes.

 

[allhyundaicars]

I changed my figo's key forb yesterday and it was really simple to open and replace even the motherboard.
Good to know that Mahindra provides new fob. Couldn't find it for my car on boodmo.

 

[mayankdixit]

Its really hot in my city, this summer.
XUV, today morning, 11.30am.

 

[mayankdixit]

Winter is in full swing in North India, with temp touching 6 degree already, at some places. Kanpur is at 7-8 degrees(min) nowadays.
Its time to change engine oil and oil filter of my XUV. I have procured the required parts. I have yet to change the oil. I intend to do it myself at my home. No garages for me.






XUV needs 6 litres of engine oil. Pretty large sump, I must say, at least amongst the cars I have owned so far.
Genuine oil is Maximile FEO. I believe its 15W40 spec oil. Although it is not written anywhere on the box.

Price has increase very much since last year. Still I thing its economical than the leading brands.

I am lucky I got the recently manuf. batch

Apparently oil is made by SHELL

oil filter

At 414/- per litre cost, I find it not so costly if I compare it to leading brands.

Oil filter is very economical.
Again here too I will say that I am lucky I got the recently manuf. batch

As I have already mentioned before, I have yet to change the oil. I intend to do it myself at home. Soon I will post pics of DIY oil and filter change.

 

[kinshuk.arya]

Winter is in full swing in North India, with temp touching 6 degree already, at some places. Kanpur is at 7-8 degrees(min) nowadays.
Its time to change engine oil and oil filter of my XUV. I have procured the required parts. I have yet to change the oil. I intend to do it myself at my home. No garages for me.






XUV needs 6 litres of engine oil. Pretty large sump, I must say, at least amongst the cars I have owned so far.
Genuine oil is Maximile FEO. I believe its 15W40 spec oil. Although it is not written anywhere on the box.

View attachment 305628




Price has increase very much since last year. Still I thing its economical than the leading brands.
View attachment 305629






I am lucky I got the recently manuf. batch

View attachment 305630






Apparently oil is made by SHELL

View attachment 305631




oil filter

View attachment 305632 View attachment 305633 View attachment 305634





At 414/- per litre cost, I find it not so costly if I compare it to leading brands.

View attachment 305636




Oil filter is very economical.
Again here too I will say that I am lucky I got the recently manuf. batch
View attachment 305638




As I have already mentioned before, I have yet to change the oil. I intend to do it myself at home. Soon I will post pics of DIY oil and filter change.

My motorcycle takes in 7 liters.

 

[bhvm]

ith temp touching 6 degree already, at some places. Kanpur is at 7-8 degrees(min) nowadays.

Lucky you. I am missing some decent winter. Here where it sit, temp is 25.c

XUV needs 6 litres of engine oil. Pretty large sump, I must say

Safari uses the same 2179CC block and takes in whole 7.5L.

I intend to do it myself at home. Soon I will post pics of DIY oil and filter change.

Awaiting the pics and guide.

 

[mayankdixit]

Story of the engine stone guard of my XUV.

XUV has a good quality stone guard. Although it is made of plastic, it has lasted a decade. It's pricy too ( 2000/-) Inside the guard there is a thick and heavy foam like cushion provided.
Before every engine oil change you have to remove this plastic guard. There is no small window given in the stone guard like in other cars where only 1 or 2 screws have to be loosened to reach the sump bolt. Here , whole plate has to be removed completely.
Problem is this guard is fixed to the subframe with not 1 or 2 or even 4-5 bolts, but 12 bolts+ 2 good quality plastic clips , so total 14 attachments !! As soon as you loosen few bolts the heavy plate falls/ collapses on you rendering it very difficult to open rest of the bolts.
Just like the Air filter of Figo petrol, where everyone avoids cleaning it at all, here too in XUV, nobody wants to open that many bolts of the engine guard for a regular oil change. After oil change you have to fix it all back together too. Removing and fixing it back alone takes 15-20 minutes, specialy if you are doing it at home by crawling under the XUV.
Air filter change can be avoided in Figo, but how can you avoid engine oil change in regular yearly service??
So you have to remove the engine guard one way or another in every oil change.
Mechanics at Mahindra ASS have devised a nasty short cut for this which was horrifying for me when I first saw them applying it.
They open the first 4 bolts only and by brute force bend the plastic guard in a U- shape by pulling downwards.
They don't care if plastic guard cracks or breaks. It's not their problem. They have to work on so many XUVs. Time saving is priority for them.
After refixing the deformed stone guard there is a permanent bulge seen at the bottom of the engine if you look at approaching XUV from a distance. That's the permanently deformed out of shape stone guard, courtesy ASS. I have seen that in many- many XUVs in my city approaching me with very low ground clearance in front. There is this Bulge seen at the bottom as if a cow is about to give birth to a calf and amniotic sac is hanging. That's because of these morons at the service centre. Because I was standing with my XUV, during servicing, they dared not do it on my XUV.
I became so scared after that, I used to remove the guard myself at home before every service and reach service centre without it. After coming back home I always fixed it back.
In my 10 years of ownership I have done this removing and refitting about 20 - 25 times. I will be doing this again when I change the engine oil.

 

[mayankdixit]

XUV has a good quality stone guard. Although it is made of plastic, it has lasted a decade. It's pricy too ( 2000/-)

I am a fool to think so.
Or maybe I am still living in 2013 !!

 

[bhvm]

Mechanics at Mahindra ASS have devised a nasty short cut for this which was horrifying for me when I first saw them applying it.
They open the first 4 bolts only and by brute force bend the plastic guard in a U- shape by pulling downwards.

That's bad!

After coming back home I always fixed it back.
In my 10 years of ownership I have done this removing and refitting about 20 - 25 times

Sometimes I think to replace the plastic stone guard with a nice metal plate. Should be easy with Steel or Aluminium checkered plates used in Bus flooring.
Maybe I will fabricate one If the plastic one breaks. I often see many XUVs running without any stone guards!

Or maybe I am still living in 2013 !!

Prices have jumped up sharply after Covid. Even I am shocked sometimes.