Mahindra XUV500 "Speed" Accessory Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

Akash1886 · Mar 11, 2015

Friends,

Happened to read on FB page of a automotive forum that the alloy wheel of XUV 500 are not at all reliable. The pics posted there showed how the alloy rim broke from center but god willingly nothing untoward happened and owner was safe as the SUV was driven at a low speed about 30 km/h.

Question is, if one of the most significant part of the car i.e wheels are not in best of quality then what's the credibility of such a big brand selling such an expensive SUV? In this incident the car was at low speed but what if this kind of horror would have happened on some highway at a high speed like 80-90 km/h?

Please, humbly requesting all owners of XUV 500 to be alert of this issue and take precautions so that such an untoward thing should not happen to your vehicle!

Please share your opinion on this horrifying incident!

Link

Regards

Akash

raj_5004 · Mar 12, 2015

Re: Mahindra XUV500 Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

INCOMPLETE INFORMATION ALERT!

The alloys shown in the pic is not the OE alloy of the XUV. This one is a accessory sold by Mahindra.

There are NO issues with the OE alloys which comes in the W8 version of the XUV (top end). Those who are option for the W6/W4 and then buying these "speed alloys" from the dealer should be careful as there have been about 3-5 reports of them cracking and breaking.

I think Mahindra should do a thorough investigation in this matter since these "speed alloys" are being sold by them as an accessory.

D.J.D. · Mar 12, 2015

Re: Mahindra XUV500 Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

There was an incident of OE alloy cracking.

Source: from another forum

manojodungat · Mar 12, 2015

Re: Mahindra XUV500 Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

Looks like there are a ‘couple’ of incidents ‘reported’ of the ‘ speed alloy’ that are offered as an ‘accessory’ at the dealerships as in the pictures in the OP. Definitely a cause of concern and I am sure Mahindra is already investigating on this.

The thing is that alloys made out of aluminium are ‘brittle’ by nature and hence the design becomes a crucial element. Having said that, in order to claim ‘in public’ any defect at the manufacture level, one needs to have adequate ‘evidences’ and we only have a couple of them, out of which one can’t make any generalization on the cause at the moment. But, even if it’s one odd case, it needs to be investigated in order to trace the root cause and until then those ‘speed alloys’ shouldn’t be sold at the dealerships, IMHO.

I don’t press any panic button on the “OE” alloy as the cause of such cracks are many, the heavy impacts from the ‘ pot-hols’ on Indian roads being the most significant for such an odd case IMO. You may be a careful driver but those hidden huge pot-holes and debris can’t be avoided all the time and the impact on the rims when a 2 tonner crashes into one of them at a good speed shouldn’t be understated.

They should have had those OE alloys on those test mules at the development stage but probably not those ‘speed alloys’, hence the need for a thorough investigation.

raj_5004 · Mar 12, 2015

Re: Mahindra XUV500 Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

D.J.D. said:

AGAIN INCOMPLETE INFORMATION ALERT!

That was just one incident out of the lakhs of XUVs running on the road and hence we cannot call that a manufacturing defect.

The person who posted this on the forum clearly mentioned - "driver was driving on a narrow and rough road (usual Indian road). Got the left wheels off the road and applied brakes... heard a sound."

It was mostly a case of the wheel hitting on to a kerb or something else off the road.

allhyundaicars · Mar 12, 2015

Re: Mahindra XUV500 Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

raj_5004 said:

Mahindra is offering them as an accessory so obviously the person will contact the showroom. Even if the car went into a huge pothole, the tyre will burst and i have always seen alloys outer rim to be damaged (bent or cracked)and not from where the bolts are.

raj_5004 · Mar 12, 2015

Re: Mahindra XUV500 Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

allhyundaicars said:

If you are talking about the person with the OE wheel (post # 3), he did contact the showroom and Mahindra replaced the wheel under warranty.

Again, Mahindra is said to be very generous with warranty claims (for XUV and Rexton customers). Point is, there are so many XUVs on the road with these wheels, if there was any problem with the OE wheels of the W8, it would have been clearly highlighted by now.

vijay · Mar 12, 2015

Re: Mahindra XUV500 Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

+100 Raj,I completely agree with what you said.
Guys rather then jumping on the conclusion of the quality from Mahindra look at the issue that was reported.Most of those cases were from the accessory alloys that were purchased on the lower trim and out of them 3 to 4 cases got this complains.
There might be possibility of one of the shipments of alloys, that batch had some issue which i am sure Mahindra would be looking into the matter surely.

Akash1886 · Mar 12, 2015

Re: Mahindra XUV500 Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

Friends,

The issue of Alloys breaking is a serious one as you all agree. Now, immaterial is the fact whether they are sold as OEM fitment or whether they are sold as a accessory by OEM dealer, point is, how come Mahindra shared it's brand name with a product whose quality even for 1 shipment or lot has been sub-standard? Why was there over-shoot of protocol of quality inspection by Mahindra even if it is for 1 piece of alloy or 1 particular shipment? Do You think Mahindra won't be knowing of the shortfall of this particular design of alloys? When a common buyer associates with a brand then he expects certain amount of trust and assurance from the brand. It is not about the lakhs of XUV500 being driven on road, it is about the life of those few people which were at stake when a accident like this happened. It needs only a couple of fed-up customers to ruin the image of a particular brand no matter Indian or International.

Now, to further substantiate my above statement, I would like put on record here in the benefit of all existing XUV owners and the prospective buyers who intend to buy accessories from OEM, I have today itself met with Executives of one of the biggest Dealer of Mahindra in Delhi NCR to provide this feedback to them. Here are some pics and details which I would like to share:

The Genuine Alloys of XUV 500

Cost: INR 65K-70K

The Design of Alloys sold as Accessory by OEM Dealers

Cost: INR 43,500 under exchange for 5 Alloys (Flower Design) for W4 and W6 models.

Here is the proof of cost from the Dealer itself for accessory alloys

Now, The unsuspecting customer buys these alloys only to accentuate the looks of the car and with the trust of the brand and not risk his/her life. I spoke to the executive about the same and here is what the conversation was:

Before this conversation, A brief conversation was held between me and the accessory person of the dealership,

After discussing this matter with the executives, it is clear that their only work is to sell and earn revenue out of accessories. It would be better if the buyers refrain from buying such type of accessories from dealers. In my Honda City, the alloys are of 18,500 and in MAY this year they'll be 1 year old, they are of far better quality than these accessory ones shown in the pics.

I hope Mahindra would swiftly check upon this issue and provide requisite solution to the affected owners asap.

Regards

Akash

D.J.D. · Mar 12, 2015

Re: Mahindra XUV500 Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

raj_5004 said:

Hi buddy,

Please read the posts carefully before jumping to make comment . I never told that it is quality issue or manufacturing defect blah blah. I simply told there was an incident.

BTW do you mean that we should not drive XUVs on rough road/off road.

allhyundaicars · Mar 12, 2015

Re: Mahindra XUV500 Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

raj_5004 said:

vijay said:

My couisin has an xuv500. He did tell me he received calls from mahindra asking about fedback if any. He reported that the color from the gear knob and the door handles were comimg off (i guess silver) and they replaced them or reported i don't know. I'm not against mahindra but this type of issue is serious.
That alloy is an official accessory and that's why mahindra is to be blamed.

raj_5004 · Mar 12, 2015

Re: Mahindra XUV500 Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

Akash1886 said:

I have not denied that Mahindra should not investigate this matter. Infact, they are responsible for what they are selling. What I mentioned was that the first post was "incomplete". It did not mention that the issue was with the "speed" alloys, which is an optional accessory. It just mentioned "XUV's alloys". Readers can easily mistake this for the OE alloys in the W8.

D.J.D. said:

If you were just sharing an incident, then I am sorry.

Since you shared this incident on a thread which is discussing a manufacturing defect on the alloys, I presumed you were sharing the picture of the OE alloy in connection to the topic of discussion.

Please have a look at the post by the owner of that XUV in the original forum. He swerved to avoid a Santro and hit something when he went off the road. That is how that alloy wheel broke.

Akash1886 · Mar 12, 2015

Re: Mahindra XUV500 Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

raj_5004 said:

Rajeev, I am not an owner of XUV500, Still the issue is very much of serious concern for all of the automotive communities and owners. The point you are referring to could be right, however, the original source of this info does not mention word "Speed" on their FB.

Alloy wheels breaking off while the car is in motion - sounds disturbing!
More than a couple of XUV500 owners have already faced this issue! Potential XUV500 safety issue: Weak alloy wheels?

Click to expand...

So probably, incomplete info as you said earlier, was not from our end but from the original source.

Regards

Akash

raj_5004 · Mar 12, 2015

Re: Mahindra XUV500 Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

Akash1886 said:

C'mon Akash, we are all automotive enthusiasts here. I believe you can easily identify stock alloys of XUV and these accessory ones.

Anyways, I wanted to clear up the facts from my side. So cheers!

bhvm · Mar 13, 2015

Re: Mahindra XUV500 Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

well,
I met a guy during xuv regular serve whose disc had cracked. and it was nothing less than catastrophic.

his rear left w8 OE disc cracked in the middle, like 2.spokes one half and 3 spokes. other half.
the floor of vehicle got baldy smashed and he had to. apply for Insurance to get vehicle repaired.

repair cost 50k, out of which 20k was paid by Insurance.

and here's the worst part. I came to know that Mahindra warranty is disqualified once you apply Insurance case. naturally the customer was on fire as First it was a quality issue (alloy ) but then his warranty became nil. he was finally able to fight in a get warranty back though.

the same day I met a guy who had same. clutch failure as mine. bad day for Mahindra that day.

Mahindra XUV500 "Speed" Accessory Alloys Break: Quality Compromise?

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