New Generation Mahindra Scorpio S10: Buying and Ownership Review


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New Generation Mahindra Scorpio S10(10,000 KMS completed) Buying and Ownership Review

Let me start by saying this is my first thread on the forum. Being an avid auto enthusiast, I keep spending ample time researching and discussing automobiles with friends and online. Off late I felt the need to share my experience and hence started looking around for options and here I am. I expect to learn lot of exciting things on automobiles and contribute whatever possible my way to this forum

I live in Mumbai and currently drive a Skoda Laura 1.9 TDI since last 4 years. The reason I started this thread is to share my purchase and ownership experience of the new Scorpio S10 which I have booked.

Going back, Scorpio would be my 5th car in the span of 15 years. My previous car was a Scorpio VLX 2005 model which I used till 2010. It was a memorable experience with Scorpio for 5 years and when I wanted to upgrade I didn't find the then models very interesting hence went for a used Skoda. I have been tracking the progress of the new Scorpio and post reading initial reviews, decided to go for the S10 model.

Talking about my driving habits, I do lot of long trips. On an average one 3000+ Kilometre trip a year in always on cards. I have driven my old Scorpio down to kanyakumari and up north till Manali. I work in Surat and live in Mumbai hence I get the opportunity to do this week end road trips between Surat and Mumbai as well. This was the reason for picking up Skoda 4 years back when I joined the new job in Surat. It’s the perfect highway car.
My garage constitutes Skoda, a Ford Figo(my wife's car) and my favourite Royal Enfield Electra(Modified for long rides). I have been to Leh-ladakh on the Bullet as well in 2011. Hope to write about that as well sometime soon.

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The Scorpio Experience.

Of all the vehicles I owned, we had a special ownership experience about Scorpio.I hear my family talking may a times about the times we had during the long trips to Kerala and Manali on Scorpio. My daughter especially not being a road enthusiast was always comfortable in Scorpio. I thought It’s important to write some of these aspects about this SUV as a background to my decision to purchase the second Scorpio.

Any vehicle should be compared with the facilities and features against the price for which they are offered. Scorpio is off course not the best SUV out there. It has had its own flows in terms of handling, suspension etc. However most of these issues with the car need to be thought of when you want to drive this vehicle at high speed. So if you want to cruise at a speed of 100 on the highway, I think Scorpio is as comfortable as any other SUV out there. It is also probably the best SUV to drive in city traffic, given its peppy engine and high seating position which gives fantastic view of the road. Being 5:9” this is one aspect of the car that connected me instantly to it.
Another aspect of Scorpio that is worth mentioning is the roomy and airy feeling in the Cabin. Many of us may not realise the importance of this aspect unless we do long trip of Scorpio and other vehicles. I have driven from Mumbai to Kerala on an Alto, Scoprio and on my current Skoda. While Sedans offer superior seating comfort, I have observed the journey in Scorpio was the least tiring given its airy and roomy cabin and higher seating position. You might say being a Scorpio fan I might be a bit biased here, but you can definitely go by the opinion of my family who found it extremely comfortable in Scoprio.

A vehicle that doesn’t own you.

You own the vehicle or does the vehicle own you? That is a question which comes to my end mind whenever I look at vehicle. Every vehicle needs care and maintenance and for my kind of life style the card has to gel with my routines without me being much bothered about its care. I take good care of my vehicles however the maintenance cost has to be practical. Your vehicles have to be a good mix of practicality and comfort. One that can be thrown around a bit at times and rough used when situation demands. Hence when you own premium vehicles, you need to think of these factors before using it to carry around your pets, or taking it out of the road. In short they own you and you need to plan yourself around it. Scorpio on the other side can be pushed around a bit without being worried about it much.

Shortlisting Scorpio.

I had started the search for an SUV almost a year back. Rexton R6 was the other one I shortlisted. I found the car real value for money compared to the other 20 Lac+ Suvs around at the same time being the cheapest of all. I have compared my experience with Scorpio as well while evaluating all these SUVs. Most of them have handling and body roll issues similar to the Scorpio probably may not be at the same degree. Off course these SUVs have a better build and equipment list than the old Scorpio. Rexton was the complete package with decent ride, good equipment levels and a tried and tested Mercedes engine under the hood and even a sunroof! A special mention to the longer windows as well of Rexton. Post my initial research when Rexton R6 was not yet available I decided to wait till the R6 is out . Wanted the manual version that is fully loaded. When R6 was in the showroom I was out there with the cheque book but by then I had some initial feedback on the new Scorpio. So decided to wait another 6 months.

Post the initial reviews and test drive of the new Scorpio, I had a change of mind. While Rexton is a great SUV, I wasn’t convinced about paying another 1 Million Indian Rupees additional for that vehicle compared to Scorpio. So I think it’s the value for money factor that shifted my decision towards Scorpio. There is another factor that needs special mention. The chances are that I won’t use even the new Scorpio for more than 5 years. I am not sure how Rexton will develop in India market in the coming years and that would certainly have an impact on the selling price. If I had plans to use the SUV say for more than 5 years, I would have preferred Rexton to Scorpio as I feel its firm build will hold better with age. But considering 5 years, Scorpio would definitely have a better resale value and ownership experience.

Test Drive

A checklist was prepared prior to the test drive. Decided to wait for at least a week to go to the show room to avoid the initial rush for test drives. So on October 2nd on my wife’s Bday we decided to take a test drive and the decision as well which was on hold for almost a year.

The showroom has a red colour S10 and I was impressed by the colour. I like bright colours. The previous Scorpio was Blue. Post initial formalities, drove the vehicle for almost 5 kilometres or so in Mumbai city traffic. Got to the speed of 80 on a couple of occasions.

Handling and Suspension.

A 5 kilometre stretch was insufficient to give any substantial feedback on handling and suspension. The vehicle is still very much Scorpio. It throws you around and the body roll is still there. I am not being negative here. But it is a much improved feeling and I am sure this vehicle will not make your palm sweat any more while driving through rough patches. Consider this to a much improved ride, handling and suspension.

There are a few reasons I am not worried about these factors much. Mahindra is very well aware that this is the single most improvement that they need to bring in their vehicle and if they have to click sales volumes, they need this fixed to an extent. So I trusted more the need of the Manufacturer here rather than my experience. Also suspension and body roll get impacted with age and so we need to wait for long terms ownership reviews to understand this improvement better. So I decided to go with the initial expert reviews and Mahindra’s own promise on the improvements.

Over all fit and Finish & Interiors

This was the most important factor for me to inspect the vehicle. My old Scorpio has rattling issues and I had tough time keeping various pieces together. Uneven Gaps between body and bumper, constant rattling noise from the Dashboards and rear door etc. are known issues. While we cannot judge these things on a new vehicle, the car has a better fit and finish over all, specially the front portion. The gaps have reduced; the style is more precise and even over all interior quality has improved. I don’t need to mention about the equipment list in S10, I think they match any premium SUV. I am thoroughly satisfied with these upgrades.

The car would need better carpets. The light material interior could easily attract dust and dirt. I could see that already on the test drive vehicle.

I have read in many reviews that once the door is closed, it is impossible to access seat height adjuster etc. I would say difficult, certainly not impossible!

Music System.

Spend almost half an hour on the music system of another S10 that was parked in the showroom. The features are practical, usable and sound quality is much better. With its boxy interiors it is not easy to get good sound in the Scorpio. I did some research in my previous vehicle and had to fit few amplifiers and woofers to get it to decent level.

This music system is average performer and sounds best at 40 to 50% volume.

At lower volumes you lose details. Missing tweeters here.

The system has decent base (tested with “Hotel California” live version!). You may not need to add a woofer here (Will save space). You can off Couse get few tweeters and probably an amplifier with good quality speakers in the middle row doors to improve the overall music experience. IT might be a good idea to cancel the rear door speakers as they contribute to rattling sounds over a period of time.

Selection of seating option.

This is probably the only complaint my family had about Scorpio. The bench seats we had in the previous Scorpio. So this time we decided to go for Captain Seats. There was another reason for the same. We have two dogs at home. Toy breed. They do a lot of running around in the vehicle. With Captain Seats they will be able move easily from middle row to the last. Also they can comfortably sleep in the last row even with few bags around. I checked the last row folding options. They can be folded completely or even removed easily.

Which Colour?

This was an area I didn’t have much say with my wife around. My family always gets to decide the colour of the vehicle and most of the time it matches my choice as well. We liked the RED that was in the showroom. It wasn’t very shiny metallic. More like the mat finish. The other option was Black or Blue. We decided against Black this time since we had black cars before and they are bit difficult to maintain. No doubt they look good. The lady in the showroom was in all praise for the blue; however there was not blue colour available in the showroom. We had to go to their other showroom in Marine lines to see the Blue.

IT is time for the decision

I had read ample reviews prior to coming to the showroom. We had made up our mind to any ways go for Scorpio. Post test drive and spending few hours with the car in the showroom, my wife and me decided to take the call. Only colour was the point on which we had to take a final call. We were told that we can decide on the colour later. I had also decided on the S10 model. I do not want to spend extra 1.3 lakhs on the 4 wd as the use of the same would e very rare. I need it only when I visit my native in Kerala and there we have enough Mahindra 4X4 Jeeps to play around with. So we finally booked the S10 and informed the showroom we will confirm the colour by end of day. I was promised delivery by end of October. Nov 5th in our wedding anniversary and we hope to have the beauty home by then for a long drive.
We wanted to waste no time on the colour as well. A bullet ride directly to the Marine line show room to see the blue. Wasn’t impressed by the metallic blue much and preferred red. So confirmed the colour as well.

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PDC

Delivery

Detailed review post 2000 Kms

First Service
Second Service

Direct link to upgrades and works done over a period of time.
 
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Re: New Generation Mahindra Scorpio: Buying and Ownership Review

Congratulations mate on your booking and welcome to the family. Hope you keep us updated about the delivery process and post delivery ownership of this beast.
 

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Re: New Generation Mahindra Scorpio: Buying and Ownership Review

Congrats man!

Any reason for not considering the XUV.

But I guess the previous experience with the scorpio was too good to not order a repeat.
 
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New Generation Mahindra Scorpio: Buying and Ownership Review

I find the XUV more in the lines of MPV than an SUV. I like the more jeep like look which gives more airy cabin and better visibility of the road.
 
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[cry]I got a call from the dealership today saying the delivery is slightly delayed and I will get the car only by Nov 15th. They say Captain seat and red color is the culprit for the delay. I am a bit disappointed here. Any way pushing them for a faster delivery. Going by Nov 15th date, it will be a 1.5 months waiting period.[roll]
 
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Will write more about the delivery and initial feedback on the car post the delivery. Till then drive safe and wear seatbelts always even for the rear passengers. Safety comes first.
The first one in TAI-ger.
Welcome to this forum, and advance wishes.

Also update the PDI checklists.
Why this much delay?
 
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The first one in TAI-ger.
Welcome to this forum, and advance wishes.

Also update the PDI checklists.
Why this much delay?
Even i am surprised by thsi delay. I am working on it.
Does any one have a PDI checklist for me to start with?
 
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Many of us may not realise the importance of this aspect unless we do long trip of Scorpio and other vehicles. I have driven from Mumbai to Kerala on an Alto, Scoprio and on my current Skoda. While Sedans offer superior seating comfort, I have observed the journey in Scorpio was the least tiring given its airy and roomy cabin and higher seating position. You might say being a Scorpio fan I might be a bit biased here, but you can definitely go by the opinion of my family who found it extremely comfortable in Scoprio.
No one else will understand any better. I have done it a couple of times and I completely agree with you here.
Congrats on the ‘Beast’ in red. This Scorpio in this shade is a ‘looker’ indeed. Wishing you many miles of exhilarating driving experience with it. [thumbsup]


Does any one have a PDI checklist for me to start with?
Here you go.
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/automotive-library/4646-new-car-pre-delivery-inspection-exhaustive-guide.html#post96299
 
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Congratulations shijose2002 for booking NG scorpio, do post many pictures once you get the delivery. And all the best for this painful waiting period [:)]
 
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Congratulations shijose2002 for booking NG scorpio, do post many pictures once you get the delivery. And all the best for this painful waiting period [:)]
Thanks Mukesh! Believe me it is very painful. I have written to Mahindra and also trying through some contacts to fast track the delivery.
 
Thread Starter #14
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Another observation i had was the insurance quoted by dealer in the per forma invoice was 49 K. I did a quick check online for the policy and the best quote i received is 37 K. I have asked the dealer to give me the details of the insurance like depreciated value etc for the comparison. Will take a call post comparison to go with the dealer to get an insurance online.
 
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Hey Jose.! Congrats for booking your beauty.! Red really is very attractive.! Keep dreaming about her in the waiting period.! [;)]
 

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