My Dream SUV XUV500


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SUVs have always fascinated me. Initially, I thought all SUVs were Taxis, meant to carry maximum passengers which people hired when they had to go to pilgrimages like Vaishno Devi or sometimes to hills.

It was only when I started going on long distance trips like to Jodhpur and Auli few years back that I observed families self-driving their own SUVs to their far-away destinations. Even then, I never thought that I would own a SUV someday simply because I never had a big enough family for it but over the years as my family grew- I have 3 kids and of course, my wife, mom and even our maid accompanying us on all trips that I finally felt that we now need to own one ourselves.

I started zeroing on them one by one but was not satisfied with Sumo's, Safari's and Innova's of the world that around a year back, I got to know that Mahindra is going to come out with one that is going to have best of both worlds. I had no pictures, no engine specs or anything to fall upon and somehow I could never reconcile to go for a one made by an Indian manufacturer like Mahindra till after a long wait, Mahindra launched one christened XUV500 in 1st week of October,2011.

I went to Sri Durga Automobiles in Prashant Vihar and after liking the looks and interiors, I went for the next big job and that was to convince my wife who is otherwise the most difficult one to please. One look and she was hooked, luckily. My mom and kids are anyways very co-operative; they too cast in their 'positive vote'. So, without any test-drive or second opinion, I went for the cheque book to pay the Advance for a 2WD W8 version.
I was told I would get delivery sometime in Feb/March, 2012 but I got a call from both the Dealer and Mahindra that I should get ready for delivery by 25th Decemeber,2011 itself.

In between, I went for a Test-drive also which the Dealer was offering to only those customers who had booked the car. Unfortunately, I didn't like it. I found gear-change to be clumsy and clutch very heavy. Even the plastic in interiors looked 'cheap'. I came back home disappointed. My wife got suspicious and asked me why was I feeling so bad? I told her about my experience and she even suggested I should cancel my booking if I was not fully convinced but my mom advised me to go ahead.

I was confused but decided to wait and watch till as late as possible. Soon, the car was on road and most of the 'user reviews' were positive. And one day, when I came back home from my clinic, I found a Silver-colored XUV parked right in front of my house. I was shocked and surprised. I even found my kids and wife sitting in it. They laughingly told me that this belonged to one of my patients who was sitting inside. She told me that I can take a test-drive on her car which I promptly did. And boy wasn't the car flying. The gear-shift was very smooth and clutch lot easier to operate. Even the Interiors looked Impressive. Soon I realized that users had made a mess of that test-drive car and XUV was a far better car that I thought at the time of test drive.

I had now made my mind fully that I will go for the Cheetah but by now, I was repeatedly getting calls from the Dealership that I should come to them for discussions. I tried telling them that they should at least deliver me the car on 1st Jan so as to get the New Year model but they told me prices are going to be hiked by at least 50k and therefore, I should take the delivery at the earliest.
I somehow convinced them into giving me Delivery on 31st December evening so that my RC is issued next day only so that my Registration is for year 2012. They agreed after a lot of persuasion.

I had cleared all my payments already and happily went to take delivery of my XUV W8 model on the morning of 31st December but I was in for a rude shock. They told me that they did not have a Silver W8 with them and if I agreed, they were willing to me offer a White one instead. I protested but they showed helplessness.

They showed me the Inventory list which showed they didn’t have a single W8 in Silver color with them. When I demanded to know where my Silver W8 had disappeared since company itself had informed me that VIN No. was already allotted to me long time back.
They then offered me to instead opt for a W6 in Silver color which was available with them and offered to top it up with a 25k discount. My wife said a firm ‘No’ while my grey cells got thinking that I would also get back my 1.5L in difference in prices between W6 and W8 as well.
I agreed since children were already waiting at home for the car since the whole day but got some free fittings as well as ‘freebies’ from them for their mistake. At 10P.M at night of 31st Dec, we finally got delivery of our Silver colored XUV 500.

To be continued​
 
Thread Starter #2
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I welcomed the New Year 2012 with my XUV500. As I stepped out to check out my prized possession, I found my children already checking it out early in the morning.

I had thought that I would use it mainly on highways and my Automatic i10 in the city because of ease of driving and expected fuel habits but I was surprised on both counts.

I can vouch for the fact that XUV is as easy in driving in heaviest of city traffic as an Automatic i10 if not more, thanks to its commanding driver seat position and some great view across the windscreen.
As for fuel habits, while AT i10 returns 10km/L on peterol, XUV returns 11km/L on Diesel in heavy city traffic which amounts to fuel savings of more than 60% and above all, the cabin in diesel-driven XUV is as silent as the quite i10 which is quite an achievement on part of brilliant Mahindra engineers.

As for the looks, heads don't seem to stop turning at it ever since I have bought it. One can only feel the look of envy and appreciation from the onlookers. It surely is the 'most handsome' SUV on Indian roads art least in sub-20 Lac category.

Gear-shift is very smooth and can be compared to those of some elite Sedans while I have yet to feel the heaviness of clutch which some people talk about.

Air-conditioning i9s excellent and has been very effective even in 40+ temp. nowadays. Even the rear-vents cool very effectively every inch of this very big car.

Music system, cruise-control and audio-controls too are good though not comparable to best available nowadays but that is totally acceptable considering the price of the car.

Seating is quite comfortable as I have done non-stop Delhi-Agra and Delhi-Jaipur in one go ever since i bought it four months back. There wasn't a trace of tiredness or backache felt by either me or my co-passengers after both trips.

What I like most about XUV's drive is its power. The car never lets you down when you need acceleration and effortlessly climbs to top speed of 150-160 in no time without any vibrations or jerks being felt.

Though the body does feel light but nowhere you feel any body-roll even on sharp turns as some owners of Scorpio complain. Braking too is good and I haven't felt any special sounds as some people seem to claim hearing on sharp braking.

I have driven more than 6,000 km so far and would say with conviction that there hasn't been a single major issue with the car.
I have done 1st Service and cost me around 3,000 even though labour was free. The experience at Service center was great and they have an exclusive special Bay and Lounge for XUV customers, and do treat you like a King.

The only drawbacks I can recall are very poor boot space and it seems I will have to get a Carrier mounted on roof-top when going long-distance which I so much hate to do otherwise life with XUV500 has been nothing less than 'great'.
 
Thread Starter #4
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I have clocked more than 6000km and fortunately I have yet to encounter any complaints in it. So far, experience has been fabulous and I hope it continues to remain so in future as well[:)]
 
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I have clocked more than 6000km and fortunately I have yet to encounter any complaints in it. So far, experience has been fabulous and I hope it continues to remain so in future as well[:)]
glad to hear that bro, One of my friend took the delivery of the car a month ago and the very next day it refused to start and the reason behind that was the alternator failed so heard a lot of negative stuff about the car but really happy to see a satisfied customer. [:D]
How is the servicing of Mahindra ?
 
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I have clocked more than 6000km and fortunately I have yet to encounter any complaints in it. So far, experience has been fabulous and I hope it continues to remain so in future as well[:)]
But our experience is not fabulous until you put the pic's of your beauty...
 
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@Lovecars:
Congoz for your beauty.Reading your words,I think the XUV is doing more than satisfying.
Going by your words,I think you settled down with the silver W6.Right?
Then how about adding some alloys etc on her?

I think I know where your W8 has gone.
Some 3 months back when we were also searching for a new car then we came to know that if we pay 3 lacs in black then we can get an XUV in any variant and any color at the same time.Although this 3 lacs is no more 3 lacs now,same way someone would have else paid them some money and took the W8.
 
Thread Starter #9
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@Lovecars:
Congoz for your beauty.Reading your words,I think the XUV is doing more than satisfying.
Going by your words,I think you settled down with the silver W6.Right?
Then how about adding some alloys etc on her?
I think I know where your W8 has gone.
Some 3 months back when we were also searching for a new car then we came to know that if we pay 3 lacs in black then we can get an XUV in any variant and any color at the same time.Although this 3 lacs is no more 3 lacs now,same way someone would have else paid them some money and took the W8.[/QUOTL

Looks like that only Vipul but I am not complaining. It's India and this is how most people work here. I am happy with my W6, its Silver color and Savings of more than 30k that I made on it at a time when most ppl were shelling more than few lacs premium on its original price to lay their hands on it.[:)]

glad to hear that bro, One of my friend took the delivery of the car a month ago and the very next day it refused to start and the reason behind that was the alternator failed so heard a lot of negative stuff about the car but really happy to see a satisfied customer. [:D]
How is the servicing of Mahindra ?
Maybe that's one-off case, luckily I haven't encountered anything like that so far. I have done only first Service with them so far and I have already mentioned that the experience was 'great'. The Service guy patiently listened to everything and removed all the minor glitches that were complained of. He explained me each and every item on bill when I went to take4 back my car. I haven't seen such good Servicing behavior so far and I have dealt with Maruti, Daewoo, Ford and Hyundai in past. I will rate Mahindra XUV's Service above all the 4 mentioned above.[;)]
 
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Well,I'd say you took a wise decision of taking the W6.
Why?Because first of all you got all the needed things for 1.5 lacs lesser and secondly the W6 has lesser electronics and hence lesser issues,if any.
PHOTU??????
 
Thread Starter #11
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Well,I'd say you took a wise decision of taking the W6.
Why?Because first of all you got all the needed things for 1.5 lacs lesser and secondly the W6 has lesser electronics and hence lesser issues,if any.
PHOTU??????
Exactly, I anyways wanted to go for W6 because I knew more electronics wud create more problems. I am anyway less of a Geek. All that matters to me is Speed, pick-up and an effective braking. I am happy even if I have one FM channel which plays my favorite old songs, no Touch-screen for me.
I was only posturing in front of dealer to get the maximum out of him. My point is that we should not blame Mahindra for misdeeds of few of its dealers.
As for pics, I think I will have first do a photo-session with my beauty before presenting it here. Just wait for sometime.
 
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Well,in my views what XUV ahve at its best is the:-
Engine+gearbox combo.Which makes it special to drive on any roads.Only thing I wished was a better steering,suspension and brakes with slightly more bite.
Since you have done upto 150 kph,hence I need not to tell you how it feels there,especially in front of sedans.
Rest everything is okay,and A/C..man this car has got the gem of an A/C.BTW,I think every SUV has a fantastic A/C,at least far more powerful than sedans.

About pics,no need of photo session.Just take out the camera and make some clicks quickly.God created cars with such good habits and discipline that they never move themselves to give some another pose while you are clicking the pics.
 
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