My First Mahindra XUV5OO Test Drive


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When I was googling, came across the site and pretty impressed reading through user experiences. much liked it. with no hesitations signed up to the site. Thought of sharing my SUV buying experiences. It might come in handy for someone like me in future. BTW, I have indicated in a different thread about my baby steps towards transitioning to a SUV. it is going to be a switch from petrol version of Ford Fiesta with which I am happy so far. Absolutely no issues in past 6+ years.

We wanted to migrate to a SUV and still have a few weeks with me before I decide on…as I am panning to club it with a family event before 1st week of Sept. provided we like and come to a consensus

Models in mind

1) XUV 5OO
2) Tata Storme
3) Duster

Like me If you are also restless looking at the long thread here are the questions that I had in my mind. little below is my first XUV5OO TD experience.

1) Is that a must to drive come down to 1st gear for even small ramps?
2) How is the ride quality coming to city driving? Has anyone faced discomfort in Knees? Is it going to be very strenuous?
3) Is it worth buying insurance from the dealers. currently it is a bit heavily priced. bumper to bumper close to 56K. Any suggestions here much appreciated.
4) How accurate / reliable the digital readings are from precision stand point?
5) Have you come across a Purple and Arctic blue look on the road? Can you share your reactions? I knew it is quite personnel liking only if you can.


By the way, I drove Ford Ecosport (both EcoBoost and 1.5 Diesel) the next day it was launched and would like to reserve my comments going by the overwhelming response Ford Received.

I have been driving a four wheeler for a long while and learnt my driving skills on Mahindra old rugged Jeeps that comes with stick shift. If you could recall the old government vehicles… you are right, that's where I started my journey. It might sound little irrelevant to mention this here but there is a reason to do that.

I visited three M & M dealers in Chennai and for the most part I met with pleasant Sales personnel who are eagerly willing to help you. Meticulosly took me through all the features both on screen and on the vehicle. But there was no commitment on any freebies BTW.

The display vehicle Arctic Blue is looked very pleasant to eyes within the show room it looked awesome. Moreover it is very different from the routine colors (Satin White, Silver, Black). Till now I was up to the notion that this color looks cute for small sized vehicle but this isn't bad within the flashy show rooms. It's like a Vegiterian Cheetha [:D] (I Being a vegetarian so no offense to any) not sure how it will be seen on the road for such a beast. My family was completely sold on to XUV by it's appearance and the plethora of features comes with the car.

Coming to the crux. scheduled for a test drive around 12.00 noon Saturday with couple of expectations.

1) It has to fit in to the parking slot within the Apt I live
2) Ride comfort
3) Feature testing

Many of you already aware the list of features the vehicle comes with. one doubt I have is how many of these features would even get tested in routine drive and how long one would take to even experience the features would work the way it supposed to function. Not about the Air bags my friends [:)] but I am talking about the electronic instrumentation such as , hill slide, ESP, Fuel indicators and rest. 3 year warranty should get us some comfort but something puzzling me still. If one can't check these features in the 3 year span I doubt it will be ever used.

The sales expert has brought 2011 Satin White one for the TD which already put 15K behind the wheels. White was one of the colors we had in mind but after looking at this vehicle we are back to white board with our choice of color. Somehow we felt it is slightly tethered. may be due to Chennai weather. like to hear from folks Mumbai and Kerala for expert comments.

Being a residential area, I was not able to go beyond 4th gear. reasons for that are speed brakes, traffic, too many small streets so on. Stalled the vehicle in third gear in the middle of the road couple of times. I give benefit of doubt here and got to tell several times my self it is not a Diesel vehicle. I tried my best to accelerate the car wherever possible and 2nd to 3rd acceleration is damn good. Certainly it has an excellent pick up. Gear transition was smooth and brakes were also good. While taking it to my parking need to cross the small ramp in to the apartment slightly elevated from the road, in 2nd gear the vehicle started whining [cry] and I could even felt a clutch plate burring smell. This could be once again a transition to Diesel vehicle. With Petrol I seldom get in to 1st gear and which is not the case with Diesel (part of learning, but like to hear from you)

Pros

1) Family is quite impressed with the car
2) Adequate spacing
3) Elevated seating
4) Second row spacing is good, thigh support could have been better
5) Kids have liked the last row (I guess it is almost close to Innova third seating)
6) Pretty impressive pick up in 2 to 3rd gear
7) enough headroom
8) Positioning of the steering wheel
9) Plethora of features
10) Bold and sturdy vehicle


Observations….

1) Felt the gear rod was closely placed but it is question of getting used to it.
2) Stalling in third gear
3) Clutch plate burnt smell in 2nd gear while crossing a small ramp
4) A small Discomfort in right need
5) Clutch vobling while Reversing


But after the ride, I developed slight discomfort in my right knee. I though it would last for couple of hours but as I type this I still have mild discomfort. this is one thing I wanted to check from you all. has anyone experienced this or it is something very unique to me. I don't think we would be the case of long drive but city drive it will be a nightmare .considering the bumper to bumper traffic. It would be great someone from Bangalore or Mumbai (or even any who experienced this) can share their perspective

I am planing to TD after a week from now, so to see whether it is not reoccurring. just to let you know that I had prior experience driving Mahindra Jeeps but remember this kind of pain developed in initial learning days.

I am yet to TD Tata Storme (There is some resistance from my Family) & Duster.

More to come in next couple of weeks.
 
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Re: My First XUV5OO Test Drive..

Observations….

1) Felt the gear rod was closely placed but it is question of getting used to it.
2) Stalling in third gear
3) Clutch plate burnt smell in 2nd gear .. while crossing a small ramp
4) A small Discomfort in right need ..
5) Clutch vobling while Reversing ..


But after the ride, I developed slight discomfort in my right knee.. I though it would last for couple of hours but as I type this I still have mild discomfort.. this is one thing I wanted to check from you all.. has anyone experienced this or it is something very unique to me.
Your points 2, 3, 4 and 5 indicate that the test drive vehicle had a worn out clutch, infact I feel it has reached the end of its life. TD vehicles and often abused a lot and hence the wear and tear parts like clutch and brakes have to be replaced sooner.

With the amount of torque that the XUV has, there is no way it should stall in 3rd gear, even if you slip the clutch. A healthy clutch will not burn in 2nd gear on a ramp. There will be no wobbling either. So all in all, you got a badly abused vehicle which has not been taken care of.

You can try some other showroom and test drive a newer XUV. XUV has one of the lightest clutch among the SUVs and there should not be any pain in the knee.
 
Thread Starter #3
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Thanks Raj

I felt that way too but I really carried discomfort in my right knee for couple of days. is maneuvering of this vehicle is going to be bit tough to be tough in City traffic? Can you please throw some light from your experience?
 
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In this segment, among the Scorpio, Innova, Storme and Xylo, the XUV has the lightest clutch. I felt even the Ertiga's clutch is heavier.

I have not faced any discomfort after driving the XUV, in city as well as on the highway. I would say that the raised seating position, good visibility, instant torque at low rpm and good seats will make it easy to drive in the city. If you are migrating from a hatchback, you make need some time to adjust, but rest assured, once you are used to an SUV, you will never go back to a hatch or a sedan!
 

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