Scorpio.....yes It Stings

[lancerlover]

Hi Guys!

After endless(even out of the segment) comparisons and test drives
in june 2004 I bought a SCORPIO SLX in apple red &soft gold color.
The dealer-STERLING MOTORS was true to his words and the car was delivered in 10 days .The guys at the dealership were very good salesmen but as usual knew nothing about the car.No discounts were offered and the car costed me Rs 8.1lac

I have got stock tyres and changed the stereo with a pioneer deh-5650 cd/mp3 player+ts2150 speakers.

MY scorpio has done 22000kms till now and I havent faced any problems with the car or the dealer(service workshop).

Scorpio in details:

EXTERIORS
The car simply looks amazing from the front,clear headlamps,large grill and the tall stance simply makes it look very masculine.The cladding which runs through the entire body doesnt only looks good but is quite a protection in the erratic Delhi traffic.The door handles give a very solid feel.The car looks good from the sides as well though the rear is kind of a dissapointment .
The paint quality is good and so is the overall fit and finish.

INTERIORS
Mahindra has done a pretty good job here the design and layout is fresh and appealing,seats are comfortable ,the controls are neatly appointed also the quality of the plastic and the various other switches and buttons is not only good but certainly better then most of the other cars.
The door panels are properly placed and do not squeak.
The slx model which I have came with a color co-ordinated brown interior which in my opinion neither looks cheap nor classy ,ya but is a nice change from the monotonous grey one.
Te car came with a voice assist feature which isnt helpful but
amusing and is something which everone who sits in the
car asks about.
only thing wrong is the badly designed and placed air vents which makes controlling the air flow direction rather difficut.
till now no noises or squeaks.
overall on a scale of 1-10 i will happily give it 8.

ENGINE
A2.6 direct injection ,turbocharged powerplant which provides this car with almost 110bhp.it is specifically designed for scorpio and is perfectly apt for this car.
the turbo kicks in after around 1800 rpm and their is negligible turbo lag.
this engine is a pure performance machine and you can feel the torque flowing the moment you turn it on.
the engine has no issues and if service schedule is followed you can expect a life of around 2lac kms

overall-8.5/10

GEARBOX
the gears are well placed and you have a nice range of driveability in all the gears .the torque is available or i should say overflowing all the time.
again no issues or noises with the gear box
the gear lever though is slightly inclined which some people find difficult to engage the 1st and the 3rd gear but once you notice it or get used to it then absolutely no problems.

SUSPENSION:tough and sturdy ,can easily be drivn on any kind of terrain ,no major isssues.the leaf springs at the rear make the drive a little bumpy but enhance the load carrying capacity.

though pretty bad roads in delhi no problems faced till now.
the tyres 235/70 are apt for this car.

BRAKES:they do a descent job but could have been better.the brake pad need regular cleaning and last only for 25000kms also there is a screeching sound when you brake.

RIDE & HANDLING:well so far so good.see it rides and handles decently till you start comparing it to a car or any car.a suv can not be as stable and well behaved due to some fundamental difference in design.
because of the higher ground clearence and the overall height of the car the C.G of the car is high which tends to make it unstable.
also
due to the tall and broad design its aerodynamically unstable as it has to face much more air resistance than any car.

scorpio feels very composed and stable at 90-100kmph and one can easily cruise at these speeds.
the car goes to 140kmph easily but you simply can not drive it at those speeds knowing that you dont have A.B.S and traction control.
the ride is a bit harsh at lower speeds like 30-40kmph.

when i travel on highways i usually drive at around 100kmph and believe me its not that shaky or scary as many people say.

PERFORMANCE

(bfore i write i would like you to know that i own a lancer,esteem,and a zen and previosly had h.city1.5 both the new and the old one .so i have had a pretty good experience in cars.)

this is what makes this car awesome you have to drive it to believe it turn on the engine and then simply push it hard i bet you won't believe its diesel,the pick up is awesome and without any effort there you are doing 100kmph.

overtaking is simply a walk in the park .
air conditioning is simply superb.

most of the people who drove my car were amazed to see its teriffic performance and most of them are proud owners now.

FOR those of you who think diesel is boring just test drive this car once .

FUEL ECONOMY: i am getting around 11.5 in the city and around 15 on the highway.(have always been using turbojet)

SERVICE:the company schedule is after 5k kms and the average service charges are around Rs1500.
so far my dealing with the service dept.have been good and the minor problems which i had were promptly rectified.

OVERALL my experience with this car has been wonderfuf ,the car looks great,is very comfortable and has performed beyond my expectations.

hats off to mahindra for such a great car.

p.s -data cable not working will post pics later.

[Stratos]

Nicely written. Thats one car that has been made with lotsa passion.

[vinsanity]

Nice write up.. First I read the thread as "scorpio.. yes it 'stinks' "(I was like, why do u feel like that).. No offence intended here.. But then only after i read through u'r post I realised that the thread name stings.. I agree it really stings... Good road presence too..

_Happy Riding_

[artofzen]

Imagine a scorpio with a crdi engine ...yummm

[drifter]

hehe i agree with artofzen!!!

Drifter

[bhp]

do u guys know when is the crdi engine about to come . according to autocar it was due in jan 2005 and i called up mahindra dealer and they did not know when it is going to come and they were insisting me again again to go for the current engine with a mere discount of rs 10 k ..


do they have to release the engine as the euro 3 norms are applicable

[Vulken Auto]

· The Car of the Year’ award from Business Standard Motoring, CNBC Autocar and
BBC Wheels
· Launch of the Year’ award from India Leadership Summit
· Excellence in Marketing and Brand Building Award by Indian Express
· Automotive Industries (October 2002 issue), an auto magazine based in Detroit, USA
did the Scorpio case as cover editorial saying Lessons to learn for big three
· The Brand Derby ‘Brand of the Year’ by Business Standard
· EFFIES awards by Bombay Ad Club for “Advertising Effectiveness”
· EMVIES Award by Bombay Ad Club for ‘Innovation on Radio’ on Scorpio Launch
· DSIR Govt. of India Award for R&D for Scorpio (First time for an Automobile
category)
· “Customer Satisfaction Award” (for SUV category) by NFO – International Rating
Agency

[sridhar24]

Scorpio is a good urban SUV and with a CRDI engine it will be even better. Mahindra should have worked a bit on the handling depatment, unlike many other manufacturers who get their suspension job done by Europian Mahindra had given the job to the Koreans, thats the reason why the handling of the cars ist't so good.

[Vulken Auto]

M&M tied up with the best in the world in their respective areas of the global auto industry.
Fukui, Japan for the Press shop. Fuji, Japan for the dies. Korean company Wooshin for body
shop. Fori Automation, USA for the tester line for final assembly. Durr Germany for the paint
shop. Lear, USA for Seats and interiors. Visteon, USA for exteriors. Samlip, Korea for
suspension and BEHR, Germany for AC. M&M tied up with Renault for petrol engines.
M&M facilitated the development of these aggregates and played the role of an integrator.

[lancerlover]

Hi All

Now the current odometer reading is 58k but the car has actually done 63k(its a long story which I’ll write about later in this post).

The major problems faced so far:

1- SELF –over hauled + flywheel ring replaced under warranty at 42k kms.

2- CLUTCH Failed -overhauled-Clutch plate + Pressure plate replaced at my expense total expenditure- Rs5800 at 43k kms. (The story begins)

3- CLUTCH SLAVE CYLINDER FAILED- replaced under warranty at 44k kms.

4- ALTERNATOR - Over hauled and regulator replaced under warranty at 53k kms.

5- A.C condenser fan failed- Replaced under warranty at 53k kms.

Minor problems:
- UJ cross of the drive shaft replaced 2 times. MY EXPENSE
- Rear shock absorbers replaced.U.W
- Battery gave away just after the 13th month of purchase, Exide make, guys I request you all NEVER buy Exide its the worst, have had plenty of bad experiences with them. MY EXPENSE.

AT 65k the car is still fun to drive, the noises are least as compared to other cars after the same usage.As of now:
-The front suspension needs some work.
-Tires have to be replaced.

NOW here is how it all begins:

I was having a bit of a problem with my clutch and knew that some thing was wrong with it, here unlike the manual clutch you cannot adjust or do anything about the pedal.

I mentioned the problem to the service supervisor but he didn't do any thing about it and only after a week the clutch failed, at 43000kms.

The clutch plate had almost all the wear from the release side (pressure plate side) and it happens only due to 2 reasons:
1- Driving with your foot on the pedal
2- Faulty release mechanism.

I am a very careful driver so the 1st one is out of question and as I mentioned was having a bit of a problem with the clutch, so almost certainly the CULPRIT was the clutch slave cylinder.

Its like even when I removed my foot from the clutch pedal the clutch was still partly engaged.

Unluckily for me that particular time the slave cylinder worked properly, so there was little I could do other than arguing with floor manager and YES I did WON the argument but for no use. As per the company policy they do not cover clutch in the warranty.

I had to pay 6000 rupees for the work and it wasn’t even my fault. I believe the clutch would have been good for at least another 30k kms

I even spoke to the mahindra regional engineer he got my point but wasn’t able to help me as the car had already done 43k. I was very upset with all this and felt cheated.

AND as if proving my point the clutch sleeve cylinder gave away the very next week. But there was nothing I could do about it now.

After a couple of months the alternator and the a.c condenser fan failed, as the car had done 53k kms the warranty was over, so I took
Car to an electrician who gave an estimate of 5000 rupees for both.

As the alternator here is a very complicated one so I was a bit reluctant to get it done in the market.

After some thinking I thought why not use this opportunity to get even with the mahindras, thought of getting the odo reading reversed and getting the job done under warranty by their “trained technicians”.


The next day got the reading reversed by 5k and the car was repaired under warranty by mahindra and coincidently the total expenditure was 6000rupees. (As paid by me during the clutch overhaul).

I know what I did was wrong but guys this was my way of getting even with them and I did it.

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by vinsanity

Nice write up.. First I read the thread as "scorpio.. yes it 'stinks' "(I was like, why do u feel like that).. No offence intended here.. But then only after i read through u'r post I realised that the thread name stings.. I agree it really stings... Good road presence too..

_Happy Riding_

Wait till you hear what 'Scorpio' means in French! See 'Car' for details. Hehe.

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by bhp

do u guys know when is the crdi engine about to come . according to autocar it was due in jan 2005 and i called up mahindra dealer and they did not know when it is going to come and they were insisting me again again to go for the current engine with a mere discount of rs 10 k ..


do they have to release the engine as the euro 3 norms are applicable

crde engine is out. I started seeing crde scorpio by early jan or so here in Kerala!

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by jkdas

crde engine is out. I started seeing crde scorpio by early jan or so here in Kerala!

LOL... jk bhai! the q was asked more than an year back. crde wasnt around in feb of 2005 i think.

[tsk1979]

Good, they have to be taught a lesson!
But just a question, is the AC by Subros, and the Alternator by Lucas TVS?
I got similar problems in my AC and Alternator, infact exact same problem at around 40-50K kms. Mine is an indica.

[prkothan]

Originally Posted by lancerlover

Hi All


I know what I did was wrong but guys this was my way of getting even with them and I did it.

What you did was right. I love to do the similar if some has cheated me.