[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Anything that I have to enable to make it work?

The only thing that you need to enable is the HHC switch next to to the Passenger seat belt warning. The LED inside this switch is very dim and is difficult to see in daytime but then you tried your stunts in the night..

I sincerely hope you somehow forgot to arm this switch. Else it is another..

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by NIP

Previously I had a kind of grinding sound and had asked my RM at Sireesh to look into changing the pads to the new design (I'm a senior on TBHP!!) and he said its only due to the ABS etc. and not to worry as my vehicle already has the new pads etc. I never bothered as my brakes were fine, save for the occasional grinding sound. I let it be.

I left from Bangalore to Goa on 10th May 2013 on the usual Hubli-Ankola-Goa route and was staying at Anjuna in North Goa. I was with my wife, son (7yrs) and an aunt. Somewhere around Karwar itself, my display started showing a "Front Brake Pads Worn Out!! Drive At Reduced Speed" message !! I was confident that my pads were fine and thought this must be a false alarm or sensor problem. But about 50kms on, there was heavy grinding and a kind of constant squeaking from the front left wheel.

So, Saturday (11th May 2013) morning I got my laptop out, tethered it to my Android phone, and there was some weak signal and I shot off an email to the VP CC M&M and to the regional manager Prahalad Kulkarni updating them about my situation.

Come Sunday Morning (12th May 2013), I got a couple of frantic calls from Muktar Auto (based in Verna, Goa) and a Mr. Rajesh Jagtap from M&M Mumbai, Kavita (RM, Anant Cars, Bangalore) and Nilesh (Service Manager, Muktar Auto, Goa) and by 4PM, a M&M service vehicle reached my resort and it was checked. They said they'd have to take it back to the Service Station (in VErna, about 50kms away!). I sent the vehicle with them and was constantly updated on the situation and was also being checked on by Kavita from Bangalore and others. The pads were replaced, the vehicle cleaned & washed and delivered back to me by Monday evening (13th May 2013)!

Though I'm pretty mad because my brake pads were not attended to earlier

This is actually the worst part about Mahindra, you need to shoot a mail to higher ups (or ping Mr.Mahindra on tweeter) to be taken seriously. These RMs don't know a thing about cars, or are trained to pretend this way.

My XUV is now facing this exact same problem, 2 visits back i reported grinding noise issue with brakes, the RM(@Sri Durga Auto) promised to look into the matter and they delivered the XUV back with no repairs to brakes, they just cleaned the pads (The front brake pads do not need cleaning every one or two thousand kilometers, atleast not on other cars).

After some time my car started displaying brake pads worn out error, but this error display used to come and go intermittently. The grinding noise issue was as it was earlier. Now on my second visit, to get the suspension noise checked, the SA(@Sterling Auto) plainly refused to admit there was noise of any kind or any other issue since the car was not displaying brake pads worn out error at that point of time. Due to time constraint i decided to pursue the issue later, my car has mostly been parked at home after that as i was out of country.

The brake pads were last replaced at around 10k kilometers by previous owner under warranty few months back, now the car is at 15k kilometers. Brake pads manufactured by Bosch should not wear out so early, and since Mahindra ASC RM claims they cleaned the pads in my car some time back, i assume they had decent amount of life left, so my only guess is the warning system is flawed. But what about Grinding noise after brakes heat up and screeching noise when coming to halt at slow speed.

So what should i do now? Go back to another service center and request them to acknowledge the issue and work on it, and pray to god that they do not just clean the brake pads this time again! OR Compile a long mail to be sent to Mahindra seniors. OR Register an account on twitter. OR simply find a spare part dealer who has genuine brake pads in stock and get them replaced at some neighborhood garage.

[Heavy Horse]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

This is actually the worst part about Mahindra, you need to shoot a mail to higher ups (or ping Mr.Mahindra on tweeter) to be taken seriously. These RMs don't know a thing about cars, or are trained to pretend this way.

Well this has not been my experience, and I feel sad for you. Like Nips I had travelled to Goa last month and sent the following email to Customer Care enumerating my happy experience with M&M dealers. I think the mail is self explanatory and copied below in italics.

This week we were holidaying in Goa. We wanted to see Agonda Beach since it was rated #1 by TripAdvisor.

Unfortunately due to lack of proper signage and direction, we entered a dirt road that lead to the beach. However, we did'nt realise the depth of the sand right at the entrance itself, and as I tried to turn my XUV around, the front wheels got stuck in the sand.

I called my Service Advisor Jitesh at Karnataka Agencies, Mangalore and he quickly SMSed me the dealer's name in Madgaon, Goa. The showroom people gave me the number of Mr Sayeesh Gaitonde the Service Manager at Muktar Automobiles, Verna, Goa (50 kms away). Since the helpline team was already busy elsewhere, he immediately sent out a hired towing van, which unfortunately got in rather late (6pm on April 23) and the owner was not properly equipped to deal with the problem.

The next day Mr Gaitonde sent his Helpline team along with a flatbed vehicle. The two technicians in the Helpline vehicle, Jagdish and Madan, were fully equipped with wooden planks, jack etc and in a matter of slightly over an hour winched the vehicle out, tirelessly working in the hot mid-day sun that too in the hot sand. I was most impressed by their skills, hard work and attitude.
The vehicle was towed away and reached the workshop around 3.30pm on April 24. I was coordinating on the phone with Mr Gaitonde and Service Advisor Mr Rahul Kotkar. On April 25 morning they told me that the shaft had to be replaced, otherwise gearbox, clutch and all other functions were OK. At the end of the day the vehicle was handed over. Mr Gaitonde showed me the broken shaft and explained what exactly had happened, and assured me that I could safely drive back 300 kms to Manipal (my temporary residence), which I did in just under 5 hrs of smooth driving with an FE of 14.5 !

Just want to appreciate the quick work of Jitesh at Karnataka Agencies, for helping me contact Mahindra in Goa. Jagdish and Madan, I have already talked about. Rahul Kotkar the Service Advisor liased tirelessly with the workshop team and kept me updated every two hours. Sanil the workshop supervisor who got the actual work done took me for a very satisfactory test ride.
Finally Sayeesh Gaitonde handled the entire episode in a very competent manner. With more than 30 years in the corporate world, it was rare for me to see such a level headed young man, with maturity well beyond his years.
I met many other employees of Muktar Automobiles and was struck by their friendly and helpful attitude.

I hope I meet all of them some day in the future in happier circumstances !!

[krishnaraja]

Originally Posted by Surprise

2 weeks old XUV500 (March Manufactured)...the day I took the delivery, felt the vehicle is pulling towards left. But didn't bothered much on that as leveling of road too might play a role there.

Mine also pulls to the left, I checked the alignment and it is all fine. But still pulls to the left. I have read in this forum that the pulling to left could also be due to the roads layed slanting to the left to drain off the water during rainy days.

It so happened that the left side of the road was closed due to repair and I had to go on the wrong side only (all vehicles did as there is no other go). While going on the right side of the road, I felt the car pulling to the right now instead of left.

I guess the road has got to do with pulling to left as well apart from the alignment issue.

Originally Posted by getsurya

Good to see the spirit!

I sincerely wish M&M makes a quality sell out of XUV and not the other way. I almost made this my next Car(upon returning to India), but the continuing niggles and the lackadaisical attitude of M&M Quality and Reliability has weaned me away!!

Do not worry about niggles, I guess it is only perception and not a reality right now with newer ones. As someone in this post mentioned, fewer newer vehicle problem reported gives impression the issue are sorted out and you hear about niggles more so from the owners of 2011 and 2012. Very very few in 2013 have any issues - according to me.

Originally Posted by bnzjon

Hi FundaG, what was the reason for the hard gear shifts and what the solution ?

My new Xuv had this issue with 1,2 & 3 gears very hard to slot but have eased out after crossing 800 Kms, but still I find it tough to slot especially in the 2nd gear while running.

The problem continues for me. However, no problems for 2 and 3, I have problems only with 1. Especially when I downshift to 1 when I have to slow down for a speed breaker. When I start with 2nd after going over the speed breaker, I have to keep the clutch half pressed and accelerate to give the vehicle more power. So, to avoid that, when you shift to 1, it is tight and it takes few seconds before I could slot it. At time, I break even more to reduce speed (almost stop) and then it slots into 1st. I have done a little less than 4k in 1.5 months of purchase and I am sure to tell this to the service folks during the first service.

Originally Posted by Surprise

Last night, while coming out of a fairly steep lower basement parking area, I did stopped in the middle ( while a friend of mine looking for other vehicles to indicate me) to check out the Hill Hold feature. I came to standstill position, engage 1st gear, release the clutch and loosen the foot grip on brakes. But the car rolled back instantly without that 1-2 sec hold. Tried many times only to end up with same result. Anything that I have to enable to make it work?

There you go... that is not the right way to do....

What you should do is, press the clutch, slot into 1st, remove right foot from break and do not remove or losen the left foot clutch yet, put your right on the gas pedal and accelerate a very little such that the RPM needle is just above 1000 and now slowly remove your left foot - all these within 3 seconds of slotting into 1st gear. This is how it works.

This works if the slope is either forward or behind - that is if you are facing the slope up or down, in either direction it works. It also works when you slot the gear into reverse and the slope is in the forward direction of yours. I have a slope in my house before I enter the garage and I always park my car facing the road - that is take the vehicle inside the house through the slope in reverse.

[fundagenie]

Couple of doubts

1. There was the issue with outside smell seeping inside the car right from the initial batches. Was any solution found for this. Need to bring it up with my RM the next time round.

2. As per the manual, wrt the interior lights

Battery Saver
If any interior lamp is inadvertently remains ON and the vehicle is locked,
battery saver function turns OFF all interior lamps in 10 seconds. Also it will
turn OFF all interior lamps after 3 mins if the vehicle is not closed properly.

There have been a few times I forgot to switch off one of the interior lamps at my parking lot and the security would come (after more than the 10sec or 3min duration), to inform the inside lights are ON. So is something required to be done at the A.S.S to activate this auto off feature like the reverse alarm. Or is it a niggle.

FundaG

[HotChillyPepper]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Last night, while coming out of a fairly steep lower basement parking area, I did stopped in the middle ( while a friend of mine looking for other vehicles to indicate me) to check out the Hill Hold feature. I came to standstill position, engage 1st gear, release the clutch and loosen the foot grip on brakes. But the car rolled back instantly without that 1-2 sec hold. Tried many times only to end up with same result. Anything that I have to enable to make it work?

One thing I noticed is the hill hold is tied to RPM. When RPM goes above certain limit it releases the brake. May be that is something you need to check while testing it. Make sure engine is idling while testing.

Originally Posted by Surprise

Also how does Mahindra fix the left side pulling issues? Is it just by wheel allignment? If yes, can it be done from outside vendor? ( March 2013 manufactured)

Mahindra could never address my problem despite they did alignment multiple times. I suspect some problems with the suspension components to be the culprit. Now after the last repair, the steering characteristics are totally different and is very vague and unpredictable now. Even while I am holding the steering straight the vehicle moves to left or right.

Escalated the issue to Area manager and he spoke to my service center and instructed what to be done (which is not told to me). Most likely they will take the vehicle on Monday for the work. Hopefully this time it will be fixed.

Originally Posted by Surprise

On HU, iam planning to fit a micro USB and check it out on my upcoming long trip before I take it up to Service centre

Are you facing the issue only while playing from USB? Which is the USB pen drive that you are using? I had faced issues with HP 32gb micro drive bought from flipkart. Later switched to SanDisk Cruzer Fit 16 GB Pen micro Drive and using it for close to 6 months without any issues.

[Surprise]

Anyone here got "Vehicle pulling to left" problem solved permanently? If yes, what was the solution offered?

Originally Posted by HotChillyPepper

Mahindra could never address my problem despite they did alignment multiple times. I suspect some problems with the suspension components to be the culprit. Now after the last repair, the steering characteristics are totally different and is very vague and unpredictable now. Even while I am holding the steering straight the vehicle moves to left or right.

Looks like problem got aggravated now...steering characteristics getting unpredictable, collapses the joy of driving. I was wondering, if its a simple alignment issues, why does people talk about it so much than getting it fixed with an outside vendor

Originally Posted by HotChillyPepper

Are you facing the issue only while playing from USB? Which is the USB pen drive that you are using? I had faced issues with HP 32gb micro drive bought from flipkart. Later switched to SanDisk Cruzer Fit 16 GB Pen micro Drive and using it for close to 6 months without any issues.

Not sure which brand it was...Got it from my marketing team, which they did for some product promotion (16gb). I always stay on USB & the problem faced was only on highway...after 2-3 hrs of continuous run. Never faced problems in any of my local drives.

Originally Posted by krishnaraja

Mine also pulls to the left, I checked the alignment and it is all fine. But still pulls to the left. I have read in this forum that the pulling to left could also be due to the roads layed slanting to the left to drain off the water during rainy days.

I haven't faced this with any of my previous cars on same kind of roads. So Iam really not sure, whether this slope is the real cause of pulling problem

Originally Posted by krishnaraja

There you go... that is not the right way to do....

What you should do is, press the clutch, slot into 1st, remove right foot from break and do not remove or losen the left foot clutch yet, put your right on the gas pedal and accelerate a very little such that the RPM needle is just above 1000 and now slowly remove your left foot - all these within 3 seconds of slotting into 1st gear. This is how it works.

This works if the slope is either forward or behind - that is if you are facing the slope up or down, in either direction it works. It also works when you slot the gear into reverse and the slope is in the forward direction of yours. I have a slope in my house before I enter the garage and I always park my car facing the road - that is take the vehicle inside the house through the slope in reverse.

Its going to be hard initially to remove right leg from the brake abruptly while the clutch is pressed completely on a slope...old practices takes time to die

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

The only thing that you need to enable is the HHC switch next to to the Passenger seat belt warning. The LED inside this switch is very dim and is difficult to see in daytime but then you tried your stunts in the night..

I sincerely hope you somehow forgot to arm this switch. Else it is another..

Your'e right. I didn't pressed this switch. Somehow, I was under the impression, it's to be pressed only when I want the vehicle to take control, while descending from the hills.

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Somehow, I was under the impression, it's to be pressed only when I want the vehicle to take control, while descending from the hills.

That's HDC, the Hill Descent Control and not HHC you are talking about. The HDC is not a user-controllable function and to experience it action just do the following when you are driving down a hill:

- ensure no traffic immediately behind you
- just take your foot from the accelerator

You will immediately notice the car -instead of rolling down- starts to hesitate.

[kaiserketkar]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

The only thing that you need to enable is the HHC switch next to to the Passenger seat belt warning.

Originally Posted by Surprise

Your'e right. I didn't pressed this switch. Somehow, I was under the impression, it's to be pressed only when I want the vehicle to take control, while descending from the hills.

Surprise,
you're right, the switch is only to activate the HDC [hill descent control]. the HHC [hill hold control] is an always-active feature.

Originally Posted by Heavy Horse

Well this has not been my experience, and I feel sad for you. Like Nips I had travelled to Goa last month and sent the following email to Customer Care enumerating my happy experience with M&M dealers. I think the mail is self explanatory and copied below in italics.

I agree with Heavy Horse. M&M has been quite responsive when it came to attending to customers- especially taking care of those who find themselves in a spot when travelling.

I have had a similar experience when in Udaipur. My Scorpio's brakes gave up on a Sunday morning that happened to be a Diwali day! Called up the Pune M&M guys, who coordinated with the Service in charge for RJ in Jaipur, who in turn coordinated with KS Auto- M&M dealer in Udaipur. Within the hour, they had a stores mgr and a mechanic at the servicenter. They luckily had a master cylinder in stock which they fitted and sent me on my way!

[SDP]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Anyone here got "Vehicle pulling to left" problem solved permanently? If yes, what was the solution offered?
.....
Looks like problem got aggravated now...steering characteristics getting unpredictable, collapses the joy of driving. I was wondering, if its a simple alignment issues, why does people talk about it so much than getting it fixed with an outside vendor
....

Yes, there are people who have managed to get the "vehicle pulling to left" problem solved permanently. Unfortunately, I am not one of them.

Owners having "vehicle pulls to the left" issue might want to pay attention to this post.

Today, the service center spent close to 3 hours on that problem alone for my vehicle and the problem is still not solved. Had long discussions with the RM and the SA about it. Here's what I gathered:

1. Most vehicles have this problem.

2. In all vehicles with the problem, the vehicles pulls to the left. The SA could not recollect even a single incidence of the vehicle pulling to the right.

3. Nobody knows for sure "why"! The XUV having transversely mounted engine and weight distribution being tilted towards left "may be" the cause.

4. Initially there was no good solution. But now, M&M seems to have a step-by-step process of how to fix the problem.

5. Adding a camber (or was it caster) nut and playing with the tyres are part of the solution/process. I have no exact details available.

6. Even when one is able to adjust the camber/caster correctly, and the alignment machine shows everythig in green, the XUV still might pull to the left and in such cases they try swapping tyres and even removing one tyre from the alloy and mounting it the other way around.

7. For some vehicles, just a rotation of tyres helps, whereas for others, there might be a lot of trial and error involved before the problem is fixed.

8. While testing whether the vehicle pulls to the left, its important to maintain a steady speed. Apparently, if you take the foot off the accelerator, the torque-steer causes the vehicle to pull to the left. (This was claimed by the service advisor as a possible reason). XUV is known to have a noticeable torque-steer. So might be true. Experts can possibly share their views about this theory.

[PGA]

Originally Posted by SDP

Yes, there are people who have managed to get the "vehicle pulling to left" problem solved permanently. Unfortunately, I am not one of them.

3. Nobody knows for sure "why"! The XUV having transversely mounted engine and weight distribution being tilted towards left "may be" the cause.

5. Adding a camber (or was it caster) nut and playing with the tyres are part of the solution/process.

7. For some vehicles, just a rotation of tyres helps, whereas for others, there might be a lot of trial and error involved before the problem is fixed.

I am no expert but I have done some research on my own into this problem.
My observations are:-
- I have not come across anybody who says the problem is fully solved within the given conditions. (I will narrate an interesting tale later)
- Left pull remains in this car no matter what you do. What I mean is if your alignment values are absolute given standards, tire pressure is ok, equally worn out tires and brakes being in shape your vehicle will still pull. You may overcome the problem for a short while but it will reoccur. Nobody has been able to eradicate it for eternity. (Sweeping statements not a good idea, friends have always told me that but find hard to change)
- You may be able to eliminate it at lower speeds ie till about 50kmph, it remains at higher speeds.
- Since it is a universal problem with all XUVs, I am tempted to say it is a design deficiency
- M&M would need to provide more data to enable locating and solving of the problem at local level. There are a hundred possible reasons, which is the root cause - M&M knows.
- The problem does not seem to be grave, except for minor driving discomfort. No uneven tread wear visible or reported, attributed to this problem.
- It is not torque steer, as defined conventionally.

Till the time M&M mulls over this problem, I would recommend that prior to taking the vehicle to the A.S.S do these minor checks your self

- Assess the speed at which the pull becomes pronounced. If it starts to pull at lower speeds ie around 30kmph you may see it pulling considerably more at speeds beyond 80 kmph. (No brainer to arrive at this conclusion but do it to arrive at your own findings)
- Since majority of roads are left sloping, try out your check on a right sloping road too as and when an opportunity makes itself available. (Drive on right side of the road , what am I recommending) But do locate a lonely two lane stretch and observe. If the vehicle still pulls left even a small amount there is an issue to be resolved. If it starts pulling in opposite direction, ie right, cheers your vehicle is the find of the year though it may not remain so for a very long period of time.
- Do keep a constant lookout for uneven tire wear, brake binding, correct tire inflation. And ensure that these aspects are looked into first by the SA/RM before any rectification work is undertaken by the guys. Ensure that caster values for both tires are exactly equal and within range when alignment is done.

Now for an interesting story: I took my car to the garage for the mentioned problem. This was the third visit in as many months, and I was forewarned and forearmed. SA took it for a test ride and promised me that I will not have to come again for this problem. Alignment checked and adjusted, wheel balancing checked, tire rotation had been done last time, so not done this time. While I went to have a cup of coffee, SA took the car for another test drive without me, he came back shortly and announced that car has finally been repaired. Next he told his junior to charge nitrogen in tires. the way it was conveyed to the mechanic I found it funny but then what can one do in tire charging I overlooked it. I insisted for another drive and the car behaved fantastically and I headed home happy. A week later I decided to go for a really long drive from Chandigarh to Ahmedabad. It was a non stop hurricane trip. Some kms into this journey I decided to tank up since diesel is costly in Rajasthan and Gujrat. It was a swanky COCO pump in what can be termed as real Haryana (Rewari/Jhajjar belt), seeing a good tire charging attendant I decided to the tire pressures checked. Lo behold, left tire showed pressure of 35 and right 28. I immediately realised the smartness of SA. Pressures balanced and the car started pulling to left again. So from now on I maintain a pressure differential of 4 psi between the front tires and I go straight. Hahaha

[SDP]

Originally Posted by PGA

...

Now for an interesting story: I took my car to the garage for the mentioned problem. This was the third visit in as many months, and I was forewarned and forearmed. SA took it for a test ride and promised me that I will not have to come again for this problem. Alignment checked and adjusted, wheel balancing checked, tire rotation had been done last time, so not done this time. While I went to have a cup of coffee, SA took the car for another test drive without me, he came back shortly and announced that car has finally been repaired. Next he told his junior to charge nitrogen in tires. the way it was conveyed to the mechanic I found it funny but then what can one do in tire charging I overlooked it. I insisted for another drive and the car behaved fantastically and I headed home happy. A week later I decided to go for a really long drive from Chandigarh to Ahmedabad. It was a non stop hurricane trip. Some kms into this journey I decided to tank up since diesel is costly in Rajasthan and Gujrat. It was a swanky COCO pump in what can be termed as real Haryana (Rewari/Jhajjar belt), seeing a good tire charging attendant I decided to the tire pressures checked. Lo behold, left tire showed pressure of 35 and right 28. I immediately realised the smartness of SA. Pressures balanced and the car started pulling to left again. So from now on I maintain a pressure differential of 4 psi between the front tires and I go straight. Hahaha

Thanks PGA for the insights!
Lowering the pressure in right front tyre was the precise trick they pulled on me last time. For me it was 22 in front right tyre! I complained this time about the same. Still when I got the vehicle back, front tyres had 30 in left, 28 in right. Rear tyres were another story. Got them to inflate the tyres to correct pressure and then I went for a longish trial. As expected, the vehicle pulled to the left. Came back and reported it again. They are going to pick up my vehicle on Tuesday for this.

If is is not fixed this time, I am taking this to the customer-care-area-manager.

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by krishnaraja

What you should do is, press the clutch, slot into 1st, remove right foot from break and do not remove or losen the left foot clutch yet, put your right on the gas pedal and accelerate a very little such that the RPM needle is just above 1000 and now slowly remove your left foot - all these within 3 seconds of slotting into 1st gear. This is how it works.

Thanks. Tested it out..works perfectly.

Personally, I would have preferred to have this under user control, with an option of enabling through switch. Getting used to this automated system, might keep away from practicing the knack of moving the car, without rolling back on a steep surface. So if you swap to a different car sans this feature, might be difficult for initial few slopes

[rlg]

Originally Posted by krishnaraja

The problem continues for me. However, no problems for 2 and 3, I have problems only with 1. Especially when I downshift to 1 when I have to slow down for a speed breaker. When I start with 2nd after going over the speed breaker, I have to keep the clutch half pressed and accelerate to give the vehicle more power. So, to avoid that, when you shift to 1, it is tight and it takes few seconds before I could slot it. At time, I break even more to reduce speed (almost stop) and then it slots into 1st. I have done a little less than 4k in 1.5 months of purchase and I am sure to tell this to the service folks during the first service.

I have exactly the same problem. Once you slow down, there is a speed range which is too low for 2nd gear (unless you ride the clutch), but the 1st gear won't slot in unless you slow down further. My RM at Sireesh auto passed it off saying it is normal. I believe it has to do with the gear ratios and synchro mesh, so may be nothing can be done about it. It results is slower getaways after the ubiquitous bumps in Bangalore, but I don't want them to work on gearbox and have a chance to mess up more things, so going to live with this.

I got some of the my issues resolved in the mean time, but not all to my satisfaction.

1. One of the remotes not working properly. RM looked at it and said something inside was not aligned properly. He fixed it and it has been working fine for a few weeks now.

2. GPS was not locking on to any satellite signals. This took 3 visits over 3 weeks and I'm still not happy. On first visit, they opened the centre console and said the GPS antenna needs to be replaced. Part was not in stock. After a few days and 3-4 follow up calls, they got a new part. Again the centre console was opened and antenna replaced. The wrench monkey opening it managed to break one of the tabs of the bezel around the hand brake . GPS was still not working. Now RM said that the infotainment unit (silverbox in their parlance) needs to be replaced and it is not in stock. After a week and few more follow up calls, he said it has come. When I went there he brought the replacement unit. It was a shabby old unit from 2011. I refused to accept this one. I didn't want that dilapidated, out dated unit in my 2013 model vehicle. Especially with the known issues in the old units. I told him I want it to be replaced by a similar new version. He said he doesn't have any new ones. Doesn't Mahindra supply them with new units for warranty replacements ? I told him to fix my old one back. Then he comes back and says he found a new one and brought it. It seems to be in better shape looks wise and the software release versions on the sticker matched mine, so I gave a go ahead. This unit works, I haven't found any malfunctions so far. But now there is a loud whine from the unit's cooling fan. My original unit was nowhere this loud. Now I understand the complaints from older XUV owners. Earlier I thought they had hypersensitive ears. I think it is a refurbished unit that they gave me. If it continues to works fine, then good, but I definitely need the whine reduced.

I also had a shudder in the whole vehicle when sprightly accelerated from low speed in 2nd gear. Though it was reducing in intensity as run in happened, it still exists. I can feel it in daily drives, but it can easily go unnoticed if you don't know what you are looking for. It is evident only on hard acceleration. The RM sent a driver to test drive my vehicle to check this. I told him to find a free stretch of road for the hard acceleration test. He started doing the hard acceleration tests in traffic right out of the service center. Accelerating hard and breaking hard to just a meter or so behind the vehicle in front in slow moving traffic. I had my heart in mouth 5-6 times during the test drive. The confidence he had in the XUV brakes impressed me. Nevertheless, I'm sure there are now a few drivers in Bangalore terrified of XUVs. Took a few times for the driver to sense the shudder. He has no clue about the cause, but said it will not cause any problems, so I'm going to wait till the service and see how it develops. On the way back, thinking about the driver's test drive, it dawned on me that any loss/liability would have still been mine though the ASC driver was driving it. Now was it confidence he had or the thrill of a joy ride with no liability ?

After I pointed out the broken bezel tab and refused the old silverbox unit, the RM realized he can't get away with his deeds in my presence and so persuaded me off the the work area. I obliged him this time as I didn't want to create trouble for him, but may be not next time.

When they brought the vehicle into work area they put on plastic covers on the seat and steering. I'm sure this is not the norm since there were many other XUVs in the service bay and none had them. It was just because I was present there. After the work was over and I came back to the vehicle, I saw the mechanic had pushed away the plastic cover. They why did they put it on in the first place ??? This is not the first time or first place I'm seeing this, mechanics just can't resist marking their sweat and grease signature on leather seats. Just like dog's can't resist marking a lamp post.

[Mudhalaipatti]

Originally Posted by fundagenie

There have been a few times I forgot to switch off one of the interior lamps at my parking lot and the security would come (after more than the 10sec or 3min duration), to inform the inside lights are ON. So is something required to be done at the A.S.S to activate this auto off feature like the reverse alarm. Or is it a niggle.

FundaG

I faced the very same issue. In my case I had left one of the lamps on for a whole night ! and it was glowing brightly well in to the morning. I don't think this is enabled automatically. Another visit to A$$ soon, I think.

The Maoist Sita is no more a extreme leftist, only mildly leftist. She had here tyres rotated as part of the 10k service and she manages to stay on a straight line, only barely though. But this is a huge improvement over the past, where she would violently pitch towards the left, which the sterring hold is released. I have driven her for around 300km and she is ok for now. So the tyre rotation, appears to have 'solved' the problem. I shall report any updates as it happens.

The battery appeared to some leakage. Checked it and as per RM, the last visit to A$$ was more than filling for the battery and the over spill has caused this. No damage to nearby wiring or any other thing. But I'm getting a feeling that the interior lamps are not as bright as last time. Earlier these could be substituted for street lamps, but now more or less like reading lamps. RM says the charge is holding good and no further issues in battery. Let me keep a close watch and report any issues.