[comfortablynumb]

Prologue: For those who came in late, Scout is my Diamond White Mahindra Scorpio mHawk SLE 7 Seater.

Feb 27 was Scout's 2nd b'day, and he reached exactly 35400 kms on it. So, I thought it was about time that I got off the couch and penned down a few impressions about my ownership from Feb 27, 2010 - Feb 27, 2012.

1. Reason for buying a Scorpio: No joint family, no farm house, no hauling of men/material/what have you. I just wanted it - blame it on a mid-life crisis or whatever.

2. Pre-sales: In a nutshell - good. I first visited Silver Jubilee in Pune, but the sales people there were too busy to even pay attention to an unshaven, chappal wearing skinny drink of water in their showroom. So, after waiting for 10-15 minutes, did an about turn and went to Sahyadri Motors. I was greeted warmly there [well, compared to SJ], explained the OTR calculation [surprisingly, no handling charges, registration and road tax according to RTO specified %, no BS about "have to buy insurance from us" etc] and promised a TD on the coming weekend. True to their word, a VLX came to my house over the weekend, and I had a nice long 10-15 kms TD in it. I was expecting the going to be a bit tough, graduating from a Palio 1.6 Sports to a Diesel SUV, but nothing that couldn't be overcome with practise. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the maneuverability of the vehicle within the city. Also, the clutch didn't feel THAT hard. On less than perfect roads, the infamous body roll kicked in, but it wasn't so bad as to make one throw up. Also, the sales person assured me that it decreases quite a bit if there are more than 4 adults in the vehicle; which turned out to be a reasonably accurate statement. On the highway, it seemed quite stable at the speeds I am used to [don't usually go above 100-110 kmph]. Less said about the gear shift cum vibrator the better!

3. Sales: After the TD, it was all systems go from my side. Took a token approval from the Home Minister [after all, the registration was going to be in her name :-D], visited the showroom, and booked the vehicle by paying Rs.5k, as against their demand of Rs.50k. After negotiations, the OTR came to Rs.9.30 L, with free scuff plates and matting. Discount given was a paltry Rs.4k, and I saved another 7k by getting the Insurance done independently. I wanted a Rocky Beige, but it would have taken close to a month for it to be delivered. Since I had already sold my Palio, I needed a car ASAP. So, reluctantly, I settled for a Diamond White, which could be delivered in 2 weeks [only VLXs were readily available in the dealer's yard]. After 2 weeks, the D-day finally dawned [I had done a PDI at their yard the previous day, and given a thumbs up]. The missus and I were handed over the documents and keys to a gleaming White SLE, explained all the features and wished Good Luck and Godspeed by the dealership staff. The sales person, Ganesh, was a pleasure to deal with and throughout the above experience, all committed dates and promises were kept by him.

4. Accessories: Sunfilm - 3M CR70 on the front windshield and Llumar on the windows and rear windshield, a basic music system - Pioneer HU and speakers, seat covers immediately after delivery. Added OEM alloys after 8 months. I've spent a total of about Rs.50-55k on accesories so far.

5. Impressions: A lot has been said about the driving dynamics of Scorpio [in it's various avatars] on the forum. Since I don't have any drastically different opinions, I won't dwell on this topic in too much detail. However, a few salient points are listed below:

5.1. Excellent road presence, allround visibility and lack of blind spots.
5.2. Me and the missus both being of medium height & build, there's lots of head, leg and luggage space.
5.3. Comfy seats and relaxed driving position for a person of medium height and build.
5.4. Utilitarian interiors - while they are not in sedan class, they seem built to last.
5.5. No complaints with the stock head and fog lamps setup.
5.6. Even though the AC is more than decent, a roof mounted AC would have helped, specially in the summers.
5.7. Braking is decent as long as you keep the speed at 100-120 kmph levels, but hard braking will cause it to nosedive. ABS is a must for this vehicle, and M&M would win a lot of brownie points if it offers it in the LX variant too.
5.8. Clutch is not as hard as I'd expected, but needs to be depressed a long way to really touch the floor.
5.9. Initially, I found reversing difficult, but got the hang of it within a few days - guess it's just a matter of habit.
5.10. Last but not the least, a gem of an engine in the mHawk. Very peppy on highways, and very low-end-torquey in the city. Although you have ease back on the throttle on curves, it's very stable otherwise eve at 120 kmph.

6. After-sales & service: In a nutshell - Satisfactory. Overall, I don't have much to complain about with the service experience till date.

6.1. Service costs: Scout has completed 7 servicings till now. After the 1st oil change at 5k kms, I have maintained a 10k engine oil change interval for Scout. So, the 5k, 15k, 25k, 35k servicings cost me between Rs.2k - Rs.2500. This amount is inclusive of what I spent on procuring the oil from the market [Mobil Delvac MX] , rather than using the one available at the ASC. The 20k service also cost between Rs.2k - Rs.2500 due to the Diesel Filter Element change. The 10k and 30k servicing cost between Rs.500-1000. I'm not very good at maintaining records, so don't have all the bills handy, but can search and post exact amounts if anyone is interested. Hence the approx costs above. I do not get the vehicle washed after the service as it unneccessarily wastes another 45-60 mins at the ASC. Instead, I get Scout pressure washed once a month from a garage near my house. Apart from this, a tyre balancing-rotation-alignment routine every 10k kms has been followed for Scout.

6.2. Service experience: As advised by the veterans in the forum, I stand beside the vehicle when the technicians are working on it. So, no hanky panky has been evident till now, and all of the servicings have been quite okay. They technicians seem competent enough to tackle routine maintenance tasks. However, how good they are when it comes to troubleshooting remains to be seen.

6.3. Warranty replacements etc: Scout has had 3 warranty replacements till date - RHS front power window motor due to slow operation and intermittent conking off, LHS headlight due to fogging and rear suspension bushes at 32k kms [as part of "goodwill" warranty].

6.4. Niggles: The following problems/niggles/irritants were part of the package - 1. Two tone horn became one tone due to a loose wire, resolved FOC. 2. Brake light always remained on due to worn rubber stopper below the brake pedal, resolved by replacing it. However, the 1st time they fixed it, the setting was not proper resulting in the brakes remaining always slightly engaged. After a rocket up their you-know-where, this was resolved correctly. 3. Auto-locking of doors not working, resolved FOC.

7. Mileage: Daily commute is of total 50 kms, out of which 35 kms is a bypass [relatively free flow of traffic] and 15 kms is city roads, and Scout delivers 12.5 - 13 kmpl on this route. Exlusive highway mileage is between 14-14.5 kmpl, with random AC use [say 50-60%].

8. Memorable trips: Pune-Goa-Gokarna-Yana caves-Murudeshwar-Chikmagalur-Pune, Pune-Bhavnagar-Pune, Pune-Karwar-Pune, numerous trips to Mumbai, various places in Konkan and in the Sahyadris.

9. Overall ownership experience: Not bad at all. I am very satisfied with the vehicle, and just satisfied with the A.S.S. Keeping my fingers crossed that it continues in the same vein in the years to come! :-)

I'm not much of a photographer, but here are a few photos for your viewing pleasure anyway:

Just after delivery


In Anmod ghat


Parked near Mulayangiri


From the top of Mulayangiri


On the way to Bhavnagar


In Tamhini Ghat


Just after Amba Ghat, near Marleshwar


E & OE. Questions/comments welcome!

Cheers,
Vikram

[architect]

Excellent Long Term Review, Comfortably Numb. Highlights the good and the bad. I like the way you have explained your choice and your experience without any pretensions. Graduating from a Palio 1.6 to a Scorpio seems to be a bit of a huge transition but clearly you have taken to it quite well.

Somehow, if you love travelling and have a budget of around Rs 10 lakhs, the Scorpio does make it to your list. Just goes to show that despite its shortcomings, M&M knows what the consumer wants and at what price.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by architect

Graduating from a Palio 1.6 to a Scorpio seems to be a bit of a huge transition but clearly you have taken to it quite well.

Thanks, architect! Yes, even I was quite worried initially about the step up [literally & figuratively]. However, with the benefit of hindsight, I now realise that due to the mHawk's minimal turbo lag, comparatively short turning radius and low end torque, a newbie to it needn't be too apprehensive about how he/she will fare - basically it's just a matter of getting used to the larger dimensions of the vehicle, and you are set.

Somehow, if you love travelling and have a budget of around Rs 10 lakhs, the Scorpio does make it to your list. Just goes to show that despite its shortcomings, M&M knows what the consumer wants and at what price.

Yup, I've always maintained that if you get a relatively niggle free vehicle, there's nothing to beat the VFM offerings by M&M and Tata in this segment.

Cheers,
Vikram

[benbsb29]

Thanks for the writeup, Vikram. It's good that you finally got your ownersip review up and running.

I'm surprised that your 20k service was just about 3k, since my friend and fellow TBHPian scorpio_fan was charged about 7k for this service, for what was effectively a problem free vehicle - Surprising!

[2500cc]

Nice review Vikram. Me too being an owner of Scorpio, i could actually feel your words .
Thankfully I haven't had even a small niggle on my 9k run Hawky (Touchwood). Struggling with an issue that crops occasionally, trying to explain it to the A.S.S but failed. Hope to resolve it sooner.

Otherwise a fabulous, no-nonsense UV built tough to last is what I can say.

Wishing you many more happy miles.

Drive Safe.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I'm surprised that your 20k service was just about 3k, since my friend and fellow TBHPian scorpio_fan was charged about 7k for this service, for what was effectively a problem free vehicle - Surprising!

Yup, you can say that again. I just can't understand what it is that they do differently or extra in the Bangalore ASCs to justify such a big difference in service costs. I checked the 20k bill last night and it was Rs.1730. Rs.1445 was for the Diesel filter and the rest for general paid service labour + tax. Even if you add Rs.1700-1800 to it [for the engine oil change according to M&M's schedule], it shouldn't touch 7k.

At the ASC I frequent, the general paid service [usually a thorough check of all fluid levels, electricals, AC filter cleaning, under-body check and re-torquing of nuts & bolts if needed and a trial drive] includes various items as given in the maintenance schedule chart on page 22 & 23 of the service booklet [inspect, replace, topup or lubricate]. E.g. - In the 20k service, brake checking is one inspection item. If there are any specific complaints that the customer might have, then my guess is that the labour for that would be separate if the work involved is quite substantial; if not, then it's clubbed with the GPS. Washing and alignment-rotation-balancing charges are extra.

Originally Posted by 2500cc

Nice review Vikram. Me too being an owner of Scorpio, i could actually feel your words . Thankfully I haven't had even a small niggle on my 9k run Hawky (Touchwood). Struggling with an issue that crops occasionally, trying to explain it to the A.S.S but failed. Hope to resolve it sooner. Otherwise a fabulous, no-nonsense UV built tough to last is what I can say. Wishing you many more happy miles. Drive Safe.

I totally concur with your opinion - it is a no nonsense, what you see is what you get UV. Thanks for the good wishes and I hope that issue of yours gets resolved soon!

Cheers,
Vikram

[mayankjha1806]

Thanks for the writeup, Scout looks lovely and clean in white, and you have maintained her well.

Something on the pictures bothered me hence asking, please look at picture number 2,3 and 5.

In picture two (LHS of the car) spokes of the alloys seem to be pointing backwards (opposite of wheel spin). Where as in picture 3 and 5 (RHS of the car) the car the spokes of the alloys seem to be pointing in the direction of wheel spin. Am i wrong, please help me clear the air. Thanks

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Something on the pictures bothered me hence asking, please look at picture number 2,3 and 5.

Good observation! The RHS orientation seems right. Will check it out tonight when I go home. Thanks!

EDIT: Just double checked all the Scorps with alloys in the Scorpio pics thread. All of them seem to be like this.

Cheers,
Vikram

[architect]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

EDIT: Just double checked all the Scorps with alloys in the Scorpio pics thread. All of them seem to be like this.

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Something on the pictures bothered me hence asking, please look at picture number 2,3 and 5.

In picture two (LHS of the car) spokes of the alloys seem to be pointing backwards (opposite of wheel spin). Where as in picture 3 and 5 (RHS of the car) the car the spokes of the alloys seem to be pointing in the direction of wheel spin. Am i wrong, please help me clear the air. Thanks

This is a common problem of symmetry with all wheels / tyres which have an asymmetrical set-up. If there is any element which faces forwards / backwards, it will be facing the other way round on the other side. In order to solve this you will require different alloys for left and right wheels (Is that why we have new alloys by M&M on the Scorpio?)

It is the same logic that prevents left-right wheel rotation in asymmetric pattern tyres as well text / badging on the sides / fenders / doors of the car facing front one way and rear the other.

[ADI_77]

Hey! that was a great writeup, I can actually relate to lot of things you mentioned, getting used to driving this beast comes naturally. its more of companionship. Your Scout looks awesome in the pics.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by ADI_77

Hey! that was a great writeup, I can actually relate to lot of things you mentioned, getting used to driving this beast comes naturally. its more of companionship. Your Scout looks awesome in the pics.

Scout thanks you for the kind words, ADI_77!

Went on a quick 1 day trip to the Konkan region with friends last Saturday [May 05] for Mango shopping. Started at 5.15 AM, back home at 9.45 PM. Onward trip route was Pune-Karad-Amba Ghat-Ratnagiri-Pawas, return trip was Pawas-Ratnagiri-Chiplun-Kumbharli Ghat-Umbraj-Pune.

With the jump seats folded, I was able to fit 15 boxes of 2.5 dozen Mangoes each in the rear. There was space to pack at least 8 boxes more without obstructing the rear view or having them move around during the journey. However, due to lack of vitamin M, had to be content with 15!

Total distance covered, 690 kms. Total fuel consumed, 49 litres. Considering that only half of the total distance was covered on the NH4 and the rest on single lane state highways, NH17 and ghat roads, the FE of 14.08 is not too bad. Speeds were always under 100 kmph, AC usage was 75%; basically, used it all the time except from 5 AM to 8 AM or so.

Cheers,
Vikram

[ADI_77]

Went on a quick 1 day trip to the Konkan region with friends last Saturday [May 05] for Mango shopping. Started at 5.15 AM, back home at 9.45 PM. Onward trip route was Pune-Karad-Amba Ghat-Ratnagiri-Pawas, return trip was Pawas-Ratnagiri-Chiplun-Kumbharli Ghat-Umbraj-Pune.


Hey Vikram, that must have been a fun-ride, just you, Scout and your buddies on a cool morning enjoying nature to the fullest. Still awaiting the famous Kesar mangoes back here which have been delayed, the mangroves here are at Keshod near Junagadh.


Total distance covered, 690 kms. Total fuel consumed, 49 litres. Considering that only half of the total distance was covered on the NH4 and the rest on single lane state highways, NH17 and ghat roads, the FE of 14.08 is not too bad. Speeds were always under 100 kmph, AC usage was 75%; basically, used it all the time except from 5 AM to 8 AM or so.

Now that's an awesome performance put in. Mine is returning around 13.5 on the highways & 12.00 in the city. First service is still awaited.

[TaureanBull]

Thanks for a nice neutral ownership report. Its really encouraging to see your comments. It looks like a well kept beast. That mileage is also encouraging.

All the best for your future rides.

BTW these pics are good!

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by ADI_77

Now that's an awesome performance put in. Mine is returning around 13.5 on the highways & 12.00 in the city. First service is still awaited.

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

Thanks for a nice neutral ownership report. Its really encouraging to see your comments. It looks like a well kept beast. That mileage is also encouraging. All the best for your future rides. BTW these pics are good!

Thanks for the kind words ADI_77 & TaureanBull!

Latest update on Scout is that he's being used mostly on weekends only. Hence the odo is ticking over very slowly. Reading is at 37200. Also changed the wipers [Hella, cost me around INR 200 odd] in anticipation of the monsoon.

A couple of things that I need to take care of soon:

1. Rubber hose covering the right front power window wires is in tatters. Borrowing a pic from anjan_c2007's thread to illustrate the problem below. Till now, I have been unable to source these rubber hoses from the ASC and various FNGs as well:



2. Right rear power window is jammed since last week. Tried spraying WD40 in the channel; no use.

Will need to visit the ASC soon for these problems, I guess. Watch this space for more updates.

On a more pleasant note, went on a impromptu 1 day trip to Mahabaleshwar last week. Conditions were rainy and foggy. Me & Scout enjoyed it totally.



Cheers,
Vikram

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

Will need to visit the ASC soon for these problems, I guess. Watch this space for more updates.

Update on the 2 issues mentioned above :

1. Visited the ASC last Saturday. Since the rubber hose isn't available stand-alone, I had to replace the entire harness. As I didn't want to take a chance of having exposed PW wires during the rainy season, I went ahead with it. The rubber hoses for the PW window wires for the other 3 doors have also started deteriorating, but still no holes in them at least.

2. Came across the 1st instance of the magical self-healing properties of the Scorp. Before starting for the ASC, I double checked that the right rear PW wasn't working. However, lo and behold it worked just fine when the technician checked it. Up/down, with the front button, rear button, you name it. He looked at me as if I'd gone crazy. Thankfully, the Works Manager believed me and asked me to bring the vehicle back if it happened again so that they can replace the motor under extended warranty.

Cheers,
Vikram