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