[SDP]

Originally Posted by magikrider

did you face any problem as you got your first free service more than a month late i.e. after 4 months instead of 3? and if I am not mistaken you got your engine oil and oil filter changed first at around 1900+ kms and then again during the first free service after 4111kms, which is mandatory right?

Absolutely no issues from the service center. If they would have objected I would have reminded them about the oil-change that I got done on my own when it was not even due.

Originally Posted by magikrider

Did you find anything else strange besides the noise? like steering getting a bit hard or something? or was is just a hunch that made you get it checked? because how do you come to know if something is wrong as I think I might have also noticed some small noise with the PS when turning it fully at parking speeds.
...

Moderator Zappo and one relative of fellow TBHPian Debuda faced Power-Steering failure in recent cars. That's the reason I asked them to check it thoroughly. The SA (Service Advisor) did mention that the steering is a bit hard. I have used a non-PS car for last 8 years. So I obviously didn't notice any minor hardness. Also gradual changes are very difficult to spot.

Going forward I am going to open the hood at least once a week and look at the power-steering fluid level. Planning to buy a bottle of Power-steerring fluid (& DOT-3 brake oil) to keep in the car just in case for emergency top-up.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by SDP

First Service Report

Got the first service done a bit late (from time perspective) with the ODO showing 4111kms.
...
5. Small noise from the power-steering when locked in either direction. Besides that I told the SA and the RM that couple of people I know have reported power-steering failures because of fluid leakage and I need it to be checked thoroughly. -> The SA said that the fluid level has dropped a bit and there are signs of a minor leak in some tube. Unfortunately the tube is not in stock and I need to visit again on coming Saturday. Although the problem is not fixed, I am still happy that it was identified early on.
...

Visited the service center again today and got the problem fixed. A part containing metal tubing and a rubber hose (part # 1102CAA02350N) was covered with oil and was leaking. I have never seen even a couple of drops below the car ever. So either the leak was really very small or it was happening when the car was in motion. Anyways, they removed the right front tyre and the underbody cover to access the part. Then they drained the power-steering fluid, replaced the part and refilled new power-steering fluid. The RM mentioned that the new part uses a rubber hose of better grade as the earlier one was not able to handle the pressure in some cases. The part costed 699 Rs, Shell steering oil costed 221 Rs and the labour was 720 Rs. All was covered under warranty.

In hindsight, either me or the service-center folks should have noticed this 2 months back when I went to change engine oil at ~1900 on odo. Here's a photo from that visit, which shows clear sign of leakage:

[TaureanBull]

Seems to be a very big service centre. Two XUVs jacked up and one on the floor. Is it because of too many niggles or too many XUVs selling? May be there is one more hidden.

BTW one must inspect the underbody once a while and also the spot where the vehicle was parked for some time to get indications of oil/lub leakages.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

...
BTW one must inspect the underbody once a while and also the spot where the vehicle was parked for some time to get indications of oil/lub leakages.

See that metal bar which is covered in oil? There is a plastic cover below that. You can see that in the silver XUV on the next jack. So in normal scenario, you can't see that oil-covered metal bar itself. The metal bar and the plastic cover ensure that the fluid does not drop on the ground which robs us of an early indication of any power-steering oil leakage in the case of the XUV5OO.

[SDP]

Something interesting while I was at the service center today.

While my job card was being prepared, a red XUV came outside the service center. My RM immediately got up and said "Sir is here!".

The RM and few more folks from the service center escorted a gentleman inside and he joined a stand-up meeting (of all the technical staff) that was underway at that point of time. After the RM joined back, I asked - who is he?. He replied - VP Customer Care Sanjoy Gupta. I replied: Interesting, I had just escalated one issue to him this week. I ignored the surprised look the RM gave me and did not divulge any details.

Although the XUV he came in was taken for service, I believe he was there for official business. His XUV had stickers from NBS from south Mumbai. He attended the stand-up meeting with the mechanics. Took down notes on his iPad. Spent a lot of time next to his vehicle while it was on the jack. Took photos on iPad when all the four wheels were taken off and brakes were being cleaned. He interacted a lot with the mechanics - including the ones working on other vehicles as well.

The GM of Global Gallerie turned up around 11 and then he hogged the VP for most of the remaining day.

I was hoping that Mr. Gupta would interact with some of the customers (including me). But he didn't. I guess he assumed that most XUVs are driven by drivers and the owners don't turn up and wait in the customer-lounge while the vehicle is getting serviced/repaired. His assumption is true to a large extent, but still it would have been nice if he would have interacted with a few. There is nothing like straight-from-the-gut feedback from the horse's mouth. A lost opportunity in my opinion.

I looked for an opportunity to meet him and strike up a conversation, but he was quite busy and surrounded by the dealership folks. So I gave up after some time. Someone from the staff also politely asked me to stay in the customer lounge (and not roam around on the shop-floor) as the big-boss is in.

What I liked was the VP-CustomerCare uses (if not drives) a XUV5OO himself and so should be experiencing a few peculiarities and niggles himself. He paying close attention to the work done on the cars was also a good sign. Overall he made a positive impression on me.

[TaureanBull]

It looks like Mahindra has made XUV a prestige issue and activated its team to improve the customer service which had always been a sore point for them.

Kufos to M & M.

[SDP]

Came back yesterday night from a 8 day trip to Gujarat.

Occupancy -> 4 adults + 2 kids + luggage for 8 days

Places visited -> Gandhinagar, Adalaj, Modhera, Patan, Ahmedabad, Somnath, Sasan Gir, Porbandar, Dwarka/Bet Dwarka, Lothal, Vadodara.

Total distance covered -> 2787 kms

Covered 600 kms from Mumbai-Ahemdabad-Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad on day-1 and still could do the Adalaj-Modhera-Patan 300 kms day-trip on day-2. Nobody -including my 71 year old dad- complained about any discomfort.

Problems faced with the vehicle -> Nil.

This trip has seriously boosted my confidence about the Duma as a long distance cruiser and restored faith in his reliability!

[TaureanBull]

Thats a good report. Similar reports have been received from debuda on his long trip to Delhi. I guess the reliability factor has increased with the later model. Mahindra is listening.

Are you going to put up a travelogue? What was the FE for the trip?

[SDP]

FE worries resurfaced.

The Gujarat trip of 2787kms with all the beautiful highways in that state, has resulted in a FE of 12.5kmpl. I was expecting at least 15.

The tyres were not under-inflated. If at all, they could have been over-inflated. Drove at sane speeds throughout. Except for the Vadodara-Ahmedabad 100kms stretch, did not go above 120kmph. 4 adults + 2 kids + luggage -> that should not qualify as 'overloaded' in a vehicle in this category. The AC was ON 100% time and was set at 25 degrees.

I am running out of theories in terms of what other parameters could have caused the low fuel efficiency.

I am going to talk to my RM, but not sure how he can debug the cause for this?

Any ideas, any pointers about how to approach this problem and isolate the root cause?

[F150]

Originally Posted by SDP

FE worries resurfaced.

The Gujarat trip of 2787kms with all the beautiful highways in that state, has resulted in a FE of 12.5kmpl. I was expecting at least 15.

The tyres were not under-inflated. If at all, they could have been over-inflated. Drove at sane speeds throughout.

The FE in CITY is 11 Kmpl, you must be driving alone in CITY ?

Highway FE of 12.5 Kmpl with 4 adults and 2 kids and luggage is decent. Not great nor bad.

Keep us posted.

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by SDP

FE worries resurfaced.

The Gujarat trip of 2787kms with all the beautiful highways in that state, has resulted in a FE of 12.5kmpl. I was expecting at least 15.

The AC was ON 100% time and was set at 25 degrees.

Originally Posted by debuda

In conclusion (regarding mileage):

• My XUV is giving an average of over 17 KMPL on highways in the plains during winter (10-15% AC use) with 2 adults and 40 kg luggage on board. This definitely exceeds my expectations.
  
• I have calculated the average carefully and conservatively over a distance of almost 5000 KM.
  
• The DIS calculated average appears to be reasonably accurate.
  
• I am confident that if I take part in a contest where the goal is to minimize the fuel consumption (only 1 person in car, no cargo, steady driving at 60-80 KMPH in 6th gear on good highways in the plains, low ambient temperature, no AC, fuel purchased from a reliable pump, etc.) I can easily get 19 KMPL in my XUV.

I don't think anything wrong with your mileage. When you drive sedately @ 80 - 90 Km/hr you can easily achieve mileage in range of 16 - 18KM/ltr.

In debuda's case he uses AC sparingly and thus achieved a very good mileage, while your usage shows 100% AC on.

I have got a mileage of 16+ for more than 200kms which involved sedate driving, alos have got mileage of 12.5+ even in ghat sections. So it is all about driving sedately .

[SDP]

Duma pics from recent Gujarat trip

[SDP]

Yesterday, I was driving back from office and wanted to clean the front windshield a bit as it had a thin layer of dust settled on it. Pressed the lever and to my horror, the wipers did a dry wipe! First thought was that I am out of water. So after reaching home, I filled in half a litre of water. It was late, so did not test. Today morning, I topped up the spray-reservoir completely and then tried the wipers again. Same result, no spray!

So its definitely not about not having enough water. The nozzles are also not blocked or anything. Mice? Possibly! Might have eaten the pipe. Had happened with my Alto. Popped open the hood again to check if any water-carrying pipe is broken/chewed or missing. But somehow I was not able to trace the water-pipe to the nozzles at all. Seem like its behind the dashboard and not visible from the engine bay. Other possibility is the water-pump. Need to get it checked.

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by SDP

Yesterday, I was driving back from office and wanted to clean the front windshield a bit as it had a thin layer of dust settled on it. Pressed the lever and to my horror, the wipers did a dry wipe! First thought was that I am out of water. So after reaching home, I filled in half a litre of water. It was late, so did not test. Today morning, I topped up the spray-reservoir completely and then tried the wipers again. Same result, no spray!

So its definitely not about not having enough water. The nozzles are also not blocked or anything. Mice? Possibly! Might have eaten the pipe. Had happened with my Alto. Popped open the hood again to check if any water-carrying pipe is broken/chewed or missing. But somehow I was not able to trace the water-pipe to the nozzles at all. Seem like its behind the dashboard and not visible from the engine bay. Other possibility is the water-pump. Need to get it checked.

Had experienced similar issue. Just check whether the water is leaking. In my case the water pipe got disconnected. Connected it and it was working fine. It is present in the top right hand corner, towards the driver.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by Vasuki

Had experienced similar issue. Just check whether the water is leaking. In my case the water pipe got disconnected. Connected it and it was working fine. It is present in the top right hand corner, towards the driver.

Thanks for the tip Vasuki! I did go to the parking in the lunch time and checked. When I knew where to look, I was indeed able to locate the water-pipe running along the side of the engine-bay on the driver side. Although, there is a joint there, it had not come loose or broken. The joint where the pipe starts from the reservoir (or from the outlet of the pump) and the joints where the pipe ends into the nozzles were not visible. So could not check if any one of those have come loose. Gave the visible portion of the pipe a light tug in either direction to indirectly check if there a loose connection somewhere. None.

With the wipers raised, tried the spray again. Could hear the motor sound only. The rear-wiper has a distinct pump sound also besides the wiper-motor. So seems like a electrical problem or a pump problem.