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-   -   The "Duma" comes home - Our Tuscan Red Mahindra XUV 5OO W8 - EDIT - 10 years and 1.12 Lakh kms (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-term-ownership-reviews/123190-duma-comes-home-our-tuscan-red-mahindra-xuv-5oo-w8-edit-10-years-1-12-lakh-kms-8.html)

Thanks SDP for liking it.
I always wanted to start one thread for my XUV/ Royal Enfield rides pictures. However, I am more oriented towards travelogues & have been constantly doing on some other forum.
Not sure if can start a thread only for pictures of XUV/ Bullets ;)

If yes- pls suggest how ?

Post Processing: I do part time photography alongwith infamous IT industry profile. So, I always end up spending some time on processing my pictures.
a. click in RAW, always.
b. follow a routine of steps in Adobe Lightroom
c. then, a few corrections here & there in Photoshop.

BTW - I have one more picture for the same image (processed in more normal style). Will upload the same tomorrow (as they are in my laptop) & am currently using wify's laptop.

Thanks for the tips. Would experiment with these tools.

There is one already - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...re-please.html

Those links would be WOW, am sure about it.
Will have a look at them tomorrow & will bombard them ;)

Here is the one, that resembles more of real colors :

You could post the auto pics here - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...ge-thread.html

And, non-auto pics here - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...ge-thread.html

Both are pretty happening threads! :thumbs up

Keeping the Duma clean

Even before we got our XUV5OO, I had decided that I am going to maintain the car myself - 'maintaining' not in technical terms, but keeping it clean and neat.

I have always disliked the quality of work done by the cleaning boys that you find in every society. They use very little amount of water, don't clean the cloth thoroughly, leave a lot of swirl marks on the paint and in general do more damage than good to the car. At the same time, without a cleaning-boy, keeping your car clean and neat is a daunting task in a city like Mumbai where just after a couple of hours of cleaning your vehicle, you get a decently thick layer of dust and oily-grime accumulated on your car.

During the last year or so, I have observed multiple new cars in my society compound getting swirl marks in the first month itself. With a red colour, swirl and scratch marks are going to be glaringly visible on my XUV5OO. That's why decided to keep it clean myself.

In Mumbai, the monsoon is possibly the worst possible time for getting a new car, as cleaning the muck and the grime - if done incorrectly - causes a lot of damage to the car's looks.

Currently I am washing the car 2 times a week. I use a piece of a old white t-shirt for the washing and wash it with soap after I am done with the car. After a drive in light drizzle, the XUV's side and rear get covered with muck. I use water and dislodge the muck with hand before using the t-shirt piece. I do this to avoid rubbing the muck over the entire panel. Its taking me about 30 minutes for one wash. Currently the focus is to just remove the dirt regularly and protect the paint and NOT to keep the car gleaming and shining.
The cleaning-boy typically cleans 5-6 cars in the amount of time it takes me to clean the Duma once.

Our 8 years old Pearl Silver Alto is still cleaned daily by a cleaning-boy and I have seen a amused look on the face of that cleaning-boy and a whole bunch of residents of the society when they see me washing the Duma.

Have got a couple of microfibre cloths and a Jopasu duster combination pack. Tried using the Jopasu on a sunny day when the car was dry, but the oily residue on the car spoiled the attempt. I guess, Jopasu duster is effective when the dust is dry and not oily/sticky (like in Mumbai). Have some MGP (M=Maruti) shampoo that I have used a couple of times till now. Its Ok. Planning to get a bottle of Sonax Shampoo once the current bottle is over.

Have bought Collinite 845 Wax bottle after booking the XUV. Applied one coat a week after bringing the Duma home. The beading effect vanished in about 2 days. Looks like the Collinte is no match to Mumbai rains. Planning to wax the car once in 2 months.

Committing something on TBHP and then updating regularly has worked well for me - mostly because of the sheer respect that I have for fellow BHPians and this community.

That's why committing myself to maintaining the car myself here! :)

Kudos to you. I felt cleaning my santro was a pain in the neck. Hats off to you as you cleaned up the XUV.

Are you looking to buy a power washer? It really reduces effort on cleaning.

Considered a power-washer for some time and then ruled it out for following reasons:
1. It is perceived to use a lot of water. The society would object eventually.
2. It would need a power outlet, which can be somehow managed at the ground floor. But because of the back-pressure it also needs a proper connection to the water-source. Won't be able to manage that in my building.
3. Cost. Washers from Black&Dekker would cost upwards of 10K in India.
4. Owning one -if you have just one or two cars- is an overkill. I am planning to get the XUV powerwashed from a nearby place once in 3 months.

Running-In update @1250kms

The car has clocked 1250 kms till now and I have been paying a close attention to the RPM. Have mostly driven in the 1500-2250 range, occasionally taking it to 2500 rpm. Have been careful not to drive at the same RPM for too long. Have stayed away from the cruise-control precisely for this reason. Also have tried not to lug the engine in lower gears (although it is quite tempting because the engine doesn't knock till very low rpm).

The engine does feel much more responsive now. The initial feeling of the engine holding back, has reduced significantly. Took the car to 140kmph during the last drive on the Mumbai-Pune expressway.

The suspension seems to have settled a bit. During the first week, the ride was quite bouncy and I was surprised that I needed to slow down to ~10kmph for regular sized speed-bumps. I could do the same speed-bumps at ~25kmph in my Alto. Five weeks into the ownership, I am able to take the speed-bumps at ~20kmph without too much of discomfort.

Have been quite gentle with the brakes till now. Stayed out of any urgent braking situations till now. The brakes have gained some 'bite' over the last 5 weeks. May be it is just me getting used to them. Braking is much more confident inspiring and predictable now.

As per the run-in recommendation of changing engine-oil at 1000kms, planning to change the engine oil over the weekend.

Would start phase-2 of running-in now. Planning to take the engine to 2500 rpm regularly and stretch the engine to 3000 rpm once in a while during the next 1000kms. Also planning to try slightly aggressive braking on an empty stretch, to get a feel of the vehicle's behaviour (so that there are no surprises when a real-life situation demands aggressive braking). Would keep the thread updated.

Nice colour. The pictures shows your emotions and value Duma has in your life. Also, the excitement of owning Duma. It appeared more of a matter of heart rather than mind.

Congrats on the purchase of Duma and happy driving.

Thanks TaureanBull. The Duma is special and its like a dream come true for my entire family. Can't forget the smile on my dad's face when he saw our car for the first time!

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The travelogue is up (at least for day-1):
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ar-tapola.html

Crossposting a few images from the Duma-photoshoot.

Liked the 10th picture, with ambience of fog/raining conditions :thumbs up. BTW how is the headlight during twilight and other foggy conditions. Is the throw enough. & not at the least, how is the wiper, heard through the mahindra review section that wiper is not enough in terms of quality.

Was planning to get the engine oil changed this weekend, but don't want to go all the way to the service center just for that. The manual mentions Mahindra Maxmile which was not available with normal shops.

Slightly worried about if I change the oil to any standard brand, would Mahindras create issues with warranty at a later point of time.

Any opinions/experiences?

Check the engine oil grade specified by Mahindra. As long as the grade and specification match, it shouldn't be a problem. Stick to reputed brands such as Mobil,Shell,Castrol .
For swift it is 15w40,non synthetic.

Where do you plan to source the oil sump seal from ? IIRC it is a magnetic seal replaced at each oil change.

If I were, I would go the service center to get the oil changed. :)