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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.html)

Duma! Yes, that's what we are calling our XUV. Surprised that no other TBHPian has claimed that name for their XUV yet.

The D in Duma is pronounced as soft D (as in "the") and not hard D (as in "Dad"). "Duma" means the Cheetah in Swahili language. No, I don't speak/understand swahili. I just got that one word from a beautiful movie by the same title.

Duma

If you haven't watched that movie yet, I strongly recommend it.

In a way, our XUV ownership is going to be quite similar to the boy Xan from the movie.. learning to live with a wild beast, becoming best friends and travelling great distances together!!

A little bit of background:

My fascination with automobiles in general and cars in particular goes long way back. You can read more about it in my introduction thread on TBHP here:.

After owning a used Nissan Maxima in US for a year, we bought an Alto Lx in 2004 as our first family car in India. The Alto Lx is really a basic car and as the family grew (and the car-loan paid off around mid-2007), we started aspiring for a better car primarily from a comfort and safety perspective. Looks and reliability were also very important for me. Kept on watching cars all the time, but hardly anything really appealed to me. Also, the Alto never gave us any trouble, which could have triggered a more intense search.

Cars seriously considered:

1. Tata Safari: It has always been my dream-car since it was launched. Seriously considered the Tata Safari around 2009. Moderator tsk1979's long-term ownership log made me realize that I need to have very keen ears to live with a Safari. I don't have those. Additionally, I prefer listening to music rather than keeping my ears tuned to any abnormal noise from anywhere in the car. With a heavy heart, we crossed the Safari off the list.

2. Innova: After the break-up with the Safari, got into a short fling with Innova. Liked the interiors, the space. Disliked the exteriors, too plane jane and kind of boring. We moved on.

3. Honda City VMT: I loved the 1st generation Honda City. Hated the 2nd gen. Fell in love all over again with the 3rd Gen - the All New Honda City. The reviews were also quite positive. Was perceived to be a bit costly for the equipment and features it was offering. Still, it was the first realistic choice. Visited the dealer, had a look, got a quotation. Was waiting for my promotion to happen, before taking the leap. Then recession hit fiercely, the promotion got delayed, the stock investments reached a stage where the principal itself got eroded significantly. Car-upgrade took a back seat.

4. VW Vento TDi Highline: First real competitor for Honda City. Petrol prices were slowly inching northwards and a diesel vehicle made a lot of sense. To be very frank, the looks of the Vento did not appeal to me initially, but slowly the 'timeless' design started growing on me. The efficiency & economy of the diesel as well as the praises for the torquey engine sealed the choice for me. TBHP goes through these phases when a particular vehicle is the ceter of attention for all. Most of 2011, it was the Vento TDi. Went through the official review and ownership logs religiously. Finally on 30th Oct 2011, decided to take a TD and book the car. Took wifey and kids for the TD. Drove it, found it sluggish in 1st and 2nd gears. The choice of colors was also a concern. Did not like any color other than the deep blue and a neighbour had just picked up a blue TDi. Wife and kids 'liked' the Vento, it looked and felt way better than the Alto that they have experienced. At the same time, they were clearly not 'excited' about the Vento.

A twist in the tale:

XUV5OO was launched sometime in Oct'11. Liked the design. Glanced through the review and looking at people's reaction to the overall package and VFM-pricing, realized that the XUV5OO is going to be the center-of-attention on TBHP for the next few months at least. I was still in C1 segment mode and keeping an eye on ANHV and new Fiesta. Mentally I had not even considered the XUV5OO as it was quite out of my range in terms of budget. And then things took a dramatic turn on 30th Oct 2011.

After the OKish TD of the Vento TDi, we thought, Mahindra showroom is also on the same route, just a kilometer ahead. So let's go there and I will show the XUV to the wife and kids. Had heard stories about overcrowded showrooms and bookings being closed etc. Was in no mood to wait in a line for a TD. The Mahindra showroom is on the right side while going towards Borivali and when we passed it, saw the shutters down, but 3 XUVs outside. Thought, the place is closed, but let's have a look at the XUVs parked outside. Took a U-turn and parked. The shutter was half-down and I peeped inside and enquired. The guy said that the showroom is about to be closed for the day and there is no executive available for XUV. Since I had seen a few customers outside, I asked if a TD is possible and to my surprise he said yes. A grey XUV has just come back from TD and we were next. Got in and started driving. For Vento TD, I was prepared with what to observe. For XUV, I was completely unprepared. Because of the back to back TD, an inevitable apple-to-orange comparison between Vento and XUV happened. XUV - no sluggishness, quite eager to pounce. Picked up speed well, no bouncing like Scorpio/Safari, no nervouness on turns. The SA was pleasant and was interested in showing all the features. Checked Hill-hold and Hill-descent functions. The GPS navigation was working nicely. The gear-lever throw, especially from first to second, was a bit too much and the arm-rest was coming in between. Mentioned that to the SA and he said, he has got the same feedback earlier and has been fed back to Mahindra. The reverse gear arrangement was something new to me, never seen anything similar. Surprisingly, the tbhp review also did not mention anything about the reverse-gear arrangement. There was a bike in the fast lane. I pressed the horn a bit, the biker checked his right mirror and quickly moved to the second lane. Talk about road presence! Big smile on my face!

Although I always wanted to own a SUV, I understand that these are difficult beasts to live with because of their nervous handling and bad fuel efficiency. I never expected that I would like the ride and drivability of XUV better than Vento. Plus all the little gizmos, made the Vento look so vanilla. Wife and kido loved the rear seat and the flat floor (no transmission hump). I was so SOLD on Vento for last 8-9 months and now I was seriously considering a XUV. What the heck, you live just once! :)

Booking: The royal pain

It was "Love at first drive". The heart had voted and the brain joined the party after the initial hesitance.

The first round of bookings were already closed. Took 2 more TDs in the next few weeks. Kept on hearing rumours about next booking opening date. Finally Mahindras announed the 2nd round of bookings and the much-criticized lottery system in mid-Jan'2012. Bought 2 tickets of the lottery, one from Mumbai and one from Pune. Some of the initial ownership reviews started mentioning the issues they are facing with their vehicles. The "XUV 5OO niggles" thread came up and started getting longer every day. The brain started having serious doubts about the leap of faith that I had taken. In a way, it was good that both my applications did not get selected. Got back the refund. The kids were disappointed. I was in two minds with the sheer volume of niggles reported by fellow TBHPians. The only silver lining to the dark cloud was that Mahindras were taking the customer feedback positively and working on the niggles. Decided to participate in the lottery or any new buffonery Mahindras would come up with for the next round of bookings.

Fortunately, in early April'2012, Mahindras announced the 3rd round of booking exclusively for the those who did not get the vehicle in the lottery round. Appreciated the fairness and consideration of Mahindras. Took a day off, drove down to Pune and booked a Tuscan Red W8 FWD on 14th April 2012 with Kundan Motors in Bhosari. Then the wait started for getting the customer-promised-date (CPD) from M&M. Never got the call. When followed up with the dealer, he initially mentioned 1st week of June and finally confirmed 22nd of June as the delivery date. I told the sales-guys that I will manage my own insurance and loan. No objections from them. They did not even offer to match the rate/quote I would get. Emptied out all accounts and paid my own contribution to the total payment and got the rest from HDFC Bank. Got the insurance done from HDFC-ERGO.

Got the VIN on 14th June. Its a May'12 manufactured vehicle. On 18th June, got a confirmation from the dealer that my XUV has reached their yard. I wanted a choice number for my XUV and the dealer said that I need to come down to Pune for booking the choice-number and signing the papers for registration. Took a day off from work on 21st June and drove down to Pune again. The sales-manager patched me up with a RTO agent. Went to the RTO and asked the agent for 909 or 9009. He said the current series is already on 8700 odd and I can forget about ANY special number. Asked him if I can get a number from the next series. The answer was "No". He asked me "Should we try for triplets like 9111, 9222, 9333 etc?". Why not? He took me upstairs and checked. Nope, none available :Frustrati. "Should we try from the choice-numbers from motorcycles? Those would cost thrice the amount!". Finally got 9222. 5000x3 = 15,000 Rs. In a way, waste of money. But What the heck, you live just once! :)

A visit to the yard and PDI:

After the choice-no selection, I dropped the copy of the choice-no. receipt at the showroom, signed the registration paper and informed him to wait for my confirmation from the yard before sending the vehicle for registration the next day. Then I drove to the Kundan Motors Yard. After a couple of wrong turns, eventually located the yard. There was a caretaker's shade right at the entrance and as I walked towards it, saw a Red XUV5OO parked a few meters away. Is that ours? Told the care-taker that my Red XUV is in the yard and I need to check it out. I was expecting ours would be the only one in the yard. Surprised to learn that there were around 6-7 XUVs in the yard and 2 of them were red. So he asked me about the VIN. I gave it to him and he checked the hand-written tags on the keys of the 2 red ones. Yes, the one that I had just seen was indeed ours! Took out the camera, the pen and the printout of the XUV5OO PDI checklist from TBHP. The caretaker was a bit amused, but started helping me immediately.

Let the photos do the talking for some time:

First look! The vehicle has landed at the yard just 2-3 days back, and its monsoon. So I was anyway not expecting a vehicle covered with dust.


The tyres are JKs and not Bridgestones. Checked the remaining 6-7 XUVs. Some W8 had JKs and some W6 had Bridgestones. No pattern as such.


Popped open the hood. Checked the engine-oil level.


The mighty mHawk!


The Black and Brown interiors. I liked these better than the other one that you get in White and Black XUVs.


Just 18 kms on the ODO.


Exterior shot


I like the below angle.


Took a very small round in the yard itself and parked the vehicle at its original place. Gave a little bit more elbow room on the side where a Bolero pickup truck was parked. Asked the caretaker to take care of my car in terms of not letting doors of other cars touching my cheetah. The caretaker assured me that they take care of each and every vehicle while it is in their yard.


The PDI checklist was useful, but a bit too lengthy. Glanced through the last couple of pages, just to verify that I am not missing anything significant.


Called the showroom and informed them that I am OK with the vehicle and they should proceed with the registration formalities.

Called up my wife (with almost the same excitement when I had seen our own kidos for the first time) and told her that I saw OUR XUV.

Drove back to Mumbai happily in my Alto.

Delivery Dilemma:

After the PDI at the yard and a go-ahead from me about registration on 21st of June, I realized that its going to be difficult to get the delivery on Saturday 23rd June. The dealer asked for 2 days for the registration & road-tax formalities and the RTO would be closed on Saturday. So the delivery got pushed to next week.

The better half was not keen on letting the kids bunk the school and we taking delivery on a school-day. I didn't want the kids to miss such an important and fun-filled day in our life. I somehow convinced her that its risky letting the vehicle stay with the dealer too long after registration. Finally, she agreed to take the kids along. Then new angle - she insisted that we need to check if the day of the delivery is auspicious or not. She consulted someone and got Wed-Thu (27-28th June) as the delivery dates. I conveyed Wednesday 27th June to the dealer.

I had asked for just 2 accessories - floor mats and the reverse camera. During the week, the SA called me up and reported that they tried to install the reverse-camera and it's not working. He said they are trying to procure another piece. He further added that even if they don't get the camera installed by the delivery date, I should not worry and I can visit them on any subsequent day for the quick installation. Even after having mentioned multiple times that I am based out of Mumbai and can not come down to Pune every now and then, the SA still keeps on forgetting that. Finally, I told them very clearly that I need the reverse-camera installed on or before the delivery date or I would need the refund.

On Tuesday 26th June morning, it still looked like all set for Wednesday delivery. And then, Murphy struck. On 26th June, one of my projects had an internal escalation that went 3 levels up in the hierarchy. Hectic damage-control ensued and in the midst of all that, the probability of taking a day-off for the XUV delivery nose-dived to zero. :Frustrati

In the new reality, Saturday 30th June was the earliest we could take the delivery and I announced that to my family. My wife rechecked the auspiciousness factor for the new date and told me that 30th June till 2nd July are bad days. Really felt like banging my head against the wall. She proposed sometime next week. I told her that the project situation is going to remain critical for next few days, so ANY week-day is not going to work and I am not ready for waiting for another week. The discussion did not get anywhere. Later that day we came to a compromise - we will take the delivery on Sat 30th June, BUT not before 10:30AM AND after bringing the vehicle to Mumbai, we would start using it only from 3rd July (when the bad period is over).

So, finally 30th June it is! That week felt like the longest week I have experienced in recent times. :)

The D Day (D = Delivery):
After long hours in office that entire week and an agonizing wait, finally Saturday 30th June dawned.

At home, everybody was excited. I was super-excited. Couldn't sleep well because of the excitement. Had gotten up around 4:30AM. We wanted to take the elder brother Alto to Pune to bring home the younger brother XUV. Needed 2 drivers while coming back. I had called up my sister's driver the day before and asked him to join us at 8:00AM in the morning. He turns up on time. We were all set, but started only around 8:30AM (remember the dictat "delivery NOT before 10:30AM").

As we went to our Alto, my dear wife did something that amazed me. She had picked up some pedhas, a garland, flowers and other misc items for doing a puja of the new vehicle. Along with that, she had also picked up a separate garland for our Alto! I was touched. It was like not forgetting your old relationships when getting into new ones. We garlanded the Alto and started for Pune.

My sis's driver insisted that he would drive. I reluctantly agreed and got in the front-passenger seat. I have never travelled in that seat. It was a weird feeling with the seat-belt in the diagonally opposite direction to what I was used to. I took out the D90 and started shooting.

My family in the Alto's back-seat.


Spotted a Mini Cooper convertible at Khalapur fuel bunk. My daughter's favorite!


I texted the Sales Manager that we have started and to keep our vehicle ready. It was a beautiful day for driving. I snatched back the driver's seat after the Khalapur fuel bunk on the expressway. We reached the dealer's showroom around 11:30AM. While I got busy with paperwork, my wife told me that there is a XUV under a red veil parked on the other side of the showroom. Is it ours? I went there, checked the registration number plate (which was partially visible through the veil) and it was indeed our Duma.

My kidos in front of the veiled car


Wifey joined in.


I thought, why should I lose a photo opportunity?


While I went back to finish the paperwork, the dealership unveiled the car and got ready for the puja.
My son looked at our XUV and was awe-struck by the beauty.


You can make it out from his expression that he is quite impressed


My daughter joined him


The better-half started the puja


Red swastik on a red car. Hardly visible.


The tires got their moment of glory.


I broke a coconut in front of the car.


The puja-director from the dealership made me keep the coconut on the bonnet. I was already scared of getting scratches.


We were handed over the keys. The guy who is giving those keys is neither the SA that I dealt with nor the Sales-Manager. Not sure, if this chap's only responsibility is to hand-over keys. :D


They asked me to move the vehicle by a feet and I immediately jumped in the driver's seat.


The kids joined in and were amazed by seeing the touchscreen infotainment system up-close.


I inched the vehicle forward and got down. A expert driver from the dealership got the vehicle outside through a decently narrow glass door. Almost gave me a heart-attack when one of the sides of our cheetah came milimeters away from the door. Finally, after some maneuvering, the XUV reached outside.


Wife installed the mandatory Ganesh idol.


Next round of posing started.


Me with the kids


I grab hold of wifey for a quick photo-op.


The car went to the basement for getting the reverse-camera installed. While the camera got installed, we got a demo of all the features of the car. The Odo was showing 65kms. The demo guy did some magic and reset the odo to Zero. Its already 2 o'clock. We were hungry and tired. Had a light lunch nearby. Said goodbye to the SA and the sales-manager.

Its time to head home. Around 3:30PM we started from the dealer - me with entire family in the XUV and the driver in my Alto. Filled up diesel at the nearest bunk. Felt weird to instruct "diesel" to the pump-attendant. Got my first experience of Mahindra interior quality. Pressed the fuel-lid open button in the dash and the button went inside and vanished! I was looking at a gaping hole. Took it in the stride and did not let that incidence spoil our happiness.

Alto led the way on the Pune-Mumbai expressway. This is a rare photo showing my Alto in motion without me at the wheel.:p


The weather gods were pleased with us that day. The higher seating position meant I could see farther than usual.


I was putting the Duma through his paces, while our Alto was flying away on the expressway. Finally managed to catch up with the Alto at the Talegaon toll-plaza.


I concentrated on driving in the 80-110 range and saw a whole bunch of cars zooming past me. Mentally commented "meet me again on the expressway, when I am done with the running-in." :-)
After 2-3 tries figured out how to engage the cruise control. Set it on 100 for a minute or so, just to test it. The expressway drive was easy. After I got off the expressway, the traffic tested my diving skills in some patches.

Finally reached home around 6:00PM and parked in the building compound.


We couldn't believe it. Our Duma is finally home!

First Impressions:

I am no expert. So I won't be able to comment on finer aspects of ride quality, handling etc. Here are a layman's views:

What I liked:
1. Practically everything. :D
2. The looks definitely
3. The space.
4. The zillion features
5. The seating position
6. Road presence and the respect that you get. Noticeable reduction in suicidal pedestrians and autowallahs jumping in front of my car.
7. Comfortable ride. Did not feel tired after the 150 kms journey.
8. No turbo-lag. Linear power delivery. No surprises.
9. NVH levels. The cabin was super-silent during the expressway run.
10. Its diesel. Definitely going to be lighter on my wallet.
11. Efficient. Showed 15.1kmpl after the expressway run.

What I disliked:
1. Plastic quality of some parts e.g. the whole dial housing, the fuel-lid-opener, the bonnet open lever, the shiny compartment in the middle of the dash.
2. The steering rod still messes with your left foot when the clutch is fully depressed. I think its a new design, which hasn't solved the problem completely.

Overall, a very happy owner!

Congrats SDP. Thats one dashing beast that you now own. And as one of my colleagues who bought this color said, whats the fun if the Cheetah is not in its so well advertised red livery!

Enjoy... :)

I am a little concerned now. What is this? You mean to say the odo which is supposed to be tamper proof can be so easily reset to zero? I strongly suspect it was the Trip Meter which he would have reset and not the odo.

Thanks Zappo!

About the Odo, it is the Odo and not any of the trip-meters. Currently my ODO, trip A and trip B, all read the same. I was not surprised by that 'magic' as I have read about it somewhere in the official review thread or the niggles thread. Seems like the XUV odo can be reset just once. Let me look up that post.

Edit: Here's the link to the post.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post2748678

Congratulations @SDP! The red is a rare color on the XUV - haven't spotted one yet around!

One question that's puzzling me - why the purchase from Pune? Faster delivery?

Thanks Ninja!

Its not exactly Pune city. I have a place in Talegaon-Dabhade which is outside the PCMC Octroi region. Got it for ~75K less, as compared to Mumbai!

Congratulations SDP on the purchase of Mahindra XUV!

Very well written review and fantastic photos doing justice to it. XUV looking killing in red shade.

Don't forget to keep the thread updated regularly.

Wishing you years of happy and safe driving!

Excellent write up with complimenting pictures! Enjoy your ride!

Awesome SDP. Congrats. You are driving the vehicle in the color that I love the most. Even though I drive a grey one, I like the red.

Wish you many many miles with your beast and keep us all updated. Happy motoring.

Congratulations again, SDP.

I'm yet to read thru all the posts once I finish work and get home to read this further. I can see you have added a lot of details and very nice pictures to complement the exprience too, please keep it updated with your experiences with your Duma (nice name!). I have thought of naming it 'Legadama', a leopard from my favorite documentory (Eye of the Leopard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). I watched HD version many times in the past year. Its wonderful! However, we just call it 'car' or XUV in general :)
Wish you a niggle free experience with your 'Duma' and lots of happy miles ahead.
drive safe.