[abirnale]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Congrats abirnale.
...
I used to follow your SX4 thread closely. .... your thread was kind of a nostalgic fall back for me

Thank you Rajeevraj! It surely motivates to keep up the threads up-to-date and keep sharing more with community.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Congratulations Avinash!! From a Beast (Well it was indeed) to a Bigger Beast
....
All the Best and keep us updated on your future drives. We may have met this weekend at the outset of monsoon in Western MH but there's always next time.

Thanks Parag! We couldn't do some DIYs we discussed earlier with SX4 and seems like XUV5OO will not need any sooner! But meeting soon is definitely possible. We haven't driven together before even if we met on multiple occasions. Let's plan for a drive, at least a breakfast drive if not longish soon.

Originally Posted by vdm

Congratulations on buying the Orange Cheetah.
...
It was a little surprising to see the chrome strip giving up in just few days. Did you let the A.S.S. know about it?

Thanks Vdm for your best wishes.

The Chrome Strip is not a big deal - its stuck with some below par quality glue and hence comes out easily if you leave car in sun. Although it's a full line across the side, only the last portion stuck on glass comes out.

I already approached my SA on this. Although the strip had come out on only one side, they replaced both side strips with new one and did not charge me anything Of course you don't expect this kind of stuff on such a pricey product, but then this is what we assumed when bought into it anyway. The XUV5OO has improved a lot since it's launched years ago. Being a flagship product from M&M, they do take care of customers very well. At least the dealer I am associated (Sireesh Automobiles) with does.

Here are the pictures of side chrome line coming out and refining -





In my interaction with SA, I came to know that the vendor who supplies these strips is not in India. And they are struggling with the quality of this strip especially for the rear glass portion. Hence the newer lots coming out will not have that chrome line on last glass portion. Not sure how much true it is or how good it will look.

I am very sure that this strip will come out again after few weeks. My option then would be to completely remove them, cover the back film on the pillar to hide that exposed body colour part to avoid looking odd as well as rust and do a DIY with plastidip for "de-chromi-fication"

[abirnale]

After two weeks into ownership, I decided to perform the paint protection on the car through our bhpian @nirmaljustdoit. He has his detailing service under brand name - KeyStone detailing. Having met him multiple times, seen his work on cars, I want to try and see what he does with Cheetah.

What he did with XUV5OO is detailed below -
The Cheetah was washed down with Keystone Foaming shampoo and dried. The whole body was clayed with detailing clay to thoroughly decontaminate the surface. Post this the surface was compounded with Menzerna FG 400 to remove the swirl minor marks if any and bring the paint up to its best quality. The entire surface was wiped down with iso propyl alcohol to remove any residues which may effect bonding.

Post this the surface was coated with Opti Gloss which is a glass coating that bonds with the paint surface and protects the surface from damage from ultraviolet rays, bird dropping etc. In addition it provides a protective layer which also helps to maintain the surface easily.

The front windshield and all four alloys were also coated with same coating for easy maintenance i.e. water removal and also brake dust removal.

The interiors were wiped down with all purpose cleaner to remove any stains. Especially the plastic parts. The engine bay was degreased and protected with Keystone All purpose dressing.

Things used :

• Ultra foam shampoo for foam wash
• Ultra degreaser for wheels and tires
• Ultra APC for interiors
• All purpose dressing for tires and engine bay
• Menzerna FG400 for swirl marks removal
• Optimum Opti gloss coating

As compared to earlier, Nirmal now has his own range of cleaner products sourced from some top private label manufacturers in the USA.

The output of this treatment is what you see below -








For information - as a routine I wash the car only once a week, that too myself.

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by abirnale

What he did with XUV5OO is detailed below -

The cheetah looks stunning after the treatment Avinash. I am sure once in a week wash and once in 6 months detailing should be enough to keep the car shining and gleaming always. Good job by Nirmal almost similar to 3M.

Originally Posted by abirnale

Let's plan for a drive, at least a breakfast drive if not longish soon.

Please include me as well if you plan for a breakfast drive. My cheetah would get an opportunity to take some snaps with the new age sibling

[n_aditya]

Congratulations Abirnale. This shade of orange looks nice and I am sure it looks even better in the flesh.

The XUV is a wonderful vehicle and handling is its best attribute. I had a blast at BIC with the XUV a couple of years ago.

Nice of you to share all the tiny details on this car. It will definitely help our members make an informed decision.

Did you get any 3M treatments on the car?

Wishing you many happy and safe miles and years on this one.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by fusionbang

Please include me as well if you plan for a breakfast drive. My cheetah would get an opportunity to take some snaps with the new age sibling.

Of course Sunay. If it's a formal meet, you would see it on Tbhp thread anyway but if you decide to hit to CCD at night, I am game for it - especially Saturday nights allowing me to sleep longer on Sunday

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Did you get any 3M treatments on the car?

Thanks Aditya.

No, nothing from 3M yet. The paint treatment/ detailing is done by Nirmal (@NirmalJustDoIt). I have to do something about floor mats this weekend for sure and contemplating OSRAM night breaker kinda lights/ rear guard. I hate to put the side steps as well as bumper guards but with my daily run on Bannerghatta road, it seems like I will need at least rear guard and may be front bumper sensors soon.

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by abirnale

Of course Sunay. If it's a formal meet, you would see it on Tbhp thread anyway but if you decide to hit to CCD at night, I am game for it - especially Saturday nights allowing me to sleep longer on Sunday

Last time thought of catching up with you during the Ooty drive, but you had left early and could not meet you. And for the upcoming formal drive I will not be in town to make it. So Saturday nights should be cool, just ping me and I will be up for it.

[Tanveer_2558]

Lovely review there abirnale Very detailed, Wish we were staying nearby so that we could bring both the orange cheetah together Many congratulations, Wish you many miles of happiness and a trouble free experience with the car! Please do keep the thread updated, And surely your cheetah is shinning a lot more after the treatment. Looks a very good job done.

[Sam Panch]

Originally Posted by abirnale

In my interaction with SA, I came to know that the vendor who supplies these strips is not in India. And they are struggling with the quality of this strip especially for the rear glass portion. Hence the newer lots coming out will not have that chrome line on last glass portion. Not sure how much true it is or how good it will look.

Hi Abirnale, congrats on your orange beauty. I test drove the same colored XUV at India Garage yesterday and found the chrome lining removed. I asked the Salesperson about it and he said it has been removed because there were some challenges with it (not sticking etc) like you mentioned. He also showed me a new vehicle ready for delivery - the chrome lining was not there and frankly it didn't make much of a difference. Am not a big fan of Chrome in any case. Hopefully they will remove the chrome around the fog lamps as well.

[SDP]

Congratulations Abirnale!

Fantastic review. Amazingly detailed. Took me a while to go through it all, but it was time well spent.

A professional detailing session so early? Oh, you are from Bangalore. I understand! I heard that apartments near 3M outlets go at a premium in Bangalore.

Just kidding!

Enjoy the beast to the fullest. Looking forward to regular updates and travelogues from you.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by Tanveer_2558

Lovely review there abirnale Very detailed, Wish we were staying nearby so that we could bring both the orange cheetah together

Thanks Tanveer! Both oranges side by side, would be a sight! But wait, you have AWD

Originally Posted by Sam Panch

He also showed me a new vehicle ready for delivery - the chrome lining was not there and frankly it didn't make much of a difference.

Thank you Sam. Its a good relief to know that the chrome line not having there doesn't make big difference. I want this chrome line to fall off again. And something sooner to be done for those ugly fog lamp chrome too.

Originally Posted by SDP

Congratulations Abirnale!

Coming from you, this means a lot. Thank you very much for the appreciation as well as motivation. I will keep this updated regularly. Promise

Wash Cycle -

So last week I had drive on NH4 in the rain and the result was this dirt -




But all it took me is one good hour of cleaning with just 1.5 ltrs of water with 2 ml of ONR solution mixed in it. Used the lint free cloths (separate for body, soak water and glass) to clean the car. And the result is here -





Just dusted the engine bay -



It feels good to clean the car yourself! I am sure cheetah would be thanking me for this. But being lazy, I left the alloys as is. I should spend some time to clean that neatly.

A small neat feature

While dusting the interior I removed this plastic inside the can storage -



To my surprise it had this arrangement beneath it -



The deeper hole can be used to store the taller bottle! Of course the any hard objects will rattle in there since the cushion is gone. But if you are desperate for more space, this is a good neat little thing!

NH4 Run Pics -
On the last weekend we had been to Chitradurga Fort. Since it was raining, we could not take any great pictures but here are few from the drive and then the dam we visited - Vanillas Sagara Dam off Hiriyur/ NH4.

The NH4 Tarmac -




Some Pics at Chitradurga Fort -








And the picture of dam -



I am loving the cheetah!

[sbala]

First of all, Congratulations on your new XUV 5OO. My 5 year old son is behind me to get one too. I love when threads have ownership & travelogue's shared together. Enjoyed reading it so far. Keep going.

Btw, How did you manage to clean that level of dirt with just 1.5ltrs of water??

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by sbala

How did you manage to clean that level of dirt with just 1.5ltrs of water??

Thanks SBALA.

Since the paint protection is already done, the dust never settles on the body actually. A gentle dusting off using Jopasu duster followed by light sprinkle of water (which has ONR liquid mixed up) can pull off worst of the worst dirt. This is pretty much like water less chemical wash you get in those detailing shops. I use four different cloths. One to dust off. Second to wipe out first water layer - it takes a lot of dirt already out and dries the surface maximum. Then another one to absorb all remaining water. In case of glass surface, I use different cloth to absorb the final residue of water. No swirl marks, no bi-directional movement. Simple enough. No sweating too

When the body is clean, even if it rains, water drops do not stay on the body. Like on an oily surface it either drops down on ground or stays with minimum contact area on body. When it dries, it does not leave the dry marks too. Thanks for Opti Glass coating that is pretty much like a layer on top of actual paint to protect it beneath.

This is exactly why one needs to have a paint protection.

For more understanding on these techniques and pros/ cons, do search through detailing threads on this forum.

[amansanc]

Congrats on owning the Cheetah Abirnale! I saw the Orange XUV in flesh a couple of days earlier and found it really nice. Not sure how easy would this be to maintain though!

Originally Posted by abirnale

In my interaction with SA, I came to know that the vendor who supplies these strips is not in India. And they are struggling with the quality of this strip especially for the rear glass portion. Hence the newer lots coming out will not have that chrome line on last glass portion. Not sure how much true it is or how good it will look.

Your SA was right. THey have deleted that part of the chrome strip on the newer cars. Saw two XUV W10's being delivered that day and both didn't have the chrome strip on that portion. IMO it looks a bit odd since the chrome strip ends abruptly.

[sathya_nars]

Congrats Abirnale

Very detailed and nice review !!

Cruise control doesn't work for me well. Even +/- buttons to increase/decrease doesn't work. Also re-engaging using resume button doesn't take back to previous setup speed. I'll get it checked.

Keep posting about your experience with the beast.

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by abirnale

contemplating OSRAM night breaker kinda lights/ rear guard.

I'd suggest the Philips Xtreme Vision bulbs over the Osram's. Philips last a lot longer than the Osram bulbs. Aparently Philips Xtreme Vision's are not manufactured anymore but I was able to source a pair from the distributor a couple of months ago. You might be able to source them from their distributors on JC road - Chawla motors and AK Traders.