[abirnale]

A quick trip to home - taking advantage of the Diwali holiday (actually work is going on but less stress as compared to other work days), I drove to MH, spent some time with parents and extended family and returned back. Friday/ Saturday And Sunday - that was all it took and some great memories.

To make this drive more memorable: For the past 6.5 years I did not drive it to the place which is super close to my home and is not easily accessible - a lakebed. And a nice bird's eye view of the place. It was lovely! The car is just fabulous - it does everything i want it to on the roads and off the road (obviously nothing like hardcore off-roading.)

Let the pictures do the talking:



















The odometer now stands just a few hundred KM away from showing the 150000 lakh! The first ever car I kept for so long with me and the one in which i travelled from Kanyakumari to Kashmir! What an amazing journey so far with this car!

[abirnale]

A milestone to cherish - 1.5 Lakh KMs on odometer!

What an amazing feeling this is - a relatively niggle free, trouble free 6.5 years of ownership and tons of memories this car has created for me and my family!



Obviously everyone loves their car - this one is no exception. I never thought this car will be with me for such a long time in all it's practicality! And that too 1.5 lakh KMs!

The car has traversed from Kanyakumari to Himalayas. Munching miles without any drama. Going to places that I once did not even imagine about. Carrying the family (and extended family) around with or without a full bootload of stuff. Never had a nervous moment with it. Loaded with 50kg jowar and wheat bags or every useful or not so useful (my best half thinks so) luggage in the boot, Cheetah just stayed planted - sticking to the ground literally. Minor problems like an healthy ageing adult (like me ) it has survived all weathers and seasons.

I am sure if I want to use the car for another 50K kms too, it will be absolutely fine and trouble free. Although the newness of the car is diminishing compared to all the newer kids on the block, this ageing cheetah is still in it's prime!

The car will be heading to Chrome motors later this week to ensure I give it a much deserving TLC and get ready for the next stint, maybe another 100K kms (with whoever it may be...)?

Ciao until next update!

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by abirnale

A milestone to cherish - 1.5 Lakh KMs on odometer!

What an amazing feeling this is - a relatively niggle free, trouble free 6.5 years of ownership and tons of memories this car has created for me and my family!

Congratulations on achieving this milestone of 1.5L km! This is a lot of driving in 6.5 years. Just shows how much you love driving! Kudos to you and your family (for accompanying you on these long drives) for this achievement!

Many of your driving stories are really inspirational. Your Orange Cheetah has become a symbol of the spirit of driving and adventure. I am sure you will continue in the same spirit in your next ride too. But in the meantime, your Orange Cheetah should take a bow for what it has achieved! Amazing machine!

[abirnale]

Another beautiful winter morning spent exploring neighbourhood - just headed out to Ragihalli Forest Area (Part of bannerghatta national park). Beautiful sunrise and some hot coffee with my kids - nothing more to ask for!







These small drives have been the norms - head out of home on sunday morning by 6am and back home for lunch or sometimes brunch! The lady of the house prefers to stay at home and get up late while we (kids and me) prefer to explore the flora and fauna (sight some birds, real ones I mean) and return home after a mini breakfast outside.

[abirnale]

150K Kms Service Update

The best part of Chrome Motors - you give them heads-up and be there at the time they tell you. The car will be serviced and ready or you while you are just catching up with your messages/ meeting folks or checking your emails - Chrome Motors are that sharp and agile. I had just sent a WhatsApp Message to my SA and he was ready to receive me today. Even before the Job Card was made, the car was on forklift! The Service floor in-charge knew what to be done with the car!



I just love these folks - they are why the car is in best of it's shape even today after 150K Kms!

As part of 150K service, just the usual Inspect and Repair if needed tasks are due. Fluid top-ups and checking for stuff etc is all needs to be done - so relatively simpler and faster service. But that's not how I had expected it to be - after the last engine oil change, it's been more than usual time and about 15K kms too. So I had procured the Motul 8100 xcess oil and kept things ready. In today's service the engine oil was changed, the low beam H7 bulb was replaced (had gone kaput). Noticed the rear suspension bushes not in the best shape hence replaced them as well. Brakes cleaning, checking underbody, AC filter change, tightening various bolts and nuts and overall inspection was carried out. The car was reported to work at 10.30am and everything was done by 12.30pm!

What looks like the last service of this fabulous car I own, I spent some time at the service center, catching up with folks, thanking for what they do to our cars and appreciating. Took the opportunity to click the picture with my SA and the service floor in-charge - these are the best buddies I have made at service center in past few years. These guys never even once shown resistance to anything I demanded. patient in listening, acting exactly as I tell them to and still keeping their smile intact! Tough job I am sure.

Thank you Prasad (SA) and Edrish (Service Floor Manager) for everything you guys have done for this car to be in top shape! I am sure we will continue to meet even in future too





Coming back soon with more exciting updates for my readers, stay tuned.

[sami316]

Thank you. This is one of the best ownership threads I have come across. Great to see the XUV maintained so well that it's hard to say it has crossed 1.5L KMs. Also good to see your physical transformation from the Car delivery pic to the latest one at Chrome Motors. Cheers.

[abirnale]

The plans will fail.. for sure if you are an IT joe but you know that you should not fail to plan!

The dates were set aside - 30/31/1/2 - good holidays and most of the urgent things at work addressed - I was looking for exploring something new... But then the plans changed! jai mahindra baba.

What better to do when plan A fails? Execute Plan B which was no plan at all

Yesterday, took my cousin kid-bro and his family in his nexon and escorted him with orange Cheetah on a day-long drive in his new Nexon to about 500Kms

Some glimpse of the drive here:





















We love this route any time of the year - the coffee at various stops (filter, regular and the fancy ones!) This region is just out of the world for us urban bangalore folks!

See a quick compilation of the moments in YT video below - the foggy drive on mangalore highway and beautiful lakes enroute. As usual pakshala @ yediyur food was good. Sandwiches at Coffee Barn Cafe were best as always!

https://youtu.be/JdCdWviXzrg

The Odometer on Cheetah suddenly jumps past 151K kms... And it's got a lot more in it still than one can imagine!

[abirnale]

The hardest part is here

The last look:


The final rolling out:


This time, I am not inside, I am outside. She probably doesn't know that I am bidding an adieu. Emotions run high. It's mixed emotions. Kanyakumari to Himalayas, completely trouble-free ride for 6+ years. A little short of the 152 K Kms mark today. The farthest it could take me and my family and the the best ownership experience to date. Mechanically perfect even today. A few battle-scars on the body proudly showing the experience and leaving behind tons of memories.

I am lucky that the Orange Cheetah found a new home with a young and enthusiastic chap from within namma Karnataka. Although she moves towards the coast, I hope to catch up with him and the car sometime in future.

Orange Cheetah leaves behind a void. Not sure how it will be filled. But then the show must go on. As I hear more from the new owner in the coming days, I will update the details here, but I guess this is pretty much a cold thread going forward

To summarise the ownership: we complemented each other the best:



Orange Cheetah will be missed. Good bye for now. Signing off today as the Ex-Owner.

[Singh09]

That's a really great ownership thread buddy and I can feel what you must be feeling because I own a 2012 XUV 500 W8 and will be completing 150,000 KMS within a week or so and will be parting ways with my ride soon. Even that thought makes me feel so emotional but that's how life goes. XUV is one hell of a machine by Mahindra, it may look like a delicate vehicle but it is one tough machine.

GOOD LUCK with your next purchase.

[Cliff9091]

@abirnale Sir,

Your XUV500 ownership thread is one of the 1st threads I started reading on team bhp, really sad to see you sell the Orange Cheetah, hope the new owner treats her like you did. Wishing you the very best with your next purchase and hope to see it on the forum soon

Cheers

Cliff

[abirnale]

thank you @Singh09 and @Cliff901.

As I wind up things, here are few things to sum-up the ownership expenses and spend:











I never glanced at the average FEs but the app continued to track - the City vs Highway demarcation is not appropriate in the data though. The best I have had was 16+ kmpl when I drove on the Cruise Control and did not exceed 120 ever on that drive. The worst probably is about 8-9 kmpl when pedal stayed floored for entire trip

The sharp drop one time - was when the Car was used by someone and they topped up the diesel, so my cost is Zero. That was the only few KMs someone drove my car. Out of 152K kms, I think only for about 1000 km cumulative all inclusive I must have sat in the second row or passenger seat!

The car was almost once a month washed at the friendly washing centre nearby - nothing extraordinary - just shampoo and jet water spray. Raise it up on the lift and washed underbody, cleaned the dirt from every place eye could see. Once a year, my dear friend @SunnyBoi gave it a TLC in terms of wax, wash and polish.

None of the routine services were ever skipped! Not a single unattended niggle/ issue was left open for more than 3 days. Ideally the visit to service station should have been once every 10K kms or a year typically - this might be double of routine norm but nothing worrisome - Chrome motors folks took care of it well.

What a beautiful ride this was! The paper transfer is taking place - I had to obtain the Clearance Certificate/ CC or NOC in order for buyer to register the car in his place/ RTO jurisdiction.

Here is one picture new owner sent me last week when orange cheetah was headed to new den:



The Monday blues.... Void is painful especially the original den is still empty :(

[RaviGowda]

I always wanted to own XUV 500 and in fact just in the evening spoke about it with wife to trade off my duster with the good pre owned XUV. Your thread made me feel, missed opportunity

Advance congratulations on your new purchase and awaiting for the new ownership experience 😊

[deepfreak15]

Originally Posted by abirnale

The hardest part is here…

The last look

Woah, didn’t see this coming but I guess everything does come to an end, what next ?

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by deepfreak15

Woah, didn’t see this coming but I guess everything does come to an end, what next ?

A small swap



Another ownership thread coming up if you help click some great portraits with me and the car

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Congrats on the 7OO. Wishing you thousands of miles of happy ownership.

Do you have the breakup of service costs? 7.22L figure caught me by surprise here as I always thought the 5OO was pretty cheap (for it's class) to maintain.