[desertfox]

I will hold fort here, mines done just 5900 odd. Turned it in at Sterling Motors - The Gurgaon dealership today, should take a day or two to get it back. The reception, quality of service advicers, time taken, professionalism, seriousness at work is really shoddy there.

Mahindra have forced them to hire a guy from Toyota Dubai dealership AL Futtaim Motors now, he worked at Skoda earlier and will join them on September 9, lets see if things improve at Sterling Motors.

[desertfox]

Went to have a look at my Scorpio earlier this morning. I had also left behind a pair of Ray Ban Sun Glasses, which I had phoned the service head and got it promtly retained in his office - but the warranty repair news was no good. Sterling Motors said the condenser is faulty. They do not have one in stock, but will get it from their Faridabad workshop, it will take 24 hrs to arrive and the Scorpio will be ready only by Thursday evening.

[desertfox]

Got my Scorpio back this morning. After 6 days at the dealership service centre, the condensor in the evaporator was replaced under warranty.

[4x4addict]

My Scorpio has not done 43000 kilometers and wanted to give an update on the vehicle.

Overall vehicle has been quite reliable with no gremlins except for one major issue which has been described in detail in this thread. (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...reak-down.html).

Apart from this, I have not faced any major issues. The Tire Pressure monitor used to go nuts periodically, but now even that seems to have subsided. My only explanation for this is that cheap Chinese electronics take time to get used to Indian conditions.

The micro hybrid never worked from the start, but I didn’t care about it since, this gimmickry is not very useful in hot climates since you need the AC on all the time. SKS Mahindra in Bangalore insisted on repairing it despite my request to ignore it. They eventually got it working after replacing the clutch pedal sensor/switch three times !!. One visit to the work ship was only to resolve the micro hybrid issue.

Positives:
First let me list out the positives of this vehicle.

1) Compared to it’s nearest competitor the Safari, it is definitely value for money.
2) It is fairly reliable and cost of ownership is low.
3) It has super engine and it is a pleasure to floor the pedal and see the response.
4) Overall fit and finish is very good. Even after 43K kilometers of usage over bad roads, there are no creaks or rattles. Vehicle is as silent as when I first drove it out of the dealer.
5) This vehicle is an ideal SUV for the city given it’s reasonable turning radius and short gearing.
6) Excellent Customer Care. When I have had issues with the dealer, I have escalated to company officials, and they have always come through. So this is a company that takes customer care very seriously.

Now let me explain the negatives of the Scorpio:

Silly and Stupid Electronics

A big gripe that I have is with the Auto Sensing wipers. So the scorpio wiper stack has no intermittent feature. It has only two speeds, if you want intermittent wiper control, you need to turn on the automatic wipers. The Automatic wipers have a mind of their own. I guess it has to do with the amount of water on the wiper. Many times, the windscreen is full of water, but the auto wiper doesn’t turn on, so I end up using the single swipe feature by moving the wiper stalk upwards once.

Mahindra is such a stupid company, that they will add this cheap Chinese electronic crap so that they can make a glossy brochure, but they won’t spend a few bucks to add more valuable things like climate control. How many Scorpio owners on this forum would prefer automatic climate control over automatic lights and wipers??

The AC blower gives very little air at 1st speed and invariably you need to put in in 2nd speed. At this speed, the fan is quite loud.

Ride & Handling:

The scorpio is a good mile cruncher if the roads are in good condition. However, over bad stretches of undulating road the vehicle is very uncomfortable. Those who claim otherwise should consider doing a bad stretch on a Scorpio and then doing the same stretch in a Safari/Innova.

I drive to ooty on work almost every couple of days. Since the main Coimbatore – mettupalayam road is under construction, I take some village roads, which are tarred, but very uneven and undulating. The scorpio literally throws you from side to side. Sometimes, I take the same route in my partners Innova and that thing is supremely comfortable.

I am quite comfortable with the handling and regularly do speeds of over 140 kmph on good stretches of highway. The 4WD version with Torsion bar set up has slightly better handling than the 2WD at the cost of a stiffer ride.

Interior Space:
One of the main reasons, I chose the Scorpio over the Safari was the fact that I thought it was a seven seater with forward facing third row seats. However, since the interiors are so cramped, there is no leg space in the third row if you are using the middle row, so Scorpio is not a seven/eight seater by any stretch of imagination, it is purely a 5 seater with a big boot. Eight people cannot travel in this vehicle, expect for short stretch. Besides, if you want to use it as an eight seater, a roof carrier is a must.

Ergonomics:

Scorpio has very poor ergonomics. The placement of the driver seat, with reference to the steering, pedals, rear view mirror, dash, etc are all very flawed.

Summary:

The Scorpio was definitely a huge step for Mahindra who’s only R&D consisted of taking a CJ3B chasis stretching it and making all kinds of bodies to fit it. The Scorpio is a leap ahead of other products they have made so far on their own.

If budget permits, I suggest folks to pick the Innova over the Safari/Scorpio. I have used Innova on various occasions over very bad roads, and it is the most comfortable vehicle, I have been in. However, it lacks the sporty feel of the Safari/Scorpio. The engine is definitely sluggish and overtaking will not be as easy as in a Safari/Scorpio.

If you are not into minivans and can afford 1.5 lakhs more than the Scorpio, I suggest going in for a Safari. Tata seems to be ironing out their QA/QC issues and at this point, I feel it is worth the chance. If I were to buy now, I would even consider the Force One over the Scorpio.

If you must have a scorpio, I suggest the SLX as it is the most value for money option. Don’t go for the unnecessary gismos that come with the VLX.

Of all the negatives, the primary reason, I will not buy a Scorpio again or recommend it to people is because of the poor ergonomics, interior space and very bumpy ride over bad roads.

I am sure my review will upset many Mahindra Scorpio fans, but this the view of an SUV enthusiasts on the Scorpio after having owned and used the following SUVs for a number of years, in chronological order:

1) Isuzu Trooper 1996 to 2000
2) Mercedes M-Class ML320 2000 to 2004
3) Toyota Land Cruiser 100 Series 2004 to 2007
4) Honda Pilot (Soft roader) 2007 to 2009
5) RAV4 (Soft Roader) 2005 to 2009.

Some pictures of my ride are attached below.

[ajay0612]

Quite an honest review. I also feel the same about ride quality of it. Xylo is better on that account. People tend to choose Scorpio over Xylo merely due to later carrying a Taxi image.

[.anshuman]

Thanks for the Honest Review 4X4addict. We had a Scorpio VLX we sold some months back, i will compare it to your observations below.

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

Overall vehicle has been quite reliable with no gremlins except for one major issue which has been described in detail in this thread. (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...reak-down.html).

Our Scorpio had to be towed twice due to Clutch master cylinder assembly failure.

The Tire Pressure monitor used to go nuts periodically, but now even that seems to have subsided. My only explanation for this is that cheap Chinese electronics take time to get used to Indian conditions.

I hate all the extra sub standard gadgetry in Scorpio VLX over SLE, most of these electronics failed to operate at one time or the other. TPMS was never accurate, ABS had issues, Cruise control failed to engage, Reverse sensors had limited detection range......the list of niggles with electronics is endless.

The micro hybrid never worked from the start

Did not have this on our pre-facelift VLX.

3) It has super engine and it is a pleasure to floor the pedal and see the response.

Coupled with shorter gearing and lagless engine, it feels peppy unless you rev it to top end, where it gets uncomfortable.

Overall fit and finish is very good. Even after 43K kilometers of usage over bad roads, there are no creaks or rattles. Vehicle is as silent as when I first drove it out of the dealer.

Cannot say the same about about fit and finish which i found to be lacking but overall it is a solidly put together vehicle, i never heard any rattles.

This vehicle is an ideal SUV for the city given it’s reasonable turning radius and short gearing.

+1

Excellent Customer Care.

The local service centre in Gurgaon is terrible to say the least. Because they could not sort out issues in our vehicle, they refused to take our Scorpio and plainly asked us to take it elsewhere.

Silly and Stupid Electronics

A big gripe that I have is with the Auto Sensing wipers. So the scorpio wiper stack has no intermittent feature. It has only two speeds, if you want intermittent wiper control, you need to turn on the automatic wipers. The Automatic wipers have a mind of their own. I guess it has to do with the amount of water on the wiper. Many times, the windscreen is full of water, but the auto wiper doesn’t turn on, so I end up using the single swipe feature by moving the wiper stalk upwards once.

Add to that the design of the vehicle which throws all the water from tires to windscreen, a safety disaster.

The AC blower gives very little air at 1st speed and invariably you need to put in in 2nd speed. At this speed, the fan is quite loud.

Overall the AC is powerful enough to keep the huge cabin cool.

Scorpio has very poor ergonomics. The placement of the driver seat, with reference to the steering, pedals, rear view mirror, dash, etc are all very flawed.

The front bucket seats(and the rear ones too in captain seats variant) are pushed very close to the doors, this is surprising since there is a huge gap between seats, the result is door trims intrude in passenger space.

The front armrest is another ergonomic disaster, the armrest on door and the seat armrests are placed at different height, imagine sitting for hours with one hand about half a foot higher than your other hand. Upright seating gets uncomfortable on long drives, consider the side by side rocking motion and you start missing your other car.

If you must have a scorpio, I suggest the SLX as it is the most value for money option. Don’t go for the unnecessary gismos that come with the VLX.

I am sure you meant SLE not SLX. I always recommend SLE over VLX.

[4x4addict]

Also wanted to add that my total cost of maintenance so far has been posted on this thread.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post2518831

[parsh]

Waw, this is quite an eye opener. One of my close friends is about to buy the VLX having booked one inspite of my advising him to go for SLE with ABS atleast (I hope SLE comes with ABS) as that being the only most important feature that would be required in Scorpio given its known low breaking capability (only read and heard not experienced).

Should my friend cancel his VLX and instead go for SLE?

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by parsh

. One of my close friends is about to buy the VLX having booked one inspite of my advising him to go for SLE with ABS atleast (I hope SLE comes with ABS)
Should my friend cancel his VLX and instead go for SLE?

If he is getting the VLX with the Air Bag option, then he can go for the VLX, otherwise the SLE makes much more sense. Gives you ABS and all the standard stuff you need without the silly electronics.

In my case, I wanted Air Bags and VLX was the only option.

[himanshugoswami]

i too feel teh SLE is teh best VFM proposition in the Scorp.

it has features like rear wash wipe, demister, elec mirros over the LX and the all important ABS without the less useful elec gizmos of the SLX.

Oh yes, and it doesnt come with those graphics!!!!

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

Oh yes, and it doesnt come with those graphics!!!!

It does, but you can opt not to take it. I asked my friend who was taking delivery of a SLE not to go for the graphics.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Thanks for the Honest Review 4X4addict. We had a Scorpio VLX we sold some months back, i will compare it to your observations below.

2 probably OT questions to Anshuman.

1. For 5 adults, say around 5'8" in height and weighing around 75kg each, over a long distance and varied terrain, what do you think is more comfortable, the Scorpio or the Laura?

2. Would you mind disclosing the reason you sold the Scorpio?

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

For 5 adults, say around 5'8" in height and weighing around 75kg each, over a long distance and varied terrain, what do you think is more comfortable, the Scorpio or the Laura?

Our Scorpio had 2+2+3 seating, we removed the last row. So i cannot give you 5 people perspective, Laura also feels best for 4 for long distance journeys. To compare them directly, Laura is more comfortable.

[mohan]

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

Of all the negatives, the primary reason, I will not buy a Scorpio again or recommend it to people is because of the poor ergonomics, interior space and very bumpy ride over bad roads.

I am sure my review will upset many Mahindra Scorpio fans, but this the

My Scorpio mHawk 4wd VLX has done 8000 km and I agree with you in totality.
The ride quality on unpaved roads is horrible and I too surely wont recommend this vehicle for those who face poor roads on a daily basis.
Although , a friend of mine recently changed to Bilstien shocks , has reported a better drive quality .

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by mohan

The ride quality on unpaved roads is horrible...
Although , a friend of mine recently changed to Bilstien shocks , has reported a better drive quality .

I recently had the opportunity to drive my own 3-y-o 82,000-km VLX 4wd back-to-back with a brand new VLX 4wd sporting the new rear suspension. I must admit that body roll is reduced to a large extent, and the new suspension feels tauter and less susceptible to the roll and yaw that the older suspension exhibits.

Here's a look at the difference in suspension setups...

The Panhard rod is at a different position, the spring coils are placed more outwards, and the dampers are longer and at a different angle.

Unfortunately, a retro change to the new setup is not possible without changing the chassis as well as the differential. Far too expensive an option. Doc Mohan, could you please let us know about the availability / sourcing and costs of the Bilsteins that your friend installed?