[diwakarmuthu]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Hi Raghunath Singh,

I also drive a Scorpio VLX 2.2 so i guess i am qualified to answer your queries.

1. Scorpio's poor aerodynamics do not rob it of high speed stability. Scorpio's high speed stability is very good but it does not love corners at speed. Also due to the soft setup of suspension the ride gets bouncy at speed.
2. I get 11-12kpl in city, but then out driving pattern and usage conditions are different. I drive with a light foot and upshift early.
3. I have owned a SLX earlier, the braking was considerably worse compared to the ABS equipped VLX. I recommend SLE over others, it comes with ABS but loses all the extra useless gadgetry.
4. Having driven both ABS and non-ABS Scorpios, i say Scorpio ABS feels much more safer. Also the brakes are very well calibrated, despite being just a 3 channel system it works well.

I agree with Raghu's observations. As a long-term Scorpio owner, surely he will have more information than what is available in this thread. A big vehicle reallly gives you the extra cushion interms of overall saftey. But then driving safely and to the rules of both the land and the vehicle will prove good for the long term

Originally Posted by Raghunath Singh

What is the service/ maintenance cost for the Scorpio during free service and paid service. I recently met a mHawk Scorpio owner who said he was charged 9K during his second free service.

@Diwakar- Sorry for using your thread to extract some information. Your Black Scorpio looks awesome!!

Raghu, I hope this is within T-BHP rules, I don't want the mods to feel otherwise.

I am happy with this information as I get to learn a lot on the ownership experiences and also learn tips on maintaining the big fellow.

Black was the only available option that appealed to me and hence took one. Every one has been complimenting on how it looks good and I feel good about it as well

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by diwakarmuthu

I agree with Raghu's observations. As a long-term Scorpio owner, surely he will have more information than what is available in this thread. A big vehicle reallly gives you the extra cushion interms of overall saftey. But then driving safely and to the rules of both the land and the vehicle will prove good for the long term

Raghunath does not own a Scorpio. He is looking forward to buy one, He is asking questions here, not posting observations.

[diwakarmuthu]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Raghunath does not own a Scorpio. He is looking forward to buy one, He is asking questions here, not posting observations.

@anshuman, I meant to refer your name. I am sorry about the confusion

[diwakarmuthu]

The last 2 months have breezed by. The Scorpio is performing well. I haven't been able to add significant miles to it on account of work related committments. My office is hardly 2 kms from home and I do an occassional 100kms over the week end. The ODO is showing 1800+ kms currently. Recently I did a 400km drive between Chennai and Pondy. The mileage topped 14kmpl with speeds ranging from 60 - 100 kmph. I did not push beyond this as the vehicle needs some more miles for the initial run-in period.

I also included a basic ICE (reviews coming up separately) - Pioneer HU with Pioneer Sepakers (Front) and JBL Ovals (400Watts) for the rear. Pics and installation story will be started in a separate thread.

When everything was moving fine, I had the shock of my life when this happened.
This past Monday as I was travelling through the traffic at LB Road in Chennai, one irresponsible biker came and banged right on the tail lamps and broke the left-sided tail lamps. The biker then fell down from his vehicle. One good good thing about this accident was that there was no vechicle coming on the left side of the road. Luckily the impact was not very heavy and it did not leave any dents on the vehicle.

I got down and started an argument with the biker for giving a piece of my mind and telling him how irresponsible and dangerous he was driving. I also wanted to collect the repair cost from him. But being peak traffic hours and a traffic police post nearby, I had to give up on the discussion as work related meetings and dropping wifey to work took precedence. I am still teething at the biker who said to me "Sir the brakes failed and his leg slipped" how can somebody do this at 60kmph at peak traffic.
I got a packing tape from a nearby shop immediately and closed the broken area completely before I replaced it with a new one. It cost me Rs.1500 overall including the labor.

I don't carry a mobile with a camera, hence no photographs currently.

[TaureanBull]

Sorry to hear whatever happened. First dent pains most.

Thats a good mileage. Any services during the period?

Would love to hear the ICE details and cost. If possible post a link here if you post that in a separate thread.

[diwakarmuthu]

Its been an awful long time since I have been to T-BHP, reading the reviews and posting my own experience. Personal and professional related commitments made me skip this wonderful forum for many months. What a curse have I committed so far? Now with the android app, it makes it easier to stay connected with all brethren

My Scorpio LX (The big fellow as I refer it at times) completed a year this past week and what a wonderful time we’ve had. Though I would have enjoyed a few more miles of driving pleasure on the ODO (Currently reads 9200 kms), the experience of owning and driving Scorpio has been a pleasant one.

I haven’t had any major issues with the car so far (touchwood). During the 2nd month, I noticed inconsistent wear on the left side front and rear tyres. After checking the tyre pressure and multiple rounds of checkup for Flat tyre, I went for wheel balancing and it helped out momentarily for the next 5 months. This issue cropped up recently and I did a personal check myself and asked the service guys to rotate the wheels and the issue seems to have vanished for now. Let’s see.

The fog lamps that was offered during the delivery of the vehicle was only ornamental until the last 2 months. After multiple rounds of complaints with MPL, they managed to get a fog lamp switch and had it changed a month back. The fog lamps are working fine now with one sore point, the wiper switch is not having a low speed alternative. It has only medium and high speed. Is this the same with other SLE / VLX owners

Driving inside the city has led to a few scratches in the vehicle. I believe a good polish after sometime will take those scratches off and the car will be gleaming in black

One irritating hitch is the driver side power window switch. Since the second free service it has been functioning on and off. It is really irritating if I have to open the door and look back for reversing in narrow parking lots. The service advisor has agreed to replace the power window motor during the next service. Hopefully this should get sorted out.

Here is a quick snapshot of my service experience with the vehicle. I have been servicing in MPL A.S.S in Perungudi and the experience has been above average.
1. A crazy biker rear ended on my tail lamp and broke my tail lamp. This cost me 1500 bucks for change
2. 1st Free Service – Changed engine / gear box oil, oil filters, wheel-balancing and general service - Charged approx INR 2500
3. 2nd Free Service – General Service only. I was unable to open the rear-door with the key from outside and it was fixed – charged INR 750
4. 3rd Free service – General Service along with tyre rotation, wiper blades change, driver side power window was not working and it was fixed – Charged INR 750

I am equally impressed with the economy of the car. It averages a good 11-13 kmpl in city with AC and a KM or 2 on the highway. Maybe it should be the weight factor I guess and also I haven’t pushed the car beyond 110 on the highway. Is this similar average with SLE / VLX owners too?

I haven’t taken any fresh photos of car as yet. I will be adding the photos in a day or two. Please bear with me.

[diwakarmuthu]

8 Years have flown by and it has been a pleasurable experience in driving and caring for the big fellow. The car has started to show its age and being in Chennai near to the shore, rust plays a key factor and it has started to peep in some places. With the new fuel norms (BS VI) and safety norms kicking in, I have decided to wait so that I understand what could be the next logical car I can look at. Definitely a SUV in my mind, but am playing around with options considering the city commute I will need to do.

Being with the car for 8 years and for sure would complete 10 years before I flip it for another one, the emotional attachment is battling between the heart and the brain right now . I drove my new born in this very car 6 years ago and we have shared so much memories in it all these years, it is becoming difficult. My 6 year old is a big fan of cars, especially the big brute ones, just like his dad, so things are starting to build up. One thing that he really loves to do is to sit on the passenger side with the seat belts (Only during city commute) and have his toy steering wheel mounted to the handle on the passenger side and he would be fighting for the gear lever. I used to have a photograph of it, but can't locate it now

All the 8 years, the car has been absolutely trouble free barring for the A/C coil that conked off years back, but since its replacement it has been a pleasure to own and drive. I've been able to maintain it at an average annual cost of INR 20k.

I should have kept this page updated on all the happenings, but it has been difficult straddling many things all these years and I found some time to jot down the experience and am sharing it now.

In its 9th year, the boy started to show some signs of age and mechanically we had found some issues that had to be sorted so we started this way:

The crank shaft seal had worn out and we had to replace the seal completely. While checking on this replacement it was found that the original OEM clutch had seen its life, so went ahead and changed it. I am still running on OEM brakes both front and rear and they look good until next service (Fingers crossed)

The rear power windows haven't been working all along for close to 2 years. Whenever it went to ASS they would give it a nice whack and it would start working stating that there could be some loose ends, so didn't bother to check. One surprise though is that M&M doesn't sell the motor alone separately, you need to procure the whole assemble and rivet it back. The part number for the rear door window assembly is a single number.

Back from the shop, it is smoother now and expect it to run trouble free until next service.

The current state. The bumper and plastics have lost color since year 3. Have tried a number of DIY's to get back to original color in vain. Painting is another option I haven't explored yet


Side Profile


Other side!


Rear, same color issues with the bumper


4 years back I added faux leather seat covers from Jeewajee decors in Chennai. I had opted for black and tan as it wasn't part of their standard set. Spent around 14k for all seats.


The reach bench seats, the Velcro gave way on account of usage. Tried multiple things and then settled with a cheap Rs. 50 hook that that bikers use frequently for harness.


The current odo at 60k. Hopefully will add another 10-12k in the coming year!


The roof rack cover got loose over the years and in one of my drives, flew away. Have been searching for this one. The grouse is the OEM part comes with the full rack and they cost a bomb. So still searching through the dealerships, no luck yet


Rust becoming more prominent now. Need to to fix this one and also address the scratches, courtesy of bikers who love this car so much


I have always parked the beast in tight spaces and mostly I have been careful. In one such incident, I misjudged the pillar during a regular reverse and the bumper went off shape. I have tried everything possible to get it back in shape, but the rust underneath the bolt joints and the metal parts inside, isn't helping it. Have now started a search for alternate ones. New ones cost 12k+ labor and if we include painting, it would be a bomb, so not considering it now

[diwakarmuthu]

With a very heavy heart, I let go of my Scorpio LX after close to 15 years of fuss free ownership. Far too many memories are attached with this car and it was quite emotional letting the big guy move out of my garage.

I was seriously thinking about applying for the extension of RC to keep the car for another 2-3 years. However I started to notice a few things that I felt it was the good time to part with the car:

1. A couple of major mechanical works was on the hoirzon. I had been pushing it as far as possible.
a) The front Brakes along with the disc, rotor and shoes required overhualing (approx. 20K plus labour).
b) The steering column had worn out over the years and the rod had to be changed. It came up to 17k for the spare and futher 2-3k as labour

2. Cosmetically, the quality of paint had started to wane off. A couple of places, I had them scrapped off and repainted, but more than a decade of Chennai air, rust had started to peek in. I had removed most of the rust and kept the body in its original shape, but the traditional rust spots in a Scorpio had started to show up

3. A couple of years back, I moved to BLR for work. Though the opportunities to drive the beast were there, driving through bumper to bumper traffic on a long throw clutch was too hard to ignore.

4. Finally I evaluated the overall cost of mechanical works, body work and RC renewal and it worked out over 1.5L. I realised it is best for me to move on from the car.

I checked with Cars24 on the potential sale price thinking if it would make sense or I just drive the car as much as possible and scrap it after a few years. But the logistics of following up on many things dawned on me.

Finally, on 24th August, I sold the car to Cars24. I got a good deal considering the work on the car.

A major phase comes to an end. I am in the market looking for some good pre owned options as I explore my next automobile adventure.

Many thanks to all the members and petrol heads in this forum who helped me to keep the car in top shape all these years.

Wherever the car endsup, I hope it gives equal joy and happiness to the family or the driver as it was for me.

MODS, please close this thread as I will not be updating the ownership journey any more.