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You are exactly reflecting the same feeling of 100's of people here. When we start logically thinking, this may not be a good deal. But mahindra pulled the right one this time, by providing an excellent package to price value, and even after hearing all the niggles the owners experiencing its an irresistible offer. I have even test driven Jetta TDI and blew away with the performance. But the price is that something I cant imagine myself paying for that car. lol:

As you said, one has to completely trust Mahindra after sales to buy XUV at this point, personally I will not be hesitant to do that by looking at the way they responding to customer issues. In fact a very positive feel they created.

-HCP

There are similarities with the Saturn VUE and the Mistubshi Outlander as well as pointed out by sharninder. There is a good reason there are so many similarities between not just these models, but plenty of others as well. They are all 'crossovers'. There is a giant list on Wikipedia at the bottom of the URL I've pasted earlier and you'll see some design elements getting repeated over and over in many models. That shape and overall dimension is typically distinctive of a monocoque body crossover. That was one reason why many auto magazines had guessed (correctly) that the XUV will be a monocoque.

Coming back to the Saturn, one unique aspect of Saturn cars was that the cars were built with plastic panel bodies. Here is a good write-up on just the Saturn VUE. (Notice, the panel gaps in your picture. There is a reference to that in the article as well.)
Another, rather well known aspect of the Saturn (when it was still in business) was a 'no pressure' sales environment. So the price that was pasted on the car was it. No need to haggle and no dirty tricks department to worry about. I never bought a Saturn, but I knew a couple of people who did and they were always very appreciate of that experience.

As an existing owner I can tell you that the ownership experience is neither niggle free (for me personally), nor is their after sales support uniformly good. Sure there are good people, but there are far many more slow to respond and difficult to deal with folks. This is not a reflection on Mahindra alone mind you. This is probably what you'll get from any other local competitor and Mahindra may well be among the best. Just that you don't expect to deal with issues in a brand new car. Again, none of the issues (at least the ones I have faced) is of the kind that cannot be fixed, but why must you have these issues to begin with? I will write up a separate thread about my (ongoing :Frustrati) experience, but know that you will end up spending a good amount time with the car. I have interacted with other customers and I know that these are not a one-in a million 'outlier' case. They haven't after all sold a million of these. (They very likely will though.)
I really think that India needs a proper 'Lemon Law' to deal with such cases. Don't get me wrong, the XUV is a great product. Its way ahead of any other desi offering and compares very favorably to its more expensive competitors. But, and here is the big but, its not 100% ready yet. Its close, maybe even 99% or higher, but if my car spends more time at the service station than at home to sort out 'niggles', we have a BIG problem.

True, the reason why some people, including me decide to wait for a year. The number of XUV owners in teambhp is not very huge. But even then the xuv niggles thread contains some things that puts a prospective customers in doubt.

Even for the people who like to murder/maim people, bullbar is not a good thing.
1. In case of crash the crumble zone will not work as designed due to the bullbar , and in some cases it will also hinder proper working of active safety systems
2. During a crash the chassis will be prone to more damage if there is a bullbar

Got this by email today

"Dear Sir / Madam,

We thank you for participating in the XUV500 Draw process for which applications were invited between 25th Jan 2012 and 3rd Feb 2012. The draw process received an excellent response with over 25000 applicants taking part in the same. It was validated by the professional services firm, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd (DTTIPL).

We have received feedback from various applicants who could not make it to the successful applicants list of the Draw, requesting for some form of consideration for deliveries in future. We had communicated that we will do our best to consider such feedback favourably, after we have delivered the vehicles to the successful applicants under the draw.

Now, we are extremely happy to inform you that we are in a position to consider your request .The unsuccessful applicants of the Draw now have the opportunity to book XUV500 by visiting the dealership (where one submitted the application for XUV500 Draw) and confirming their booking. The delivery dates will be based on the random sequencing done for priority as part of the automated Draw process. Our effort is to try and deliver your XUV500 upto approximately 4 months after confirmation of booking. The prices ruling at the time of delivery will be applicable and you may check the latest price applicable while booking your XUV 5OO at a Mahindra Dealership.

If you wish to confirm the booking of your XUV500 on the above mentioned terms and conditions, kindly visit the dealership (where you submitted your application for XUV500 Draw) with a copy of your application form, copy of your payment receipt (receipt for initial payment of 80000/- for participating in the Draw) & a copy of the ID proof which you had submitted along with your application. All booking formalities, including filling and signing of the 'Order Taking Form' need to be completed on or before 18th April 2012, along with the payment of a booking amount of Rs 40,000/- .

Please contact the dealer for further details. Also you can contact our toll free number at 1800-266-7000. We once again thank you for placing your confidence in Mahindra & Mahindra. It would be our pleasure to have you as part of the Mahindra family in the near future."

I am inclining towards booking the XUV again

-- Wind

Bharath, am really surprised to see this post from a sensible poster like yourself. The part in bold is indefensible, even if uttered in lighter vein. I have no sympathy for people who break the law, whether they are drivers or pedestrians, but one thing that should never be forgotten is that we all SHARE the road and need to be considerate to each other.

The 99% figure you have quoted is without merit. While "street justice" may hold that the bigger vehicle is always at fault, any vehicle hitting a pedestrian is at fault etc., that is surely not the default legal position.

Sorry to say- this kind of thinking is what deters me from buying an SUV: I would hate to turn into one of those drivers that "owns the road" just because he is sitting in a big butch indrestructible vehicle mowing everything in its path. Again, just my opinion, but I think it needed to be said.

Agreed with you, person in a vehicle has to be more responsible, specially where a pedestiran /2 wheeler is involved.

For me saving the bumper has never been a choice, I had my rear number plate and bumper damaged more than once (in my Wagon R, Scorpio's rear bumper till now has taken the hits bravely with nothing more than a few scratches to show).

I have had 2 instances in the past 2 days with bikes where I would have loved to tap the offenders, but preferred a screeching halt (more details in the Bad Drivers thread).

Got a SMS on similar lines. The mail has much more details. Although I had decided to wait for 6 months before jumping in, now I am tempted :D.

If the next lot is anyways going to be upto 4 months, not too much of a difference between waiting for 4 months and 6 months. The random sequencing got me worried a bit though. That might mean, me getting the XUV next month, which I don't want.

There were close to 18,000 unsuccessful entries in the last draw. Looking at the 4 month delivery promise (and a production capacity of ~3000 per month), looks like Mahindras are betting on converting around 12-13 thousand of those 18 thousand entries into confirmed orders.

This would effectively mean that the fresh bookings will not start in the very near future, so probably gives people like me additional time on the fence and hope additional niggles get sorted out.

The sales person told me that Mahindras have a production capacity of 4000 per month and they can now churn out 16000. Even with the random sequencing, if one is "unlucky" or "lucky", the latest somebody can get the car is about 4 months from now.
I had booked an Innova because I wanted a SUV badly. Now I am thinking of cancelling it and going back to booking the XUV. In your case, you do not want the car now, in my case, I want the car now. Maybe we can swap it if I turn out to be "unlucky".

According to the sales person, this prioritized booking will end by 18th April and fresh bookings will start from 15th May depending on the response to this prioritized booking. In my opinion, M&M should see about 40% - 50% return of their "unlucky lottery" customers return for a booking. To service the 50% of the 17000, they will need only 2 months considering their production capacity of 4000 per month. So, a 15th May booking with a promise of delivery within 3 - 4 months makes sense.
On a different note, do you folks think that this prioritized booking scheme is "customer friendly" or plain "business realities" with the impending launch of Ertiga and Toyota's increase in production capacity, recently?

Depends on the number of booking they manage from the lottery backlog. There were ~18000 unsuccessful entries. That time, there were a whole bunch of multiple bookings in anticipation that at least one of them would get through. So the genuine remaining demand is definitely lower than 18000. A few people would have moved on and got other vehicles because they couldn't wait any longer. A few more would be more knowledgible now (after reading a lot of reviews) and might opt out for the time being. A few would opt out because the exclusivity is almost gone (I see at least 3-4 XUVs everyday now and today saw 2 next to each other).
So my view is that the bookings (for all) would open in a couple of months.

Thanks for the offer! Wish we would have been in the same city. Would have really considered your offer.

:OT . Is Innova an SUV. I though it was an MUV / MPV.

As far as exclusivity is concerned you are right it is gone, I can see so many XUV's even in a small place like Kharghar (though none in my society yet ventured into it). I am being pushed towards it now because of family pressure (specially the 5 year old) on account of looks alone.

I agree with you. The exclusivity is gone and we knew that its going to happen very soon with a capable product at a good value that XUV is being considered at this point in time. Another 6-10 months down the line, at least in metros, you will see this many of them, like how we encounter a Scorpio on the road whenever, whereever we wish.
I see there are 2 XUVs in my layout (they looked to be from the first lot since I see them for quite somtime now) and if I go out on Sarjapur main road, I can see few every few hours or so.

So, I'm not expecting much on exclusivity front from the vehicle now, but for sure it should take you places with comfort and without much niggles now.