Team-BHP - Mahindra XUV500 : Test Drive & Review

Visited a Mahindra dealer few days back and did some research, I have my apprehensions about certain things:

1) The warranty for XUV is 2years and 50000 KM, low on confidence M&M?

2) The service for XUV would be every 5000KM

3) W6 is a front wheel drive, i read on some forum rear wheel drive gives a better handling.

4) I do not like the plastic inside, too cheap and flashy.

5) Again on a forum I read ladder frame is required for better off-road capabilities, monocoque joints are spot welded and so give up faster

6) 2nd row is not sliding hence a constraint on space in 3rd row.

7) AutoBild – “In XUV the ride quality isn’t as plush as say the Aria and one
can feel the road below most times.”

8) Hideous front design!

9) Thigh support and head room is not good on driver seat esp for a 6'1" like me

These are my observations and secondary research, I welcome corrections.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaks15 (Post 2546435)

1) The warranty for XUV is 2years and 50000 KM, low on confidence M&M?

Standard for all Mahindra vehicles and most other cars that manage good volumes, including the Toyota Innova which is considered the epitome of reliability in India this side of 15 Lakhs!
The extended warranty periods (read 4 years) are for duds that dont move.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaks15 (Post 2546435)

2) The service for XUV would be every 5000KM.

Ditto for Scorpio and Toyota Innova again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaks15 (Post 2546435)

3) W6 is a front wheel drive, i read on some forum rear wheel drive gives a better handling.

Big deal. All sedans sold in India this side of 2 million INR are FWD including the driver focussed Octavia & Laura RS. Your point exactly is?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaks15 (Post 2546435)

4) I do not like the plastic inside, too cheap and flashy.

Cheap in comparison to? It is seemingly better than the Scorpio in most areas, a shade below the Innova and GTO mentioned just about at par with the Aria.
Also, in India, there at tops be 10% existing clients ready to pay a premium for better finished interiors for a car this side of 2 million INR, so its just it more sensible for Mahindra to keep the price as low as possible and at worst case lose those fussy potential clients.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaks15 (Post 2546435)

5) Again on a forum I read ladder frame is required for better off-road capabilities, monocoque joints are spot welded and so give up faster.

Your research could most probably be correct, butttt how many people do you see offroading in their 10-12 (forget 15 - 20 or upwards) Lakh brand new SUVS? A serious off roading enthusiast would mostly consider a bare bones Thar or a Gypsy from the current offerings in our market and not a Scorpio, Safari, Fortuner or XUV! Besides, the XUV is a soft roader, much like the Captiva, CRV, Aria, etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaks15 (Post 2546435)

6) 2nd row is not sliding hence a constraint on space in 3rd row.

Agreed. As mentioned in our review, if you intend to seat 7, MUVs like the Innova, Xylo, etc are the way to go.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaks15 (Post 2546435)

7) AutoBild – “In XUV the ride quality isn’t as plush as say the Aria and one
can feel the road below most times.”

Rubbish!

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaks15 (Post 2546435)

8) Hideous front design!

Like we mentioned, love it or hate it! I'm mostly a rare breed who has a neutral stand on the same.[/quote]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaks15 (Post 2546435)

9) Thigh support and head room is not good on driver seat esp for a 6'1" like me.

Can't comment since I'm just about 5'8"!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sivavikram (Post 2546365)

The AirCon vents look like spiderwebs :eek: and so does the front grill...
or is it just me..?

Fully agree. They looked extremely busy in design and do not go well with the otherwise cleaner looking interiors, possibly inspired by the front end design :uncontrol

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaks15 (Post 2546435)

Visited a Mahindra dealer few days back and did some research, I have my apprehensions about certain things:

1) The warranty for XUV is 2years and 50000 KM, low on confidence M&M?

2) The service for XUV would be every 5000KM

3) W6 is a front wheel drive, i read on some forum rear wheel drive gives a better handling.

4) I do not like the plastic inside, too cheap and flashy.

5) Again on a forum I read ladder frame is required for better off-road capabilities, monocoque joints are spot welded and so give up faster

6) 2nd row is not sliding hence a constraint on space in 3rd row.

7) AutoBild – “In XUV the ride quality isn’t as plush as say the Aria and one
can feel the road below most times.”

8) Hideous front design!

9) Thigh support and head room is not good on driver seat esp for a 6'1" like me

These are my observations and secondary research, I welcome corrections.

(3) Rear wheel drive does ensure that the car is more balanced. It's always better when the front wheels are left to steer the car and the rear wheels put the power down onto the road, instead of having the front wheels to do both jobs! But FWD is not bad. It's alright. Most cars in India are FWD, and I'm not talking about BMWs and Mercs. Most sports-cars are RWD, for good handling. because that's their purpose. SUVs aren't known for their handling, and aren't driven fast around tracks.

(4) Ladder-Frame chassis helps the SUV tackle rough terran. they are more suited for off-road stints. The XUV500, in my book, is not a true-blue off-road SUV. it's more of a large-cross-over, and majority of them will not be used off-road, I guess. So a monocoque chassis does the job well, and is most suited for this application, IMO. If you want a serious off-road SUV, then buy a jeep, or a Mitsubishi Pajero. The Mahindra MM540 is quite possibly the most capable off-roader for the price. If you want off-road credentials, don't buy the XVU500.

Can't comment on the others since I haven't test-driven the car yet.

Correct me if I'm wrong! :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawan_pullarwar (Post 2546313)

I read somewhere that the XUV is made by young employee, all are below 30, and the team is called Team 30. I appreciate the effort put by youngster but if there is no senior or more experienced person is involved than one should definitely concern on reliability.

I havent come across the above mentioned information till date, but even if true, it just seems in poor taste, really! I aint 30 yet, and still am a fan of no-nonsense, reliable machinery and everything else!
Heck even if they were all below 30, they seemed to have produced a vehicle the presumably gray haired personnel at HM can only dream about. I see it more as a good thing than bad anyways.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirAlec (Post 2546429)

PS: How is the handling on turns and sharper turns. As its front heavy and FF layout.

Sir Alec, quoting my own post here:

Quote:

Originally Posted by manson (Post 2543917)

The lower center of gravity, monocoque construction and wide stance greatly contribute to the XUV's handling capability. Body roll is extremely well controlled and, by SUV standards, this Mahindra feels very composed when cornering. The same corner + speed combination that would have inspired a topple-over feeling in my Scorpio feels effortless in the XUV5OO. In controlled private road conditions (i.e. the Mahindra test track), I pushed the XUV through corners, even forcing the car into a drift, yet there was zilch nervousness. And in an emergency situation, the ESP could prove to be a life-saver.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gautam Misra (Post 2546250)

It would be really nice of you to kindly compare the Gearshift to some of the cars like the Swift/Vento D to enable people who do not have access to the vehicle to have an idea about the quality of the gearshift vis-a-vis other cars.

Gautam, I haven't driven the Vento, but the gearbox and clutch combination of the XUV is a more coarse and heavy to engage than previous generation 50K run Swift LDI that I drove for about 100 kms odd a few months ago. If you have driven the current generation Scorpio though, the first and second though distinctly notchy are not as quirky to engage as in
the Scorpio. Infact, enagaging the reverse gear in the 2.2 Refresh Scorpios is something you need to learn getting around initially.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sridhar-v (Post 2546242)

@Mods - will Mahindra respond to feedback sent to them by you?

Although having a money ringer in hand, Mahindra has brought in revisions for the Scorpio in 2003, 2006 and 2009 since its launch back in 2002. Infact there have been a couple of minor changes even between the cars manafactured in 2009 and 2010 which give me the impression of Mahindra taking customer feedback (from our forum and other sources) rather seriously.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sridhar-v

2. Checked out the bottom of the vehicle. Got a nasty shock- The fuel tank is placed somewhere from the B pillar region onwards to the rear. So it is approximately under the feet of the second row passengers. Now they have also split the fuel tank into 2 parts (or so it seemed) straddling the centreline of the vehicle. The tanks are hung directly from the floorpan - there is no depression in the floorpan like what Honda does. So in my opinion it is going to be pretty vulnerable to damages from chips & stones flying off the front wheels. Also my quick guess was that the position of the tank was also roughly where the vehicle would bottom out when crossing a large hump or bolder. The fact that the tanks are made from plastic makes them more vulnerable for piercing impacts.

3. The refrigerant piping for the 2nd. & 3rd. row cooling is run under the RH side sill. It looked to me like an afterthought as if they forgot to make provisions in the basic design. Also the pipes seemed to be badly supported. Could not check this out thoroughly as there were a lot of people moving around & I was worried about getting stepped on.(was lying on the ground like a typical mechanic!!)

4. I was not impressed with the rear suspension arms & the way the bushings were set up. Did not get enough time for a very close look. Possibly will need the vehicle on a lift for that.

5. I got a feeling, during the quick scans of the underside, that there was something amiss. This is just a gut feeling. Will need to do a detailed examination of the vehicle. Possibly if any Bhpian in Pune gets early delivery we could carry out a detailed check.

Could not do an examination of the front suspension & the engine sump area as it was right in the middle of the entry passage.

A rough & ready solution for point 2 is to get some protection plates installed. Similarly for point 3 some jugaad clamps & protection strip may be called for. So anybody planning some rough road use of the vehicle should take care.

@Manson can you comment on the above