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I definitely recommend paint protection. As for under body coating, will leave it to you. It's more useful in the coastal areas. I did it on my swift as a precaution & it's holding well even after 4 years. Did you get it from 3M on your Ikon? If you don't do it, make sure to get your under-body washed once in a month in dry seasons or once in a fortnight during rainy seasons.

May I ask what's the difference in waxing & polishing?

Too much premium that is! I might get a job done if I have a car worth 30L+ [of course the rates also should be higher], but anything below that, I will stick to 3M.

After waiting for the Duster and not finding it interesting enough I am coming closer to take the plunge for the XUV W8 (FWD).

The dealer is promising a delivery by Dussera since it would be a company lease and they can prioritise that.

Need advise on whether to go for it now or wait another 3 months to get a 2013 model (I do not want to repeat the mistake as I did with my Scorpio (Sep 08) , where M&M came out with the refurbished model in the new year)

Just as an aside, why dont you also check out the storme since you are ready to wait.

A very thin layer(microns) of paint can get lost in polishing, may be due to the clay work, which is not at all needed in a new vehicle.

Thanks for the suggestion, but, Tata is never a consideration when I think of buying a car on account certain personal reasons and mindset about Tata cars.

The XUV was launched less than a year ago and it is too early for M&M to launch a new or refurbished model. So the 'mistake' you made regarding your Scorpio is not likely to be repeated.

It is indeed true that in India car sales slow down during Nov-Dec because many buyers prefer to get their cars with the next year's date-stamp, thinking that it will help them get a better resale price when they sell their car a few years later. But IMHO it does not not really make much of a difference. A discerning pre-owned car buyer will see how many years old the car is apart from its condition and odometer reading, and whether the car was registered in Nov 2007 or Jan 2008 should not matter to him.

I expect to get delivery of my own XUV next month (October).

I agree with debuda. I guess a refreshed model is highly unlikely, so early in the XUV 500's life. It is possible that M&M will fix a few niggles and maybe improve the quality of some parts, but then a complete refresh would be a big surprise!
btw: I was on the same path as you. Waited for the duster but was not convinced to go for it after the launch..

Congrats hsprabhuf or your red cheetah. See you on the bangalore roads soon. After adding all the costs, the on-road price difference for W8 between Kerala and bangalore is a whopping 1.6 lacs.. :Shockked:. BTW got the bumper to bumper insurance (Royal sundaram) from the dealer for 40k and being from the dealer I get all the benefits. How much was India Garage quoting for the insurance.

FundaG

Are you serious? 1.6 lacs?
I got my insurance from my brother. He has a two wheeler dealership in some district in karnataka and hence has made his wife a registered agent. So it didnt matter how much he charged. I will decide how much should I pay ;) I am attaching the detailed quotation from India Garage.

Here it is. My 2 cents on accessories. Dealers have a lot of flexibility when it comes to charging for accessories. Accessories come with an MRP. But cost to the dealer will be a lot lesser. Different dealers pass on different percentage of that to customers. I know this for sure when it comes to two wheelers.

I have mentioned this earlier once somewhere, even that MRP is far lesser than what many of the dealers are charging. That side step (I think they call it Classy Footstep) has an MRP of Rs.8k change printed on the packing box. So even if you go by the MRP the dealers in many places are charging double that price!

I find many comments like this on this thread, i.e., comparing the XUV with the Duster before taking the buy decision. Personally, I feel the XUV is in a different league vis-a-vis Duster. The specs speak for themselves :

1. Dimensions : Length, width and height of XUV are considerably more. This means much more space in every direction.
2. Kerb weight : 1785 kg of XUV is about 50% heavier than Duster (1205 kg for the heaviest, 109 BHP version).
3. Power : 140 BHP of XUV is 28% more than 109 BHP of Duster.
4. Torque : 330 Nm of XUV is 33% more than 248 Nm of Duster.
5. Wheels : 235/65 R17 of XUV is bigger and wider than 215/65 R16 of Duster.

What I'm trying to get at is that apples should be compared with apples.

The comparison happens because when a customer has a ~11L ex showroom budget, both Duster & XUV 500 comes into picture due to it's pricing overlap.

For the apples to apples statement, both Duster & XUV are monocoque, so called SUVs, 2 wheel drive, diesel engined etc! Hence I believe the comparison is very much relevant. Also when Renault didn't bother to differentiate Duster [top variant] from XUV 500 by price, citing all your factual reasons which makes it inferior to XUV, why would you expect potential customers to do it?

Leaving the dimensions apart, at ~11.5L ex.showroom, XUV W6 provides these over Duster 110 PS RXZ

1. Better engine & output
2. Better level of kit
3. Better interior quality

Keeping these points, I believe the customers should think why Renault charges such a premium for a smaller car with lesser specs/features! Now if M&M manages to do a no frill W4 with features at par to 85 PS RXL(O) / 110 RXL @ 9.9L ex showroom, am sure it's gonna be another sold out case!

PS:: Duster definitely has a bigger customer base for the lower variants at lower price points [~2.5L lesser than XUV 500 W6] & also for those who need a smaller compact car. So people with budget & dimension constraints will have to opt for Duster.

But for anyone who wants an SUV at ~11.5L [no conditions withstanding], both Duster & XUV 500 are worth a comparison.

Nothing stops a buyer from comparing products across segments. Most of the threads in "inital ownership reports" forums will explain that. People have a budget and see what can be fit into that budget. The comparison usually goes like hatch vs sedan, sedan vs SUV, higher spec of lower segment car vs lower spec of higher segment car etc.
And that is fine.

But the point debuda made is that Duster and XUV belongs to different segments. Duster is a compact XUV, a little overpriced citing its European origins and Renault's brand positioning. XUV is a Mid size SUV which is moderately priced due to its Indian origins, lower cost of development etc.

Having a monocoque chasis, 2 wheel drive and diesel engines won't make it the same segment. I can name umpteen examples where these 3 conditions are met.

found this on youtube hence thought to share with you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phrO0LaahMI

This stuff is already done on the swift of a bhpian. You can find the details here on this thread.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ml#post2211911

Watch from 2:30s. Guess he had provided a link from where he made an online purchase too!

Updating the link:: http://shop.eloem.com/TimesCat.asp?catid=300

Edit::

Found this seller in HK doing a free shipping to India.

http://www.ebay.in/itm/EL-Sound-Acti...item5895b05e37