Team-BHP - Mahindra XUV500 : Test Drive & Review

Hi there I have a hunch that white may be a favorite color owing to many guys planning to use this as taxi. I don't know but white to me didn't look so good so as to warrant 14 bookings to others. 2- 3 bookings. My personal opinion.
Sad to know that in PDI some niggles are noticeable- its so bad a case when one buys a car with niggles, however minor they may be. Can any BHPian list all the key things specific to XUV that people should check before taking delivery? This would help all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackRaven (Post 2554840)

I was @ Sireesh Auto Marathalli workshop for servicing my Thar.
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Two test drive cars - 1 with a dent in the front LHS door.
Most of them were W8 FWD very few W6.
I could notice considerable panel gap near the A pillar in most of the white cars. It also varied between LHS and RHS. Again gaps were different in different cars. If at all you have a choice to do PDI, pick one which has less panel gaps.
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I checked with my friendly Service advisor on how PDI is going on and any niggles they have been facing. Apparently there are some issues in Navigation software and USB ports. Not a big deal though.
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He also told me that the price rise would be from March, It could be pure speculation, I would take that with a pinch of salt.
Advanced congrats to the 20 XUV 5OO owners, am sure some of them would be BHPians.

ACI Road test is out
Some highlights:
0-100 kmph is 12.34, which is better then T Fort.
Ride has soft edge but feels unsettled
Handling is much better then Scorpio but still 'work in progress' .
Too much engine noise (+ diesel drone+turbo whistle+induction noise) in the cabin which gets annoying
FE- 10.2 kmpl in city and 14.3kmpl on highway.

According to them 4X4 version will come in few months and they hope the issue with handling and interior quality will be sorted out. I thought 4X4 was already launched.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Infiniti.Rahul (Post 2555036)

Hi there I have a hunch that white may be a favorite color owing to many guys planning to use this as taxi.

Why would this be used as a taxi when you get 7-seaters with equivalent/ more luggage space available at cheaper prices (Innova) ?
All - Any thoughts on how competitive this is as a taxi? Isn't Xylo also serving that purpose? My view is XUV is for non taxi segment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rohitbagai (Post 2554826)

My booking receipt in particular mention Insurance is mandatory from Dealer

No one can mandate that. The dealer for sure is taking the customers for a ride. You should highlight this to M&M and they are a responsive bit, as per my experience. I had told the dealer at time of booking that i wont take their insurance. At delivery they did try to persuade and pressurize ,but i stood my ground. Save a good lot that way .

Quote:

Originally Posted by Infiniti.Rahul (Post 2555036)

Hi there I have a hunch that white may be a favorite color owing to many guys planning to use this as taxi. .

My gut is that this wont be a favourite for taxi guys. The lack of luggage space is a boon in a disguise for private owners that way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mannubhai (Post 2555186)

Yup I agree that XUV may not make a case for replacement of XYLOs and Innovas but I thought the taxi owners may espouse it as a luxury taxi- so to say- but I tend to agree that my fears may not have much weight since luggage space indeed is a big point when one decides to buy a vehicle for taxi use. Maybe I was just iffy for I have booked one and remain very anxious at the thought of getting lost in XUVs with yellow number plates. Hope what you are saying indeed is true and XUV remains limited to private owners.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Infiniti.Rahul (Post 2555036)

I had checked with the SA in India Garage Chennai regarding the taxi bookings. He had said that 95% of the bookings were from families. Don't know what the other 5% were. I did see that most of the folks in the showroom checking out the XUV were families. As others have mentioned, the lack of luggage and seating space and economical alternatives in the form of Xylo, Innova, etc would mean that the XUV is not a taxi vehicle.

I agree regarding the niggles. It does surprise me as a previous Innova owner that one has to take a vehicle with niggles. My Innova had not given a single (repeat: single) problem over 80,000 kms across varied road conditions. I hope Mahindra reaches this quality soon. Not just because I have booked a XUV lol: but because I really believe that this product launch marks an inflection point in the Indian automobile industry - as an Indian product that can compare with and more importantly, beat hands down, global auto majors in India.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackRaven (Post 2554840)

If I am buying, my friendly SA advised me to take delivery around March by when most of the smaller niggles would have been sorted out from factory. So folks who missed the first batch, rejoice. later the better.

He also told me that the price rise would be from March, It could be pure speculation, I would take that with a pinch of salt.

Advanced congrats to the 20 XUV 5OO owners, am sure some of them would be BHPians.

Price rise would be due to budget in April and not March i am sure. Govt is in in lot of pressure on lower diesel price, ppl who say that diesel should be different from consumer car would only lead to 'black' of commercial diesel. So the only option is to increase tax on diesel cars again.

So price would be increased even before the budget is passed in July, even on announcement. I just hope issues like USB, Clutch etc are resolved by M&M by then, this car is on my list, if it does not get resolved, i would have to look at other options.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Infiniti.Rahul (Post 2554761)

Sire- a small help requested for- agree on your point on taking insurance from outside, but how does one get registration done on his own? What's the process? And yes, conservatively, how much do I save if I get these two things done from outside?

You can get a temporary number from them, which they have to give. If you have an agent who handles the registration for you, ask him. You will save at least 5-15k if you get both done from outside, provided,the dealer is not willing to match the quote. First get a quote from outside and then venture for this tactic. As i said above, once they know you are aware of the prices outside, they will most probably match it. If the difference is only 1-5k i suggest you get it done from them as it saves you the hassle of going there yourself and wasting a day but i had found earlier that the variation was a lot so i got it done from outside. One also has a choice of getting only the insurance from out and the registration from the dealer itself. Check out whats available and then bargain hard.