[procrj]

My 2 month wait came to an end today. Finally got my hands on the Red Dwarf



I was mentally prepared for anything to happen today - right from a small scratch to a mid road breakdown & Mahindra did not disappoint. The car was not cleaned and I could still see layers of dust on the piano black center console. Yesterdays rains had also done their bit and the car was not in presentable condition when I walked into the showroom in the morning. I waited for 30 minutes for my SA to get the documents in order and in the meanwhile the other folks were busy trying to wipe away as much of the dirts/dust/grime from the car as possible. One look at the cloth & I was sure that my new car will have bucketful of swirls. In 30 min the docs were dealt with and I handed over the gift that I had purchased for my SA and took delivery of the car.

After taking delivery and driving 2 km towards the fuel station I realized that the battery indicator was still on. Called my SA who the directed me to the works manager. Drove 10 km to the service centre wondering what was wrong and how long will it take to fix. Reached the works, spoke to an advisor who immediately checked the car for loose contact & cable problems. He then called a technician who played around with the battery sensor & after a couple trials, he asked the manager for a spare. I am guessing the spare came from another TUV which was standing in the bay as there was a lot of discussion between the technician and a couple of advisors before they got the "spare". Changing the sensor fixed the problem. It took them 20 minutes to fix the problem but I had to wait 40 minutes for a job card to be created and then closed after the problem was fixed.

After this drove the car for ~130 KM today in both dense and sparse traffic. Never went above 2-2.1K RPM and it was almost effortless to maintain 85-90 kmph speeds on empty stretches. Ensured that I vary my RPM and not get stuck at 2K for long periods of time. Happy that I purchased the Tank but M&M have a long way to go when it comes to customer experience & satisfaction.

[BattleTank]

My tank is now 21 days old and has seen 800 kms of tarmac and cement and so far the drive has been joyful. The SA with whom I have been interacting has called me at least twice to check how the car was doing - good gesture!!

Recently got delivery of team bhp stickers and can't contain my excitement and looking for a suitable spot to sport it on my tank - suggestions are welcome.

One observation is that there is a creaking sound that I hear from the front suspension when the tank negotiates a bump - not sure if this is a common problem faced by other tank owners. Also hear a low tinkling sound when i shift gears (as if there are some loose change at the base of the shaft). Any idea what could this be? Haven't had the chance to raise this with MASS/dealer yet.

[narenteam]

Originally Posted by procrj

My 2 month wait came to an end today. Finally got my hands on the Red Dwarf

procrj,
Congrats on your proud possession! Which model did you get - manual? Which one T4/6/8?

Wish you many happy years with the tank!

[procrj]

Originally Posted by narenteam

procrj,
Congrats on your proud possession! Which model did you get - manual? Which one T4/6/8?

Wish you many happy years with the tank!

Thanks narenteam. Got a T8 Manual. Based on the revised price, the on road cost is 10.39L.

[LoneRidder]

Originally Posted by procrj

My 2 month wait came to an end today. Finally got my hands on the Red Dwarf

Congratulations, have a long and pleasant ownership!

[MaxTorque]

Originally Posted by procrj

Happy that I purchased the Tank but M&M have a long way to go when it comes to customer experience & satisfaction.

Congratulations procj. Wish you a pleasant tank owning experience.

It looks like you were not very happy with the events happened on the delivery day. The blame goes to dealerships staffs. I think should communicate the same to Mahindra customer care.

By the way you should edit your signature now.

[Sirvoicar]

Team-BHP merchandise.

Originally Posted by BattleTank

Recently got delivery of team bhp stickers and can't contain my excitement and looking for a suitable spot to sport it on my tank - suggestions are welcome.

I too ordered a set of Team-BHP stickers and key chains.Received the products the very next day. The key chain is good quality soft rubber, It is also thick ( 8mm) than what I expected.

I own a silver TUV, still wondering where to put the stickers as most are Black Patches and not transparent ones. I will do this over the weekend and post pictures.

NOTE : Hope the moderators don't take this as commercial advertising on the site.

Originally Posted by procrj

Finally got my hands on the Red Dwarf

Dwarf? you will be a head taller than most other drivers, and see eye to eye an Fortuner. Just mind the Blind area between the front bumper and ORVM (Left Side) until you tune in to the width of the vehicle. Congratulations for owning the 2016 TUV300. ; hope you don't face the M&M niggle dance.

[rajpvrm]

Originally Posted by procrj

My 2 month wait came to an end today. Finally got my hands on the Red Dwarf

Congratulations procrj! Happy driving.

Originally Posted by procrj

After taking delivery and driving 2 km towards the fuel station I realized that the battery indicator was still on. Called my SA who the directed me to the works manager. Drove 10 km to the service centre wondering what was wrong and how long will it take to fix.

Last thing you want to do on the delivery day is visiting the service center. They should have checked and fixed this during the PDI.

Originally Posted by procrj

Happy that I purchased the Tank but M&M have a long way to go when it comes to customer experience & satisfaction.

Agree, I am already seeing a startling difference in the behavior of the dealer after the full payment was done. Was trying to check on the status of my car and the response has been poor. For a 2015 car that's available with them, the SA has asked me to wait till next Wednesday for delivery (payment was done on Monday this week). Plus, I have to call him a few times before he answers my call these days. I may write to the Mahindra customer care.

Nevertheless, eagerly waiting and hope to be driving the tank by mid next week!

Enjoy your Red Dwarf and do post your ownership experience.

[ntomer]

I haven't driven my TUV for 11 days now. Manza feels just too convenient to take up the trouble of driving TUV :O

Will be taking it to Maheshkhan in Kumaon this weekend. It's a forest area, and last 4 kms have bad/no roads. Let's see how it performs there.

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by procrj

My 2 month wait came to an end today. Finally got my hands on the Red Dwarf

Congratulations procrj, on your new steed! Not to worry about the initial hiccups, it happens with the us all sometimes - an M&M trademark. Have a great time - I look forward to your report after a really long tour.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by procrj

My 2 month wait came to an end today. Finally got my hands on the Red Dwarf

Many congratulations procrj on getting the delivery of your Red Dwarf (strange name, isn't it). Your tank is actually going to dwarf all the other car's around and "Red Dwarfer" would have been a more apt name, just kidding .

I was mentally prepared for anything to happen today - right from a small scratch to a mid road breakdown & Mahindra did not disappoint. The car was not cleaned and I could still see layers of dust on the piano black center console. Yesterdays rains had also done their bit and the car was not in presentable condition when I walked into the showroom in the morning. I waited for 30 minutes for my SA to get the documents in order and in the meanwhile the other folks were busy trying to wipe away as much of the dirts/dust/grime from the car as possible. One look at the cloth & I was sure that my new car will have bucketful of swirls. In 30 min the docs were dealt with and I handed over the gift that I had purchased for my SA and took delivery of the car.

That is really a very bad experience. When somebody is purchasing a car worth million rupees plus, he is not just buying the car but the whole buying experience should be worth the price. Did you take the delivery early in the morning? Was the dealer given sufficient time to prepare and deck up the car? If yes then it is sheer laziness and lack of professionalism on the part of dealer and its staff. I was very lucky on that front and my whole buying experience was nearly flawless.

After taking delivery and driving 2 km towards the fuel station I realized that the battery indicator was still on. Called my SA who the directed me to the works manager. Drove 10 km to the service centre wondering what was wrong and how long will it take to fix. Reached the works, spoke to an advisor who immediately checked the car for loose contact & cable problems. He then called a technician who played around with the battery sensor & after a couple trials, he asked the manager for a spare. I am guessing the spare came from another TUV which was standing in the bay as there was a lot of discussion between the technician and a couple of advisors before they got the "spare". Changing the sensor fixed the problem. It took them 20 minutes to fix the problem but I had to wait 40 minutes for a job card to be created and then closed after the problem was fixed.

What was the dealer's PDI staff doing? During PDI they drive the car for at least 4-5 kms and the battery indicator symbol on the dash must have lit up that time. Either they conveniently chose to ignore it or did not test drive the car at all during dealer PDI. Please ask the dealer about their PDI practices and how come they missed it.

After this drove the car for ~130 KM today in both dense and sparse traffic. Never went above 2-2.1K RPM and it was almost effortless to maintain 85-90 kmph speeds on empty stretches. Ensured that I vary my RPM and not get stuck at 2K for long periods of time. Happy that I purchased the Tank but M&M have a long way to go when it comes to customer experience & satisfaction.

Hope the car drives smoothly henceforth without any niggles. Get over the buying experience, but not without giving appropriate feedback to M&M. They will surely tighten up the screws on the dealer.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by LoneRidder

Congratulations, have a long and pleasant ownership!

Thanks Loneridder

Originally Posted by MaxTorque

Congratulations procj. Wish you a pleasant tank owning experience.

Thanks MaxTorque. Signature updated

Originally Posted by Sirvoicar

Congratulations for owning the 2016 TUV300

Thanks Sirvoicar

Originally Posted by rajpvrm

Congratulations procrj! Happy driving.
Nevertheless, eagerly waiting and hope to be driving the tank by mid next week!Enjoy your Red Dwarf and do post your ownership experience.

Thank rajpvrm. The wait can be painful but its totally worth it. Hope you get your car asap.

Originally Posted by shashanka

Congratulations procrj, on your new steed! Not to worry about the initial hiccups, it happens with the us all sometimes - an M&M trademark. Have a great time - I look forward to your report after a really long tour.

Thanks Shashanka. Have put the hiccup behind and now am looking forward to some mile munching!

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Many congratulations procrj

Thanks Autoindian

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

your Red Dwarf (strange name, isn't it). Your tank is actually going to dwarf all the other car's around and "Red Dwarfer" would have been a more apt name

Dwarf?

you will be a head taller than most other drivers, and see eye to eye an Fortuner

Well the dwarf is because of multiple reasons:
1. Sub 4 meter
2. 84BHP - could have been given a little more power. 100 sounds so good!
And the main reasons is because its an oxymoron when you look at the car & consider the name - as pointed out by both of you.

Did you take the delivery early in the morning? Was the dealer given sufficient time to prepare and deck up the car?

Took delivery at 11.30 am

What was the dealer's PDI staff doing? During PDI they drive the car for at least 4-5 kms and the battery indicator symbol on the dash must have lit up that time. Either they conveniently chose to ignore it or did not test drive the car at all during dealer PDI. Please ask the dealer about their PDI practices and how come they missed it.

Did ask the service manager but did not get a concrete response. I dont think PDIs are taken seriously and based on the 1 hour that I spent at the workshop, I am pretty sure that I will have to stand next to the car and ensure that every single thing that I want is attended to.

Hope the car drives smoothly henceforth without any niggles. Get over the buying experience, but not without giving appropriate feedback to M&M. They will surely tighten up the screws on the dealer.

Hoping that no niggles turn up apart from the faint door rattle that has become an unsolicited guest. Will share feedback with M&M.

Decided to give the dwarf some quality treatment and hence drove down to 3M basaveshwarnagar. Shankar, Arvind, Mohan & team did a fabulous job to make the car look new (which it ideally should have yesterday!). Some pics & pointers

Engine protection covers the entire engine bay from below and feels strong enough to take most of the hits that might come its way. Good job by M&M


The below pics show foam padding on top of the engine protector. This could be to reduce vibrations or even protect the plastic sheet from heat that the engine will produce



Plastic cladding on the wheel well are pretty sturdy and looks like they will last the distance. While the rear wheel wells are fully clad in plastic, the front well has a small section which is open


Red dwarf all set to roll


Noticed a strange thing. The running board is fixed to the car frame using two L shaped metal arms. Each arm has slots for 4 bolts which will fix the metal arm to the car frame but I saw only 3 bolts on each arm. Checked the same on both sides for all 4 arms and it was only 3 bolts. A little weird - wonder how much M&M saved by not fitting an additional bolt.

Drove the car for ~90 KM today and it was a breeze. Heads turn, people give way and its really easy to manoeuvre the car in dense traffic. The static bending lamps really light up the curve and is a great feature to have. Itching to take the dwarf on a long drive and really stretch its legs.

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by procrj

Plastic cladding on the wheel well are pretty sturdy and looks like they will last the distance. While the rear wheel wells are fully clad in plastic, the front well has a small section which is open
Noticed a strange thing. The running board is fixed to the car frame using two L shaped metal arms. Each arm has slots for 4 bolts which will fix the metal arm to the car frame but I saw only 3 bolts on each arm. Checked the same on both sides for all 4 arms and it was only 3 bolts. A little weird - wonder how much M&M saved by not fitting an additional bolt.

Yes, the wheel well claddings are robust - my Scorpio's (2004 model, 11 years with me!) claddings lasted well into the 7th year. About the running board securing arms, they're likely to be approved vendor supplies. So some discrepancies do crop up. But I really wish Mahindra cleaned up their act.

Originally Posted by rajpvrm

This is my first post on Team-BHP. Happy to be here!
I have recently booked a white TUV 3OO T8 AMT and expecting delivery by early next week. I have gone for a Dec 2015 manufactured model as the dealer gave me a free comprehensive insurance (~40K).
I currently drive a SX4 VXI CNG, which is 3 years and 2 months old. The need for change is primarily on 3 counts –
1. I rarely use CNG, thanks to the long queues at the gas stations across Mumbai
2. Not using CNG makes insufficient boot space a much bigger compromise than what it actually is!
3. I drive 70+ Km in city each day and wanted to shift to an AT/AMT.
Above all, it was the ‘get a new car’ bug that’s bites every few years!....

Welcome on board, rajpvrm! I was a newbie myself just two years ago & I'm sure you'll have as much fun here as the rest of us. And congrats for your new TUV booking! The 'need for change' reasons you mentioned above are spot on and fully justified too. The long queue for CNG each morning must be a pain!

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Please make up your mind before your take the delivery of TUV. Any newly launched product goes through the cycle of initial teething troubles. Though Mahindra has applied its learnings from the XUV to the TUV, no one can expect the TUV to be absolutely niggle free. I knew about this very well and was prepared for it. Going for a newly launched car (that too from an homegrown manufacturer) was a big gamble, however the robust (3 year/ 1,00,000 km) standard company warranty, wide service network and the customer centric attitude were the three pillars of my faith in brand Mahindra and its product TUV and I am happy to inform that my faith is still intact after 2 months (3000 kms) of ownership.

This is excellent advice, AutoIndian, and perhaps should be required reading for prospective buyers. Each of us should weigh up the visible pros & cons of the model chosen (particularly from home grown mfrs, as you said) and then take the plunge.

[rajpvrm]

Originally Posted by procrj

Decided to give the dwarf some quality treatment and hence drove down to 3M basaveshwarnagar. Shankar, Arvind, Mohan & team did a fabulous job to make the car look new (which it ideally should have yesterday!). Some pics & pointers

Engine protection covers the entire engine bay from below and feels strong enough to take most of the hits that might come its way. Good job by M&M

Procrj, can you please share the details of the treatment done at 3M? Also, is the engine protection cover a standard? If yes, they should have probably sealed the plastic diesel tank as well.

Originally Posted by shashanka

Welcome on board, rajpvrm! I was a newbie myself just two years ago & I'm sure you'll have as much fun here as the rest of us. And congrats for your new TUV booking! The 'need for change' reasons you mentioned above are spot on and fully justified too. The long queue for CNG each morning must be a pain!

Thanks Shashanka. The wait gets a bit longer now! An interesting and a 'bad' pre-ownership experience!

My car had arrived from the stockyard yesterday and the dealer told me that it would visit the RTO on Monday. They got the insurance done and shared a copy. Initially, I just skimmed through the insurance cover note but when I went through it in detail late last night, noticed the Chassis number which was to my horror in the F6KXXXXXX series that meant it was an October 2015 model. I went furious and had a disturbed night.

Met my Sales Exec this morning and politely told him that I am not taking this car. I reminded him that he had clearly told me on many occassions that it was a December 2015 model and I had agreed to take it only for the free insurance I was getting. He requested me to check the condition of the car and then decide, but I refused. I told him I don't understand why, for a fast moving car like TUV3OO, they would still have an October 2015 car in stock - either it was used for TD or has some other issue.

He checked the stock and confirmed that no other 2015 model was available.

Blessing in disguise, we decided to go for a 2016 model. My original booking was for the White colour but the Sales Exec said they only have a Molten Orange one in transit from the factory. Any other colour would take a minimum of 2-3 weeks. My wife and I discussed in detail and I showed her AutoIndian's car pics from his ownership thread. And finally, gave my go-ahead to the dealer!

I had to pay for the insurance this time. I could get a 30% discount on the listed price and got a comprehensive (without zero dep) insurance for 26K (listed price ~38K). Gave the cheque and closed the deal.

My new '2016 'Molten Orange' Tank should arrive at the dealer by Wednesday and the RTO, Insurance and other process may take 4-5 working days after that.

I didn't want to create a scene and complicate the issue at the dealer today, but this was in all a terrible experience. Over the last couple of weeks, I did check with my Sales Exec several times and he had clearly told me that the car was 24 days old (so mid Dec Mfg). In fact, he mentioned manufacture M/Y as Dec/2015 on the insurance cover note, and the chassis number is F6KXXXXXX on the same page. See the picture!

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by rajpvrm

The wait gets a bit longer now! An interesting and a 'bad' pre-ownership experience!

Very sad to know about your bad experience. Some dealers suck big time and such malpractices of keeping the gullible customers in dark are rampant. Thanks to TBHP we are not amongst those who can be fooled easily

My new '2016 'Molten Orange' Tank should arrive at the dealer by Wednesday and the RTO, Insurance and other process may take 4-5 working days after that.

Many congratlations on picking the Molten Orange Tank, this color won't disappoint you

I didn't want to create a scene and complicate the issue at the dealer today, but this was in all a terrible experience. Over the last couple of weeks, I did check with my Sales Exec several times and he had clearly told me that the car was 24 days old (so mid Dec Mfg). In fact, he mentioned manufacture M/Y as Dec/2015 on the insurance cover note, and the chassis number is F6KXXXXXX on the same page. See the picture!

I think you did the right thing by not loosing your composure, same time making the dealer aware that you cannot be taken for a ride so easily. Hope the PDI and the delivery would be smooth.