Re: Mahindra TUV300 : Official Review Hi All,
It has been one month having bought the TUV 300 and having driven 1300 kms. My TUV 300 is a T6+ Variant in Silver Colour. I would like to share my some of my experiences along with a bit of prelude that led to the buying of the TUV 300.
Among the few cars I have, I had a Mahindra Renault Logan – 1.5 DLE – Java Brown driven for around 90000 kms. Though I had a fair share of happy memories of this car in the last eight years, this particular car taught me a lot of things. The vehicle started to fall apart from 36000 kms. itself. I had to replace the clutch set twice, entire gearbox once, front suspension overhauled on four occasions, air conditioner repaired on five occasions (was not working even after all this), headlight assemblies replaced. So, in a way I was stuck up with this vehicle and wanted to sell it for quite a long time. But, I hardly ever found a genuine buyer who would be willing to buy this car.
Then, one day I heard of a new Mahindra Dealership – M/s. Bhagwati Frontline Motorizer Pvt. Ltd., opened in Singrauli at Waidhan. I just thought of visiting the Dealership to see the setup for getting my Mahindra Vehicles serviced at the new Dealership, if the facilities at the Dealership turned out to be good. Upon the visit I found the Dealership to be adequately equipped and staff being very courteous. A visit to their Showroom led me to the test drive of the New Bolero Power Plus and the TUV 300 and they noted down my enquiry and asked me if I had any vehicle to exchange while purchasing the new vehicle.
Suddenly, it came to my mind that if they are willing why don’t I try exchanging the Logan for a Bolero just for the sake of selling the Logan and not for the sake of buying the Bolero. Voila! They agreed. I shared with them the photos and documents of the Logan and I was asked to show the Logan to them on my next visit.
Meanwhile, everyone at home wanted to buy the Bolero for its practicality, strong resale. But, somehow I liked the TUV 300 more for its looks, spacious interiors, better mechanicals, comfortable ride when compared to the Bolero. That is when I started reading the TUV 300 Official Review on Team-BHP and read it all in one night. Now, I had some inkling about the vehicle, its pros and its cons. So, I tweeted M&M about my intention of buying the TUV 300 but unable to decide on the TUV 300 due to its persistent niggles and problems. The immediate next day, I was bombarded with calls from M&M Customer Care Team, M&M Sales Team & M&M Dealership, albeit a different one. The repeated assurances from the M&M Customer Care & M&M Sales Team made me finalise the TUV 300 in place of the Bolero.
Finally on 15th June 2017, I went to the Dealership to show the vehicle. Their entire sales team was out for an event and the Dealership was empty. I called up the M&M Sales Team and they connected me to the GM of the Dealership. The GM was very co-operative and offered me Rs. 2,25,000.00 towards the exchange of the Logan Car and another Rs. 20,000.00 as the exchange bonus which seemed to be a sweet deal on the Logan. I gave my go ahead to the GM and he asked me when I would take the delivery of the TUV 300. I told him to arrange for the formalities and get the vehicle delivered that day itself. At the moment, they had 4 TUV 300s in the Showroom – 1) Silver TUV 300 – T4 – Feb. 2017 manufacturing, 2) Silver TUV 300 – T6+ – May 2017 manufacturing, 3) Red TUV 300 – T6+ – Feb. 2017 manufacturing & 4) White TUV 300 – T8 – January 2017 manufacturing. Having read so much on Team-BHP, I went for the one that was the latest one i.e. the Silver TUV 300 – T6+.
Further, post GST the prices of TUV 300 were reduced. I retweeted M&M my concern that M&M needs to reward/ compensate its loyal customers and should come out with solutions. They have finally agreed to provide the 4th Year Extended Warranty Free, though I was asking for both 4th & 5th year Warranty Extensions.
Now, coming to my observations on my TUV 300 T6+. I would list the observations below –
1. The engine vibrates a lot in the first start. But settles down in about 10 seconds. This could be due the use of RFF HLA in place of the conventional rocker assembly. It takes some time for oil to reach the HLA, so the noise is heard. I experience the same in my Scorpio too during the first start which the Dealership & FNG both say are normal.
2. Road behavior and ride comfort are good. Drives well. Feels planted on the road.
3. The rear wheel does spin but not much on slow acceleration. But it would spin a lot during hard acceleration. Now this necessitates the switch of differentials to MLD. But, I need to understand its pros and cons well before, I start bothering the Dealership for the upgrade.
4. The coolant level when I took the delivery of the vehicle was slightly below the Maximum Mark. This level came down to below minimum the next day itself after around 100 kms. I topped up the coolant to Maximum Mark and kept observing it. The coolant level again came down to Minimum Level in the next one week. Again I topped up the coolant to Maximum Level. Since then, the coolant level has stayed constant at Maximum Level since the past month. Need to figure out the reason for such initial coolant reduction and keep a watch on the coolant level.
5. The brake pedal vibrates a lot during sudden braking which I think is a problem because I have never experienced it in other vehicles. Need to figure out a solution to this. Have already informed the Dealership about this.
6. The Door Pad on the Right Side has started vibrating like anything which I think may be due to the door pad clips & locks. Have informed this also to the Dealership. But I am waiting for the 3000 km mark so that these can be solved during the first service of the TUV 300.
This is all about the buying decision, buying experience and ownership experience of 1300 kms. Will update more, as and when interesting things come up.
Sorry for the long post.
Regards.
Ameeth Kumar Jha
Last edited by tsk1979 : 24th July 2017 at 08:24.
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