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Originally Posted by Dhiraj Bookings are not open yet. All one can do is add the car to the cart and wait for 7th Oct. When booking open on 7th Oct 10am, one can make online payment and book the car.
I would suggest you add the car to the cart, and book it yourself on 7th Oct, by making an online payment of 21,000/-. The dealer you choose during booking will then follow up with you. |
This is correct, the dealers do not have the control over the booking for now. Just came down from the dealership who had taken 21k post dated cheque from me. He told me due to the "Thar booking fiasco", Mahindra didn't want the dealers to over book, promise all clients delivery and then create a mess. The online booking and confirmation would make sure that Mahindra has details on the first 25k bookings. Also the whole procedure from booking till delivery will be notified to us through the company directly. If I believe his words, then we will be notified at each step from the car going into production to arriving at stockyard, at the same time as the dealer. Dominos delivery come to my mind when I think about it

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So, gear up to play fastest finger first on 7th Oct 10 am. Also the official word is that "Petrol AX7 L" variants will rollout first followed by other variants and then the Diesel would come. My dealership has a Diesel MT for the TD as well. Also once you pay the 21k online, you can't change the variant or the color as that would be considered as new booking and you'll have to cancel the old one (cancellation charges apply).
Also I'd seen some pics of the paint job a few pages a ago which looked untidy and something that was finished off in a hurry leaving lines etc. Actually it is the rubber/adhesive lining in the engine bay and the boot door and if you press it you would know its not metal. Checked it in 3 cars that were standing there and all had the same.
The door trims is now wrapped in the upholstery leather and the showroom cars had been updated, though my TD car (AX7 L AT Petrol) still had the wooden finish plastic.
The steering is very light and for me coming in from Old generation civic, it felt lifeless. The advisor told me it would be heavier on higher speeds but couldn't check as I was in city traffic. Handling in the city is very easy and sitting inside driving it, the car doesn't seem so big. My wife drove it as well and she was really impressed with the blind view camera that appeared on the MID. The car handled the pot holes very well and we both were grinning, as our civic would have scrapped the hump that came after the pothole.
The NVH levels are really low. We were in the nosiest part of the city and couldn't hear the traffic at all. Even the horn noise that seeps inside the cabin is really low to a point where i had to ask the advisor, if they are properly working or not.
The EPB (electronic parking brake), are engaged when you take the vehicle from a stand still and the gear is in "P" mode. You've to press the brake pedal and press the EPB button to release the brakes.
The Automatic hold button behind the EPB is an option you can choose to enable or disable. While its on, if you bring the vehicle to a stand still, then just releasing the foot brakes won't move the car forward and you'll have to press the accelerator to get going. Coming from automatic civic, I'm used to drive just with brakes in heavy traffic, as you hardly need to accelerate in bumper to bumper traffic and automatic hold would be troublesome rather then handy in such cases. I switched it off and the car was moving forward normally when foot is taken off the brake. Though comparing it with the AT Thar, the forward acceleration is subtle, while the Thar just takes off. I think Mahindra tuned it further to be more realistic in city traffic.
Brakes were adequate and on the quicker side. I felt the foot travel is less and application is too quick for my liking. But i'm sure I'll get used to it.
So the Sony 3D surround (12 speaker setup), which I think is mostly the extra 2L of the Luxury model comprises of, is definitely worth it. Apart from the TD, you've to test this to get an earful of the work Sony and Mahindra has put in. I would say, for me to achieve this level of sophistication would be next to impossible with my local installer. This level of audio would have to be done through a specialist and with the built in amplifier and 3D DSP, this setup alone would have costed the 2L. You've to try all the options of field levels and 3D options that are preset. The quality is amazing and I didn't go beyond sound level 5 for my taste, though I did increased it to 8-9 to hear the thump.
I would leave the TD review for later, when I take it for a longer drive in a few days and test more features. For now the city drive was good and I didn't find any niggles. It's definitely a "GO" for me.