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I spotted this XUV7OO today in Bangalore's traffic. What intrigued me was the rear door handle not closed properly like the front door. I then over took the XUV, to notice all other door handles were closed properly. Is this a feature or a niggle?

I am keeping the booking (my delivery month is Oct 22) just in case the date is revised after January or a possibility of getting a variant with added features by end of 22.
If AWD and last row of seats are not absolute necessary, you should take a look at the Astor (top of the line variant). I am tempted to make a booking after taking a test drive.
Upcoming VW Tiguan (5 seater) would be another option but it may be 35L+ onroad.

Managed to have a brief look at the XUV7OO and a test drive of the AX7L Diesel AT variant along with BHPian Vishy76 last Saturday and have to say, I was super impressed with how the car drove. FSD really does wonders in the handling department and the car really feels like it shrinks around you. There was no drama and it loved to take corners. It felt almost german in the sense that it can mask speeds so well. We were quickly at unmentionable speeds before continuous speed chimes reminded us how fast we were going!

Also experienced the lane keep assist for the first time and it cut in pretty aggressively. I'm not sure if I would keep it on. It was shod with MRF Wanderers.

The backseat was just incredible. It's been a long time since I've been in a backseat so good. Third row was as expected not good at all with poor headroom, legroom and thigh support. Almost felt like sitting on cushions than a proper seatrl:. Better to use this as a 5 seater.

The Sony sound system was also simply superb. I'm not at all an audiophile but this system was truly an experience to be had. The bass was enough to shake the door cards!

The Aisin 6TC has been tuned quite well with the 2.2 mhawk and the car was always in the right gear. However it is clearly tuned with efficiency in mind and does hesitate a bit to downshift.

The build quality and materials were nothing short of exceptional and I loved the attention to detail Mahindra has given to small things such as the feel of the horn pad and the solid feeling stalks. The display cars however had a few issues like the shutlines on the hatch did not align properly and a plastic trim piece below the second row was misaligned and loose but these are minor issues imo which could also be attributed to them being the first batch of cars.

Lastly, 24.98 lakhs OTR for the AX7L is definitely steep money for a Mahindra BUT the car definitely does justify the sticker price in my opinion. I doubt one can find a better package for the price.

Here are some pics-

BHPian Vishy76 behind the wheel. The panoramic sunroof really helps in making the cabin lively

Seems the niggles with the handles have started. This is exactly what I am worried about. IMHO, conventional door handles would have been perfect instead of these gimmicky ones.


Read a post from a user on the XUV 700 Facebook Group. Seems he's facing an issue with Adrenox and the app is asking for a subscription worth 7000/-. This subscription comes bundled with the package for AX7 for first 2 years. If it's going to be 7000/- per year for renewal, that sure is a steep amount! :eek:

This might be the AX7 (non-luxury variant) which does not come with electric motorised handles. Normally the handles close properly even in the AX7 and lower trims, however, chances are the user might forget to close them after they pop out. One customer complained the same. Linking his video here - AX5 door handle issue

As wade said, this is the non-luxury variant. The door handles in these close via a specific inertia-based manual action. It’s easy for passengers (non-owners) to miss and I reckon this is going to happen a lot.

The luxury variant comes with motorized handles so this sort of thing can never happen in that. The handles will retract automatically when locked.

I own an AX5 and this issue has been bugging me since day 1. What's is even more bothersome is that anyone can press the non motorized door handles from outside, and they still pop out, which should ideally not happen when the car is locked. This is clearly a flawed mechanism.

Ideally, mahindra should have offered motorized door handles on all variants if they wanted to persist with this design. Only way to salvage the current situation can be if the they perhaps offer some sort of accessory pack to add motorized handles to non L cars (not sure if it is technically feasible).

Update:
Had written a stinker marking Mr. Rajesh Jejurikar (Executive Director- M&M) on 25th November venting out my frustration. Obviously did not expect any revert or reaction on it. But lo and behold, received a call today afternoon from Mr. Abdul Syed (Head: Customer Experience- M&M). Seems Mr. Jejurikar's office took the pains to internally figure out my issue and instructed Mr. Syed to personally reach out to me. They have also taken note of my rants on social media it seems. He was quite apologetic about the delivery date being pushed and the overall opacity in communication. I would specifically like to draw attention to something he mentioned off-hand: Mahindra had to change a vendor midway through production and hence some deliveries slated for November have been pushed. Not sure about what specific part this vendor supplied. I also drew his attention to the fact that the general grouse that a majority of us have is later bookings being given preference over the initial 25k bookings. He didn't react much to it, but candidly admitted that they had extended price protection to many customers as a gesture of goodwill. I asked him some pointed questions regarding the algorithm, but as expected, he deflected by speaking about AX7L/AX7 being produced more hence early deliveries, etc. He has now promised delivery by 20th December for sure. He also patched in the Regional Sales Head Mr. Vishal Sharma and followed it up with an apology mail marking the dealer honchos etc. He has asked me to reach out in case of any further grievances.

Nonetheless, I appreciate the fact that senior management members like Mr. Jejurikar and Mr. Syed are hands-on. It was good of Mr. Syed to reach out over a call and actually have a proper conversation for over 20 minutes. As a layman, I definitely appreciate this level of commitment from senior management of a company. Now let's see if I actually get delivery by the "promised" date. Will update as things progress.:)

I have not cancelled my booking but I have decided to look at other cars starting in a couple of months- once we get more data and a clearer picture of the actual delivery timelines starts emerging.

The simple fact is that there is no other car which offers the combination of safety, space and features at this price, which is why there is such a mad rush for it despite Mahindra's reputation for first-batch niggles.

So, one has to sit down and decide what one is willing to give up and what is non-negotiable.

In my case, I am flexible on features and price, but not on safety and space. Therefore, among the cars currently on sale, the only other option for me is the Hyundai Tucson. I would probably have bought it by now if it weren't for the XUV (but maybe not because there are rumors of a new one being launched early next year)

Once the Volkswagen Tiguan and the Skoda Kodiaq come to market, I will take a look at those as well. I have a suspicion that I might end up liking the Kodiaq the most among these three, but who knows!

Yet another option is to walk into a Mahindra dealership, pay the premium demanded by the dealer and get my hands on a cancelled vehicle. It will likely come down to the price of the Kodiaq and the premium being demanded by the Mahindra dealership.

When you get inside the car and close the doors, pop-out handles should should automatically fold inside, irrespective of whether they are motorised or not. That is a basic expectation and if this requires someone to perform some action, it is a major design failure.

Could you elaborate on what is meant by this 'inertia based manual action'? Is this same in AX7 Non luxury as well lower versions? Just for context, the variants comparison table on XUV700 website mentions that the AX7 and AX7L have the 'smart close' feature whereas the lower variants don't.

Hello bhpians.

Here is more dope on the XUV700.

1. According to my sources, if ever there is a need to dismantle the dashboard for any repairs like AC related repairs then it will be a hell of a task to get rid of the resulting rattles as well as electronic sensor malfunction as the dashboard design and internal network of sensors and wiring is way too complex as compared to the XUV500.

2. As of today the daily production of the XUV700 is around 220 units out of which approximately 170 are the petrol variants. And since many customers have switched their bookings to diesel, the diesel deliveries are getting delayed further still.

3. Mahindra is likely to have their annual maintenance shutdown at their Chakan plant from 25th December for around 4-5 days. Also during this period a fresh batch of chips is expected to arrive which will speed up the deliveries of the XUV700 especially the petrol variants.

4. As I had mentioned earlier that Red and Silver were the colours being made during the initial days, from around 15th December the production will be focused mostly on the Electric Blue shade. So deliveries of this colour will be expedited in early 2022.

5. Midnight Black is the worst affected colour in the XUV700 and deliveries of this colour are taking the most time irrespective of variant or engine. Also amongst these variants diesel AWD Electric Blue XUVs will see the most delayed deliveries with the worst being early 2023.

6. The current braking system for the XUV700 is provided by Minda which is the reason for having issues with brake noise. Mahindra is in the process of having a tie up with Grimeca for updating the braking system on the XUV700. If this tie up goes through then expect the updated and noise free brakes to be rolled out by the time the next generation Scorpio is out that is by next Diwali. Grimeca is able to provide better brakes than Minda at the same price and according to my sources Grimeca lies in between Minda and Brembo(Bybre) brakes when it comes to braking technology.

7. The XUV700 was never supposed to be a 700 but was always a 500 till late 2020 or even early 2021. Mahindra did not have any plans to have an all new 500 and wanted to pitch the 700 as the all new 500. According to my sources, in all the media vehicles some error messages in the infotainment system had the word XUV500 instead of XUV700. Members or mods who have interacted with media cars can confirm the same. Also the all new XUV500 will be launched around 2025 and will have power outputs somewhere between the 300 and the 700. It will get the same engines as the XUV700 but atleast for petrol variant the power output will be closer to 160 bhp and the diesel will likely get the same tune as the all new Scorpio.

8. According to my sources Mahindra has given more torque to the automatic diesel variants of the XUV700 not only to differentiate between the manual and the auto but also to improve the low end driveability of the automatic which was proving to be relatively poor. The manual gearbox can easily take the 450 NM torque.

9. Mahindra has made a few prototypes of a convertible version of the XUV900 and this variant may be introduced post the launch of the XUV900 coupe variant. If you remember the teaser about the skyroof that Mahindra had posted on YouTube which had the words " You might think you are in a convertible " then this was a clear nod to a future convertible derivative on the XUV700 platform.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more info.:thumbs up

As per manual, smart close is related to how sunroof can be closed during rain or remotely using remote.

As per the manual, manual flush handles will return to original position once you release your hand after opening the door. Electric handles will return to original position when speed crosses 10kmph. In either case, if it's not returning to the original position, it's likely a defect.

Don't know what the smart close feature is exactly but door handles are manual spring assisted in the non-luxury and lower trims.

The way auto-close works in lower trims is via a spring loaded mechanism. When you pull on the handle to open door, a spring gets compressed and when you release it, the spring expands and the handle pops close. But this happens correctly only if you release the handle when the spring is fully compressed. I think owners will eventually get the hang of it.

I don’t think it will automatically close until the driver locks it manually with the centralised lock button or the car does it automatically when the speed reaches 20 kmph.