[chevyman]

Originally Posted by SDP

Just to ensure that all related information is in a single thread, even at the risk of duplication, let me share the post and pics of the original incident.

The alloy wheel breaking at regular highway speeds would have disastrous effects.

Disclaimer: No concrete data in this particular accident if the alloy wheel broke and caused the accident or the impact with the divider caused the alloy to break

All the eye witnesses to that accident and the driver himself were sure that the alloy wheel of the co-passenger side broke while the car was in motion. After the wheel broke it hit the divider and crossed over to the other side and turned turtle.

I just couldnt believe it but it seems to be true.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Isn't it a good thing that alloys now cost 6K to replace instead of 12k??
I think its wrong to assume that anything manufactured locally is bad.

Agreed. However I have seen 3 different incidents wherein the igen i20 alloys gave away to pothole impact whereas there are no such incidents heard on the first gen i20. Hence the conclusion on strength and quality vs price.

If Hyundai indeed would have localized the production of the first generation then the price should have been lesser now. But that is not the case. They are still sold at 12k a pop

Originally Posted by vinjosep

The i20 Elite 16" OEM alloys are 13k a piece here in Bangalore, or so I was told by the SR recently..

My bad. I meant only the I gen i20. Not the elite. Thanks for pointing out.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by chevyman

All the eye witnesses to that accident and the driver himself were sure that the alloy wheel of the co-passenger side broke while the car was in motion. After the wheel broke it hit the divider and crossed over to the other side and turned turtle.

I just couldnt believe it but it seems to be true.

Thanks chevyman for the first-hand information.
Quoted you specifically as you were there at the first accident scene.

Any major injuries?
I am assuming that this was a W6 variant. So no side airbags. The front being intact, the front airbags are anyways not deployed.

[fighterace]

Lets face it, potholes are an integral part of our road network. One of the advantages vehicle like the XUV is it's ability to deal with them. If the alloy wheels are not up to the task, M&M must state so. No use of hiding behind (or inside) potholes. And a break at the hub, without commensurate damage at the edges, is plain structural failure.

[chevyman]

I didn't see any airbags deployed. There were two passengers in it - a middle-aged couple. Husband was driving, both survived with minor injuries. When I went, they were sitting on chairs and having cool drink, comforted by local people. The guy was making frantic calls to his kin. My bad, I missed snapping the broken wheel which was lying nearby. All the while I was thinking there was a collision, but really shocking to know the alloys are so brittle, they break while in motion.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by SDP

If I remember correctly, I have noticed "Made in China" markings on the W8 stock alloys that my car has. Let me confirm that.

Please confirm when you get the chance to look it up. The OEM and the Original accessory wheels could be from different manufacturers as the volumes will be considerably different.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Please confirm when you get the chance to look it up. The OEM and the Original accessory wheels could be from different manufacturers as the volumes will be considerably different.

Pretty sure about it now. Remembered that I had mentioned it in my ownership log as well.

....
Almost 9 months of ownership, but I had not tried how to remove the spare wheel. Did that today. Removed the spare-wheel. The alloy as well as the tyre was quite dirty. Washed it thoroughly and put it back. Saw the inside of the alloy ...it says "Made In China".
....

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post3075113

That's a 2 year old post. If I get time tomorrow morning, would click a pic and share.

[Zinda]

What worries me even more is unlike a batch of Cars/TVs etc, where due to some technical glitch, just a batch of Products has unexpected faults which fail to get identified in Quality Control (QC). This issue ( I wish I am proven wrong) seems more serious with shortcoming in manufacturing process or incompetent QC. Even a small quantity of impurity in a huge pool of molten metal can prove FATAL and issues could arise even after years of usage (Metal Fatigue). UV Rays are used during QC to identify the lightest crack, and it is still a very reliable method to identify issues in Metal Products.
These kinda failures are just UNACCEPTABLE and can prove catastrophic even for a Robust Vehicle like XUV, no matter how rigid the body is, or how many Airbags the car comes equipped with.

Apologies for a post containing throughout negative words, but wish Mahindra addresses this issue with priority over anything, FIRES the parts supplier no matter what, and also, above all, I wish no more such issue is reported in any other XUV.

[Sanjunair5]

Folks, I think many here are jumping to hasty conclusions. Mahindra has sold over 100,000 XUVs, most of them with alloy rims. And in this thread I see fewer than 5 instances of cracked rims being discussed, which is a very low sample to jump to conclusions.

Granted, alloys can crack due to manufacturing defects, but can also crack due to other issues like hitting an obstacle hard, wrongly centered rim etc.

[300 KMPH]

Originally Posted by Sanjunair5

Folks, I think many here are jumping to hasty conclusions. Mahindra has sold over 100,000 XUVs, most of them with alloy rims. And in this thread I see fewer than 5 instances of cracked rims being discussed, which is a very low sample to jump to conclusions.

Granted, alloys can crack due to manufacturing defects, but can also crack due to other issues like hitting an obstacle hard, wrongly centered rim etc.

Exactly! Hundreds of accidents happen in India. I've even encountered a broken alloy wheel of a verna. There are many incidents of broken alloys. Only 2-3 persons reported that's why there is some misunderstanding about the wheels maybe. No. I'm not biased about Mahindra. There are a lot of niggles regarding XUVs.


I might be wrong but I think this is probably just a case of hitting potholes at high speeds. We all know how Mahindra owners abuse their cars.

[venkyhere]

two questions :

1) alloys are supposed to be "cast" as a single piece (OR) in case of ultra high end super cars - forged from a single block. Could it be that the alloy wheel supplier is cheating M&M by providing inferior multiple-cast-pieces-welded-together-into-one-wheel ?

2) are the dealers playing a game here, by swapping OEM alloys with aftermarket duplicate ones before handing over the car to the customer, and making a few bucks on the sly ?

[poloman]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

two questions :

1) alloys are supposed to be "cast" as a single piece (OR) in case of ultra high end super cars - forged from a single block. Could it be that the alloy wheel supplier is cheating M&M by providing inferior multiple-cast-pieces-welded-together-into-one-wheel ?

2) are the dealers playing a game here, by swapping OEM alloys with aftermarket duplicate ones before handing over the car to the customer, and making a few bucks on the sly ?

What you mean by supplier cheating M&M? Is Mahindra buying these alloys eyes wide shut? What is their QA department doing?
Alloys collapsing like that of a toy car will be last thing on a driver's mind having paid more than 10L for a car..!!

[latentpotential]

Could be inadequate cross section area coupled with some material quality issue in a few units? This type of break is seen earlier as well:

refer: http://www.clublexus.com/forums/the-...els-rumor.html

In this case such break was common with a specific model batch known to be of inferior quality.

Another: http://www.clutchd.com/2008/11/aston...eaks-off.html/ suggests it is not usual to have such a wheel break caused by an accident i.e. only in one-off cases.

Official verdict on this case would be good.

[rahul_kej]

Originally Posted by Sanjunair5

Folks, I think many here are jumping to hasty conclusions. Mahindra has sold over 100,000 XUVs, most of them with alloy rims. And in this thread I see fewer than 5 instances of cracked rims being discussed, which is a very low sample to jump to conclusion.

The issue is for speed rim alloys which is available as optional Mahindra accessory for W6 and W4 as W8 is already equipped with a different and feel strong kind of alloy wheels.

First of all maximum XUVs on road are W8. The few W6 or W4 on road are either running on OEM rims or are on after market alloys. The people using speed rim alloys provided by Mahindra are very very less in number out of which few instances has come to our notice and there might be many such instances which has not been taken up on social media or blogs.

Even if the cases are 1percent or less, who is ready to risk there life and continue using these alloys? When its a matter related to wheels there is no margin of error.

[Sanjunair5]

Originally Posted by rahul_kej

The issue is for speed rim alloys which is available as optional Mahindra accessory for W6 and W4 as W8 is already equipped with a different and feel strong kind of alloy wheels.

First of all maximum XUVs on road are W8. The few W6 or W4 on road are either running on OEM rims or are on after market alloys. The people using speed rim alloys provided by Mahindra are very very less in number out of which few instances has come to our notice and there might be many such instances which has not been taken up on social media or blogs.

Even if the cases are 1percent or less, who is ready to risk there life and continue using these alloys? When its a matter related to wheels there is no margin of error.

What is your point?

There are two instances of speed rims cracking mentioned on this thread. Nothing, absolutely nothing else - had they hit something earlier, were the fitted properly? - is known about what caused it. So why jump to conclusions that it is an OEM problem or a Mahindra problem?

Sure, it is a serious issue if rims break. But given the kind of details, can you say it is a manufacturing defect? Can you say all speed rims are faulty? No, no way yet. And that is my point.

I drive a XUV, but no Mahindra fanboy.