[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by arvindb4

Another strange thing is that in case of Mahindra and some other cars, I could not find anywhere in the manual about the placement of sensors and how they get triggered etc etc. Consumer is clueless.

Arvind, did your XUV500 get the side airbag software upgrade in 2015?
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-s...e-upgrade.html

There was one more major XUV500 major accident that never triggered the airbags
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-s...nt-deploy.html

Check out Mahindra's idiotic reply:
https://www.cartoq.com/xuv500-crash-...-explains-why/

In this case, there is no damage seen in the front of the car. As there was no frontal impact the front airbags had not deployed. Side Airbags too are designed to deploy in case of acceleration due to impact. Since the toppling was caused due to “aquaplaning” situation and not due to side impact collision, the side airbags also would not have deployed in this case.

[arvindb4]

Bringing the manufacturer to the book is one. I don't think such vehicles should be allowed production and be on the road. I honestly don't want this thread to die as most do. I want people like you to begin a campaign and join in. If we don't do it, we are silent spectators to this criminality.
I personally stop every xuv on the road or in the parking. I plead with the owners to make informed decisions before investing.
I am not going to die feeling guilty for what I could have done.
Then again it's not just my son. It's every life that is put at risk, and why should we let even one be destroyed.
I was extremely disappointed by Mahindra. They don't care a damn who lives or dies. The pro active part is only when it supports their image and brand. I haven't come across a single tweet where it was an apology and feeling sorry. Empathy is not in their dictionary. I am told they assess your nuisance value. In fact till date they never contacted me in person.
Well if we have voices together, we can make an impact. I am doing it alone in the meantime

[sandeepmdas]

1.

Originally Posted by arvindb4

Accident happened on 11th of May 2018. Based on reconstruction... he was trying to avert a collision and swerved the car towards left. Went over the side footpath, crashed into a heavy metal fence and went into the green belt, where there was a cluster of trees and tree trunks. There was no roll over. The car spun perhaps and hit a tree trunk with severe impact, before coming to a stop.

2.

Originally Posted by arvindb4

Another strange thing is that in case of Mahindra and some other cars, I could not find anywhere in the manual about the placement of sensors and how they get triggered etc etc. Consumer is clueless.

The second quote made me pull out my XUV owner's manual from the cupboard. My car is also 2013 model, so chances are, the one I have here must be the same version.

You are correct, the manual has a full chapter dedicated for SRS (ch.6 "Supplemental Restraint System") but is silent about the placement or tech data about the airbag triggering mechanism.

What triggered this post is: your first post (quote 1) and the conditions M&M describes in the manual in pages 6-13 to 6-17 for non-deployment of airbags. Please see the not-so-good-quality snaps of the user manual attached.

[arvindb4]

It's a murky road. The so called scions of enterprise and ethics are very weak people in reality. A suave look for the world in Armani suits and personal jets and a mechanism to control social media by showing their proactive behavior, hardly reflects their true personality.
They are not role models for anyone. They are the Ravanas who need a Ram everyday.

[Holyghost]

This is shocking. Hope your son recovers soon.
As a community, we could make an impact. We were able to make a big impact in Harish's Skoda case. This is a much more severe case and we should offer all the support in whatever way we can to support Arvind.
I dont think Mahindra should be allowed to go scot-free in this case. It is a pity that we dont have a proper investigation mechanism or a regulatory body to take on manufacturers in cases like these.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by arvindb4

Mahindra xuv 500 w8, 2013 model
None of the 6 airbags deployed. No seat covers, no accessories, no bumper guards. Seat belts on.
My son suffered from severe traumatic brain injuries. Right side of body, speech, hearing, motor skills are severely impaired and damaged.

Dear Sir,

My prayers and best wishes for complete recovery of your beloved son. These tough days will pass and you will see happier moments with your son and the rest of the family.

Also, I appreciate the composure reflected in your posts.

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

What triggered this post is: your first post (quote 1) and the conditions M&M describes in the manual in pages 6-13 to 6-17 for non-deployment of airbags.

At least M &, M has clearly specified the conditions under which the airbag may not deploy. I do not see such information in the manual for my SX4 Zxi. Publishing such information shall be made mandatory for all the car manufacturers. Also, such information shall be a part of our car buying process and we all shall drive our cars keeping in mind such constraints.

Team - BHP always advised us to thoroughly read the owner's manual immediately after driving the new car home.

[landcruiser123]

Arvind,
Our prayers are with you. We hope your son recovers well. Our country needs bright youth like your son.

I've mostly ended up taking the side of the manufacturer in threads (and various facebook posts) which go "My airbags didn't deploy...," but this one is serious.

Shame on you, Mahindra -that was severe impact on the driver door and the hood. I'm wondering whether the electronics failed?

Also, are the sensors checked every 2 years/20,000 km?

I know for a fact that the rule of thumb is to replace the airbags every 10 years.

And yes, I think all airbags shouldn't selectively deploy. What if you have a pet in the car and the left side curtain airbags don't deploy when you get T-boned on the right side? The pet wouldn't be wearing seatbelts and would get flung hard.

Originally Posted by GTO

Other than insurance claims, I can't think of any reason why a manufacturer wouldn't err on the side of safety.

I didn't understand this. Can you please explain?

[msk016]

I'm so sorry for this unfortunate situation Arvind. I sincerely wish and pray for your son's speedy and full recovery.
Talking about taking action to bring this criminal act to book, there is an organisation called Moneylife foundation, based out of Mumbai. They are upright and honest in my experience. They help in all kinds of consumer complaints, including financial frauds, mis-selling etc. They have eminent people like SD Israni and Shailesh Gandhi associated with them. You should approach them with your case. I believe they should at least be able to guide you properly about future course of action.
Being a 2013 XUV W8 owner myself, i must say I'm worried. Any method to ensure that the ABS & Airbags in my XUV are in good operational condition?? Any inputs will be helpful.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by arvindb4

The so called scions of enterprise and ethics are very weak people in reality. A suave look for the world in Armani suits and personal jets and a mechanism to control social media by showing their proactive behavior, hardly reflects their true personality. They are not role models for anyone. They are the Ravanas who need a Ram everyday.

Request: No personal attacks on Team-BHP please, not against members nor non-members.

[arvindb4]

Sir, with due respect to all members, I was not implicating team bhp at all. That particular address was to the manufacturers of automobiles who are prominent members of our society. Have the resources and strut with their glee of whatever achievement they think they have.
To me and my plea, I am addressing commoners like me and others who are at a loss to find ways of justice.
I am filled with gratitude and thanks, in the way I have received such a phenomenal support.
Please don't misunderstand my comments.

[anshumandun]

Originally Posted by arvindb4

Well if we have voices together, we can make an impact. I am doing it alone in the meantime

I feel really sad and angry at Mahindra after reading this thread. Agree with you that these people control everything with money and power and its is difficult to get justice. But in today's world of social media, the common man has a slight edge over companies which care about their brand value.

You can start a petition on Change.org asking Mahindra to recall all their vehicles for checking airbags. And attach your story with pictures in the petition. Most of Team Bhp members will sign the petition and help to spread it.

XUV sells in other countries too. Write to their Govt. about this flaw with the car. Tell them that you are petitioning for a recall of the car by Mahindra in India and they follow the same in their countries too.

Even if Mahindra can prove that scientifically there was not the "right impact" or deceleration for the airbags to deploy, at least the world will know that there are a lot of situations in which the XUV will not deploy airbags while the people inside can get injured. You can just attach the images from the manual in which Mahindra admits that there are so many situations where the airbags will not deploy even in case of an accident. Just spread the news that XUV has airbags but is still NOT a safe car.

Mahindra or rather any other money making business, care about nothing but making money. The only way to make them listen is to hurt their business.

Wishing your son a speedy recovery and a great life ahead.

[bkc]

How is your son doing now? We hope he recovers soon.


Here we have cars like figo and freestyle with 6 airbags at an attractive price but, the sales figure of the segment reveals, what kind of car people prefer.

As many have pointed out, only stringent regulations can bring some change and people as a whole cannot be changed at once. Example, the gst regime got most of the people to bill their goods without fail (please no debate on, whether it was overall bad or good).

At the end of the day, a son/daughter is more important to any parent, than anything else for that matter, he should be fed with enormous confidence to be back on track.

[Guna]

Is there a central database of these kind of incidents (vehicles catching fire, accidents due to malfunctioning, safety features failing etc..) Can an RTI query reveal data? I really want to know what is the 'success rate' for different manufacturers.

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by msk016

Being a 2013 XUV W8 owner myself, i must say I'm worried. Any method to ensure that the ABS & Airbags in my XUV are in good operational condition?? Any inputs will be helpful.

Originally Posted by anshumandun

XUV sells in other countries too. Write to their Govt. about this flaw with the car. Tell them that you are petitioning for a recall of the car by Mahindra in India and they follow the same in their countries too.

First of all, (as mentioned by Smartcat, and not yet been answered by the OP) there was a software update for the SRS (and some other systems I think) in 2015. I did receive reminder SMS and calls from the company as well as TVS, the dealer in Trivandrum. Did you update the software?

Secondly, an end-2013 W8 was crashed into the stonewall in Trivandrum on FEB 2014. All airbags worked fine, the passengers escaped without a scratch, but were unable to run or walk off. They were all in an inebriated condition. I saw this car in TVS. Remember, this was a pre-updated version.

I am not supporting Mahindra here blindly. The SRS in W8 will surely work if the car is new. I am not sure if it won't after five years, but I sincerely hope this is an one-off case.

[sub.g84]

This news has really saddened me. We sincerely pray for a speedy recovery of your son arvindb4. When someone so young and bright has to face such life threatening experience then this can be nothing short of extreme agony. We put our hard earned money into trust towards the manufacturers when we buy cars. And if this is the end result then it is really shocking.

As someone pointed out before please write to Anand Mahindra and keep us posted on what he opines about this most unfortunate incident.

On a related note I happened to uncover a similar incident in one of the earlier T-Bhp threads with XUV500 W8 where the side airbags didn't deploy: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-s...nt-deploy.html

Mahindra really needs to look into this with utmost concern.