Team-BHP - Mahindra XUV300 vs the competition

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkLightning (Post 5103622)

Use Cases -

Cross country travel as I intend to explore as much of India as I can with my wife and family (wherever possible for family)

Primary usage will be the long outstation trips and weekend trips as for daily errands and small trips we still prefer our two wheelers.

Must have requirements -

Top notch safety kit, 6 or more airbags desirable(I know some of you would look at my Celerio but there also I opted for the safest possible variant of Celerio, this part is explored in the review).

Ability to tackle bad roads as I would like to take my car to as many places as I can.

Reliability, I intend to keep the car for a minimum of 10 years and if possible up to 15 years so reliability is a major factor and cannot be compromised

Robust, needless to say it should be robust

Handling and dynamics, I believe in our vehicles being an extension of our selves so the car's behaviour on road should be something I can trust and predict

Features, I am not a sucker for latest features but yes things like Navigation, ability to take calls hands-free, good music system for making the long journeys pleasant, TPMS, Reverse parking sensors etc are the things that I would like to have in my car and which actually enhance the drive.

Joy of driving, I am not someone who will gun for speed limits but definitely I am someone who enjoys the varieties of experience that our roads bring so whether it be cruising on highways at 80-90-100 kmph or traversing the long and windy village/mountain roads at 30 kmph the driving experience should be such that it keeps me engaged, This you can say is the requirement of biker within me.

Good rear seats, keeping in mind the term I am looking for, rear seats will have more use few years down the line so they cannot be ignored.

After Sales and Service, I don't want to spend my days playing tug of war with the service centres.

Budget - I am looking at a range of 12-15L OTR although can stretch a bit if there is an exceptional car but not by much.

I think you should also check out the Maruti XL6. It covers most of your requirements except the 6 airbags. The top Alpha AT variant is decently loaded (ESP, HSA, Cruise Control, Andorid/Apple Carplay) and is within the 12-15L budget.

If 6 airbags are an absolute must, than the only choice is XUV300 or Ecosport.
XUV300 has a more comfortable ride than Ecosport but since you plan to do long outstation trips with family, boot will be a hindrance unless only 2-3 people are going to travel in the car.

I'm planning to replace my 2012 Ford Figo Diesel with compact SUV. My Figo had crossed 205k mileage and it’s to time to find a new ride. I also own 2011 Ford Fiesta diesel which is running at 185K without any problems. Planning to keep the car for 5-7 years and it might be my last ICE car before moving to electric.
I usually travel around 2500 KM per month, so looking predominantly Diesel options and kept Scross or Vento TSI as an alternate options.

My max budget is around 9.99 lacs EX showroom. New car price have grown exponentially and even if we are willing to spend, there is no perfect car available in Diesel avatar under 13-15 lacs ex showroom. Looking for car with following features/aspects

•Cars with reasonable safety record, stable structure and solid construction - Sorry Korean twins, after Seltos crash test, have no confidence in Sonet, Venue, Creta and Seltos.
•Basic features like Driver seat height adjustment , adjustable rear headrest and rear washer wiper ( Honda and Koreans have started this cheap tactics with fixed headrest and offering rear wiper only on top end). Now Indian manufacturers had started to follow the suit.
•Good ride and handling.
•Good steering Feedback - Important aspect for me , I feel alive when you drive a car with good steering response and feedback.
•Space to carry around 4 adults and occasional 5th passenger.
•Features like sunroof , automatic climate control , projector headlamps , alloy wheels , Android Auto/Apple Carplay etc. are good to have in my list but not an absolute necessity.

It’s been a long search and still couldn’t find the unicorn which I’m looking for. Had several test drives with available diesel compact SUV’s but couldn’t finalize one. Two weeks back we have finalized WRV Diesel and with recent price hike, WRV is out of my reach now. Somehow couldn’t connect with Nexon driving dynamics or engine, something was missing when I test drove Nexon, so dropped it.

Only two Diesel options are available for me at this price point

Ford Ecosport Titanium – Tremendous value for money, coming from Ford family - zero learning curve, controls, ergonomics all comes natural. I’m ok to compromise on ride quality but shoulder room at the back and Ford exit rumors are the blockers for my family.
XUV 300 W6 – Refined engine, acceptable handling but need to compromise on less boot space, no driver height adjustment, no rear defogger and wiper washer. Found clutch action little jerky in stop and go traffic. May be I need to get used to XUV clutch actions and gear throws.

In Petrol
SCross petrol Zeta variant seems to sensible option – I might be spending extra RS 4000 per month in my fuel expense but getting more car for money. 80% of my car usage will be on highways, what is the realistic mileage I can expect from Petrol SCross on highways if we drive between 80 - 100 KM speed.

Vento – Turbo TSI edition – For 10 lacs on Road, it was terrific value for money car with all necessary features I’m looking for. Since Diwali is around the corner, should I wait for Vento’s yet another special edition.

Special consideration - Tigor EV Facelift - With speculated 350KM range and pricing around 10 -12 lacs, I'm willing to spend little extra money than what I have initially budgeted.

Looking forward to your suggestions and is there any hidden gems I’m missing here? Is it worth buying petrol cars despite of expected high usage. Does it make sense to buy Ford cars now. Sometimes, I felt being auto enthusiast is a curse , am I over analyzing every aspect of car instead of buying what’s available and start enjoying the car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainmaster (Post 5131181)

Looking at your monthly running and considering that fact that your primary run is on the highways, I'd suggest you to go ahead with the Ford Ecosport Diesel as it offers tremendous value for what it offers..!!

I won't suggest you the XUV300 as it would be like a compromise on features at that price (special mention: the 300NM of torque at tap would make your drives even more enjoyable).

Would suggest you to stay away from the Petrols as your running is high and after driving Diesels for so long, you won't enjoy the linear pull of the petrol engines.

Tigor EV can be a good choice if it provides good range and cover all your travel without needing to stop for charging. Considering the fact that the EV charging infrastructure of India is poor and the EVs are still at a development stage, I'd suggest you to get the ICE car and enjoy it to the fullest till the EVs get mandatory.

You could also take a look at the Altroz XZ(O) Diesel and the Honda Amaze V/VX Diesel. The Altroz has scored 5 stars in Global NCAP while the Amaze scored a strong 4 stars. So safety wise, both the cars are sorted.

Personally, I'd suggest you to choose between the Altroz or the Ecosport Diesel and if you stretch your budget a bit then you could also take a look at the Nexon Diesel which has scored 5 stars at the NCAP.

Happy Motoring:D

Here is my quick take on this.

I have been driving around my Ecosport from Day 1 when it was launched in 2013 till date. With 8 years of my partnership, the car hasn't disappointed me ever. But again having lived with the car for so long, here are some pointers:

+ves

1. High GC
2. Reliable Diesel Engine
3. Stability and Safety
4. Low maintenance cost as compare to the competition
5. Decent Mileage (Diesel)
6. Still a looker (Looks are subjective though)
7. Full Sized Spare wheel
8. Good and prompt Service from ford

-ves

1. Worst headlights - I am totally blinded at night at times
2. At times you feel that the car of this size should have some more juice in terms of power.
3. Heavy clutch (Diesel) and no diesel automatic
3. FORD - Good company but pretty less aggressive in Indian market. There is no clarity of what is in the store in future. Company has halted deliveries and doing only cosmetic changes in their most demanded model in India. There survival in India and future business looks bleak.

But again having all, as my vehicle is currently out of its age and has got decent KMs on the ODO, I still consider the new Ecosport for my next buy provided the company shows some promise to stay in India in the long run

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkLightning (Post 5103622)

For now it feels the battle will primarily be between Ecosport and XUV300, I would be taking test drive of Ecosport, XUV300, WR-V, City(for the fun :)) and Bolero Neo.

Providing an update on the above mentioned search. Ecosport S Diesel was looking like the most logical option among all choices but that variant was not available in my city and dealers had clearly mentioned that I will need to wait for Ford's plant to resume production of Ecosport (facelift most likely) to get the variant of my choice. However with Ford's exit Ecosport is outof contention now the only models available are Trend and Ambiente which I am not interested in.

Same with Freestyle - Titanium plus is not available in my city.

During this time other things have also changed more at personal level with me looking towards a possible relocation due to job change which will mean increased daily commute and slight reduction in original weekend tripping plans and on careful reconsideration wife and I have come to the conclusion that only XUV300 or Bolero Neo are cars that fit our choice but plonking 12-15 lakh with our new probable requirements (which can also mean the car staying parked for 2-3 months in a stretch at times) is not making much sense so the search is on back burner for now. A meaty two wheeler is higher priority in the list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainmaster (Post 5131181)

With heavy heart, dropped XUV 3OO from my search. I can afford only W6 diesel variant which misses lot of essential features. XUV 3OO variants needs restructuring with respect to feature distribution or introduce W7 with all basic necessary features like Driver seat height adjustment, rear wiper and defogger. W6 is bare bones, while W8 is feature rich but we have to pay lot of premium. One easy change Mahindra can do is to provide sliding rear seat to increase the boot space when required. Not sure how difficult it is to implement sliding rear seat but that would have negated small boot issue to a large extend. Lot of prospective buyers might have dropped it due to small boot.
As a package I really like it, NVH was top-notch, coming from first generation Figo owner, you can understand :).Engine pull was good, ride was excellent and decent handling as well.Steering feedback was not great but acceptable.

Decided to replace Figo with S-Cross for family trips and night drives , retain Fiesta for long distance office commuting for few more years. For 9.99 lacs, S-Cross seems to be offering great value for your money. Cancelled Ecosport booking and booked S-Cross.
XUV 3OO will be back in my radar in 3 years’ time, when it’s time to replace Fiesta.

Hi,
I am looking to buy a new car. Briefly here are the major points of consideration:

1) Budget around 10 LPA on road - Delhi.

2) Boss (read Mrs.) should be able to drive as well.

3) NCAP - I am loathe to go below 5 stars leaving me with Nexon and XUV300. Not considering Altroz as we would prefer to go for SUVish car. Although, if there are some strong points of tradeoffs, I could consider Brezza/ S-Cross. Creta/ Kia/ etc. not having any NCAP ratings/ 3 or less are a strict no-no. I think Brezza is a 4 Star. Not sure about S-Cross rating. If it doesn't have a NCAP rating, will not be considering the same.

5) Car GPS and Entertainment - Android Auto/ iOS Car Play in stock units are necessary to support both Android and iOS phones. Mostly going to be used for navigation. So inbuilt navigation is necessary. Rear view camera is a must.

6) Has to be petrol manual. I prefer manual as I think it gives me more control. Also, not so high mileage required so petrol is fine.

7) Long term reliability - We prefer to keep our cars till end of life. So long term reliability is a big factor.

8) I have been thinking about going about lower variants of other cars and then putting in extra accessories from outside but somewhere in the back of my mind I think it is better to take stock car and not do much fiddling with electronics.

8) Other creature comforts like rear vent, 12V sockets, central locking, rear defogger, 4 way tweeter/ speakers/ etc.

9) Servicing and maintenance - Should be acceptable. Unlike Skoda.

Basis these points, I am considering Nexon XZ as Option 1, XUV300 W8 as Option 2, Brezza ZXi as Option 3 and S-Cross Zeta as Option 4.

Some of my thoughts
- Nexon - Safety NCAP 5, XZ variant having a head unit with Android/ iOS auto, etc.
- XUV300 - Safety NCAP 5, but not upgraded for while. Dated interiors.
- Brezza - Safety NCAP 4. Read somewhere on this forum that the entertainment unit of facelift does not support inbuilt navigation.
- S-Cross - No NCAP rating in my knowledge

Request for advice/ inputs from members. Thanks.

Your thoughts and shortlist is good, just adding some points.

- S-Cross doesn't have a GNCAP rating but in reality feels pretty solid and more premium than the Brezza. So definitely do a TD and then decide whether its considered above the Brezza or lower. S-Cross doesn't have rear vents or rear charging socket.

- XUV 300 is brilliant car to drive and sit in. But average music system and looks dated for sure. No rear AC vents probably missing the rear charging socket too but not sure about it.

- Nexon seems to match most od your requirements and the Harman music system trumps everything in your list. Interiors look pretty good although the new instrument cluster is debatable.

TD all of them and see what you guys like best.
For your queries on the navigation best is to check the exact model in the showroom in person. You'll be able to judge the responsiveness of the HU, camera quality and ICE quality.