re: Mahindra XUV500 niggles & solutions Never thought I'd have to write this. After a near niggle-free existence of two years the cheetah gave up on me yesterday. I’ve had the usual niggles - the omnipresent brake grinding noise, notorious ICE software issues and the infamous alarm going off (I’ll save those for an ownership thread), but yesterday was a totally different experience.
Was on my way back from Coorg and the clutch started acting up half way through the journey. Once depressed, the pedal just would not come back up. The ICE also started showing an alert about the brake fluid being low and asked me to drive slowly. I remembered reading about clutch issues faced by fellow BHPians, but was confused with the brake fluid alert. Since I was with my wife and six month old kid, I did not want to stop in the middle of nowhere so early in the morning. I kept driving and the cheetah brought me all the way till NICE road where it just gave up! At the Hosur road exit toll plaza, the clutch went all the way in and I was not able to slot into any gear.
Then the moments of frustration started! Multiple phone calls ensued, to dealers and to the Mahindra helpline. Had to make 3 calls to the helpline to get a proper response! And each time, the person at the other end said something new! The third guy was kind enough to pass my number through to Sireesh auto and they called me promptly. I was informed that the free tow facility was available only for a period of 2 years. Since I had already crossed that, I had to pay on my own. After multiple discussions and frustrating phone calls, I found myself waiting for a flatbed to arrive.
Finally, after being stuck at NICE road for close to 3 hours (that too in the scorching sun), the cheetah was towed to Sireesh Auto service center at Marthahalli. It was a sad feeling, almost as if I was in an ambulance taking someone close to the hospital. In the evening, the RM called me and said there was a leak in the CSC (Clutch Slave Cylinder, I guess). Since the XUV has the same reservoir for both clutch and brake fluids, the brake alert started appearing on the ICE. I heard from some of my friends at Mahindra that this was an issue among XUVs being driven in cities, because of the constant clutch usage. Also, the vehicle has done only around 29k kms. So I made my intentions clear that I would not want to pay for any replacement. Today morning, the RM called me again and said the parts and replacement would be made free of cost!
Long story short, I still love the Cheetah! It is an absolute bliss to drive on highways. Have done some crazy stuff within the city as well! Except for some niggles here and there, it is an amazing vehicle. I am happy that M&M does take necessary steps to ensure that issues are addressed fast and without any cost to the customer. But I am frustrated about the incompetence of some people at the “With You Hamesha” helpline! They can really put a dent on the brand image. Sireesh Auto was another saving grace. The staff was very professional and courteous in all their interactions. Since I was carrying the entire luggage from Coorg, they also arranged for another vehicle to drop me home.
The Cheetah is due for service in another 400 kms, so I asked them to do that as well. Now eagerly waiting to get back the cheetah and start yet another adventure! Hopefully a niggle free one this time. Mod Note : Please do NOT cut-copy-paste text from other word software (MS Word etc.). That results in a formatting error on our Forum. Click here to know how to remove FONT Tags from your post.
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Thanks
Last edited by Aditya : 25th January 2014 at 16:14.
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