[nair]

This is not good. I was on the lookout for such a car when my parents retire. I had already begun convincing my ma about crossover cars. It would be interesting to see how M&M handle this. I remember going through a thread which described how Maruti replaced a gentleman's brand new Swift. Although this case is not nearly as severe, one expects (deserves) that level of commitment from their dealers especially if one shells out 14Lakhs+ on a product.

I can imagine how frustrating it must be to take you car to service centre within 10 days of ownership. One really appreciate the Hondas and Marutis after this.

[dadu]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

c. Lastly, grease monkeys are the same everywhere - what i'm curious is how companies like Tata/Mahindra (atleast in this case) completely lose the plot at service and send back a customer with more problems while Toyota (mostly) don't fall into the same trap. Why? Are their processes better? What's the differentiator?

Its,

Quality
Quality
Quality

and its not on the assembly line, it starts from the design phase and ends in the final component production, design of each and every component from a small nut to the plastic panels.

Do you think that Toyota employs more competent people in the production line, NO. They just make better components which are designed to fit exactly as they are supposed to when any of their assembly staff applies the torque using the tool they are supposed to use.

These assembly line is nothing but as the name says, assemble the component just like you would assemble a DIY furniture at home with the right tools and instructions, now if a bolt fails or breaks you will be left with a chair with only 3 legs but you can't blame the assembler, its the component quality failing the product.

[RadiantKarma]

Sad but not entirely unexpected. Some pieces will certainly have a large no. of niggles in a product that costs only Rs. 14 lacs. I can see shocked eyebrows. But the fact is that the competition is unable to provide anything like XUV anywhere close to that price. One cannot expect Toyota/Honda quality at such a price. Quality processes of an organization has its own attendant costs. A manufacturer cannot provide great engineering, features, good interiors as well as quality/reliability - all at a low price.

Quality (from reliability perspective) of a vehicle actually has nothing to do with the cost of a particular model. It's all about quality practices of the organization. Ask Tatas for Aria on one end of the spectrum and Maruti for Alto / M800 on the other end.

This is one more instance that shows that an apparent Value-for-Money product can actually be far less value and a lot of money+pain.

In any case, I wish @hell yeah for early solution to the woes and happy ownership going forward. And the patriot inside me still does hope that Mahidra can actually sort out the niggles sooner and deliver a product that will be both delicious and healthy! And will give a real run to these Japs and others for their money!

[noopster]

Hell Yeah, sorry to hear about your experience and I must say you have penned it down in a calm and objetive manner which I am not sure a lot of us would be able to do in a similar situation!

I voted for the XUV 500 as COTY on T-BHP and it's very disappointing that Mahindra doesn not seem to have got over the typical pitfalls that a gadget-heavy vehicle like this would be expected to have going in. Lack of trained personnel at service centre, shoving of blame onto the OE manufacturer (Nippon), holding on to a vehicle for a long period without clearly communicating to the owner etc. are all truly repugnant things that no person, especially one who has shelled out over 14 lacs, should have to go through. Hope your problems are resolved quickly- have you asked for a replacement car?

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by black12rr

PS: what is COTEC ?

COmpany TEChnicians.

They would be in-plant employees that assemble / take care of post production issues during road-worthiness test.

This is a good move, but i am not sure if M&M is planning to allot at least 1 COTEC to every M&M Dealer. This would demand a huge cost and it would reflect on the ex-showroom price of the vehicle.

Even if it is on an "On-Demand Basis", the cost of flying the technician and his accomodation is a cost noticeable in the eyes of the senior management.

[Chetan_Rao]

No owner should be made to go through such stuff after he/she's spent hard-earned money. Unfortunately, we can only sympathize now and hope the issues get resolved.

Having said that, Mahindra has played their cards well by pandering to the 'VFM' mentality of the average Indian car buyer. Don't go anywhere else, just look at the XUV 5OO thread on this very same forum. Everyone had something to say about the design, part quality & reliability concerns, but the moment prices were announced, majority jumped ship to how 'great' and 'VFM' the package was, issues notwithstanding. I agree there's no other comparable product in this price rarnge, but is it really 'VFM'? I don't think customers like the OP agree with the VFM hype anymore.

And what it also does is give companies like Honda and Toyota a chance to keep over-pricing their products, playing the 'reliability' card to their advantage. Mahindra's overzealousness in selling a product they aren't equipped to handle is going to affect customers badly, some not even their own.

[srishiva]

Its disappointing and also sad for a Indian product to read such things. It was not very surprising however.

We can have Anand Mahindras and Ratan Tatas (or TBHPians for that matter) dreaming about good cars. But will they get the right engineers and technicians to bring their dreams to life? Or can we in India mobilize the right resources (at a lower price) for something more than utilitarian sort of vehicles?

[luky_13]

If we were expecting a over night replacement of M&M dealers and staff who till yesterday were used to handling the likes of Bolero, Scorpio and Xylo... with tech savvy spanner spinning geeks who understand USB, SatNav and complex electronics then we are living in a fools paradise. Mahindra has introduced what till yesterday we applauded and lauded as an Indian auto giants leap into the future, we need to realize that although this is a big move it needs to be complemented with proper training and orientation of staff, technicians, dealers etc. These things will evolve with time. Till such time someone will feel being made a 'Bakra'. Although there is no compromise to the level of service one should expect after dishing out 15L of ones hard earned money, but this is reality and to top it up this is India, lets face it.

[rohitbagai]

Originally Posted by luky_13

If we were expecting a over night replacement of M&M dealers and staff who till yesterday were used to handling the likes of Bolero, Scorpio and Xylo... with tech savvy spanner spinning geeks who understand USB, SatNav and complex electronics then we are living in a fools paradise. Mahindra has introduced what till yesterday we applauded and lauded as an Indian auto giants leap into the future, we need to realize that although this is a big move it needs to be complemented with proper training and orientation of staff, technicians, dealers etc. These things will evolve with time. Till such time someone will feel being made a 'Bakra'. Although there is no compromise to the level of service one should expect after dishing out 15L of ones hard earned money, but this is reality and to top it up this is India, lets face it.

I totally agree. MOST of the prospective buyers know that its a new product and there could be problems in it. And the fact of the matter is that there is a large chunk of buyers waiting on the sidelines and will take a plunge when the initial niggles will get resolved at the plant itself.
The more we report such niggles the better we would do for prospective buyers and Mahindra because I am sure they are keeping a close eye on our feedback.

My take is that thank God its not the problem with the monocoque chassis or the super refined engine, or any problem with transverse engine design. I love my car because it handles VERY well, has a front wheel drive and has a super refined (though I would have preferred a CRDi) engine.

[jaysmokesleaves]

This thread has gone OT from technical queries discussion to model and manufacturer comparisions.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by rohitbagai

I love my car because it handles VERY well, has a front wheel drive and has a super refined (though I would have preferred a CRDi) engine.

Interesting point. I always thought its a CRDi engine. Our official review says its a common-rail-diesel engine. The sales brochure mentions mHawk 140- Direct Injection diesel engine.

Can some experts throw some light around this?

[rohitbagai]

Originally Posted by SDP

Interesting point. I always thought its a CRDi engine. Our official review says its a common-rail-diesel engine. The sales brochure mentions mHawk 140- Direct Injection diesel engine.

Can some experts throw some light around this?

I thought it's just a DI and not a CRDi

[carwatcher]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

There are three things I take away from this thread:
a. There is far too much XUV bashing than there should have been - though yes i agree the car should have been niggle free from day one!

It is simply because when COTY voting was done there was too much praising was also going on without any reason other than VFM, VFM and more VFM (one VFM for each variant )
So, when you are OK with praises, be OK with brickbats too, afterall with power comes responsibilities too.

b. The fact remains that you can buy any freaking XX lakh SUV/car but if you leave the car in the service center, you will only get an unwashed car and unfinished business (yes, this applies to Maruti as well - can't saw about the luxobarges).
Fully Agreed, infact in India, we would be between surprised to shocked if we get our car washed after small repairs and will even start going back regularly for small niggles.

c. Lastly, grease monkeys are the same everywhere - what i'm curious is how companies like Tata/Mahindra (atleast in this case) completely lose the plot at service and send back a customer with more problems while Toyota (mostly) don't fall into the same trap. Why? Are their processes better? What's the differentiator?

The differentiator is exactly the difference between Indian and Japanese mindset.

@GTO: LOL. Good catch!
Innova is best vehicle availabe in that budget, so that's the most obvious choice.

I think Mahindra is doing good job in atleast attending the complaints actively before launching the product pan-India.

PS : Existing XUV owners can look this way. The savings from later price hike and pride of early ownership to them is coming at a cost of being Guinea pigs.

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by rohitbagai

I thought it's just a DI and not a CRDi

Mahindras have CRDi engines in the Xylo, Scorpio, had it in the Bolero... They even have CRDi engines in their mini tempo 'Maximmo'...

So, why would they not give a CRDi engine in their most expensive model? Be rest assured, your mHawk is a CRDi.

[autocrat]

Automobile manufacturing today is more about design and integration than about manufacturing processes, which have already reached a certain level of maturity with most automobile (and component) manufacturers.

Several specialized parts are sourced from same vendors by several companies (Ex. CRDI system by BOSCH / DELPHI, Braking systems by Bosch / TVS, A/C by BEHR / Subros etc.).

How is it that one manufacturer produces cars that are niggle free, whereas another, using material from the same suppliers, can not?

IMHO, its a matter of lack of attention to detail, in design and integration.

OT, have not read about such niggles on ARIA yet (probably as they haven't sold many?) We will never know if Aria is better put together than XUV 5OO if people don't buy