[f@lcon]

Hello Guys,
I got delivery of my XUV5OO on 4th November . Here is my Purchase experience and initial review of the car.


Note: Very long write up .please forgive if there are any mistakes as I am really bad at writing.

The hunt for a new Car:
We decided to upgrade our car as it was a decade old and we had been postponing the purchase from 3 years due to parking issues. Our serious hunt for a new car began in Aug 2010, basically budget limited up to 12-18lakh OTR and preferably a MUV or SUV and Sedan as 2nd option (9-12 lakh OTR)

Toyota Innova: My dad was really impressed with INNOVA wanted to go for it from day 1 .Me ,brother and Mom we not interested in it because we already had 1 in our family(my cousin brother owns one).So we delayed the purchase and thought of looking out the Aria due to launch in a couple of months.

Tata Aria: Early November took a test drive was impressed with the drive but did not like the interiors and fit and finish and it did not give a feel of 20lakh rupee OTR(top end) car even my dad was not impressed with the car and out of the budget so ruled out.

Mahindra Scorpio, Xylo was ruled out initially as we needed a premium kind of a car.
Now that we had tried out all the MUV and SUV decided to go for a Sedan

Chevy Optra: Excellent car but ruled out because we did not like its looks.

Hyundai Verna: Test drove the Verna and liked its amazing torque and asked my friend to get the car once to my place so that my dad and mom can see it. Meanwhile my neighbor bought a Verna in early January and didn’t think of buying it as it was going to be discontinued.
We did not think about buying for a few months till Late April as we were busy with work.

VW Vento: Test drove the car and liked the way it drives and that German thud feeling when you shut the door. It felt like a solidly built car, decided to book this car but didn’t want to regret later so decided to wait for the New Fluidic Verna and New Ford Fiesta.

New Fluidic Verna was launched took a Test drive liked the way it looked, engine performance and its built quality but was disappointed with handling.
I wanted a perfect driver’s car in case of a sedan so Verna was ruled out.

New Ford Fiesta: I liked the Kinetic design looks but pricing and the engine performance was a disappointment compared to Vento and the New Fluidic so it was ruled out.

Thanks to TEAM-BHP and its members about the Vento Review and its initial ownership reviews on the forum I decided to go ahead and book the Vento.

Booking & Delivery Experience
We could not book the car in July due to some auspicious reasons and brother met with an accident and was hospitalized for almost a week.

Finally me and my Dad went and booked VW Vento White Tdi highline on August 1st 2011 at VW Downtown and were promised a delivery within 2-3 months. I told the SE that I needed the car within a month or so asked to allot me a car if someone cancels the booking and was promised a delivery within 2 months I asked the SE to get the car sometime in that week to our place so that my mom and brother can see the car.

I visited the dealership on 28th august to check my booking status as I had not received any tentative date yet and to check if there were any cancellations in bookings so I could get my car early. The SE replied she would call back in a couple of days and confirm my tentative date or my position on the booking list as the manager was out of town.

I Called the SE after 2 days and she dint pick up the call. Called her again on 1st September her phone was not reachable so I visited the dealership on 3rd September and to my surprise the SE had quit the Job and no one in the dealership knew my booking status. I dropped my Business card in the reception and told them to call back on my booking status the next day as it was almost 6pm.

I did not receive any call from the dealership and decided to give them some piece of s**+ ,went to the dealership on 5th September , the New SE who is attending the old SE files says my car is allotted and it is in their stock yard .We did not want to take the delivery till 28th September due to auspicious reasons.so told to pass my car to next person and a lot me a car by 28th September.

Meanwhile I finished my Loan formalities as I had a pre-approved loan in HDFC Bank. My dad told me to buy the car in my name itself so got the loan done on my name.

I called the New SE on 27th September and told him I had got my loan approved, initially he agreed and told what documents to get for registration but he called back and insisted the finance part will be done by dealership guys only, so told him i would come to showroom tomorrow and talk about it.

We visited the VW Downtown next day (28th September) and told him to change the booking name to me .He told me to give a letter along with a relationship proof (which was faxed from my office within 15 minutes).Then told him my loan has been approved and told him to calculate the remaining amount so I could pay it now in cash. The SE was acting strange he was not ready to sit in front of me to do paper work was roaming around from 1 table to another asking every other guy to help him. I asked him what the problem was; he replied nothing Sir little upset with some personal problems. He made me wait for 2 hours giving some stories cashier is not there, manager should come and sign to change the booking name; name change should be done in VW SAP id etc.

I smelt something fishy and learned from another SE that his problem was that I had got finance from outside and dealership would not allow that .As me and dad had lost patience gave SE some piece of mind and paid part of the amount directly in cash counter .Luckily the cashier was friendly enough gave the receipt in my name checking the letter and even mentioned the HP to HDFC bank which SE initially was telling it cannot be done. Meanwhile SE had managed to get my Bank account number from my dad and had sent a guy to bank loan department to check whether they can do something to cancel the already approved loan and get it approved from their side. I spoke to the Finance head directly told him finance is already done so please do paperwork and give me Performa Invoice for the bank and get the car temporary registered. He gave me the all the receipts and Performa invoice and insisted a letter from the bank to get temporary registration. I promised the delivery of my car by 3rd October.
Spoke to bank people on spot on got it confirmed from them after speaking with the manager as we have a good transaction in their bank. Everything was done final disbursement from the bank was pending as I had not yet signed the agreements.

Destination changed

28th September : I came back home and checked out the launch of the new XUV 5OO on the internet ,initially felt the front was overdone and think about it as there was not much information about the car

Next day 29Th September was held up with work whole day, came home late night and checked out the initial reviews and pictures. The pricing a real shocker as no one expected it to be so low, read each and every review and decided just to have a look and test drive it later on sometime in the week.

Next day 30th September: Me and dad headed out on some work and passed by a Mahindra showroom, the place was crowded and had creating a small traffic jam on that road at around 12:30pm.Told dad about this car and we decided to have a look as we were passing on the same road.
We went inside the showroom, there was literally no space to walk in the dealership every 1 was around XUV 5OO. It looked gorgeous I fell for it at first sight my dad also impressed with the car asked to book the car immediately.
I immediately called the Bank Loan SE stopped the disbursement process. I wanted a Test Drive before I could book the car; we took a token for test drive and were 27th on the list. Meanwhile we headed out to finish our work and asked the sales assistant to give a call once the token 25 comes on the list.

Finished our work headed directly to VW showroom gave a letter for cancellation of my Vento and headed straight back towards Mahindra showroom. My dad insisted to book the car first and take a test drive later on. Booked the XUV W8 satin White FWD and was the 13th customer to book the car in the dealership. By the time I got back from test drive there were over 35 bookings after me with a couple of hours.


I got a confirmation call on 2nd October and message on 3rd October stating “ Dear customer , your Mahindra vehicle is under production and we expect to deliver by 04 nov 2011”.After this visited the dealer a couple of times and was in touch with SE and him could i manage to get my car at least a week before the confirmed date by M&M, but he had no clue as the allotment information was not to them at that point of time and told me he will inform me about this as allotment process was going on.
I visited the dealer again on 17th October with my brother, as he hadn’t seen the car. Another customer who was checking out the car asked me whether i had booked the car. i replied yes and told him i will get it by November 4th 2011 he replied that he was getting it by 22nd October. I took a long test drive and left.


4th Visit : On 19th October with my dad still SE did not have any clue about my allotment told him I should be the 1st person here to get W8 and told If I find any other delivery I would take serious action against the dealership. SE and the Mahindra manger assured will try to deliver by the date confirmed by M&M
According SE only W6 variants are being right now and they have not delivered a single W8 till date from their dealership.


5th Visit: 24th October my dad was very angry with the dealer as they were delivering a W8 on the same day, he gave some [COLOR=red]piece of [/COLOR]his mind to the SE and manager. The issue was immediately escalated to Area sales manager and I was immediately allotted the car and they gave me the engine number and chassis number I finally got some proof that I would get my car in time.


Finished all the paper work and other formalities on 2nd November 2011
Finally Got my XUV 5OO as promised on 4th November 2011.

Accessories installed:

Dramatic Chrome Grille Cover
Bold ORVM Chrome Caps
Chrome Tailgate
Floor Mats
Total cost of accessories Rs 4921/-

The XUV 5OO body cover is not yet available at the dealership, so bought Toyota Fortuner Body Cover Rs 3050/- fits perfectly



What I Like:
Pictures don’t do justice to this car, it’s a stunner in flesh. The front design is growing in me day by day, after all front does not look so bad.

Great value for money.
Fit and finish quality is good except some niggle’s.
Stylish meter console.
Very good front and second row space, even with front seats pushed all the way back.
It’s got bottle holders on all doors and even for 3rd row passengers. It has phone charging points on all 3 rows.
It has Great Engine, amazing torque and fun to drive.
Easy maneuverability in city traffic.
Good air-condition system cools in no time. It even has ac vents for 3rd row with blower speed controls.
It’s fully loaded with features compared to other cars in the price bracket.
Safety features: 6 airbags, ESP, Hill-Hold, ABS, All disk brakes etc

Dislikes
No boot space with all 3 row seats up.
3rd Row legroom is very less. It’s only suitable for kids or skinny short people.
ICE cannot play videos while driving.
Steering rod is very close to clutch pedal, interferes at times while you place your foot high on pedal while reversing the car.
The center console glossy finish reflects on the windshield.
Little bit of Torque steer was observed with ESP off on Test Drive Vehicle.

Improvement Needed Areas:
ICE Audio quality is very bad. ICE needs better speakers.
2nd row seats should be upgraded to slide so more legroom space can be created for 3rd row.


Initial Niggles faced.
There was some problem with one of the speaker felt jarring sometimes. It was solved by replacing the speaker.
Felt kicking back of clutch once, it did not reappear again.

Information Gathered so far from Service guys

The ICE is manufactured by NIPPON, it has output sockets for connection of amplifiers and sub woofers.(will post ICE pictures soon)
ICE cannot be changed as all the electronics are integrated to it.
Navigation system is provided by Map my India.
Touchscreen is Resistive Touch type.
Cannot upgrade stock mag wheels. Tyre pressure sensors does not work if upgraded.


Pictures

My darling covered with satin cloth before delivery.
Some pictures of exteriors and interiors.
Boot space with 3rd row folded and with all 3 rows up.
Legroom in 2nd row with seats pushed fully front and fully back.
Front seat folded flat
Seat belt height adjustments fully up and fully down.
AC vents on B pillar and in 3rd row with blower speed control.
Picture showing clutch and steering rod how close it is.


Sorry for bad photography.Will post more pictures by weekend.

[dockap]

congrats, wish you many happy and safe miles on your xuv500. I have a query- is it possible to listen to music and use the inbuilt sat nav at the same time?

[MadTiger]

Originally Posted by f@lcon

Hello Guys,
I got delivery of my XUV5OO on 4th November . Here is my Purchase experience and initial review of the car.


Finished all the paper work and other formalities on 2nd November 2011
Finally Got my XUV 5OO as promised on 4th November 2011.

Accessories installed:

Dramatic Chrome Grille Cover
Bold ORVM Chrome Caps
Chrome Tailgate
Floor Mats
Total cost of accessories Rs 4921/-


Pictures don’t do justice to this car it’s a stunner in flesh. The front design is growing in me day by day, after all front does not look so bad.


Sorry for bad photography.Will post more pictures by weekend.

On behalf of sniper3

Congrats on your new ride Falcon. Also can you do a break up of the OTR price please? I'm asking this on behalf of a friend of mine. Who was quoted with the following price for bangalore. He too has booked a XUV500 W8 Dolphin Grey.
ex-showroom price = 1207448
Road tax= 234345
Insurance= 46695 (Dealer insurance Quote)
Std Fitment= 32226
other expenses = No such item
Total On road price = 15.20714 lakhs

Thanks.

[mayankjha1806]

Congratulations on the purchase. Do post more of your driving experiences since its been few days you have been driving around. Also how does it feel in Bangalore choc-a-bloc traffic?

Also more pictures please, especially interiors.

[HappyRoadie]

Congratulations on your XUV 500. It looks stunning in white. Do post some more interior photos. Wish you many happy and safe miles.

[f@lcon]

Thanks everyone

Originally Posted by MadTiger

On behalf of sniper3

Congrats on your new ride Falcon. Also can you do a break up of the OTR price please? I'm asking this on behalf of a friend of mine. Who was quoted with the following price for bangalore. He too has booked a XUV500 W8 Dolphin Grey.
ex-showroom price = 1207448
Road tax= 234345
Insurance= 46695 (Dealer insurance Quote)
Std Fitment= 32226
other expenses = No such item
Total On road price = 15.20714 lakhs

Thanks.

ex-showroom price = 1207448
Road tax= 234345
Insurance= 46695
Temporary Registration=1250
Accessories= 4921
Total On road price = 14,94,659

Originally Posted by dockap

congrats, wish you many happy and safe miles on your xuv500. I have a query- is it possible to listen to music and use the inbuilt sat nav at the same time?

Yes we can listen to music while using sat nav. The volume of music decreases while sat nav gives directions.

[Catalyst_delhi]

Looks Stunning! This is my dream machine. Part Boyish Part Macho with an engine to match. Whoa what can I say, Your new year just started

[JayD]

Congrats on the XUV!! Wishing you many miles of happy motoring ahead!

Originally Posted by dockap

congrats, wish you many happy and safe miles on your xuv500. I have a query- is it possible to listen to music and use the inbuilt sat nav at the same time?

Yes you can. Once the music player is playing, press the NAV option on the screen, and the maps gets activated. You can change the songs from the steering controls.

[SDP]

A well written account of the hunt for the next car.

I was about to book my Vento when I took a TD of the XUV. Having TDed the Vento just 20 minutes back, the difference in low-end response was glaring. Currently waiting for the bookings to reopen for XUV.

White looks fabulous. Congratulations! Drive safe.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial ownerships forum. Thanks for updating the opening post, and congrats on the XUV!

[DieselFan]

Road tax component in Bangalore seems to be huge. >2L rs. is high. almost 20% of the car cost.

[cediafan]

Congratulations on the XUV! I saw one in Pune today. After seeing so many pictures and reading so much about it, I felt I have known this car for ever Looked gorgeous! And there was a Fortuner parked just in front which looked intimidating. If I had to choose between the two (not that I have the dough), I would choose the XUV as it has a better ride quality (based on the reviews) and is a lot more VFM.
Did you take for a longish drive yet and are you seeing any niggles/rattles?

[zteg]

Congrats Falcon. saw your update on Facebook.Wishing you a niggle free ride. Do post more pictures and keep us updated on your XUV.

Originally Posted by DieselFan

Road tax component in Bangalore seems to be huge. >2L rs. is high. almost 20% of the car cost.

This is one of the sad parts of being in Bangalore

[Infiniti.Rahul]

Originally Posted by f@lcon

Thanks everyone



ex-showroom price = 1207448
Road tax= 234345
Insurance= 46695
Temporary Registration=1250
Accessories= 4921
Total On road price = 14,94,659




Yes we can listen to music while using sat nav. The volume of music decreases while sat nav gives directions.

Congrats F@lcon, best wishes and 2 Lac kms of trouble free drive on the XUV are my wishes for you! can you please give details of the chrome accessories in terms of costs for different accessories? I asked my local dealer and he gave me a lumpsum price of 12ooo INR for chrome grill, chrome handles, etc etc. I would rather pick and choose than go for lumpsum 12K worth of accessories. Please advise.

[evilshantanu]

Awesome! Congrats for getting the beast home!

Probably you should think of getting KAGU 3D mats, it really changes the look of the interiors!