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12th February 2012, 23:23 | #1 |
Newbie Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Bengaluru
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| Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8 Well, finally I am glad that I found the time to write this review of my new Cheetah inspired XUV 500 W8 FWD. I had folks call me over the past few weeks on the review I promised to write. Previous cars owned : Maruti Zen Lxi(old model); Toyota corolla 1.8J(old model); Skoda Octavia TDI AT Other cars that we own currently: Maruti Alto Lxi; Reva-i AC Before you read this ownership review, I would like to set the background context clearly. As you recognize by now that the XUV is the first SUV kind of vehicle that I own now and my review is kind of a comparison to earlier sedans I owned (Corolla and the Octavia). So, do take this with a grain of salt. If I ever happened to own an Innova or a Scorpio my review could have been different. Initial Considerations: Like everyone, I too have a story about how I landed up buying the XUV. My better half always wanted more space in the car(due the fact that our earlier car Skoda Octavia had a notoriously poor leg space at the rear). We do occasionally drive to our hometown a good 500kms from Bengaluru. Initially considering the Scorpio, Tata Safari and Innova I was rather surprised by the cost of these vehicles (all ex-showroom – Bengaluru)– Safari 4X2 VX 2.2 VTT – 11.73Lakhs, Scorpio – VLX BS4- 2WD Airbags - 10.45Lakhs, Innova VX 7S – 12.72 Lakhs. My primary requirement, due to the size of these vehicles and occasional use of the highways, was that, if I buy any of these there should be ABS + airbags at the minimum. These minimum safety features were available at the highest variants only which pushes up the cost significantly compared to the base trim(ex. Innova base variant is 9.75Lakhs – a good 3 lakhs less). My wife could not drive the Scorpio properly. The Toyota salesperson discouraged the Innova as it had a long waiting period and was trying to push the Etios hearing our space requirements. The Safari I heard maybe replaced with a new variant - Merlin. After much thought, I felt it is not worth the money and started considering lower end sedans, and settled for a more subdued and less expensive option - Honda City and the main attraction being, Honda was giving a major discount. It was more a compromise at home, as my wife was not even willing to coming to showroom to choose the colour. I was a bit worried though, about the ground clearance and the fact it is a “petrol” burner. To put it in short, a slight delay in processing the lease application at my company resulted in a days delay. I was supposed get the order placed on for my ANHC(All New Honda City) on a Friday(30th Sep) but got pushed to the following Monday. But then the weekend in-between and a chance watch of a TV auto-show, completely changed everything and resulted in me booking the Cheetah on 2nd Oct 2011. I booked the W6 variant on 2nd Oct and promptly changed it to W8 variant on 3rd Oct after watching the youtube videos and learning more about the ESP feature. I am always for any safety features that make sense. I feel automobile manufacturers in India should make it a standard to provide – ABS, Airbags and ESP (in the order or priority) for all the variants they manufacture. Companies like Honda are already setting that standard and I hope others will follow. XUV is in this respect very well equipped from a safety features point of view as the base W6 variant does have dual airbags and ABS. Delivery: I got the delivery of my Cheetah, on the 24th of Dec 2011 , and ever since, I have driven around 1900Kms which includes primarily includes within the city driving and a long drive to Chennai (~650kms). The delivery experience had been superb and Mahindra has truly taken special care to ensure that buyer feels on top of the world. The dealer made all the arrangements well before we arrived with a “Welcome” sign and curtain raising ceremony etc. I have rated the delivery experience 10/10, in the post follow-up feedback questionnaire. The delivery ceremony was the best I have experienced so far from all the vehicles I bought. The long drive I did with the Cheetah was to Chennai in the last week of 2011. The drive to Chennai turned from a pleasure trip to an adventure trip, not due to the XUV, but due to the cyclone that we were not aware of. But more about the Chennai trip later, first the “first” impressions: "Shot at the opening Ceremony" I opted for very minimal accessories for the car - Floor mats ( Rs ~ 1600) - Scuff plates (Rs ~ 800) I must say the cost of accessories is significantly lower than the earlier sedans I owned. Well it pays off to buy an Indian car! Considering XUV? I have been trying to understand, who will need a XUV or when will someone consider it? For me this car fits perfectly for those who would :
"Fantastic Ambience in the evenings" "Red Ambience Light-suberb" "Vanity mirror Auto lights- nice feature"
"Dirty Cheetah after the Cyclonic Chennai Drive"
"Both Trip meters max out at 999.9km!!!"
"Aweful reflection"
"This storage space cover major cause for rattling in my car!"
"Lot of options but nothing large enough!"
"These lights do not switch off when locking the car!" Well these are minor things you would imagine, but the fact is that if you are a finicky kind a person who would like everything to work as expected and get annoyed by small niggles here there then step away from the XUV. In my experience no car is perfect as I have had a lot of rattling in my Skoda as well, though I never bothered getting it corrected. Well here is a list of issues I have faced in my car so far
"The bolt under the black rubber dome was loose in my car!"
"The error message quite familar to Software engineers like me!"
"Apologies for the poor quality image- TPMs error in rear right tyre!" Overall Ownership Experience: Overall, baring the front suspension issue that I faced and the initial euphoria, I have starting liking this car more and more since that day I got it. The driving pleasure is great and slowly I have settled in and got used to new up stance seating position and new driving style. I feel the gear shift is great and smooth, unlike some of the other reviews mentioning that it is a bit “notchy”. There is a minor issue engaging in the second gear, but one will soon get used to it and engage the gear perfectly. I realize that this is biggest car I have owned so far and with it comes with certain undesired effects. For example my daughter finds a lot space at the rear, but she never had the habit of putting the seats belts on, and at times she dozes off on the seats and due to this couple of times when stopping the car, she got tossed right to the front and hit herself to the front seats, which is a great distance away. This would have never happened in a smaller car or a sedan. Now she sits all perfectly buckled up. Secondly the ride is not as plush a sedan and so if you are planning to make your grandma or your future mother-in-law happy by putting her in middle row, forget about it. You will be better off with a sedan or if you ever plan to do that on a XUV, choose a super smooth highway. The car does jostle the occupants a fair bit on rough terrains at slow speeds.(I am comparing this to a sedan). In really large potholes the sideways motion is a bit more magnified than in a sedan. I believe this should be the case with other bigger vehicles like the Safari for instance. But with the high seating position you get a sense of feeling of “being on the top” in normal traffic and the visibility to the outside is excellent, thanks to the large windows. I have not considered the last row of seats, as I plan not to use them and use this car as a 5 seater. I did have some of my office colleagues sit at the last row and they said it is quite ok and though the leg space is less. It can only be used for short rides. So, do not count on the last row of seats and plan to buy this car as a 5 seater only, or else then you seriously lack boot space. Summary: To summarize, if anybody does ask me nowadays all I say-“this is the best car that I have owned so far!” which summarizes it aptly. For now I am enjoying the celebrity status, as the car does not go unnoticed and as I am the one of the few who owns a XUV! Attached are the pictures of the Cheetah: [ |
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12th February 2012, 23:47 | #2 |
Team-BHP Support Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Bangalore
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| re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8 Note From Team-BHP Support-Team: Thread moved from Assembly Line to Test-Drives & Initial Ownership Reports section. Thank you for the wonderfully compiled report and pictures. *thumbs up* |
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The following BHPian Thanks suhaas307 for this useful post: | Acinonyx |
13th February 2012, 01:15 | #3 |
Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Chennai
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| re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8 Good pics and write up! Looks like its a mandate to live with some of the niggles in Indian cars!! But I am truly happy with the strive that M&M has made with respect to TATA! Congrats & wish you happy miles with your ride! Silver looks better than I thought! PS:: Some more ambient lighting pics please! Pics are never enough even if you get TONS of those! |
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The following BHPian Thanks swiftnfurious for this useful post: | Acinonyx |
13th February 2012, 05:45 | #4 |
Senior - BHPian | re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8 Congratulations, Lovely writeup/pictures and very candid about the good and not so good things in the car. One wishes there should not be any problems in the car, but that being a little unrealistic, what i like about Mahindra and Tata is, most of the time they support the customers fully and try and fix the problems. XUV is a looker and usually looks good in all available colors. Bangalore-Chennai is not the best route to try and understand the capabilities of this monster, do take it out on some hilly routes near bangalore, or some not so great roads, that's where XUV excels and proves to be a money's worth. |
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The following BHPian Thanks mayankjha1806 for this useful post: | Acinonyx |
13th February 2012, 07:17 | #5 |
BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Delhi
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| re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8 Heartiest Congratulations on the Cheetah! Wish you many happy motoring miles on the XUV Superb pictures specially the low light conditions one's. Likes- Very well covered,.. precisely pointed out strengths Dislikes- Shocking to hear poor faultfinding expertise from the workshop staff. This even after so much time after launch of the XUV. Have seen similar half trained mechanic staff traits at the local mahindra dealer workshop here. Also saw two banged up XUV's come for heavy repairs. Apparently the service manager says that the XUV is very powerful with a fast pickup, thus the no of accidents in thick traffic. And poor brakes, that tend to lock up too soon. Also the body panels, front fenders and bumpers seemed to be made of thin plasticky type fiber material, that was the main culprit as per the manager. Seems like weight reduction efforts going too far. And Yes the niggling problems in the electronics do not seem to be getting solved anytime soon. |
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The following BHPian Thanks princey for this useful post: | Acinonyx |
13th February 2012, 07:57 | #6 |
Senior - BHPian | re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8 @acinoynx Congratulations on the wild one. The XUV is sure a looker on the streets making the heads turns when it moves. How did the beast handle during your Chennai trip? Can you ask mods to format your posts please, its difficult to read it. Also if you can post the interior pics too (the broad daylight ones). Happy mile crunching and drive safely. |
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The following BHPian Thanks ghodlur for this useful post: | Acinonyx |
13th February 2012, 08:30 | #7 |
Distinguished - BHPian | re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8 @Acinonyx, Congrats ! Is your XUV a AWD or Front-Wheel-Drive (FWD) ? Pls have the titled edited suitably. I think you meant AWD. |
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The following BHPian Thanks condor for this useful post: | Acinonyx |
13th February 2012, 08:40 | #8 |
BHPian Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Delhi
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| re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8 Congratulations for your Cheetah Your report is wonderfully detailed and extremely well compiled. It's a benchmark for initial ownership reports. The SLR photos are also stunning, making it easily one of best reports on T-BHP visually. I'm impressed by the minute details you pay to your beauty and take care to resolve any issue as soon as possible. I'm sure that due to your close inspections, your Cheetah will not have any significant problem in her life. Before XUV5OO, I was never a fan of SUVs. I don't know why but I feel jealous when someone drives an XUV around. Happy revving! |
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The following BHPian Thanks DevilsCry for this useful post: | Acinonyx |
13th February 2012, 09:11 | #9 |
Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Pune
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| re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8 Fantastic review Acinonyx Its very unbiased and to the point. To top it, you have excellent set of pics too. Do post the pics with interior mood lighting (with more exposure times). A noob question though, is windows powering the entertainment system? |
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The following BHPian Thanks _raVan_ for this useful post: | Acinonyx |
13th February 2012, 09:27 | #10 |
BHPian | re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8 Tons of best wishes! You own the most anticipated and discussed vehicle in India. Silver is my favorite color in this car along with those chrome/black alloy wheels, which mahindra sells as an accessory for W6. Few niggles like rattling, ICE shutting off, TPMS sensor issues have been faced by most of the XUV owners. Hope Mahindra finds a proper solution to them. Have you opted for extended warranty? I would suggest to chip in. How is the sound quality of the OEM speakers? |
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The following BHPian Thanks Blow Horn Ok for this useful post: | Acinonyx |
13th February 2012, 11:02 | #11 |
Senior - BHPian | re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8 Wonderful review Acinonyx, Yes, as someone said, this is one of the best ownership reviews since you have tried to cover a lots of details on likes/dislikes you have come across so far. Please continue to update the thread as you put on happy miles on it. Great pictures to go with, you may want to adjust the way you post pictures so that readers dont have to scroll horizontally, I guess mods will now be doing it shortly. Please check on the dashboard matts in the market, you may get those with a rubber underside and a very soft material on the top in the market, those are a bit heavy and rubber helps to stick to that plastic material on the dashboard, that will help you avoid the reflactions on the windshield in direct sunlight conditions. from your review, it seems they notchy gearshift is something they may have worked on, didnt hear anything about the scratching noise while breaking and many other niggles that we keep hearing about, yours should be the one with quite a few issues resolved. How do you feel the clutch, is it hard (I'm sure you may have some feedback since you have been using sedans all this while). Congratulations again! Wishing you lots of happy miles on your XUV. Drive Safe! |
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The following BHPian Thanks Ketan for this useful post: | Acinonyx |
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13th February 2012, 11:13 | #12 |
BHPian Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: New Delhi
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Infractions: 0/1 (5) | Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Please do NOT post one-liners that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the overall quality of this forum. Please read our rules before proceeding any further. Last edited by GTO : 13th February 2012 at 12:05. |
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13th February 2012, 12:31 | #13 |
Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Dubai/Mumbai
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| re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8 This is one of the best reports I have ever come across. Beautifully written, all details covered & of course, GREAT pics. One query - what is your take on the A.S.S. standards? Are you happy with their service? |
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The following BHPian Thanks raj_5004 for this useful post: | Acinonyx |
13th February 2012, 12:51 | #14 |
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| re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8 @Acinonyx, very neatly written review. Hope your small niggles gets solved soon. Congrats & wish you happy miles with your ride! The pics are very nice but why no interior pics |
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The following BHPian Thanks arup.misra for this useful post: | Acinonyx |
13th February 2012, 13:38 | #15 |
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| re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8 Very nicely written review. From what I can tell, except for the loose screw, you have mostly minor problems most of which may be fixed in a future software update/first service. You've owned a toyota and a skoda, both cars usually don't have these kind of teething problems and you're still saying that this is the best car you've owned? Why? Is it the price or is it genuinly more fun to drive ? Another thing I noticed is that you've mentioned the ride quality is not very smooth on pothole'd roads. Is this true in general for all SUVs ? I'd assume the ride would be better in SUVs. |
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The following BHPian Thanks sharninder for this useful post: | Acinonyx |