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Old 16th February 2012, 12:04   #31
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

Nice Review. I can give you a simple solution for the center console storage rattling. keep a microfiber cloth folded inside the compartment (multi fold- so that is a tight fit). this should help dampen the vibrations. Next is simple and stylish solution for your dashboard reflection on windshield is to have a "Polaroid" sunglass. I have one and it greatly helps you with eliminating the reflexion.
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Old 16th February 2012, 13:18   #32
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

I like your in-depth review. Specifically the features you mentioned in the review like Music system and inside lights. Driver information system issue is also nicely covered(Milege). My visit to Pune show room is not that good. I asked them for test drive and they said ,they do not have a test vehical with them. They were only after booking the XUV500 . I told them that without a test of XUV500, how do you expect me to book. I agree XUV500 is a good SUV ,but with out a test drive I will not buy it. Let's hope Mahindra and local dealer understand this basics well. Like to know others experience on the test of XUV500.
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Old 16th February 2012, 18:27   #33
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

Very nice review, deserves a thumbs-up. Actually I am concerned with the awful reflection from the dash board and as a preventive measure many experts have advised to use polarized goggles, but I wear a set of goggles which are for my short sightedness. Will it be possible to use a Sun film which as 75% or more visibility and it cuts down the glare of the sun from falling on the dash board thus reducing the reflection.

Also bit disappointed that the Infotainment systems uses something like Windows based could be Windows embedded/Win CE, I was expecting that it would be using Linux or some RTOS for such applications. It would have been much stable than Windows based. Also thus cutting cost of the licenses.

I am real happy with your summary “this is the best car that I have owned so far!” that proves that M&M has a winner and I am going to buy lots of M&M stocks from the market.
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Old 16th February 2012, 20:14   #34
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

Congratulations on your new ride.

I liked reading your review and the pictures are excellent.

Got to hand it to Mahindra for what they have made. Everything on the XUV seems from another planet when you compare it to its immediate competitors.

A few manufacturers have recognized that the market is maturing and are now offering safety as standard equipment. Nissan, Mahindra, Honda and Ford are some I can recall.

I am not one bit surprised about the cost of some of cars in Bangalore. It is actually frightening due to the high road tax. A fully appointed Innova will set you back close to 16lacs. An Altis costs about the same as an Innova. I must say that the Innova is still the benchmark. Though an MUV, it is beautifully made and nothing has come close to the reliabilty of the Toyota.

I too got caught in the cyclone. Was driving back from Cochin on 30th December. As we reached home late into the night, all I could care about was hitting the sack. After I parked the car, I got out and looked at it and it was a mess.

The delivery experience is something I have never heard off. This is how you win the customer and though this is not the end all solution to customer satisfaction, it is nice to know such initiatives are being taken. That too from a company like Mahindra.

The tram lining effect was probably more pronounced due to the loose suspension bolt. I hope they have tightened it to the right torque, like how it would be done in the factory. Things like these are removed only once in the life of the vehicle and that is when you decide to replace them.

The land of the free offers much better motorways. Once cruise control in enabled, it is very rare that you come off it. Hence you use the “res” button a lot less.

9 hours is quite a long time for a drive to Chennai, even after considering the speeds you did.

My car suffers from dashboard reflection too. It is really annoying.

I would not advice keeping any camera inside a cooled compartment. The sudden change in temperatures, when taken out will cause condensation and you will end up frying the camera circuits. Todays cameras are weather proof but conditioned air is quite different from natural cold air.

Voice command is pretty useless in a Linea too.

You might want to test the braking to its maximum potential just to know what it can do. We don't really have the roads to do it. Try it on an empty highway stretch and without the family. Make sure no other vehicle is anywhere close to you when you do this.

Some of the design faults you have mentioned are annoying. The lights for example. It should be complete shut down once the key is turned back. Don't know how Mahindra got this wrong.

Why do you need to replace the exhaust tip?

Cruise control switching off by itself is scary. You must get this checked.

The entertianment system errors looks so windoz 95.

Not a fair comparison. To experience the best balance of ride and handling for a vehicle in the same category/type, drive the Mitsubishi Outlander.

Mahindra have already upped the game in every aspect, if I were to compare them to TATA. However, going by your experience of the XUV, they still have some way to go for a niggle free product.

Enjoy your new ride.

Last edited by sandeepmohan : 16th February 2012 at 20:20. Reason: Had to add some more
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Old 17th February 2012, 10:54   #35
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

https://picasaweb.google.com/1146916...30589016936690

My AWD windshield reflection was reduced temporarily to some extent by placing a Non-slip mat in matt black on the reflecting surface, it works. You can check out in FB too for the add ons.

https://www.facebook.com/drjonesjones
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Old 18th February 2012, 09:28   #36
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

Great review. Thanks.
A really good opportunity squandered by TATA with the Aria.

Mahindra needs to be praised for creating a wonderful SUV. Let us hope that they will fix the initial niggles fast.
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Old 19th February 2012, 00:05   #37
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

This is a fantastic first impressions review! I enjoyed reading it. Oh btw, there is a quick fix for dashboard reflections - polarizing sun glasses! Try them and you'll thank me!!
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Old 19th February 2012, 09:24   #38
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

Just love this pic! Nice use of lights

Quote:
Originally Posted by Acinonyx View Post
Neatly shot pictures! And nice writeup as well!
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Old 19th February 2012, 11:44   #39
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

Amazing initial report. Would love to see more and more of the formidable cheetah doing predatory rounds in the urban jungle called Bengaluru.
I must also congratulate for your choice of color. Its neat, shows the crease lines properly, will retain the fresh car look in years to come and above all, its safe too.
You had mentioned about car manufacturers offering safety features like airbags in all its variants. Skoda used to be one that offered airbags even in base variants. With VW entering India, sadly there's a change in Skoda's policy.
I am too a photo enthusiast and would like to suggest that you don't keep your SLR camera in the cooled box. Once you take it out to shoot, the body will easily get adapted to the outside temperature but the mirror and lens will be relatively cooler and will therefore cause moisture to get condensed in and around that area which will be a good breeding ground for all sorts of organisms and will eventually spoil the camera.
Looking forward for more pics and long-termer from you.
By the way, I guess Mrs.S can also do a review here on how she drives her Reva (TeamBHP is a little short of humor).
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Old 19th February 2012, 21:04   #40
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

Quote:
Originally Posted by swiftnfurious View Post
...
PS:: Some more ambient lighting pics please! Pics are never enough even if you get TONS of those!
hi Swiftnfurios thanks for the feedback, I will post some in a few moments. The inside pictures are difficult to take due to the fact I just have 50mm lens as of now, need to get a wide angle to do this. maybe once I have this post more
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Old 19th February 2012, 21:46   #41
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

Quote:
Originally Posted by mayankjha1806 View Post
...
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.
Yes, I agree, need to take this on a winding stretch either to Wayanad or to Goa through the Simoga route to really judge. I will have to wait for sometime to do this, work and a personal bit is having me tied up in Bangalore.

But my experience so far in taking slightly sharp turns , near about the open sarjapur area, I did not feel the roll and felt quite confident. Well need to also do this when more people are in the car



Quote:
Originally Posted by ghodlur View Post
@acinoynx
...
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by _raVan_ View Post
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?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ketan View Post
Wonderful review Acinonyx,
.... 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).
...
Quote:
Originally Posted by arup.misra View Post
@Acinonyx, very neatly written review.

....
The pics are very nice but why no interior pics
@Ghodlur/ Ravan/Ketan/Arup thanks for this feedback. I am learner when it comes to postings, I will try my best to make smaller images next time . I will be posting certain pics tonight.

Regarding the noob Q, not sure mate, but I do get the humming noise when the audio is in mute.

@Ketan, thanks for the suggestion, Do you know of any good brands for the matts you mentioned?,
The gear shifting is better than I expected as I had read reviews earlier mentioning that it was notchy. But as mentioned in my review, the 2nd gear engaging is bit tricky as when I had others driving the car, always they managed to put it into 4th instead and the vehicle stalls. But otherwise it is good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blow Horn Ok View Post
Tons of best wishes!

... Have you opted for extended warranty? I would suggest to chip in.

How is the sound quality of the OEM speakers?
@Blow horn, no I have not opted for extended warranty , but by default Mahindra has given a year extension and it comes to a total of 3 years. the OEM speakers and entertainment system is ok, if you are big music enthusiast, I would say, one will need to upgrade. For me it is just fine. One thing though the vibration in the fornt door is amplified when the audio volume is increased.



Quote:
Originally Posted by raj_5004 View Post
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?
Not yet assessed the A.S.S. standard. Will update my feedback, in the thread periodically. But as mentioned earlier the RM was quick to respond on the suspension bolt issue, but though they made a mess of not addressing it first time.


Quote:
Originally Posted by sharninder View Post
Very nicely written review.

From what I can tell, except for the loose screw, ...
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.
@Sharninder, It is a bit expectations setting I feel, I was ready for a car full of problems after I booked the XUV and so these teething problems were that I expected. There were good bits and bad bits. For me this is not new, as I had major ratting problems in skoda, the rear parcel shelf would rattle all the time, initially when I first got the car, the doors were not fixed properly and there was constant noise, as if someone was rubbing 2 thermocol pieces together. The issue was sorted out once door were tightened, but it returned after a few days , this continued for almost a year. The second issue that I had in skoda was braking noise... that never went away till I sold the car!

The reason I say this the best car ... in terms of the overall package. The space, comfort, features , drive and styling. I would say the XUV is not top in all of these , but scores better than Toyota C., and Skoda Oct. on many of these key factors. My family i.e. my wife and daughter loves this car more than any of the ones we owned before. My daughter is not an auto enthusiast and nowadays she explains each and every feature of the XUV to visitors in our car!
Another proof, I have my parents visiting us , and my mom was just against buying any "Jeep" kind of vehicle, but they were pleasantly surprised with this super silent monster and space inside.

I feel in general one can expect a superior low speed ride comfort on potholed roads in sedan better than in a SUV. I have had this same experience with the safari. I could be mistaken, as I have not tried the more expensive Fortuners/ Outlander/ Pajero etc.
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Old 19th February 2012, 22:06   #42
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

Thank you for a honest review. While the niggles with electronics are irritants, the niggle with cruise control scares me. I hope it disengages when the brake is applied - 100% reliably.

Last edited by idofsuresh : 19th February 2012 at 22:11.
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Old 19th February 2012, 22:32   #43
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

Quote:
Originally Posted by condor View Post
@Acinonyx, Congrats !

Is your XUV a AWD or Front-Wheel-Drive (FWD) ? Pls have the titled edited suitably. I think you meant AWD.
Quote:
Originally Posted by raj_5004 View Post
One more query - please post pics of the 4WD button & share some more info on that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dockap View Post
Congrats and nice review. The thread title mentions AWD. How did you manage to get a silver AWD? I thought AWD is not available in silver and red colours
Completely and profusely Apologize for this mishap.

I have infact mentioned in the first line of my review :
"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 ..."

I guess the title was wrongly put as AWD. But now the title I see is adjusted. Not sure what the problem has been as soo many read it as AWD.

Dear All,

Thanks for all the encouraging words on the review and on the buy. I would like to thank all those who have suggested on reflection problem.

The polariod option does not work for me as I use spectacles for my short sight-edness
I will need to get one specially ordered. The matt solution seems a better option and will try it once I get more details on the vendors and will keep you all updated.

The XUV is doing great for now, and I got the sun film fit - Sunguard , seems pretty neat and the job well done. Got also the detailing done with paint protection, not sure the effect of it, and will come to know more as time goes by.

For now enjoy certains pictures of the Cheetah:
Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0069.jpg
Puddle Lights very nice . Tremendous help in the poorly lit streets!

Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0092.jpg
Headlight throw not consistent; Right side dark areas, need to have it adjusted

Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0098.jpg
Neatly Integrated MapmyIndia is quite good

Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0093.jpg
No auto rollup

Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0094.jpg
Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0096.jpg
Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0097.jpg
The user interface for a connected phone shows the list of contacts, but to scroll down the list to make a call is a pain!
The dail pad is too sensitive.
SMS, not working need to have this checked. Not sure how this is supposed to work.

Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0100.jpg
The thermal guage cannot be deciphered in the daytime due to contrast of the colour.

Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0101.jpg
Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0102.jpg
Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0104.jpg
Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0120.jpg
Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0122.jpg
Interior pics. - notice, no height adjust for co passenger

Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0125.jpg
Last row passenger leg space.

Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0126.jpg
the head rests slightly obtrusive

Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0131.jpg
Rear luggage space only with seats folded

Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0135.jpg
Rust on the fancy tail pipe

Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0259.jpg
Engine gaurd underneath- anyway you will never scrape the XUV's underbelly

Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0140.jpg
Wiper blade slightly off mark in my XUV



Attractive Headlamps...
Attached Thumbnails
Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0083.jpg  

Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8-dsc_0091.jpg  

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Old 20th February 2012, 11:58   #44
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

Overall seems like a very good and capable machine. The electricals and electronics are pretty bad as has been pointed in many reviews. Guess it is a case of trying to do too much without having tested the products thoroughly. Nobody wants dysfunctional equipment on their car.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rohitbagai View Post
But to that she has found a new solution and now sits on the center armrest / chiller .
That is very unsafe. She will be better off sitting at the second row of seats with the seat belts snapped ON. Safety features in the car are there for some purpose and a child seated on the center armrest/ chiller doesn't come as a good idea at all.

Drive safe.
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Old 20th February 2012, 23:04   #45
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Re: Cheetah comes home - Mahindra XUV500 W8

Quote:
Originally Posted by rohitbagai View Post
Congratulations, and thanks for the insightful review of ownership, I completely agree that being a bigger car my wife seems to be sitting a mile away. I hope they could have side ways adjusting seats too also my daughter (age 4) now feels that she is sitting far behind in another compartment. But to that she has found a new solution and now sits on the center armrest / chiller . Thank to Mahindra that the car is flat bedded my daughter has many times slept on the middle row seats and have woken up on the floor below.
Thanks Rohit for this comment. Well even my daughter sits on the center armrest, but I keep driving her away to the backseat. These kids do feel lonely in the middle seat due to space and it is quite far behind. One thing we did while on the drive to Chennai was fortunately I had taken the ipad along and she watched some cartoons and movies in it. I am seriously considering a rear headrest video display and will have to figure out how to make the DVD run while on the move.
So you will need to find something to keep her engaged and as well as buckled in the rear seat.
The other thing you could consider is a soft blanket kind of cloth to put on the middle row floor, in case she wants to sleep there!
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