[gpriyesh]

My silver cheetah is one month old and is 1100 kms on the Odo. I have enjoyed every bit of driving this around in the last one month. I was driving a Ford Fiesta Petrol model before this and have owned that for 7 years. When I thought of changing the car, XUV was last on my list. I was thinking of Duster, Terrano and likes and was very apprehensive to spent 15L on a Mahindra make, may be that is a typical mind set to Indian manufactured cars. After test driving all these vehicles and reading reviews I finally decided on a XUV. Another thing which was going in my mind against XUV was the fact that there in only one dealer in my city Kochi and that is TVS. Having heard the horror stories of TVS dealership of other cars, I was very reluctant to buy a vehicle which is going to be serviced by TVS. But then I heard of a new dealership in Kochi, KTC Mahindra, and the service advisor who was servicing my Ford is moving there as the Service Manager. This news kind of finalized my decision to buy a XUV.
My purchase experience with KTC Mahindra was good except for some minor hiccups which I had posted earlier (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...eview-428.html)
The model I purchased is a July 2014 W8. I paid an on road price of Rs.15.1L and got the reverse cam, side moulding as freebies and also purchased side step and rear guard as accessories.
My drives are mostly in the city and I drive 10-15kms every day and another 50-80 over the weekends.




What I liked and what not

• Powerful Engine. Amazingly smooth and silent
• Good Suspension… goes over small potholes like a breeze
• Ride quality is very good particularly in the highways.
• Cannot comment on the ride quality on city roads, because in my city Kochi these days there are fewer roads and more potholes.
• Good Brakes. Highly reliable. Had couple of instances where I had to apply sudden brake and could not complain on its response
• Never felt that I am driving a big vehicle. Very easy to manoeuvre in city roads and on highways
• Parking was never a problem for me. It was particularly helpful with the reverse cam installed.
• Very good seating position while driving. It gives you a commanding position and gives you enough confidence
• Leather seats – I have the black and walnut combination. Black leather seats looks very classy
• Gear Transmission – did not find it very smooth. Particularly the 1st and 2nd gears. I was driving petrol vehicles all along and this is my first diesel vehicle. So not sure if that is the reason why I am not finding this very smooth. But I can live with this, no hard feelings
• I liked the overall interiors, but feels that Mahindra could have improved the fit and finish a little more. There are places where the fit is not so perfect and plastics looks to be of not very high quality.
• Plenty of space in the middle row. 3 people can sit very comfortably and in extreme cases, even a fourth person can squeeze in
• Last row is comfortable only for kids or adults who are short. For adults you will not get under thigh support and hence it will not be comfortable for long drives. I have driven the vehicle comfortably with 11 people (combination of adults and children)
• It is good feature to have a separate AC for 3rd row. Many a times you will be travelling with 5 or less people and you can keep this AC switched off saving on fuel economy
• Plenty of lamps on the vehicle. It is all around. You never feel you are in dark either inside or outside
• Exterior styling is good. However the gaps are not consistent. One side you can see big gaps and on the same place other side, gaps are smaller. Between the tail light and the body I found a bigger gap on my left side whereas in the right side it is a perfect fit.
• Fuel efficiently in the city currently showing is 10-11 and on the highway 12-14. Hope this will increase in the future.
• I liked the storage areas provided by Mahindra. Plenty of them. You will not need any additional storage space.
• Air conditioner is very powerful. It cools the car quickly even on a hot sunny day.

Comments on the features of W8

• Micro Hybrid Technology
  Found it very useful. It stops the car when you take your leg off the clutch and put the gear in neutral. Car starts again when you press the clutch. Very useful in traffic signals. You can switch this feature off from the dashboard
  
• Static bending headlamps
  Very useful when taking turns. It illuminates the road to which you are turning to. Useful when the road is poorly lit.
  
• 6” colour touchscreen infotainment display
  Overall system is good. Have all the information available at your fingertips.
  
• GPS Navigation
  System uses Mapmyindia maps. It is quite detailed but not as good as Google Maps. You might still need your google maps for finding the way
  
• Music system with CD/MP3 and DVD player
  Plays music from Pen drive, ipod, mobile over Bluetooth, CD. Quality is quite good. Did not find a reason to complain. But system plays only AVI video files and will not recognize other popular formats like MP4, MPEG etc. Even it did not play few of my AVI files. So not very reliable in terms of playing videos.
• Tyre-tronics
  Very useful to see the tyre pressure and air leakages from tyres. If you use the Mahindra Blue sense android application you can also view the air pressure value and temperature of each tyre.
  
• Smart Rain sensing wipers
  It does starts automatically once you switch it on and rain starts. However I have seen that it stops/slows after sometime and you have to start it again manually to resume the automatic function
• Intelligent light sensing head lamps
  This is very useful, but you cannot switch on to bright when in auto mode. Not sure why Mahindra has disabled this function
  
• Hill Hold and Hill descent feature
  Very very useful feature. Hill hold is always on. You just need to press the clutch completely. Vehicle will not roll back for 2-3 sec once you take your legs off the brakes. I liked the hill descent feature over the hill hold. Just before descending a slope, switch on this feature and take your legs off the clutch and brake. System will apply intermittent brakes and will manoeuvre you safely down.
• Voice commands
  This is a useless feature. You can do all those commands from steering controls. I have never used this feature and does not think will use it ever.

What did I add extra

• Mats
  Bought 3D Kagu mats from ebay (http://cgi.ebay.in/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...=1131060365005)
• I thought these are maxspider Kagu mats while ordering but was disappointed to receive Star mats. Seller promised me a refund if I am not satisfied after using these mats for some time. I must say that these are of very high quality. Very easy to maintain.
  
  
  
• USB Charger
  Bought this USB charger from ebay (http://cgi.ebay.in/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...=1477029067016)
  USB ports in this charger outputs 3.1A current and hence your devices charges very fast
  
  
• “Diesel Inside” decal sticker
  Looks very good on the diesel tank cover
  http://cgi.ebay.in/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=221543192815
  
• Dust Bin
  This will keep the car neat particularly with kids on board
  http://cgi.ebay.in/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...=1264398139007
  
  
• High Zoom Water pressure cleaning tool
  This tool does not have the pressure as advertised, but will do the job for cleaning. This will not dislodge dirt from the mud guards
  http://cgi.ebay.in/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=261606706038
  
• Door scratch guard
  Very helpful in protecting the car doors
  http://cgi.ebay.in/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...=1352475247017

In addition to above items I made my car WI-FI enabled using an old mobile phone. I had an android mobile phone lying idle. Put a BSNL prepaid card and enabled 3G data on the same. Placed this mobile in car permanently connected to one of the charging points. Installed an app “Auto Hotspot” which will bring the WI-FI Hotspot active as soon as you switch on the ignition. Hence your car Wi-FI switches on when ignition is on. This will also serve as a car phone in emergency. I have placed a SD card loaded with music. This serves as another source of music and can play this through Bluetooth pairing.




I also bought a 7” windshield tablet mount and mounted my 7” tablet to watch movies and other videos. Will get the movie sound through system speakers after pairing through bluetooth



For car care I purchased the following items

• 3M car shampoo (from Autofresh.in)
• 3M Dashboard cleaner (From autofresh.in)
• Formula 1 Tar and Bug remover (from local store)
• Formula 1 Mr. Leather (from local store)

Niggles so far

• Minor sound from dashboard when going through bad roads
• Infotainment system crashed twice

Overall very happy to own a XUV and looking forward to drives thousands of kilometers in my cheetah.

[a4anurag]

Congratulations on the Cheetah!

Wish you many miles with a niggle-free ownership.

For the niggles you are facing with the Infotainment system, I guess it needs to be checked for any errors with the software, do contact Mahindra A.S.S.

Do give the car to free up till the first service and then see if the gear shifting gets smoother or no!

Anurag.

[gpriyesh]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Congratulations on the Cheetah!

Wish you many miles with a niggle-free ownership.

For the niggles you are facing with the Infotainment system, I guess it needs to be checked for any errors with the software, do contact Mahindra A.S.S.

Do give the car to free up till the first service and then see if the gear shifting gets smoother or no!

Anurag.

Thanks Anurag. Couple of weeks back ASS reinstalled the infotainment software to check on the reverse cam option through infotainment. Post that it crashed twice. I will wait and watch if this issue persists.

[vivekkr_99]

Originally Posted by gpriyesh

I was thinking of Duster, Terrano and likes and was very apprehensive to spent 15L on a Mahindra make, may be that is a typical mind set to Indian manufactured cars. After test driving all these vehicles and reading reviews I finally decided on a XUV.

Congratulations Priyesh on the new XUV. It must be an awesome experience for you, with its terrific road presence and looks. Enjoy !!

Just one quick question on why you zeroed in on XUV, after considering/test driving Duster and Terrano. From what I have read in this forum, both Duster and Terrano seem to give a better ride quality - particularly over bad roads. Also, you are upgrading from a Ford product, so how do you feel the ride/handling department of the XUV compared to these?

-Vivek

[gpriyesh]

Originally Posted by vivekkr_99

Congratulations Priyesh on the new XUV. It must be an awesome experience for you, with its terrific road presence and looks. Enjoy !!

Just one quick question on why you zeroed in on XUV, after considering/test driving Duster and Terrano. From what I have read in this forum, both Duster and Terrano seem to give a better ride quality - particularly over bad roads. Also, you are upgrading from a Ford product, so how do you feel the ride/handling department of the XUV compared to these?

-Vivek

Thanks Vivek. Why I chose XUV over Duster and Terrano..to put it in one line, better value for money. I did not like the interiors of Duster and Terrano and XUV offers more features than these vehicles. On the ride quality front I did not find XUV bad. In fact I am enjoying every minute of riding an XUV. Another factor that went against Duster was that it is serviced by TVS in Kochi. Compared to Ford, I found XUV much better to drive particularly in the highways.

[vivekkr_99]

Originally Posted by gpriyesh

Thanks Vivek. Why I chose XUV over Duster and Terrano..to put it in one line, better value for money. I did not like the interiors of Duster and Terrano and XUV offers more features than these vehicles. On the ride quality front I did not find XUV bad. In fact I am enjoying every minute of riding an XUV. Another factor that went against Duster was that it is serviced by TVS in Kochi. Compared to Ford, I found XUV much better to drive particularly in the highways.

Thanks Priyesh. Happy and safe drive ahead - hope you crunch miles and miles in your XUV.

Cheers -
Vivek

[mp417]

Congratulations. I really liked the idea of Auto Hotspot. Very innovative. Wi-Fi enabled cheetah

Wish you many happy miles with your prized possession.

[gpriyesh]

Originally Posted by mp417

Congratulations. I really liked the idea of Auto Hotspot. Very innovative. Wi-Fi enabled cheetah

Wish you many happy miles with your prized possession.

Thank you.. Wi-Fi enabled cheetah! I liked that tag

[seeths]

Congratulations ! Wish you miles of trouble free motoring ....

I took a test drive yesterday with India Garage Chennai. I current own a 14 months old Vento TDI that has propped up serious issues with the injector and fuel pressure system - fighting out with TVS Chennai at the moment. Hence have been seriously exploring options to move away from Volkswagen...(btw, still penning down my ownership thread )

While I'd salute the crisp handling of Vento (in City and highway) was quite impressed with the W8 FWD TD I got to drive by OMR, Chennai. Strangely the 1st to 2nd shift worked a charm in the TD vehicle in contrast to the common feedbacks I've seen frequent. Guess these guys 'tweak' the TD vehicles. Eitherway - quite impressed.

[gpriyesh]

Seeths - I did not find any issue with 1st to 2nd gear shift. May be that was an issue with the older vehicles which got fixed in the last November release

Good luck with TVS Chennai!. I think they are a pain everywhere

[falconion]

Originally Posted by gpriyesh

Seeths - I did not find any issue with 1st to 2nd gear shift. May be that was an issue with the older vehicles which got fixed in the last November release

Good luck with TVS Chennai!. I think they are a pain everywhere

The 1st and 2nd gear issue is there, well at least for me (March 2014 make).
What I have is that the 1st gear is hard to engage, and sometimes it does not engage at all, which is frustrating when at a signal and you are trying to engage the gear.
2nd gear gets engaged in a more khad-khad manner. Which is not pleasant.

[seeths]

Originally Posted by falconion

What I have is that the 1st gear is hard to engage, and sometimes it does not engage at all, which is frustrating when at a signal and you are trying to engage the gear.
2nd gear gets engaged in a more khad-khad manner. Which is not pleasant.

Interesting to note your experience (similar reported by few other XUV owners).....Comparing the gear shifts in my Vento (absolutely crisp and precise), the TD W8 was very close. After a brief initial 5 mts warm up drive - did push the the XUV heavily (much to the dismay of the the Sales guys seated next to me ). In stop and go traffic (near Sholinganallur junction) frequented 1st and 2nd gears as was constantly weaving through traffic - and never felt any shift aberrations or miss-gear. But yes, each gear shift's "slotting feedback" that you feel in a Vento was quite not there in the XUV - yet XUV inspired confidence (really beginning to love this car - taking a TD again tomorrow along with my wifey)

[gpriyesh]

Originally Posted by falconion

The 1st and 2nd gear issue is there, well at least for me (March 2014 make).
What I have is that the 1st gear is hard to engage, and sometimes it does not engage at all, which is frustrating when at a signal and you are trying to engage the gear.
2nd gear gets engaged in a more khad-khad manner. Which is not pleasant.

I agree with your comment on the first gear.. Sometimes it is very difficult to engage.. But I used to have the same issue in my old petrol ford fiesta. So I was thinking it was normal than more of a XUV problem.

[rahulraxx]

I also bought a 7” windshield tablet mount and mounted my 7” tablet to watch movies and other videos. Will get the movie sound through system speakers after pairing through bluetooth

Is the windshield tablet mount good enough to hold on to your 7" tab on bad road conditions as well ? Also, could you provide me with the make and model number as I'm interested in purchasing one.

[gpriyesh]

Originally Posted by rahulraxx

Is the windshield tablet mount good enough to hold on to your 7" tab on bad road conditions as well ? Also, could you provide me with the make and model number as I'm interested in purchasing one.

No Rahul..I tried that mount today on bad roads. It is not holding. I bought a local product and would not recommend that