[SharathScorp]

First, please do not mind as I am posting this now after a good amount of time from the purchase of my XL6. Was always thinking about this and finally got some time today to sit on this. I hope you all enjoy this thread. Anyone having any queries, please feel free to comment/reach out. I would be happy to help.

Preface:
The search for a car/SUV started sometime during the end of Nov or Dec-20. It was just a casual search to start with since I was busy both at personal and professional ends. I was more focused on wrapping up my stay in the USA before moving to India. The search became real from Feb 2021, after I started feeling settled and my mind started thinking about some long drives with the family. The summer holidays for kids were also not very far and that also fueled my decision of buying a car. The situation of covid was almost like it was a thing of the past during that time.

My requirements were:
1. Minimum 6 seats
2. Automatic
3. Comfortable and convenient to drive.
4. Reasonably good height (I am 6 feet)

Considerations, Test Drives and Shortlist:
I owned Mahindra Scorpio earlier before I moved to the USA and had used it for more than 5 years. With the Scorpio, I must say that, while an initial couple of years were very exciting, it did not sustain the same way throughout my ownership. Those were the days where there were a lot of cravings and fire for aggressive driving and all. But, don’t know if it was because of that bulkiness of Scorpio or those truck type of clutches which bothered me like hell especially in Bangalore city driving, Scorpio did not hold up the same excitement during later days. For that reason, I was firm this time that I was not going with the manual anymore. Also, having experienced Scorpio’s mediocre fit and finish, minor niggles here and there frequently pushed my mind to always look for a Korean or any Non-Indian make this time. Still, my love for mHawk Engine is unconditional and will remain the same forever I believe.

With the minimal 6/7-seater options available, I had the below vehicles shortlisted for test drives.
1. Tata Safari
2. MG Hector Plus
3. Ertiga
4. XL6

Other candidates who did not make it to the test drive were:
1. Innova – for bulkiness and surely, I cannot be driving this to the office (whenever it re-opens).
2. Scorpio – Again bulkiness and having a good history of owning it. – Again, back to Mahindra factor!
3. XUV500 – Bulkiness – Back to Mahindra factor (was watching the next-gen version spy versions closely too)
4. Marazzo – I somehow always felt this will not stay for long and not vfm.

Now came the toughest part. Zeroing down on one from a list of four on top. So, started calling the nearby showrooms over the phone asking for test drives. Started from Tata Safari at Key Motors, Kanakapura road. After a couple of follow-up calls, they finally arranged the vehicle. The RM, who was coordinating, was nice and easy to work with, but her team lead or boss who came along with the vehicle was behaving as if there is no other car on the planet that can match this new Safari. He was also making statements like I am the luckiest since I got the chance for a test drive so soon. While he was talking so many things bragging about the car, I was focused on my detailed test drive, which I normally take for one full hour. While Safari was feature-rich and good, I did not find it matching my expectations on handling. The boot space was a big let-off. I knocked it off from the list immediately by the end of my test drive.

Next was MG Hector Plus. Customer interaction, coordination, response everything I would rate high for these guys. They did well when compared to all others and were quick too. The SUV was loaded with so many features and controls. Again, the driving comfort did not please me and hardly there was any space in 3rd row. Of course, MG staff had clearly mentioned this during my first inquiry itself saying 3rd row is strictly for small kids and not to expect any inch beyond this. But still, I gave it a try and gave it a pass.
Then came the Maruti/Nexa family. Having so many options to choose from with many showrooms nearby, I tried calling one after the other. Kalyani (3 branches around), Kataria, and Mandovi. I was expecting all of these would compete like crazy to come with their vehicles for a test drive. But to my surprise, none of them showed any sort of urgency. For all these people, the process is, once you call them, it would go to the reception I believe, and they will take your number and an RM shall call you back. Though they would call back quickly most of the time, some did not until I did a follow-up!
In one of the Kalyanis, they said they share the test drive vehicles with other branches, and they had an event on the day I called and asked me 2 days’ time. Even after two days, no one followed up. When I follow up, they treated me as if I were calling for the first time and another RM again asked for a day’s time. Another Kalyani, an RM said, he shall get the vehicle by evening and when I followed up, he said he is busy with another customer and shall call me back. That call never came back. Then I thought, these folks are not interested to sell anything, so I decided to better avoid them. Kataria clearly mentioned they do not have an automatic variant and would bring a manual if I would like to change my decision or try that and get a feel. I simply rejected them. Then remembered one of my colleagues had recently got his Ciaz, so got a contact of his RM who was apparently from Mandovi Nexa. Spoke to this person and he was surprisingly sounded so easy to work with and nice. He promised me to get the vehicle the next day and promptly got that all the way from Nexa Sadashivanagar to where I live.
Finally, I was on a test drive of XL6! Never expected that, getting a test drive was itself like a big buying experience!

Test Drive (s) and Booking:
Learning from the past experiences of test drives, I had given a clear heads up to the RM that my test drives would be a long-drawn process and he should have all patience. He had agreed to it and lived up to that. I took the vehicle in my regular proven route of moderate and heavy traffic and then concluding that by a good long drive on NICE road.
First impressions were good, and I liked the peppy drive, the space it had for 6 people of my family, comfort, and convenience. Not to my surprise, fit and finish were not superclass but were not very poor also. I was very much curious about how it does between 80-120kmph on NICE road, both in terms of comfort inside for passengers and for drivers in terms of handling. I was pleasantly surprised by the positive output XL6 delivered in both aspects. Both my wife and I liked it a lot and found it super comfortable. My wife’s liking was of paramount importance while driving as she was relatively keener on driving now than in the past.
After this, did another test drive alone for my satisfaction to check on a few of the items which I wanted to clear from my mind and XL6 Auto checked all the boxes, and we decided to go for it. XL6 Alpha Automatic it was!
Did speak to Hyundai and Mahindra top brass in the region to get a feeler on upcoming 7 seaters and timing. By visualizing the features that were on offer and of course the associated cost factor to it, they dampened my urge to wait for them. And did surely realize the passenger comfort was not as superior as you get in XL6. This helped me to decide and go for XL6.
The color choice was between Magma Grey and Premium Silver. Checked with RM to see if I could physically see and choose between grey or silver. Unfortunately, there were no grey and silver in the display. Finally, it was silver which won the race. Did book by paying booking amount and the wait started.

Price and Breakup:

Ex-Showroom: 11,61,189
TCS: 8,686
Road Tax: 2,20,760
Reg. Charges: 1,811
Temp Reg: 500
Extended Warranty: 19,741
Showroom accessories: 14,623 (Illuminated door sill guard, Interior styling kit, Number plate garnish and body cover)
Corporate Discount: 3,000 (the only discount I got)

Total on-road paid to Mandovi: 14,24,310/-

Insurance: 26,581 (Policy bazaar)
Fast Tag: 200 (Paytm)



Within a few weeks sometime during the end of March vehicle was dispatched and booked a slot with RM for my PDI. During this waiting window, did make connections with BHPian RJ through a post in TBHP. Exchanged a lot of ideas and thoughts as he was also on the same boat waiting for his Alpha MT. Booked Elegant foot mats and had it delivered before the delivery date. RJ was supposed to join me for the PDI but he couldn’t and I did visit Mandovi’s yard cum service center near Goraguntepalya with my son. Did all the checks and cleared the vehicle. Was happy to see IJL lighting. The vehicle was March manufactured based on VIN. There was another Alpha AT white next to mine. A strange thing I observed while I was comparing was, the fuse of the odometer was taken off from the white car. My car was showing a 39Kms run and just wanted to compare the same with the other. RM was kind of hesitant to open and tell, but later another mechanic there opened and said customers do not like to see the KMs on the odometer, so this is normal practice everywhere to take out fuse keep the odometers at minimum numbers. RM was smiling and nodding his head I wasn’t too keen on this since you hardly have any control over these kinds of things and cannot expect showroom folks to be so perfect. Did observe the logo on the center of alloy wheels was removed from my car and RM said they would be fixed before the delivery. But the other white car had it!

First Glimpse of my XL6 in the yard

Standing next to White Alpha AT in the yard

Odometer reading at the yard


RM and Mandovi did not seem to be too pleased when I told them at the final moment that I would be buying insurance and fast tag on my own. They did not express anything though, but it was quite evident when they refused to give me even a god idol for free of cost and no single rupee discount. But I did not care for those as I was not at all ready to fall for dealers’ trap into insurance. It was easily 4-5K savings when I compared. Fast tag I was clear on going with Paytm as it is user-friendly, and I did not want another app to maintain just a fast tag.

Based on an auspicious day, decided to get the vehicle with temporary registration by paying 500 bucks extra. This meant, I had to take the vehicle to the RTO office on a later date for registration (10 minutes job and was easy, everything was done at the parking lot). I did choose a fancy number by paying 5K extra.

This time for a change decided to take the delivery at the showroom as I wanted parents and kids to get the new car buying and delivery experience. Went on a good afternoon and it was a smooth, easy, and nice experience. A small cake cutting ceremony and briefing, and some paper signatures, and we were done there. 5 liters of fuel coupon were given and did fill the same in a nearby bunk. Checked for tire air pressure and as expected it was way above 40 in all tires. The first visit was to the temple to get pooja done before reaching home.

Though there was a constant itch for taking the car out for a long drive quite naturally, then hit the covid second wave and lockdown following, hardly there were any drives. It was just nearby driving around the home within the city. Did take car once on Mysore Road via NICE road for a customary photoshoot in one of my favorite spots and meeting friends.

First full tank done

Nitrogen filled in a neighborhood store






First Service:

After the lockdown was lifted, even though the car was still at 400+ Kms, decided to get the first service done as the 1-month timeline had already passed long back. Of course, MSIL has announced they would extend the mandatory service time windows.

Did call Mandovi Uttarahalli Road and fixed for pick up and drop. Initially, they said it would be charged, but after asking them to check on that they confirmed it would be free of cost. I clearly remembered RM had mentioned this during the time of delivery. The SA at Mandovi said just regular checks and fumigation/sanitization and charged some 200+ bucks. He was about to charge for windshield cleaner top up and then stopped it when I said I have never used wiper and liquid

Experience so far / How does Automatic perform?
Most of the people had this question, whether automatic gear shifts work smoothly or do we feel manual shifts when the gear shift happens. I must say, I do not have any complaint at all about this and it is smooth so far. In fact, one of the automobile enthusiast friends who owns Ertiga had strong doubts about this too. I took him along during one of my test drives before I finalized on XL6. He was pleasantly surprised by the performance. We both felt, many of us always tend to have the AMT in mind and feel doubtful about any automatic. This surely is not the case. XL6 old gen TC gear shift works really well. Having said that, surely they are not like new gen CVT or other high-end premium cars. But I feel there is nothing to complain about and you would enjoy the smoothness.

City experience has been great and a breeze to drive around. I am no more complaining when the situation comes to take the car out in the city and drive to nearby places. Automatic is surely a boon. Whoever is having questions on the performance of automatic, I can confidently say XL6 does good and have got similar feedback from my friend who owns a ciaz which shares the same automatic engine. I am personally experiencing this after driving and owning a handful number of automatic cars outside India. There is hardly anything different in XL6 and of course, sometimes you may feel the lack of sudden surge of power delivery. But it is all about getting used to it. I am now completely used to my XL6 and clearly know when I should floor the accelerator and when to keep it feather touch. It just performs great. Not to forget, I just love the revving noise of the engine when I floor the accelerator.

Highway experience is amazing. I am just enjoying this as; I am no more into go in a rush and keep a target to reach while driving. On the other hand, keep it simple and enjoy the drive in its entirety. Even otherwise, if you understand the automatic transmission well and gain experience with it, then you will thoroughly enjoy the aggressiveness that XL6 automatic generates while you savor the comfort and convenience in parallel.

Have done just one long drive so far on a single day. I did 650+ Kms. Blr – Hassan – Sringeri – Chikmagalore – Hassan – Blr. 3 people and no luggage. Was very curious to see how it behaves in the ghat sections / curvy hilly roads. And I must say, automatic did just great and in fact, was super comfy. Cruise control on highways was tried but as expected couldn’t hold on to it for longer durations. Besides this, have done a couple of day outings on Hassan, Tumkur, Doddaballapur, and Mysore roads.
Recently did a drive from Tumkur to Ramanagaram cutting through Blr-Mlr highway. This scenic route was superb, and I just loved the drive amidst a lot of speed breakers.

Enjoying:
Comfort and convenience of automatic. This is of supreme value, and I am more than pleasantly surprised by what XL6 is delivering in terms of driving comfort, power, and efficiency.
Steering comfort. I am just loving the ease of steering. Peppy drives wherever you want to go. Car-like maneuvering being an MPV.
Suspension and ride quality. I am just enjoying and have been hearing the same from passengers.
Space and comfort for passengers. The second row is no less than Innova's comfort with captain seats. The third row is surely usable and for sure medium-built adults also can feel easy for a drive of an hour or two.
Hill hold feature
Brakes: A lot of people have spoken about this. Initially, I was feeling it could have been better, but again this is also about getting used to and now I am indeed loving the brakes. It stops exactly where I want it to.
Good height. Easy ingress and egress for me and my senior parents. Usually, it will be one-sided in many other vehicles. XL6 I feel is balanced in this aspect.
2nd-row roof AC.
Auto stop and start: I love this in traffic signals especially.
Smart access / TouchID sensor to lock and unlock the doors

Could have been better:
Fit and finish: raise the boot door and see the finish at the top
Headlights throw: Really becomes hard when it rains
Fog lamps are just there for style and look. It hardly helps IMHO.
Road visibility (maybe because of my Scorpio and other SUV’s legacy
I have witnessed a good amount of NVH level while driving on highways. Especially, the noise that comes inside the cabin is much higher than anticipated. Have deliberated a lot on going with damping, but haven't made up my mind yet. I somehow believe doing just door damping might not fully resolve this.
Size of the tires, which surely could have been bigger and would have uplifted the looks and also riding quality
There is a space for wireless charging, but the absence of this wireless charging feature doesn't align with the premium car feel
Number plate housing: Lot of noise after you close the boot window
Center armrest space: This again is very badly designed and of hardly been useful. You can not keep anything other than your small wallet inside it.
Speakers / Sound quality: Nippon speakers are very much low grade in quality. It just works and surely you cannot enjoy it thoroughly

Fuel efficiency:
City: 12-14Kmpl
Highway: 16-18Kmpl
Always AC ON

Behind its sibling - Friend's Ertiga top end

After a day's long drive in Hassan highway


Accessories and Upgrades:
I did go for Nexa illuminated door sill guard, interior styling kit, number plate garnish to be fitted by the showroom before the delivery and they were all set. I also took body cover from them. The Interior styling kit did surely uplift the premium looks.
70Mai front dashcam is the only other accessory fitted so far apart from floor mats. Got this from Nexdigitron website. Again, thanks to BHPian RJ, and did the wiring hiding DIY work by myself hiding it behind the A-pillar. It did come out clean and looks neat too. After the long drive, felt the cabin lights are dull and got them changed to LEDs by Suresh of The Bass Club who is just next door and a well-known person from my Scorpio days. Have purchased Turtle ceramic wax and have applied it once. It sure did give some additional shine and is helping to drain the water droplets quickly. The other accessory I might go for soon would be window sun films to reduce the sunlight and heat inside the cabin. Still deliberating on it or out-of-market removable shades.
I am someone who doesn’t like to hamper the original make and parts of a car. So decided not to change the tires / upsize them. Similar way did not install any additional accessories such as TPMS, etc.

After replacing the cabin lights



Beaming after a round of turtle ceramic spray wax session



You can see the fit and finish

Getting a complete wash at a neighborhood detailing store

Mileage snapshot after a recent long drive


Thanksgiving:
TeamBHP, Shashi’s thread which gave me good insights while I was shortlisting the car and RJ for being there together on the same boat from the booking till date.
The car is now run 2,400 KMs. A few long drives are being planned after kids' mid-term assessments. Will keep this thread updated with all my future experiences and trip logs. Happy revving!

[livyodream]

I am patiently waiting for a diesel engine on this model. XL6 + Diesel Engine + Auto = perfect family tourer which would be lighter on the pocket too.

[GautamJ]

Congratulations
Wishing you millions of safe and joyful kilometres

My dad has been eyeing on XL6 for long; oodles of space for 4 + luggage, good engine for cruising, amazing FE for a petrol engine and looks unique.

[Leoshashi]

Congratulations Boss on the new car, your XL6 looks gorgeous in Silver. It was one of the two shades we pondered upon, before Magma Grey got my dad's vote. Also I'm a wary of silver shades since it's a bit tricky to match during repairs. Specially the older Silky Silver shades were almost impossible to get completely right.

Originally Posted by SharathScorp

A strange thing I observed while I was comparing was, the fuse of the odometer was taken off from the white car. My car was showing a 39Kms run and just wanted to compare the same with the other. RM was kind of hesitant to open and tell, but later another mechanic there opened and said customers do not like to see the KMs on the odometer, so this is normal practice everywhere to take out fuse keep the odometers at minimum numbers.

Agree, it's a common practice and I don't blame the dealers. In my case, White was my first choice, and they had two Alphas in stock. One of them had its fuse cover lying on the passenger seat, and was driven from another showroom 100 km away.

Did observe the logo on the center of alloy wheels was removed from my car and RM said they would be fixed before the delivery. But the other white car had it!

Nothing to worry here. When Marutis are unloaded, they don't have these things installed. Tools, caps, antennas etc are installed later. They come in a sealed bag and are installed during PDI.

Good height. Easy ingress and egress for me and my senior parents. Usually, it will be one-sided in many other vehicles. XL6 I feel is balanced in this aspect.

True. I feel XL6/Ertiga have one of the most sorted Ergonomics, Ingress-Egress among all cars sold today. Even my parents and grandparents love it.

Wishing you loads of happiness and cherished moments with the car.

Regards,
Shashi

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Reviews section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage today

[snappysam]

Originally Posted by livyodream

I am patiently waiting for a diesel engine on this model. XL6 + Diesel Engine + Auto = perfect family tourer which would be lighter on the pocket too.

Low end torque of a good diesel mill will be a good match for the XL6. I am waiting for a Diesel+capable Autobox for the XL6. Aside from the Crysta, XL6 is what ticks most boxes under 25L. Supremely reliable too. My brother-in-law owns an Ertiga, and a few in close-circle have XL6s. Each of them are quite satisfied with their vehicles.
Currently XL6 looks quite good too.

[rajshenoy]

Congratulations and it is a very practical choice. Having owned first gen Ertiga, I can say XL6 is almost everything that I would have wished to have.

XL6 makes sense for the urban duties as well as weekend drives. its compact enough, yet spacious. I only wish Maruti integrated a modern gear box in this otherwise perfect vehicle.

[PrideRed]

Congratulations on XL6. The more reviews I see, better package it appears. A simple no nonsense car which is absolute VFM and easy on pocket. FE figures are impressive for a 1.5L Petrol with an old school 4AT. No matter how much one bashes Maruti, no other manufacturer can match interms of FE despite newer tech and advancements in refinement.

[sierrabravo98]

Congratulations on the XL6. Wish you lakhs of safe kilometres ahead. The AT is the go-to choice for sedate drivers. The smoothness, practicality and the comfort offered (for the price) is just unparalleled in the price segment. Do note that in the automatic, in contrast to the manual, hard acceleration to get to the cruising speed will have an adverse effect on the FE. So accelerate smoothly (not slowly) keeping if expect sustained good FE.

Also, a word of advise, do NOT fill your tyres to manufacturer recommended levels (29psi IIRC) even though its the most comfortable setting. I have seen umpteen complaints from XL6 owners of sidewall rupture on the stock Ecopias. 32-33psi would be the best trade-off IMHO.

[SharathScorp]

Originally Posted by sierrabravo98

Also, a word of advise, do NOT fill your tyres to manufacturer recommended levels (29psi IIRC) even though its the most comfortable setting. I have seen umpteen complaints from XL6 owners of sidewall rupture on the stock Ecopias. 32-33psi would be the best trade-off IMHO.

Hey Sierrabravo98 - Good to see your comment and thanks for your wishes.

Yeah, as you have mentioned I always keep 32. It is quite comfortable too.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by SharathScorp

The car is now run 2,400 KMs. A few long drives are being planned after kids' mid-term assessments.

Wishing you many years and miles of stress free ownership Sharath. Hoping to drive together sometime soon

[buntee90]

Originally Posted by SharathScorp

Highway experience is amazing. I am just enjoying this as; I am no more into go in a rush and keep a target to reach while driving. On the other hand, keep it simple and enjoy the drive in its entirety. Even otherwise, if you understand the automatic transmission well and gain experience with it, then you will thoroughly enjoy the aggressiveness that XL6 automatic generates while you savor the comfort and convenience in parallel.

Hi
First of all congratulations on getting what I believe the most practical and VFM 6 Seater in India!

Would you mind sharing the cruising RPMs @100 Kmph of this Engine AT Box combo. I cannot find that info about this AT Box. I am curious

[tunedv8]

Congratulations on your new XL-6! Although I am fed up with silver and white cars, yours does look good in silver!

I too am a regular at The Bass Club and know Suresh well. He does a great job when it comes to customer service. Looks like we are in the same neighbourhood!

Wish you a lot of happy miles with it!

[sumobom4]

Congratulations on the new car! It looks stunning in silver! Hope you have many happy miles with her! I just got delivery of mine. XL6 is an awesome vehicle if you understand it and use it accordingly.

[SharathScorp]

Originally Posted by buntee90

Would you mind sharing the cruising RPMs @100 Kmph of this Engine AT Box combo. I cannot find that info about this AT Box. I am curious

Sure, I shall respond with a pic. I believe it should be 2,200-2,500.

Originally Posted by tunedv8

Congratulations on your new XL-6! Although I am fed up with silver and white cars, yours does look good in silver!

I too am a regular at The Bass Club and know Suresh well. He does a great job when it comes to customer service. Looks like we are in the same neighbourhood!

Wish you a lot of happy miles with it!

Thanks! Yeah even I was with dual mind to go for a lighter shade or dark shade. Silver surely looks premium, especially with the contrast it is getting with the black alloys and cladding (which doesn't look so well with other shades). Do not forget the hasslefree maintenance to keep it clean. You will feel it definitely very easy if you are coming from a darker shade.

Will be happy to catch up sometime at Suresh's sometime