[Mudhalaipatti]

Thank you all for your responses. Guess I'm not in the right place right now.
There were only 2 guys in Trichy, TN involved in decent PPF coating.

The first one http://horusautomotives.in and he uses Nasiol Nano Coating and he quoted 55k for the full exterior package, including painted surface, tyres, glasses, trim etc. And another 18K for interriors.

The second one https://ceramicpro.co.in in Trichy, quoted an almost a similar amount for a full nano coating using Kavaca. He just had other "options", just painted surface for 18k and all exterior surfaces for 50K.

Both of them discouraged me going for PPF saying exactly the same thing - "Sir, it makes sense to go for PPF coating for a 1Cr car". That's a little odd. Anyway, at least the second guy offered part covering and quoted Rs.80/Sq Feet.

I haven't had any experience with PPF. What do you guys think ? After applying PPF, leaving it in hot sun, doesn't the coating a.k.a plastic turn yellow ? Any idea on the longevity of these PPFs ? Also when it's time to take it off, does it affect the underlying paint, during the peeling off process ?

I'm still undecided between a Nano Coating and PPF. While PPF is scratch prevention, nano coating is scratch resistant, or at least that's what I'm told. I'm a little hesitant to stick anything on to the paint though.

I'm not too hopeful of finding any decent detailers in Trichy. But if you awesome folks are able to recommend one in Trichy, it would be great. If not, any recommendation for detailers in Chennai is also fine. I may drive there over a weekend and get it done. Heck, I might even drive down even 3 months for a detailing session, if Ceramic Costing or PPF both don't workout.

[Tanmay007]

Originally Posted by Mudhalaipatti

I haven't had any experience with PPF. What do you guys think ? After applying PPF, leaving it in hot sun, doesn't the coating a.k.a plastic turn yellow ? Any idea on the longevity of these PPFs ? Also when it's time to take it off, does it affect the underlying paint, during the peeling off process ?

Leaving it in the sun regularly will diminish it's self healing properties and may also cause eventual breakage. Avoid PPF if your cars stays parked outside in the hot sun everyday. However if you have covered parking or parking in a spot that's shaded you should definitely consider it.

There is no peeling if a good quality PPF is used. I highly recommend Hexis Bodyfence. I've done extensive research and Hexis is the one that provides upto 7 years warranty on yellowing and cracking in India.

Originally Posted by Mudhalaipatti

I'm still undecided between a Nano Coating and PPF. While PPF is scratch prevention, nano coating is scratch resistant, or at least that's what I'm told. I'm a little hesitant to stick anything on to the paint though.

Nano-coating/ceramic coating both makes use of SiO2 polymers. They offer superior shine and hydrophobic properties. However you shouldn't expect much scratch resistance. Also these will fade out within 6m-1yr and will need touch-ups. So when going for a ceramic coating, always insist on at least a 2yr free touch-up plan (every 6 months).

The most cost-effective way as many have mentioned is going for partial PPF + ceramic. Partial PPF should cost ~50k and full body ceramic ~30k. You should be able to get it done within 80k.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by Mudhalaipatti

I haven't had any experience with PPF. What do you guys think ? ...
...
I'm still undecided between a Nano Coating and PPF. ....
....

What I have done with my current car is: every year I spend about 7-8K INR to ensure I do a proper wax, polish, etc. The very first week of ownership, I had done the ceramic coating - it lasted well. I never had any PPF - I feel I should have done that on some parts which are prone to scratches - not the bumpers but the door sills, Handle areas, the loading boot lip and so on. Won't be more than 20 Sqft or so.

I love taking car to the places generally many won't - through narrow roads with thorny bushes either or both sides. That has left some scratches on the side doors - but then after wax/ polish they disappear with a very little and faint trace if at all. After about 6.5 years of such usage, my car is still relatively better looking than the most out there

I would suggest - you do the coating (whatever works for you - nano or ceramic) and apply PPF on the certain scratch - prone areas subject to the environment you are going to expose her. I wouldn't bother wrapping entire car with such a high cost. Instead i might just repaint professionally entire car after three - four years at the same cost

[Mudhalaipatti]

I have put on hold ceramic coating or PPF, for now. It's been a month and the rains don't seem to have let up. When the sun shine for more than a few mins, I'll think about this.

And finally after 3 weeks, the car cover and sun shades were delivered any the dealer. I already had the illuminated scuff plates, mud flaps installed. Let's go over each of the accessories.

In the meantime, Mahindra has updated their website with a few more offerings. Check it out -> https://www.m2all.com/mahindra-genui...es/xuv700.html

Mudflaps
Official Pictures -> https://www.m2all.com/mahindra-genui...ax7t-ax7l.html

Actual Pics

The technician who installed it was lamenting that Mahindra has only provided push pin type connectors, which fall off in the slightest of rains and so they had screwed in the mudflaps. So far holding good. I don't see much of a difference before and after installing the mudflaps. In my view, this is an avoidable accessory.

Illuminated Scuff Plates
While they look nice, there's already a lot of scuff marks on them and I'm worried these would loose its sheen within a few months. These are the one of most scratched surfaces in the car. Mahindra has come up with few more scuff plate designs recently.

Sun Shades
https://www.m2all.com/mahindra-genui...-variants.html
Do you see that Mahindra has no actual pictures of these sun shades on the vehicles. Guess they sent the measurements out to a tailor and results are here to see. More on them shortly. But first the unboxing or err..unzipping pics.

Came in a nice large cover.

In it were 2 sets of Sun Shades. One for the first row and the second for the second row. Along with a very "helpful" instruction manual and a bunch of mounting clips.

Notice how it's printed on cheap paper in Black & White with "clear" pictures. The highlight are the instructions that read "Paste 6 Mounting clips on both Rear LH & RH sides at marked area in blue circle, as shown in Ref-08.". Thank you Mahindra for trusting in me to figure out a Blue Circle from a B&W picture.

Even before putting the 3M stickers on, I knew these were not a great fit.

However wanted to give Mahindra the benefit of doubt. And it didn't turn out well.

The instructions were not clear on where to stick those mounting brackets, is it on the metal part or on the Plastic part or the trim part. One one Side I sticked them to the metal surface and on the other side tried all plastic parts. Both left hand side and right hand sides didn't fit at all. They didn't sit well and were sticking out of 2 out of 4 brackets at least.

Taking them off and putting them back on is a pain.

Also there's a nice red Mahindra tag on the SunSHades and a White Painted words on the inside. Which looking from outside appears a tad like a rag piece dipped in paint. Could have done away with it Mahindra.



Mahindra, couldn't you make snap on magnetic sunshades. If you couldn't, why shove these misfits down our throats via this mandatory 25K worth of accessories. How the heck do I now take the mounting brackets off and get a nice aftermarket sunshade, without the gooy residue left behind the 3M mounting brackets .

The front Sunshades are much much worse. They appear to be designed for a totally different car. I didn't even bother to put on the mounting brackets. See for yourselves.

As these are not magnetic types that snap attach to the window frame and are a huge misfit, stay away from these Sunshades and opt for After Market one. Add to the fact that these are flimsy type and wouldn't last a season.

[Kosfactor]

^ Aftermarket sun shades (magnetic) tend to sit on the door rubber seal and lets in outside noise. While the idea of clips to make it sit inside the window is very nice, I can see that this would rattle on rough roads which is not good.

Apart from perhaps mud flaps, this vehicle needs 0 accessories. Just spend the money on fuel and drive.

[mytbhp_turbo]

Congratulations and Wish you a lot of Happy Miles with your new SUV.

Originally Posted by Mudhalaipatti

And I can’t believe that there has not been any mechanical niggles with the vehicle so far. Driving has been great so far.

When I drove the 500 around, every head would turn. This vehicle turns 1 in 5. But the road presence this vehicle commands is awesome.

I am really happy to read this, While i booked AX5 D AT and it is good to know about "no mechanical" issues.

I have been searching you tube on all videos to check if someone quoted prices for ceramic coating. Like most of the BHPian recommended i believe better to go with Ceramic coating and then cover PPF for area's under door handles (typical key scratches), lower bumper, headlight. Your quote for ceramic seems to be on little higher side.

Looking forward to hear more about your PPF/Coating experience.

[achyutaghosh]

Originally Posted by Mudhalaipatti

The first one http://horusautomotives.in and he uses Nasiol Nano Coating and he quoted 55k for the full exterior package, including painted surface, tyres, glasses, trim etc. And another 18K for interriors.

The second one https://ceramicpro.co.in in Trichy, quoted an almost a similar amount for a full nano coating using Kavaca. He just had other "options", just painted surface for 18k and all exterior surfaces for 50K.

Wow, the rates in Trichy are 2X more than those in NCR. You surely seem to be in the wrong place.
A cost effective option may be PPF (for the bumpers and other high contact parts) + ceramic (for the whole).

[bharanidharang]

Congratulations on your new car. The red sure is a looker but wonder how it will look 5 years down the line with the sun shining hard in our land (TN). I am not sure if I have missed in your review or comments, but wonder how it pulls with full load. I am sure mileage will take a hit with full load.

[sudharshan]

Originally Posted by Mudhalaipatti

I haven't had any experience with PPF. What do you guys think ? After applying PPF, leaving it in hot sun, doesn't the coating a.k.a plastic turn yellow ? Any idea on the longevity of these PPFs ? Also when it's time to take it off, does it affect the underlying paint, during the peeling off process ?

I have done PPF for two of my bikes. It has been 2-3 years since, have not seen the yellowing effect.

Originally Posted by Mudhalaipatti

If not, any recommendation for detailers in Chennai is also fine. I may drive there over a weekend and get it done. Heck, I might even drive down even 3 months for a detailing session, if Ceramic Costing or PPF both don't workout.

In Chennai, try detailingmafia, they have branches in Anna Nagar and Nandanam. Check out their instagram pages for details.

[Mudhalaipatti]

And so yesterday, while starting the car I got a "Contact Dealer" alert.

Umm...nothing was due for service yet. Kept me wondering, as to why it would show the message. I had to rush out, so disregarded the message and went on about the day. And when I switched off and switched on the car again, couldn't see the message. I thought may be there's a glitch, I don't have to pay the dealer a visit.

Low and behold. Today, the automatic mirror fold is enabled !!! Perhaps it was enabled yesterday and I didn't bother to notice. To prove I'm not hallucinating, here is the video. See for yourself. Nice feature addition Mahindra.

https://youtu.be/jXIaCHTejP8

However a few questions on this

1. Is this. Bug or a Feature :-)
2. Is this a OTA update ? Has Mahindra really enabled OTA updates ? I haven't visited the dealer in over 2 weeks now and so this must be a OTA update.

If this really is a feature added via the OTA update, I'm impressed Mahindra. This was one of the features from my 5OO, that I was missing from 7OO.

[Guna]

Whenever there is an OTA update, shouldn't the user be informed?

[Vashanis]

Originally Posted by Mudhalaipatti

If this really is a feature added via the OTA update, I'm impressed Mahindra. This was one of the features from my 5OO, that I was missing from 7OO.

Hi,
It’s unlikely this happened due to OTA updates. But there is a switch to enable and disable the folding of the ORVMs on the driver side door panel. If that switch is in the centre position the ORVMs will fold on locking and unfold when you turn on the infotainment system (first push of the Start Stop Engine)

https://youtu.be/HuUhz2NFwZ8

[Mudhalaipatti]

Originally Posted by Vashanis

Hi,
It’s unlikely this happened due to OTA updates. But there is a switch to enable and disable the folding of the ORVMs on the driver side door panel. If that switch is in the centre position the ORVMs will fold on locking and unfold when you turn on the infotainment system (first push of the Start Stop Engine)

https://Youtu.be/HuUhz2NFwZ8

Thank you @Vashanis. You are indeed right. I might have had my switch turn on in one of the position and not in the middle. Somehow I turned it to the middle and the automatic mirror fold manifested. It is not a new feature, it is existing one. I had to check with other 7OO owners to confirm this.

The rains haven't let up for a month now and is getting on my nerves.

[fazalmirza]

Hi again,

Many owners are reporting 9-10 kmpl city and 13-14 kmpl purely highway.

Did you get a chance to drive much and finish off the fuel in the tank?
Yours being the only ownership review going on this forum, looking forward to what you have to say.

By the way, did you get a hang of the Adrenox app and the infotainment systems.

Thanks.

[Mudhalaipatti]

Originally Posted by fazalmirza

Hi again,

Many owners are reporting 9-10 kmpl city and 13-14 kmpl purely highway.

Did you get a chance to drive much and finish off the fuel in the tank?
Yours being the only ownership review going on this forum, looking forward to what you have to say.

By the way, did you get a hang of the Adrenox app and the infotainment systems.

Thanks.

I have already emptied the tank 3 times :-). Here are some finite numbers on FE, under different loading conditions. City runs have been true to to its name with crawl, bumper to bumper traffic. Highway runs in sedate driving, no hard braking, under 115 mph speed mode.

City Runs
Partially Loaded (3-4 people onboard) - 9.2 KMPL
Fully Loaded (7 people onboard) - 8.6 KMPL

Highway
Partially Loaded (4 people onboard) - 10.9 KMPL
Fully Loaded (7 people onboard) - 9.8 KMPL

I haven't driven the vehicle with just 2 people or just me over a long distance and I strongly suspect that unlike my diesel XUV500, this one is sensitive to load.
I would need a few more runs with a few more different combinations to figure it out.

Also I might have been too optimistic in my initial estimates, where I predicted a 13 kmpl on highways. Perhaps under less load, it is achievable. Need more highway runs to validate.

On that note, the Fuel Diary in the Adrenox app doesn't do its job well. I get a notification when the tank is half full and an entry is made automatically. However the fuel quantity and sometimes the fuel price is wrong.

I have to manually edit these details after the tank is filled. One more software bug to fix in the App.

I had already turned off ADAS during my city runs. However wanted to try it on on a highway run and boy oh boy. No amount of AI can beat human stupidity. On two occasions when an Audi and a Mercedes zoomed, cut past me and tried to overtake from the left another vehicle in front , ADAS got activated, slammed the brakes, turned on my hazard lights automatically and almost turned off my car. On each instance, I half anticipated these drivers to cut me off, as I was under 120kmph and a slow moving vehicle to my left in front and another slow moving vehicle in front, in my lane. But I wouldn't have tapped the brake, let alone slammed it. I might have probably eased on the accelerator. But ADAS detected it as a hazard and flung the passengers. Not finding fault with ADAS. Its designed with sane drivers in mind, not the suicidal or killer drivers we have here. I'm turning it off for good.

The high beam headlamps are great, especially with the booster light coming up and the cornering lamps. I had turned on auto dimming on and most of the time the high beam was off, as even the slightest light from the roadside shops was detected as oncoming light and highborn was turned off. I suspect that, the high beam would come up when driving in a underground flooded tunnel.

I found the steering to be a little too tight for my comfort. Again, I'm comparing the ride between this and my previous one, the 500. At highway speeds at around 110 kmph, I have to exert an unusual amount of force to keep the vehicle in a lane, navigating those curves. While I understand that those curves are meant to be dealt with at 80 kmph, my 500 didn't feel this tight. I tried changing my seating position, but to no recourse. The steering is a lot tighter at highway speeds. Ofcourse the vehicle does react to sudden steering movements, but the steady curves take a lot of effort to stay concourse.

And a rant on the annoying high speed warning. I'm told that newer vehicles have this high speed warning If you exceed 120 kmph. How do you guy even drive with this setup ? !!

On the question on the infortainment system - It's mighty tough to pull up the menu on the main dashboard. As I mentioned during my first review, single tab, double tap, long press - Nothing works. You would consider lucky if it worked once a day. It randomly comes on a some press. This sure is an annoyance that I feel Mahindra should fix in their next update.

And the vehicle went in for the first complimentary service. I'm using the withyouhamesha app for the first time and it's kinda neat. XUV7OO customers get a pick up and drop service, at least through my dealership. I didn't have to drive all the way to my deanship to the other end of the town, which is nice.

A little video on how to get to the "Engineering Menu" to find out the different software versions. Much like tapping in Android phone settings to get to developer options.

https://youtu.be/oAB0plxs1yA

I also got the XUV7OO car cover delivered. This one fits the vehicle perfectly. Haven't used it much in the sun or in high dirt conditions. Will provide an update after a few weeks.
Here are some photos and a walk around video on XUV in wraps.

https://youtu.be/67tEUUUoVsY