[abirnale]

You might have noticed that as part of a pan-india XUV owner's group (TORC - XUV5OO days formation), some of us who are members of the group are also part of TeamBhp. As part of this group, most of the members, including me, prefer Chrome Motors (https://www.chromemahindra.com/) as our go-to service centre for all things XUV (5OO and/ or 7OO). The management as well as staff at Chrome Motors treats it's customers and their cars with extraordinary care and attention and hence many folks prefer to go there even though it's far-away form their place.

With growing car numbers, similar to all other ASCs, they are getting flooded too and it's difficult for them to entertain last minute service appointments. Hence they reached out to the group with request to plan the special Sunday Service camp for all the group members if they can coordinate to be together - it will serve them as a meet-up as well. And as for Chrome Staff, since it's a holiday, no other distractions and lesser cars to attend to.

It was very well received by us - we confirmed our availability, relayed the service or repair needs in advance, ensured the stocks were ready and required skillset available on a Sunday. Today being that day, a bunch of cars and their owners showed up at the service centre, and various scheduled and unscheduled jobs were done on various cars that showed up.

The best part was having the technical service managers/ skilled staff members take owners around in the working bays, explain the work, help them understand what was being done and why with the rationale. A lot of owners who were first time experiencing this came out super impressed.

The two key highlights form my perspective was, some repairs that were due on #TheRedSparkle were carried out today. And the other being, fruitful and knowledgeable discussions about cars.

First thing first: Unscheduled Work on #TheRedSparkle:
The work done on my car is:

• AWD shaft - Flexible coupler replacement
• Suspension creaking noise all around
• AC coolant refresh
• ⁠DEF Top-up

While observing the underbody, noticed this coupler developing cracks - purely due to age and exposure to the elements - not sure if this is premature but isn't covered in warranty hence I assumed as just age related thing.

The broken coupler, in pick below, was replaced - and thats the costliest part of today's repair job.





The car's rear suspension was making some creaking sound - some bolts were loose and needed greasing as well as tightening. Got that major thing addressed - I can't bear the unwanted noises from the car

While there, also got the DEF topped up and AC gas recharged. There wasn't anything wrong with AC but sensing the time we have spent in this car, decided to make use of the time while car was at ASC. Incidentally, about 500g of gas was recovered and then refilled completely. The 7str XUV7OO holds 900g gas! #TheRedSparkle runs with 99% of the time with Auto AC settings at 23.5-24 degree celsius temp.

Highlights of our discussions while waiting for cars to be ready:





We were told that M&M enforces tons of SOPs to dealers and service centres. One such important SOP is SCR - Service Complaint Report. Every day the ASC is expected to file a report with all unique service complaints they receive and status of those incidents - whether addressed, needs escalation or any support from M&M to address.

Often the ASCs like Chrome deploys innovative ways to fix certain issues, niggles and they are reported too. This forms the knowledge base for M&M and is used to spread that information to other ASCs. I was delighted to know that M&M runs a TechNet which is a specialised group of skilled engineers who keep an eye on all kinds of issues, basis TAR (Technical Assistance Request from ASCs) gets involved into the incidents behind the scene. Customer isn't aware of these things most of the times. M&M also involves the plant teams (including the QC teams), R&D teams as needed. The results of this coordinated help is sometimes seen in the proactive recalls as well as overall time it takes to service the cars!

Some of the issues are peculiar - they are also based on individual perspectives and sensitivity to the owners. A lot of customer base doesn't understand all technicality. While there can be technical explanation to everything, customer needs to be assured of things being in control regardless. (And it's tough task for sure - still doesn't make sense for customers to suffer for whatever reason!) ASCs and Dealers are key links between manufacturer and customer here. Some ASCs like Chrome go out of ways and extend support form their side which shows into increasing footfalls in their place, but the issues or niggles and failures are still responsibilities of the manufacturer.

The quality checks, SOPs are defined - execution is the key. As the volume grows, not all ASCs can cope up with it and this is biggest takeaway for the day that someone like Chrome is doing everything they can to support customer.

By the way, DEF and Regen was hot topic today - the TL;DR is - this thing is dependent on driving conditions. If the car runs for sufficient time that helps build the temperature required for unclog the filter, you would never see the Regen on your car's console. The traffic condition and distances are indirectly responsible here. I must still say that M&M has done pretty descent job on the DEF/ Regen stuff on the 7OO. A 20 litre DEF tank and performance oriented tuning of the M&M engines are done right, unlike some big brands. And for the record - #TheRedSparkle as not seen the REGEN even once in it's life - neither has it seen the Driver Drowsiness alert - sometimes makes me think if the system is really working?

By the way, #TheRedSparkle odometer now reads 82500 Kms and soon we will need new shoes it seems!

Will be back with more updates soon - for now, drive safe and keep driving!

[Bh.P]

Originally Posted by abirnale

You might have noticed that as part of a pan-india XUV owner's group (TORC - XUV5OO days formation), some of us who are members of the group are also part of TeamBhp. As part of this group, most of the members, including me, prefer Chrome Motors...

Thanks for the crisp update! Was wonderful meeting you and many other TORC members yesterday. Learnt a lot hearing to everyone's perspectives there.

[DragonHawk]

Thank you for the update! It’s surprising that the propeller shaft coupling isn’t covered under warranty, though it’s a relief that the replacement part cost isn`t too heavy on the pocket. I completely agree about DPF and regen. Short commutes, where the engine barely reaches optimum temperature, don’t allow enough time for proper soot burn-off, which can lead to DPF issues. Bringing the engine to operating temperature and upshifting at the correct RPM can help avoid these problems.

During my Spiti drive, I didn’t encounter DPF issue or need to perform parked regen. The 20 liter DEF tank is sufficient enough for long distance drives across country, making it quite convenient for people who are into extensive travel

It’s great to see Chrome Motors prioritizing customer care, I might soon shift my loyalty to them. This, combined with such a supportive TORC member community certainly makes up to having peaceful ownership journey.

[abirnale]

It's been some time since we visited the Bengaluru lakes like we used to do once upon a time. Today we found some time and visited a lake nearby towards Kanakapura Road. Surprisingly, the water levels are super low - not much activities to do around and still not many winter visitors have arrived. We just sighted a few regulars.

Sharing quick glimpse of this quick outing. We ended the quick drive with nice coffee and idli-dosa at a roadside shack on our return!

https://youtu.be/wmgz1ghXKyo

The lakes are at least still surrounded by green though...











Stay safe and keep driving!

[abirnale]

not having any drives and being stuck in the routine made me feel like stretching the legs a little. Hence took a casual morning stroll earlier this week somewhere on the Kanakapura road, took some random diversions and ended up at a hill top that turned out to be a great location for a nice sunny morning....













Hopefully we continue to get more opportunities to drive in coming weeks!

[dj1790.deepak]

Hi,

I have a question. I have AX7L with napoli black colour alloy wheels of 18 inches.
When I enquired about replacing the spare wheel with new 18 inch OEM alloy and tires, mahindra accessories guy said that 18 inch alloy tires cannot be accomodated in the spare tire space below the boot.
Is it correct??
I have reading your posts about the spare wheel being changed to alloy wheel, hence wanted to ask this question.

Can you please guide me here?

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by dj1790.deepak

Hi,
When I enquired about replacing the spare wheel with new 18 inch OEM alloy and tires, mahindra accessories guy said that 18 inch alloy tires cannot be accomodated in the spare tire space below the boot.

The ASC makes great jokes. thanks for sharing.

Please read this: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...ml#post5328482

Oh by the way, simple question to the idiot at ASC who told you this information about full-size wheel not fitting in the spare place: when one uses the donut (spare wheel), the original 18" stock wheel should be carried with another car or inside cabin or that idiot will come on his vehicle to carry it with you? What does user manual and that idiot's knowledge says in this case?

Sorry for being harsh - but I am furious with these incompetent grease-monkeys that deserve some training and a guidance to keep their mouth shut if they don't know about it.

[dj1790.deepak]

Hi,

You being harsh is perfectly right..!!
Those people deserves this.
I raised the same issue to them, in fact I myself went to the service center here in Hyderabad ( its supposed to be biggest service center in Hyderabad) and I asked the mechanic to put one of the stock tyre at the spare tyre place and it perfectly fitted. I circulated the photo to all of them. They told they never did this to any customer. I was shocked to hear this.
Anyhow Now I have asked them to replace my spare tyre with new alloy and same tyre as stock one.
Only issue is, they still don't have Napoli black alloy wheel as accessory (there is no part no in their system). I don't know how much right they are.

If they don't have, then I am thinking of painting normal silver 18 inch alloy wheel with black paint. Should I do this?

Thanks for replying on right time and now I am able to replace my spare wheel with alloy.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by dj1790.deepak

If they don't have, then I am thinking of painting normal silver 18 inch alloy wheel with black paint. Should I do this?

Sure, why not! Sorry for late responses, I have been MIA for some reasons.

Unless there is some long trip or some urgent travel where you will need the spare to be alloy, I suggest you wait for Napoli black matching alloy. Work with the Service manager - they can definitely procure the alloy! It may just take a little longer than a week to arrive - they definitely can procure. The reason I ask for waiting is - in my own experience, I have used the spare alloy for not more than 500Kms total in the last 85500 kms of running the car

[abirnale]

The time of the year when we look forward to the drives and some slow times - contrary to what I hoped for after quitting my job earlier this year, its too much action! Btu I am loving it already!

Dec 9 was the SKF Goa River Marathon which I had registered for a 20 miler/ 32 km distance race. And that is a great opportunity for an excuse to drive! And if you just drive from point A to B, that's not fun at all so I combined two things in one - Saturday Drive onward, Sunday Race and meeting up with parents, and Monday Birding at Dandeli. A perfect weekend!

TheRedSparkle now stands at 85,500 Kms mark! here are some select clicks from the trip:











And a glimpse of serene stay in the wilderness of Old magazine house of JLR near Dandeli.

https://youtu.be/c04JHy7WxIM?si=OjyxSwzvV3xzIHSI

And a peculiar issue identified: While I went to the start line of the race, the doubt popped in my mind if the car was locked?! So I tried using my Adrenox app on the phone and locked the car! While the Vi network was great, remote locking worked perfectly to give me the peace of mind, something created more panic: the Engine Start and Stop buttons are disabled in the app now :(

This is with the iOS App. When I connected with the CoTek at Chrome Motors, Prasad, he suggested to bring the car to Chrome to follow some steps to reset/ reactivate Adrenox things. Upon return to BLR, I paid a quick visit to Chrome, and let Prasad do whatever was supposed to be done. No pending software updates or anything as such - he just cleared the cache, reset the subscription logins, and asked me to reinstall and reactivate the app. Adrenox App still did not work. After some time Prasad asked me to try a different phone to install Adrenox app and login - to my surprise, on the secondary android phone I use, everything was working just perfect! And so when I logged back in to the iOS app, it was working properly there too! This must be something to do with iOS App update and some account binding stuff in code with the phone! Anyway, the problem solved without having to do anything extraordinary or spending too much time - back on road again, now waiting for the next big trip!

Stay tuned for more updates! and till then drive safe and have ton of fun.

[abirnale]

A milestone!

#TheRedSparkle completed 90K Kms on the odometer already - we are at 91150 Kms now! This has been a great journey! In Feb, #TheRedSparkle shall complete 3 years and maybe 95K on the odo!

While I gather all pics and videos to write into a travelogue about our most recent travel, here are some teasers to share with you:

The 90K kms Mark!



The round trip we just completed:



No road is too long - this M&M is relatively more niggle-free and trouble free for me than my earlier one!



As a family we spend 14 days with each other, almost 24/7 and then end up on new year's eve sitting peacefully in our hotel room balcony watching the himalayan peaks!



The little hunter in he jungle:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3kdNTsupNWE?feature=share

Life has it's own ways of thriving!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=6eCYLGcGlRo?feature=share

Lucky to have spent new year eve and morning at this place away from maddening crowd and urban noise:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=rK9ddEy5oJc?feature=share

ADAS at work in not so friendly weather conditions!

https://youtu.be/cdejZlPhPKk

We completed Approx 5500 Kms round trip spanning across 8 states, two wildlife sanctuaries, one ramsar site - bird sanctuary and the place where temperatures hovered in single digit centigrades! A longest and farthest destination trip as a family we have ever had!

Stay tuned for more updates - about 90K kms servicing and related things.

[abirnale]

90,000 Km Service Update

Just a month before we complete 3 years with #TheRedSparkle, we have hit this milestone. Hence the routine/ scheduled service was completed. As usual, prior appointment with Chrome and coordination ensured a smooth experience!

Typically in this service, just the oil change and some filter changes are involved. When inspected I noticed the alert for BrakePad worn out on the phone - checked with the vehicle and it truly is at the end of life!



Along with the pads, we also noticed that rear discs are worn out and needed replacement. Along with the new pads for front as well as rear, replaced the rear discs too.



The work also involved oil changes, filter changes as listed below: total cost Rs. 29,734.

As usual, Chrome Motors did fantastic job - when everything is planned and scheduled, the job is on time and without delays.

By the way, the suspension creaking noise that I keep hearing is because of a camber bolt that needs to be worked on - if we change the bolt, everything will need to realigned/ balanced. Suspension also needs woking on to do proper adjustments. It's going to be time consuming - so I have kept it on hold until 100K - its not a issue that needs urgent attention anyway. We will be buying new shoes soon - combining all of this work when we get new shoes would be ideal!

That is all for now - stay tuned for more updates as we are about to complete 3 years soon!

For now, leaving you with a few captures of the car from our recent drive:

[Tony2298]

Originally Posted by abirnale

90,000 Km Service Update

Just a month before we complete 3 years with #TheRedSparkle, we have hit this milestone.

That's a great feat to achieve, I've a few questions for you since I'm not a regular reader of your thread but always like reading your travelogues!

1. How many tyres you've used for your XUV and out of all of them which one has satisfied you the most?
2. Have you used Michelin tyres for your XUV? If yes, how's the experience and if not, do you plan to install them?
3. Is XUV your only car or do you've a beater/additional vehicle at your home, if not do you plan to upgrade/add since your XUV might require major repairs in the future where you might've to keep the car at workshop for extended period or are you confident about your XUVs durability and service centres' competency in delivering quick maintenance services?

Asking these questions since I believe in having at least one more competent car since if my primary car goes for repair job and during that time I need to take a long work/pleasure trip I've one good vehicle at my garage and easily carry out the trip while my primary car is overhauled at the workshop.

Apart from that wish you many more such long trips with your Red Sparkle, also I loved reading some travelogue of your Orange Cheetah in the past!

Thank you
Tony

[wadewilson]

Originally Posted by abirnale

90,000 Km Service Update . . . By the way, the suspension creaking noise that I keep hearing is because of a camber bolt that needs to be worked on - if we change the bolt, everything will need to realigned/ balanced. Suspension also needs woking on to do proper adjustments. It's going to be time consuming - so I have kept it on hold until 100K -

Dear abirnale, I also have the suspension creaking noise. Could you please elaborate on it so that I can get mine replaced as well. My XUV700 is also nearing 3 years but have only completed about 53,000 kms. The front suspension at cold start sounds like its about to fall apart and it's only after the engine warms up that the suspension sound is gone. The cold start suspension noise stays both while driving over bad roads and while idling.

I also did check the alignment and it showed the caster was out. Do you have any idea if it may be related to the control arms, or shocks? Thank you

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by Tony2298

1. How many tyres you've used for your XUV and out of all of them which one has satisfied you the most?
2. Have you used Michelin tyres for your XUV? If yes, how's the experience and if not, do you plan to install them?
3. Is XUV your only car or do you've a beater/additional vehicle at your home, if not do you plan to upgrade/add since your XUV might require major repairs in the future where you might've to keep the car at workshop for extended period or are you confident about your XUVs durability and service centres' competency in delivering quick maintenance services?

Thank you - here are the answers:

1. So far three sets. Stock MRF were useless and very noisy. I changed them at 18K kms or so. Second was Continental CrossConti - changed after 35K kms. Third now is Yoko BlueEarth - about 35K kms now already. The Yokos are overall best in this set. Silent, grippy as well as good thread patterns.
2. Used on 5OO in past - love them for speed drives. Sticks to the road like leach. But thats about it. Longevity is about 35-40K Kms. Puncture prone in my experience.
3. Nope - this is the only car. As in the beginning of this thread I mentioned, this is not my ideal car. Just the generic best I could settle on. I was the only driver in family (now daughter drives too) hence always used single car. Time to get some beater for her! which in her name mostly I will probably drive

Originally Posted by wadewilson

Dear abirnale, I also have the suspension creaking noise. Could you please elaborate on it so that I can get mine replaced as well. My XUV700 is also nearing 3 years but have only completed about 53,000 kms. The front suspension at cold start sounds like its about to fall apart and it's only after the engine warms up that the suspension sound is gone. The cold start suspension noise stays both while driving over bad roads and while idling.

I also did check the alignment and it showed the caster was out. Do you have any idea if it may be related to the control arms, or shocks? Thank you

Exact scenario it seems for me too - any uneven surface movement, I hear the noise. Mornings are louder. This is something in the design of AWD they have probably that is causing the issue for more run vehicles. For sure its the camber/ castor adjustment bolts that are creaking. To replace shouldn't be a costly affair but it is time consuming for sure - removing, fitting, WA WB all of that has to be done! I will let you know when I do it and find it to have solve the problem - if the problem persists, then our RCA is wrong!