[actuallyankur]

Mahindra XUV700 AWD AX7L


Pros
• Powerful responsive engine
• Torque converter AT works well, always keeps you in the rev range
• Turbo lag, or rather the lack of it, is well masked
• Spacious interiors. Comfortable front seats, and one of the best middle-row seats below the Rs.50 lac mark
• Suspension is super- amazing ride and handling, good ride comfort
• Headlights are some of the best in business, very good visibility at night
• Good fuel economy, already able to achieve figures of 13+ kmpl on the highway even with spirited driving. Should increase further after the first service
• ADAS systems works as claimed, is a boon to have
• The sunroof is humungous, you have to sit inside the car to see it for yourself
• With 7 airbags, all the safety essentials and ADAS, the car feels safe
• Build quality is really good, sturdy is the word


Cons

• Engine tends to get too vocal, specially under hard acceleration
• Not much space in the boot with all 3 rows up
• Features like auto-ORVM and ventilated seats are a must at this price point
• Suspension noise is on the higher side
• The brakes very noisy, like gorilla howling level noisy
• There are some other mechanical thuds and sounds that make way into the cabin
• Few buttons lack good tactile feedback, and don't work in one click/push a lot of times
• A lot of switches are not positioned very well- power window switches, door lock/unlock, AWD engagement switch (you need to take your eyes off to engage this one)
• Auto up-down windows should have been standard for all 4 windows
• Some plastics on the dashboard feel cheap and out of place
• Sequential turn indicators at the tail-light should have been standard, the ones that are there might not be as visible specially during day time

Disclaimer
This not a usual review about XUV700, I am trying to portray the car in an altogether different light, having bought the car with full knowledge of the issues, niggles and shortcomings of the car. Hence, I will be summarizing a digestible conclusion at the end of the review. Also, this is part travelogue part initial ownership review since we set off for the trip the very next day we got the car. By the end of the review we would have driven the car 2300 kms within 14 days of getting the car, so it fairly sums up the initial feel and feedback.

If you'd just like to find out my conclusions and not go through the ordeal of reading so much, please skip to my third and fifth (last) post.

Who is this review for?
Anyone who wants to buy the XUV700, but is paranoid of the numerous issues and niggles. Might give them a perspective of what the niggles are, how much do they matter and whether or not it is possible to live with them.

Finalizing the car and taking delivery
I had booked XUV 700 on 8th October 2021, in the AWD AX7L Trim (Midnight Blue). I was offered delivery around the first week of June 2022, I declined due to the numerous niggles and breakdowns, and who wouldn't have. One look at the dozens of comments, posts and youtube videos were enough to make one paranoid of the car.

Then I started looking at other options, consisting an array of vehicles across different brands- Toyota Fortuner (one of the forerunner), Jeep Compass & Meridian, Skoda Kodiaq, Ford Endeavour (used options) , etc. It was at this time that I realised that there is no SUV (specially 7 seaters) that offer as much bang for buck. I mean if you go over any other options you not only end up spending more but also compromise on a lot of things, viz., driving pleasure, economical to drive, middle-row comfort, reliability and even looks. This coupled with the recent updates Mahindra had done to fix the issues helped us gather the courage to consider XUV700 once again.

We contacted the SA at our local dealer on 15th Sep 2022, and couple of days later he called us that there is a cancellation for an AWD AX7L in Midnight Blue Color (what are the odds- you get your desired color and model in a car like XUV). Most people who had booked AWD are now wanting to either save money by getting Diesel AT instead, or have shifted to Scorpio-N. He told us to decide the same day, before some other SA allocates the car to someone else. We immediately agreed, only request from his side being we get car loan and insurance from them only, since that is where they really get their incentives from, and this seemed reasonable. He promised delivery during upcoming Navratra.

On 26th September we get a call from the SA that our car had arrived at their yard, but they won't be able to deliver it that day due to long que of vehicle for delivery. We finally got the vehicle on 27th late evening, around 8.30 pm, we had to wait an hour before the car could be ready. There was a string of deliveries that day. My 3 year old daughter was getting restless and sleepy, so we requested for a quick delivery without much fanfare or frills. (I somehow feel very uneasy and awkward with all the shenanigans during car deliveries these days- everyone keeps staring at you and whispering into the ear of the person next to them).

We were out of the showroom within 15 minutes of receiving the keys, and even before we could gulp the excitement of finally getting our new car, we were bowled over by how the car drove. I mean the first few kilometers felt like the first day of starting to date your crush!!





Prior to this I had only driven the manual demo car, that too almost a year back, and never got the chance to drive XUV700 again. And boy, it really drives like a dream, buttery smooth! I wouldn't be wrong to say that the drive and refinement levels are even better than a lot of cars way above it's league. This coming from someone who has owned a VW Passat 2017 model and drove it for over 70000kms is something. We even felt that the vibrations on the steering wheel and the cabin in general were even less than our Passat, and other luxury vehicles we've experienced in our friends and family circle including Audi Q3, A3, A4 and even BMW 320d (2018).

Prelude (read: excuse to set the wheels rolling)
As is we (my wife, my 3 year old daughter and me) are extremely spontaneous people, the excitement of the new car and the unbelievable drive quality, gave us an uncontrollable itch the next morning we woke up. After (not a lot of) consideration, we packed our bags ( for a week) and left! We just left for Lucknow since it is just 200 kms from our hometown Allahabad, and thought we'll decide on where to go from there upon reaching Lucknow. We were so very excited that we didn't even want to waste time in planning the trip, or booking hotels. We just got the wheels spinning, and during the short trip we were able to contact a friend who owns the Detailing Devils outlet in Lucknow to do our car's PPF within 2 days! He hesitantly agreed, although we ended up paying 5000 more to the guys to work over-night on my car.

So we reach Lucknow around 8pm on 28th, and till now, we faced no niggle or infotaiment error except for Apple car play for which we were mentally prepared after having read so many posts. We went straight to a fuel pump to see how much of guzzler this beast is. Our XUV had done 262 kms that included 120 kms of city driving, and 140 kms of state highway (mostly undivided roads requiring frequent gear shift). We were expecting it to drink up at least 30 lt for the drive, and to our sheer amazement the fuel tank was full to the brim in 22.18 lt of fuel. You can do the maths!

29th morning the car went for PPF, and we got to see the car on 30th around 5pm, shinning in the new armour!!

Here are the pics right after the PPF





Just for fun, attaching pics of the trip meter and fuel pump machine (bragging right you see after such an economical drive)




Part 1: reaching the foothills
So Day 2 in the life of XUV went at the detailer's, and the moment we got our car on day 3, around 5 pm, we straightaway headed to Bareily. We decided to go to Nainital and to stay the night in Bareily by the end of Day 3. We had hardly driven for an hour that we got to experience the most hyped feature of the car-ADAS, specifically the autonomous breaking. I was just telling my wife how much I had read about the emergency breaking, how it was a menace for people driving in the city, and that I was considering switching it off at the next stop we take. It had barely been 5 minutes since I had said this, when I motorcyclist coming from the opposite direction on the undivided highway decided a stupid maneuver, and decided to cut between the car ahead and mine. Imagine a line of 8-10 cars moving around 70-80 on the highway, and the stupid motorcyclist just crosses diagonally like a madman, and even fore I could react the car braked. I was sure I would have braked, but probably after half a second, which could have made the situation panicky, or worse ended into a collision. To this day I swear it was the ADAS that saved the guy. I mean the accuracy and promptness of the emergency braking is such that it is very difficult if not impossible to match by human intervention. Then and there I swore that I am never switching off Emergency braking, no matter what. And guess what, by the end of the day I had realized that I had adapted my driving style (mostly involuntarily and subconsciously) to take into account the emergency braking. I mean I could really right an entire article about every single time vehicle applied Emergency braking (I won't lie, some of the times it was plain annoying).

On a small incline we tried engaging the AWD function to see if it makes any difference to the drive and bang comes our first niggle- Hill Hold Control Error. Now I couldn't comprehend if it made any difference to the drive, or if AWD was engaged or not, but it did give us jitters. We switched off AWD and continued without any issue.



Headlight performance is amazing, you get good visibility, and in my estimation the high beam could easily illuminate the road for slightly over 300 meters ahead. The auto head high beam and auto head light feature turned out to be really bogus, it wouldn't go onto high-beam even if you some distance behind a car, and people who have driven on undivided highways in UP can relate that you have to switch to high beam ever so often to check for parked trucks, tractor with no back- lights, pedestrians, and everything else that is not supposed to be on the middle of the road at night. So I used manual control, lowering the beam as and when there was oncoming traffic.

We stopped at the famous Dashmesh Dhaba right ourside Bareily, had dinner and retired at the hotel. We chose a hotel near the airport, half a km away from Nainital highway so as not to get stuck in city traffic the next day. Total distance travelled was 318 kms from Lucknow, and fuel consumed 26.67 lt (you are doing the maths now)

Part 2: the hills, finally!!
A little foreground before proceeding further, we had decided that this will be a very lazy trip. We would stop as and when we felt like, no hurrying to reach destinations, instead just enjoying the journey. So we left the hotel around 12, and we had hardly driven for hour when we spotted a cafe right before the first toll plaza on the Bareily Nainital Road (Mundiya Toll Plaza, Baheri). The cafe is called Portrait, and I have never seen a more beautiful cafe on a highway (please check it out on Instagram: cafeportraitartlounge, as no words can describe the beauty and simplicity of the place) Attaching some pics from the cafe to compel you for a coffee stop






Tummy full, body caffeinated and the soul smiling, we set the wheels rolling again. Now the stretch from Bareilly to Nainital is mostly good with a few diversions on to single lane and some broken patches, but on the whole bearable. It is on this stretch we realized how noisy the suspensions can get and the 'dub-dub' sound from somewhere in the rear, but again after having read so much about it already, we were just surprised that we didn't notice it earlier in the over-excitement. One thing to mention here is that Mahindra has done a tremendous job in tuning the suspension, like unbelievably super, the noise aside. Regardless that you're driving at 10 kmph or 110 kmph, the suspension seemed so apt in soaking up the rough patches on slow speeds whilst giving excellent stability on high speeds. My wife couldn't stop praising the rear seat comfort and ride, so much so that, she put it at par with our 2017 Passat. I mean she is one woman who had rejected Volvo XC40 a couple of years back because she didn't like the rear seat ride quality, and this was when we had gone to the showroom to do the booking formalities.

Now the stretch from Bareilly to Haldwani is some of the stupidest I have ever come across, and this is coming from a guy who has lived in driven in UP all his life. Motorcyclists just refuse to let you pass

Even on single lane stretches, you'll find two-wheelers driving in the middle of the road, and won't budge even if you honk repeatedly, some even start speeding. I just have no count of the amount of times the emergency braking kicked in. Slowly and carefully we reach the foothills, and the fun starts. Now this is where the true elements of XUV700 shines:
Toque converter- giving you right upshifts and downshifts, always keeping you in the power range
Engine- push it as much as you like, every corner and bend is cake-walk, albeit it gets a little too vocal when you push the pedal after the downshift.
Suspension- do even need to exclaim again and again on the engineering marvel!
Body roll- non-existent for SUV standards
Steering- light and nible, makes you feel connected enough, though not as much as a ford or VW/Skoda, but one of the best this side of a Fortuner I would say.

The only thorn in the otherwise excellent car is the A-pillar visibility, it is pathetic, specially on winding roads. I so wish Mahindra had also added blind spot monitoring.

Nonetheless, after countless tea and maggi stops, we reach Bhimtal by 5.30pm, and spend the evening just roaming around. We even found an aquarium cafe, right in the middle of an island in the lake, they have over 40 different rare fish varieties and roof top seating. And we still decided to have maggi at the road side. Unfortunately we were too late for any other water sport due to sunset, and after wavering around a bit we left for Nainital, about an hours drive from Bhimtal. Just as we started, rains followed suit. Giving us a good opportunity to test the road grip, headlights and wipers- and nothing felt inadequate here. The car just shines.

Our hotel in Nainital was slightly higher on the hill, and crossing the mall road traffic was a breeze, the auto-hold function although full of howling brake noises, is on point. Bumper to bumper traffic on the quite narrow lane filled with pedestrians wasn't any trouble at all courtesy the super light steering wheel. Now the last mile to the hotel included some steep climbs, and the rain made it look tricky. We engaged the AWD function, and bang comes our next niggle- AWD Malfunction, followed by Hill Hold Control Error!



Again, the errors didn't make the drive feel any different, neither did the AWD engagement felt any difference. Nonetheless, we made steep climbs (about 50 meters each time) without breaking a sweat. And comfortably reached our destination. Next 2 days were spend mostly in and around the hotel, including visits to the famous mall road, Botanical garden, and couple of other nearby sights. All through the 2 days we had nothing to complain about other than the poor A-pillar visibility. Cherry on the cake was the huge sunroof, or how Mahindra like to call it sky-roof. We just couldn't wait for rains to give a breather, and we get the feel of driving a convertible (ok that was stupid, lol)

Here are some of the sights we lived!




On 4th October, we left for Mukteshwar only to get distracted to visit a lesser known waterfall in Bhowali (at least we had never heard of it) as suggested by a local. It was a drive full of rough patches and hair-pin bend turns, and I don't even need to spell it out how well the XUV700 tackled it. Unfortunately we reached by 5.30 pm and visitors were not allowed after that at the waterfall, we did enjoy a good drive full of amazing sights, chai and maggi.

Now as we got into the car to resume our journey to Mukteshwar, we got the idea to visit Delhi instead to meet all our friends over the upcoming holidays, since Nainital and nearby areas were getting extremely crowded with tourists pouring in for the upcoming Dusshera holidays, and we started our drive ahead, reaching Haldwani by 8pm and decided to spend the night there.

Next morning we left, and while refueling we got a fuel economy of 8.75 kmpl, consisting of 85% driving in the hills. I was expecting a slightly better figure, but this is still satisfactory.

[actuallyankur]

Part 3- a tale of crossing cities, woven with highways & expressways, potholes & traffic!

Now coming down from the hills seemed like a real culture shock (sometimes quite literally). Gone are the days to drive around with sunroof open and glass down. The moment we left from Haldwani, it felt like being stuck inside a real real long traffic jam. To reach Delhi from Haldwani, you cross 3-4 cities back to back. In the next 3 hours we would experience all- closed railway crossings, diversions, roads under construction, roads with potholes, potholes without any roads, highways taken over by chhola-kulcha walas, long traffic lights, people breaking traffic signals, and the list goes on. It was only around evening that we could see some clean tarmac, supposedly a new expressway from Rampur to Delhi. And till this time the only saving grace was the supremely chilled air-conditioning in the car, and the decent enough sound system. We did have to play with the settings (including turning off 3-D sound) to get a likeable sound output, the default sound output wasn't to our liking. The AC seemed bit noisy, but we couldn't keep the fan setting over 3 for more than 15-20 minutes at any given time with temperature ranging from 20 to 23 degrees Celsius. Most of the time the AC was running at minimum blower, which kept us all very comfortable. Apart from cooling down the interiors, the AC does a super job of insulating the cabin of outside noise, including shocker thumps. In fact by this time we barely noticed the shocker noise, we had got so used to it, specially with the AC on. As termed by someone in another forum the "thud thud of football in the boot" sound did annoy us at times, but I think we will eventually (and hopefully) get used to it. What is really unlivable (and sometimes feel like something straight out of a horror movie) are the brake noise, specially if you use the Auto-hold function. There are a lot of cars where the auto-hold function makes some noise while engaging and disengaging the brakes, but nothing sounds like a dinosaur howling!!

Once we started on the Rampur-Delhi expressway, it was the first time we got to push the car, and it didn't disappoint. The car easily reaches a ton and still remain around the 2000 rpm mark. Even at 100 kmph, if you push the throttle, you reach 120s-130s in the blink of eye. We didn't push the car further mainly due to speed limits and to keep engine under 2000-2300 rpm (initial engine run in period). The side-view camera that gets turned on automatically once we indicate for a turn or lane-change is super useful and well appointed. It works better than the rear-view camera (you will read about it in the next para), and is much more convenient to use than the ORVMs a lot of times. We did try to engage adaptive cruise control along with lane departure warning, and although the features seemed working as claimed, we were bit hesitant to use it over a prolonged period of time because of the erratic traffic on the expressway. Moreover, we had never had these features in any of our previous cars so we were a bit reluctant to try them out. All in all, the drive from Rampur to Delhi was very relaxed, and miles faded before we could get a hang of how long we had been in the car. It took us nearly 4 hours from Rampur for us to enter Delhi, specifically exiting near South-ex in Delhi.

The next 3 days mainly included driving from point A to B commute in typical Delhi traffic, and nothing noteworthy to mention, except that we didn't face any niggle other than wireless Android auto getting hung twice on a particular day. It didn't happen prior to that and hasn't happened since, so I am hoping it was a one-off issue, probably due to the phone itself. Wireless apple car play gets stuck after every 20-30 minutes or so and I was already mentally prepared not to use it for the initial few months, so no hurt-burns there. It was around this time that we got to use the rear view camera quite often, and it is by far the most disappointing thing on this car. It is extremely laggy, grainy and slow. Sometimes there is even a lag of a second in the camera. On time I saw a pedestrian crossing the car in the rear view camera, and when I looked into the mirror, he had already walked quite a distance away from the car. At times it literally felt like watching action-replay of the previous ball in a cricket match.

On the coming weekend we did decide to make a trip to Sohna area, ahead of Gurgaon, along with a couple of friends and their families, and we had 2 cars between 3 families- my friend's fortuner (2019) and our XUV. Now one thing I forgot to mention is the boot capacity. We had kept 2 large and 1 small suitcases, along with 3 small bags, and yes we are heavy packers. Plus there were small tid-bits that kept increasing with the trip. The boot with the third-row seats fold down seemed that it could easily accommodate. One of our friend who had flown in with is family (3 adults and 2 children) also happen to be heavy packers, and we had to accommodate 2 extra large suitcases and 2 duffel bags for them in our boot. With so much luggage, we had about 30% IRVM visibility, so we had to be extra careful, and the load thus shifted to the ORVMs and side view cameras, and I have to say they are more than adequate, no complaints there, except that it would have been better to have auto-dimming ORVM at least as an option.

The drive to and fro Sohna has a stretch of newly constructed highways, where you can easily cruise at triple digit speeds, and the traffic usually moves around 80-100 kmph. We travelled on Saturday the 8th of October, 2022, which happened to be the day with some of the heaviest rainfall in Delhi-NCR, and boy the tires have some grip. Even on highway speeds, the car filled with quintals of luggage, 2 adults 3 children, and the skies pouring like anything, we felt the braking to be on point. A couple of times when we did had to brake hard, the tires didn't loose traction or drift, ABS functionality was super. On one incident when a calf walked in front suddenly, and we had to brake really hard from 100 kmph, the car didn't drift an inch, and we were able to stop comfortably enough to see the calf smile at us and walk ahead. In my opinion this was some of the best braking & ABS performance I have seen from an Indian manufacturer. The wipers work excellently well, even in the heaviest of rainfall and the screen-washers do a good job- marks se no marks ek spray mein :P

Even while in Delhi, every now and then someone or the other would walk up to us to ask about the car, and to check if we faced the same issues as people who bought it earlier (since the car didn't have the registration plate yet, people figured it out that it's a new car). At one incident when I had taken my car for a wash, a guy who came in for PPF of his BMW X4 was so excited to find out about our car, he asked me questions about the for almost an hour when I offered to drive the car himself and see if I was lying. Mahindra O Mahindra, you've given me the second conversation starter (first one being our Petrol AT Thar)

So this time around we had thought we'd let the fuel tank dry up completely before we refuel so as to get an idea of the practical range to expect on a full tank, so while coming back from Sohna we refueled when the DTE came down to 21 kms! The vehicle had done 573 kms (about 250 kms highway and remaining city) and tank filled up to the brim in 50.58 lt. So we can safely assume that on open highways we can easily get range of 650-700 kms, at least for my driving style, and I am neither a sedate driver nor one of those people who push the car bonkers, my driving is like a sweet spot between the two. I am assuming that after the first full service, I can expected fuel efficiency figures of 14+ kmpl on highway and 11+ in the city. In my opinion, this is amazing for a car of this size and power output.

Now on our last day in Delhi we spotted this White Brezza with teamBHP sticker, such a happy sight to see. So if you're reading this "Hi mates!" I hope you won't mind me putting up this pic, let me know if you want me to remove the pic

[actuallyankur]

Few observations so far:

1) Only the driver side window has auto up/down, and it seems to be bit moody. It works sometimes, other times you just have to push/pull it all the way to open/close the driver side window.

2) The ORVM opening switch has three positions open-middle-close. Throughout our journey we couldn't figure out what happens at the middle position. It was only when we reached back that our driver discovered that if you keep the switch position in the middle, the ORVMs will close and open on door lock and unlock. LOL!

3) If you keep holding the unlock button, it will roll down the driver side window and open the sun roof completely. Quite handy, although we would have preferred if it opened all 4 windows.

4) Digital instrument cluster works about just fine, though quite heavily burdened with too many settings and options, and are sometimes distracting. Nothing to complain about, nothing too great about it. It is crisp and clear, informative once you get a hang of it, though it would have been slightly better if it were a little more intuitive.

5) Lack of auto-dimming IRVM wasn't such an issue once we got used to switching it manually.

6) The switch to change drive modes seems quite redundant. The button just opens the drive mode window, and you have to select the mode through the infotainment screen. As a result we ended using the default Zap mode most of the time.

7) Every time you restart the vehicle, the parking brake would get engaged, and sometimes it took more than a single push to disengage. It should have been on auto disengage upon throttle as with most cars.

8) Wireless charging is useless, it just heats up the phone a bit too quickly. At best it just keeps the battery at the existing charge percentage.

9) The front 2 charging ports (USB type-A) are slightly better than the wireless charger, but doesn't juice up your as well as you find in most cars these days. We ended up using the type-C port behind the central armrest most of the times, that is proper fast charging.

10) The 3-D floor mats we bought as standard accessory is outright cheap and useless. It is slippery, shows a lot of dust, and tends to move around at times. If you can, get a good quality after-market floor mats.

11) The small rubber floor mat behind the third row is sheer annoying. You'll end up spending more time adjusting it and getting it back to its place than storing your luggage.

[actuallyankur]

Back to driving now!
Part 4- the drive back home to Prayagraj

Now the drive from Delhi to Prayagraj is approx 750 kms
50 kms to reach Greater Noida from Delhi
180 kms Yamuna Expressway to Agra
20 kms on the Agra ring road
300 kms on the Agra-Lucknow expressway
200 kms on Lucknow Prayagraj (80 kms of 4 lane highway and 120 kms undivided highway, mostly good road condition)

We left from Noida around 9.30 pm and at this time around the Yamuna expressway wasn't as crowded. This gave us a fair chance to try out the ADAS features, and we set the adaptive cruise control to 100 kmph (the speed limit on the expressway) along with lane-keep assist switched on, and by God we couldn't believe we had lived without something like this for so long. These ADAS features work supremely well, so much so that we felt that we only drove the car 10% of the route, rest 90% the car drove it self. The lane keep assist is very useful and works like magic. You know it was like getting a taste of the ever so famed Tesla self drive at less than half the price. If only Mahindra can add blind spot monitoring, you could really take a nap (which I strongly advice against )
We reached Agra by midnight, surprisingly relaxed. It is not that you don't have to focus on the road or steering. It is the assist you get in the throttle, steering and braking that takes away the tiredness and boredom of driving on unscenic expressways. Small tasks like setting the navigation, taking a sip of water, setting AC temperature, changing the music track, all these get slightly less stressful, you know the fear is reduced knowing there is someone or something looking out for you for that split second you take your eyes off the road. I mean it is inevitable, on a drive lasting over 2 hours, you'll eventually need a few seconds every now and then for the basics! It is such a mental relief to have a reliable piece of tech in place.

We left Agra around 1pm (again this was supposed to be a lazy trip, so no waking up by the alarm), and were on the expressway to Lucknow in a matter of few minutes. Once there, we had ADAS waiting to take over. By 2.15pm we had already covered close to 125kms and we reached the first rest area on the expressway. It was time to fill up our tummies as well as the fuel tank. I am sure you aren't interested in what we ate, our XUV drank 30.65 lt of diesel for 392 kms covered since previous refueling (maths time )

After another 20 minute break on the second rest area, we comfortably entered Lucknow by 6pm. Again most of the work done by ADAS, not that I didn't want to drive, seeing such an amazing tech in person for the first time is quite exciting. After running a few errands in Lucknow we left for Allahabad, this time around no adaptive cruise control, given the state of our state highways, and I have never enjoyed any drive back home from a trip as much as this. We left from Lucknow at 8:55pm and drove non-stop to Prayagraj. We reached home at 11.40pm. This is one of the quickest time I've done the Lucknow-Allahabad stretch (and I must have done this stretch at least 100 times in my life). Not that we drove over too fast, with the amount of grip and handling I got the car, it was quite comfortable to carry speeds between 50-70 kmph through bends and curves. Further, the enormously grunty engine made for swift over-takes and quick acceleration into 80-100 kmph speed range.

Feel like doing some maths one last time ;-)
33.43 litres of diesel for a distance of 435.6 kms.

DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid or AdBlue) levels towards the end of the trip was 79%.

Total distance covered in the 2-week trip 2300 kms! Total memories made infinite!

[actuallyankur]

To conclude

First of all, apologies to the moderators and all BHPians for not following the trend of listing the pros and cons, as there are already a lot of people who've done that. The last time I read those, I ended up cancelling my booking for XUV700. Instead I would like to present a wholistic view of a car that is, sparing a few software niggles, otherwise brilliant.

To summarize-

1) Ride, handling and dynamics are beyond what you'd expect at this price point and size. Body roll is non-existent for SUV standards.

2) Braking and ABS are reliable as a wall.

3) Could not really test how effective the AWD system is. Will update once I have it looked into at ASC.

4) Headlights are unlike anything I've seen on any Indian car. You won't miss an inch of the road. Period

5) The tyres (mine had Bridgestone Ecopia) offer excellent grip. Road noise is acceptable.

6) NVH levels are good, although engine tends to get pretty vocal under moderate to hard acceleration, and the engine noise is pretty evident, though not unnerving (like Innova or Fortuner).

7) Engine vibrations- what are they?

8) Middle row is what the chauffeured class would drool over.

9) ADAS- as far from a marketing gimmick as can be, and I felt it worked even better than most cars I have heard of. And reliable (at least so far)

10) Interiors- If you can ignore some hard plastics that look out of place and put bluntly-cheap, are really pleasing. The piano finish are going to dull down over time and accumulate scratches. The white interior will get dirty, specially if you have children and pets, and/or enjoy eating in the car. Be mentally prepared, don't fret and just get pally with a good detailer nearby.

11) Third row- we are yet to unfold the third row seats

12) Infotainment- packed to the brim with features, most of which you won't even care to use beyond the first couple of months. Till Mahindra sorts out all the niggles, we get to play treasure hunt unto who minds the most niggles! Sad but true, although I found most niggles not to be a deal-breaker (at least the ones I did face)

13) Ours came with 2 keys at the time of delivery, and SA told us that swipe style turn indicators for the rear will be offered later as an accessory and at a cost.

14) The door pockets, bottle holders and other spaces in the central console and well designed, and neatly placed. Interior storage space is very practical.

Whhoooosssshhhh!! Finally the end to my first ever ownership review. Really sorry that I made it so long, it just the excitement for a machine engineered so accurately. I tried to give you a realistic view of how the car would to live with for real, only if you willing to look beyond the niggles!

Cheers!

[Chetan_Rao]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[tarunjain]

Originally Posted by actuallyankur

The auto head high beam and auto head light feature turned out to be really bogus, it wouldn't go onto high-beam even if you some distance behind a car, and people who have driven on undivided highways in UP can relate that you have to switch to high beam ever so often to check for parked trucks, tractor with no back- lights, pedestrians, and everything else that is not supposed to be on the middle of the road at night. So I used manual control, lowering the beam as and when there was oncoming traffic.

The high beam assist is very strict and errs towards caution. It would have been more usable if it was a bit more lenient.

I do like the auto headlamps feature though. I keep the headlamps on auto mode, but have turned off the high beam assist from settings.

Originally Posted by actuallyankur

Every time you restart the vehicle, the parking brake would get engaged, and sometimes it took more than a single push to disengage. It should have been on auto disengage upon throttle as with most cars.

XUV 700 does have that. You need to have driver seat-belt on for it to work.

[Karaboudjan]

Dear Ankur,
Thank you for the wonderful insight into this lovely machine. It is very apparent that she has made you fall in love head over heels with her.
Enjoy many more memorable miles with her.
BTW, were you not hesitant to take an unregistered car outside the state, especially to Delhi, where every outside vehicle is looked upon with suspicion by the cops?
Also, I am waiting for the exact same model in the same colour, to be delivered for me.
Drive safe!

[RGK]

Originally Posted by actuallyankur

The side-view camera that gets turned on automatically once we indicate for a turn or lane-change is super useful and well appointed.

Absolutely yes, especially on busy roads, this is an extremely useful safety element.

[Aditya]

Congrats on your car. The XUV700 is a great choice. It's one of those cars that fits anywhere - in metro cities or rural areas, without any effort. It can cruise on the expressway and also feel at home in the city as it's not too unwieldy. The price, features and safety rating make it a really sweet deal.

The howling from the brakes and suspension noise filtering into the cabin is sad. Even the vibrations you have mentioned are worrisome. For a car that costs as much as the XUV700 does, this should be sorted. Hope Mahindra sorts these problems out.

Wish you many years and miles of happy motoring.

[automowheels]

Thanks for such great insights for prospective buyers such as me! How were the outside temperatures during your drive? Did you miss ventilated seats? I currently drive a car with auto-dimming IRVM, but I don't find the manual one a deal-breaker and am willing to make a small compromise for an otherwise great package!

[actuallyankur]

Originally Posted by tarunjain

The high beam assist is very strict and errs towards caution. It would have been more usable if it was a bit more lenient.

I do like the auto headlamps feature though. I keep the headlamps on auto mode, but have turned off the high beam assist from settings.



XUV 700 does have that. You need to have driver seat-belt on for it to work.

Ohhhhhhhh
I was yet to discover this
Thanks mate!

[actuallyankur]

Originally Posted by Karaboudjan

BTW, were you not hesitant to take an unregistered car outside the state, especially to Delhi, where every outside vehicle is looked upon with suspicion by the cops?
Also, I am waiting for the exact same model in the same colour, to be delivered for me.
Drive safe!

Our road tax was paid the very next day of delivery, and we got confirmation receipt of the same, registration certificate came in after about 15 days due to heavy work load in RTO and occuring holidays. As per my knowledge you can drive the vehicle for a week without registration as long as you valid insurance (which has to be effective from the moment vehicle is delivered) or upto a month if you have temporary registration.

Any which ways, our vehicle wasn't stopped anywhere, even when police checkpoints were there, probably because we were travelling with a child (yes it's a thing, a lot of times earlier also I have had cops let us go without even checking papers when they see a female and a child). Another reason could have been that there were a lot of vehicle all across without registration plates, apparently due to massive new vehicle sales during navratra.

Originally Posted by automowheels

Thanks for such great insights for prospective buyers such as me! How were the outside temperatures during your drive? Did you miss ventilated seats? I currently drive a car with auto-dimming IRVM, but I don't find the manual one a deal-breaker and am willing to make a small compromise for an otherwise great package!

Pleasure is all mine sir!
Temperatures were mostly in the range of 20-30 degree Celsius on the plains due to rains and slightly lower on the hills, lowest on any particular day being around 12 degrees Celsius. Didn't miss the ventilated seats as such, even on hot afternoons (temperatures around 35-38 C) due to light colored seats, but would surely be missed during summers!
About the IRVM, I had the exact same thought process.

[pduttaghy]

Hi Ankur,
Loved going through your review. It felt very realistic and practical, especially since you took it on a drive immediately on different terrains.
Now that you have completed almost 11 months with your beauty, any other feedback that you may wish to add. Please don't mind me asking, as I myself have booked an XUV700 albeit it is the AX7 petrol (expected delivery is around late September) and was curious to know how you feel about it after one year of owning it.

[actuallyankur]

UPDATE: AFTER 1 YEAR AND 20000 KMS (APPROX)

Whoooosssshhh!
Where to start!
So, we had a pretty eventful year with the XUV700, saw lots of happy moments, lots fights, lots of highs and lows. The car has become such an integral part of our lives, that more than the pros & cons, repairs and reliability, we think of the moments, but I know you are more interested in the former. So here we go:

First, lets address the elephant in room: infotainment system and the niggles.
Yes, there still are niggles in the infotainment system, albeit much less frequent, and much less impactful, after 2 or 3 software updates at the service station. We have learnt to live with them, rather, learnt to ignore them, i.e., till the time it is not affecting the drivetrain and handling, which rarely has ever happened, maybe once or twice when it kept showing traction loss symbol and it felt like engine power was cut off, that too went away after like 30 seconds.

Between wireless Android auto and Apple car play, the former has been more consistent and lag free. By now even Apple car play works very consistently and there are very rare occasions when it does get hung, although by now we have gotten so used to Android Auto as our primary connection, that we use Apple car play like once or twice in a month, so can't comment much about that. Android Auto works perfectly fine, with maybe a lag or screen freeze like twice in a month, which i think is a pretty common thing for both wireless Android Auto and Apple car play in most other cars also (even luxury segments cars included). I think the major huss that has been made about XUV was due to the fact that for most of us it was the first (and in some cases the only) car where we used Android Auto or Apple car play wirelessly.


The most hyped feature ADAS: useful or useless? A hero, a villian or just a character in the background?

So, it has been an year using the ADAS on XUV 700, and I must say this is something that grows on you, and you tend to miss it when you drive another car without ADAS. The Auto emergency brake system has been the most useful of the lot, albeit it does tend to get intruding at times when you are overtaking on undivided roads, with oncoming traffic. A couple of times, it got very risky too, trying to over take, and suddenly ADAS braking kicks in cutting power, now you can't overtake, and there was just enough margin to get back in my lane. So all in all you have to plan your overtakes with the Auto emergency braking in mind. There is an option to choose between braking response time from three given levels: early, normal and late. We have let it be on late, and by now I am used to the timing and distance where AEB will kick-in, so it's more about learning to adapt to it. I do make sure to turn off AEB if someone who isn't used to the system is driving.

AEB has proven to be a hundred times more useful than the rare occasions when it gets annoying, that I never considered switching it off. I mean I live in Uttar Pradesh and travel to all kind of roads from expressways to 15 feet wide village roads without a single streetlight for kilometers at a stretch. Despite the vastly improved conditions of roads in Uttar Pradesh, some poorly identifiable perils remain- cows/buffaloes, motorcycles & e-rickshaws without headlights and tail-lights, trucks & tractors parked on the road without any illumination strips, and the list is endless. There have been hundreds of occasions where AEB has kicked in, helping us avoid a last minute panic breaking situation.

Now, features like Adaptive cruise control (ACC) coupled with lane-keep assist (LKA) and lane departure warning, is very useful on expressways, specially for moments when you would like to take a quick bite, or have a sip of water, even though you might have one had on the steering wheel, there is some reduction in focus on the road, ever so slight that may be. This has never failed us, except for this one horrendous occasion when I engaged Adaptive cruise control to adjust the seatbelt, which had got twisted. I unplugged the seatbelt and BAMM! ACC and LKA got disengaged, without any warning, instantly, on an expressway!

I was doing 100 kmph, and nearly missed colliding into the right side barrier on the expressway. Imagine the frustration and horror of people driving behind me to see a car doing 100, going straight, suddenly diving right for no apparent reason. I somehow managed to control the car, without any fatalities or damages. I was so shocked and frustrated at myself for even thinking of relying on the ADAS at that times, but then it was my stupidity to disengage the seatbelt, even if for a second. I cannot understand why would Mahindra do this? I feel, there should at least be a warning sign and a countdown of say 4-5 seconds, before the system disengages, if it so does. Or at least the sales rep should explain this to the customers very clearly that the system would disengage if you unfasten the seatbelt. At least it could pop up on the MID at the time of engaging ACC & LKA that it will disengage if you unfasten the seatbelt. How else would an unsuspecting customer know about this?

What's done is done! Lesson learnt!
Apart from the above, we have had zero complaints. Lane-keep assist works wonderfully even at 100-120 on curving roads on the expressways, never tried them over 120kmph. It hardens the steering if you try to change lanes without giving a lane change indicator, with the indicator it functions normally. So not much to complain, and can only wonder what would a future with much more and much capable vehicles with ADAS be like.


So this was about the infotainment and ADAS! Interiors, exteriors, service & maintenance, and other generals to follow up in the next post!