[Tgo]

Congratulations on this car and letting is know about this rare engine. Wish you a trouble free ownership.

Correct word for KOTAK is “Co-Tech” which should mean Company Technician. Usually a guy who is an employee of the Manufacturer and not the Dealer. Supposed to be more knowledgeable and visits the shop on rotation or unless some major issue crops up.

[subramanyam84]

My car has done around 5400km since end of Jan. Very similar issues/behaviour observed in mine as well.

You're spot-on with the fuel economy description. But you know the famous saying- "Never ask a man his salary, a woman her age and the Turbosport, it's economy" :

Temperature is off by a couple of degrees in mine too, towards the higher side.

The add-on flimsy parcel tray is the only thing that rattles occasionally. Everything else is built well.

Coming to the idling behaviour, the ECU generally performs that exercise to heat up the engine overall and the turbo in particular. It is generally a good idea to warm a turbo engine up for 30-60 seconds before setting off. In most other cars the behaviour isn't this pronounced. It feels quite raw here. I like it

As far as i know, there's nothing in the engine bay that can give out an organic foul smell. I'd have suspected gaskets and gasket sealants but that's within the first 100km. Not this late. It could be a rodent carcass.

The link rod is a bit of an issue. I felt the thud noises with steering input in low speeds. I took it to India Garage, Peenya and they replaced the link rods. This was at around 4300km. They said it was a recall issue and had cropped up in many vehicles (including another AMT in the family). Although the recall message did not show up for the Turbosport, they still offered to replace it. Now, after a 1000km it feels like it is recurring. I'll wait for a while before it becomes more pronounced before i visit the service centre again. It isn't safety critical, so nothing to worry. These link rods connect the lower arm to the anti roll bar. The R & L link rods are visible if you observe behind the fog lamps, if you like a quick check of its integrity.

Overall I'm very impressed with the vehicle as well. Addictive torque. Having a light right foot is the hardest part

[anantpoddar]

As per my SA and Mahindra's regional service manager, Mahindra has recently changed the link rod design for the XUV300 in the last 1 year. This helped them in bringing down the cost significantly, from around 2700 to 700, but these new link rods were having a lot of issues. My first link rod (2019 manufactured) lasted 50k kms and 3 years, I had to change for the first time in Sep 22. Since then they have changed it again 4 times within 10k kms. Now they're changing the design again / reverting back.
Your cases should be covered under warranty.

[naadopaasaka]

Originally Posted by subramanyam84

My car has done around 5400km since end of Jan. Very similar issues/behaviour observed in mine as well.

Honestly, I'm relieved to note that you have similar issues. One of the benefits of this community. I shan't ask the TurboSport its economy. Unfortunately, other people ask me.

Originally Posted by subramanyam84

As far as i know, there's nothing in the engine bay that can give out an organic foul smell. I'd have suspected gaskets and gasket sealants but that's within the first 100km. Not this late. It could be a rodent carcass.

So the smell progressively reduced over 3 days, and as of yesterday morning, has completely disappeared. Must be a rodent carcass, as you suspect.

Originally Posted by subramanyam84

I felt the thud noises with steering input in low speeds.

Oh this is exactly what I have heard/ felt too, even at stationary. Good to hear that India Garage replaced it. I hope they did so for free. In my case, it simply broke.

Originally Posted by subramanyam84

Having a light right foot is the hardest part

We didn't pick this car to be driven with a light food. But I find that my driving has improved consequent to all the power on tap. There is no restlessness or urgency. There is confidence that the car will back you up when you need it. Life is more peaceful. So I am able to drive with a light foot. It's like a spiritual workout.

Originally Posted by anantpoddar

As per my SA and Mahindra's regional service manager, Mahindra has recently changed the link rod design for the XUV300 in the last 1 year. This helped them in bringing down the cost significantly, from around 2700 to 700,

Interestingly, on this page you can see both the ~₹700 part and the ~₹2,700 part. Thanks much for the inputs on the part though. I do hope I get the old version and that they've gone back to it when I get mine replaced.

[naadopaasaka]

Originally Posted by naadopaasaka

12. Link Rod: Over the past couple of weeks, I have heard a gentle/ soft/ muffled ‘dub’ sound from the front suspensions on bumps/ potholes. That evolved (in the last couple of days) into a similar sound even when the steering was turned when the vehicle was stationery.... they noted that the front right suspension’s link rod had broken... They replaced it for the time being with another used link rod, and said they would get back to me when they received the new part.

Just an update on this. I had been regularly calling them to check if the part had arrived. The day before yesterday, I finally got a positive answer. Yesterday, I went to PPS Motors Thanisandra and got the link rods replaced on both the left front and the right front entirely free of charge. They informed me that there had been a recall and that I would have got a call anyway even if I hadn't complained. The part number of the new link rod is 0401BBC00761N and the name of the part is "Link Stabiliser Bar Front."

They were very efficient. I reached at 0920, the car was up at 0940, the work was done by 1015, and the car was ready for delivery. However, I had to wait 40 minutes thereafter for a job card, at which point the courteous and helpful SA told me to leave and said he'd get my approval on the app later, which he did at about 1300.

The car is back to being its extremely silent smooth self.

[abaliga]

Originally Posted by naadopaasaka

5,750 km Update

5. Tar on Paint: I didn’t get PPF or any other protective coating on the paint. On a highway drive in the Gokarna – Mangaluru sector, we encountered some newly laid roads and there are now tiny spots of tar on the paint on the front-right panel. My local car wash guy says that a diesel wash should sort that out. Does anybody here have other suggestions?

Based on my interaction with a detailer, Using diesel to remove tar spots is harmful to the paint in the long run, Most detailers now use less harmful IP to get rid of tar or other impurities, you can try this as a first step at a detailing studio

[naadopaasaka]

Originally Posted by abaliga

Using diesel to remove tar spots is harmful to the paint in the long run, Most detailers now use less harmful IP to get rid of tar or other impurities, you can try this as a first step at a detailing studio

Thank you for this. Whenever I decide to address it, I will go to a detailing studio.

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by naadopaasaka

Request Sensor: Until the first service, the request sensor would only unlock the driver’s door, as pointed out to me by the salesman. After the first service, unfortunately, it unlocks all four doors. I don’t know if there is some setting that can be changed. The owners’ manual is silent on this.

Well this is how it works for me on my XUV300 and from what I have seen other XUV300s as well. The driver side request sensor opens all the doors. I actually find this to be a convenience and in fact, I’m figuring out if the same can be installed on the passenger side as well (they removed the passenger side PKE starting from my batch of cars!)

[jithin_isaac]

Originally Posted by naadopaasaka

They informed me that there had been a recall and that I would have got a call anyway even if I hadn't complained. The part number of the new link rod is 0401BBC00761N and the name of the part is "Link Stabiliser Bar Front."

Thanks for the part details. I had the same trouble with my XUV300. Got the vehicle delivered in the last week of December 2022, and after a month or two, this strange noise used to crop up while turning the steering column. Got it inspected in May, and they mentioned that a TSB had been released for all affected XUV300s. The service center took almost 40 days to get the replacement, and they replaced both the left and right front link rods today. The SA mentioned that the part is in short supply, and there is a huge backlog of vehicles that need to be addressed. The entire process took around 2.5 hours, while I waited at the service center.

Initial thoughts are that the replacement seems to have worked, hoping for the best.

On a different note, has anyone observed that m2all.com has stopped stocking accessories for all their commercial passenger vehicles?

[naadopaasaka]

2nd Free Service Update (9,000 km) – Mostly good and some bad news

The car is now about ten months and 9,100 km old. Almost time then, for the second free service.

AC Troubles

I understand that the AC on the XUV300 in general (not just the TurboSport) isn’t exactly the best in the segment. My family began complaining about it in particular in the month or so before the service. Things seemed to get worse as the blower speed reduced significantly. It appeared to me to be an AC filter issue. It was diagnosed as such and the AC filter was replaced in the second free service. Subject to correction, the part number appears to be S1203C010161N and it costs ₹272.50 including GST. The AC works fine now. No complaints.

Follow-up

In my 5,750-km update, I made some observations under 13 heads. Nothing has changed in respect of all those observations except the following.

1. Rattling, fit and finish: The rattling I observed from the dashboard is actually even less than what I’d pointed out earlier. Some of the sound, I discovered, was actually coming from things placed in the glovebox. I must re-iterate how impressed I am by fit, finish, insulation, etc.
2. Link Rod: Following the replacement of the link rod, there has been no trouble or sound from the suspension thus far.
3. RC Smartcard: PPS Motors acted extremely slowly and irresponsibly on this issue. At long last, sometime in the month of August, 2023 (I bought the car in November, 2022), my SA, on repeated telephonic follow-up, informed me that the record on the register in the RTO’s office had been changed, and sent me an extract evidencing this which he described as the ‘B extract.’ At the same time, he had the gall to claim that the smartcard could not be changed at all. That resulted in some more time wasted as I had to visit the showroom, apply a little bit of pressure on his immediate superior, and had to pay them (in cash) the fee of ₹2,000 which they ought to have borne as the error was theirs to get the smartcard replaced. They didn’t ask for it, but I was tired of waiting and knew what would get the gears turning. The replaced smartcard then came about two weeks later. I am disappointed with PPS Motors Indiranagar on this.

Accident

Let me begin by clarifying that there was no personal injury but that there was damage to the car. No more than 3 days after I got my Wheels Wisdom subscription, I met with a minor accident. At a large roundabout with traffic signals at all exits, my signal was green. I proceeded into the roundabout entering almost in a straight line, preparing to take an exit that would put me in a 2 o’clock direction from the point of entry into the roundabout. The exit was some distance away, so I was roughly where the middle lane would be (lanes weren’t marked, if my memory serves me right). At this point, a young man on a motorbike had entered the roundabout apparently from (on the same figurative clock) a 3 or 4 o’clock position, intending to exit onto the same road I was heading towards. The roundabout is so large that it has a playground with walls in the middle with even a cricket academy in it. I was driving at about 25 kmph. From beyond my line of sight on the right, he approached at speed (I suspect ~40 kmph) and hit the front right fender of my car. He ought to have been on the right lane from which he began his turn, but somehow cut across a lane and a half to my position – on the (imaginary) middle lane – resulting in the collision. It appears that he was intending to cut across to the left lane in preparation for his exit. It seemed to be rather irresponsible and somewhat aggressive driving. I can’t think of anything more I could have done to prevent this. My instinctive checks of looking around just at or before the stop line at the signal didn’t show his entry. Obviously not, because he would have passed in front of me, had he been visible then.

The collision had resulted in the sidewall of the tyre tearing, all the air escaping from the wheel. There was even a small scratch on the alloy. The panel above the wheel arch had a few dents and scratches.

In any case, my parents and I were in the car. We are not interested in confrontations or arguments, and, in circumstances like this, are happier to ensure that peace ensues rather than fight over who was right or fight over who pays for what. In about two minutes of talking, the rider of the bike began crying a little. He was a Zomato delivery guy and seemed like he was on the first few days of his job. He also seemed like he was new to the city. His bike had an L-sticker and I suspected that he didn’t have a licence. He kept saying “what to do now” and asked why I hadn’t put my indicator on. I kindly pointed out to him that I was going in a straight line at that point and asked what indicator I could have put on, that my signal was green, and that he cut across a lane or two and was fast. I quickly realised that he wasn’t of the unruly goonda breed who would call fifteen friends and threaten violence. At that point, since we were en route to a hospital with more important tasks to achieve, I let my parents continue the conversation with him. My priority then was to change the front right wheel. I spent about 10 minutes changing to the smaller steel spare wheel, and then went about the rest of my day.

Repairs and Service

The accident occurred on one Saturday. It made sense to get the second service done as well. On the same day, I booked an appointment on Wheels Wisdom for the following Monday (two days later) on which day the car was picked up. The Wheels Wisdom guy came to pick up the car with the insurance claim form in hand. The survey was conducted on Tuesday and the work was complete by that Friday. The only time-consuming task in the repair work was the painting and curing of the new panel. By Friday evening, the second free service was also complete. The car was, however, with the service station until Tuesday as there was some delay in the correspondence between the service station and my insurer to issue the liability letter which sets out how much I would have to pay and how much the insurer would bear. Besides this delay, I had no hassle whatsoever with the insurance claim. The only minor complaint I had with Wheels Wisdom was that on my asking 3 times, I was told by my point-of-contact not to speak to the insurer at my end to hasten the process on the liability letter. His superior later told me I could do so. Once I reached out to my insurer thereafter, things worked very quickly. I could have saved a couple of days if I was properly advised.

The bill for the second service was ₹3,001 contributed to primarily by engine oil (₹1,915.98).

For the repairs, the total cost was ₹29,041 of which I had to pay ₹1,000. The alloy (₹11,938), the tyre and (₹8,840), labour (₹4,661) and the fender (₹1,950) were the main contributors. The other replacements were the TPMS sensor and the wheel arch. All figures include GST.

The service station concerned was the India Garage at ITPL. Thanks to Wheels Wisdom, I didn’t really have to deal with them directly except for the fact that, amusingly, I got three calls from them on Friday, Saturday and Monday asking how the car was performing after the service. I kindly informed them each time that the car was still with them.

Building Communities

In some considerably happier news, sometime in May, I noticed a TurboSport parked in front of a set of apartments across the road from where I live. After thinking about it a few times and wondering whether I was getting myself into something unnecessary, I left the following note under the wiper of that car. Forgive the poor photo quality, please.

About three months later, my mother (not a petrol-head at all) pointed out that she might have seen a brand new XUV300 in that apartment-building. A week thereafter, we found the following letter in our postbox.

Of course, I made a couple of new friends. He tells me that he had also read this thread before his purchase.

Wheels Wisdom

The second free service had been on my mind since I saw the odometer tick past 8,500 km. I thought I would wait for at least 9,300-9,500 km until going in for the second service. In the meantime, I got an email from Wheels Wisdom that their Gold Membership with service at the authorised service centres was back. While the brands covered by this included Mahindra, when I logged in, I found that the XUV300 was not one of the models offered. So I wrote to customer care asking if the XUV300 could not be serviced. A day later, they got back to me saying that the XUV300 wasn’t on offer, but that they could make an exception in my particular case. So I must thank Wheels Wisdom for that act of kindness. I got the Wheels Wisdom subscription for a price of ₹11,800 (including GST) for one year. At this point, besides their expertise and their integrity, I am now paying also for their time. I find it difficult to set aside time to spend arguing things aimlessly with service centre folk (in general, not complaining about any particular brand here) as they try to hoodwink you in a hundred different ways. Wheels Wisdom’s fees are, that way entirely worth it.

Useful Miscellany

In these 9,000+ kilometres, I have driven it sufficiently both within the city (including all kinds of traffic levels in Bengaluru) and on the highways.

Inside the city, the automatic/ idling start-stop can get a bit annoying. This is particularly because once the engine turns off, and you restart the car by depressing the clutch, it won’t automatically turn off again until (apparently) you at least once completely release the clutch when the car is in gear. Often, in stop-go traffic, this doesn’t happen at all. Typically, therefore, if you’ve moved quite a bit and the traffic has come to a halt at a signal, if you release the clutch, the vehicle turns off. Thereafter, if the vehicles at the signal move that 3 feet forward, if you depress the clutch to turn on the car, you can’t release the clutch fully because you don’t need that much speed or distance. Theraefter, the engine won’t automatically turn off.

You get used to the clutch’s long throws and it doesn’t feel inconvenient. The clutch is light. The mildly notchy feeling in the shifting isn’t the best, but to complain about it would be to nitpick. The only thing to be careful about is fuel efficiency. It is probably best to throw economy and environmentalism to the wind: You will thus leave many things in the winds behind you. It is not a car that performs badly in conservative, fuel-efficient driving at all. But I wonder whether it is healthy to drive a small-capacity turbo-charged petrol engine that way, and it certainly isn’t easy to restrain yourself that way.

On the highways, I have done Bengaluru – Gokarna – Mangalore - Bengaluru (the Mangaluru- Bengaluru leg was through the Bisle Ghat route, which is a rather engaging drive), Bengaluru – Trichy – Karur - Bengaluru, Bengaluru - Chennai more than once, and Bengaluru - Nilambur (in Malappuram district of Kerala) – Mysuru – Bengaluru. In fact, the pictures on the first post on this thread were taken en route Kallanai Dam from Trichy at around sunrise. For a car of its dimensions and height, it will pleasantly surprise you around the curves in the ghats. I think I like (or respect) the ride-handling balance now more than I did in my initial days with the car.

It follows from the above that I can’t but express my appreciation for SsangYong’s X100 platform. In the accident too, although the impact wasn’t very harsh, the car remained absolutely stable and didn’t sway to one side. It is generally very confidence-inspiring, although some of that confidence is taken away by the lacklustre steering.

So far, so good.

[Raghu M]

I too own the W8 (O) and a long term ownership review is long due. Have to put something down and must say the ownership so far has been nothing short of a honeymoon. Absolutely fantastic machine with impressive safety features, good interiors and one of the best engines.

[subramanyam84]

A quick update from my side.
My car crossed the 10k mark in September- 8 months old. I got a call from India Garage just before that stating a recall. An ECU firmware update. No noticeable changes in the driving though.
In other news, I got the elusive link rods replaced. For the second time. They say that the part number is changed this time and the noise shouldn't be heard with this part. Hoping dearly! A shoutout to the India Garage, Peenya guys for following up and informing when the part was back in stock. They take feedback seriously and act on it. (IG, if you're reading this, please keep up the good work!)
I feel these to be some of the annoying bits in the car. Is it just me?
1. The least indication of fuel economy is 10.0kmpl. Even if it goes below, it only shows 10.0. I know for a fact that when driving in bumper to bumper traffic, it'll be around 6-7 kpl. It shows 10.0. While filling up the tank, I know that it constantly gives 9.2 or so. The indication on the IC and head unit is misleading.

2. Water leaks into the fog lamps, indicator lenses in the mirror after a pressure wash. I don't see this problem in my 17 yr old Ford Ikon. Just saying :-/

3. The wiper stalk also has 'Mist, off, auto, lo, hi'. None of them are usable. Yet to understand how or what they do. No difference in any of the modes honestly.

4. None of the Geofencing, vehicle tracking systems work, which was the highlight of the W8(o). For everything it asks me to connect the phone to Bluetooth. What's the point of Geofencing when the phone is inside the car! It is supposed to be used as an alert when someone else is using the car. The car clearly doesn't have it's own GPS circuitry.

It's a wonderful car and I thoroughly enjoy every moment I'm in it. It does all the 'car things' really well. The other 'convenience' bits are kinda annoying. No, I didn't get the car for these gimmicks. (Would've got a Kia or a MG :Sick if so.) I just want them to work properly and ranting it out here Misery, also, loves company.

Btw, the recent Autocar video of the ever-so-light Citroen C3 Turbo beating the Turbosport in a quarter mile drag has made the 8 yr old inside me lose sleep! Good night!

[naadopaasaka]

Originally Posted by subramanyam84

A quick update from my side.

0. Nobody told me anything about a firmware update.

00. Could you please post the part number? I did put it up on an earlier post on this thread. Does it match that one? I've had no problem since I changed them once.

1. To be honest, I've never paid any attention to the car's indication on fuel efficiency. Always tank-to-tank. 9.2 seems reasonable.

2. Sorry to hear about the water leaks. I put my car through a pressure wash once every couple of months or so. I haven't faced this difficulty.

3. I have only ever used the wipers in the automatic mode which I'm very happy with. I haven't quite figured that out yet myself.

4. Yes. This is true. I pointed this out above. The SA later told me it is only for the AMT variants, and now the XUV300 brochure says it is only for the AMTs. The brochure shared with me when I booked didn't say that though. This is a let down.

5. On that drag race: Powerful as the TurboSport may be, I think its highlight is the relative ease with which it offers that performance. Remarkably good NVH and insulation, and a very stable platform. I'll (conveniently and cheekily) use that to ignore the C3.

[subramanyam84]

Originally Posted by naadopaasaka

00. Could you please post the part number? I did put it up on an earlier post on this thread. Does it match that one? I've had no problem since I changed them once.

The part number is 0401BBC01502N. This is different from what you've posted. I didn't have the info earlier. Today I'm at IG Peenya and found it.

[lardvader]

Hi,
You are not alone with the annoying bits, point 1 in particular.

Purchased XUV 300 W6 AMT Petrol last month and had a lot of issues including the Avg fuel economy(AFE) stuck at 10.0 km/L.

Currently have driven some 815 KM and have taken photos of AFE Meter over different KM ranges as proof and shared via email to Mahindra as proof of the issue.

Escalation and solution provided so far:
1) Initial days - I reset and trip A and B meters, but AFE did not update.
2) Salespeople told me this will only update at 10K, which is BS.
3) Service on 3 day of delivery - Floor manager reset the AFE recorder and asked me to run some KMs and report back.
4) 2 weeks after delivery - After sharing proofs of AFE not working on email, I got a prompt call to bring the car to service. Unfortunately, I went on a Saturday and they said they could only return on Monday and I could not leave the vehicle.
5) Yesterday - they picked up my car from home to check on AFE + to do first service. Was informed to leave half a tank of petrol and have fast tag with balance.

As part of their rectification process, they have to run diagnostics and run the car through the city and highway (some 50KM) to confirm AFE not working. Only then can they escalate the issue to Mahindra plant for a solution.

6)Today -
Received what's app pictures that car has done some 12 km and AFE shows 12.5 & 13.2 KM/L at different city intervals. They will also drive it on the highway to confirm.

Do check with your service to get this rectified. I'll also update once I know how they fixed it.

I love the car to bits and miss it already. Hopefully will get it tomorrow.

Originally Posted by subramanyam84

A quick update from my side.
My car crossed the 10k mark in September- 8 months old. I got a call from India Garage just before that stating a recall. An ECU firmware update. No noticeable changes in the driving though.
In other news, I got the elusive link rods replaced. For the second time. They say that the part number is changed this time and the noise shouldn't be heard with this part. Hoping dearly! A shoutout to the India Garage, Peenya guys for following up and informing when the part was back in stock. They take feedback seriously and act on it. (IG, if you're reading this, please keep up the good work!)
I feel these to be some of the annoying bits in the car. Is it just me?
1. The least indication of fuel economy is 10.0kmpl. Even if it goes below, it only shows 10.0. I know for a fact that when driving in bumper to bumper traffic, it'll be around 6-7 kpl. It shows 10.0. While filling up the tank, I know that it constantly gives 9.2 or so. The indication on the IC and head unit is misleading.

2. Water leaks into the fog lamps, indicator lenses in the mirror after a pressure wash. I don't see this problem in my 17 yr old Ford Ikon. Just saying :-/

3. The wiper stalk also has 'Mist, off, auto, lo, hi'. None of them are usable. Yet to understand how or what they do. No difference in any of the modes honestly.

4. None of the Geofencing, vehicle tracking systems work, which was the highlight of the W8(o). For everything it asks me to connect the phone to Bluetooth. What's the point of Geofencing when the phone is inside the car! It is supposed to be used as an alert when someone else is using the car. The car clearly doesn't have it's own GPS circuitry.

It's a wonderful car and I thoroughly enjoy every moment I'm in it. It does all the 'car things' really well. The other 'convenience' bits are kinda annoying. No, I didn't get the car for these gimmicks. (Would've got a Kia or a MG :Sick if so.) I just want them to work properly and ranting it out here Misery, also, loves company.

Btw, the recent Autocar video of the ever-so-light Citroen C3 Turbo beating the Turbosport in a quarter mile drag has made the 8 yr old inside me lose sleep! Good night!