[SteeringStar]

We all get that typical itch to upgrade our cars once in a while, correct?
Mine is no different. And in my case, I decided to go with this upgrade without any strong reason to sell XUV5OO. Sounding strange? Read on for the full story



History:
My journey with the previous car, an XUV5OO, W10, AT, AWD, started in August 2016. I had been happily driving it for many years. The engine is a gem and the vehicle never failed in any of our trips. Being AWD, it saved us out in many tricky terrains, though I did not take it for any serious offroading sessions. There were few niggles, I would call it cosmetic and didn't bother much as I was in love with that car and its prowess.

My initial experience about this beast is documented here >> https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...uv500-awd.html (A dream come true! 2016 Mahindra XUV500 AWD AT)

Coming to my new buy, a Toyota Fortuner Diesel AT Sigma, is another dream come true moment. I couldn't buy this car back in 2016 due to budget constraints. And that aspiration kept on irking me once in a while. Though the price doesn't do any kind of justice to what we get in terms of features, the butch bold look always bowled me over.



Now, the trigger to buy occurred when I visited Japan (A memorable trip to the land of rising sun, Japan!) on a short stint during April'24. Couple of times, I ended up travelling in Toyota cars and I somehow couldn't resist that urge to buy a Toyota car, and that too Fortuner, my long pending dream. So, that's it, as soon as I returned, I took a test drive and booked the car. Did not consider any other cars. The booking was made at Kairali Toyota, Kochi. The booking and delivery experience were smooth (May 2024). Full marks to Kairali Toyota.



Instead of explaining every feature of Fortuner, which many of our fellow BHPians had already done, I will focus more on the upgrade experience and features, XUV5OO Vs Fortuner, side by side.

1. The "Likes"
XUV5OO:
a. Imposing design
b. Reliable engine (clocked around 85000 Kms with zero issues)
c. Huge leg space in middle row seats
d. a complete package (7 seats, AT, AWD) for Rs. 20 lakh, back in 2016.
e. Value for money - sun-roof, TPMS, Hill-hold assist, Hill descent assist, Differential lock, ESP-off, Voice commands, leather seats, cooled center arm-rest etc.

FORTUNER:
a. Head turner every time on road; The latest model is much refined so it is not butch looking anymore, however, it still looks massive. Always brings a grin on to my face.
b. Ventilated front seats
c. JBL audio system; reasonable to my listening taste
d. Being sigma version, it is a go anywhere vehicle. You will feel lots of confidence while offroading.
e. Reasonable space to keep couple of cabin bags even with 3rd row seats up.



2. The "Dislikes"
XUV5OO:
a. The middle row seats are neither movable nor reclining adjustable.
b. Extremely less boot space with the 3rd row seats up.
c. Low ground clearance of 180mm. It is not a deal breaker, however I always felt less confidence while navigating bad roads.
d. It's a BS-IV, so not possible to take it to Delhi and may be some other cities too in the future.

FORTUNER:
a. No sunroof
b. No TPMS (need to purchase separately)
c. No 360 camera (need to purchase separately)
d. The AT Sigma comes with Bridgestone HT tires and not AT. And I missed to get it changed to AT immediately after purchase

3. Price
On-road price: Rs. 21 lakh of XUV5OO Vs Rs. 51 lakh of Fortuner. Both cars are miles apart in terms of price.
Even if I compare the prices based on same year, i.e., 2016, Fortuner (AT/4WD) was still ~15 lakhs pricier than XUV5OO.
So, to me, it was a heart's decision Vs brain's decision.

4. Design & Styling
Here, Fortuner clearly outperforms XUV5OO. However, I felt XUV5OO had its own charm and butchness. Its design grew on me over the years. I could sense an emotional connect getting built over the years plus I always felt 'high' every time I got behind the wheels.

5. Build Quality, Fit & Finish
Of course, Fortuner has much better build quality. The interiors are 100% rattle free and feels premium. The faux wood inserts as well as leather wraps are of excellent quality.



6. Wheels & Tyres
It is the R16 of XUV Vs R17 of Fortuner. Not much difference is what I felt. Both were Bridgestone brand.

7. Ground Clearance
180 mm of XUV Vs 210 mm of Fortuner - This make a big difference when you go for offroading. I took Fortuner to couple of offroading places with lots of large rocks and didn't face any problem.

8. Standard & Extended Warranty
I remember getting extended warranty up to 5 years for XUV5OO. And for Fortuner too, it is a total of 5 years warranty and I also purchased a maintenance package for 2 years (no cost during 1st and 2nd service / 20000km).

9. Maintenance
There were no significant workshop runs during my 8 year tenure with XUV5OO. All services were done on time, every 10k Kms. And I'm hoping Fortuner too will continue to perform well for years to come.

10. Safety
Both cars are pretty much similar with 6 air bags and all other gizmos related to safety.
While XUV5OO is NCAP rated-4, Fortuner is NCAP rated-5.

11. Cabin Design & Quality
Fortuner's all black cabin interior looks much much better than the XUV's version. From switches and controls perspective, both cars sport ergonomic consoles. Interestingly, Fortuner dash looks pretty outdated while comparing with the current set of cars across all brands. For e.g., no digital odometer/tachometer console, no digital switches on the center console except audio controls. Hopefully, the future model of Fortuner may get these things upgraded.



12. Space & Comfort
It's mixed bag here. W.r.t driver seat, both cars felt equally good. A difference I noticed is the seat heigh adjustment - the play seems to be low for Fortuner and I felt wanting little more upward push.
As mentioned earlier, in XUV, though there are loads of space for middle row passengers, there is no sliding plus reclining adjustment. This is present in Fortuner and hence my kids love Fortuner middle row seats compared to XUV. The reclining option helps relax and sometimes they even take a comfortable nap there.

13. Driving Position & Ergonomics
I felt both cars are equally good in this parameter.

14. Cabin Storage
Both cars consists of 2 storage bins in front of front-passenger seat (the top one is cooled for Fortuner). Also present is the storage box under arm rest (cooled for XUV). Every other storage bins are pretty much similar in both cars.

15. Air-Conditioning
I felt Fortuner A/C is much better and powerful than XUV. Especially the middle row blowers. I felt XUV ones were pretty weak.

16. Unique & Noteworthy Features
The tea-cup holder in Fortuner is a nice addition and it comes handy many times.
The motorized boot lid is a handy one. Though it may operate at a slow pace, from a safety perspective, slowness is good.
The Toyota mobile App is a responsive app. You can find the last known location of the car without installing additional gadget for this purpose.

17. Audio System & Sound Quality
In XUV5OO, it was bare bones and hence I ended up installing a sub-woofer. That dramatically improved the listening quality. However, in Fortuner, am sticking on to the stock system for now. The sound quality is normal and there is a lot of scope for improvement if you are an audiophile.

18. Rear Seat Comfort & Space
3rd row seats are cramped in both the cars. Only suited for kids. Nothing more to comment here.

19. Boot Space
Fortuner boots are much better compared to XUV when all 3 rows are up.



20. Driving
I felt it was more fun driving XUV as the accelerator is super responsive and gets you that adrenaline rush when needed. In Fortuner, we get 3 different modes - ECO, NORMAL and SPORT. My default mode is ECO and for that occasional adrenaline rush, I switch to SPORT mode. It is indeed the best mode for getting a super responsive throttle push. ECO drive is sedate. Am yet to try NORMAL mode.

21. Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH)
Fortuner wins here as the cabin is quiet (except for engine noise). In fact, engine noise is present in both cars. I felt XUV engine noise is more refined compared to the typical diesel clutter in Fortuner.

22. Mileage & Fuel economy
XUV - Around 12 km/l in cities and 14 km/l during highway runs.
Fortuner - The average stands at 12.5 km/l at 14k Kms.

23. Suspension and ride comfort
XUV suspension felt much better than Fortuner. That bumpy feeling is there in both cars. Fortuner, in addition, has a tough suspension which makes it not so dear on rough patches and pot holes. I had to reduce the tire pressure little bit to make the ride comfortable.

24. Handling & Dynamics
Both cars have got super handling in spite of higher center of gravity. Body roll is there in both the cars but no one in my family complained so far.



25. Steering
Similar steering responses in both the cars.

26. Braking
Excellent braking responses in both the cars.

Summary:

To conclude, both cars have their positives and negatives. If you are looking for value-for-money, loaded features, ADAS, digital displays etc., then go for XUV7OO. And if you are looking for butch looks, go-anywhere capability and long term reliability and of course service experience, go for Fortuner. Of course, budget also is a key deciding factor. Also, if possible, I suggest to wait for the next gen Fortuner, most likely a hybrid (even pricier though).



Thank you so much for patiently reading my thoughts and munching the pics
Hoping that my post will help folks planning for a similar upgrade.

[Aditya]

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

[PrideRed]

Congratulations on the Fortuner. Since you have clocked 14K on stock HTs, use it for another 20K and then swap with good ATs. That said if 80-90% of your drive is on tarmac, you can stick to HTs.
Yes they don't offer grip off road and looks sad, but are pretty silent and comfort oriented.

[Needforspeed004]

Congratulations on getting the beast. It's an amazing car to have. You will enjoy it most on long to very long drives. It's a great long-distance traveler.

Happy driving.

[DCharger]

Congratulations on the Upgrade and I wish you thousands of kms on this beast.

I picked my 4x4 in Attitude Black in Jan2024 but procrastinated ownership report this long due to multiple things. I will do a 1 year completion report soon. Mine is still at 14,000km as I use this only for highway/long trips.

Couple of things in your review..
1. 4x4 comes with 265/60 R18 whereas 4x2 comes with 265/65 R17(We also have a Pearl white 4x2 2021 make at home).
2. Fortuner gets 7 airbags, I think you missed the knee airbag.

[rahul_kej]

Congratulations on your upgrade from XUV 5OO to Fortuner. I am owning a XUV 5OO since 2014 and its in mint condition and I still love driving it.

Few points which you are mistaken about XUV 5OO are:

1.The middle row seats do recline to some extent making it a more comfortable drive.

2. XUV 5OO has unladen ground clearance of 200mm whereas old Scorpio has ground clearance of 180mm

3. All XUV 500 comes with R17 tires and not R16

4. I don't think XUV comes with differential lock as it is AWD, 4X4 vehicles comes with differential lock system.

Just clearing few specs

[Amrit@wheels]

First of all, hearty congratulations on getting the most sought after SUV for the common Indian folks. The white Fortuner has unmatched charm and road presence backed by reliability and peace of mind.

With that out of the way, it is amazing to see how well the XUV has held up against a MUCH more expensive vehicle despite being so old. Mahindra did such a great job with it. Just wish the AWD option was provided on mid-variants as they did with the first-generation XUV 500.

Wishing you lakhs of happy kilometers on your Fortuner.

[SteeringStar]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Congratulations on the Fortuner. Since you have clocked 14K on stock HTs, use it for another 20K and then swap with good ATs. That said if 80-90% of your drive is on tarmac, you can stick to HTs.
Yes they don't offer grip off road and looks sad, but are pretty silent and comfort oriented.

Thank you and appreciate your suggestion!
I'm planning to stick to HTs for now, however, am worried about that occasional itch to do off-roading.

Is it still ok to run on HTs and take the car for off-roading?
Is there a possibility of tire damage?

I know this situation depends on the type of off-roads whether it is mild or harsh. Am only planning for mild ones, including mild-slushy areas of the Kerala border of western ghats.

Originally Posted by DCharger

Congratulations on the Upgrade and I wish you thousands of kms on this beast.

Thank you for your wishes and points
I checked the specifications and you are correct

Originally Posted by rahul_kej

Congratulations on your upgrade from XUV 5OO to Fortuner. I am owning a XUV 5OO since 2014 and its in mint condition and I still love driving it.
Few points which you are mistaken about XUV 5OO are:
…

Thank you for your wishes and points

I checked with my family members again. They don't remember reclining middle row. I think this 2016 model lacked it. Same goes with tires. I checked the tire replacement bill and it is marked as R16. And i remember the tire shop owner telling me about non-availability of R16 these days.

Regarding differential lock, you are correct. XUV is AWD only.
Regarding ground clearance too, i checked again and you are correct. However, after fixing the side step board, the effective ground clearance had reduced.

Thank you so much for reading my post and sharing thoughts

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by SteeringStar

Thank you and appreciate your suggestion!
I'm planning to stick to HTs for now, however, am worried about that occasional itch to do off-roading.

Is it still ok to run on HTs and take the car for off-roading?
Is there a possibility of tire damage?

I know this situation depends on the type of off-roads whether it is mild or harsh. Am only planning for mild ones, including mild-slushy areas of the Kerala border of western ghats.

You can easily do off roads with HT. They will slip and probably wont be as good as an AT tire. I had done quite a few trails with HT(when new and after 40K), while tires do slip, the ATRAC and 4x4 gear did a fantastic job. Didn't have a puncture or sidewall cut, tire wall damage will depend on terrain and a bit on how one tackles the terrain.

[N.K]

Well you can never go wrong with a Toyota. Many complain about body roll of the Fortuner but they don’t realise that true SUVs can’t avoid it. Glad no one in your family complained.
Congrats!

[Kkumar]

Congratulations for getting your dream car. You have nicely summed up the pros and cons of XUV 500 as well as Fortuner. Lets hope that you will have miles and miles of trouble free happy times with the Fortuner. Thank you for sharing and keep on munching miles.