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Completed 1000 km on my XUV700: Found a series of niggles along the way

23rd July 2022, 08:03 by Rahul Nagaraj

The low fuel alert came up with the DTE still showing 164 km, which has never happened to date.

BHPian RavenAvi recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

1,000 on the Odometer

Crossed the milestone on Thursday evening, after a series of gremlins hit Icarus.

I was leaving my office to head home, and after turning the key, I was greeted by twin blank screens! Turned off and turned back on, the result is the same. Again turned off and turned back on (3rd time), and the MID with the twin dials came back to life, while the AdrenoX infotainment screen was blank for a few seconds before starting the display of the 4 rectangular boxes sliding in from the right side of the infotainment display to the left side, and went into the "Fun With XUV7OO" & "Coming Soon" screens soon after.

This was not the first time I encountered the blank screens gremlin. Had happened once before at home, but the display started as soon as I had turned the key off and back on, so I didn't think much of it that time.

Interestingly, this time in the ODO display, the fuel indicator vertical line went blank (empty) and the MID plastered the "Low Fuel" warning before me. No voice alerts. The MID had reset itself to the Vehicle Info screen yet again (I usually drive with the Fuel Info screen by default to keep a tab on the DEF level indicator). Blank as in completely blank, meaning that the systems were telling me that there wasn't even a drop of diesel inside the tank!

Turned the key again back and forth, and the bootup of both screens was quicker this time, although the FE indicator line showed a very small line in red, while the Distance to Empty value showed 164 km! This time, the lady living under the Voice Alerts cottage of the 7OO spoke to me and said - "Your car is running on low fuel."

This was not the case in the afternoon when I had driven to my office from home. The fuel indicator line was healthily showing in white, the red portion was quite below, the DTE range was 192 km, and my office is a mere 2 km away from my home.

And, the low fuel alert doesn't kick in at the 164 km DTE range. At least in Icarus, till now, it never has.

Nevertheless, I filled up at the nearest pump and crossed the milestone while leaving the place.

All the recent social media talks of fuel leakage and fuel tank issues of the 7OO made me apprehensive and I checked the underbody of Icarus both at the office parking space and at the fuel pump, especially under the rear wheel well where the fuel tank sits. Thankfully, no drips or leakage were seen. Shrugging it off as a one-off incident and a temporarily faulty fuel sensor, I moved on.

Also, I have noticed that the Google Maps display under Android Auto starts with the dark "Night" screen by default these days. This, despite the Settings set to "Day" or changing to either "Automatic" or "Day". Did a lot of tinkering in my S21 Ultra and inside the AdrenoX's settings, but this didn't cure it. I thought this was a new gremlin in Icarus's systems, but a search on Google confirmed this as a problem with the latest update for Google Maps (version 11.34.1 and later) which is affecting many car owners who are using Android Auto. No solution to this but to wait for the next update from Google. The stock MMI navigation maps in the AdrenoX system are working fine.

The keyhole of Icarus loves its key so much that it absolutely refuses to let go of the key when the XUV is shut down. This is now irritating. Twisting it back and forth repeatedly to get it out is now a regular happening. Have to get this rectified.

I had taken an online slot for Saturday morning to get the First Free Service done at the local Mahindra dealership, Balaji Motors, but the lack of communication from their Service Manager despite my calls or Whatsapp messages made me irritated. He neither picked up my repeated calls nor answered the messages despite seeing them. Called up a girl at the service reception with whom I had talked over the phone, and she said that they couldn't accommodate Icarus on Saturday since there were a lot of pending vehicles opened up in their service hangar and they were instructed to finish them off before taking any new vehicles.

Did some enquiries at my office and heard reports of bad servicing experiences from some contacts of my colleagues. I eventually cancelled my original online slot from the local dealership and booked a slot from the Paramount Automotive dealership at Jeypore, Odisha, from where I had taken delivery. Called the Service Manager there who picked up my call the first time itself, and was happily ready to accommodate me on Saturday.

But, my little one suffered a toe injury on Friday and she needed minor surgery. Due to that, I had to skip the Jeypore run yesterday.

Also, in between, I had transferred Rs 4,000/- as advance for the Power Folding ORVMs set and the AX7 Reverse Camera, which has been duly ordered and should reach the Jeypore dealership by next weekend.

Closed the deal for the alloy with minor scratches (pic shared in an earlier post) at Rs 7,000/-. I shall go and get a suitable tyre in the default 235/65/17 profile soon (thinking Bridgestone), and carry it with me when I visit them next weekend for the first service + get both the pre-ordered items installed (hopefully).

Signing off with a couple of comparo pics received on Whatsapp:

Brothers in arms.