Mahindra XUV300: Confused between the W8(O) & W8 variant

After test driving multiple cars like the Hyundai Venue, Toyota Urban Cruiser & Tata Nexon, I shortlisted the XUV300.

BHPian asitmonty recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hi everyone,

First of all, thank you all for sharing your knowledge/experience on this forum. Without this forum and the contributions everyone has made, car-buying would have been a very difficult process. So, thank you.

I am in the market to get a safe, spacious 4-wheeler that would be within 15 lakhs. I think I have narrowed down my choices but I need just a little help to get through that final dilemma.

The car would be mostly for city drives and for occasional drives to nearby tourist places (not really off-road) and less than 300 km round trip.

Need

• Upgrading from an i10.
• Prefer a sub-compact since I have always wanted a bigger vehicle. I had a sedan for some time (Accord) and though it is a great car, it doesn't have that height.
• Prefer Petrol, Manual - all are AMTs in this section, as listed by other members, and based on my research, are not really good. My usage is about 10-12k km per year, and that kills the economic benefit of diesel.
• Researched Venue, Nexon, XUV300 and Toyota UC/Brezza.
• Test driven Venue, Nexon, XUV300 and Toyota UC.

Test drive experience

I followed some of the advice from the TD guide on this forum, and it was very, very helpful. This is more for the benefit of other readers who are in the buying phase.

Tata Nexon

Pros

• Driving was good.
• Pricing is the best in the segment.
• Gets diamond-cut alloy wheels (that I like) for all higher models.

Cons

• The back didn't feel spacious enough compared to Venue and XUV.
• Also for a 5'10" guy like me, the head was almost touching the roof if you sit in the middle, and my brother is 6'2", primarily because of the rear design.
• Handling was not great at low speeds.
• Though the highway drive was smooth.

Mahindra XUV300

Pros

• Driving is great.
• Smooth handling both at low and high speeds.
• The back is very spacious.
• Boot space is less but didn't feel like it was bad if a family of 4 want to do a few days getaway drive.

Cons

• Price +2L compared to Nexon.
• Diamond-cut only on the W8(O) trim.

Hyundai Venue

Pros

• Can't think of anything specific that stood out.
• Overall, it is sort of fine in all aspects.
• The back space was fine.

Cons

• The handling wasn't as smooth as I expected.

So given this experience, I am now bent more towards XUV300 than the Venue or Nexon, even though prior to the test drives, Nexon was my top choice.

The dilemma I have is related to the options/features between the top 2 trims vs the price charged. OTR for W8(O) is 1.5L more than W8.

Features that we get for that additional spend

• Diamond-cut alloys - That is a big draw for me. The showroom says the W8 wheels cannot be switched either pre-delivery or at the showroom. So, if I want the diamond-cut, I will still have to keep the silver. Though realistically, I could sell off the silvers and buy DC and that would cost me approx 20k for the 4 wheels (new DC - selling price of silver). The big question is, what are my options w.r.t selling the silver and getting new DC? I will check stores but are there reliable online sellers? How do I figure out if a seller is selling genuine parts, or even what brands to look for, if there is any brand name? has anyone done this?
• Front parking sensors - I think it's good to have, and I am guessing I can get it installed at the showroom as an extra. Can consider aftermarket if this is not going to hamper warranty.
• +5 airbags - this is good to have, but looking at the NCAP crash testing videos, does not seem like a must-have. If you think otherwise and have some referral links/docs, please do share.
• Leather seats and TPMS - same here. Can get aftermarket. Though TPMS is going to be a compromise since I can only get the Bluetooth ones that some of the members have mentioned about, and it is not an integrated one.
• 2nd-row seat belt reminder, Bluesense, auto-dim - all nice to have.

If you guys think I am missing something obvious here and likely making a bad call, then please do let me know.

I am in Bhubaneswar, Odisha and the SAs here gave me the initial quote as below. In the initial conversations, no one is budging on price, citing high volume (which is sort of true). But given that this is almost year-end, do any of you know if there could be additional offers during Nov/Dec? I am guessing, if I book now, I am not going to get future offers. I am not in a hurry, so maybe I should wait till Dec 2 to find out? gives a little bit of time for the sales guys to hopefully give me a better offer.

Quote received for W8 Petrol MT (Oct 30)

• Ex showroom - 10,64,049
• TCS - 10,640
• Insurance - 42,076 (outside is 25k)
• Incidental charges - 4,720 (don't know if it is for all Mahindra dealers)
• Registration - 1,10,573
• OTR - 12,26,037

I would really appreciate any inputs you can provide to help me make a thought-through decision.

Here's what BHPian shancz had to say about the matter:

Didn't you forget the sunroof?

IMO the only thing important is the airbags, 6 in total, they removed one airbag and the rear center seatbelt is downgraded to a lap belt, check our related threads.

Now it's your call on the model and IMO if you have the money get the W8(O) else the W8 is quite competent.

A friend wanted the airbags (it was 7 then) and diamond-cut alloys but not the sunroof. Neither could he stretch the budget anymore nor did it make sense to spend 1.5 lakhs on it so got the W8 and is quite happy.

IMO the alloys are the same in size and wouldn't matter when you're driving. Also, see how the color combination looks with the available body colours and alloys.

I have seen a white W8 and it looks good and assuming the silver would match as well.

No idea about the aftermarkets so will skip that.

Ask them to match the insurance quote at the very least and pay attention to the IDV.

But, good choice on the car.

Here's what BHPian SchrödingersCar had to say about the matter:

While it seems you have already made up your mind, the bold bit seems a bit contradictory to what I have observed.

Nexon and XUV have the best-in-class rear room, and their 1800mm+ width is evident. The Venue is nowhere close. Could it be that it felt cramped that way due to dark interior upholstery?

BTW, XUV300 W8(O) comes only with white upholstery, and due to side/curtain airbags, you cannot put seat covers. Maintaining this in the Indian climate and conditions is a nightmare.

Rear seat headroom is somewhat true, but liveable from experience. The front/driver seat is height adjustable and it should not be a problem.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.