My XUV700 diesel AT: What I like & issues faced in 17000km of ownership

Whether navigating through city streets, highways or tackling off-road terrain, the car has proven to be a capable and confident performer.

BHPian bill1182 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

After driving 17000 kilometres and spending 12 plus months with my XUV700 AX7 D AT (Dark Thunder), I would like to provide a long-term review that covers all aspects of ownership, including comfort, practicality, reliability, and overall driving experience.

I managed to book the car in the initial lot of 25000 bookings, and got the car delivered in last week of December 2021. The car has been a head turner since day one and the same continues till date. The car has seen fair bits of ups and downs but majorly it has always impressed with its smooth and powerful performance, spacious and comfortable interior and impressive array of advanced tech loaded features.

In these 17000 plus kilometres, the major contributor has been driving to one of the most treacherous terrains for any vehicle, a 6500 km road trip from Mumbai to Ladakh, few trips to Lonavala over the weekends and couple of trips to Ahmedabad. The care has huge amount of boot space with last row folded and can take all the luggage needed for long road trips. The last row is strictly for children and is not at all comfortable for long distances.

Following are few of pics from my Ladakh trip:

Zoji La Pass.

The mighty Khardung La top.

Chang La top.

Tanglang La top.

More Plains.

Whether navigating through city streets, highways or tackling off-road terrain, the car has proven to be a capable and confident performer. The longest distance travelled by me in a day has been around 800 km and I could complete that with almost no fatigue. Slightest tap on the paddle and the beast comes to life, before you realise, you are doing triple digit speeds. Overtaking is breeze and one does not need to think twice for the availability of power, when needed. Mine is a non-AWD, still I did not feel any need of AWD during my Ladakh trip.

Before my trip to Ladakh, I was fearing about the DEF issue as I had seen many videos of people getting stranded due to DEF failure at higher altitudes or due to constantly driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I have till date not faced any issue with regards to DEF throughout my ownership.

Every time I drive the car, and especially on highways, it puts a big smile on my face. I am getting fuel efficiency of around 10-12 km per litre, in city and when on highways it goes up to 17 km per litre, with lite footed driving (speeds around 90 kmph). With triple digit speeds I get around 13-14 km per litre, which in my opinion is good for a 2.2 Ltr engine.

I recently did a 1000+ km trip from Mumbai to Ahmedabad and back and was super impressed by the overall performance and fuel efficiency that the car provided. There are many patches on the Mumbai – Ahmedabad highway which have uneven road surface, but that was hardly felt in the cabin. After replacing the lower arm, the vehicle has become super silent on rough patches.

A quick stop on Mumbai - Ahmedabad Highway for some local stuff.

On the forum I have seen many members complaining about ADAS, especially AEB. Since day one, I have never switched off AEB in my car. In-fact I have had couple of instances where car has reacted to the situation just in time and before I could react to the opposite person applying brakes suddenly or a jaywalker suddenly running in front of the car. This has saved me from rear ending the car in front of me or knocking off someone. I am not a very aggressive driver and normally keep enough distance (at least 1 to 1.5 car) from the vehicle ahead, which does not trigger the AEB abruptly.

The only thing I would wish for is more refined service experience across all MASS. In terms of reliability, there are few areas where Mahindra needs to do some more work.

Some of the major issues I faced till date are around:

• Suspension noise (Gud Gud Noise).
• Blown up DATC ECU while flashing.
• Engine Coolant hose failure.
• Football in boot.
• Software niggles and bugs.

MASS experience is a hit and miss depending upon which service centre you visit and how experienced the staff is at the MASS.

For issues with Suspension noise and DATC ECU has to do multiple visits. The vehicle was kept at the workshop for few days and it was until I escalated the matter, things were slow. One thing I would like appreciate is that Mahindra is actively listening to its customers.

After I escalated the issue to Mahindra customer care, the Customer Care Manager took cognizance of the issue and made sure that it was all sorted. Personal attention was given by the CCM ensuring that the issues are resolved.

For the suspension issue, he helped me get the Lower Arm replaced which has now resolved the "Gud Gud" noise issue which I was facing since long. It is great to see someone proactively connecting with the customer and getting the issues sorted.

After replacement of the lower arm, I am facing a minor left pulling issue for which I am assured by the CCM that it will be taken care during the 20K service. Waiting for this to be sorted soon.

Mahindra is leaving no stone unturned to enhance its customer service experience and to compete with other brands which are currently leading in customer experience space.

I hope Mahindra is able to iron out software niggles and the football in boot issue soon.

Looking forward to munching many more miles in my Dark Thunder.

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