I've owned two Ertigas back to back over the last decade and was tempted to buy yet another Ertiga/XL6, but finally decided against it.

BHPian harishhm74 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Got my AX7L AWD Diesel AT (Midnight Black) beginning of this month. I had booked on opening day and had the price protection valid (cool savings of more than Rs 2 L). With this buy, I broke the decade-long monotony of ownership of Ertiga (ZDI 1st gen 2013 and ZXI AT - 2nd gen 2019).

Initial Experience

Driving the XUV700 is positive especially since it brings excitement amongst my kids to see the whole new digital gadgetry and the large sunroof. Over this short period, most of my likes/dislikes are no different from what others have already shared in this thread.

Upgrading from Ertiga AT

My Ertiga AT (2019) had everything I wanted except a sunroof. My most liked feature was SVHS for guiltless stops at traffic signals, 4-speed AT/1.5L did its job effortlessly on daily city traffic and on highways and kept me sedated in my driving, with sufficiently large boot space even with all seats up. It had 80-90% of what Innova would give me at 1/3rd the price - and was really tempted to go for another Ertiga/XL6 (that had 6-speed AT and paddle shifters, cruise control, 360 camera and other better gadgetry). But then decided to splurge a bit and was also drawn in by XUV700. When I booked the XUV, the proposed delivery date of Aug 22 coincided with my lease expiry of Ertiga AT, so didn't mind the long wait. I did toy with ditching XUV for the upcoming new Innova but was not sure of delivery times and dropped that plan.

Delivery Process

Was quite ok - I had some run-ins with the arrogant sales manager threatening to de-allot the car despite having multiple times clearly told them & they're every forgetful customer service desk of procedural lead times required to complete my leasing process (close my existing lease & start a new one). Many ironies in their arguments but for another day. Their GM Sales stepped in and personally attended to the delivery and kept that arrogant sales manager away from me. The rest of the delivery staff were good & cordial throughout the process.

The delivery day was also quite eventful with the famous Bangalore rains and it was home delivered in the midst of pouring rain at 9:00 pm after some anxious calls

What I liked in XUV700

• Effortless and very light Steering (almost feels like a toy car)
• All the new gadgets and fully loaded feature set - most liked - 360 camera, navigation in the instrument panel and auto seat adjust (and royal welcome by an auto slide back on entry and exit)
• Of course, the kids love the sunroof, digital panel and Alexa-based commands, mobile/watch-based remote operations
• ADAS - seems to do its job but I am still not comfortable trusting it fully
• Fun of sheer power at hand (especially for me graduating from 1.5l Ertiga)
• Mobile App with trip history including visual playback of the trip

What is not so good

• Front suspension has a kind of rumbling sound - need to check if this is normal or something I need to get it checked
• Stays in high rev and lower gears for a long time (this is similar to XUV500 AT too) which is a bit annoying in slow traffic (engine sound too is higher)
• Missing the SVHS/micro-hybrid in AT at traffic signals (needs to move to P to switch off the engine)
• Indicator/Blindside Cameras are useless during the actual turning (as the steering wheel blocks the view) and normal "side crashing" from bikes happens during the process of turning
• ADAS breaking is too jerky (maybe I need to play with the settings to find the optimum behaviour)
• Wireless charging - too slow and heats up the iPhone - will need to switch to cable-based charging
• In-built Dashcam is really useless (No way to access files from SD card, no continuous playback (5 min videos - difficult to search) - I have gone for an external dashcam
• In-built GPS sometimes is glitchy - doesn't detect the correct location and needs sometimes to restart the engine
• Of course the boot space with all seats up

Maybe I am over critical but these dislikes in no way hinder my overall positive feeling toward this vehicle and looking forward to driving on the highways (which I plan to do in October) after the first service.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The exact number of vehicles affected by these issues is not known.

Mahindra has issued a recall for the XUV700 and Thar over turbocharger and other issues.

Mahindra is replacing the turbocharger actuator linkage on the XUV700 diesel manual and automatic variants. The carmaker has also recalled petrol versions of the XUV700 to inspect its T-Block connector installations on the GVV vent pipes and canister.

Diesel versions of the Thar are also affected by the defective turbocharger actuator linkage. Besides this, Mahindra will also replace the timing belt and auto-tensioner on all petrol and diesel versions.

Details such as the exact number of vehicles affected and the manufacturing dates of the affected models are not available. However, customers can check if their vehicle is among those recalled by entering the VIN on Mahindra's official website.

Thanks to BHPian RavenAvi for sharing this information with other enthusiasts!

Prices of the Mahindra XUV700 and Thar for the third time this year.

Mahindra has increased the prices of the XUV700 and Thar for the third time this year. Ex-showroom prices of both SUVs have now gone up by up to Rs 37,000.

The Mahindra XUV700 recently got a nominal price cut of Rs 6,000. However, now, prices have gone up between Rs 22,000 to Rs 35,000 for the petrol variants and Rs 22,000 to Rs 37,000 for the diesel trims. The XUV700 range starts at Rs 13.45 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Coming to the Mahindra Thar, the off-roader now costs Rs 13.59 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Prices of the petrol variants have gone up between Rs 6,000 to Rs. 7,000. However, it’s the diesel trims that get the highest price hike ranging from Rs 26,000 to Rs 28,000.

Say hello to, arguably and possibly, India's first Mahindra XUV7OO AX5 MT fitted with the OEM AX7 reverse camera unit!

BHPian RavenAvi recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The first (long) pending update for Icarus (my AX5 MT) finally gets completed last weekend - say hello to, arguably and possibly, India's first Mahindra XUV7OO AX5 MT fitted with the OEM AX7 reverse camera unit!

Visited the Paramount dealership last weekend to get this successfully completed. The camera works like a charm and the display from it is very decent under all conditions tested so far - bright sunlight, overcast conditions, under pouring rains and after dusk time. I am yet to check the visual output in completely dark areas or at night but the display output so far gives me confidence that it should be decently good with noise levels well-controlled. Though not at Hyundai-esque levels of reverse camera visual output, the AX7 camera's output is still quite decent. Clear enough during the daytime, minimal noise under overcast conditions or through pouring rain and quite clear during evenings. Clarity is better in comparison to the Blaupunkt DH05 or the official accessory reverse camera.

The OEM AX7 reverse camera.

The first image of the reversing display from the OEM unit prompted a triumphant "Woohoo!" from Rizwan, the accessory fitter.

Deemed impossible by many, made possible by us!

Apologies for the picture quality of the samples here. They don't do justice to the display output shown. Shall get better quality pics taken soon, preferably outdoors.

Daytime with the boot lid up. That's the roof.

Under pouring, lashing rains.

On the move in the rain.

Car standstill in front of our gate under pouring rain - full zoom.

The required parts, their part numbers and the prices:

Pay attention to that last image. Yes, you will need to buy the accessory reverse camera kit too, because that contains the extra-long RVC cable wire which is needed to connect the reverse camera mounted on the boot lid near the number plate to the coupler junction behind the A-pillar under the front passenger side (just below the glovebox on the left). (A big shoutout to fellow Team-BHPian sbm for this tip!)

Travelling below the front and rear door scuff plates.

Needs to be connected to the coupler behind the passenger side D-pillar.

OEM AX7 reverse camera unit on left, accessory reverse camera (AW60118) on right. Kept the accessory.

After lunch, they started on getting the power-folding ORVMs enabled but even after doing a lot of wiring work, it was concluded that the door harnesses of both front doors of the AX7 variant are required to enable this. Both of the AX7 ORVMs were mounted and the switch was fitted on the driver door panel. They showed me the power-folding feature after connecting a ton of wires all around the switch and the panel (opening and closing both) but for that to properly happen, the couplers which extend from the front doors into the body of the AX5 did not have enough connectors inside them.

One option was to connect it to the 7OO's locking system, but that would result in the ORVMs folding inwards automatically as soon as the auto-lock of all doors at 20 km/h kicked in, making them useless. So, the final conclusion - the entire door harnesses of the AX7 (which have the couplers with all the necessary connectors in them) are required. I asked them to place an order for the same.

The door panel was removed.

Driver door control panel of the AX5.

The same panel is now fitted with the piano black AX7 switch.

The button on the right is now a dummy until the door harnesses arrive.

Also, sealed the deal for a brand new 235/65/R17 MRF Wanderer Ecotred for the spare alloy at 11,500/- at a local MRF dealership just beside the service centre.

New full-sized OEM AX5 spare alloy wheel on left, older (and dumped) 155/90/R18 steel wheel on right.

Also bought home the OEM Black Art Leather with Deco Stitch seat cover set (for a 7-seater) from Mahindra. Shall get it fitted as bucket fitting at my local seat cover fitter soon

Final bill details. Total expenses came to Rs 48,718.

Went past the 2,000-km mark just before commencing my trip.

Got the soot deposit levels checked at the service centre, and it was at 23 grams! The warnings for DPF clogging pop up at 25 grams, so I was at the threshold. The CoTek said that it should clear halfway through during my return journey, provided I drove above 65kmph. I expect the current soot deposit levels to be near the 13 grams mark.

Mahindra should provide a soot deposit level indicator in the XUV700's diesel models too so that it's easier to keep track of the exact levels of soot deposit in the emission system and to drive accordingly so as to keep the DPF clogging issue at bay as much as possible.

Next on the list:

• Seat covers fitment,
• Power-folding ORVMs enabling,
• Apple Carplay update,
• Dashcam mounting.

ODO is currently at 2,241 km.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Some AX5 and AX7 trims now cost Rs 6,000 less, while prices of the other variants remain unchanged.

Mahindra has silently reduced the prices of select variants of the XUV700. Some AX5 and AX7 trims now cost Rs 6,000 less, while prices of the other variants remain unchanged.

As per the latest price list, the AX5 and AX7 Petrol MT and Petrol AT variants get a price cut.

XUV700 Petrol revised ex-showroom prices:

• AX5 5-seater MT – Rs 16,49,247
• AX5 7-seater MT – Rs 17,12,938
• AX7 MT – Rs 19,14,515
• AX5 5-seater AT – Rs 18,23,416
• AX7 AT – Rs 20,88,849

In the diesel range, prices of the AX5 5-seater, AX5 7-seater, AX7 and AX7 AWD variants have been slashed by Rs 6,000.

XUV700 Diesel revised ex-showroom prices:

• AX5 5-seater MT - Rs 17,14,456
• AX5 7-seater MT - Rs 17,78,148
• AX7 7-seater MT - Rs 19,79,724
• AX5 5-seater AT - Rs 18,86,080
• AX5 7-seater AT - Rs 19,49,680
• AX7 AT - Rs 21,52,140
• AX7 AWD AT - Rs 22,92,199

The Mahindra XUV700 was launched exactly a year ago at an introductory price of Rs. 11.99 lakh (ex-showroom). Today, the base MX variant costs Rs 13,18,162 (ex-showroom).

The SUV comes with two engine options: 2.0-litre mStallion turbo-petrol producing 197 BHP and 380 Nm and a 2.2-litre mHawk diesel engine that makes 182 BHP and 420 Nm (MT) / 450 Nm (AT). Both engines come with a choice of a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel drive will also be available as an option.

Thanks to BHPian RavenAvi for sharing this information with other enthusiasts!

Connectivity wise it's pretty quick and works wirelessly.

BHPian Tanmay007 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Finally got the CarPlay update.

Sharing some brief thoughts below:

• Connectivity wise it's pretty quick and works wirelessly. I have done 4-5 starts of the car so far and each time it connected without any major issue.
• It's a tad bit laggy, but I believe that's cause it's currently running at 30 fps. No idea if 60 fps CarPlay is even possible with the current hardware. I'll try again using a wire and see if things improve.
• Apple Maps in the instrument console didn't work for me as well. Tried several navigation restarts, switching back from native nav to CarPlay, but it still didn't work. I'm on iOS 16 beta so that could be a possible issue. Can anyone on iOS 15 please try and confirm?
• The ICC rotary dial will not work on CarPlay if it's set to Volume. The knobs' direction pad does not work in CarPlay. If people from Mahindra are reading this, please add support for the ICC dial's direction pad, CarPlay has support for it.

With the ICC dial set to volume, you get the best of both worlds in Adrenox where the dial controls volume while still allowing navigation via D-pad.

• Tapping the phone button in ICC opens the phone app inside CarPlay. I'm yet to try out what the music and fav buttons do while in CarPlay.
• Faced a bug where I was playing music and received a phone call, after the phone call, the audio source was stuck on the phone and no music could be heard. I had to disconnect and re-connect CarPlay to get music output again.
• Map version has been updated to v2021.11 on firmware v10.07.51. The earlier map version was v2021.03 on firmware v8.01.41.

Service visit experience

Mahindra Salasar service centre in Thane is really good with quick customer service and knowledgeable technicians. My regular service advisor Swapnil always goes out of his way to make the service experience a breeze.

I had a minor left-pulling issue which they seem to have fixed for now.

The key fob shortage seems to have been resolved. Many customers are now getting a service recall alert for 2nd key assignment.

The dealership was of course unaware and always give me the standard response of "we don't know". Strangely enough, Mahindra will first send the key fob to the dealership and then you have to collect it from there and go to the service centre for coding.

Sharing the re-call document below:

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

I also own a 12-year-old Corolla Altis & a Nexon EV Dark but have never faced any issues with them.

BHPian appupandya recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I got delivery of My XUV 7OO AWD in February.

I am in love with the engine but the journey with this car has been riddled with issues.

From day one itself, I have been complaining service centre about suspension noise, it almost feels as if there is some loose part. I own two other cars, one being a 12-year-old Toyota Corolla Altis and a Nexon EV Dark; none of them makes such suspension noise on the same potholes/adulations.

I have encountered a strange issue, All the glass area including the sunroof fogs from inside if the car is not driven for more than 24 hours. The issue has happened during summers as well as monsoons. Mahindra Service centre is unable to resolve the issue.

The tail lamp border areas catch fog/droplets of water during rains. Went to the service centre with the issue and to my surprise noticed every XUV exposed to rains there had the same issue in their tail lamps. This shows the sub-standard quality of parts.

My car is an AWD and has already undergone two recalls - one for the propeller shaft and one for rear suspension coils.

The issues do not end here!! this one I must admit was expected sooner or later. The stupid flush door handles. When the car is locked all door handles neatly flush inside except the co-passenger side door. I have attached the pic for reference.

Honestly, I am confused about whether I have made the right decision. The question is can we trust Mahindra for 2.5 to 3 million rupees of our hard-earned money?

Kindly advise on the way forward. How do I get my suspension noise and fogging issue solved?

Here's what BHPian Tanmay007 had to say on the matter:

The suspension noise has been resolved to an extent for some customers by re-torquing. Mahindra needs to come out with a concrete solution for it, I hope there’s a recall for that soon.

As for fogging issue - try this.

Here's what BHPian Sumanyu17 had to say on the matter:

Cabin fogging up: This is clearly a case of excessive moisture inside the cabin. I would suggest you check the car thoroughly for water ingress, and because it's happening for a considerable period I suspect the carpets are holding the water.

The easiest way to check that is to pat the whole floor firmly with dry newspapers, this detects any moisture which may not be visible to the eye. Good luck and keep us posted.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

DEF levels can drastically come down if driving within the city and hence require close monitoring.

BHPian Piyush_DT recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Visited Service centre after 1st service.

The DEF was at 64% with 5818 KMs. As I have to travel in the next 02 days the service manager recommended refilling the DEF prior. He checked the soot value and it was 22,000. Engine regen was performed for 45 mins which could only be performed by connecting the laptop if it's not flagged by the Car. The Regen light would be automatically ON if the soot value is at 30,000 so I was right on time. The service manager strictly told me not to put any other DEF other than MaxiClean. It seems there were instances where DEF was filled from outside and they had faced issues. According to him, there should be some percentage of urea which is required and that was not checked properly prior to refiling it. He suggested keeping DEF along so that so it can be top-up. I bought below 6L DEF and pipe to refill and would be keeping it for emergencies. As per the service engineer, DEF levels can drastically come down if driving is within the city and hence close monitoring is required.

Also, last week I got a hill hold error after refuelling Diesel. I showed him the snapshot and the software update was performed. After the update, I can set the profile properly.

Overall it was a good experience and was out of the showroom in approximately 2.5 hours. It seems the last strong feedback was taken seriously at Provincial Mahindra at Nagpur.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The max fuel efficiency figures reached was around 17 - 18 km/l while cruising with AC & 3 people on board.

BHPian Dark water recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Just completed 8000 km on my XUV7OO D AT and recently had the opportunity for a very long drive i.e from Pune to Bharatpur in Rajasthan, around 1,300 km, this is what highlights my experience:

1. The car is an absolute pleasure to drive on highways, in fact, long open highways are what it's made for, whatever you want to do, be it just cruising at normal speeds or zooming across open stretches, the vehicle is always up for it.
2. Since the trip was quite long, I could try different drive modes and speed combinations to test the mileage, in zap mode, the sweet spot is 95 to 100 km and in zoom mode, it is 105 to 110 km per hour for maximum fuel efficiency which was between 17 to 18 for me with AC on and 3 people on board including me, wife and son.
3. There is no dearth of power for overtaking be it squeezing between trucks which occupy both lanes of the highway and give only a 10-meter window or some over-enthusiastic Creta / Seltos / Alcazar etc.
4. Also tried ADAS, but the traffic I faced was very erratic, nonetheless, it is very helpful and enhances endurance as you feel less tired. Lane assist is very prompt too.
5. Braking is never a problem, a special mention here for guys travelling through MP or Rajasthan, be very careful of stray cattle on the highway, I have seen 4-5 accidents on the highway like rear-ending or vehicles skidding off trying to protect the cattle. An excited Buffalo smashed its head into one of my ORVM, fortunately only the glass part of the mirror shifted out of the bracket slightly and was restored easily by hand. I had to apply emergency braking quite a few times and would highly recommend that you reduce your speed gradually once you witness any cattle. The real problem is when a Buffalo or black cow is lurking on the highway and you have to look into high beams of oncoming traffic. Anyways braking was reliable for me. Maybe the highway or toll authorities can deploy some of their staff to check the roads for stray cattle on an hourly basis, some of the toll booth staff are available most of the time as they don't have to man the booths like before after the advent of FASTag.
6. Suspension is quite good since it was the rainy season I was showered with all kinds of rain very frequently, sometimes even cloudburst kind, the rains have created some large craters on the roads and the water makes them almost invisible, the vehicle jumped across all kinds of craters at uncomfortable speeds but no problem was encountered. Heard all kinds of noise from the suspension when going at high speed over potholes, even a blasting noise from both the front suspensions, but thankfully no damage was noticed.
7. I enjoy night driving most of the time, The booster lamps that come into play after 80kph are helpful but I found them too good sometimes, if there is any reflective surface ahead, it just becomes very bright and even affected visibility for me. Otherwise, the lights are very good and make driving easier.
8. The football in the hood is very much a reality, and sometimes I start to anticipate the sound after braking.
9. Both front and rear wipers do their job very well and the auto mode is prompt most of the time.
10. After an 8-hour continuous run the engine-bonnet area did not heat up much and there was a slight change in the firing sound when idling.

The vehicle is a pleasure to drive and I have already completed 8k km in just over 2 months, looking for more soon.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The XUV700 already offers Android Auto and Alexa AI connectivity.

Mahindra has announced that Apple CarPlay will be available in the XUV700 from September 5, 2022.

Apple CarPlay connectivity feature has been missing from the XUV700 since it was launched in October 2021. It is said that the delay has been caused due to licensing issues.

According to Mahindra, owners can get the feature activated by visiting their nearest authorised service centre. The update will also enable features like enhanced Siri support and navigation rendering on the digital instrument cluster, among others.

The XUV700 already offers Android Auto and Alexa AI connectivity. The SUV comes with two engine options: 2.0-litre mStallion turbo-petrol producing 197 BHP and 380 Nm and a 2.2-litre mHawk diesel engine that makes 182 BHP and 420 Nm (MT) / 450 Nm (AT). Both engines come with a choice of a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel drive will also be available as an option.