[TheIndian]

Originally Posted by SDP

Bought the additional 2 year warranty (Mahindra calls it "Shield") some 10 days back. Paid some 22,500 Rs for it.

I had already bought additional 3 years Road-Side-Assistance package about a year back. So, now I have RSA for 5 years and warranty for 5 years.

I also have both of these - So now protected for 5 years with RSA & Warranty both

[SDP]

I was concerned about rattling noises from the car and the car spent 2+4 days at the service center over 2 visits. They tested everything in the suspension and steering area and could not find much. They did replace both the front struts though as there was a small play in one of them. Lower control arm bushes were also replaced.

I had also complained about the rattle from dashboard. They diagnosed it as the cluster cover, a part which was not in stock. The rubber pads on the brake and clutch pedals were also worn out causing the feet to slip from the pedals if wet. Even those were not in stock and were ordered for me.

Once I got confirmation about the cluster cover and pads having been received at the service center, I opted for the 30K service.


30,000 kms Service

Date: 13th Mar 2015
ODO: 30,059kms

Even after the struts replacement, I was getting noises from the car. So asked them to check it again. They checked, did not find any problem of play, wear&tear or damage in any parts. Retorqued.

Cluster cover and pads on the brake and clutch pedals were replaced.

The cabin air filters (paper type) were replaced as part of 30K service. Apparently they need to be replaced every 10K kms. 1050 Rs for a pair including VAT.

The RM noticed a sound from the vacuum modulator and replaced that as well.

30K service labour - 2062 Rs.

Total charge including taxes: 3367.44 Rs

[TheIndian]

Originally Posted by SDP

30,000 kms Service

Date: 13th Mar 2015
ODO: 30,059kms

The cabin air filters (paper type) were replaced as part of 30K service. Apparently they need to be replaced every 10K kms. 1050 Rs for a pair including VAT.

The RM noticed a sound from the vacuum modulator and replaced that as well.

30K service labour - 2062 Rs.

Total charge including taxes: 3367.44 Rs

That's absolutely negligible Service cost for a 30,000 kms service, that too when you mentioned that replacement of cabin air filters worth Rs. 1050/-

Oh yes...you would not have changed Engine oil (not scheduled for 30K kms service)...right?

[SDP]

Originally Posted by TheIndian

That's absolutely negligible Service cost for a 30,000 kms service, that too when you mentioned that replacement of cabin air filters worth Rs. 1050/-

Oh yes...you would not have changed Engine oil (not scheduled for 30K kms service)...right?

Yes, 30K is one of those dummy services which helps the service center to generate revenue with no real work.
Just check if the lights are working, top-up the fluids, clean the brakes a bit, wash the car and charge the customer 2000 Rs for labour.
If the bored customer ends up buying RSA/extended-warranty or some accessories while waiting at the service center or shows interest in the Mahindra Gusto parked at the door, that's even better.

[TheIndian]

^^^
I change Engine Oil at every 10K kms service. Had Mahindra Synthetic oil not been so affordable, I might have turned to mineral oil changing it at every 5,000 kms .

[SDP]

Completed 30K kms on the ODO in about 2.5 years of ownership and took the opportunity to change the shoes on the car. "Duma" came with JK Elanzo-NXT as stock tyres. They were noisy right from day 1. They got harder and noisier over the 30K kms of ownership to an extent that it started causing fatigue to me and other passengers on long drives. So decided to go for a change although there was lots of tread left on the stock JKs.

XUV tyres are not really cheap/affordable by any stretch of imagination. The cheapest (from brands that I had never even heard of) were 8500 Rs per tyre. The top of the line were Yokohama Advan ST2 which were about 20,000 Rs per tyre. Being expensive, it was of utmost importance to choose the right tyres the first time. After consulting a lot of owners/experts/professionals and fellow BHPian friends, decided to go with Michelin Latitude Tour HP. They costed me ~15,000 Rs per tyre. Got peanuts as exchange price for the JKs as the particular size is apparently used only in X3, Q5 and some Volvo model, people who don't really buy used tyres.

Here're a few snaps from that day (17th Mar 2015)

Premji's Tyre Plus at Thane


My red Duma on the left. Mr Premji's silver XUV on the right. BTW, his XUV also have the same Michelins.


Wheels with old tyres being taken out.


Couple of nuts were really stuck and got damaged while the wheels were taken off. Got them replaced later the same day from Mahindra service center.


First look at my new Michelins. Set of 4.


235/65 R 17 104V


"Made in France" (marking not in pic).


4614. Nov'14. About 4 months old.


Tread pattern.




The black thing is the TPMS sensor which monitors pressure and temperature.


New tyre being put on the rim


The balancing machine


The last tyre and alloy combination took a lot of time for getting an air-seal. Practically the entire service station turned up to help.


One old JK would be used as a spare.


At the alignment bay




TPMS relearning done. Quite a few at the shop were amused by the procedure.


My XUV ready for a trial with the new shoes.


Made the payment in cash. Mr Premji did the online registration of my tyres at the Michelin kiosk. 3 years warranty.


The journey back home was just 5-6 kms, but even then I noticed the huge difference. The new Michelins are completely silent.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by SDP

The journey back home was just 5-6 kms, but even then I noticed the huge difference. The new Michelins are completely silent.

Changing tyres at 30K? Isn't that changing quite early? Am I missing something SDP?

[SDP]

Originally Posted by ampere

Changing tyres at 30K? Isn't that changing quite early? Am I missing something SDP?

JK Elanzo-NXT on XUV are known to be real hard and noisy. Apparently nowadays W8 owners get a choice between Bridgestones and Apollos. At my time, there was no choice. You live with whatever you get from factory.

The first 1.5 year was OKish. The tyre-sound which I could not ignore was still manageable with windows rolled up permanently. The real difference was noticed in last 6-9 months. They became very noisy and hard. The sidewall flex became less and therefore roll/tossing on bad roads increased to a level where it became uncomfortable. The noise at highway speeds even with windows rolled up became unbearable.

I would own this XUV for another 70,000kms at least. That is going to take another 5-6 years. The stock JKs can be easily stretched to 80,000kms. But I wasn't ready to live with the ruckus and discomfort for another 2-3 years.

Yes, not a easy decision given that new tyres cost me 60K INR. But, some things have to be done.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by ampere

Changing tyres at 30K? Isn't that changing quite early? Am I missing something SDP?

30K for a heavy vehicle like this is perfectly fine. Nothing abnormal here. Plus the tyres were hard so even if there was tread left, it's not of much use due to road noise and lack of grip.

We usually like to make things last as long as they can. with tyres it's better to be on safer side and replace when there's early signs of wear.

[SDP]

Re-looking at the TPMS relearning pic, couple of questions:

1. Is it 'tire' or 'tyre' ?
2. Is it 'learned' or 'learnt' ?

#SundayMorningVellagiri

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by SDP

I realized from this episode was that may be a rat has started using my car's engine-compartment as a cosy little apartment and he/she stays there even when I drive the car and gets a free ride to my office and other places. That was a scary thought and I had to do something.

Saw this late. There is a novel method to keep the rats away. Fill three or four of mineral water bottles with blue colored water and keep it near the car. Diluting Ujala would be ideal. Try this for a change.

[.anshuman]

There are not many A/T tyres available XUV's tyre size. Availability should improve now that even the new Scorpio shares the same tyre size.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

30K for a heavy vehicle like this is perfectly fine. Nothing abnormal here.

That's not true. SUV tyres in general last much longer than Sedan car tyres, it is normal for SUVs to have tire life of 50-80k kms.

My own XUV which has with Bridgestone tyres has crossed 50k mark on stock tyres and still have atleast 10-15k kms of life left, with just 2 alignment/balancing visits. These tyres have seen multiple torturous trips to places like Spiti Valley, Zanskar Valley and No road places in Ladakh.. apart from regular abuse. The Spare tire is still unused.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

That's not true. SUV tyres in general last much longer than Sedan car tyres, it is normal for SUVs to have tire life of 50-80k kms.

My own XUV which has with Bridgestone tyres has crossed 50k mark on stock tyres and still have atleast 10-15k kms of life left, with just 2 alignment/balancing visits. These tyres have seen multiple torturous trips to places like Spiti Valley, Zanskar Valley and No road places in Ladakh.. apart from regular abuse. The Spare tire is still unused.

Anshu, not talking about tread depth. That might be more for sure. This is JK ELanzo which is very average. So even if tread depth is good, road noise and grip will reduce.

Have seen Safari and Fortuner tyres wear out before 30K kms. The Freelander which Rush's relative had was on second set of tyres at 48K kms and they were well on their way out.

Bridgestone on the other hand never wear our. On my Lancer i had Bridgestone for 65K kms. My ALtis tyres at 48K kms were still having good tread depth but they were horrible in terms of road noise, grip and ride.

[falconion]

Originally Posted by SDP

Re-looking at the TPMS relearning pic, couple of questions:

1. Is it 'tire' or 'tyre' ?
2. Is it 'learned' or 'learnt' ?

#SundayMorningVellagiri

Haha,

Both are fine. One is British way (tyre/learnt) and other is American way (tire/learned). I have learned in both British and American English, and I tend to use them interchangeably. After learning the british way, I had those counted as spelling mistakes at american school

Its good to see you have finally decided on the tyres. Do give us an update after crossing certain milestones.

[SDP]

Sometimes you just feel like DIY.

Problem: The awful reflection from the silver strips of the waterfall console. Once you are used to driving the XUV, that reflection doesn't bother you as your brain learns to ignore it. But, all the photos that you click through the front windshield and all the footage recorded by your dashcam look really bad because of the reflection.

DIY Solution: Had bough a couple of feet of matte black vinyl a few months back. That should solve the problem.

The reflection of the silver strips on the windshield.


Two narrow strips of black matte vinyl that I cut carefully at home.


Placed one strip on the right silver part to check if the theory is sound. Looks like it would work. It would have been a major embarrassment to figure out AFTER doing everything that the solution doesn't solve the reflection problem.


The right side strip applied.


A closer look at the right side strip. I did not account for the slope and the inner edge being longer than the outer edge. Result: poor fit&finish and bubbles.


The one on the left had similar problems. Can't help. My current skills can produce only this quality result.


Final end result. The reflection is gone. At least to a large extent.


The customary "Before" and "After" shot.