Re: Mahindra XUV500 facelift coming, to get power hike. EDIT: Now launched @ Rs 12.32 lakhs I want to share my experience. I had a 2014 XUV W6. I deliberately opted for W6 because when I bought there were teething issues with XUV's electricals and given most controls in XUV were on the touchscreen, the most affected indeed was the W8 top end. Also Android Auto etc weren't launched till then so it didn't affect my decision. I was more at ease with buttons.
My 1st choice to change my XUV with, was and still is the Ford Endeavor. I took test drive of 3.2 and 2.2 Titanium, several times. Mind you my need was never a 4x4 as I don't off road with my expensive cars (just enough needed if I have to do a bit of soft roading). I would rather pick a Thar for that vs putting a 20/30L+ vehicles through treacherous terrains. The 2.2 appealed to me more as even though the 3.2 had a better mid range, the 2.2 had a significantly better low end and very acceptable mid range vs the 3.2. The issue was the price per my usage. I loved my XUV yet only had 37,000 kms on the ODO after 4 years 3 months of ownership. So eventually the mind said, for almost 37 OTR in Bangalore for the Endy 2.2, given its FE, Insurance, etc and my usage year on year, it was too high a cost of ownership per km.
My reason to upgrade was to get a punchy spacious SUV with an automatic gearbox. I test drove the plush new XUV thrice (W11(O) AT) at 27, 1211 & 1708 kms on the ODO. Yes the ride is better vs the 1st Gen XUV that I had and may be even better than the 2nd Gen (though I haven't driven it enough). However it was still far away from the Endy and given the Endy was my first choice it was hard to ignore that comparison. New XUV still had a ton of side by side movement at low speed. And on potholed road if you decide to go faster to lessen that bouncy ride, the suspension makes too much sound as if you are going to tear the car apart in next few mins. It may not happen but since the suspension doesn't work silently, it sure sounds like you aren't giving your car any love.
Next the AT. Honestly the AT in XUV is the biggest downer. It's starts smoothly but after that from 10kmph till about 50/60kms it just holds the revs too long before upshifting and hence there is a lot of noise without any equivalent progress as the first two gears are short. That happens with or without part throttle. After that initial coarse engine note till 50kmph the car does show it's spirited drive. But seems that way the AT is more helpful on the highway than the urban jungle, which is why most people including me choose an automatic - to beat the urban jungle. Also lack of sports mode and a laughable manual shifting mechanism (button toggle on gear lever) with the age old gated automatic gearbox meant that unit really looked like from a time at least a decade or half older than the car itself.
Lastly the steering. It waaay lighter than my 1st Gen XUV with very little feedback and being dead as duck in the center. I actually found it a bit unnerving. Endy also has an EPS that doesn't quite impress me with it's feel and feedback but at least it's precise. On the new XUV I found both lacking. But nipping it through traffic was pretty easy. I felt I'm driving a Hyundai and not a behemoth Mahindra. But as you hit open stretches you feel uncertain with the steering. And if the roads are a bit of a harpin, the well controlled body roll of XUV gets destroyed by the vague steering. I wish they hadn't tinkered with the steering feel, assistance and feedback as on the 1st Gen model.
I had reluctantly test driven a Hexa XTA automatic as well in between testing the Endy. Lack of Android Auto, puny touchscreen and lack of enough storage space for the driver hits you as soon as you step in. Then you go through the specs and realize the dynamic guidelines for reverse parking and ESP are also missing on the automatic. In terms of features, the XUV beats the Hexa hands down. However upon the very upbeat response from Hexa owners I gave the Hexa another shot. The reasons being even in the first drive, I was impressed with it's ride quality and amazing auto gearbox. 2-3 more test drives and I felt the car to be more mechanically accomplished than the XUV and great VFM in comparison to the Endy 2.2. There is no doubt that the Endeavor is more feature rich but in the end you drive a car and not play with a tablet or phone.
Just like I wouldn't pick a phone only for it's ability to dual up as a TV remote same way the car first needs to check it's basics. The 3rd TD of the XUV with 1700 odd kilometers already had started to have rattles from the same areas where my 1st Gen XUV had struggled on and off with. Yes they can be fixed but not permanently. You need to be prepared to fix them as and when they come up and while MASS is helpful in getting it resolved (temporarily), I was delighted with the fact that a 17,000 kms driven Hexa test drive vehicle had none. The hydraulic steering in Hexa is heavier but not a nightmare in traffic unless you have to take a ton of U turns. And same unit at low or high speeds gives a much better confidence of where the car is headed. The AT is either at par or even better mated to the engine vs the Endy 2.2. Plus an all black interior (less chances of being soiled vs a beige or tan interior) again influenced me. Hence ended up buying the Hexa XTA Urban Bronze, last month and while I miss certain features vs the XUV (biggest one for me were the cornering lights), I have loved the drive everyday. A spacious well put together interior, superb AT with sports mode and manual triptronic, magic carpet like ride quality, decent FE by segment standards, fantastic seats (variable density foam), a very predictable handling, superb experience of driving RWD with LSD (more capable anyway on tricky terrains vs a FWD or high range AWD) and class leading NVH vindicate my decision. Plus without shelling out a bomb means even with my low usage, after 4-5 years when I'm in the market again for a better car, I wouldn't lose much vs selling an Endy after the same time period.
I'll say nothing comes close to XUV & Hexa in their price bracket for VFM factor. However choosing one over the other is a battle of heart over mind. Mind kept saying XUV because of all the bells and whistles it offers. Heart said Hexa because it is not just a poser but a much more capable machine with lesser tricks up it's sleeves. However please note XUV may seem inferior in the points noted above before Hexa. When XUV comes to competing with cars outside it's segment or price bracket, it offers a lot more. But in my opinion if you are going to be shelling the same amount for 2 cars in the same segment, it makes more sense to compare them with each other vs the car you are upgrading from. |