[M35]

My SCORPIO Sle-Powered By M-Hawk- an exciting and peaceful 3.5 years and 50000 km

This is my first post though I have been a serious offline user of T-BHP for quite some time. Now I decide to step in and contribute from my side.

Prologue

People might think ,gone are the days of Mahindra Scorpio with the launch of XUV5OO ,Duster ,Storme.But for me, none of them could shake the reputation and stance [subjective] of the Mighty Scorpio m-Hawk until today.

My drive on four wheelers began in 2005 when I bought a 2003 model used Tata Indica DLE, with 50000km on Odo. The experience with it was a mixed bag even though it didn’t get stranded on roads anytime. In fact the amount of time that I spent in the TASS got me newer friends that included my regular TASS supervisors, technicians and a couple of Safari/Sumo/Indica owners who were on the same boat as me.

I am a perfectionist when it comes to my car. I take care of it more than anything else.I always try to take proactive measures in order to make sure my car is in immaculate condition in all aspects. It is my lovely second home during on road trips. My first car, Indica wasn’t an exception in that regard. I loved and took care of it as I do these days with my Scorpy.At times it was very tough for me to maintain the quality I wanted with a used Tata car. My indica spent quite a good time at the TASS, Palakkad [Vijay motors] addressing to those usual rattles, suspension overhaul- including front two shock absorbers ,break booster failure and many more which I don’t recollect right now.



But still I don’t regret my decision to buy a Tata Indica but do regret on the fact that it was a used one. I would never buy any used car ever in future.

I sold it after I procured my current possession, the power house- Fiery black Mahindra Scorpio m-Hawk Sle.

Decision making and buying experience

I maybe found stupid after you read my buying experience of the Scorpy.

In the month of June 2009, miles away from home, me and wify succumbed to nostalgia, decided to buy a new car with character to live our life to fullest on our return to India. I was always an SUV man. Wify understood my taste [as always ].We narrowed down our search to safari and Scorpio. I didn't have to do much to convince my better half to go for an SUV as she also thought it would be safer in bigger SUVs. Thanks to her previous experience in our indica with hardly anything visible in front.

We decided on a budget of 10 lac and shortlisted

1. Tata Safari dicor 2.2 VTT
2. Mahindra Scorpio m-Hawk

Thanks to our previous experience with a Tata and a few advices from my relatives, deciding on the scorpy wasn't very difficult though I love the looks of safari any day. We did a bit of research to realize Mahindra to be more reliable than a Tata.

It was in 2009, Mahindra launched the face lifted refreshed Scorpio m-Hawk.
I think it was in the last week of June 2009 I called up Mr.Danish, a senior personal of southern region of TVS Iyengar & Sons Ltd based in Trissur.I expressed my interest to buy a Scorpio. Mr. Danish patiently explained various variants, features, and price and answered all my queries regarding the new vehicle. Finally me and wify ,after confirming with our parents back in india decided to buy the Sle variant without having a single visit to the showroom or Test Drive.

We wanted the vehicle delivered on the 3rd July 2009 -the day we land in Kochi. We wanted the white variant but due to its high demand those days Mr. Danish could not promise on that. I was told that if it was Fiery Black or Java Brown, I could get the delivery on the 3rd. So we had no other choice but to finalize on the Fiery Black variant which was our second choice.

In pictures the Fiery Black in silver cladding didn't impress me, though wify liked it, and asked Danish to paint the cladding in black. But he said picture doesn't do justice and insisted me to come down to see it first before deciding to make it all black. The cost of the paint job as I remember was around 20k. I agreed and sent him a check of 50k and booked a Mahindra Scorpio m-Hawk Sle [Fiery Black].



In a week time I got a call from Mr. Danish saying that the vehicle had arrived and requested for a PDI. Back home, my father and a cousin went to the showroom and had a look at the vehicle.
They were blown away looking at the stance of mighty black Scorpio [as per them].They didn't do any PDI or any serious examination on any aspect of the vehicle due to utter ignorance [including me] .I started reading Team-BHP seriously after I bought Scorpio.

There were no freebies or discounts on offer as I was told that they in fact gave it by delivering the vehicle in a short time, in about 10 days. Again I agreed.

While in China, during those days, before the D -day, upon my request,Mr. Danish agreed to fit various accessories [to be listed later] . He also confirmed the delivery day to be 3rd July 2009.

On the 2nd July-2009, we flew back to Kochi and got back home in Palakkad at around 2.00am on the 3rd.



The D-day

On the 3rd morning we had a rest for a couple of hours. In the afternoon there comes the call from Danish here we go, wasting no time for the delivery.

My heart started pounding harder and faster when I saw my black and shiny m-Hawk with all the accessories fitted exceptionally well by Danish & Co. At the rear the Polk audio ovals were fitted on a Pad so well that even after 3.5 years there are no rattle at all from there. Danish was so professional that when I had a few questions regarding the Base adjustments in the Pioneer HU while playing from my iPod Classic, he called the authorized Pioneer persons in less than half an hour and got all my queries clarified.

The experience of owning a brand new SUV with all the accessories I wanted with the fitment better than I anticipated was a memorable one.




The final OTR price was Rs.907167.00. The break down is

Vehicle value 823300.00
Road tax 49398.00
Insurance [Royal sundaram] 23470.00
T.P 1000.00
Extended warranty [two years] 9999.00

Total OTR 907167.00 [July 2009]


Accessories fitted- Pre delivery: [July 2009]

Under body anti rust proofing 5000.00(one year warranty)
Maxi care coating (Teflon) 4350.00(one year warranty) 2 free service
Floor mat full set 1750.00
Pioneer 2 din FH-P6050UB 13500.00(one year warranty)
Front component speaker (Boston) 6” 3800.00
Rear 300w Polk audio oval 5500.00
Rear pad 750.00



Accessories fitted- Post delivery [as on July 2012]

Mahindra Scorpio OEM Alloys -4 1800.00
Fender mirror [Fortuner-original] 4500.00
Reverse Camera 1800.00
Monitor [video player + USB] 4500.00
Pioneer Sub-Woofer TS WX 303 1200W 7000.00
Kenwood Amp -2 channel 4500.00
Garware ICECOOL sunfilm 10000.00


Initial Driving impressions:

I got on the front seat [driver seat of course], adjusted manually the seat and tilted the power steering to my liking and waited for wify and dad too to get them comfortable in the cabin. Who ! What a feeling. I could see the entre world outside clearly [I could see hardly anything at comfort in my indica earlier].I am 6.0".

Using the buttons that are awkwardly placed near the gear lever, I slowly scrolled down the driver side window. Slotted the key and cranked the engine. Thanked Danish & Co and drove past the front gate of the showroom straight on to NH47. The initial nervousness vanished with the smoothness of the ride and also the attention and respect the vehicle received from other vehicles and the entre the world around.

Initially wify was appeared to be nervous telling me the dimensions of the vehicle in the trissur city traffic but soon appeared relaxed. We enjoyed every bit of that 2 hour drive back home to Palakkad that evening.

The m-Hawk was amazingly smooth and the amount of torque on reserve at all speeds I tried was exhilarating tempting me to push a bit more and more but I controlled. The hard clutch and gear shift were a bit irritating though initially.

I took my own time to get accustomed to the dimensions of the monster while driving and in a week time me and wify did our first long drive to her native place, Munnar.

"Life is only once, enjoy very bit of it"

Long Term Driving experience

The serious drive for my Scorpy happens only in the months of Jan-Feb and July-Aug when we are back in India on holidays. In between there aren't any serious exercise for my scorpy. So first thing that I do, when I reach home from abroad is to take him to *** for a thorough medical rather mechanical examination. All fluids get replaced especially engine oil, mandatory top ups of other fluids are carried out, in addition to the over all check up for the vehicle. Now we have ITL motors in Palakkad and Trissur to look after my Scorpy. To get the best service done I make sure i keep a contact with Mahindra & Mahindra Kochi regional office on a regular basis.

I have been enjoying the drive to the fullest. In addition to our regular [in every 10-12 days] Palakkad-Munnar drive, some of the long drives that we did with our family include;

1. Palakkad to Velankkani Church [ 2 times] via Trichy
2. Munnar to Velankkani Church [2 times] via theni[dindigul-trichy
3. Palakkad to Bangalore [4 times]
4. Palakkad to Mysore [ once] via nilambur-nadukani-bandipur
5. Palakkad to Mookambika temple [ 3 times] via mangalore
6. Palakkad to Goa [once] via mangalore-udupi-karwar

All those drives were exceptionally enjoyable and memorable with not a single instance of any sort of mechanical issues whatsoever. [travelogues/ photologuess are due in the respective sections]

This vehicle is truly a very reliable one to own.


List of some major replacements/issues/upgrades [as I remember apart from regular services]

1. Suspension overhaul including all bushes and rubber parts [ after our
first trip to Mookampika in 2010 thanks to the non existent roads
between kannur and mangalore]

2. wiper motor -replaced under warranty

3. wiper blades- replaced twice [Bosch]

4. ABS sensor failure ,both- replaced under warranty [goodwill]

5. The spare wheel fixing device/motor failure -replaced under warranty [while returning from munnar a swift sped past us near perumbavur stopped in front of us to inform me that my spare wheel was dislodged and spinning almost touching the ground.Thanked him and removed it instantly and went straight to ITL trissur to have gotten it fixed]

6. Battery replaced once -thanks to being unused most part of the year.

7. At 45k km on ODO, all four JK tires replaced with Yokohama Geolandar
A/T in last July.[ but mow i am bit anxious about its side wall's strength
due to many incidents of tyre burst mainly associated with Yokos]






Other comments

1. The performance of m-Hawk engine has been commendable
2. Enough space in the 1st and 2nd rows for 5 people and if the last row is
removed it liberate acres of space for practical usage as in my case.
3. With the third row fixed there is not even space for my Sub-woofer
4. AC very effective [ from blower position 2nd onwards gets louder ,I
hardly need them to be that extend though]
5. My iPod Classic and wify's iPhone 4S play good quality sound in the
cabin thanks to Polk-Boston-Pioneer components with Amp and Sub-
woofer. [need an external cable to connect iPod to HU though]
6. The fender mirror gives the vehicle the unique look and also very helpful
while parking.


Future upgrades:

I will be keeping my scorpy for another two years. I am thinking of a touch screen 2 din GPS HU in place of my existing one.

Some more pictures of the power house














Thanks for reading and I shall keep you updated here.

[amrisharm]

Nice little review. I just have a question, you have mentioned the following:

"1. Suspension overhaul including all bushes and rubber parts [ after our
first trip to Mookampika in 2010 thanks to the non existent roads
between kannur and mangalore]"

So how much did this cost? and after how many kms on the odo was a suspension overhaul required?

I was under the impression that SUV's were meant to withstand bad roads better than cars and hatches. So this overhaul of the suspension after only 1.5 yrs is very surprising to me.

[M35]

Originally Posted by amrisharm

Nice little review.
So how much did this cost? and after how many kms on the odo was a suspension overhaul required?

Thanks. As it was a done a couple of years back, I don't excatly recollect the figures,so didn't mentined it there. But i think two front shockers, all bush and ball joint kits and some nuts and bolts were replaced.The ODO should have been around 30k I got the shockers changed under warranty. It didn't cost much for the rest and was around 3-4k I guess.

Normally a suspension overhaul is needed, including all shockers, only after about 1lac kms on ODO if one respects the vehicle and roads. It was my fault that with the vehicle loaded to its brim should have been driven better. There were no roads existing between Kozhikkod and Mangalore and then also some where near udupi.I covered around 900km on such roads. Even tractors wouldn't have withstood that kind of abuse

After that I went through that stretch a couple of more times and experienced no issues at all.[I am a much better driver now]

BTW Are you planning to buy a SUV?

[amrisharm]

Originally Posted by M35

Thanks. As it was a done a couple of years back, I don't excatly recollect the figures,so didn't mentined it there. But i think two front shockers, all bush and ball joint kits and some nuts and bolts were replaced.The ODO should have been around 30k I got the shockers changed under warranty. It didn't cost much for the rest and was around 3-4k I guess.

Normally a suspension overhaul is needed, including all shockers, only after about 1lac kms on ODO if one respects the vehicle and roads. It was my fault that with the vehicle loaded to its brim should have been driven better. There were no roads existing between Kozhikkod and Mangalore and then also some where near udupi.I covered around 900km on such roads. Even tractors wouldn't have withstood that kind of abuse

After that I went through that stretch a couple of more times and experienced no issues at all.[I am a much better driver now]

BTW Are you planning to buy a SUV?

Hi there thank you for the info. The emi on my current ride a santro is ending mid 2013 so I am eagerly wanting to upgrade to a bigger vehicle. I live in a place where the roads are absolutely terrible. So am looking at a durable and reliable vehicle which is easy on the pocket with regards to maintenance as well.

I do like the scorpio and its rugged looks. Some ppl hate the simplistic interiors and dash but to me that itself is a charm. But then when ever I go on a long drive to the hills of darjeeling (close to where I live) I change my mind and drop to a bolero due to the pathetic condition of the roads. I dont think I would feel comfortable putting a Million Rs car through such bad roads. So the indecision continues, lets see I still have 6 mths before I make a booking

[M35]

I am told that for of my Scorpio both the remotes [Nippon] are not responding back home. I have asked them not open the door manually with the key as it could trigger the alarm. It seems like the battery is dead and need to be replaced. Both were showing signs of power loss earlier as well while I was there in india , a few months back. I ignored then

How to get this sorted out? Should those remotes be taken to ASS?

[powertrain]

Originally Posted by M35

I am told that for of my Scorpio both the remotes [Nippon] are not responding back home. I have asked them not open the door manually with the key as it could trigger the alarm. It seems like the battery is dead and need to be replaced. Both were showing signs of power loss earlier as well while I was there in india , a few months back. I ignored then

How to get this sorted out? Should those remotes be taken to ASS?

Hello M35,
It seems like a minor battery issue. Do you regularly use both keys? If the A.S.S is nearby, better take the keys to them.Or better still, tell them to come home. They should oblige since,it's a 5 min job.
Or else, any accessories shop guys will be able to help you. The life of any avg.key battery is about 3 years. The same thing had happened to our Indigo.
Hope this helps,
Varun

[M35]

Originally Posted by powertrain

Hello M35,
It seems like a minor battery issue. Do you regularly use both keys?
Varun

Thanks varun. I shall try yo get those batteries replaced. I used to use both remotes intermittently, especially when one got soaked in water, in monsoons.

Mostly A S S won't have the stock,So as you said will need to look for it in some local car accessory shops.

[girishglg]

M35 that a very well put down review of your beast there. Liked it even more since in similar situation of transition from a hatch to a say what SUV and on that note your statement makes complete sense -

In the month of June 2009, miles away from home, me and wify succumbed to nostalgia, decided to buy a new car with character to live our life to fullest on our return to India.

Great to hear that yours is yet another very reliable Scorp as many others have vouched for and gives it a great confidence for many to buy one. No wonder the sales figures are rock solid for this one and going downhill for the Safari!

In all enjoy your ride to the fullest and do keep posting regular updates.

[M35]

@girishglg
Thanks.

update:

On the same day [Jan 8,2013] I had called up Mahindra A S S, Palakkad asking them to attend my vehicle.


A S S personals went home at around 8.00pm on the same day and found that it was just due to the batteries but they didn't have it with them. So they disabled the central locking for that night in case anyone at home needed the vehicle.The next day morning the vehicle was taken to the A S S to get the batteries replaced and to get the scheduled 50000km service done as asked by me.

The vehicle came back on the same day with both remotes with new batteries in and working perfectly. I also got the 50000km service done on the same day itself so that the scorpy is ready for a long drive from PKD-BLR and back to palakkad in about two weeks time when i am in India for a 20 days break

What I was told that at A S S they changed all the fluids including engine oil and transmission oil also a few suspension bushes changed. I had also asked them to do the wheel balancing and alignment.

The total damage was around 6500 INR. Is this normal for a major 50000 km scheduled service ?

I shall update here with all the details once i am back in India.

[splitsecond]

nice review M35

If possible do a driving comparison between hatch/sedan vs scorpio in narrow winding single lane highways of kerala. As i am looking for an upgrade but cant decide between a sedan or an suv like scorpio to be better in kerala roads.

[M35]

Originally Posted by splitsecond

nice review M35

If possible do a driving comparison between hatch/sedan vs scorpio in narrow winding single lane highways of kerala. As i am looking for an upgrade but cant decide between a sedan or an suv like scorpio to be better in kerala roads.

It all depends on your requirement. If your priority is ride comfort a sedan is the choice. If you want better GC vehicle to be confident on broken roads or and you have regular/occasional drive to your farm/estate on non existent roads you should look for an SUV. If you are in to any serious 4x4 adventures you have scorpio LX 4WD, scorpio VLX 4WD and Storme VX 4x4 with storme being the most expensive but overall a more capable 4x4 vehicle in sub 20L.

As far as I am concerned I am more confident in an SUV with a higher seating position and an overall better visibility compared to a sedan. An SUV will be well respected by those Auto wallas and bikers which will be useful especially in city traffic.

I am a SUV man and I drive my vehicle all the time.When I bought it in 2009 scorpio was the only SUV which gave me the engine response the way I wanted in my budget.

Take test drives of other options available also like Duster, XUV and storme if you are looking for an SUV.

[M35]

Update,27-01-2013

Back in India for a short vacation.

Landed at Bangalore International Airport at 1.00 am on 25-01-2013, but didn’t see driver and my Scorpio. We had called them earlier before we took our second flight from Chengdu to BLR and confirmed that they had passed Salem by then ,on their way to pick us [me and wify] from Bangalore.

I was scared. I called them immediately, only to know that I wouldn’t be driving my scorpio back to Palakkad from Bangalore. My Scorpio got stalled at Attibele toll plaza, breaking down.

The clutch had failed at around 6.30pm.

Details coming up..

[M35]

After they stopped the vehicle at the Attibele Toll Plaza, the clutch failed and couldn’t engage gears. They pushed the vehicle to a corner. After seeing a big pool of oil just below gear box, they called Mahindra helpline. In a few minutes, they received a call from the nearest Mahindra A S S, SKS Hosur. The A S S technicians arrived at the site at around 8.00 pm and identified the problem as clutch failure. The vehicle was towed to SKS hosur, later that evening.

From Bangalore airport in a taxi we reached Hosur to join them at 3.00am on 26-01-2013.At around 7.00am, I called up the SKS,A S S Manager, Mr.Arif. He came a bit early at around 8.45am, took the inventory by himself. He started the vehicle in first gear and drove it in to the work area and got FOUR technicians to work on it on an emergency basis, wasting no time.

• The clutch cylinder was replaced under warranty with zero labour so the total damage zero.
• He also showed me the worn out Clutch plate and said it would run for another 10000 kms. But I thought of changing that as well and got a new clutch plate which cost 7600 INR in total.
• There were no labour fee charged at all for the whole thing.

The work was done in about 2 hours and he along with me took the test drive at around 10.45am and the vehicle was at its best again. A 5 hour work was done in 2 hours with more people deployed with an efficient supervision. Thanks to Mr. Arif and Co for the wonderful and highly professional show at the Mahindra A S S, Hosur. We thanked them and left Hosur at around 12.00.

I was totally upset with this incident of clutch failure all of a sudden, as there were no signs of such thing at all. In fact it was just a week earlier, scorpio got a detailed 55k service at ITL motors Palakkad. But the way Mahindra responded was brilliant. If the incident had happened before 5.00pm, it should have got it done on the same day in a couple of hours time.
I had a quick drive to salem as we wanted to have lunch at Saravana Bhavan after Salem. We reached there at 2.15pm and had a wonderful lunch. Later got back home in the evening by 7.00pm.

More details of the work done and parts replaced with price details and some latest pictures of th beast coming up

[benbsb29]

Clutch failure is apparently a common problem on the earlier bunch of the refresh Scorpios. Quite a lot of reported incidents on both Team-BHP as well as the Scorpio group forums.

[M35]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Clutch failure is apparently a common problem on the earlier bunch of the refresh Scorpios. Quite a lot of reported incidents on both Team-BHP as well as the Scorpio group forums.

Is it ? Any ways the new clutch kit should be good enough for another 50k atleast as I will be keeping this vehicle for another two year only.

Update:

Details of the most recent service done

1.ODO reading: 50636 km
Date: 09-01-2013
ITL motors Palakkad

Bush- 26.44
Bush Stab bar front and rear -107.48+ 84.58
Shock absorber front-873.00
Maxximilefe06- 1516.00
Maxximlesyntecf2-641.00
Oil filter assay- 134.00
Emergency attended- 560.00 [for the remote issues posted earlier]
4 wheel brake cleaning-0.00
Consumable- 134.00
General check up- 0.00
Nitrogen gas filling- 150.00
Paid service[ interior cleaning and detailing] -2600.00
Wheel alignment- 300.00
Water service-0.00
Shock absorber LH front- R and R-125.00
Stabiliser bar bush [two front] R and R -100.00

Total[including tax] : 8300.00 INR

2.SKS Hosur
ODO reading : 51110 km
Date: 25-01-2013

Clutch cylinder replaced – 0.00 [under warranty]
Clutch driven plate- 3820.00
Clutch cover assy – 2611.00
Rubber stopper- 7.90
Dot 4 12 Lit – 152.00
Sundry material – 100.00
Labour- 0.00

Total [including tax] -7680 INR

Except the clutch issue, the vehicle runs very smoothly, like a brand new car, with no rattles at all.

Time for a photo shoot.