[Guna]

Originally Posted by Warhound

^

Im not contesting what you are saying reagarding it looking ugly. The cheetah look is HIDEOUS. but there is no other explanation for it having that sort of a front grill/bumper with those wierd body lines.

And if you ask why cheetah and not anyone else ?! the lead designer went to kenya on a safari to draw inspiration and came up with this ! apparently all she spotted was a cheetah im not kidding !

Going all the way to Kenya to get inspiration for the design is interesting. But then if they were after only Cheetah, it is not found in India!
Idea of taking inspiration from nature is to capture the essence and bring the character. It doesn't have to be literal.

[Tushargohil]

Originally Posted by puchoo

Nah i dont see it either , i picked up the brochure as well a few days after the launch and i saw these images and was not able to draw out the inspiration - what does look similar in the brochure is the page which has the shot of the door handles and the paws together - that i can relate to!

I think we are paying 14.88 for The Cheetah Like XUV 500... not for Cheetah. so don't worry if Car face didn't match with Cheetah...

[chaudhrysan]

Originally Posted by Warhound

^

And if you ask why cheetah and not anyone else ?! the lead designer went to kenya on a safari to draw inspiration and came up with this ! apparently all she spotted was a cheetah im not kidding !

Only wish she had spotted an older cheetah with less whiskers! I would have preffered if they had toned down the front a bit (say something like below - the image is from web, I hv just PS'ed a bit).

[Warhound]

^

much much better and subtle. Looks very Jeep-ish though in a good way.

[Gautam Misra]

Picture from thread by Zappex

Important threads
1. GTO's review - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...review-47.html

2. Review of the 4x2 variant - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...review-10.html

Prices
4x2 variants - Rs. 11.64 - 14.58 Lakhs (ex-Mumbai)
4x4 variants- Rs. 13.54-16.21 Lakhs (ex-Mumbai)

Sales Figures
Below Average. After the launch of the 4x2 variant, sales have picked up to some extent. Here is a link to the sales figures-http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...alysis-11.html

TATA ARIA & MAHINDRA XUV 5OO-

XUV may have an edge over the Aria because of pricing.

[dockap]

Originally Posted by Warhound

Lol, you guys have NOOOO imagination. HOW CAN you NOT see the WHISKERS !!! its sooooo in your face !

Here is something to boost their imagination

[noidaboy]

Here are some pictures :

Color Display of the W8 and the Black and white display of the W6

Today during a test drive, Touched 16.6kmpl in 6th gear

[sridhar-v]

I just popped into the local mahindra dealer for a quick dekko. Showroom was pretty crowded so could only see the W8 4x2. So I will just list some of the things that I noticed:-

1. The seats are excellent. Front seats are the most supportive & comfy seats I have sat in for a long time. Tempted to track down the manufacturer & use a pair as home theater chairs. But I noticed a serious problem with my "head roll test". When you move your head from side to side the side headlining above the door bangs the head. I felt this was for a pretty small degree of head movement. So taller passengers will have some bruised temples during extreme cornering or on bad bumpy roads. Possible reason is the shape of the roof line. This problem seems more exaggerated in the middle row.

2. Checked out the bottom of the vehicle. Got a nasty shock- The fuel tank is placed somewhere from the B pillar region onwards to the rear. So it is approximately under the feet of the second row passengers. Now they have also split the fuel tank into 2 parts (or so it seemed) straddling the centreline of the vehicle. The tanks are hung directly from the floorpan - there is no depression in the floorpan like what Honda does. So in my opinion it is going to be pretty vulnerable to damages from chips & stones flying off the front wheels. Also my quick guess was that the position of the tank was also roughly where the vehicle would bottom out when crossing a large hump or bolder. The fact that the tanks are made from plastic makes them more vulnerable for piercing impacts.

3. The refrigerant piping for the 2nd. & 3rd. row cooling is run under the RH side sill. It looked to me like an afterthought as if they forgot to make provisions in the basic design. Also the pipes seemed to be badly supported. Could not check this out thoroughly as there were a lot of people moving around & I was worried about getting stepped on.(was lying on the ground like a typical mechanic!!)

4. I was not impressed with the rear suspension arms & the way the bushings were set up. Did not get enough time for a very close look. Possibly will need the vehicle on a lift for that.

5. I got a feeling, during the quick scans of the underside, that there was something amiss. This is just a gut feeling. Will need to do a detailed examination of the vehicle. Possibly if any Bhpian in Pune gets early delivery we could carry out a detailed check.

Could not do an examination of the front suspension & the engine sump area as it was right in the middle of the entry passage.

A rough & ready solution for point 2 is to get some protection plates installed. Similarly for point 3 some jugaad clamps & protection strip may be called for. So anybody planning some rough road use of the vehicle should take care.

@Mods - will Mahindra respond to feedback sent to them by you?

[DevilsCry]

I am really sorry but I could not resist from sharing this post from official joke thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...ml#post2545430

Mods, please remove this post if not appropriate here.

[Gautam Misra]

@Manson- In the review, you and GTO praised the handling of the car. You also mentioned about the Gears being ok after the 2nd. It would be really nice of you to kindly compare the Gearshift to some of the cars like the Swift/Vento D to enable people who do not have access to the vehicle to have an idea about the quality of the gearshift vis-a-vis other cars.

[quattroa4]

way to go for mahindra , i think tata should take a leaf or a few from their book and also consider the way it has been launch just in the metros so as to add snob value to it , taking it's desirability further for the B & C grade town people.

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by manson

To counter your remark, I am currently on my third Scorpio in 7 years and close to 1,75,000 between the three of them and the only breakdown I've faced was on my first Scorpio in the fourth year of ownership at 89,000 kms due to a blown cut out. Wait, I also had a brake booster failure on the same Scorpio, but that was within my building and I wasn't major affected as such.

I have had a similar experience with my VLX, the only time I was stranded was due to a fuse blowout and I had no clue what to do as it was almost 11:30 at night and it was raining heavily. i called up the M&M customer care who gave me the number of the local A.S.S. (3 Km. away) but they expressed inability to do anything at that time, so I had no option to leave the car (it was in my office open parking) and take an auto home (5 Kms). Next morning the technicians came and just replaced the fuse with the one available in the fuse box under sthe steering wheel.

Not servicing a car which presumably does considerable running may not cause breakdowns, but you can be rest assured it will take its toll on the internals which would start to reflect in terms of poor fuel efficiency, coarse power delivery, malfunctioning cooling system, e.t.c. irrespective of it being even a Toyota.

I owned a WagonR for over 5 years and last 2 years were without service, yet the car ran like a dream and never failed me, only 1 puncture in 5 years. The only time it stalled when I managed to land myself in a pot hole which was bigger than the car while on my way to Nainital from Delhi. And yes, I got a handsome deal with Mahindra First Choice when I bought the Scorpio despite exchanging the delhi registered car in Mumbai which no one else was willing to take.

Workmanship at Mahindra at both service centres that I have been to has been week and does not match the enthusiasm expressed by them whilst preparing the job card. I have very often left the Mahindra workshop disheartened.

True to the core, barring my last experience, all my visits have ended in heartburn on the quality of workmenship, missed jobs, over billing etc.

The lower management is rather lethargic and you will have to be rather patient with expressing your issues and problems time and again.
As rightly pointed out by m_upreti, the top managment at Mahindra has a very customer stand and things begin to fall into place rather swiftly once in their knowledge.

I had a host of issues between Jan '09 for almost an year and I had to ultimately write in to the top management, once that happened things moved fast, I was given a replacement vehicle (a Xylo for over2 weeks) while all the issues were taken care by the A.S.S.

Incidently I forwarded the same escalation mail chain to to the same person yesterday for congratulations on the XUV and thanking him for the smooth ride I was having for the last 1.5 yrs. Not a surprise that I got a revert in less than 24 hrs. with an advance welcome to the XUV when I decide to go for it (now all up to the reopening of bookings)

I fortunately/unfortunately (you decide) won't be able to answer that as I opted for the SLE variant devoid of any fancy electronic gadgets both the times I had an option to go for the VLX.

I purchased my VLX in Sep 2008 & till date have had no issues with any of the sensors, ABS went down once when the wires broke (dont know if it was the handiwork of rats). The light sensors work perfectly and help specially in cloudy coditions and entering tunnels.
The rain sensors however are slightly having a mind of their own

Some of my experience on the Scorpio in bold.

[raj_5004]

Many people are commenting on the reliability of the XUV500. The car has just launched & there is not even a single ownership thread anywhere. But still people are apprehensive about the product. Why? Because it is a Mahindra? Will it be the same if it was a Toyota?

My experience with Mahindras:

2001: Bought a silver Bolero in Kerela. Ran for 85000 kms. Sold it off & got a great resale value.

2003: Bought a silver Scorpio non-CRDe, STILL WITH US. the car's odo shows 2 lakh kms & it is running perfectly fine. The only time it broke down was at 1,89,000 kms. I wont blame the car as the SA @ Mahindra had clearly told us that the chain driven cam unit needs to be replaced every 80000 kms, so it had to be replaced at 160000 kms. We ignored it & eventually it broke at 29000 kms later.

2006: Bought white Scorpio CRDe, sold it after it ran 1.5 lakh kms. Never stranded.

2008: Bought white Scorpio mHawk (once a scorpio, always a scorpio!). Sold it after 30,000 kms. Never stranded but unwillingly had to sell it.

In all the cases, ownership experience was awesome. Reliability was great & maintenance costs were cheap. Infact, we are so pleased with Mahindra UVs that we can buy their vehicles with eyes closed, such is the trust associated with that brand.

Unfortunately, we wont buy a car in year end, else we would have definitely bought the XUV500, even without waiting for reviews.

[parsh]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

Many people are commenting on the reliability of the XUV500. The car has just launched & there is not even a single ownership thread anywhere. But still people are apprehensive about the product. Why? Because it is a Mahindra? Will it be the same if it was a Toyota?

My experience with Mahindras:

2001: Bought a silver Bolero in Kerela. Ran for 85000 kms. Sold it off & got a great resale value.

2003: Bought a silver Scorpio non-CRDe, STILL WITH US. the car's odo shows 2 lakh kms & it is running perfectly fine. The only time it broke down was at 1,89,000 kms. I wont blame the car as the SA @ Mahindra had clearly told us that the chain driven cam unit needs to be replaced every 80000 kms, so it had to be replaced at 160000 kms. We ignored it & eventually it broke at 29000 kms later.

2006: Bought white Scorpio CRDe, sold it after it ran 1.5 lakh kms. Never stranded.

2008: Bought white Scorpio mHawk (once a scorpio, always a scorpio!). Sold it after 30,000 kms. Never stranded but unwillingly had to sell it.

In all the cases, ownership experience was awesome. Reliability was great & maintenance costs were cheap. Infact, we are so pleased with Mahindra UVs that we can buy their vehicles with eyes closed, such is the trust associated with that brand.

Unfortunately, we wont buy a car in year end, else we would have definitely bought the XUV500, even without waiting for reviews.

We need to hear more of this stuff from more Mahindra owners to boost confidence in the public and especially since this is a premium market they are entering into. I am sure it will be an eye-opened to many with real-world experiences. Still, without doubt people have responded well to XUV500, without even TDing and waiting for reviews. More so, I so much wish Mahindra lives up to their branding of this XUV500 to be Global SUV and hope that it really turns out to be a proud product inspiring more confidence in Mahindra.

[pawan_pullarwar]

I read somewhere that the XUV is made by young employee, all are below 30, and the team is called Team 30. I appreciate the effort put by youngster but if there is no senior or more experienced person is involved than one should definitely concern on reliability.

2.2 mHawk is proven engine, so there may not be a problem with engine inside but all other component around engine and body can have reliability issue.