[kaiserketkar]

Originally Posted by HotChillyPepper

Tried 4 gb as well. Still the issue persists. By the way as far as the device supports FAT32 as per manual technically it should be supporting 32 GB without any problem. So if this seems to be a problem only with by device wouldn't it be fair to get it replaced with a "new" unit and leave all R&D with failing M&M and Nippon?

Thanks
-HCP

Exactly. And that's exactly what I think they'll do... wait, haven't they done that already?

[Safari_Beast]

There seems to be a problem with HP pen drives , my alpine headunits gets hanged while playing HP drive . Ony for first time it will play and after that it will not play at all . Try using san disk or kingston pen drive they work flawlessly . There has been issue reported with HP and sony pen drives playing on alpine and pioneer headunits .

Originally Posted by HotChillyPepper

Thanks folks. That is quite re-assuring. Looks like a single unit failure.
I have used Sandisk Cruze 16 GB and now a 32 GB hp drives. Both of them had this issue reproduced. Most of the time there is no hang, but the song will be paused without any audio output and also the slider that shows the current track progress will not move forward. If I press the source button, I can go back to other sources and listen to them. But to restore USB functionality I will have to stop the car, remove the key, wait for 10 seconds and then start it.

Presently the M&M and Nippon folks are working with me to root cause and fix the issue. They are indeed quite responsive and genuine in identifying the problem till now.
-HCP

[Rossiter]

Originally Posted by HotChillyPepper

Thanks folks. That is quite re-assuring. Looks like a single unit failure.
I have used Sandisk Cruze 16 GB and now a 32 GB hp drives. Both of them had this issue reproduced. Most of the time there is no hang, but the song will be paused without any audio output and also the slider that shows the current track progress will not move forward. If I press the source button, I can go back to other sources and listen to them. But to restore USB functionality I will have to stop the car, remove the key, wait for 10 seconds and then start it.

Presently the M&M and Nippon folks are working with me to root cause and fix the issue. They are indeed quite responsive and genuine in identifying the problem till now.
-HCP

It would hang for me as well, but I found a simple workaround for it. I used a USB extension cable, and the problem somehow went away.

[Autocop]

Was in Nagpur during Diwali. Had opportunity to get my hands on my bros XUV. It's such a wonderful car to drive (except brakes). The accelation 3rd gear onwards is just maddening for the size of this vehicle. The wonderful looks, features offered at the price make it a sheer VFM proposition.

During Nagpur trip was shown pictures and narrated about a serious issue with the vehicle. My bro got Autoform seat covers fitted from a local auto accesories dealer in Nagpur. There were few issues with seat cover fitment. We went to the dealer to get those fixed. During a casual discussion the dealer was cursing the vehicle and manufacturer. We asked him why he thinks so. Shockingly, the dealer showed us the photographs of topend variant (in white color) that the dealer had himself bought about couple of weeks back fully burnt. According to him, this happened when the car was parked outside a Dhaba on the outskits of Nagpur. Luckily no one was inside the car. He mentioned about another incident with top-end variant for another owner in Nagpur. The explanation provided to him was, its caused by software issue for a small batch of top-end vehicles, his was one of them. Hope the explanation is true and the issue has indeed been diagnosed and restricted to a small batch of vehicles.

As far as I know this has not been covered in any media reports. The intention is not to confuse prospective buyers or cause negative publicity of model/brand, but to bring what I saw and heard to the attention of t-bhp members.

Mods: Please remove the post if, 1) this has already been posted, or 2) this post may attract issue/trouble.

[redindian]

After nearly 3 months of ownership - I experienced the "Service Levels" today for the first time - remember Manson's review report where he had called out "Mahindra's un-premium after-sales service experience " as a key con, it definitely is!

I own a W8 Mahindra XUV 5OO - from dealer Sireesh Auto , Bangalore.


On a brand new vehicle, within the first couple of weeks, I started getting lot of rattles from the plastics & dashboard - even after giving it to the service center , where they took it in for an entire day this wasn't fixed properly and started recurring within the second day. This was my second visit to the workshop since I had to go once before to make my doors shut ( I cant believe a new car will not shut the doors properly ! )

I was advised by the RM that they can look into this along with other issues during first service which I gave for this monday.

- The showroom that sold the vehicle ( which was obviously closer to my residence ) is not handling service, I am being asked to go to a workshop the other corner of town.

- The service center says they cant do pickup and drop since their drivers booked for next 4 weeks ! (since they have only 2 drivers - which means they can pick up only 4 cars each day given bangalore traffic - or 120 cars a month / 360 cars in total given the service/checkup intervals of 3 months! - Mahindra are you listening ? dont sell more then this number to bangalore customers , your dealership cant handle

- The service center itself doesn't have proper waiting lounges for customers, you should visit it to believe it! - Maruti / Ford /Honda all have way better customer receptin & waiting facilities.


Inspite of all these issue - I made my way to the service center on monday morning , to drop the car - spent 45 mins giving the clear information on issues , and was told it will take 2 days !! - and not even offered a ride back to my office ( I had to make my own arrangements ! )

- today ( 2nd day after giving it for service) , I am told by the RM they will be able to start the work on rattling issues only tomorrow and they require 2 more days !! - thats a total of 4 days for 1st service and fixing a simple rattling issue ( which is a manufacturing defect!! )

- RM was nice enough to offer my car back today itself if I am ok with the rattling - can you believe that !

- After asking some tough questions and 5-6 phone calls, RM says he will arrange for loaner vehicle, but cant drop it with me - I need to come and pickup if i need it.

- When I probed deeper - I realize, they havent started the work to fix the rattling issues, infact it looks like he will start that work only tomorrow and is not able to give a timeline on when it will be delivered!


Net result being - Mahindra and its dealers are more focussed on selling more cars than bothering about service levels or customer satisfaction. Unless mahindra takes customer service seriously and cracks the whip on its dealers for a killer product that is being let down purely because of service levels - I doubt if they can have aspirations of moving up the value chain ( Aston martin ? )

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by Autocop

During a casual discussion the dealer was cursing the vehicle and manufacturer. We asked him why he thinks so. Shockingly, the dealer showed us the photographs of topend variant (in white color) that the dealer had himself bought about couple of weeks back fully burnt. According to him, this happened when the car was parked outside a Dhaba on the outskits of Nagpur. Luckily
The explanation provided to him was, its caused by software issue for a small batch of top-end vehicles, his was one of them. Hope the explanation is true and the issue has indeed been diagnosed and restricted to a small batch of vehicles.

This is a shocking revalation, if this was attributed to the electricals or fuel leakage the explanation would have been plausible.

Since, it is attributed to a software and me being in the SW industry I am racking my brains to understand:
1. What is that additional gizmoe / application in the top end model (was it a W8 or a W8 AWD)
2. How a software bug would trigger a such a fire which engulfs the vehicle completely.
3. How come it missed showing up on TBHP

Originally Posted by Rossiter

It would hang for me as well, but I found a simple workaround for it. I used a USB extension cable, and the problem somehow went away.

Behold the ingenuity of the Indian Jugaad.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by redindian

After nearly 3 months of ownership - I experienced the "Service Levels" today for the first time - remember Manson's review report where he had called out "Mahindra's un-premium after-sales service experience " as a key con, it definitely is!
....

I have my own similar quips about the 'service level'. I do complain to Mahindra's customer care EVERY time that I encounter non-satisfactory service.

Although Mahindra's got the dealers to setup separate facilities for XUV service, seems like the current service-demand is beyond their capacity.

In Mumbai, I need to take an appointment for a service. When I called for the first service, I got an appointment 3 days later.

The amount of time it takes to get the job-card done and for the vehicle to actually come inside the center is anywhere between 30 minutes to 1 hour. Should not be more than 10-15 minutes.

Even after the vehicle is inside, the mechanics keep on multi-tasking between various vehicles. So even if my vehicle was in the service center for 5 hours, the actual work done on it was only for an hour and half.

During customer feedback, I keep on complaining about the amount of time it takes during each visit. So now they have stopped giving me an commitment of how much time it would take. That doesn't stop me from having my own expectation about how much time it should take and then complaining about it if it does not meet my expectations.

I have also observed that there is a tendency to offer 'generic' solutions rather than really get to the root of the problem and fix it. I had reported a tuk-tuk sound when accelerating. They replaced the balancer bar bushes (which already had been replaced once) and apparently "re-torqued" the suspension. They didn't even bother to check if the problem was fixed. While driving back, I called the RM and informed that the problem has not been fixed.

At least in my service center, I see most vehicles with special numbers and political party flags. So a certain amount of using influence and getting preferential treatment to certain vehicles can not be ruled out. That should explain why certain vehicles (including mine) do not get worked upon for long. Just a week back, I got my number plate changed to a slightly more fancy one.

I will keep on complaining to customer care till the service level improves to "satisfactory" level i.e. 8/10.

For getting 9/10 and 10/10, Mahindras would need some serious thought and effort and I don't believe Mahindras would reach that level in near future.

[redindian]

Originally Posted by SDP

. So a certain amount of using influence and getting preferential treatment to certain vehicles can not be ruled out. That should explain why certain vehicles (including mine) do not get worked upon for long. Just a week back, I got my number plate changed to a slightly more fancy one.

Now thats a jugaad suggestion - next time, I will put up some flag

Also - have emailed mahindra customer care, want to see how they react.

[an10]

Originally Posted by SDP

I have also observed that there is a tendency to offer 'generic' solutions rather than really get to the root of the problem and fix it. I had reported a tuk-tuk sound when accelerating. They replaced the balancer bar bushes (which already had been replaced once) and apparently "re-torqued" the suspension. They didn't even bother to check if the problem was fixed. While driving back, I called the RM and informed that the problem has not been fixed.

I agree with this and I think this is true with any and every company. The staff tries to solve the issue through trial and error method, instead of trying to understand the issue and obviously at your cost. For them the best solution is to change parts - which one ? let’s guess it !!

At times, your car will also not 'support' you by not reproducing the recurring issue in front of the mechanic. And then the mechanics will have time of their life telling you that you don't know anything about the cars and why all kinds of noises cars make are 'normal'.

BTW, is the tuk-tuk sound coming in all gears? or specific to 2nd gear?

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by redindian

After nearly 3 months of ownership - I experienced the "Service Levels" today for the first time - remember Manson's review report where he had called out "Mahindra's un-premium after-sales service experience " as a key con, it definitely is!

Bang on..!!

And on top of it, Bangalore has had the misfortune of one of its best service centers closing down due to a takeover, SKS Automobiles.

Even at SKS, I ve had to use my rapport to get a satisfactory job done on Hariya but yes, rapport has worked but that is not the way things are supposed to move.

Having said that, in case you need any help with service, go to SKS Automobiles, which now has a new name, on Hosur Road, and meet Suresh who is a team lead and tell him that I ve sent you. He ll do his best.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by an10

..
BTW, is the tuk-tuk sound coming in all gears? or specific to 2nd gear?

I notice it at low speeds in first 3 gears. After that the engine and tyre noise tends to hide that tuk-tuk sound. But I have a hunch that it is present at all speeds, just more noticeable at low speeds.

[Rossiter]

Originally Posted by m_upreti

Behold the ingenuity of the Indian Jugaad.

Thanks!

Also your USB extension cable needs to be a USB 1.0 cable, and not 2.0. The IS hangs if you plug in some USB 2.0 devices.

Redindian, I had the same problem two weeks back. One whole day went waste dropping my car off at IG whitefield and picking it up. Thankfully, Anant Cars (formerly SKS) has opened up at B'ghatta Road, although their service levels are yet to be seen.

As a Purple Club member, I am supposed to get a confirmed pick up and drop for the service of my car and a loaner car. But I haven't got it even once. The area Mahindra officials are tired of my honest feedback or escalations i think, they don't even pick up my calls or bother to call back.

[Zappo]

Sigh! That's the obvious truth and I think exists in most places and not just M&M. In fact I personally feel these chaps are better than some of the others I have seen with other manufacturers. And I have seen a few.

When everyone is shouting and throwing around their weight these guys are also at the tenterhooks. My car is under second service. When I went there it looked like a little war zone. Two fellas are shouting at the top of their voice and throwing their weights around alternately. And two more are whining to take their cars in for service and then keep the shouting match going. Turned out one of them missed his last appointment two days back and now wanted his car taken in out of turn. The SS already has all the cars they could take in for the day. The other aggrieved soul wants his Scorpio taken in for 40k service while the SS says that they are helpless as M&M has apparently given a strict guidance to take in only XUVs and upcoming Rextons at this branch. The guy needs to go to their other branch for Scorpio service which is just 2 Km's away. Of course none of them were willing to agree and one of them had already by then got the local corporator's PA or some such guy on the phone! Don't forget the other two impatient souls any way nagging all the time from the sides. What do you expect them to do?

I know as a customer we probably can be least bothered with such details. It's their problem anyhow. But then if you think their situation with a little more compassion you see the pain of the other side as well. And generally I have seen that they figured out early that I am probably a little more understanding. In bargain I seem to get some pleading looks from them and much better service levels. Even when I get irritated and let them know my displeasure they scramble to resolve the issue.

And finally, I think M&M is extremely courteous in handling the issues, provided you reach out the right guys (can't expect a call center agent to do much, can we). My car's side rear glass on the right developed some strange vertical deep incisions after a few up and down operation of the window. The SS folks said they can't help me as glass is any how not covered under any warranty. They had a point. If I would have argued and fought with them it would have yielded me precious little. They have their general code and they can work only within that. However I knew that this is a little different. Probably during manufacture some sharp shrapnels or something similar remained protruded inside the door that caused these paralle surgical incisions all over this glass?! I called up M&M here and told them about the issue and of a scratched window glass. They resolved it in minutes (yes, they called back in exactly 10 mins) and told me that they have asked the SS to change the glass... Probably under goodwill warranty! I am not complaining. However I know that they are definitely doing something right. They respond much quicker than many others that I have seen till date. And for me that's a huge plus.

Of course this is my personal experience with a limited set of people and you are entitled to say that it's not always so rosy. May be... But it sure seems to work for me pretty fine, as long as I know that I will also have to work with some limitations (like invest some time). But then again what the heck! Its my car yaaa... It's worth that much. :-)

[HotChillyPepper]

Originally Posted by kaiserketkar

Exactly. And that's exactly what I think they'll do... wait, haven't they done that already?

Well, they did it twice. But the issue didn't get fixed.

Originally Posted by Safari_Beast

There seems to be a problem with HP pen drives , my alpine headunits gets hanged while playing HP drive . Ony for first time it will play and after that it will not play at all . Try using san disk or kingston pen drive they work flawlessly . There has been issue reported with HP and sony pen drives playing on alpine and pioneer headunits .

That is some good info there. Initially I been using Scandisk Cruzer 8 GB (the tiny one that just get disappear inside the USB port once inserted), but it had the same problem. The issue was also occurred with Hp 32 GB, Transcend 16 gb all bought from flipkart (hence I believe they are genuine).

Originally Posted by Rossiter

It would hang for me as well, but I found a simple workaround for it. I used a USB extension cable, and the problem somehow went away.

Thanks for this info. Indeed if this fixes the issue most probably the issue would be with signal integrity. Based on the USB data line track length they need to adjust some of the line matching impedance values, may be due to poor integration this was not done correctly. I will check this out and report the findings.

Originally Posted by redindian

After nearly 3 months of ownership - I experienced the "Service Levels" today for the first time - remember Manson's review report where he had called out "Mahindra's un-premium after-sales service experience " as a key con, it definitely is!

Sorry to hear that. Though my experience with Sireesh has been very positive. Well, I had delays in getting the car fixed, some of the issues not fixed etc, but I honestly think that is due to the tremendous work load they have at present. They are attending XUVs from all over Karnataka. I have seen vehicles coming in from Dharwad, Hubli, Belgam, Mangalore etc! In one of the friendly chat I had with my RM, he mentioned that there were months in they serviced 1300 vehicles. That means with around 10 bays, they serviced around 80 vehicles per day! So wouldn't it be fare to expect them to skip the problems that they think very trivial in nature (in their view) -like my USB issue mentioned in this thread, and attend a clutch failure or suspension issue with that saved time? Now we can always say they should accept vehicles that they can take care without affecting service quality, but that is going to increase the delays and long waiting queues for service. I am not saying Sireesh is handling it the best way, but by just putting myself in their shoes, I would have done the same in the given situation.

I know that as per M&M internal guidelines initially XUV should not be off the road for more than 24 hours. But due to unexpected surge in initial demand before they could ramp up the entire dealer network to service XUVs, it didn't really workout that way. As more and more dealers get equipped to service XUV, we should be seeing an improvement in situation.

Echoing to what Zappo mentioned, as a customer, they own our tight scrutiny after reading all reviews and feedback about the brand and product, due to which they won our buying bid, now after buying, a bit of compassion and positive attitude in any service center would definitely fetch us good experience and better results. There is no manufacturer in this world who will stop selling their products due to shortage in after sales service / operational departments, they will always invest a part of their income from the product to improve it.

Thanks
-HCP

[kaiserketkar]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Of course this is my personal experience with a limited set of people and you are entitled to say that it's not always so rosy. May be... But it sure seems to work for me pretty fine, as long as I know that I will also have to work with some limitations (like invest some time). But then again what the heck! Its my car yaaa... It's worth that much. :-)

+1 to that.
It pays to buildup a good rapport with the guys at the ASC, as has happened with my Scorpio first and my XUV subsequently at Sahyadri. As a result I have got much better service than I would have had I dialed my corporators no. There are still occasions when the service takes longer than expected, but that isn't due to inefficiency or callousness.
From the service advisors point if view, he would want to do a good job for a customer who is good to him.