[misterwrite]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

To be honest they cannot deny warranty claim citing tyre upgrade.

I got my steering rack replaced under warranty when the odo was 57k km and my car was running on 205/60s already.

Ok that's great because I was really peeved about being forced to live with the puny tyres, not to mention compromised comfort and ride quality.

Also, is the extended warranty worth it? the car will be mainly driven around in the city, probably clocking about 500-600 kms a month. it's not going to be a workhorse.

One last thing. Is the area for the spare big enough to accommodate the larger size tyre?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by misterwrite

thanks parag. one last thing. is the area for the spare big enough to accommodate the larger size tyre?

Yes. I remember BHPian Leoshashi posting about this in the official review thread. Unable to locate it but the 195/65 will fit within the spare wheel frame without hindrance.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by misterwrite

thanks parag. one last thing. is the area for the spare big enough to accommodate the larger size tyre?

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Yes. I remember BHPian Leoshashi posting about this in the official review thread. Unable to locate it but the 195/65 will fit within the spare wheel frame without hindrance.

Link of the post (My first car: 2020 Maruti Suzuki XL6 Alpha MT Review)

It's a tighter fit than the stock size, and anything larger may be impossible to fit.

Regards,
Shashi

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by misterwrite

2. i have also been advised against an aftermarket underbody cover. something about the engine being open to collapse in case of a collision.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

This is not right. The Underbody cover is a mere piece of metal sheet. The engine weight even when you rest it on this sheet will result in the sheet collapsing upon pressure so forget that the sheet will prevent the engine from falling down.

Lol

That's one of the funniest and most mindless comment by naysayers. The Engine guard is a thick plastic sheet, held together by clips and screws to another plastic cover(side flank covers). It won't sustain the impact if you drop a boulder on it, let alone a collapsing engine post crash.

It's been almost a year since I've installed them on my XL6, and there has been absolutely no problem with it. The best part is that engine bay stays a lot cleaner with it.

Regards,
Shashi

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

That's one of the funniest and most mindless comment by naysayers. The Engine guard is a thick plastic sheet, held together by clips and screws to another plastic cover(side flank covers). It won't sustain the impact if you drop a boulder on it, let alone a collapsing engine post crash.

I was referring to custom made guards that many are fitting or in some cars the guards made of metal itself.

As you say, the logic what the sales chap is quoting with the mere intent of not being able to openly admit that he doesn't know anything about it speaks volumes about plethora of incidents BHPians post in a decidated thread related to such incidents at showrooms .

[misterwrite]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Lol

That's one of the funniest and most mindless comment by naysayers. The Engine guard is a thick plastic sheet, held together by clips and screws to another plastic cover(side flank covers). It won't sustain the impact if you drop a boulder on it, let alone a collapsing engine post crash.

It's been almost a year since I've installed them on my XL6, and there has been absolutely no problem with it. The best part is that engine bay stays a lot cleaner with it.

Regards,
Shashi

yes, it's absolutely ridiculous what comes out of the sales guys' mouth, and this after he excused himself to check with his superior. one of these blokes told me that their finance guy would not entertain me unless i booked the vehicle, like blackmail. only after i told him that i was also talking to another dealer to get a competitive quote did the finance guy miraculously call me himself, eager to be of help may i add.

[B-Taurus]

Shashi (and others), any idea about the mud flaps for XL6? Most of the XL6 on road doesn’t seem to have one? Is it not useful?
MGA shop quoted 800/- while the ones on Amazon are available around 500/-
Any opinions about this?

Meanwhile I bought the under Body cover, will get it fixed this week.
Will pick up the spoiler and cabin filter (2.5PM) on Wednesday.
I also bought the furniture foot pads (as suggested by Shashi) to fix the boot floor lids which make a sound at the slightest hump. Shashi, can you help me with how to clean the part before sticking it (I’ll get the 3M adhesive as well). What is IPA and where can I buy one from?
Would also help if you could clearly show which are the points you applied these pads to.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by B-Taurus

any idea about the mud flaps for XL6?

You dont need to install separate mudflaps as the car comes with plastic mudflaps installed. Do check below image and confirm that your car has the same.

Meanwhile I bought the under Body cover, will get it fixed this week.

Best to do this ASAP - do check this (My first car: 2020 Maruti Suzuki XL6 Alpha MT Review)

Will pick up the spoiler and cabin filter (2.5PM) on Wednesday.

do think again about the spoiler, especially if they will be drilling holes into the hatch.

I also bought the furniture foot pads (as suggested by Shashi) to fix the boot floor lids which make a sound at the slightest hump.

If you remove the plastic covers, you will clearly see 3 small protrusions on it, which are the spots where the cover tries to lock onto the storage area. Follow the protrusions to find the spot where you need to paste the footpads.

What is IPA and where can I buy one from?

IPA is Isopropyl Alcohol and you can buy it on amazon - https://www.amazon.in/dp/B083WLD2G5/

[procrj]

It has been 3 months since I got the car home and the odo stands at 53xx kms. Completed second service last week and it was a straight forward affair. Drove down to Varun nexa service, car was inspected and fluids checked, drove out. I did not opt for washing and cleaning, hence I was in and out in 90 minutes, of which 60 min was spent waiting for work order creation, billing etc. As mentioned by DBHPian Neil on this thread (Maruti-Nexa's cumbersome digital car-service process), its irritating to repeat steps and reiterate the same information during the service process.

Upgrades

7.13 - Underbody coating
I was in touch with Mr. Lokesh from Swastikaa auto and I finally managed to free-up a Saturday in the last week of August to get the car underbody coated. Reached Swastikaa at 10 am and after a thorough underbody + exterior wash, Lokesh and team used a thinner to wipe and prepare all surfaces before spraying on the anti rust coating. Anti rust coating used was Bardahl Rust Coat and they ensured that a first coat was sprayed on and allowed to dry before spraying the second coat. They also ensured that joins and rough surfaces have a nice thick layer of anti rust coat. Lokesh recommended that I leave the car overnight to dry but I needed the car Sunday early morning , hence it was not an option for me.

For best results, it is recomended that you:
1) Allow the coat to completely dry out, preferably in an area that gets sunlight.
2) Ensure that the coated surface doesn’t come in contact with water for the first 24 hours post application.

Total cost of washing + anti rust coating was INR 4,580/-

Thorough underbody wash in progress



Underbody post wipe down with thinner





First coat on the rough surfaces




First coat on the underbody



7.14 - Underbody Cover
I had procured the underbody cover even before I got delivery of the car and requested Lokesh to install the same. Lokesh was a bit hesitant to drill holes into the cross member and decided to use screws to hold the front section in place. I did drive through some slush, mud and heavy rain/standing water and the screws seems to be holding up as of now. I am not sure how long this would stay in place and hence plan to take this to some other FNG and get them to drill holes in the cross member and get the front section of the cover secured correctly.

Underbody cover + underbody coating



Front lip of the cover held in place by 4 screws



Trip Update

9.3 - Monsoon Drive
6 families decided to explore the hills and beaches of Karnataka and it was a fun 3 day drive. Detailed thread posted here (Monsoon drive - Through the ghats and coast of Karnataka). XL6 was fun to drive on the 4L/2L roads and since it was an early morning start from Bangalore, I did use cruise control for extended time periods on 6L and it is definitely a boon and gives the right leg much needed relief.

Few pics of the car from the drive.









Overall Feedback - I am happy with my decision of purchasing the XL6 and plan to hold on to it for as long as possible. There are times when I really miss the TUV, especially when tackling bad roads or going a little off road, but the refinement and comfort that is offered by the XL6 is couple of points ahead of that of the TUV. If only maruti can fix dashboard rattles and squeaks, there would be nothing to complain about the car.
F.E during highway drives has been around the 16-17 kmpl range as a) I tend to maintain 100-110 kmph speeds on 4L/6L roads and b) enjoy quick sprints where I push the engine to 4.5-5k RPM and watch the speedo climb Not bothered about in city F.E as in the long run, city driving will mostly account for only about 10-12% of total Odo.

Planned upgrades - Floor damping. I managed to order another set of 15 STP damping sheets when the price dropped to 5.5K on amazon. Need to talk to Suresh from Bass Club and setup some time to get floor damped.

[B-Taurus]

Thanks for the inputs Shashi regarding the mud flaps, I had not noticed it, My bad
Saved a few hundreds

RJ: I’ll be at Swastikaa soon for my under Body cover fix as well, now he knows what to do and that should save time for me.
Is the under Body coating for a new car worth doing?
I also bought the "Number style" nuts which Shashi had mentioned in his post (39461M73M00), so I hope that’ll help in fixing it better.

Still in a state of confusion regarding fixing the spoiler, but every time I see another XL6 with a spoiler my heart skips a beat.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by procrj

Lokesh was a bit hesitant to drill holes into the cross member and decided to use screws to hold the front section in place. I did drive through some slush, mud and heavy rain/standing water and the screws seems to be holding up as of now. I am not sure how long this would stay in place and hence plan to take this to some other FNG and get them to drill holes in the cross member and get the front section of the cover secured correctly.

Seems he has screwed into the plastic cover for front member. It will stay till the time you need to take the cover out, say in 20k service when coolant etc needs to be drained. And then it may become an issue since the screw may not go as snugly into the plastic threads as snugly as it did the first time. That's why I went with drilling crossmember later. Also the member is easily replaceable as it's on bolts, so didn't think much before drilling them.

Also, what is this greenish fluid dripping in this pic? Since coolant reservoir tank is almost above this point, I'm a bit concerned:

[procrj]

Over the Dusshera weekend, we managed to squeeze in a trip to Goa.
Plan was to visit Vibhuti falls near Yana before we head to Goa, hence the route taken was Chitradurga - Haveri - Sirsi - Vibhuti Falls - Karwar - Goa. 4 am start from JAS toll ensured that we were near Chitradurga at 6 am, where we unsuccessfully tried to find a route to the top of the windmills. After a quick breakfast at Mysore café, we were back on the road, headed towards Sirsi. Roads were good all through except for a small 4 km donwhill stretch between Yana turnoff and Vibhuti falls road. I had to drive really slow in this stretch as it was uneven stone and gravel sections with some steep curves. Roads from Devanahalli to Yana turn-off were fabulous and I thoroughly enjoyed the drive.

https://youtu.be/HyU1quhdQ-4

Somewhere after Sirsi




Middle of nowhere






From the parking lot to Vibhuti falls is a 1.5 kms trek which can easily be done by anyone. There was some crowd at the falls, as expected, but most people were well behaved and everyone had space to enjoy the falls and take a dip in the pool. We were hungry after the dip in the waterfalls and the small shack(Sri Durga Fast foods) located near the parking area served us piping hot maggi, omlettes and some soda, which turned out to be delicious and much needed.

Vibhuti Falls

https://youtu.be/LMLdkbGnpHM

After a coffee stop at Karwar and watching sunset from Karwar beach, we made our way into Goa after a quick border check for vaccination certificate only. RTPCR was not needed for kids and the cops did looks hassled as there was a long queue of cars waiting to enter Goa. The next few days in Goa was a mess due to multiple reasons and we ended up driving from South to North Goa in the middle of the day and ran into some massive rain bands when we were close to the under construction bridge as well as Atal brdige. We managed to watch the sunset on 16th Oct at Candolim, packed our bags and drove back to Bangalore on 17th. Route taken Candolim - Anmod - Ramnagar - Alnavar - Hubli - Bangalore.

Amazing roads around Mollem




3PM start from Candolim on 17th Oct ensured that we were at Anmod check post at 5 PM. After some confusion, we drove down the WIP Anmod route and not the recommended Tinai route, which ended up costing us 30 min for a 11km stretch. XL6 managed to cross all the bad patches without any scraping and the cement roads till Ramnagar toll were bliss. I found myself pushing the car in the Ramnagar - Alnavar stretch as the roads were amazing and I was enjoying the thrum of the engine. Needless to say that F.E took a hit. We managed to stop for a bio break just after hubli and ended up having dinner at District 17, Davangere bypass, which I would definitely recommend. 11.15 pm when we hit the road again and traffic was relentless, which doubled my resolve to not travel during long weekends. After a couple of coffee stops to fight off fatigue, I managed to reach home by 3.15 am.

Odo stands at 71xx kms and the car is an absolute joy to drive on highways, 2L roads and Ghats. I did end up using cruise control for long stretches on the onward journey and it definitely helps eat up large distances on boring 6L roads. A quick downshift ensures that there is enough power to overtake on 2L, ghat sections and never have I felt the car to be slow/sluggish. There were large stretches in Goa and Ramnagar-Alnavar section where I was consistently driving at 3K-4K RPM and I had a big grin plastered on my face. Overall F.E for the trip 14.5 KMPL over ~1350 KMs, which is quiet acceptable given the varied conditions in which it was driven.

[procrj]

9.5 - Trip to Gopinatham

1st Nov long weekend, we decided to do a quick overnighter to Gopinatham Mystery trails(GMS), which is located in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary. For more details on the place, do check this thread by BHPian KarthikK (Unraveling the mystery of Gopinatham Mystery Trails).

Sunday morning 6am start from NICE road - Kanakpura exit allowed us to stop for breakfast at Halaguru for some piping hot idli and dose. Post breakfast, we made our way to the old Wesley Bridge on Barchukki falls road. After some birding and walking around, we halted for some fresh sugarcane juice just after Hanur.

Old and new Wesley bridge


View from Wesley bridge

https://youtu.be/kx4e4mpa58k

Juvenile Bramhini Kite



Great Cormorant


White Browed Wagtail


Green fields and pictursque roads



The drive till MM Hills did have us weaving through Sunday traffic, post which it was absolute bliss - beautiful winding tarmac with sparse traffic. We made our way down the hills with multiple photo stops and finally reached GMS by 12.30 pm.

Winding roads



The convoy


Post lunch and quick nap, we headed into the forest trails for a short ride to the P. Srinivas memorial. Sudden burst of intense rain leeched away all the light and ensured that the forest presented minimal birding opportunity.

After some evening chai, we settled down for the night in the gazebo and ended up chit chatting through the night. After a late dinner, we headed back to our tented cottages to get some much needed sleep. I decided to skip the next day morning walk and get a little more sleep before breakfast, while the others enjoyed their stroll through the trails around the water body. Post breakfast, the others decide to drive to Hogenekal waterfalls while me and my family decided to spend that time at GMS.

The sound of silence


Coracle ride

https://youtu.be/YnnlULZNBeo

Hogenekal is a short 12km/20 min drive from GMS and was quiet crowded, which is one of the reasons why I decided to stay back at GMS. Based on the pics and videos, Hogenekal did have quiet a bit of water and was a fun experience for those who visited, IMO the escence of Hogenekal is getting wet under the falls while sitting in the coracle, which is not possible if there is a lot of water - another reason why I skipped hogenekal. Sharing this beautiful video of the falls that was shared on the Drone WAG.

https://youtu.be/_QTQUh8CQj4

Post lunch 3.30 pm start from GMS and all of us were in the mood for a quick dash home and were revving our cars up the hills to MM Hills top. Rain played hide and seek with us all through the ghats and it was absolutely stunning to watch those cotton candy like clouds float around effervescent green hills. After reaching MM Hills checkpoint, we followed a VVIP convoy all the way down to Kollegal, which ensured that we made good time down the hills and the flat sections till Kollegala. After a quick restroom stop at a BP Petrol pump outside Kollegal, we stopped again at Barchukki falls road junction for a cup of coffee and biscuits. We said our goodbyes here and headed straight back to Bangalore for dinner. The total drive time from GMS to Kanakapura NICE road intersection was 4hrs 15min excluding all stops, which I though was good for 250 odd kms including some ghat sections with heavy traffic.

Somewhere near Palar bridge


Beautiful drive


Overall, very happy with the way XL6 handled this trip as I did end up driving it like I stole it Really pushed the car hard in the ghat sections, drove through some rough patches without bothering to slow down and there was no hesitation, judder, squeal etc. from the car. F.E for the trip was 14 KMPL, which I am more than happy with given the way I drove.

Odo stands at 78xx kms now in 4.5 months of ownership and the only big issue with the car is the lighting at night when there is rain/fog. Over the last couple of drives, I have had to contend with rain/fog during the night and a) plain jane LEDs headlamps are just not up to the mark and b) fog lights are as good as non-existent in foggy conditions. Brezza now gets LED Projectors which do a very good job and I dont understand why a "premium" car gets basic LEDs for headlights. I have had a couple of narrow misses due to the lack of lighting and I am seriously considering 4300K HID Projector fog lamps to improve visiblity during night + rain/fog.

Other niggles:

• Dashboard rattle from behind the HU while driving on rough surfaces.
• Passenger seat is squeaking while driving, can hear it while crossing speed breakers, small potholes etc.
• Humming noise from the B pillar plastic trims - both driver and passenger side.
• Radio starts blasting out music as soon as you turn on ignition - very very irritating and there is no fix in sight for this issue.
• Maps hangs after a hour or so of continuous usage. Easily fixed by switching to home screen and clicking back on maps but is still irritating.

Signing off with another pic from the drive.

[lionell]

Originally Posted by procrj

9.5 - Trip to Gopinatham


Other niggles:[*]Radio starts blasting out music as soon as you turn on ignition - very very irritating and there is no fix in sight for this issue.

Long press the power button and the HU system will switch off. I had the same issue earlier and now I religiously switch the HU off. May help you as well.

By the way, Great trip log. I am on the cusp of a long road trip as well spanning Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. Looking forward to the coast road across Managalore as well.

[Neversaygbye]

Originally Posted by procrj

9.5 - Trip to Gopinatham

1st Nov long weekend, we decided to do a quick overnighter to Gopinatham Mystery trails(GMS), which is located in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.

Short and sweet TL with some incredible pics. Did you use a drone for some of the shots? I had gone to Hogenakkal falls when I used to live in Bangalore but had not gone to GMS. Will make a plan to visit the next time I am in Bangalore. Wishing you many more happy and memorable trips in your Brique!