[abirnale]

Didn't intend for timing it, but it just happened! We got new shoes for #TheRedSparkle on valentine's day

After all deliberations and back and forth with some folks, finally fond a great place to get new set of tyres - Ashoka Tyres - BridgeStone Select Dealer. They have their outlet where the Madhu's used to be before they moved into bigger place. Without much pushing or negotiations, they offered 0325 manufactured tyres at a super discounted price. I went ahead with BridgeStone Dueller A/T 002 tires this time. It costed 62K inclusive of WA + WB + GST, etc. Got the warranties registered too. I am definitely recommending them for their service, zero wait times and most importantly freshest stock with best prices.

So here are the new set of tires for #TheRedSparkle while we are about to cross 93,000 Kms on the odo:










The WA/WB report:



The Instant Warranty registration notification:



And the warranty terms:




The primary reason why I went for these tires:

• For my travel needs and off-road, I need more rugged tyres
• H/Ts are great but they wear out fast - and I don't need such high-speed rated tires anyway.
• The A/T 002 Tyres look real meaty on the car! Their grooves and patterns are similar to the Apollo Aptera AT2 which are proven A/Ts! Wish they had 18" for AX7L!
• They come with unconditional warranty upto 5 years - thats far more than I would need them for!
• These tyres are relatively cheaper and lasts longer than any of earlier tyres. Moreover these are still 70%+ highway biased so they should be good for highway drives with cruising speeds of 120 kmph.

I anticipate these tyres to be slightly noisy and harder than H/Ts but hoping that they will compensate with grip that is needed when I am off the highway. And hence the experiment.

It's too early to give any verdict on them - but stay tuned, after about 2K kms (or when we cross 95K Kms on odo), I should have formed my opinion.

Stay tuned for more updates!

#TheRedSparkle is sparkling all over with those chunky tyres!

[armaaan.in]

Originally Posted by abirnale

Stay tuned for more updates!

#TheRedSparkle is sparkling all over with those chunky tyres!

One thing I was curious about how the cabin plastics and overall interior quality of the XUV700 hold up over time. My 8-year-old XUV500 (60,000 km) has developed significant rattles, while my Kia (now at 80,000 km) still feels solid and nearly silent. Has Mahindra improved material durability and refinement in newer models like the XUV700, or do interiors still feel prone to similar wear?

[CapKoura]

Originally Posted by armaaan.in

One thing I was curious about how the cabin plastics and overall interior quality of the XUV700 hold up over time. My 8-year-old XUV500 (60,000 km) has developed significant rattles, while my Kia (now at 80,000 km) still feels solid and nearly silent. Has Mahindra improved material durability and refinement in newer models like the XUV700, or do interiors still feel prone to similar wear?

I feel I may be able to provide an answer for this.

My XUV has completed almost 30 months, and the odo stands at 40k. I haven’t faced any issues with the interior so far, other than the center AC vent slider breaking. There is one extremely slight squeak (can’t even call it a rattle) from the hat-like cover of the twin screens, but that’s only on extremely bumpy roads and goes away with a thump of the hand.

The damping has also held up well, since the diesel clatter is still just a soft hum in the cabin. So have the leather seats, which have been a relatively easy affair to maintain, more-so given I have a golden retriever.

The only complaint I have is the choice of piano black for the center console, as that’s accumulated quite a few scratches.

Comparing this to my older first-gen 500, I can safely say that Mahindra has come a long way with interior quality and durability.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by CapKoura

....
I haven’t faced any issues with the interior so far, other than the center AC vent slider breaking
....
The only complaint I have is the choice of piano black for the center console, as that’s accumulated quite a few scratches.
...

Spot On - thanks for pitching in. #TheRedSparkle doesn't have any rattles so far - touchwood. No panels broken or anything out of the place - all is well. The plastic, leatherette and everything else holding good. Some interiors are soiled and its visible to keen eyes since the background is all white! But nothing that cannot be addressed with a small treatment of wiping and cleaning.

The Steering leather grip is holding good too - I was expecting that to wear out faster as it is the most touched part in car! After my runs when I drive back home, the sweaty palms or the oily hands after deep tissue massages are all over the steering. The steering is subject to all such torture and it's still holding well

Also, accurate that the piano black plastic around gear level has gathered some scratches mostly due to the coins I keep in cup holders and occasionally throw spare phones/ keys in there.

The only noise inside the cabin that I can't get rid of is "football in the boot" - but thats beyond me or for that matter anyone else here.

Oh by the way, my diesel engine clatter is little higher than normal first thing in morning. Once engine is warmed up, its back to normal. That's just Mahindra thingie with tractor DNA

[peddagunda]

The tyres look amazing. Such tyres with AWD will take you places that you would otherwise not have thought of. It will take you places much more than just some soft-roading. Happy mile munching with the new tyres.

[abirnale]

The Act of Escaping - with Mahindra Adventure in Bengaluru

The Mahindra Adventure conducts a lot of events for Mahindra vehicle owners across country. Now they have a one day escapes planned for Bengaluru too. Today was the first event - and I had signed up for it. It was a paid event, booked from www.mahindraadventure.com and costed Rs. 8K for a pax of four and our own vehicle.

After having changed to AT002 tyres, I was eager to test them on the terrain that it is meant for - hence signed up and went with my kids and a nephew to the event. Nothing spectacular - just the ordinary Mahindra Adevnture event with some goodies, lots of stickers and average food with access to a good off-road facility near Ramnagara.

The AWDs are mighty vehicles - we did all the obstacles without a drama. Except the ones which were meant for high gc Thar and 4WD Scorpio N, the FWDs and AWDs did all obstacles. The difference between the FWDs and AWDs was that, not a single vehicle got stuck or struggled as opposed to some FWDs needing serious help from the marshals. Good thing is - no recovery/ rescuing was needed for any of the cars, let alone FWDs.

The AT002 are amazingly grippy on the hard rocky surface. No wheel spins, no drama. The steering I have observed to be slightly heavier than with H/Ts but got used to it within a 25-30 kms of driving already. They are a bit noisy on highway I noticed but tnohting to complaint about - they are a lot silent than the rear suspension creaking noise I hear inside cabin!

The AWDs did not even have to go into manual mode, nor they needed to switch off ESPs. just following instructions of the route marshals, gentle throttle when needed, pushing through the A pedal when asked for is all that most owners did.

Long story short - I want to thank myself for choosing AWD and AT002

Sharing some pictures from earlie today:







Thisnis our forum member @sandegov in his black AWD:











And a compilation of some moments and pics into a video here:

https://youtu.be/HCN2-Wb8eck

Stay tuned for more updates as we go exploring again!

[supertinu]

Originally Posted by abirnale

The Act of Escaping - with Mahindra Adventure in Bengaluru

Stay tuned for more updates as we go exploring again!

Ohh I missed this event. I have started keeping a track of Mahindra adventure, will join the next one in BLR. Do you know when ?

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by supertinu

Do you know when ?

Not really - keep checking their instagram handle or website i mentioned in the post. The event is not much fun for FWDs though - definitely not value for money.

Originally Posted by abirnale

…
I went ahead with BridgeStone Dueller A/T 002 tires this time.
…

Approximately 2K kms have been completed. #TheRedSparkle has taken the significantly bad roads (including an undisclosed location inside a core jungle reserve on an official assignment) as well as superb smooth tarmac, the tires feel good. The Steering feel is the right amount of heaviness - Zip feels like Zap. Other than this, everything else is as expected - having great time with these tires. The highway noise so far is much much lower than the wind noise of the ORVMs itself and hence I am not missing the softer H/Ts yet.

Feels nostalgic to be eating at these typical Dhabas on the highways!



Stay tuned, we are yet again on a long drive due to work - into CG, and hoping to take a break on our return leg at Tipeshwar if not Tadoba

[IamNikhil]

Originally Posted by CapKoura

My XUV has completed almost 30 months, and the odo stands at 40k. I haven’t faced any issues with the interior so far, other than the center AC vent slider breaking. There is one extremely slight squeak (can’t even call it a rattle) from the hat-like cover of the twin screens, but that’s only on extremely bumpy roads and goes away with a thump of the hand. The only complaint I have is the choice of piano black for the center console, as that’s accumulated quite a few scratches.

Originally Posted by abirnale

...the piano black plastic around gear level has gathered some scratches mostly due to the coins I keep in cup holders and occasionally throw spare phones/ keys in there.

The only noise inside the cabin that I can't get rid of is "football in the boot" - but thats beyond me or for that matter anyone else here.

Same pinch CapKoura regarding the squeak from somewhere behind the twin screens! Haven't been able to diagnose the exact spot, but as you mentioned, a firm slap on the top (typical Indian jugaad ) always works. P.s. Mine just crossed the 40k kms mark after 3 years too.

The scratches on the piano black surface of the centre console around the gear and especially the round knob always bothers me when I get into the car, but will have to live with it, I guess.

"Football-in-the-boot" is something that my ears have now become immune to, as I am resigned to fate that this gremlin will continue to co-exist with the car

[abirnale]

Things have slowed down drastically - can give tons of excuses. But the fact is that #TheRedSparkle has been pretty much stagnant after 90K mark on odometer.

Finally, we have another epic road-trip coming up that will see us crossing over to 100K Kms mark - and we are super excited about this whole thing! The car is currently at 99.1 K Kms and we don't want to have the service to be done while on the trip - turned in the car to Chrome Motors yesterday for 100K Kms service

As usual, the ASC folks were amazingly thorough this time and took full day to complete various jobs! On the occasion of GoodFriday and the long weekend, the entire town is probably out - the ASC wasn't as crowded as I had hoped for. This made sure that staff could pay attention to the car, do every small work and return the car back by 5.30pm! Thanks to the team of SAs and Technicians including Zubair, Santhosh, Edrish, Hanumantha and Manju - longish test drive, proper check-ins of all parameters, #TheRedSparkle is in tip-top shape, as-if how it was 3+ years ago!

The major work completed on the car as part of 100K Service is:

• Engine Oil Change, Filters replacement
• Belts Replacement (only Alternator and Water pump. No pre-tensioner replacement as per SoP)
• Suspension Creaking noise addressed again - tightened whatever bolts we could find underbody.
• Identified the coolant water pump leak - replaced under warranty
• Noticed the vibrations on the body - worn out engine mounts/ bedding replaced at cost
• Noticed the defunct right fog lamp - found out that it had a rat-bite. Rewiring with tapes and refitting did the trick.
• Tires were rotated, no TMPS learning needed - Car auto-learnt it.
• Replaced the fuel cap - the stock had broken tie from the body-lid. Risk of loosing it at pumps is high, hence needed to replace it.
• DEF Topup to 100%
• Battery check: found that the distilled water levels had gone to almost dry level. Topped up from another spare battery and it is fine now. Apparently if we fill in the fresh distilled water, the battery ned to charge with external inputs. Since it will take more time, the ASC used their spare battery, transferred the distilled water form their battery into my car's battery. I am expecting the battery to give up sooner than later - have to be prepared for jump-start or replacements!

During the test drive, the changes were seen: the car suspension creaking noise had gone, the engine feels smoother - no vibrations on the body or in the inside. Luckily there was no software update pending - so no time spent there.

This was good and quick service with just 14K INR damage to the pocket - I remember the 100K service n 5OO was around 20K or so. The surprise factor is - the engine bedding. A lot of Scorpio N and XUV7OO within about 50K kms lifespan itself are reporting the replacements for this part - wonder if the quality of this part is on par with 5OO part! I also noticed that the cost of this part for 7OO is half of what used to be for 5OO. Thats when I think it must be also inferior in quality too - else how do we justify so many instances on various cars?

Here are the snaps taken during the service:

The current odometer reading:



The new belts: Also notice the pink residue from the leaking water pump from the coolant reservoir.



The worn out engine bedding:



New engine bedding part:



The fog lamp - rat bite:



Addressed the rat-bite: have to do something about it to avoid such things in future:



Filling in distilled water in the battery:



The overall Service Cost:



And thus we are back on road - towards end of this month, we are heading out for a long drive, stay tuned

[Sandegov]

Thank you once again for this detailed writeup, so glad to see the 1L service on your 700 and credit to that team of Edrish, Manju etc at Chrome who have taken good care of your 700 all along

Safe travels to the family for the upcoming trip and no better way to usher in the 1L on odo than on a trip out with family

[abirnale]

After a long time, we took the car out for our Sunday evening stroll. This time we went to nearby hill instead of the lake!

The April showers in Bengaluru and it's outskirts were great respite for otherwise hot summer! Even though it made car dirty (after having it washed in the morning), the feeling of getting out and breath the fresh air was something to cheer!

Lovely evening - sharing some pictures













Hoping for a better summer this year!

[vattyboy]

Originally Posted by abirnale

Things have slowed down drastically - can give tons of excuses. But the fact is that #TheRedSparkle has been pretty much stagnant after 90K mark on odometer.

Mahindra service cost and parts are very economical.

Since your car is AT, when you are getting ATF changed and you get alignment and balancing outside? because I can't see it in the bill

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by vattyboy

Since your car is AT, when you are getting ATF changed and you get alignment and balancing outside?

I definitely want to do the ATF refresh - changing it completely is time consuming. Moreover not many ASCs are willing to do it :(

At around 1.2 lakh KMs or so, I will get the refresh done. This needs to be planned well - ASC to be ready for me, car needs to be dropped a night before so that engine parts are cold when they start next day, post refresh drive around for 200+ KMs, recalibrate whatever need to after this... and so on.

Basically ATF change or refresh is a tedious and time consuming job. I have a lot of drive and work related things coming up. Will plan to do it when there is going to be some downtime.

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by abirnale

[*]Battery check: found that the distilled water levels had gone to almost dry level. Topped up from another spare battery and it is fine now. Apparently if we fill in the fresh distilled water, the battery ned to charge with external inputs. Since it will take more time, the ASC used their spare battery, transferred the distilled water form their battery into my car's battery. I am expecting the battery to give up sooner than later - have to be prepared for jump-start or replacements!

I would recommend battery change as soon as possible. Car batteries get internally damaged very easily ( due to thin plates ) and never truly recover. Weak battery can cause weird errors in modern cars as I discovered recently at my cost in my Marazzo.