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My XUV500 automatic: 35K km update with mileage, accident and warranty

27th May 2024, 14:44 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

Mahindra's after-sales service, though a hit-and-miss, will back you up and that inspires a lot of confidence.

BHPian shady_lawyer recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The last post came in at 16k km which seems like a lifetime ago.

Costs

Fuelio informs me that I've consumed a lot of diesel and spent a lot of money on service.

This is the cost inclusive of fuel and service. Not bad in my estimation for a heavy automatic vehicle. All in all, owning and maintaining a Mahindra has been quite reasonable.

That number of 26, I'm not sure, why Fuelio is showing me that however, I don't think I've managed more than 16 KMPL ever.

Updates

The front brake pads were replaced at the 30K Service, here is the bill. Horrible screeching and grinding noises had commenced, and while there was no warning light, the SA recommended replacement. The wiper blades have been replaced once as well.

The tyres have held up well and still have tread life in them for another 15K as per the SA. I rotate the tyres every 5K (first 5K at my local MRF Tyre Shoppe and the next one during regular service). The workshop folks need to be reminded to re-learn the TPMS, unlike the MRF chaps. One tyre has a slow valve leak that requires a quick top-up every week, however, since it has and continues to hold up, no plan for replacement as of now. The tyres are filled with Nitrogen. The Bluesense App is quite lovely and tells you the exact pressure, wish this data could be shown on the ICE as well.

Otherwise, the car and I have been chained to our desk, and running is limited to only in the city, however (touchwood) no DPF issues - my early morning Gurgaon/Court runs seem to be helping. Interesting observation, the auto box does not let the engine sit at 3K RPM for more than a few seconds, even in manual mode, it will force an upshift.

Minor Hit

So on a fine Friday morning, the most absurd thing happened. I parked the car and left. The Supreme Court parking lot, slopes from left to right. Vehicles are parked perpendicular to the road, and hence the car parked on the left of the road rolls forward.

This genius parked his i20 on the other side of the road and vamoosed. He DID NOT engage his handbrake, nor leave the car in gear. Result, in about three minutes the car rolled across the length of the parking and hit Aragorn. Credit however to the Mahindra build quality, the front bumper absorbed the entire hit and sacrificed the front fog light. This chap initially refused to pay, but as they say "don't worry he won't get far on foot", it was a question of this chap coming to the SC every day and running into me, eventually paying the cost of repairs.

I was frightened about the sub-frame and gearbox damage because the car was in park and absorbed a standing hit. Off he went to the workshop, where the car was carefully checked in the body shop with some machine and no deviation was found. Since the bumper itself was intact only the plastic frame, clips and the fog light were replaced.

I have been on the lookout for a reliable workshop in the Delhi NCR Area, and for every Mahindra Owner I recommend "RR Auto/Extra Edge" in Gurgaon near Ardee Mall. [C3RM+4G Gurugram, Haryana; Plot No 1575, Wazirabad Village Rd, near Ardee City, Gate Number 2, Sarswati Kunj II, Wazirabad, Sector 52, Gurugram, Haryana 122003]

This is a service-only establishment they do not have sales at all, which is great because the focus is purely on service. It is owned by an ex-army person and it shows. Best of all, however, the GM there is Ayam! Yes, the very same person who was in Harbans earlier. I've praised him before and I'll praise him again. Only because of him have I been able to find a reliable and trustworthy SVC. So much so that I bought the extended warranty, which means Aragorn is now covered till August 2025 or 1,25,0000 whichever is earlier. I'm contemplating buying the 5th year pack as well, which is another 25k.

For those who want a reliable workshop/SVC head over and connect with Ayam. It's far but at least the service is top-notch.

Two Warranty Claims

Delhi is being baked for a while now and my office does not have covered parking. Towards the middle of April, every time I started a car there was a strange metal grinding noise, much like if you touch a running fan with a wire. The diagnosis was traced to a broken plate on the starter motor.

SVC repaired the plate and charged me Rs. 1500 inclusive of labour, which I paid. Two days later however the sound was back, this time, however, they replaced the entire starter motor itself. Total bill ZERO.

However, during the service or maybe by coincidence something else broke. So every morning after startup, I would engage Drive and release the brake, only to have the rpm drop as if the engine was being strangled and cut out. This would continue till the engine and the box warmed up, after which there was no problem. Off I went hunting the team bhp threads and lo and behold, the last few posts were of Rodeo having the exact same issue on the exact same gb/engine combo.

The culprit is the damn "vacuum modulator". Come on Mahindra, you've been having this issue right from the start, either it was the hose or the body itself.

In the BS6 Avatar, however, the body is mounted upon the EGR, which is a pain because the entire left wheel well is dissembled to access and replace the part. Post replacement the jerk and dying rpm issue is gone. Bliss. Value of team bhp EH!

The upshot is that the two jobs thankfully were covered by the original warranty of the car which expires in two months, and would have cost me 20K or so. Mahindra and the SVC honoured the warranty without even me asking for it, and straight away FOC replacements were made. As I said earlier, Mahindra after-sales though hit and miss will back you up and that inspires a lot of confidence. However, I've bought the extended warranty now and that is a load off my head.

Mahindra however does not share any details for warranty repairs, even though the details are available in the system, no copy is given to the customer and only a Zero Bill is issued.

Nice clean (though dusty engine bay)