News

Why I replaced my 8-month-old XL6 with a XUV700: Ownership pros & cons

1st February 2024, 08:33 by Rahul Nagaraj

After all, I had downgraded from the 355 bhp BMW X3 M40i I had in the US to a 105 bhp XL6.

BHPian sumobom4 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Finally got down to pen my experience of getting my own XUV 7OO! I moved to an XL6 from a Honda City in Aug 2021 after driving the latter for only 8 months as I hated the behaviour of the CVT. The deceleration, especially, was extremely unpredictable and I just could not get used to the weird behaviour. When I moved to the XL6, it was because I wanted a large car as we planned to undertake many family trips and I was adamant that I wanted a TC/DCT transmission. Although Suzuki’s 4-speed ancient auto box is much maligned, it was very very predictable and I was able to extract some decent pace from it. The 1.5 engine was also pre-facelift, so it was quite peppy and not the humdrum K15C mill we now get in the facelifted XL6. The noise it made when pushed also sounded good to my ears. Anyway, although I was happy with the XL6, the itch to have something more powerful was making itself known. After all, I had downgraded from 355 hp in the BMW X3 M40i I had in the US to 105 bhp in the XL6. I had also followed the XUV 7OO release and was eagerly awaiting the new Scorpio. I was working on convincing the home ministry about the benefits of a bigger vehicle and finally, she agreed to “see” potential candidates.

THE HUNT

Tata – The first car we checked out was the Safari. It was very good-looking from the outside and had excellent road presence. I just didn’t like the dorky-looking headlights, but hey, you can’t have everything, I told myself! The Heritage Motors showroom in Thane was very responsive which was a refreshing change from the horror stories I had read. The salesman eagerly showed us the features of the car, explained the different variants and was fine when I said that I wasn’t necessarily booking immediately. A TD vehicle was arranged quickly. The first thing that I noticed was the centre console intruding into the driver’s area and hitting my knee. Come what may, I could not get into a comfortable position. The screen looked 5 years old and the horn pad looked like it was made of papier-mâché! The drive was very good, though. The driving position was commanding and the power was more than adequate. Sport mode was a hoot and a half and I managed to make the front wheel lose traction at 65 km/h! That was some serious torque going to the drive wheels, I thought. Suspension was firm, but I like it that way since I like to not slow down for the minor bumps. The steering felt fine to me; my first car was a Punto, so for me, all steerings after that have been disappointments – only the Mazda CX-5 came close to being called good in my book; even the BMW felt artificial and was a disappointment! Anyway, we also checked out the second and third rows – second row could shift fore and aft, so that was a plus. The third row was expectedly cramped but should be ok for sub-5’5” folks. The pricing was a tad bit on the higher side, I felt, for what the vehicle was. He even offered a decent initial trade-in price for my XL6 and I could have easily gotten him to give me more had we gone ahead with the Safari. Problem was, the wife hated it – she didn’t know why, but she didn’t like it at all and my knee was aching from hitting the hard plastic of the centre console. The Safari was a hard pass.

Cars like MG Hector, and Hyundai Alcazar were discussed but immediately vetoed by both of us as we felt they were too wimpy looking.

Toyota – With the announcement of the new Innova Hycross, we called the nearest Toyota showroom (can’t remember their name) and asked for a TD. They sounded supremely disinterested and said we could come and check out the car but they couldn’t guarantee a drive. Overall, the whole attitude was very snooty, so I immediately dropped the Hycross as a contender. I didn’t want to deal with a company that charged a few lakhs just for the name! Looking at the Hycross on reviews solidified my decision as the puny wheels on the car reminded me of those big Uncles on tiny Chetak Scooters from the '90s!

Mahindra – The only real contender left after all this was Mahindra. The Suzuki versions of the Toyota cars didn’t interest us. We visited Salasar Autocrafts in Thane. The immediate attitude was lackadaisical, and I had to raise my voice 15 min before someone even bothered to attend to us and no, the showroom wasn’t crowded! Guess they still haven’t quite calibrated away from the Jeep/pickup mindset! I was interested in the Big Daddy, but my wife insisted we check out the XUV 7OO as well. Sure, I thought, more driving for me! The salesman was smart – he got the 7OO for the TD first. The moment we stepped in, we got a luxurious feeling. It matched the Mazda CX-5 I had in the US and we immediately felt at home with the layout of the centre console – the joystick-like controller, the physical buttons, the dual-zone ACC. The screen was a clear copy of the Merc GLCs, but the first impression was they had done it well! All this was before I had even started the car! When we started the drive, I asked the salesman if he got us the petrol version to drive and he replied in the negative! Wow, the insulation on this car was good! I could hear the engine only when I pushed it. The power delivery was also very good and in-gear acceleration was brilliant. The Aisin box was also quite good and Mahindra’s programming was making it hold gears rather than look to upshift at the first opportunity. Potholes on Ghodbunder Road were dispatched with ease and the car did not lose composure at all. Going faster simply made the ride better. This was going super well. TD done, we checked out the back seats. It was disappointing to discover that the second row could only recline. That was a minus point. No sunshades either, but the Safari didn’t have them too! The third row wasn’t much different from the Safari. Boot space with the third row up was pathetic, but it was slightly better than Safari. Mentally make a note that this would strictly be a 6 seater for long drives with luggage (one third row seat would have to be collapsed).

Next, we test-drove the Scorpio-N diesel. The seating was even higher than the XUV and they had grab handles on the A-pillar to help you climb in! This was a proper ladder on the chassis SUV! Engine response was quite similar to the XUV – the 10 fewer horses were not noticeable during the TD. The road presence was a lot more imposing, and the pesky autos easily scrambled out of the way. The suspension had a hard edge to it at low speeds but going faster made it a lot better. However, the interior was a definite downgrade from the luxurious feel of the XUV. Body roll was more pronounced than the XUV, but that was to be expected. I didn’t plan on taking any corners at high speeds in this vehicle anyway, so I was not too concerned about this. When we checked out the back, the middle row was not as comfy as the XUV’s and the third row was worse! Mahindra has certainly missed a trick there with the weird packaging of the third row. The side opening back door was also a concern w.r.t. tight spaces.

THE DECISION

Predictably, the HM insisted we go with the XUV. No amount of arguments on the “respect” the Scorpio-N would get on the roads would make her budge. I was also secretly impressed by the XUV interiors. My only hesitation was due to the retractable handles which did not feel as solid as the conventional ones on the Scorpio-N. Finally, the HM convinced me (I like to think that!), and on Sep 3rd, we went ahead and booked an AX-7L D AT in Electric Blue. Wait time was quoted as 32-40 weeks. I was fine with that as the XL6 was driving well and I was perfectly ok extending my time with it. Our wait had begun!

In a month, when I was not expecting it, the salesman called and said that my car was allotted. I was very surprised since I hadn’t even started following up with him – I planned to do that after the new year started. Seems there was a cancellation as the original customer didn’t have their finances in place and the colour being a not-so-popular one with this showroom at least, I was the next in line! Hey, I certainly wasn’t going to turn down this opportunity and quickly started getting my finances in order. A loan was secured smoothly from Mahindra Finance as they beat out all other banks by a good margin. Salasar has a tie-up with Spinny and while they initially appraised my car low, I told them that I wasn’t going ahead with the deal unless they gave me a better price for the XL6. Some back and forth later, I had an excellent trade-in value for the XL6. The pending loan on the XL6 was cleared and the balance went as a downpayment on the new car. I asked them to bring the car down to the showroom from their Panvel yard for PDI and they were happy to oblige. I did the PDI as per the usual team-bhp guidelines. Odo was at 58 km which was acceptable. Didn’t find anything wrong with the car except for some minor swirl marks on the piano finish on the B, C, and D pillars.

I gave them the go-ahead and submitted the documents for BH registration. They explained that it would take time as the RTO officers were very reluctant to give approvals for this registration. I provided the Form 60 letter from my company in the exact format provided. After 3 days, the salesman called to inform me that the RTO officer had put in a request for the GST certificates of all the branches mentioned in Form 60. My company HR refused to provide this and I was seriously considering gathering more funds to go with conventional registration when help came out of the blue. I had posted about my issue on a FB forum and one of the members turned out to be working in the GST dept. He provided me with the GST certificates of the company branches which I then turned over to the showroom’s registration guy. The number was issued that evening. This whole process took 1 week, unfortunately, and I was sitting at home without a car, having withdrawal symptoms from the lack of driving! Finally, once the number was issued, I insisted to the salesman that I wanted delivery the next day and he agreed to try his best to make it happen.

THE DELIVERY EXPERIENCE

Finally, the day dawned and the salesman contacted me in the morning to confirm that he could deliver by late afternoon. I was fine with that as it was Navratri time and my wife had no qualms about auspicious times during this period. I had already ordered a small gift for the salesman and we got some sweets for the staff at the showroom and went there by Uber. There she was, kept hidden under a red velvet cloth in the delivery bay! We completed all the delivery formalities and excitedly went for the actual delivery. The showroom team made a nice fuss with the unveiling, music et al and we enjoyed basking in the moment. My wife did a quick pooja of the car. Their service guy explained the basic functions to me and paired Alexa with my login via my phone. The customary photos and videos were duly taken and the keys were formally handed over. A 10-litre diesel coupon was given for the bunk opposite and soon, we were ready to roll.

EXPERIENCE SO FAR

I have been loving the time spent with the car so far. She is effortless to drive and only after I started using her did I realize how much I had to work to keep the XL6 going in a sprightly manner. I am a lot fresher after a long commute in the Mumbai traffic from Thane to Sakinaka and that’s saying something! I have done around 6500 km so far and here are my observations.

Pros:

Commanding driving position
Respect on the road given to Mahindra vehicles
Excellent high beam headlight and the assist light at >80 km/h is a boon on highways
Cornering light feature is useful in dark unlit or poorly lit lanes
Auto Hold – major relief for my right leg at lights
450 Nm of torque – she pulls like a locomotive when in the meat of the powerband; leaves the pesky Cretas behind!
Sky roof – it is quite huge and easily a talking point when showing off the car to relatives and strangers, alike
Overall solid feel
Boot door has a nice thunk when closing even though it’s made of fibre
Niche to keep the phone above the wireless charger is useful

Cons:

Unsure if the retractable handles will last for years
No light in the boot
Sound system sounds very average when playing from CarPlay – no such issues when playing music directly from Amazon Music
Bluetooth mic volume seems to be set too low
The auto stop/start system can’t be permanently turned off
The memory seat button needs to be pressed continuously until the seat has finished adjusting – most cars require you to push it once
Zip Zap Zoom mode resets to Zap every time you start the car – should remember the last used mode
Need to slam the last door to be closed very firmly else it won’t close fully – showroom said it has to do with air pressure inside the cabin which makes sense, but I feel it’s a problem they could have solved for
Low beam headlights are pathetic
Wireless charger heats the phone very fast; would have been fine if it hadn’t been provided
Wireless CarPlay seems to drop for a second or two sometimes; it can get irritating in the middle of a good song
On those new-age rumbler strips which seem to be omnipresent at junctions these days, the rear end can lose a bit of composure, especially if you are on a curve

ACCESSORIES

I opted for a few accessories at the showroom itself. I went for:

Mudflaps
Screen protector
Rear ABS guard
Pedal covers

The day after I got the car, I went and got some more accessories from my usual shop in Vashi.

7D mats
Ambient lighting via spare fuse slot
Dashcam hardwiring via spare fuse slot
Side steps (M-Tek brand)
Sun film (Garware Ice Cool)

I considered getting the side steps from the showroom itself, but the cost difference was too much (OEM was more than double!) to ignore. Since mine is the AX-7L model, there’s not much missing, so I didn’t have to do much. The downside is that the bracket underside sometimes brushes against very tall speedbreakers if I take them at speed or if the car is fully loaded. The solution is to take it easy and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

I also changed the tyres. The stock tyres I got were Bridgestone Ecopias in 235/60 R18. I went to my usual guy at Super Tyres in Nahur and got Yokohama RV02s in the same size. There is a noticeable difference in the ride comfort and braking. Since the monsoon is over, I cannot comment much on the wet grip.

The boot light issue was fixed with a simple 200 bucks battery-operated LED lamp from Ikea affixed with double-sided tape to one side of the boot wall. The light can be unscrewed from the base, so it serves as a de facto portable lamp within the boot as well.

Around a fortnight after delivery, I also got a graphene coating put on by Maxshine in Thane. The owner, Mangesh Kalzunkar comes highly recommended by our local BHPians and his team did a fantastic job.