Mahindra XUV500 [2011-2015] User Reviews

I hv taken delivery of Mahindra XUV 500 W8 Dolphin grey from Sahyadri pune godown  on 22/6/12. at 18.00 Hrs.

We narrate the horrible experience I had on that day

The vehicle after washing was offered to me . I tried to start the vehicle. It could not.Problem cited was that the battery was discharged. The sahyadri people pushed vehicle in reverse & got it started .& gave to me for driving. I took a drive with their rep Mr Sushil & found some noise was coming.

They told it is of  rear safety belt & tied  it to seat to avid the noise

I left & drove 2 kms.The vehicle again was giving sound, I called Sahyadri people,They arrived & they  took the vehicle,i accompanied them.( 1825 Hrs).

They told it may be play in the seat & i can get it fixed at Aurangabad dealer.

I insisted & asked them to look into the matter & finally they took to their body shop.

At 2000 Hrs i recd a call from  Mahindra Road side asking me where do i want crane  for toeing ?I was aghast since i did not know that the vehicle was in break down condition since nobody informed me ie sahydri person.

On 23/6/12 I called  their sales /service persons 4/6 times & was informed that the vehicle is under inspection & problem is being investigated. In the afternoon finally I came to know that there is major defect in gear box & needs to be replaced. It may arrive on 23/6/12 or on 25/6/12. I reached their Wakad workshop 23/6/12 1600 Hrs, the workshop manager not present, his cell was switched off. The technician showed me the vehicle.& told me he will fit the new gear box upon receipt. I called customer care toll free number & briefed them my plight &  sub standard vehicle offered to me. I also categorically told them i am not interested in the vehicle & needs full refund/replacement. Asked them to connect me to senior person, they told I will receive a call before 1200 Noon on 25/6/12. Since I came from aurangabad to pune for delivery only, I returned back to aurangabad to attend my business. I am very much annoyed of the callous attitude of all involved & substandard product offered to me. We thought Mahindra to be the leader in Diesel vehicles & driven by quality &  booked it but the experience was pathetic.

NOTHING JUST THE APPEREANCESERIOUS PROBLEMS ABUT THE PERFORMANCE

I was a proud owner , when  i bought this XUV500 W8 in March 2012. I already have Honda City and Hyundai I10 also. As my title says do not fall as a prey on External Looks of the XUV 500. The vehicle has got too many Electronic gizmos when you compare with other vehicles, but poor reliability , low quality plastics. its not consistent that things will work when you need it. Having spent hard earned money 16 lacs , i regret today. External Looks - good Engine - good , Brakes - Grinding noise on the first 1000 km's itself. uncomfortable feel to apply brakes. Air Conditioner - Huge noise from the blower  After sales service - Worst , Dealerships are not trained and not equipped to handle customer of this class..

Reaching Mahindra - Himalayan Task, cannot reach anyone of them , you can reach the dealer service centers, where you will get no results.

you will get sweet words and literatures talking about Mahindra and their service policy . All are utter waste , nobody will respond from Mahindra. they claim five ways to reach Mahindra, resolution or reply within 6 hours of your call. waste of time, call centre , email - even after 7 days no response , no acknowledgment , no reply no resolution, ( have proof ).you can expect a Government office response from them , Since you are not accessible to Mahindra , Dealers are at their discretionary to decide about your warranty claims.

I have driven 5200 Km's as of now. within three months , my brakes are with grinding noise after so much of request to the dealer executive , got it replaced at his grace. Now the doors are getting fouled with front  fender assembly , which i have made a complaint with Mahindra on Toll Free, where  they committed to arrange a call back within 6 hours. even after repeated reminders to the same toll free numbers , nobody had called, sent emails on the brake problem before 7 days, no response from mahindra.  

but on website, you will have so much of assurance on customer care even you get President's email id , but there will be no response from them.

The vehicle is being tried and experimented at the customers money. Meantime commercially every dealer is enjoying their profits at no costs. Trying to capitalize and make money on defects and warranty claims too.

Time is not very much for away for mahindra to get its rewards for their irresponsible attitude towards customer care. 

Good External LooksWorst Service | No response from Mahindra

Yesterday I had the honour of test driving XUV 500 at Gurgaon. Since M&M has been developing the vehicle with Global audience in mind, I had high expectations. I think, M&M has simply overdone this global feature list. XUV 500 is packed with goodies but the real problem is the need and quality of these fittings. Lights on door handle, lights on floor, over 50 plus status/warning lights on dashboard and much more. I am sure with time, over half of these electrical fittings will give problem. M&M should have kept the things simple.

What M&M missed in their single mind determination of packing the goodies was the suspension. On Gurgaon's bumpy road and speeds of about 100kmph, the vehicle was bouncing all over the place. Simple road level transitions that should not be sent to the passenger compartment, were duly amplified in it. Both the forward passenger and rear passengers were air borne a number of times. Another great tickler was the steering column. It was fun to "feel" the steering turn on your shoes. 

M&M could have put more design power on basics of an automobile like suspension and steering rather than on door ajar lights and tyre pressure warning.

Overall, I would not recommend people to buy the XUV 500 yet. Wait for another year to give M&M a chance to correct the basic flaws. I am sure they must have heard back from the customers.

If buying a SUV is your obsession now, go for a Scorpio or a Bolero (with interiors redone). Both vehicles have gone through multiple design iterations and are much better platform now. 

If XUV 500 is your new found love, then like all loves, let it mature first for another year before you bring it home.

 

Power + InteriorsSuspension, Too many gadgets

Exterior Good nlooking car. But side fenders and front bumper  made of fiber and not metal to reduce the weight of the car. This means that you hit it anywhere, the whole piece needs replacement. Hence, what it means to us is take a more expensive all inclusive insurance.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Interiors good. I have nop complaints on on aesthetics of interiors.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Good.

Ride Quality & Handling MOST important section: I bought XUV 500 W8 on Jan 15. and this is the list of issues I have faced in last 15 days:
The car has been manufactured using worst quality material. So its not a low cost car..its a cheap car with inferior quality material and you end up spending the money that has not been spent on it. Think before buying it as any 16L vs XUV for 13L...but cost of fixing things up makes up for that 3L difference. Mahindra service centers and engineers have no answers to my questions:

1. Break drums are rusted.You can see it visibly from outside. Mahindra blames the vendors. For evidence, check any other car/ SUV on road and you would know what I mean.
2. Wipers are bad quality and if it rains and you use them, they cause scratches on the windscreen. It may not happen in the first 2 minutes of usage. It can be so bad that you may want to change your windscreen.
3. Windscreen is single layered glass. Small pebble-touch can cause it to crack/ break. I have already replaced mine. I really thank Mahindra service center to do under warranty; however, it has scared me as it can happen again
4. The beautiful headlights and are made of bad glass. I have driven my car 1500 km and there are spherical shadows in the headlights from where the light passes through.
5. Aux unit does not work. Engineers have agreed that its a cause of worry in all the cars. You can test it using your iPod. You would not be able to hear the sound in all the speakers/ there would be continuous noise in audio quality.
6. The awesome red colored central screen switches off and on, on its own. You wanna try it...open the box on top in the center of the car, right above the console. Bang it a little harder...ur touchscreen is likely to reboot! :)Please don't be happy if it doesn't as it may happen at any time. Surprise is the fun part!
7. Hard suspension! you drive any car/ sedan/ SUV and you drive your XUV over the same speed breakers. You can feel the difference. XUV would throw you in all directions and you would feel all the bumps.
8. Here is the shocker! Breaks suck! hand break is so bad that the car can slip any side depending on the side of the slope you are with your hand break pulled up. Try pulling the car up on a slope if you don't believe this.(Please do so under supervision as it may cause an accident. I drove the car in Simla and experienced this).

9.The meter that shows car average doesnt work. :) they have rebooted the entire system as its electronically controlled. Still doesn't work.

Final Words DONT BUY THE CAR. WAIT FOR OTHER SUV'S TO BE LAUNCHED.

Areas of improvement LISTED ABOVE.

Great Looks..no competitionUnsafe as breaks suck + inferior quality material used

We cancelled our booking of Hyundai verna automatic on the day your vehicle was XUV500 was launched reason was we went to see the XUV near by showroom named SRI Durga Automobiles , me and my dad were so impressed by looks and features that we immediately booked top model  W8 AWD, we were informed for waiting period for around 4months which we thought is worthy for getting such a kind vehicle, after two month in December we were informed by dealer that one customer has refused to took delivery cos of ending year so if you want you can take the delivery, it was feeling like top of the world, we took the delivery from showroom which seems to one of the memorable moments. finally we got our CHEETAH XUV 500 AWD. Just in month I drove my vehicle from delhi to jalandhar along with my few relatives it was un-believable that as I crossed 80km/hr my xuv started vibrating & back passengers can feel it more loudly, it was a chance to drove my xuv on highway at maximum speed but vibrating noise scared me lot that I don’t crossed even 100 km/hr and felt so embarrassed in front of my relatives, it was my first Mahindra vehicle,we can’t afford suv like Toyota fotuner, Ford endevour so we thought Mahindra has made this class xuv for such a people like us.

After reaching delhi I took my vehicle to service centre for vibration problem and I was said to leave vehicle for 2 days that engineers will come and check the problem after 2 days I took my xuv as it was ok as per my relationship manager, next day while driving on empty road I found same vibrating problem coming so I called my relationship manager about and he told that you send your xuv in first service we will again check the fault as I can’t leave my xuv, cos I need my xuv for work, so after a month I dropped my xuv for first service at sri durga automobiles, this was my worst experience I felt in my life, I have seen many other brands service but this was something new to experience. In the evening I went to took my xuv from service I just came out of the service centre and found that my navigation is not working  again moved in to relationship manager, he told computer people had gone to you come in the morning, I moved in again in the morning and after a long wait for more than a 3 hours my infotainment system was changed as said by techinician that is was not working. Ok I took my xuv out of the service centre and found many lights blinking on the cluster again I moved in and my relationship manager said we need to scan your vehicle, it was done within 1 hour and finally everything working ok so I took my xuv from there.

Again after one month I got chance to drive my vehicle from delhi to Chandigarh and I felt same vibrating problem, after I came back I again went to service centre and met service manager Mr.Chauhan he promised me that your vibrating problem will be cleared so he called Bridgestone manager about the problem and discussed the matter and finally bridgestone manager advised them to check the balancing of the wheels which were done under manager supervision in service centre. According to mr chauhan my vehicle was ready as the technician himself has taken the test drive, so I took my xuv from service centre.

Again after a week I drive my vehicle at 80km/hr and found same vibrating problem so this time I was so angry that I decided to check my xuv wheel  balancing from a good techinician outside, it was done and next morning I have move for jalandhar so I found it was good time to check the vibrating noise, I was so shocked that it was still there,

Now its been 6 months and my stupid xuv 500 awd has just done 4000kms cos I don’t like to drive it at all so I buyed a small hatch back Hyundai i20 crdi for my work now I just took away my xuv once a week on weekend with family for for local city drive only.

Now we feel like we have been cheated by giving us such a poor quality vehicle,I will never advice anyone to go for this vehicle.my question from you at last is:-

SHALL I STILL FEEL PROUD OF MY XUV500 AWD?

EXTERIORS ONLYPOOR RIDING QUALITY

 

Exterior The Extirior is outstanding with sporty looks and the Cheetah inspired head lamps and door handles.This car leaves behind Tata Safari and Toyota Innova in the looks.Also the "Static bending Projector Headlamps" which bend there bulbs during a turn and the water and darkness sensors in the wipers and headlams respectively add a touch of class to this SUV.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) The interiors are awesumn with a dark coloured console with touch screen audio player and inbuilt DVD player.This audio system also has an inbuilt GPS navigation system which will never make you loose your path.This system covers about 1.5 milloin kilometers in about 1200 cities.

There are AC vents in all the three rows and a cooled glove box which allows you to keep your drinks cool even in the hottest of the weather. Small things like the looking mirror,bluetooth connectivity parking sensors and mobile charging points in all the 3 rows which are not seen in many cars before make this car one in a few.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox The fuel economy is yet to be reveiled by Mahindra but the Engine of this car is said to be spectacular. Giveing about 140 ps power @ 3750rpm. It is the mhawk 5th generation VGT engine which is being used in  Scorpio aswell. The gear box asusual is 6 speed manual and the automatic version is yet to be luanched.

Ride Quality & Handling I had taken a test drive earlier today and got to know that the ride quality of this SUV is superb with wonderful handling. This is because the car is very stable as the ground clearence is quite less and the wheel base is 2700. Although it is a heavy vehcile weighing about 2450 kg and has a turning radius of 5.6 metre it is a good drive.

Final Words I would suggests all readers that the Mahindra XUV 500 is a wonderful buy for the features in it and the extra ordinary price but I would also warn you to watch out for the quality of the interior and  the performence of the engine.

Areas of improvement The areas of improvment in this car, as I said earlier are the quality of interior which include the quality of plastic and rubber being used.

Tyre tronics, Unmatched power, Comfortable seats, Cruse control hill descent Bluetooth connectivityOnly bad thing in this car is the quality of the substance in the interiors.

Test drove, XUV 500 today. Excellent looks, great design, infact it WOW'd me. But the reality started to sink in slowly, performance sluggish. 2 liter engine was OK, but no match to the TDI engine from Skoda's. Worst part was the interiors. It has almost all features you could ask for. Front and side air bags for driver and passengers, both front and rear. But the plastics are cheap. so cheap that I felt even my Santro has better grade plastics. The so called leather seats felt like cheap grade Rexin. I wanted to see the inside after folding the rear seats and the more skeletons came out. Material used for seat cover backs felt like cheap rug material stiched onto the seat covers. When I opened and closed the doors. didnt get the feeling as if I am dealing with a SUV. it sounded somewhat like what you feel in a Tata SUMO. Then checked out the the rubber on door edges, which reminded me Ambassador. Phew.

Now the road experience, Felt nice and comfortable (note that I was driving in mid town city road. so no scope to really push the gas). Felt a little sluggish on 4th gear. Need to do more or highway driving before I comment more on driving performance. GPS navigation is good and nicely placed. didnt use it though. I've been told it has voice prompts as well.

Overall. great car for looks from outside. especially the LED lamps under the head lamps gives the look of a top end vehicle. But when I am paying 14lakhs, i expect to be treated with more respect and not with cheap grade plastic. Sales guy tells me that they got a certificate from some agency on 15kmpl mileage on highway. So I am not expecting more than 13 on highway and city roads easily around 10kmpl.

Final Words I went with great excitement after watching all the reviews on TV and reading the comments on web. but came back dissappointed.

Areas of improvement Materials used for interirors are real cheap. I wonder how much does it cost for you to use better material. They want to save money on this???. Companies really need to start treating its customers with more respect.

Excellent looks, great design, infact it WOW'd me...Very very cheap material for interiors and plastics. Cheap rexin used in seat covers.

Never ever decide just based on these reviews. decide only once you analysed the vehicle. this is my experience with XUV500. It seems very attractive but has lot of problems in this car. Be it steering, brakes, windshield, corner posts what not I can list several problems that I saw in this car. especially dealer and service support in Hyderabad is pathetic. Mahindra call center people never answers calls. dealer vvc motor never resolves the issues. i request you to experience the vehicle your self before taking decisions. reviews might have been given by dealers or supporters of Mahindra or tv people but may not be real customers. becareful.here are some problems which I have in my new xuv500 which was delivered just 3 weeks ago.1. steering is not stable. it is shivering a lot even at 50kmph speed. 2. brakes wont get applied when needed and makes lot hell of noise even at low speeds like 50kmph.dealer agreed that it has brake pads problem but he cannot replace until my vehicle gets recalled by Mahindra. I didn't understand why  Mahindra couldn't rectify this issue even several customers provided their feedback.3. windshield had problem. in my opinion manufacturing defect but dealer always trying to prove that it is physical damage. 4. corner posts were just kept like that and there is no thinking made when designing. no corner visibility. when you compare with innova, innova has much clear visibility. I can say this is very poor design.5. finally customer support. it is very very worse than I ever saw from any other car manufacturer. I request you experience the vehicle your self fully before making a decision to buy this car. don't jump just based on reviews. Kiran.

Exterior looksBrakes, steering, cornerposts, driving comfort, service and support

 

Exterior Muscles, Mass, Road Presence, Firm and stable.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Unique, thoughtful, spacious, comfortable.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Zooming fast with great stability

Ride Quality & Handling Classic.

Final Words Tata's Stop making elephants.

Ford Leaf springs!!! grow up burger kings.

GM Stop selling disliked models back home.

Skoda Customer first you beer guzlers!!! stop selling and forgetting customers.

Toyota Stop feeling us indians. Resessession is a passing cloud here. We have deep pockets which you cant even see. stop giving your old bride(innova) a dose of harmons to make it fatter and taller(fortuner). understand us and make a product.

Areas of improvement Dealer should be more systematic and customer oriented. Product knowledge at dealer reps very low, Test drive wait is 3 days!!!!

We are a free economy if you dont supply on time people will buy elephats, old brides, leaf springs so guys buckle up and redesign your RoI model. you can do it if you want too.

Value for money, Features, Robust and its MahindraLast seat, dealers(not trained and organised), demo of the car...