Mahindra XUV500 [2011-2015] User Reviews

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

 

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 This is a sure shot head turner and at times, you would be stopped by enquisitive passer by to know more about the car. Those who miss the logo take it for granted that is a foreign import. The looks are imposing and you get your right to overtake the moment they see you in their rear view mirror.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Again superb by Mahindra standards. Only some plastics like light switch console needs to be better and I am sure Mahindra will take care of it in next production cycle.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Engine is powerful and has returned me a FE of 13.4 in city and 14.8 with full time AC on. I have driven it at top speed of 150 kmph effortlessley, with enough power left to rev it further.

The gear box needs some improvement as the gears are little hard and I was told they would be better after first servicing. Now the gear shift is marginally better. Putting the reverse gear requires some practice and patience though.

The vehicle is a breeze to drive on highways on 5th and 6th gear and engine becomes very silent on these two gears. Also one can drive anywhere between 40 -120 on the 4th gear without any engine knocking.

Ride Quality & Handling Ride quality is much refined compared to scorpio but not similar to innova. Needs some improvement on shock absorbers. They are relatively harder and one can feel the same on rough patches of the road. The vehicle is comfortable with high speed turns for the vehicle of this size and bulk. Features like cruise control make this vehicle a pleasure to drive on highways. Hill accent and decent is wonderful features for ghats without risk of overheating of the brakes. However offlate I am facing problem of hard brakes.

Coming to the breaking section, the vehicle performs wisely when there are 'Idiots of the road' who dont care for their life and others as well. Thanks to XUV's 4 discs, ESP, EBD, etc.. Good news is that Mahindra has listened to its customers and not giving improved brakes to the customers under warranty.

Final Words Mahindra has brought a 'Game Changer' on the road. They have been successfull in delivering a package which has a imposing design, reliable performance, and very good value for money for a Indian customer who has been wishing to buy a foreign SUV but held back by price.

Please do not compare this car with Fortuner or Captiva. You would be disappointed.

Areas of improvement If they make the middle row of seats movable like the front row, one can accomodate 3 people on the last row as well. Currently only kids can sit in last row and middle row is left with excess leg room. This can be utilised better by equipping the middle row seats with sliding capability to push them in front. I will update the review after getting new set of brakes

 I can provide more information to anyone who is seriously thinking of buying it. You can write to me on tusharphule@gmail.com

Looks, FE, FeaturesSeating in last row, Boot space, Suspension

Exterior Great.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Lots of features, lots of space and comfort.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox The engine is not very refined, fuel economy is much less in city comditions(9 kmpl) then what the company claims. the gear box is a major problem. My car has only 4000 kms on it and i had to change the entire gear box recently.

Ride Quality & Handling Ride quality is not very good specially on bad roads, u can literally feel each and every bumps and even the minor potholes.

Final Words Its cheap compared to other SUV's in the market and a very tempting buy because of its looks, features and road presence, but dont fall for that trap, its a very bad quality product.

Areas of improvement I would suggest the company to cut cost on some of the features like tyre pressure monitoring and the touch screen display as they dont even work that well, and spend some more mony on improving the  engine refinement, suspentions, gearbox and the overall quality of the vehicle.

looks and interior spaceEvery thing else

Just drove the car today morning.

A friend of mine brought it despite of researching a lot about te car...he blindly followed wat he looked at the first sight..DATS THE LOOKS OF THE SUV :(

First thot of giving a technical..feedback..but m giving  a lay mans feedback. One that majority will notice on the first drive..!!!

Wont comment on the looks as M& M have worked their ass on it.

Awesome looking car with tremendous features and gadgets and all.

BUT>>>>> WAT DO WE DO WITH A  CAR...We DRIVE IT.......!!! M&M FORGOT IT...

Bad steering wheel and noisey cabin.

Worst suspension ...a little speed breaker will make u air borne.....and ull do yoga in the car.

Mcpherson suspension do a shit job.

In the top gear .......the TURBO lag is there......car takes tyme to react to the throttle say a second or 2.

Cant imagine .......2.2 Litre Mhawk VGT engine engine is the same as in the Scorpio and i think it proved its worth more there rader in this car.

Drove the car for an hour doin cuts and cornners and also a lot of straight lanaes. MILEAGE - 11kmpl ( Lil Depressed)

17 inch tyres looked like a joke ....could have had 19inch for a change. Performance would have been better. Nor do they go well with the body.

As far as gadgets are compared and the dashboard is concerned ...would make you feel like you are in a COCKPIT of a JET the feel is awesome...... BUt In ABSENCE of performance its was not worth the mullah spent. 

Quality of plastic polymer used is poor.......seems grade 2 or 3......for a car of this level ....it should have been more refined.......and finished.

Now for a music lover like me...the incompany...audio and the speakers ..aint no good...cant M&M coolaborate with JBL .JVC..or BOSE ...when its called  a SUV and u gonna do thousand of kilometeres in it...why overlook the entertainment...segment....... .THe speakers purr like a CAT......and the systems reboot n number of times......SHIT TO THAT> >>

Cooling ///...gets a 5 star.

overall..........for an ordinary indian the two things dat matter the most are the looks and the performance.(  majority  give shit to gadgets and unecessary ....alarms and ....metres)

For LOOKS - 7/10

For Performance - 5/10

For Suspension - 4/10

For Steering and CABIN NOISE - 5/10

Styling , Comfort , LookPoor Engine....Bad Steering and Suspension , Poor Mileage