Mahindra XUV 500

Over the years I have looked at various SUVs and Jeeps and always wanted to get one, but when it comes to family needs, smaller cars or sedan usually take preference. When I had decided to upgrade from my first car, a Santro, I was exploring Scorpio, but wife finally narrowed down to Honda City. Driving it has been a pleasure, no doubt and it has been an absolutely hassle free car.

When Mahindra launched XUV 500 the desire to buy an SUV resurfaced again and the price point and the feature packed alongside where the key pulling factors. But unfortunately for me, the booking closed almost as soon as it started (within 8 days). I went around and looked at loads of other SUVs, but they were either too costly or lacked some of the features. XUV was almost like the ideal combination of price, looks and features. At one point I had almost given up hope of buying it, but then in July 2012 the booking opened again and this time without any lottery and I promptly booked one. They had said 3 months and it came in 3 months. Note that it being diesel will help me save on driving cost, wasn’t what I was really looking at. I wanted a bigger vehicle to manage bigger family needs and always had a passion for SUV, so bought it J.
I am loving it!

I am not going to get into technical feature listing. That you can get from the XUV’s website (http://www.mahindraxuv500.com/), but will share my experience in driving it in city, on highway and long distance to Aurangabad, a distance of approx. 260 kms.

For a tall person like me, Santro had been good to get in and out. Honda City being low in its body, had that bit of an issue for me. XUV on the other hand is higher and takes a whee bit of effort to get in, though it is comfortable with or without the side step (that can be optionally added). Seating inside is very comfortable and there is ample room for me to stretch my legs. Unlike low seating vehicles, where thighs usually don’t get rest (for tall people like me), XUV provided full comfort to thighs and with its multi-adjusting back seat, even back support was good. The long distance drive to Aurangabad was done without any sort of back or leg pain and I got down as fresh as I was when we had started the journey.
Needless to say XUV is heavy, not that you have to lift it, but it feels heavy and hence a bit difficult to maneuver. You obviously cannot expect to handle it like a small car or even a mid-size sedan. As compared to XUV, I could push my Honda City to high speed even in city roads or deftly turn it to zig-zag in between crowded places. You cannot do that with XUV (maybe you can, but I cannot). If you are into in-city driving most of the time, this may become an issue with congested roads and smaller parking spots. Ironically for us at this time Honda City has become that smaller other car that I use in such congested places J.

On bumpy roads or roads with pot holes, it can become a bit of challenge. Being with higher clearance, it shakes lot more than does your typical small cars or sedans, which have lower clearance. What is lacks on such roads it more than makes up on smooth roads where driving XUV is an absolute pleasure. It just zips past and you don’t feel a thing. The vehicle is extremely stable.

There is ample leg room in middle seat and it also comes with 2 level inclination allowing the people sitting in the middle to also relax a bit on long drives. The back seat, is fairly comfortable, though on long distance it is probably best left for children or thin adults. Because the seats are all parallel, getting the back seat is surely not the most convenient as you need to climb and shrink past the middle seat, which is buckled up to make space. Getting in is relatively easier, while getting out requires bit more dexterity and hence adults will find it difficult to perform this task. Once in the seat, it is manageable, so if you discount the few minutes of trouble of getting in or out, the rest is fine. It would have been surely lot better had XUV also had options of perpendicular seats at the back like Scorpio or Xylo has, but then people say that in long drives, the parallel seats tend to be more comfortable rather than the side facing.

There is loads and loads of space to keep things, something that thrilled my daughter. She was excited now that she could carry lot more things with her. All doors have good sized place holders, with specific place for keeping bottles. There is even an AC controlled cool box which can be used to keep those cold drinks on long drives.

The spects/goggles holder is convenient but a bit tricky to manage while driving. I did use it a lot during the Aurangabad trip to keep my Ray Ban. There is what they call as Conversation mirror which can be used to look at people in rear seat during conversation, while staying focused on the road ahead. However I didn’t find this very useful. I could anyway see the people more clearly in the rear view mirror itself.

A feature that I had missed when being explained, and hence came as a surprise is what is called Static bending projector headlamps with LED parking lights. In simpler terms, when the vehicle is turning and the headlights are on, additional pair of lights light up, that are placed at an angle, thus providing wider lighting and hence less chance of missing some hidden object on a turn and hitting it.

There is an additional feature where by XUV enters what is like a stand-by or sleep mode when it is stopped (say at a traffic light). The engine is practically off. As you push the accelerator, the engine comes back to life again and you are ready to drive on. This feature is not present in W6, the model I bought.

Follow me home is a feature that is interesting, but I always keep suspecting it. When you park your XUV (and it is dark) and lock it, the headlights come on and stay one for about a min. This allows additional light till you get into your home. If you have a garage, this may not be useful, but in building parking like mine, this is helpful as it allows me to easily reach the building lift when the parking area lights aren’t on. I keep suspecting it as that approx. 1 min seems like eternity and I keep feeling that if the headlights don’t turn off, it will drain my battery, but they always do, so I fear in vain.

XUV is filled with lights inside and every seat has like a personal light. So I guess if during night driving, someone wants to read, like in Airplane, they can use their personal light. These lights can also be turned on in the lounge lighting mode, which is good, but I would have liked it more had they used some color other than red. I guess blue would have been good.

A feature that my wife likes is that as she opens the vanity mirror another small light right above lights up, making it easy to see and use the mirror.

One little but important thing. You always need to keep coins handy. Not that everywhere you go beggars will be there, but because the spare tire mounted under the back side opens up with a coin which needs to be turned in a small groove. 

While XUV is feature rich, Mahindra seems to have done a bit of compromise on internal plastic quality. There is a bit of cheapness in the looks. The various storage compartments in the front panel have lids on them that either don't open easily or close easily.



Lastly the gear aren’t as smooth to change as I could in my Honda City, especially the first gear and reverse gear. It sometimes takes that extra push to get to change the gear. Fortunately both of these are used mostly from stop to start and rarely while already driving, so it doesn’t impact the driving much.
So in summary except for those small lanes and by-lanes (where I hesitated taking my Honda City also), driving XUV has been a pleasure so far. I am very happy with my purchase.

Comments

  1. With a mammoth power underneath, styling and a torque rich engine Mahindra XUV500 is the best deal for powerful cars lovers who wants to test their adrenaline rush.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi,
    Nice review. Just wanted to know , how tall are you ? I am 6' 2" and was wondering if XUV 500 feels okay when you go for long drives , I have done the test drives but they can't be long enough ....

    thanks !

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rohit, sorry for the delay in responding. You may have already bought it by now. I am almost 6 and it feels great for me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi atul,
    How's the journey so far. Yo should have crossed 10k by now. Any issues and persistent rattles?

    ReplyDelete
  5. @WhoCares, the journey so far is great. Every time i drive it, especially on long routes, highways, it just feels great. Fortunately no persistent issues. The only issue is XUV shakes a lot if the road isn't good, which I think every SUV does, given their size, nature of shock absorbers and ground clearance etc.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's great information sharing with us about Mahindra XUV.If anyone wants to Buy Mahindra XUV 500 Tyres Online then visit our site Tyreonwheels and get tyre in lowest price.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Look wise the car is the best, interior is also good. Cars safety features are just amazing, to know more about XUV500 just check http://bit.ly/2odDxUF

    ReplyDelete

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