Brought home my Mahindra XUV700 MX diesel: 17 pros & 14 cons

ESP is missing for such a big car. I wish Mahindra could’ve skipped touch screen, speakers and given ESP in MX.

BHPian ramki.grandhi recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Previous car: Skoda Fabia 1.2 petrol.

My previous threads on car buying

Why XUV700 MX Diesel?

I wanted a big and nice car, as this might be our last car before the entire world shifts to EV. In general, I prefer petrol cars for their smooth ride, but at the time of booking, I wasn’t sure whether I should book a petrol or a diesel. Mahindra’s turbo petrol engine’s long-term reliability was unknown. Given that Mahindra is well known for diesel engines, I’ve opted for diesel. Though I’ve got enough budget for AX7, I felt MX offers more VFM and offers less tech(which I like). I work with multiple screens all day, so I decided it was fine not to have another large screen or complicated technology when I drive. I promised myself to cancel the booking if the XUV700 doesn’t score well in NCAP or if Mahindra doesn’t send the XUV700 for crash tests before my car’s delivery.

Booking experience:

As we all remember, the booking experience was a complete mess. But the sales guys at PPS Mahindra were able to get my booking done in the first 25,000 slot, which gave me price protection. Just like for anyone, I didn’t get any updates for a couple of weeks. And after a month, I got a chance to test drive it.

Delivery experience

I got my car allotted 2 months earlier than the promised date. I was in my home town and down with Covid. PPS sales team is kind enough to hold my car for 2-3 weeks, i.e., till I come back to Bangalore. They’ve promptly arranged PDI and taken care of the rest of the process smoothly.

What went well with PPS:

They got my booking in first slot, which saved me some money.
PDI was easily arranged.
They held my car for 2-3 weeks, as I was out of station.
They helped me with the process of getting a fancy number.

What could’ve been better with PPS:

They’ve taken me to their stock yard for PDI. On the way, near the stock yard, on the completely empty road, I’ve casually observed multiple Kushaqs, Taiguns, Thars being super rashly driven. They were intentionally driven at high rpm, trying to do hard braking or sharp U turns, which resulted in partial donuts. I’ve asked my driver(pps employee) what’s wrong with them. He said he didn’t know. I thought some groups of friends were casually having fun with brand new cars. After reaching there, I realised that this stock yard is common between PPS Skoda/Vw/Mahindra. And the guys having “fun” with cars are working for pps. A couple of guys were checking whether Thar could take up the curb, while others were cheering. I’ve asked my driver to handle my car carefully. He just laughed it off and asked me not to worry. After PDI, I took this up with the sales team, and they promised to take care of it. I might be wrong here, but I’ve got a feeling that if a new car from PPS has 150 kms on it before delivery, it is safe to assume that the car was abused for atleast 40-50kms.
Given that I was sick and couldn’t spend more time on delivery etc, I trusted PPS blindly and they convinced me to go with them for insurance. It’s the biggest mistake I’ve made so far. More about this in last point.
First service was decent, and the PPS service didn’t charge anything. But Koramangala branch was deep inside a small lane. The lane is so small and two XUV700s doesn’t fit side by side. While I was going, an autorickshaw came from the opposite side and touched my side mirrors. My car was left with a small scratch and I was left with harsh words from the auto-driver for bringing a big car into a small lane.
My car met with a very small accident. A pea-sized stone hit the windshield at 60-70kmph. I applied the brakes and the auto behind me hit the boot. As a result, the windshield developed a minor crack and it was growing slowly. The boot lid had some scratches. I went to PPS service Nagawara for repair under insurance. And “the drama” started. Reliance insurance team says they’ve approved the claim, but PPS says we are still waiting. This whole fiasco lasted for 13 days. They are not talking to each other like lovers who went through the worst breakup. I ended up wasting a lot of time on calls. It was a one-day job, and PPS kept the car with them for 13 days, with very little response to phone calls. This was during the Bangalore floods and I was worried. Finally, after 13 days and 45 phone calls, they’ve informed us that car was ready for delivery. But during delivery, they made me wait 3 hours. I was just sitting there and looking at my car. During these 3 hours, PPS service staff went for breakfast, tea, and lunch as well. When I asked for delivery, they just said, “We are working on it.” After 2.5 hours, I was frustrated, tired, and hungry and wanted to leave without the car. Then I found the CRM number written on the board. There were 3 levels of CRM, and I guessed that the bottom two levels were useless. So, I called the top guy (Lokesh). *BOOM* Car was ready in 5 mins. After the payment and everything was done, they stopped me again because, after the boot repaint, they forgot to put the XUV700 logo. I was tired and mentioned that it’s okay to not have a logo. But they insisted that it would take just 5 minutes, which lasted another 45 minutes. People who think Skoda service is bad, should visit PPS service in Bangalore. After the car was delivered, I’ve observed minor problems. a) Brand new windshield was greasy and my vision was compromised. It took a lot of effort from the car wash shop to make it look clean. b) Rear seats are dirty and doesn’t fall down when I pull the lever c) Because of the ceramic coating, the body’s shine was preserved, but when I touch the car body, I feel it is rough and grainy. Somehow the smoothness is gone at some places, not just at painted areas, even at headlights. d) They damaged the number plate (replaced with a new one later). On top of all, they’ve audacity to demand for 5 star in feedback form.

Positives of the XUV700 MX Diesel

Car is well planted at any speeds.
Diesel engine is less noisy than I thought.
Diesel engine is super efficient.
Boot space is top notch for a 5 seater.
Steering feel is decent and easy to drive.
Superior braking with 4 discs.
The seat fabric quality is pretty good.
Overall, interior quality is good.
Car has good road presence.
During initial 2 months, at least 4-5 unknown people randomly asked me about the car in general, they were surprised when I mentioned “base variant”.
Even base variant has steering mounted controls, touch screen/audio system, 4 disc brakes, arm rest, led lights in cabin, rear ac, Android Auto, driver seat height adjustment, etc.
Given the mileage and tank capacity, a full tank’s range is a big plus.
Door handles look fancy, but I’m not sure about durability.
Most of the components inside the car are exactly the same as AX5, which gives premium feel to Mx users.
Horn is nice and loud.
This is a comfortable 5 seater.
Car remote can be used to turn on/off headlights.

What could’ve been better in XUV700 MX Diesel

ESP is missing for such a big car. I wish Mahindra could’ve skipped touch screen, speakers and given ESP in MX.
The arm rest on door pads doesn’t have a cloth cover. Because of this, it is hard to do leather upholstery on doors.
Suspension is a mystery.
While power and torque are adequate for most cases, I had to downshift often while driving up Tirumala hill, with 5 people and full luggage.
Braking is superior but there is lot of brake dust and I doubt if these brake pads are durable like my Fabia’s.
Highbeams are pathetic, I had to upgrade.
Wipers get the job done, but could’ve been better.
Tires are noisy and offers average ride quality compared to Yokohamas on my previous car.
New users will have tough time closing and opening handles.
Start/stop system is stateless and annoying.
MX petrol has same tune as top variant but not MX diesel, I don’t understand the reasoning behind this annoying decision.
Clock gets reset randomly and shows wrong time. Even after multiple adjustments, it goes wrong again.
My 13 year old Fabia has one touch window up/down, I miss it XUV700
The rear wiper is another miss, I wish the government mandated this.

Things mahindra could’ve done better

Booking transparency.

Accessories availability and pricing. Accessories are crazy expensive, for locally made. For example: Luggage cover is around 14k, wheel covers are priced at 5k, sharkfin is at 4k, alloy wheels are at 70k including hub caps, etc.
Mahindra should’ve provided regular and relevant updates to customers who are waiting.
Still not given Android Auto to MX and no ETA
Their support is literally clueless. I feel sorry for them, as they’ve say sorry whole day.

Accessories and extras

Floor mats.
Wheel covers.
Ceramic coating.
Underbody anti rust coating.
Rear view camera.
Seat covers.
Fog lamps.
Blaupunkt damping 3.0 for doors.
Steering cover.
High beams upgrade to OSRAM NIGHT BREAKER LASER H7.
Car cover (This is 4k, still doesn’t have a cotton lining inside)
Slightly fancy number.

Open questions

After first year, can I move to different insurance, even after having 3 years of 3rd party with reliance?
Is it advisable to go with Dieseltronic or ECU tuning to get higher power?
Can brakes upgrade break warranty terms and conditions? Want to try Brembo or equivalent.
In last 6 months of usage, I didn’t feel brake judder even once, is this normal in a car with ABS?
Is it worth upgrading to Bosch wipers?
Which Mahindra service center is best in Bangalore?

Thanks for reading, some pictures below