Mahindra And Mahindra — Xuv clutch failed in 2 month old car

Address:

560037

I Chandrashekhar Parate, bought Mahindra XUV 500 W10 (KA-03-MW-4776) in August 2015 (approx. 2 Months old, ran 2500Km). I went to spend my Dussehra vacation at Goa with my family (In Laws (age 72 and 60), Son (4 Yrs old) and wife.
I travelled to Goa by my almost new XUV on 19th Oct at 6PM from Bangalore and reached Hubli at 1 AM; I stayed there overnight and again started for Goa next morning around 9 AM. While traveling from Khanapur, Karnataka wild life area I noticed some issue in clutch paddle, clutch went suddenly down and was not coming up automatically, I tried to pull paddle through my leg and it came up. As it was a wild life area and single road, quite lonely so we decided not to stop there and continue the drive further to our destination. I tried to call customer care but no mobile network was available, I checked front panel if there is any indicator which shows any danger but no alert light was glowing.

I managed to reach at Goa- Karnataka border to find out that I was not able to move gear from current gear to any other gear, but when I used to switch off ignition I could move the gears. As I was moving down from Hills (Ghat) I managed to drive my XUV in 2nd gear without shifting gears. After reaching Mollem, I have contacted on MAHINDRAs toll free number and kept driving my XUV by every time shifting gears (when required) in ignition switch off mode.
After calling 4-5 times (call dropped because of network unavailability) on toll free number, I managed to talk to customer care and they agreed to send pickup truck in 2-3 hours. My family was going through the mental trauma during this 40-50 kms of drive and we all were tired especially my kid and in-laws, we managed to somehow reach our destination around 4PM. Pickup truck came around 6 PM and they took my vehicle to Muktar Automobiles, Verna industrial estate, Verna, Goa.
Next day real trauma started when I received call from Relationship Manager (Rahul Kotkar), according to him my XUVs clutch plate, Dual mass fly wheel and Cylinder Concentric were damaged and needed replacement. I was told that these parts do not come under warranty period. They asked me to pay Rs 45500/- amount for repairing. I asked them the reason of vehicle failure and the reply I got was “because of bad i.e. Half Clutch Driving”. I was surprised to know that after 15 years of driving experience this guy is suspecting on my driving skills. To mention, I never had any driving or car issues in my old car. I have told him that this type of issues are faced by two of my office colleague and Mahindra has replaced everything at free of cost. I was ready to give them there references but he said he will try but was not sure (All Conversation recorded)

Later I called Sireesh Auto, Service Head Mr. Sanjay Joel in Bangalore, he told me that it is not my fault and Mahindra would pay for all the damages of my XUV, he also showed sympathy towards me and assured me for help. As per him, he sent an email regarding this also provided me the contact details of Mumbai-Goa CCM (Mr. Rohan) and Bangalore region CCM (Mr. Jiju Raj). He was out of country then and I was told he would be back by Wednesday (All Conversation recorded)
I tried to call both the CCM but because of Dussehra vacation (both were not reachable). At the end of the day I could connect on Rohan’s number, he told me he has noted my concerns and since it was Dussehra holiday he will not able to do anything and will get back to me on next day (23rd Oct).

Next day I spoke to Jiju Raj (Bangalore CCM), he told me he cannot do anything as Rohan is the authorized person for same and he will go with his word.

After contacting Rohan, he asked me to wait for some more time as he was discussing this issue with higher authority, ( I felt it was delaying tactics as I have told everyone that I will be leaving Goa on 24th Oct morning so they have delayed this process intentionally ) and at the end of the day Rohan mentioned me it was my fault not the company fault and I need to pay 45500 Rs for repair. I din’t had an option that time as I had to start from Goa on next morning. As they informed me on very short notice, I asked them that I will pay the dues through credit card and will come to their service station by taxi. I hired taxi for Rs 1100 and traveled 50 Km with my family and luggage to reach their service station, while en route Relation Manager called me up and told me he will not accept payment from credit card, as the machine was not working from last night. It was very difficult for me to arrange 45500 Rs in such short time (withdrawing limit on ATM Cards) but I somehow managed and paid the entire bill. I have asked Xerox of additional document other than bill but they refused to provide it saying it was against the company policies. I feel there should be no harm acquiring any document (at least in Xerox) related to my vehicle.
I had mentioned to Rohan that when my colleague had not paid single penny for same issue then why did MAHINDRA charged it to me? According to him there is an issue with my driving skills and hence this issue cropped up. He failed to let me know why such an issue would come in a new vehicle and what would be the guarantee that it would not reappear. He had given me a unique solution that one of MAHINDRAs representative will accompany me for 5-10 KM drive and observe my driving skills and will also provide suggestions on same. (All Conversation recorded).

I am asking some hard question on this forum.

1) Why did this issue crop up in 2 month old vehicle (total kilometer ran is 2500Km), I need technical answer? I know XUV recalled some models with same issue, my car was also recalled for some oil filter issue.
2) People on websites have complained about the same issue and also few XUV models have been recalled, then why this issue not acknowledged by your CCM, don’t you care about consumer feedbacks?
3) I am mentioning again and again in my conversation that two of my office colleague also faced same issue and have not paid single penny, why the CCM has not taken this into consideration and checked with respective service station?
4) Why this issue is not reported in front panel light warning, MAHINDRA demo guys mentioned that if any light is not glowing in the display then everything is fine and you can drive your vehicle?
5) I was in Goa from 20th Oct to 24th Oct and was not able enjoy a single day because of this issue, I bought XUV 500 W10 in Rupees 18.70 Lacks (hard earned money) to roam around the country but I don’t have confidence in this brand after my Goa trip. Now I am more scared driving this vehicle. How can anyone believe that his/her vehicle is has no issues, as brand new vehicles are all giving problems?
6) MAHINDRA CCM mentioned that this is result of bad driving and he is ready to give 10-15 min crash course on driving skills, if this type of course is required before buying the car then why don’t you make compulsory training for everyone and mention it in your advertisement that “Mahindra Hamesha with good drivers” ?
7) I have asked to provide me all technical details for failure, according to Mr. Rohan CCM they have all reports which shows driver’s mistake, I asked him to provide the same but he told this is for their internal use and they will not provide any details to me. I was surprised with this statement, why don’t you make it public if it is driver’s mistake? (All Conversation recorded)
8) Other than bill I have asked service station to give Xerox for all document but they simply rejected my request, but I have taken photos of all documents. Why should MAHINDRA reject such a request?

I am expecting a refund for my bill and the extra expenditures incurred by me in absence of my vehicle.