Mahindra XUV 700 Review: Cramped and Cheap
I test-drove the XUV 700 crossover1 both in the city and on the highway, and evaluated it against my requirements. Based on this, I wouldn’t buy it. It’s cramped, uncomfortable and cheaply made, and missing a lot of features.
The XUV 700 comes in both 2- and 3-row versions, for which the Creta and the Carens are better alternatives respectively.
- The seats are white, which become dirty, as I saw in one of the Mahindra test drive vehicles. You can get black seats, but that means you have to settle for a burnt orange color outside. If you want black seats and a different color from burnt orange, you have to get the AX5 variant. If I were to buy the XUV 700, I’d probably buy this, since I don’t want to put in a lot of effort towards maintaining the seats, and I’d want a white exterior for it to be cool in summer. The following assessment is for AX5, where a + means a strength and a - means a weakness:
- Uses leather, which I don’t like since it involves cruelty to animals
± No auto hold
± The mirrors don’t auto fold when you lock the car.
± No auto wipers
+ Adaptive cruise control
- No 360-degree camera, nor front sensors to help you park close to a wall.
± No wireless charging, but it’s not a problem since it’s finicky and wired charges faster.
Comfort
- Headroom
- The seat isn’t electrically adjustable
- The steering wheel tilts but doesn’t telescope
- There’s plastic everywhere, which feels cheap. There’s no plush padding as in better cars. The fit and finish is poor compared to competitors.
Driving
+ Monocoque, so this is a crossover.
± Torque converter with 6 gears
+ Petrol
Digital features
- No USB-C in front, only in rear. You get two USB-A ports in front.
- Only 2 tweeters using Mahindra’s in-house music system, which doesn’t sound as good as the wonderful Bose premium 8-speaker music system.
Cooling
+ Panoramic sunroof
- No ventilated seats
- No climate control
- Can’t turn on AC using app
- No auto AC, so have to adjust temperature and speed separately
- Single Zone AC
- Neither the glovebox nor the center storage compartment is cooled.
- No rear window sunshades
Safety
+ Seat belt pretensioner with force limiter
+ ESC
- Only 4 airbags
+ DRLs
- No auto headlamps
- No TPMS
- No emergency brake assist
- No active rollover protection
- No lane departure warning
- No blind sport monitoring
Front passenger seat
+ Can stretch fully
- No height adjustment
Second row seat
+ Can stretch legs
+ USB-C
+ Phone holder
- Armrest not plush
+ Seat has upright and reclining position.
It’s monocoque / unibody.