Surviving a family road trip with the Mahindra XUV500 Auto
When you plan a family road trip during the busy festive season, a number of variables determine just how smoothly things are going to play out. Busy roads, impatient drivers, delays in travel time – these are just some of the things one can anticipate. Having the right car to combat the mundane experience of driving behind slow moving trucks, or one with adequate comfort and safety systems in place, is key to a happy road tripping adventure.
After spending four weeks travelling to different towns on many different roads with my family, I can quite honestly tell you that the Mahindra XUV500 Auto saved the day, (and the entire holiday). My family isn’t the easiest bunch to travel with. In fact, transporting a truck full of feral cats might be a less painful experience. Had I been using my own car (a fairly outdated sedan that I really need to say goodbye to soon), we probably wouldn’t have been able to enjoy our time together quite as much. I probably would have left my brother (a terrible carpool karaoke guest), on the side of the road, as well as my sister (one who continually whines about feeling car sick after just five kilometers of travelling). I would never have heard the end of my dad’s complaints to do with my car’s lack of power and legroom. Thankfully, the Mahindra XUV500 auto saved my family from being left stranded on the N1, and here’s why…
All the space…
The Mahindra XUV500 is a mid-sized SUV, but really it feels much bigger! It measures about 4,58 metres in length and while it offers three rows of seats (seven seats in total) inside you get an impressive amount of luggage space with the rear seats folded down. Once you’re seated, legroom (and particularly headroom) is ample! If you want a car to feel more like a spacious lounge, the XUV500 gives you just that. (My very tall father was most pleased – what a relief!)
Cool Rear Passengers
It’s all very well when the driver (that would be me) and the front passenger (my dad) are enjoying the benefits of a refreshing aircon while travelling for over 400 kms on one of the hottest days of the year. But when this has little to no effect on those at the back you’d usually have to pump up the aircon full-blast and suffer a few episodes of brain freeze and dry eyes before the cold air reaches those at the back. Thankfully this wasn’t the case with the XUV500 because its Rear Aircon kept a consistently cool temperature throughout the cabin – it also kept the foul smell of my gassy brother far away from the front of the cabin – thanks Mahindra!
No Nonsense!
From both my family, and the XUV500. But more specific to the vehicle, one of my favourite attributes of the XUV500 is that there’s nothing pretentious or complicated about it. When you’re on the open road, it exudes a kind of toughness, as if it’s willing and ready to take on any sort of expedition without any flimsy or finicky processes involved. At times it was easy to forget that I was driving an SUV and could easily have imagined myself driving a powerful bakkie. Once the XUV500 kicks into higher gears, this is where it really impresses. The power from it’s 2,2-litre turbodiesel engine really shines on the open road and it’s no-nonsense automatic gear-changing is smooth and responsive. The more I drove it, the more I wanted to drive it, and that’s exactly what you’d hope for from a family-adventure vehicle.
Holiday Money-Saver
Once the feral cats were settled and we’d covered a fair amount of distance on our road trip in the Mahindra, my not-so-easy-to-impress petrol-head father asked, “so what does this go for then?” I was interested to know what he’d assumed: “tell me what you think it goes for, bearing in mind this the top-of-the-range variant,” I asked back. *Chris Rea distracts from the what-would-be moment of silence. “R450 000,” he guessed. WRONG. I was pretty pleased to inform him that the XUV500 auto is priced at R394 995, because for once I didn’t have to listen to him moan about the price of new SUVs these days.
Apart from the cost to buy it, the cost to own it (or at least to cover various road trips over 1000 kms in) is pretty affordable too. The XUV500’s drivetrain has been tuned to make it more efficient with a claimed combined-cycle fuel consumption figure of 7.4-litres/100 km – that’s pretty impressive for such a big car!
It’s also backed with a 5-year/100 000 km warranty and a 5-year/100 000 km service plan.
Happy Families
And so, I survived my family holiday adventure with the Mahindra XUV500. No one was left on the side of the road and finally seeing my dad impressed by such a vehicle was quite a feat. It was also the first time I’d ever witnessed my entire family fall asleep in a car (driven by myself) and as much as I’d like to take the credit for being that great of a driver, the XUV500’s smooth road handling and pleasant cabin ergonomics can have its share of praise too.
Also read: 5 things we love about the Mahindra XUV500 auto
For more information on the Mahindra XUV500 auto click here.