Mahindra XUV 3XO long-term review tested against rival

By Jennifer Collins 31/07/2026 5 min read 13 views

Affordable cars from China have overrun the Australian market, pushing Japanese favorites out of the top-ten and putting pressure on South Korean and European rivals. Among this influx, one Indian manufacturer is hoping to ride the wave as a competitive alternative. Mahindra has experienced a resurgence in Australia, releasing a surprising array of competitive new products as part of a renewed global push. The car acquired for this review is the oddly named XUV 3X0, the brand’s latest entry-point crossover SUV starting at $23,990 drive-away. [1] The top-spec AX7L model is priced at $26,990 drive-away.

For the same money, buyers could choose the best-selling Chery Tiggo 4 in top-spec Ultimate form, the larger MG ZS Turbo (basic Vibe form), or the Haval Jolion (basic Premium form). If a longer-established brand is preferred, the options include the ageing Hyundai Venue or the Suzuki Fronx, though both are priced higher. The equipment list keeps things on the right side of good, though a few omissions exist. The 3X0 ticks key boxes including 17-inch alloys, LED headlights, synthetic leather interior trim, dual 10.25-inch screens for the digital dash and multimedia touchscreen, wireless phone connectivity and charging, a panoramic sunroof, 360-degree parking camera, and Harman Kardon premium audio on this top-spec model.

It lacks some luxuries like heated and power-adjusting seats found in a high-spec Tiggo 4, but for a small basic car, it feels the part.

Looking at the 3X0 from the outside, the sharp design is impressive. The brand was once known for particularly hideous takes on standard SUV archetypes, but the 3X0 might be its best-looking car yet. It features sharp contemporary headlight designs and a cohesive front-to-rear look. The angular design motifs with nice highlight detailing and trendy touches like the two-tone roof and diamond-cut alloys are noticeable. You could hardly tell from the outside that the 3X0 is an older Korean car underneath. It traces its underpinnings back to the SsangYong Tivoli thanks to the South Korean automaker’s time being owned by Mahindra.

Inside, some switchgear is identical to the SsangYong, while other bits like the lower portion of the centre console share a familiarity. The digital dash and multimedia touchscreen, however, feel much more modern, giving the cabin an up-to-date touch courtesy of Mahindra’s latest software. Aesthetically, the screens are pretty much the only thing keeping the 3X0’s interior in this decade. Old-school plastics and too much of the much-maligned piano black cladding on the dash are present. There is something refreshing about the simplicity of it all. Those paying attention would have noticed the abundance of buttons and dials making everything in this car easy to control, proving you can still build an affordable car without hiding all the climate functions in touchscreen sub-menus.

While the cabin feels dated in places, the driving experience offers a refreshing departure from the norm. My initial impression behind the wheel is that the 3X0 feels like a car from 10 years ago but in a good way. Too many compact SUVs in this class are dynamically a mess and dull to steer thanks to continuously variable transmissions or unintuitive fuel-saving dual-clutch automatics. Generally, you have to splash for something more expensive or a hybrid to make many options in this class nice to drive. Not so in the 3X0. It isn’t particularly special in what it offers, but the refreshing combination of a gruff little 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine and a real old-school six-speed automatic transmission makes it a surprising pleasure to steer. Its relative light weight and firm suspension keep it tidy in the corners, while little boosts of turbo surge are enough to put a smile on your face without getting out of sorts. Even the steering is a straightforward power-assisted set-up without an annoying amount of artificial software weighting as in some of its Chinese rivals.

One quirk noticed is that the safety systems are either not present or not annoying enough to warrant turning off. I even found myself not needing to scroll through a bunch of sub-menus to turn them off. In a way, this is a brand new car for someone who wants an old car. Tired of the annoyances of many modern vehicles, the 3X0 is a fun, basic little car to hop into as a palette cleanser.

Our little crossover isn’t doing so great on the fuel consumption front. According to my calculations—which I had to do because the computer only shows the consumption in km/L rather than L/100km—the 3X0 is drinking around 7.4L/100km, which is too high for such a compact unit. Perhaps it’s the fact I drive it a little more aggressively than I would otherwise, as I try to push the turbo surge and resulting fun out of the meagre 82kW on offer, but it’s still a number I’d expect to see out of an older non-turbo model. One cost of having a six-speed auto seems to be that driving style will weigh more heavily on fuel usage.

It is also a bit of bill shock having to refuel this car sooner than expected and during a fuel crisis. The roughly 450km travelled on my first tank of fuel cost me a whopping $61.33 at the pump, three times what it might cost to travel the same distance in a larger electric vehicle.