It’s unfortunate that a lot of half-baked stuff and wrong information online and on social media about E20 and ethanol has ended up confusing buyers — and, in your case, steered the decision the wrong way. There’s really no reason to worry about E20 with any new car. Every manufacturer has already set up their engines and fuel systems to handle it comfortably. Yes, you might see a drop in mileage, but there’s no question of faster wear or parts damage. Even when higher ethanol blends come in down the line, E20 will stay available as the regular grade, so compatibility isn’t going to be an issue. For the kind of driving you do, the Mahindra XUV 3XO turbo-petrol with the six-speed auto would’ve been the sweeter pick. It’s a smooth, effortless engine–gearbox pairing, far nicer to drive than the diesel-AMT combo. Given your daily run of under 30 km, the diesel’s lower running cost doesn’t really add up over time either. Now, about the DPF — that’s a system fitted to modern diesels to trap fine soot and burn it off once the exhaust gets hot enough. The catch is, on short city runs, the exhaust doesn’t reach those temperatures, which means the soot just keeps building up. The fix is simple: give it a proper highway run every few weeks so the system can heat through and clean itself.
Still, the diesel 3X0 does score on economy, and when you stretch its legs, that lazy torque and low running cost won’t make you feel so bad about picking it over the petrol variant!
