They say there's no turning back after a Range Rover, but life always knows how to surprise. Many years of owning an Autobiography and plans to switch to a Velar were cut short after a chance visit to a dealership with cars from China. The test drive turned into an impulsive purchase of a CheryExeed TXL all-wheel drive with a 1.6 turbo engine and a "robot". Now the odometer already shows 117,000 km, and the owner honestly shares his feelings: the car has long ceased to be the one that left the dealership, and the story itself is a classic example of how an attempt to "check the Chinese" turns into a large-scale experiment.
The first impression played a role: strict design, high-quality noise insulation, a refined interior with carbon fiber and heated steering wheel. But as soon as it came to multimedia, surprises began. A raw firmware, unstable Bluetooth, buggy navigation and a "cut-down" Russian configuration without radars, a front camera and a T-box literally forced the owner to plunge into the world of Chinese разбирательств. The situation was saved by the fact that the wiring is unified, and the Bosch units are easily compatible. A full-fledged head unit, telematics, 4G, AR cameras, face recognition and an ADAS system with adaptive cruise control — he added all this himself, laying the wiring, installing the radar and even replacing the windshield due to the lack of a cutout for the cameras. So the TXL became almost a "full" configuration, but at the cost of enormous effort.
Over time, childhood diseases also appeared. The electrics are capricious: sensor failure, a dying brake "frog", GLONASS oddities. The turbine sensor fails at 5,000 – 20,000 km, the battery does not live even a year. On the pre-styling, the varnish on the discs massively peels off, the interior annoys with squeaks, the sunroof may leak. The side of the seat is a separate pain: the leatherette cracks every 30,000 – 35,000 km, dealers drag out the time, so the owner solved the issue by redoing it with third-party craftsmen. The suspension also requires attention: the lower arms start knocking much earlier than expected, and many change them to reinforced parts from the Exeed VX.
But there are also bigger problems. The gearbox in the pre-styling is prone to suddenly switching to neutral — the manufacturer released an update, but the effect is modest. The brakes are recognized as a weak spot: they warp, the pads wear out quickly. The owner took a radical approach — he replaced the standard system with six-piston calipers and 380 mm discs. There are also technical nuances due to which dealers often remove the car from warranty: for example, the expansion tank cap eventually jams, causing problems with the radiator. It needs to be changed every couple of years. It seems that the TXL is held not only by engineering, but also by the ingenuity of car owners.
The repair routine has become a separate stage of life with the car. The right engine mount died at 86,000 km — the dealer has expensive and uncertain terms, the usual service coped in a couple of hours. At 90,000 km, the reducer seals and rear arms were replaced. A whole epic arose with the antifreeze update: there was no drain valve, the system was purged through the return line. By 117,500 km, the suspension "gave up" completely — the squeaks became deafening. The result is a global replacement of silent blocks, ball joints, rods, supports and stabilizer rubbers. After investing 45,000 rubles, the TXL became assembled and quiet again.
The equipment is also surprising. For example, the 2.0 version has laminated glass, while the 1.6 has ordinary glass. In reality, the glasses are interchangeable, and after the upgrade, the cabin became quieter. There is also no back heating: the small mat installed from the factory was replaced by the owner with a full-fledged VAG one for little money. Chinese oddities — they are like that.
In the final, the owner sums up: the crossover is reliable, the body does not rust, the engine and gearbox live honestly. But the real problem is the ecosystem. It is difficult to find spare parts, the catalogs are empty, the parts differ, the numbers are outdated. The software is updated for only three years, after which the manufacturer seems to forget about the model. Everything is based on the enthusiasm of the owners and collective experience. Therefore, he does not want to repeat the path with the "Chinese": there is reliability, but without support and confidence in the future, such a romance ends with only one thing — the search for an alternative.
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