Sep 08, 2010 01:34 PM
39097 Views
Mine is a 2006 baleno lxi which I bought last year .when I got the car it already had a 40k on its odo but suprisingly it never felt old....starting from the looks u cant call it ugly coz this car was designed way back in 1999 , i must admit it has the best side profile for a mid segment sedan with that long low bonet and short rump it surely looks sporty with a nice set of alloys, mine is a black one and the paint quality is not that good but nothing that a coat of polish cant cure , anyway on the inside its the same story with a combination of black and grey ...yuck, but the space is incredible even for five six foot thugs , the seats are very supportive, the steering can be adjusted for rake but not reach, the visibility is good although the long bonnet and low seat height needs getting used to, on the equipment front u get power steering, all side power window , central locking, electric mirrors, stereo(the company stereo sucks..get it changed), a powerful a/c that takes no time to cool.
Coming to the ride its a bit bumpy on low speeds but improves dramatically with speed and handling is where the beauty of the car is , taking curves at speeds of 80 or 100 is child;'s play, the steering is perfectly weighed and the car points exactly where u want , acceleration is snappy and although 94 bhp may not sound much u surely get all of it when u want it..even at speeds of 140 the car is stable although stopping the car takes some time...
Till now I had only a few problems , the a/c gas went down and is doing fine after a refill, avoid Chinese gas which retails at just 700rs coz u end up refilling within a month. The electric mirrors gave up and the front suspension is getting noisy these days, another thing is the low ground clearance which is undesirable in kerala roads, another problem is the spare availability since production stopped in 2007 and most of the parts especially the engine are Japanese.
Apart from these the car is a gem, coming to the fuel efficiency its purely relative. I'm getting 12 to 13kmpl with a/c on a regular basis , out on the highway 15 to 16 wont be a problem if ur speed is between 60 and 90, make sure u rest the ECU by disconnecting the battery for fifteen minutes if u have the habit of riding hard(something u would surely do on this car)coz the ECU charts the fuel mapping on the basis of the fuel requirement for the previous 100 kms.
Take care while buying one coz most balenos are well abused. It's always safer to buy from doctors or professionals although u will have to pay a premium even then u get a fine sedan for the price of a new alto lxi
