Sep 21, 2005 10:25 AM
5027 Views
(Updated Sep 21, 2005 10:32 AM)
After traveling for so long on a 2 wheeler I decided to get a car/sedan. I was very particular about making the right choice and decided to take the car after some good research. I started my search in Jan 2005 and selected 3 models. 1) Opel corsa 2) Ford Ikon and 3) Getz. Opel gave me a great ride, Ford gave me power while Getz gave me a decent car at an absurd price. So I dropped Getz. I tried the Corsa 1.6, was sort of fine with the power but the back seat was horrible in terms of space. In this aspect Ford was generous even though it suffered in the ride quality dept. Both these car were at par when it came to fuel economy (9km/l). I was not sure what to pick :(.
I did some very exhaustive test drive on all the cars. I made sure that I took test drives on cars from all available dealers. For eg. In case of Ford Ikon I took test drive from all its dealers in Bangalore. The road that I chose had some very bumpy sections as well as high-speed straights and high speed turns. I made sure that I drove the car along the whole stretch and then accompanied the marketing guys as a passenger in the back seat for the same stretch.
While I was doing a test drive on the Ikon Zxi and tearing the highway at 100km/hr, a car whizzed by me. Some distance down the road I saw the car stop and found that it was a Baleno. I wanted to try this machine.
I feel in love with the Baleno during the first test drive. The space was generous, handling was good, AC was superb, engine was intoxicating and it had powerful grunt (I like it). Then I took 2 months to check out this car. I talked to everybody I know who owned a Baleno. I even resorted to going up to strangers at airports and malls to talk about their car. This is feedback that I got about their Baleno:-
1) Very comfortable ride 2) Not much in terms of maintenance 3) Good mileage 4) Great AC 5) Powerful engine 6) Has some excessive rolling noise 7) Sometimes on heavy load the bottom of the car tends to touch tall bumps 8) Interiors are dull 9) Maruti has not marketed this car well. I got hold of all old car magazines that talked about this car and went through their reviews. The Baleno's engine had a reputation of being 'hassle free'.
I decided to go for this car and after much haggling with the dealer got a decent discount. It’s been 4 months now. I have taken this car through the busy traffic of Bangalore and on a couple of trips from Bangalore to Trivandrum (750km). I guess I can give some amount of feedback based on the time I have spent with this car.
What I feel about the car?
1) Intoxicating Engine with great power and mileage. I get around 13-14 km/l in the city and get 18km/l on highways. The car touch 100km/hr in around 12 sec and it has a sports car like grunt. Some people term this as excessive noise but I like the grunt ;). I have driven the car till 150km/hr but couldn't go further since my wife was getting hysterical.
2) The gearshift was not very smooth on the new car but it got better with use.
3) The ride quality is really good esp. on bumpy roads but the car bottom touches tall bumps when the load is high. This is a known issue on this car and Maruti service claims that the engine has a protective cover, so it’s ok. The seats are firm and is great in terms of support
4) Interiors are functional but dull compared to Fork Ikon Zxi or Honda City.
5) AC is superb. It cools the interiors very fast
6) The car is very spacious for my family and me.
7) There is some rolling noise but it not bad
8) In terms of looks..the front looks decent, menacing and muscular. Back...well :) this is the only thing that I hate abt this car. The rear of the car could have been better.
9) This is a km eating machine. It is a great long drive car as well as nimble city car.
10) The service of Maruti is superb, excellent.... there is no other words to describe their service.
Overall..after 4 months I am very happy with my car. I believe Maruti has a winner here. All they have to do is improve the looks and marketing.
