A Good Car But... Review on Maruti Suzuki Esteem

Updated After 30,000 KM (2 Years)

2 years of sheer bliss with my car. Good fuel economy, tubeless tires, minimal maintenance, and a great reliability factor.

I have taken my car to hills, to snow clad roads, and to rough terrain where its not supposed to be taken - still it works without any complains. Though you can feel every pothole on the road because of car's comparatively low weight and not so efficient suspension, but its just a matter of getting used to it.

But the best part is a satisfaction factor of it being a Maruti Product. After driving through a very dusty terrain, I felt my car was choking. I got it checked, and it was just a matter of cleaning the air-filter by a road side mechanic. Paid just 20/-. After 10 minutes, it was running as good as new.

Buying a car is very similar to marriage :-) There is always a charm and excitement attached to it. It will run smooth, and one can hold his chin high with pride of owning a new car. One tends to ignore a little low mileage, a little high maintenance, a little poor performance as the "flashy new car" factor compensates for it. But in long run, the performance, maintenance and mileage do matter a lot. Hence, go for a reliable and trust worthy Indian Bride - Esteem. You will appreciate your decision after 3 years.

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I purchased a BS-II Esteem LXi in March, 2005. I must admit that I love my car, having driven it hard for 20,000 KM in just one year.

I am not a rash driver and I maintain my car well. I hardly cross 80 KMPH on highways, putting minimal load my 1298 CC engine.

In light of my introduction, here are pluses and minuses of my experience with Esteem so far -

Pluses -

1. Maruti Family

   
   




2. Virtually No Maintenance

   
   




3. Easy availability of service and spares

   
   




4. A very good mileage for its class (17.5 KMPL @ 2000 RPM on Highway with A/C set to mild cooling)

   
   




5. Spacious Boot

   
   




6. Responsive Engine (Great Power to Weight Ratio w/o AC)

   
   

Minuses -

1. Outdated Front Looks - Looks like a lamb when put next to any mid-size segment car.

   
   




2. Very Low Sitting (Poor all around visibility)

   
   




3. Not a very high quality build. (Creaks and Squeaks from here and there)

   
   




4. Average cooling for back seat

   
   




5. Less leg space for back seat

   
   




6. Engine looses power with AC. Need to switch it off for those tighter over takes.

   
   




7. Uncomfortable driving posture.

   
   

I believe this is the only car one can purchase in this segment with approx 5 lac budget considering all the pros/cons. I would have never gone for a loose ground FORD or a humming unresponsive TATA.

Overall a good car but - You get some, you loose some !!