Suzuki ertiga : First hand experience

It has been 36000 Kms now....I have done now almost 3 long 700kms+ trips and have one through one major accident...now its a good time to call for revisit of my Cars's review ..the Ertiga ZXI which is now almost 4 years old now...

Few things that I loved till now:

• Reliability of the engine
• Space it gives me at that price point ( 9-10 lakhs)
• Maruti service ( specially after the accident)
• Mileage has been amazing - a whooping 15.9 kmph ( this is with 80% AC and 30% highway) driving

Things that I still don't like or have found it now:

• Stock tyres run out after 20K....I am planning to change them soon. I had at-least 10-12 punctures in last 5000 Kms....planning to change all of them
• the NVH levels are really bad at high speeds...(beyond 80-90 kmph...it becomes really bad)
• The lack of power on hill ascents - had to switch off teh ACs in certain instance and could feel the engine going off-breath...
• The beige interiors are killer dust catcher....a major design flaw

Any other car which I would have loved to exchange thsi with?

When i bought this car, I did not have much options. but in last 2 years there are huge options in thsi range....I would have loved to test out the TUV300, Vitara Brezza, Honda BRV...

I hope that helps, in your decision....

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It has been now 3500 kms with my new car and I believe that it is  time that it deserves a review. I will try to remain to the point and unbiased and paint the right picture,

Model: Ertiga (ZXI)

Few Postives & things which I found worth mentioning:
- Spacious (For passengers)
- Good driveability (feels like a car)
- Powerful 1.4 ltr petrol engine, never found any issues pulling through high gradients
- Good road presence
- Good breaking (ABS)
- Good ground clearance

Few Negatives or areas where things can be better:
- Not so spacious for luggage (If you have 7 people then you need to have a carrier)
- Too much body roll (Even though it has a monocoque design)
- NVH levels could have been better
- Though AC is powerful but No ACC
- The gear shifting is improved with Suzuki standards but still could have been better
- Too much biege-acts like dirt magnet

Few things that could have added more value:
- Split last row sits
- Dark coloured floor carpet
- Automatic Climate control

Essential Fuel Efficiency stats:
- 11.6 Kmpl-11.8 Kmpl City driving (90% AC)
- 12.5 Kmpl - 13.5 Kmpl for long distance driving (70-80% AC)

Do I ever think that I should have gone for another smaller car or Sedan?
- Yes, I do only when I drive through the Mumbai traffic!

To know which other cars where on my list while I was making this purchase decision, please refer to my earlier blog:http://aapkareview.blogspot.in/2013/04/with-options-things-do-not-get-easy.html

4 movies and My country....

Bhaag Milka Bhaag,Lunch Box, Chennai Express, Satyagraha
Each of the above movies represents an unique expression of an individual to fight against the odds and look for that one moment of  glory, truth & love.
These 4 movies do reflect the mood of our society in its present form.
Today someone amongst us is trying to bring about a change in our country by changing the way we think and elect a leader.
On other hand there is this hunger of a sportsman to go on and on without any rest, to open the shop even during heavy rains, give their kids the best at the cost of their sacrfice, to drive that rickshaw even when it's killing hot or to start a venture which catches the eye of the whole world.
Then there are people amongst us who will run against all odds to bring glory for our society even when others have written them off. Lastly, there are people who still believe that hope for love never dies and will celebrate every small occassion to keep that flame of hope and love alive.

Now coming back to the movies (because this is afterall a review blog!); I will try to review all of them in just one sentence - reason being by now you might have watched all the movies....but in case you haven't then this crisp review might give you a reason to watch ( or avoid).

• Bhaag Milkha Bhaag: An amazing biography presented in an amazing way. Acting was best in class and so was the music. A must watch for the young generation to keep them inspired and aspired! (4****)
• Lunch Box: A very delicate movie, which touches the human emotion of yearning for love and warmth...Irfan is again superb.(3.5***)
• Chennai Express: A colourful movie, made to make you light and smaile....could have been made better.(2.5**)
• SatyaGraha: Another typical Prakash Jha - Ajaya Devgan combo...but what was new here was Amitabh Bachchan...amazing story  whic revolves around teh struggle that my country is going through and the fight that we are in....yes, knowingly or unknowingly it's our fight. (3.5***)

With options things do not get easy!!

"Too much analysis causes Paralysis" - this was prooved true in our (me and my wife) recent experince of buying a car.

My earlier car- the trusted Alto was more than 5 years old, and as we were moving to a new region, hence we thought of buying a new car.

Initially we went ahead with the thought process of buying a car which is dependable, not so common on the streets, has good after sales service and is not heavy on my pocket (Read mileage :)).

That's how we started our hunt for that perfect car !

The only hitch was- my knowledge about cars and the different options. This played as

a double edged sword. The moment I took a test drive, I knew what was lacking - as usual I had all the reasons to reject and that played a major role in our 3 month prolonged seacrh for the vehicle.

Below you will find the list of options that I had a look at and I will. Rather than giving a detailed review of each of the vehicles, I have tried to rank them down in different parameters.


Detailed scoring based on our judgement

Hope this will help you in your buying decision as well - though again it will be very
subjective.

Alas! we did not go for the Rank 1 (City) - rather we went for the Rank 2 ( Ertiga)!