My secret affair (Baleno LXI- 20k kms review)

[ramie2400]

Hey bro as you have the NO NO for the tail-lamps,you can smoke it to get a better look and some decals....)

[rjstyles69]

hey ramie2400, nicely done mate . I would love to get it done but anything more on my car and I will be dis-owned for good(you know what I mean).
So just keeping it simple as of now and really appreciate what you did..Thankooo !!

Godfather thanks for the invite and will try my best to make it.

[WhiteKnight]

I call this my secret affair is only because when I have that restless desire to spend on her,I lie to my near and dear ones to get outta house for the next couple of hours.

Hmmm...@rj, please go ahead and tell us your secret trips to accessary shops too.
Or you want me to ....

[rjstyles69]

Took me almost 6 months to reach the 20k mark from 15k kms.All through the car has performed exceptionally well and hasn't given me any kind of trouble.

Only problem that I faced after the 15k service is mentioned here .The problem was fixed free of cost.

The car went through a complete make over about 2 months back and had created a thread for the same. Check the look-a-likes thread .

My car is only serviced at RNS and this time around again they called me to inform that my car was due for service. This was about 2 weeks back and I never had the time the drop the car off.

Finally managed to find time and leave the car at RNS for servicing.

Friday was a long day for me and Sanjay(hellcat) , both of us went hunting for a lens and tripod .I was supposed to be buying Synthetic Oil and that took a back seat.

Mahesh thanks for your help in sourcing Mobil 1. I owe you a drink.
Picked up 4 liters and it sells at 780/- bucks a liter.

Here's goes the list of things that was changed

1 - NGK Iridium spark plugs (4 pieces)
2 - Brake fluid change.
3 - Coolant.
4 - Gear Oil.
5 - Radiator flushing.
6 - Engine Oil flush and change.
7 - Drum brakes cleaning.
8 - Re-aligned and balanced all the wheels once again.

To my surprise 3M has set up a counter at RNS and I opted 3M fluids for flushing and gear box oil.

3M Detailing is also available at the service center for the interested folks. Discounts are also available !!

Total cost at RNS was 4840/-(including labour ) and I purchased Mobil 1 separately for 3100/- .

At 20k kms, a service worth 7940/- was it expensive ?

Took delivery of the car and it rained cats and dogs in bangy. All thru stuck in the traffic and took me almost 3 hrs to cover 3 kms. Car felt smooth all through and I really dint get a chance to red line her.

Tomorrow am off to Mysore and will put her thru the acid test.

Will post up mileage figures too, previous recorded mileage has been around 13.5 kmpl within the city with AC on almost 100%. I only roll down the window when I smoke.

RNS has again lived up to my expectations and kudo's to their team. They called me to inform about the delay for delivery since the weights for alignment weren't available. Car was delivered as promised at 5pm today.

Wonderful crew they have and I recommend them if anyone wants to avail services.
End of the day am happy and wouldn't part with her.

[theMAG]

Wonderful experience there Riju. RNS really outdo themselves on every service. And I'm looking to drive that car during Sunday's meet.

[kaushik_s]

Hey riju, nice review, BTW is Brake Fluid change is required at 20K ? and how much did the iridium plugs cost you ?

[rjstyles69]

kaushik iridium plugs come as a standard fitment in the baleno. I will post up pricing details tomorrow, the bill's in the car.

BTW is Brake Fluid change is required at 20K ?

Let the experts answer this. The SA said, its recommended as per the manual and hence went ahead with it.

[kpzen]

Riju
Do post about your secret affair with all the tyres and alloys u have changed

Please post your experience of Yoko S drive..

[rjstyles69]

Prajesh hang on bro' will be driving this weekend again.Once am back I will post up a noob's experience with the S-drives.

I know I owe you pics too

[filcord]

I had my 20k service done, and no brake fluid was changed. Called up Chowgules and bawled out the workshop in charge. First he told me that my b.f. was okay and did not need change, then when I mentioned it's recommended in the manual, he promised to get it done.
They collected the car next day, and dropped it back, and claimed to have changed the b.f. (complimentary, no charge). I got no bill, no service slip, nada.
I asked if the brakes had been bled, manager tells me it's now done by a special machine that sucks the fluid out and injects new fluid, and no bleeding is required. I half suspect they have not changed the fluid at all. I'm now feeling more than a little suspicious.

[rjstyles69]

They collected the car next day, and dropped it back, and claimed to have changed the b.f. (complimentary, no charge). I got no bill, no service slip, nada.

Now that really sounds fishy to me. Why on sweet earth would they want to change it for no charge ?

[benbsb29]

Riju, i missed this thread. Love the way you have photographed your car, and also the amount you spend on it/her.

Between.. nice write-up, but then thats understood, right?

[rjstyles69]

Benny I dont mind spending on the car when she never lets me down. Dont we all love our cars ?

Well here are the different stages of transformation she went through.

Inital set of tyres Apollo Accelere's 205/60/R13(dint have enuf dabbu to spend on alloys. )



Next upgrade to League Alloys and GSD II's 195/50/R14



Then came home a new member and she needed some rubber badly. My eyes was all set on the Yoko's S drives and the GC-II alloys.

Now this is how she looks.

[kpzen]

FANTASTIC transformation..!!!
Even though u got a few things wrong in your earlier attempts but in the end u got the perfect combo in terms of wheels.

Looks like there has been a tranformation in your cam or your cam skills too

[benbsb29]

Riju, amazed by the transformation from an ugly duckling to a swan.
What about the old alloys? Wanna donate them to me?