15000 km report on Baleno Lxi. So what's new, right ?

[ram]

Originally Posted by shuvc

OT - Were you able to check the badging at the rear ? I'd seen one with the Esteem badge - that's the name of the car there. Looks pretty odd to Indian eyes

The Suzuki Cultus did have a hatch version.

Suzuki Esteem, Cultus, Cultus Crescent and Baleno were all names applied in different markets to this elegant car.

The Suzuki Cultus was the Indian Maruti Esteem, also sold under the name Suzuki Swift in some markets. It was also called the 1988-94 Holden Barina.

The Japanese even had a cute two-door convertible. Imagine having that in India!

BTW the 1994-2005 Holden Barina was the Opel Corsa
and the 2005 onwards Holden Barina is the Chevrolet Aveo/Daewoo Kalos.

The Suzuki Cultus Crescent was the Indian Maruti Baleno, also called Suzuki Esteem in Singapore.

It was meant to fight the Toyota Corolla.
There was a GT version, powered by a Mazda-BP 1840cc engine, putting out 135 bhp.
There was even a Diesel Baleno sold in Europe with a Peugeot XUD engine.
And of course Balenos in Europe could be ordered with ABS, Airbags and full time all-wheel-drive.

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Airbags in the Baleno

The all-wheel-drive Suzuki Baleno Altura had EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution). EBD regulates the brake-fluid pressure to the rear wheel brakes, based on signals from rear-wheel transducers. The algorithm accounts for varying loads that the Altura Wagon may be subjected to.



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All-Wheel-Drive Baleno

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ABS in the Baleno

The all-wheel-drive Balenos with ABS also had an inertial "G"-sensors for sensing deceleration. This G-sensor was bolted to the floor under the console, in an all-wheel-drive Baleno.



Ram

[supremeBaleno]

OK, it's time for an update to this thread.

Last week, the car completed 20K kms and it was time for the 4th service (first paid service). So, took the car to ABT, Arumbakkam yesterday morning for the service.

There were no specific issues that I wanted them to look into, except for the dent in the bumper (due to a girl in an M800 banging into the car from behind ). However, it seems bringing the bumper back to shape requires heating and stuff which has to be done outside at some mechanic's place (who would not be available due to yesterday being a Sunday). So, decided to get it done some other day.

A new bumper costs 3K or so and given the lunatics on the road in Chennai, I am not sure I want to get it replaced only for it to be damaged again by someone else.

Got back the car after service in the evening, with the following work done :

Engine oil replaced (3.7litre X Rs.168.53/litre).
Oil filter replaced (Rs.66.09).
Gear oil changed (2.5 litre x Rs.168.71/litre).
Coolant changed (Rs.208.99).
Wiper fluid changed (Rs.11.84).
All 4 spark plugs replaced (53.5 x 4).
Full water wash + inside cleaning.
Plus other checks that are part of general service.

The total damage to the wallet was Rs.2919 of which consumables was Rs1546, labour was Rs.1050 and tax was Rs.323.

The service itself was only Rs750. Another Rs.300 was charged for rear brake drum cleaning. I am not sure what cleaning they did which was worth 300 bucks. Seems like a rip-off to me.

After the service, the car felt better, but that could be purely psychological. Anyway, all the muck on it for the past few months was gone (was too busy for the last 2 months to clean it) and the car looked yummy after a long time.

Some questions :
1. Is a spark plug good only for 20000 kms ? IIRC, the spark plug on my bike has easily done 40000 kms and still going fine.

2. Even though MUL says the service period is every 10K kms for the Baleno, these guys want me to bring it in every 5K kms. Ofcourse I trust the manufacturer over the dealer and thus stick to 10K period. Why do these guys ask to bring the car in every 5K kms ? Just to make some money ? Or is it really required ?

3. He wanted me to go for a decarbonisation (damage of 1500), which I declined. Is this worth the money or again a way for the dealer to make money ?

Mods, could you please update the thread title to reflect the 20000km update ? Thanks.

[supremeBaleno]

The car had done 20000kms in Nov and after 6 months the odo is only at 23500. I know guys who have done 23K in a year or so, while it has taken me 3 years. Anyway, tons of sewage has flowed along the Buckingham Canal (ok, its just a fancy name for the Cooum that flows through Chennai) during this time and its time for updating this thread.


Dents and dings :

During the last 6 months, the car took a hit on the left front door, from an Amby, just opposite Loyola college on my way home from work. Partly my mistake too, so did not pursue it much with the Amby guy.

A long-shot view :


The dent in close-up :


Would appreciate it if the experts can suggest the course of action (MASS or private body-shop) and the estimated damage to the wallet.

There is also this hit on the rear bumper that I took from an M800 driven by a lady who could not brake even though 4 cars in front of her easily could. Ofcourse, nothing surprising here because instead of looking at the road ahead, she was busy chatting with her co-passenger.

The bumper hit :


A close-up shot :


John had a look and says that the dent can be pushed out with a stick or something. The MASS guys said the bumper would need to be removed and heated to bring it back to shape. Need to get this done also.


Engine breathing :

Only when n_aditya mentioned about looking for a K&N filter cleaning kit, did I remember about the K&N filter that I had plonked in the car a year or so ago and which I assumed was fit-and-forget. He jolted me to the reality that it needs to be cleaned and so at the last track day, just took it out and saw that it was caked with dust.

Dusted it off a bit and cleaned it with a cloth, but still there is quite some muck that needs to be removed. So, I will need to get that cleaning kit ASAP, and more importantly a weekend in Chennai to do the job.


Wash n Wax :

The car was getting neglected because of my almost weekly visits to Kerala and it did not have even a wash for many months. A comment from madan80 when we met at the TidelPark signal about the looks made me determined to correct this. Luckily I got a weekend at Chennai around that time and so gave her a good wash.

I have always been a big believer in polishing my cars (the hard way using Waxpol wax polish) atleast every few months, but with the Baleno, I never got around to doing it, which irritated my wife no end. She would go, "You would spend hours polishing that 20-year old M800, but don't find time to polish this car".

Anyway, I decided it was time I invested some time for this activity and got a Waxpol liquid polish and after the wash, polished the car. With the liquid polish, it was oh-so-easy and fast to polish the car. And to top it, the gleam of the car was to die for.

It has been a month since I polished the car and the car is still looking neat. All I need to do is dust off the car once in 2 days or so and it looks good. Would highly recommened waxing to anyone who likes to see their car looking neat - it is worth the extra effort. Should make it a practice to wax the car atleast once in 3 months.

Only thing I regret is not having taken some snaps of the waxed BlackBeauty.

Next planned is an FE check - been a long time since I checked it.