Wagon R Vxi, 2005, run 45000km

[naikpranav]

My Maruti WagonR Vxi, 2005.run 45000km

In Jan 2005, my dad replaced his 1993 m800, with a new wagon R, this is the sixth car owned by us (mom, dad n me at home) before it were :
1956 model "Dukkar" fiat - Light Blue
1975 Premier padmini - White
1986 Maruti 800 - the new red car which did the rounds of maruti showrooms in '86 when it was launched, (MGR 2111) repainted light Blue by maruti and sold to us we used it for 12 years, had all japanese parts.
1993 Maruti 800 - White, my first car, from 2005.
1996 Maruti Zen - Dark Blue
2005 Maruti Wagon R

since I had started driving 2 years before, and was the repair-boy for my dad, my dad decided not to trouble me so much, and buy a new car, which obviously he would use, ofcourse, I used the car to go out clubbing with friends, go out of town, I have had a lot of fun with this car, I am adding some pictures at the end of the post.

The scores I am giving the car are purely my opinion and are not relative to any other car, but rather what I think would be possible in the price range and equipment list of the car.

About the car:

We are avid adventure sports enthusiasts, and love the outdoors, this car has been my companion for many paragliding trips, fitting quite a lot of equipment in the boot, also going almost wherever I dare to take it, It has not broken down even once and has been great fun.

Space and comfort: it is decently comfortable with enough space for 5 adults uncomfortably and 4 comfortably, 3 very comfortably.
i once drove from Pune to mumbai with 8 in the car, and a friend of mine has taken 10, We made one long trip last year, with a crate of 20 bottles of water and luggage from mumbai-amravati-chikhaldara-melghat-shegaon-jalgaon-aurangabad-ahmednagar-malshej-mumbai, all in all about 2500 km, the car was very comfortable even on the long stretches when my dad would drive during the day and i slept at the back to drive at night. It has many nicely designed niches and hooks to hang things nd keep things, water bottle and cup holders, it even has a small holder for a mini-maglite so that it stays in place.
The air-con is great and coupled with V-kool and the increased headroom, can keep you comfortable even when its 45 degrees outside.
(8.5/10)

Ride comfort: Is not too great, very jumpy at the back, but in the hands of a good driver, it is very tolerable, you tend to feel most of the road surface, and driving more than 1000km a day can be suicidal.
The suspension makes funny noises on bumps and the rear suspension was once replaced by Vitesse under warranty.
(4/10)

Driveability: Its pretty comfortable to drive, with good visibilty all around, i don't use the sideview mirrors at all. cornering is not too good, but this can be attributed to the height of the car. power steering lacks any sort of feel and is flimsy, however, all controls are easy to reach and the display is clear. The maximum I can drive in a single day is about 750km, with breaks only for Nature.
(7.5/10)

Engine & Transmission: The engine is a 1.1l MPFI Petrol, 65hp, I think.
its pretty decent for the body size, b
9-3ut with even 3 in the car, is sometimes inadequate for highway overtaking, this is however a very small problem and can be adjusted for with smarter driving, I have personally never felt any need for more power in the car, with it shooting past most trucks with ease, it is silent and almost free of vibration, after a service while sitting at a light, you might not even know if its running without looking at the RPM.
The transmission however, is a different story, the throws are long, and the stick is flimsy and unclear of where it wants to go, reverse gear in the morning is a pain, it even throws itself out of gear if you run over any large bumps. the car shudders in second gear many times with the smoothest of shifting also. The gear ratios are alright, but 1st may be too long.
(6/10) <-- the engine scored most of this.

Tires: The stock tires that came with the car were very nice bridgestones, never gave any trouble in wet or dry, (unlike the new jk's that they gave me on the swift Vdi) its been 45000km now and it looks like its time to change them finally..
(8/10)

A.S.S: We bought this car from Vitesse, at Worli, which is very convienient for us since the workshop is just walking distance from home, the workshop staff is pretty good and they know what needs to be done, they do give some unwanted advice, but thats part of thier job profile, Maruti has also been very good, following up if there are any complaints, however minor, so has Vitesse, they are also punctual and helpful.
(9/10)

Complaints: Apart from the above mentioned shortcomings of the car, there are now 2 lines under the hood of 2 inches of rust each, this is a part which cannot be scratched or spoilt by anyone from outside, and the rust is near the welds, which shows that this has been careless welding, this kind of rust has never appeared on any of our previous Maruti cars, with rust not even appearing on the '84 m800 and the zen. (-3/10)

Overall : (5.5/10)

the quality of plastics and several parts on the inside of the car are suspect, and give us a feeling of being cheated, (not as cheated as when i saw the tires and the power windows rattling in the Swift Vdi)
this only goes to show how poor the QC is from Maruti, and in trying to make cars cheaper and in a shorter time, they are missing out on many important details and its not like I would not buy the car if it cost a little more for improvements and care taken by them, moreover, these things have only occured in the 2005 Wagon R, and the 2007 Swift Vdi, which has all kinds of rattles and things that have stopped working of thier own accord.

If this kind of quality control, long time vehicle owners, and Maruti Suzuki loyalists like me will be dissillusioned, once bitten, twice shy, i already own a Skoda fabia, and my dad is planning on getting rid of his Wagon R which he loves driving around the city and buy a small European car, many of which are entering the market soon, I really hope Maruti is listening and opens its eyes to see that there are some old customers who like to keep thier cars for a long time and love the light simplicity of japanese machines, even after owning cars made by tank manufacturers, as well as the merits of a gem of a car, which can do very well and is versatile but loses out just because of the cheap quality of materials and bad QC.


I hope this post isn't too long, and wish to have some opinions from other Wagon R Owners too.

[mnhegde]

@ naik : Nice review. Maruthi need to improve its quality. Me owning a wagonr have faced issues like rattles (minor) and suspension problems.

[bblost]

I drive a 2004 Vxi myself and its done about 33k kms.
Bought it second hand from True Value and love this car.

It kind of grows on you.
I dont think I would ever be fully satisified with anything in this car but its now more and more like a friend I like a lot.
So everything is fine.

My best moments in the cars are when I am driving alone.
Recently did a trip to Chennai from Hyderabad (alone) with just 1 input and 2 output breaks.

Love the free spirit.

It truly is a smart car.

[aaggoswami]

Nice review. You are right with rattles and gearbox problems. My uncle bought Wagon R with my recommendation, and the car is mostly used within the city.
He is very comfortable with car and specially the A/C and visibility.

However, can you please mention the Fuel Efficiency that you are getting ?

[naikpranav]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Nice review. You are right with rattles and gearbox problems. My uncle bought Wagon R with my recommendation, and the car is mostly used within the city.
He is very comfortable with car and specially the A/C and visibility.

However, can you please mention the Fuel Efficiency that you are getting ?

Thank you !
2 of my dad's friends and 2 of my friends bought the Wagon R on my recommendation, their use isnt as much as mine, but they are pretty satisfied

Im sorry about not mentioning the fuel efficiency, I should have, We get 12-14 in the city and 14-17 on the highways, generally our outstation visits don't affect the fuel efficiency because I tend to drive the car up steep slopes, keep it idling with the AC on in the afternoons, etc, etc..

Originally Posted by bblost

I drive a 2004 Vxi myself and its done about 33k kms.
Bought it second hand from True Value and love this car.

It kind of grows on you.
I dont think I would ever be fully satisified with anything in this car but its now more and more like a friend I like a lot.
So everything is fine.

My best moments in the cars are when I am driving alone.
Recently did a trip to Chennai from Hyderabad (alone) with just 1 input and 2 output breaks.

Love the free spirit.

It truly is a smart car.

It definitely is a Smart car, So many journeys and weekend, weekday impromptu trips made in this car !

Originally Posted by mnhegde

@ naik : Nice review. Maruthi need to improve its quality. Me owning a wagonr have faced issues like rattles (minor) and suspension problems.

Thank you !