Cedia sports - 1500KMs report

[sbelekar]

Hi All,

After 15+ test drives, 2-3 months of research and most importantly spending a lot of time convincing my wife, I finally managed to replace my 7 year old WagonR with a Cedia M-Red sports. I cant describe in words the happiness I am experiencing while actually writting these words

The experience with the dealer has been pretty pleasant. I always got prompt response to all my calls, I was given all the necessary information, the processing, delivery was pretty smooth too. The sales person, Vinod at Southern Motors, Bangalore was always very helpful.

I got the car in hand on 6th day after paying the booking amount. I took delivery of the car on 19th April, just a day after the car reached the showroom. Though I had given the cheque on day of delivery, the money was still in my account, so it was nice of SM to give me the car rather than waiting for the cheque to realise. Of course I had to drive around with temp registration for first 10 days. But I wanted the car as soon as possible so that I can complete the run-in and get it serviced before the 1st May weekend.

First few days of owning the car was a painful experience. Driving for 1000kms in brand new Cedia and not exceeding the 2.5k on tacho was lot tougher than I thought. Anyway, after 10 days and 900kms of driving I finally got it serviced just a day before my planned trip. I have driven 600+ kms since then and its pure bliss. I am not crazy for speed, but once on highway the car reaches speeds like 120-125 kmph before I can notice. and of course it feels very stable too. The max speed I went for was 130, and she still had much more to offer.

Some good things that I love about the car
1. With the seat and steering adjustments, its very easy to find perfect driving position. The highway driving with the lowered seat and steering was one experience I will cherish for a long time (i.e. till my next highway trip, mostly to Yellagiri with T-BHP)
2. Sound system is simply great.
3. AC cools fast.
4. The dark sports interior look amazing. I must confess, I wasnt too happy about it when I went for the first test drive, but now I feel happy that I didnt go for Spirit model.
5. The engine is ultra smooth, of course more noisy than say City..but the noise doesnt bother me any more.
6. Last but not the least...the car is so so so easy maneuver. The turning radius is superb. You can try and try but the underbelly of this car never kisses the road. Its been a month and so far I have never once wished that car was a little smaller. In fact, after driving WagonR, this was my biggest fear. And boy am I glad..that it was baseless.

Coming back to small niggling issues.
1. From the day I took delivery, I have noticed that right front tyre has low pressure. I bought a handy pressure gauge and it confirmed my doubts. The pressure in right tyre drops down 4-5 points (to 24- 25ps) in couple of days and settles there. I am not sure why. I dont know if its a puncture or some manufacturing defect. I reported this issue during first service, but they did the wheel balancing instead of checking the wheel and tyre. I am going to take it back to them sometime this week. Meanwhile I am driving on the spare wheel.
2. Catalytic converter keeps making rhythmic khut-khut sound. Of course it is only audible when the music is not on.
3. After the outstation trip I have been noticing some rattle in the boot. I havent got it checked though.
4. The remote locking doesnt make alarm sound to indicate that the door is closed. So everytime after locking the car, I have to double check by pulling the handle.
5. Even on highway it gave me only 9.5 mileage. The car was loaded with 5 people and 6-7 bags, but still I was expecting to get somewhere closer to 12 - 12.5. Am not sure why

Regards,
Sandeep

[santhosh_kumard]

Hey that is that a pretty cool review from another cedizen. It definitely seems that cedia is finding more base in t-bhp now :-). Why dont we guys now push for a t-bhp discount for cedia ( from a prospective buyer ).

You seem to have gone to a hill station, maybe that combined with the fresh engine which caused the low mileage?. Experts here would definitely be able to give more thoughts into that.

And may I ask you as to what deals did you get in southern?.

[cediafan]

Great pics! Congratulations on your new car. I think your mileage will improve after the second servicing. It seems the Cedia is pretty famous in Bangalore

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Congrats on the car and definitely cedia is a nice ride coming from the lancer's family. Great mods possible on this sports one, if you plan to do so, and yet another satisfied cedia customer.

[maxbhp]

Your mileage will definitely improve after second service. Am getting an overall mileage of 10.5 .

[reignofchaos]

Yup the mileage should increase substantially after 2nd service. Not sure why though. Low tyre pressures could also be the reason. Make sure the tyre pressure is 28-30 or thereabouts.

[mav2000]

I am also getting a pretty low milage in pure city use only, and i guess a lot of people know what bangalore rush hour is like. Added to that I drive only 4 kms to and from work and that kind of kills any hopes of good mileage. I hope things will be better after the second service. But i must warn you, I am pretty tired of Southern motors and their service.

[mobike008]

Congrats, regarding the air pressure, it has to be a puncture if the air pressure drops within a couple of days. And, this could also be the reasonf or low mileage. Someone from Hyderabad owing the same car gets close to 11 kmpl in city driving alone.

[sbelekar]

Originally Posted by santhosh_kumard

You seem to have gone to a hill station, maybe that combined with the fresh engine which caused the low mileage?. Experts here would definitely be able to give more thoughts into that.

And may I ask you as to what deals did you get in southern?.

Nothing much on the discount front. They have a standard 30K discount going for all variants of Cedia. I got sun film, car cover, i-pod jack, perfume, idol etc as freebies. The deal clincher was, Mitsubishi increased Cedia prices by 9K in April and SM gave me the car at March price (whereas Lathangi was not flexible, they said I will have to pay new rates). So thats additional 9K discount, if I may say so.

I make couple of hill station trips every month, which is why I bought Cedia over other cars that I compared. So I hope it gives me better mileage at lease for the highway trips.

[sbelekar]

Originally Posted by cediafan

Great pics! Congratulations on your new car. I think your mileage will improve after the second servicing. It seems the Cedia is pretty famous in Bangalore

Originally Posted by VJ_MAVRICK

Congrats on the car and definitely cedia is a nice ride coming from the lancer's family. Great mods possible on this sports one, if you plan to do so, and yet another satisfied cedia customer.

Thanks guys for your comments. Whenever I went to SM or Lathangi showroom they always had atleast one Cedia ready and waiting for delivery. But I havent seen many Cedias on the road. In fact in last 15 days, since I bought my car, I have seen only one other Cedia.
I plan to do the mods, but a little later. I was planning to make some cosmetic changes and also put Michlin PP2, but decided to delay it for a few months.

[sbelekar]

Originally Posted by maxbhp

Your mileage will definitely improve after second service. Am getting an overall mileage of 10.5 .

I hope so too. But I guess it will take me atleast 4-5 months before the car is due for next service.

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Yup the mileage should increase substantially after 2nd service. Not sure why though. Low tyre pressures could also be the reason. Make sure the tyre pressure is 28-30 or thereabouts.

ROC, I had put the spare wheel before starting my Yercaud trip. So tyre pressure shouldnt have been the problem during the trip. Most of the times after I fill that air at gas station and set it to 30, I see the reading of 28.5 to 29.5 on my own air pressure gauge. I dont know which reading is more accurate.

[sbelekar]

Originally Posted by mav2000

I am also getting a pretty low milage in pure city use only, and i guess a lot of people know what bangalore rush hour is like. Added to that I drive only 4 kms to and from work and that kind of kills any hopes of good mileage. I hope things will be better after the second service. But i must warn you, I am pretty tired of Southern motors and their service.

I am kinda mentally prepared for low mileage during city drive. I am happy as long as I get close to 9. My driving conditions are pretty similar to yours. In fact after I took up this new job near my house (5.5 kms) two years ago, even my WagonR started giving me 10.5 for daily city commute. But on outstation trips I used to get 16+ in my WagonR.

BTW, I have heard Lathangi is closing down. Last time I visited SM, I heard some other customer discussing this with one of the service guys. According to SM, HM has asked them to get ready to handle double the load. I cants vouch for the authenticity of the news, as I was only overhearing their conversation.

[PatienceWins]

Nice pictures and review.

Where did you shoot the pictures? The hill station looks clean and good.

[PatienceWins]

Originally Posted by sbelekar

BTW, I have heard Lathangi is closing down. Last time I visited SM, I heard some other customer discussing this with one of the service guys. According to SM, HM has asked them to get ready to handle double the load. I cants vouch for the authenticity of the news, as I was only overhearing their conversation.

Thats bad news. That will affect the A.S.S substantially.

[sbelekar]

Originally Posted by PatienceWins

Nice pictures and review.

Where did you shoot the pictures? The hill station looks clean and good.

Thanks buddy...
It may look like a nice and clean hilly road, but actually it is parking area of Sterling resorts at Yercaud. I am worried about A.S.S. too; but I hear people talking about Mitsu coming to India soon. Thats a ray of hope there.