[shrivz]

This is what the Baleno offers:

1. Exceptional Air Conditioning
2. Good Suspension

3. Brilliant Performance


4. Good FE (11 - 12 kmpl or more, depending on your driving style)
5. Rock Bottom price
6. Maruti's A.S.S (after sales service) doesnt need to be discussed, its the best

I own a Baleno and vouch for the car.
I've heared a few complaints of the swift giving bad FE (10 - 11 kmpl) considering its a 1.3L engine, but dunno how true that is...

You would also want to consider the Esteem, its a pleasure to drive... I find the new Esteem giving better driving pleasure than the Swift, but then again its my personal opinion...

cheers!
Shrivz...

[premdiv]

yes i dont think baleno will be stopped in the near future.. i personally own a baleno and satisfied with the performance and excellent fe (13 - 14 kmpl) and good suspension and after sales service..... yes the spares are a bit expensive now but with the number of balenos increasing it will surely come down.... i heard that they will continue this car along with there new variant liana........i also heard some complaints about swift with the features and all.

[unknown]

Thanks guys finally he going for Baleno !

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by jathinrao

It is true that BALENO will be discontinued in sometime.

As @filcord mentioned, all cars will be discontinued sometime. What's the big deal about that ? If you follow Honda's strategy in India, they discontinue their models very fast, even when their cars are best sellers. eg. the OHC, NHC etc. Does that mean that no one should buy Hondas ?

Originally Posted by jathinrao

If ur brother loves the BALENO for performance only, buy this machine.

Performance is not the only thing about the Baleno. FE is another plus point. At 12kmpl in city with 100% AC, it is 2nd only to the NHC which gives 13kmpl. But then you pay a lakh or more for the NHC, compared to a Baleno. The A/c is better than even cars many segments above it - cools in a jiffy. It is perfect for both city and highway driving.
Downside is the drab interiors and to some people, the external looks.

Originally Posted by jathinrao

If he is eyeing the BALENO due to the discounts offered by the dealer , i would say to avoid the BALENO,

The discounts make it extremely VFM. At around 5.5L on-road, the Lxi is one of the most VFM 1.6l cars in the market today.

Originally Posted by jathinrao

there are better cars around exceling the BALENO in almost all the Parameters except PERFORMANCE.

Could you please clarify which parameters they excel in ? Apart from interiors and external looks (which are anyway subjective).

Originally Posted by jathinrao

The spares of BALENO was always expensive , and if the model is dumped , the cost of spares will further shoot up.

Check out the spares cost survey done by an automag and you will know that it costs among the lowest in its class.

[himanshugoswami]

The liana sedan will be sold in the next bracket that is 9L + .

OK- Maruti has officially LOST IT!!!!

Liana at 9 L? Are they trying to say taht it is a vtec beater. cmon Maruti, give some credence to teh intelligence of the Indian car buyer!

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

cmon Maruti, give some credence to teh intelligence of the Indian car buyer!

The last time Maruti took the Indian buyer to be stupid (by pricing Baleno at 8L or more), they ended up with the initial Baleno fiasco.
If they learnt anything from that experience, they would not commit the same mistake again with the Liana. But then some guys never learn.

BTW, I am sure there are guys on tbhp who bought the Baleno when it was launched in '99. Just wondering what the exact price of the Baleno was at that time. Keep hearing 8L+, but wanted a concrete figure.

[Buffetfan]

according to an old June 06 Overdrive I had... my memory tells me it was around Rs 8.84 lakhs on road in mumbai... it was the test where they pitted Baleno against OHC 1.5, Nexia, Lancer and Opel Astra and it was the fastest 0-100 with the highest top speed

[Buffetfan]

sorry I meant June 2001 I guess

[car_crazy1400]

Yes, I was one of the few initial buyers of the Baleno way back in 1999, December 17'th '99 to be exact. had bought it for 6.74 lac ex showroom ludhiana. Even though i did own a honda city 1.5 sport at that time, I did find the baleno a great buy especially for its torquey pick-up and good ride, but very poor handling.

[car_crazy1400]

the spares used to cost a bomb at that time, I once had to pay 26,000 to replace a broken front bumper, & to add to the woes , it came to the dealer from the company(as it was imported at that time) after 25 days of paying advace to the dealer.Plus Rs 4800-5000 brake pads didn't make service costs great too.

Overall a very good car, killed by Maruti due to their idiotic pricing, But now I seriously think its too old to sell in the indian market(execpt for the great engine)

[dustDevil]

Going by the crazy discounts being offered on the baleno (took delivery of a brand new baleno today).... its future looks grim to me! though i agree it is a very nice car!

[shobhit15]

http://www.autocarindia.com/new/Information.asp?id=1512

[RX135]

I am surprised to see the argument that Baleno should not be replaced because it is selling now.

There is no doubt that it is one of the most VFM products in market, but MUL has lost the plot completely on Baleno. Even when it is selling like "hot cakes", the figures are nowhere close to market leaders in the segment.

By sticking with Baleno, MUL is losing good business out there in the market, even if they are making more profit per car by selling Baleno. Same logic was used by Honda for phasing out OHC and bringing in NHC. MUL would do well to learn from that.

Many times, conservative corporate heads don't try to break out from well trodden path and this appears to be the case with MUL.